《Monarch Of Time》
-1 - Ranks
Chapter -1 - Ranks
This is just a chapter that records the ranks for cultivation, medicinal ingredients, alchemy and magical beasts.
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Cultivation:
There are 3 sub-stages in every rank ---> For example: Early rank 5, than middle rank 5 and then peak rank 5
First stage: Qi condensation rank 1 to rank 9
Second stage: Earth grade rank 1 to rank 9
Third stage: Heaven grade rank 1 to rank 9
(Not mentioned yet in thetest published chapter which is chapter 40)
Fourth stage: Spirit Realm rank 1 to rank 9
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Alchemy
Alchemy is usually dependent on the cultivation level of the alchemists as it needs spiritual strength to function
Alchemists are split in 3 ranks in every sub-category
BRONZE GRADE ALCHEMISTS:
Rank 1 bronze alchemist----> Needs to have a cultivation of approximately rank 6 in the qi condensation
Rank 2 bronze alchemist----> Cultivation of rank 3 in the earth grade
Rank 3 bronze alchemist----> Cultivation of rank 9 in the earth grade
SILVER GRADE ALCHEMISTS:
Rank 1 silver alchemist-----> Needs to have a cultivation of approximately rank 6 in the Heaven grade
Rank 2 silver alchemist-----> Cultivation of rank 3 in the spirit realm
Rank 3 silver alchemist-----> Cultivation close to the peak of spirit realm
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Formation Masters
As Formation Masters needs to directly infuse their qi while engraving formations, their cultivation is paramount to their work hence their levels are about equal to alchemists for each rank.
Formation Masters are split in 3 ranks in every sub-category
BRONZE GRADE FORMATION MASTERS:
Rank 1 bronze Formation Masters----> Needs to have a cultivation of approximately rank 6 in the qi condensation
Rank 2 bronze Formation Masters----> Cultivation of rank 3 in the earth grade
Rank 3 bronze Formation Masters----> Cultivation of rank 9 in the earth grade
SILVER GRADE FORMATION MASTERS:
Rank 1 silver Formation Masters-----> Needs to have a cultivation of approximately rank 6 in the Heaven grade
Rank 2 silver Formation Masters-----> Cultivation of rank 3 in the spirit realm
Rank 3 silver Formation Masters-----> Cultivation close to the peak of spirit realm
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Magical Beasts
They are split in 9 ranks and each rank is equivalent to the same cultivation stage or stronger
Rank 1 Magical beasts (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Qi condensation cultivators
Rank 2 Magical beasts (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Earth grade
Rank 3 Magical beasts (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Heaven grade
Rank 4 Magical beasts (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Spirit realm
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Body refinement
(Non-introduced yet in chapter 40)
9 ranks
First stage Body refinement (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Qi condensation cultivators
Second stage Body Refinement (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Earth grade
Third Stage Body Refinement (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Heaven grade
Fourth Stage Body Refinement (split into 3 sub-stages early/middle/peak)----> Spirit realm
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Alchemy Ingredients
There are 9 ranks of ingredients and some can directly consumed by cultivators while others have to be refined in pills. Every pill depending on the ingredients used can only reach the same rank, for example :
A pill created from rank 1 herbs can only reach the peak of rank 1 as a pill.
The pills are also split in low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and top-grade (Not introduced yet in chapter 40)
Rank 1 Pill----> Qi condensation cultivators -->Bronze grade 1 alchemist can refine rank 1 pills
Rank 2 Pill----> Earth grade?---> Bronze grade 2 and grade 3 alchemists can refine rank 2 pills
Rank 3 Pill----> Heaven grade--> Silver grade 1 alchemist can refine rank 3 pills
Rank 4 Pill----> Spirit realm ----> Silver grade 2 and grade 3 alchemist can refine rank 4 pills
Chapter 1 - 1 A Life like death
Chapter 1 - 1 A Life like death
The sun slowly rose in the Guangdong province of China.
In aplex of abandoned apartments scheduled for demolition an rm was ringing at 6:00 am in the morning.
The sound wasing from an almost broken down apartment, a door you couldn''t close properly no matter how hard you pushed, with a chair behind it in a 45 degree angle acting as a lock for the door.
The apartment was medium sized, around 80 s.m. yet it was almost empty inside. A bed mattress was in the middle of the living room along with a small sized table with an rm clock on it. On the side of the room were 10 big water bottles along with some packs of instant noodles.
A body could be seen moving under the nket that was covering the mattress, reaching for the rm clock on the table.
''''Ugh'''' that person groaned after he tapped the rm clock once.
A malnourished body revealed itself from underneath the nket as it slowly rose from the bed.
A young man seemingly around 16-17 years old rose from the mattress as he walked towards the bathroom. The water was cut off since the apartment was abandoned so the young man couldn''t even take a shower in the morning. He grabbed a half empty bottle of water from the table with the rm clock on it, and used it along with his toothbrush to wash his teeth and when he finished, he then gulped down the rest of the water from the bottle. Then he grabbed his work clothes from the table and put them on as he left the apartment.
It was around a 20 minute walk from the apartmentplex until he reached a huge construction site with a lot of warning signs of: ''''Danger'''' and ''''Work in progress''''.
As soon as he walked towards an 8 story half-finished building, the young man heard a voice from behind him shouting ''''ay Rock''''. The voice belonged to a 45 year old man.
''''Good morning uncle'''' said Rock.
Of course Rock wasn''t his real name, but a nickname given to him by the people working in the construction site with him as he didn''t like to talk that much. Rock didn''t have a real name from his parents, he was an orphan, and he grew up in a houseplex owned by the government for orphaned children. The government send food to those houses once a week but it wasn''t enough for the kids there to feed themselves. The orphanages were all full and that''s why the government created these houses and sent food to the children but a lot of them still died due to hunger or illnesses as there was no one to take care of them even when they were ill. Rock stayed there until he was 12. He could fight the other children for the food, but even then it was not enough to feed himself so he decided to leave.
He attended junior high-school in a public school not far away from the house he lives. It was school in the morning and construction work in the afternoon.
Usually people in the construction sites didn''t allow kids at work, considering it was illegal but due to the low wages, few people went to work at those construction sites, and since lower manpower equaled slow production, the construction manager epted even a kid like Rock with skinny arms and legs, and allowed him to work there, for a pitiful amount of money as his wage of course. Rock wasn''t dissatisfied, as he would finally have enough money every month to feed himself at least.
This situation urred until Rock graduated from high-school but he never stopped working at the construction sites as that was his only way of ie.
It would be a lie to say that he didn''t feel aggrieved. Even working for his food in construction sites without proper security measures was considered normal to him nowadays but he still hoped deep inside that his luck would change one day and his life would take a turn for the better.
For the past half a year that Rock has been working on this construction site, this ''''uncle'''' has taken care of him plenty of times, either by sharing with him food or drinks, or taking care of helping him during work when needed.
Needless to say that rock felt extremely thankful to this man and he also helped him during work whenever possible as well.
''''Haa kid.. i knew you wouldn''t bring breakfast with you again. My wife gave me extra again today so let''s share it together.'''' as soon as he finished his sentence he grabbed a stic bag and took out 2 big water bottles along with 2 sandwiches and 4 rice balls. He split them at 2 portions and gave one to Rock.
The man knew Rock wasn''t one to ept charity so easily so he said ''''Hey kid we have to eat up to start working, you still need to take care of me as this job is really dangerous so eat up.''''
Rock still didn''t respond, until the man spoke again and said: ''''You will treat me to drink again when you get your wage okay kid? Let''s eat!'''' then without even looking at Rock again, the man started eating the food.
Rock didn''t say anything but he also started eating, keeping this gesture of this man deep inside his heart. This middle aged man was the only one who had ever shown any form of care for him, in the 20 years of his life and Rock would never forget this kindness.
After they finished their food, they started their daily work but little did they know that this would be thest day of Rock''s life.
Chapter 2 - 2 Death and Life
Chapter 2 - 2 Death and Life
Rock and the middle aged man were among the first ones toe to work everyday. The man''s wife was pregnant for 6 months and his child would soon be born, so he had to work hard to make ends meet both for his wife as well as his unborn child.
Time flew and soon noon arrived.
Rock was about to finish with the 5th floor and take a break for a few minutes to rehydrate himself, since working under the scorching sun for hours was never good, especially with a body as weak as his, when coincidentally the middle aged uncle also stopped for a break. They started descending from the halfpleted stairs that connected the 5th floor to the 4th, and they had to cross atop a wooden nk to reach the 4th floor.
While they were walking atop the nk, a huge rumbling sound and a tremor started to shake the entire building. Who could expect an earthquake at the worst possible moment, especially one of such magnitude that started shaking the entire structure of the building down to it''s foundations !?
Rock saw the middle aged uncle walking unsteadily to the other side terrified of the earthquake and just as he was about to fall down and crash from the 4th floor directly to the ground, Rock rushed from behind and pushed him using all of his strength, causing the man to almost fly to the other side, saving his life with that push.
Just as the mannded on the other side, even more intense rumbling came from the gap above Rock''s head. A huge mass of debris burried him to the ground and half of the building itself copsed. The middle aged man starting to roar and cry and as soon as the rumbling stopped and the opposite side of the building copsed while the one he was on miraculously stayed intact. He run down as fast as he could and used his bare hands to remove the pieces of rock, ss and concrete that burried Rock.
But it was pointless, the debris was practically a tower at this point, since half of the building had copsed.... it was already a miracle that the other half stayed standing and didn''t fall along with it.
The middle aged man was still crying, his hands bloodied from the pieces of ss stuck in them but he was still removing the debris hoping to save Rock. He felt so guilty that the kid exhanged his life so he can stay alive. He kept going until the other workers came over and stopped him.
Rock had seen the debris fall on his head and understood exactly how unlucky he was as this was practically certain death, yet he didn''t regret saving the man. The middle aged uncle was the only one who had shown care for him, and the thought that went through his mind as he was being burried by the rocks was ''''Ah it''s good since uncle lived.. but it''s truly unfair that my life will end like this''''. The rumbling continued for a while and Rock''s vision turned dark as he cked out.
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Rock tried to slowly open his eyes as his mind started to regain its consciousness, only to discover that his head was about to split apart from a terrifying pain he was feeling. He started wailing left and right as he couldn''t feel anything other than the splitting headache that was about to rip his mind apart.
What Rock didn''t notice was that his body wasn''t burried under any rubble, but was lying on the ground with his face up, on a patch of red grass, right in the middle of a huge thunderstorm with thunder and lightning striking the ground all around him. The bones on both his arms and legs were broken, his head bleeding from behind and his clothes were tattered and full of blood. There was a huge wound on the left side of his chest probably made from a sword or a saber judging by its size. Luckily for Rock it was still a few inches away from his heart
He felt as if something was forcefully being stuffed in his brain, but there was not enough room for it to fit and his brain was about to burst.
Just as a bolt of lightning was about to strike his head, a space tear appeared above him and the lightning was swallowed and disappeared inside it.
A stone slowly left the space tear in the air and as soon as it appeared, heaven and earth went silent.
A few miles away the people of Blue Forest-city all grew still. Pedestrians were frozen mid-walking, people in restaurants were frozen while they were chatting andughing or eating, stall owners haggling to sell their merchandise were immobilized, and even the fires the taverns and the food stall owners used to cook, were in a frozen-like state.
Bolts of lightning all around Rock were stopped in ce like a painting in the air, as if the very heavens themselves were afraid to move as soon as this stone appeared.
This triangle shaped stone released a blindingly bright azure light that destroyed the ck clouds and the bolts of lightning frozen mid air around Rock, along with everything else in a radius of one mile of Rock.
Rock suddenly felt the change in the environment around him and finally opened his eyes, forcibly suppressing the head splitting pain he was feeling which had slowly started to ease, only to see a blue like light from a triangle shaped-like stone right above the space between his eyebrows, plunging itself right inside his head.
Chapter 3 - 3 Shun Long
Chapter 3 - 3 Shun Long
As soon as Rock''s eyes met the stone, the stone immediately plunged itself right into the space between his eyebrows bringing a pain so unbearable, that if you couldpare the pain he felt previously to a small stream of ice slowly entering and chilling his brain, then this one felt like an entire ice mountain that was about to crush him wholly.
Not a single person in the entirety of Blue Forest-city noticed that everything was in a frozen state a few moments ago and that their lives had returned back to normal only when the triangr shaped stone had entered Rock''s be.
However the most miraculous thing wasn''t, that there was not even a single drop of blood when the stone pierced Rock''s head or that it disappeared without leaving behind the slightest sign or even a single scar, but that the body which was full of injuries moments ago, was now magically healing itself.
The broken bones on his arms and legs were being glued together by the blue-like glow that was now emitted from the triangr shaped stone inside Rock''s body, easing the pain his mind was feeling and nourishing his body while it was healing all of his injuries. Even 3 badly fractured ribs of his were rapidly healing along with that horrible injury on his chest. The flesh on his chest was healing and mending itself so fast that the whole process was clearly visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye in one moment and almost over in the next. Anyone seeing this spectacle would be left with their mouths gaping as all they would think would be that the gods themselves hade to personally fix that badly broken body to perfection.
Even the best alchemist of Blue Forest-city Master Lu couldn''t produce a medicine that could heal an injury like that in the blink of an eye.
Forget about healing it in the blink of an eye, even if Master Lu concocted his best medicines, it would still require at least 1 and a half months for an injury like that to heal, don''t even mention the internal injuries or Rock''s broken bones as it would be unknown when and if they could bepletely healed by such a medicine.
Perhaps only an alchemist superior to even Master Lu could possibly bring them back in perfect condition.
An incense stick of time went by and although Rock''s injuries be they internal or external were fully healed he had yet to open his eyes.
The first time he opened them was when the pain had just started subsiding and a new set of memories started to integrate themselves into his mind.
Only then did Rocke to understand that this body of his wasn''t the same as the one he had back on Earth.
He could ''see'' in this new set of memories inside his brain, his own face and body.
He didn''t have a malnourished body anymore and although it wasn''t burly it was paired perfectly with his own face and height.
His body was 173cm (5.7ft) tall with a pretty handsome face and sharp defined features.
He fully understood everything about his current body and where this new set of memories that appeared in his mind and merged together with his old memories came from when his headache finally subsided.
This body originally belonged to Shun Long and Shun Long''s father is Shun Fang a strong formation master of the Sky Fortune Kingdom and the strongest one in the entirety of Blue Forest-city.
Rock was currently lying on the ground, his face pointed towards the sky as more and more memories were flooding in his brain.
His current position was now almost 3 miles away from Blue Forest the famous ce which Blue Forest-city took its name from.
The Blue Forest was a very famous ce within the Sky Fortune Kingdom. It was the only ce in the entire Sky Fortune Kingdom that could be considered both heaven and hell at the same time.
It was extraordinary in the sense that a lot of treasures could be found inside it.
Medicinal ingredients, rare materials that formation masters needed, treasures to increase your cultivation, everything could be found inside if you were lucky enough.
But not just anyone could waltz in and take these things, people usually formed strong teams before even thinking of going inside the Blue Forest and even then... the death rate was above 50%.
How could treasures be so easy to pick up? People would have swept the entire ce clean long ago if it was that easy to take these things from the Blue Forest.
Blue Forest wasn''t only filled with treasures but also powerful magic beasts that lived there, so if you wanted to be rich by adventuring in there and seeking your fortune, you first had to be strong enough.
Powerful magic beasts that could kill even the strongest warriors of the Sky Fortune kingdom were lying in wait deep inside the Blue Forest having formed their own territories, but some treasures were enticing enough for those people to risk their lives so they can get their hands on them. After all the mostmonly shared thought was ''if I can find a priceless treasure and sell it off, wouldn''t I be able to livefortably and luxuriously for the rest of my life?''
Shun Long had 2 bodyguards with him that had been assigned by his father to protect him at all times and he took them along with him this time as he traveled towards the Blue Forest.
Normally Shun Long would never do something so foolish, as to go to the Blue Forest himself since that was simply asking for death, but this time it was different as rumors circted in Blue Forest-city of a precious treasure that could potentially help him open up his blocked meridians and allow him to start cultivating.
However, on their way to the Blue Forest, Shun Long''s group was attacked by 5 people dressed in ck robes and masks, and in the end both of Shun Long''s bodyguards and their horses were killed and even he himself was almost beaten to death, when the lightning storm appeared in the sky and scared off his attackers... but in the end Shun Long still died to his injuries.
However before his soul couldpletely dissipate, Rock''s soul entered his body and inherited his life memories along with his feelings before he died.
Rock finally moved his new body as he sat up from the ground and slowly organized his thoughts properly.
After that he took a deep breath, and then exhaled before saying, unknown whether he was talking to himself or someone else ''''Your soul died but your memories and your feelings all live inside me. I am me but I am also you. I have lived nearly 20 years full of misery and pain and you have lived 16 years of scorn from your peers.'''' His voice was growing louder each passing second as he continued:
''''From today onwards I SHUN LONG will live to be rich so i will never feel hunger again, never to feel the pain from my past life, THIS IS MY OATH TO THE PAST ME.
I SHUN LONG swear to live to be strong enough to soar free and unrestrained by anyone or anything, never to be bound and constrained by others. SO WHAT if i can''t cultivate because of these blocked meridians, I REFUSE to allow myself to be killed again. From today onwards I SWEAR THAT I WILL RATHER BREAK THAN BEND IN MY LIFE. From this day on, I AM SHUN LONG and this is my oath with both the heavens and the earth as my witnesses.''''
As soon as Shun Long finished his words, the triangr stone inside him started vibrating intensely as if influenced by Shun Long''s words and a shocking set of images appeared in his mind.
Chapter 4 - 4 Monarchs Hourglass
Chapter 4 - 4 Monarch''s Hourss
As soon as Shun Long finished his words, the triangr stone inside his mind started vibrating intensely as if influenced by Shun Long''s words and a shocking set of images appeared in his mind.
There were no words, only a very ancient set of images that depicted a person without a distinctive face breathing in a strange pattern. At one time the person was taking a deep breath, and then he repeatedly exhaled in 5 or 6 smaller breaths. The scene changed, showing the same person again, inhaling 6 or 7 times in one breath and then letting it all out through 2 smaller breaths. It looked as if that person was trying to follow a set of breathing pattern. The images then slowly changed and that person stood up and slowly lifted a huge ball-shaped white mountain that had just appeared out of thin air on the ground beside him using both of his hands, and then he slowly lifted it in the air above his head.
Everything shook after that, as the scene grew blurrier until itpletely faded away and a set of words magically imprinted themselves deep inside Shun Long''s soul: ''''Monarch''s Hourss''''.
These words weren''t written in any knownnguage that Shun Long had evere in contact with, neither in this one nor in his previous life and although it all appeared to be a bunch of indistinct ancient symbols and were even slightly blurry, Shun Long was able to clearly understand that the meaning these symbols formed was ''''Monarch''s Hourss'''' as if it was already something carved in his soul.
Shun Long''s consciousness returned to his body as he hurriedly looked to examine the back of his head. He clearly remembered being hit at the ipital bone, which is located in the lower back of his head but not only was there no blood flowing from it now, but there wasn''t even a single bump to prove that he had just been brutally beaten to the ground just a few hours ago.
The blood that had dyed red that patch of grass he was earlier lying on, had long since vanished from the moment when the triangr shaped stone had emitted that blue light to obliterate the lightning that was in the air, along with everything else in a radius of a mile around Shun Long.
Not just the grass, but everything in an area of 1 mile around him was a barren ground without the slightest vegetation anymore, a stark contrast to the area beyond that which was full of grass and flowers.
It looked as if something hadpletely erased every trace of life in an area around him and even the corpses of Shun Long''s 2 dead bodyguards and their 3 horses weren''t an exception to this.
Thankfully for Shun Long his clothes weren''t affected by this or they would havepletely disappeared, but even if they weren''t affected by that, they were still in tatters due to the assassination attack from earlier.
The robe he was wearing was practically almost destroyed now as the part covering his chest had already pretty much disappeared, leaving the entire left part from his chest exposed, all because of those vicious attacks he had suffered earlier that looked to take his life. His right sleeve waspletely torn apart while there were multiple sword cuts on the part that was covering his abdomen.
Shun Long guessed that the reason his injuries were magically healed was most likely due to the triangr shaped rock and he was endlessly grateful to it or his life would have been over before it even begun.
Although to outsiders he would seem to be in a terrible condition due to his clothes, his body didn''t even have a single injury on it and was actually full of energy.
Shun Long finally stood up, and started running at full speed towards the northeast for half an hour before finally stopping as he was left panting.
Blue Forest-city was situated at the north of the Blue Forest and Shun Long had noticed earlier that his assassins were fleeing towards the northwestern direction when that thunderstorm arrived.
So although running towards the northeast would take a longer time for him to arrive at Blue Forest-citypared to if he run straight north, this was much safer since his goal right now was to stay alive.
Shun Long wasn''t an idiot, although he knew his assassins would probably note to find him as they would most likely assume that he had already died due to his injuries. And even if he somehow wasn''t dead with those injuries that they had inflicted on him, he would still die in that thunderstorm. But Shun Long still wouldn''t take the risk, as in the off-chance that those people returned to confirm his death and ended up finding him alive and well, they would definitely finish the job this time.
.....
It took Shun Long 5 hours to reach Blue Forest-city and although the previous Shun Long had lived here for his entire life, this was still the first time for Shun Long who had only seen the Blue Forest-city inside his memories, toy his eyes on the city for the first actual time.
The city''s outline was huge and groups of people wereing and going to and from the city gates all the time.
Even though it was already night time, the activity in Blue Forest-city was just as bustling as it was during the day with people everywhere on the streets and the taverns.
As the city closest to the Blue Forest, its city walls were at 10m(33ft) high and 3m (10ft) thick, and even if an earth rank magical beast came to attack them it wouldn''t be able to shake them in the slightest due to their special formations.
Shun Long followed the people entering the city gates where both pedestrians and carriages could be seen entering, and relying on the memories in his brain he followed the road leading to his home.
People in the city didn''t even spare him a second nce as it was far toomon for people toe in the city with tattered clothes and in some rare cases without any clothes at all after they had gone to adventure into the Blue Forest.
After all, these people wouldn''t connect this boy who was wearing cut down rags, to the son of the strongest formation master in the city.
After a few twists and turns Shun Long was still on the main road when he arrived in front of an estate that had 4m(13ft) tall walls around it and 2 strong warriors were standing guard in front of the main entrance. Both of them were probably around 25 or 26 years old, and if Shun Long had started cultivating, he would understand the auras they were emitting which was at the peak of Qi condensation.
When the guards saw the young man in ripped clothes approaching, one of the two took one step forward and raised his left hand as he was about to shout ''''halt'''', with his right hand rested on his sword ready to unsheathe it if that person kept walking towards the estate.
Shun Long paid no mind to the guard as he kept walking towards the entrance of the estate, and when the guard noticed the young man''s face, recognising that it belonged to the young master, he hastily knelt down on one knee saluting.
Just as Shun Long was about to walk through the estate gates, a rumbling sound could be heard from behind him along with an enraged voice that was heard a few meters away from the estate, forcing Shun Long''s steps toe to a halt.
Chapter 5 - 5 Parents
Chapter 5 - 5 Parents
The roaring voice shook the entire Shun estate to its core and even the servants and the guards inside all hastily knelt down in fear.
Outside of the Shun estate the pedestrians around went pale from fear as a carriage rushed quickly towards the estate''s gates. The carriage stopped a few meters away from Shun Long and the driver quickly reigned in the horses and hastily fell on his knees, when the door of the carriage was suddenly kicked from the inside, and ended up flying through the air until it collided with the estate''s walls and instantly broke into fragmented pieces of wood and scattered to the ground.
From the inside of the carriage a furious man in his early 40s jumped down, the ground slightly shaking from the impact when hended. The man was tall, over 1.80m (5.11ft) and dressed in luxurious blue clothes. His facial features were sharp and he had thick eyebrows, his nose was straight and his body build was burly. His ck eyes had almost turned scarlet at this point and his hair was standing on edge from the rage and aura he was exuding.
He furiously walked towards Shun Long each step of his shaking the earth around him, and before Shun Long could react he felt his shoulders being pressured so badly that his bones were hurting from it.
The man stared deeply in Shun Long''s eyes and then roared at the 2 guards who were standing guard in front of the estate earlier, but were now kneeling on the ground in fear, in a voice so loud that it could be heard through the entire Blue Forest-city ''''SUMMON ALCHEMIST LU''''.
Then the man didn''t even wait for Shun Long to speak as he dragged him to the main hall of the estate and forced him to lie down on a bed that the servants had just brought over to the hall. After he checked Shun Long''s body thoroughly for any injuries but not finding anything in the end, the man finally exhaled in relief as if he had been holding that one breath this entire time.
Shun Long hadn''t cried in his past life no matter what hardsh.i.p.s he may had suffered, no matter how terrible a pain his previously malnourished body may have felt, but for the first time in his life his eyes turned red as 2 drops of tears spilled from the corners of his eyes.
Then in a voice choked and full of emotion he finally said one word
''''Father.''''
A word he never had the chance to utter in his past life, and also a word he had always strongly felt that he would never want to say in his life.
Even though the original Shun Long had a deep rtionship with his parents, Shun Long now wasn''t just the previous Shun Long''s soul.
An abandoned orphan who had to work for everything his entire life, never having a single person to show him what true family love and concern was like, finally had all his mental barriers broken after seeing the concern and love along with rage in Shun Fang''s eyes and he could truly feel that deep affection and care that this man was harboring towards him.
Just as Shun Fang was about to ask his son what had happened for him to return home in such a state, a beautiful woman in herte thirties entered the hall. As soon as Shun An noticed her son''s destroyed clothes she instantly assumed the worse and rushed to hug him as her eyes instantly burst in tears.
Shun Long felt a feeling from Shun An simr to the one he was feeling from Shun Fang.
''''Mother'''' he thought inside his head and truly felt what motherly love felt like, as he used both of his arms to hug both his father and his mother.
An unclocking sound could be heard inside his mind, as an ancient book silently appeared next to the triangr stone in his mind, but Shun Long had no time to check it as his parents both sat in front of him and Shun Fang finally asked, with hints of anger obvious in his voice:
''''I only left Blue Forest-city for 8 days, what happened while i was gone? How did my son got hurt so badly and where are Gu Yi and Gu Shi?''''
Shun Fang and Shun An both wanted to know how their son ended up in such a state especially with Gu Yi and Gu Shi.
Could it be that Gu Yi and Gu Shi didn''t do their job properly? But they had both always followed Shun long whenever he left the estate.
''''Father, Gu Yi and Gu Shi both died protecting me today.'''' Shun Long said his voice stone cold but a hint of furious anger could be discerned from it.
''''What happened?'''' Shun Fang and Shun An asked shocked.
Gu Yi and Gu Shi were both Shun Long''s bodyguards and Gu Yi was even an early rank 2 earth rank expert whereas Gu Shi was a peak rank 1 earth rank expert. Even in the entire Blue Forest-city Gu Yi and Gu Shi were considered rtively strong experts which is why Shun Fang would have never believed this if this had came out from the mouth of anyone else apart from his son''s.
Cultivation started from Qi condensation rank 1 to rank 9 and the levels in each rank were divided into early, mid and peak. After the Qi condensation level was the earth rank, so 2 strong earth rank cultivators dying was a truly shocking matter.
''''Rumors were circting that someone in the outskirts of Blue Forest, found a ''red pine fruit''. '''' answered Shun Long.
''''Father you know that my meridians are blocked and I can''t cultivate but if I could fine the ''red pine fruit'' and ask Master Lu to concoct the meridian opening pill for me, I could finally start cultivating.''''
Before Shun Fang had a chance to interject Shun Long continued
''''I know you have always felt bad because I can''t cultivate and have also searched for the red pine fruit and other solutions for me, even if you have never said this yourself I know it''s true.'''' said Shun Long.
Shun Fang didn''t say anything and his face turned slightly red. He didn''t want his son to find out but he had always felt regret that Shun Long was unable to cultivate so he had always searched for possible solutions both inside Blue Forest-city or in the Imperial capital.
Shun Fang himself had ventured into the Blue Forest plenty of times but so far he had never found what he needed for his son.
''''So this time, hearing that someone found the ''red pine fruit'' while you were in the imperial capital, I couldn''t stay still so I asked for both Gu Yi and Gu Shi toe with me together to the Blue Forest. After all my n was only to search around the Blue Forest''s outskirts and with 2 earth rank experts apanying me the chance of running into danger was truly low.
But who could have known that we would get ambushed on the way by 5 masked people wearing ck robes?!'''' said Shun Long in an angry voice.
Shun Fang and Shun An understood. If 5 masked people ambushed and attacked 2 earth rank experts then most likely the person behind this assasination was someone who wanted to harm the Shun family by killing off their heir instead of just finishing of his 2 bodyguards and then kindly letting Shun Long go.
Shun Long exined how these people encircled and attacked their group, and how in the end they got scared off by the sudden lightning storm and ended up fleeing before finishing the job.
Shun Fang and Shun An were both d and sighed in relief, thankful for their child''s luck and how he managed to escape from such a death trap, when suddenly a guard entered the hall, knelt down on 1 knee and said:
''''My lord, alchemist master Lu has arrived.''''
Chapter 6 - 6 Are you sure
Chapter 6 - 6 Are you sure
''''My lord, alchemist master Lu has arrived.''''
''''Quickly invite him in.'''' Shun Fang said in slight anxiousness.
Although he had learned the majority of what happened to Shun Long when he went to the Blue Forest, and despite the fact that his body had no obvious signs of any injury, Shun Fang and Shun An couldn''t help but worry with fear for any internal injuries inside their son''s body, so having Master Lu examine Shun Long was extremely urgent to them.
When the doors of the main hall opened again Shun Fang and Shun An stood up while Shun Long remained in a sitting position on the bed in the center of the room. This wasn''t because he wanted to intentionally act rude, but that Shun Fang had instructed him that until alchemist Lu had verified that his body is truly healthy and uninjured, he is not to move from his position.
Shun Long could feel the concern his parents were showing him, so he couldn''t go against their wishes right now.
A white robed young man in histe twenties walked inside the hall.
This was alchemist Lu a genius of the Sky Fortune Kingdom and the best alchemist in the entire Blue Forest-city, while being only 28 years old.
''''Greetings alchemist Lu'''' said Shun Fang while cupping his fists.
''''Greetings formation master Shun'''' said Lu Wen as he bowed slightly to Shun Fang while also cupping his fists.
Alchemist Lu''s full name was Lu Wen and he was known to be a slightly arrogant but extremely talented alchemist. At the young age of 28 he was already a certified rank 2 bronze alchemist. After all people needed alchemists to help them concoct pills either for their cultivation or to treat injuries, so Lu Wen knowing that people needed his skills, and were always acting respectful around him satisfied his vanity and slightly fueled his ego. However even though Lu Wen was a slightly arrogant person and considered himself to be standing above the others being a rank 2 bronze alchemist, he didn''t try to put on any airs in front of Shun Fang, as Shun Fang''s status as a formation master didn''t lose out in front of his status as an alchemist, moreover Shun Fang was a peak rank 3 bronze grade formation master which even made his status higher than Lu Wen''s own.
Alchemists and Formation masters truly were 2 of the most lucrative and highly sought upations in the continent, so people of these upations considered themselves to be standing above the rest.
However alchemists and formation masters also needed each other. Alchemists sold pills, that enhanced people''s cultivation and could help them treat their injuries, deal with poison etc. whereas formation masters could create formations around the alchemists rooms to iste noise so they don''t get distracted during the refinement process, or create defensive formations that could help them protect their homes, but most importantly, they created the cauldrons that alchemists used and engraved they formations inside them that assisted the alchemists with the concoction of their pills. Formation masters also often helped the alchemists with the maintenance of their cauldrons. After all it wasmon for alchemists to fail in their concoctions with their cauldrons asionally blowing up and harming the formations inside them, so if the alchemists didn''t take good care of their cauldrons and the formations inside ended up fading, the cauldron would eventually end up as a useless mass of iron.
''''Formation master Shun, I heard from your guards that something happened to young master Shun, please allow me check his condition'''' Lu Wen went straight to the point as soon as they finished their greetings.
Shun Fang was happy that Lu Wen got straight to the point of his visit as he also didn''t like useless talk and said ''''Please alchemist Lu'''' as gestured for Lu Wen to move towards the center of the hall where the bed that Shun Long was sitting on was ced at.
Lu Wen saw the weird appearance of young master Shun''s and was taken aback.
Shun Long hadn''t had any time to change his clothes, as Shun Fang had dragged him to the main hall as soon as they returned in the estate. Then his Shun An had also entered the hall and they bombarded him with a barrage of questions. By the time he had finished exining what had happened alchemist Lu had already arrived so it was toote to change clothes now.
Lu Wen''s sharp eyes could easily tell that Shun Long''s clothes were destroyed by some kind sharp weapon, most likely by a sword, but what he couldn''t wrap his head around was this:
''''How is this kid''s body fine if he was attacked by sharp swords or sabers when the entire Blue Forest-city knows that he can''t even cultivate?''''
What Lu Wen didn''t know was that Shun Long''s parents also had the same question but before they could ask their son, the guards had already announced his arrival.
Lu Wen examined Shun Long''s body thoroughly but found no abnormalities.
It had to be known that alchemists excelled in using their spiritual strength, and that the most important requirement to be an alchemist was to have a good amount of spiritual strength along with a strong affinity for fire, wheras formation masters could use both their qibined with their spiritual strength while the most important requirements for them were a decent amount of spiritual strength along with a strong affinity to control the earth. However although it may seem as formation masters and alchemists both needed a good amount of spiritual strength as a prerequisite, in reality alchemists needed more than 5 times the amount of spiritual strength that formation masters did. That was because alchemists could use, only their spiritual strength when they refined pills and they couldn''t borrow any form of external help like their qi, the same way that formation masters could, so the amount of spiritual strength an alchemist had was paramount to them.
Although Lu Wen was only a bronze rank grade 2 alchemist, his spiritual strength was a good 3-4 times higher than Shun Fang and he could directly use it to examine Shun Long''s body from the inside.
The moment Lu Wen started examining Shun Long''s body using his spiritual strength his jaw involuntarily opened wide.
As soon as he finished the examination of Shun Long''s body Lu Wen couldn''t help but blurt out
''''Are you certain that your son is a cripple?''''
Chapter 7 - 7 What happened
Chapter 7 - 7 What happened
''''Are you certain that your son is a cripple?''''
''''..you certain that your son is a cripple?''''
'''' ..your son is a cripple?''''
''''..cripple?''''
These words repeatedly echoed inside Shun Fang''s head and as if a dynamite had exploded, his aura burst out of his body, like a torrential wave that was looking to submerge and drown ''alchemist Lu''.
Even the quiet Shun An frowned as her gaze towards Lu Wen instantly turned icy.
Shun fang hated it when people called his son a cripple.
There was an incident a few years back at the imperial capital, when another rank 3 bronze formation master called Shun Long ''a useless cripple unable to cultivate'' in front of Shun Fang and as a result Shun Fang broke that persons legs and ended up almost entirely crippling him. It was only after a lot of people pleaded on his behalf for Shun Fang to let him live, that Shun Fang did ended up letting him off but not before he had finished venting his anger on him. In the end that formation master was almost crippled with shattered arm bones and fingers and both legs broken but luckily for him Shun Fang didn''t go any further, else even if this formation master hadn''t died, he would surely have ended up as a cripple.
Alchemist Lu knew that what he had said was wrong and that Shun Fang would never allow anyone to insult his own son, let alone in front of him which was why he burst out like that.
If Lu Wen wasn''t invited by him to check up on his son, he would have already sent him flying in the air with a single p, but even now, it was still nearly impossible for him to reign in his temper any longer. Shun Fang even felt that Lu Wen was almost intentionally provoking him by mentioning his son''s matter like that, and not only just in front of him, but in front of his son and his wife as well.
Alchemist Lu knew that things were slightly bad now and that he had made a blunder so he quickly said as he bowed his head as a form of apology in Shun Fang''s direction while cupping his hands at him and the frosty Shun An behind him
''''Please calm your anger master Shun and listen to what I have to say.
It was rumored that young master Shun''s meridians were blocked and almost crippled, that he could never cultivate unless he consumed a meridian opening pill or some other heaven defying pill if he wanted to ever unblock his clogged up meridians, right?''''
It seemed as if Lu Wen was talking to Shun Fang but also to himself as if he was looking to verify that what he was saying was correct while he continued
''''But I have heard that in the past, even master Fu himself, a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist had personallye to examine young master Shuns body and ended up saying that this condition was incurable without special pills like the Meridian Opening pill, as all the meridians in his body where the qi is supposed to flow from, were all filled with blood and that was blocking every attempt of qi cirction or absorption.''''
Shun Fang didn''t answer and just inly nodded, his anger also had already eased a great deal, but his heart was now aching with pain for his sons condition.
''''What is your point master Lu?'''' asked Shun An somewhat irritated. It was obvious that she hadn''t forgiven Lu Wen''s previous transgression of calling her son a cripple.
Lu Wen continued as if he was in his own world right now, his eyes having an absent-minded look in them as he looked at his own hands almost as if he was pondering something and after a few moments of silence he continued saying
''''There are 2 things that I don''t understand'''' said Lu Wen as he turned his head to look at Shun Long properly for the first time since his visit.
Looking at Shun Long''s deep and unpertubed ck eyes Lu Wen''s brain kept pondering possible scenarios as his gaze then lowered to observe Shun Long''s destroyed clothes, especially the area around the left side of his chest that had almost no fabric left on it.
Lu Wen took a breath as if he was organizing his thoughts and then said
''''It is obvious that young master Shun was attacked at some point today. I also normally wouldn''t ask why or how someone who is asking for my services got injured... but... there are no injuries in your sons body internally or externally. But if that was all it was then it wouldn''t have been that big of a deal, but the most shocking thing is his meridians.
Your son obviously has never cultivated in his life, but his meridians right now arepletely unblocked and unclogged, free from any blood that was hindering the qi from circting inside them.
Do you understand what I''m trying to say here? There is no way your son is any longer a cripple.''''
When Shun Fang heard Lu Wen''s words, not only did he not get angry at the mention of the word ''cripple'' anymore, but his eyes teared up as he turned around to hug Shun An who was behind him and also started sobbing, their eyes both moist with tears of joy.
Lu Wen turned his gaze from Shun Fang back to Shun Long and was shocked to see that same unperturbed expression on his face as if what he had just said now didn''t concern him at all or perhaps Shun Long already knew that and that''s why he didn''t seem to feel any surprise from Lu Wen''s words, and was instead looking at his father and mother with a slight smile hanging at the corner of his lips.
Lu Wen was now fighting internally with himself, but in the end he couldn''t hold himself back any longer and asked in a voice which fully betrayed his curiosity ''''Young master Shun, can you tell me what happened to your meridians?''''
Chapter 8 - 8 Shun Fangs scheme
Chapter 8 - 8 Shun Fang''s scheme
As soon as Lu Wen finished his words, Shun Fang and Shun An both looked over at Shun Long. They too wanted to know how their son was healed.
Actually Shun Long didn''t have to answer Lu Wen''s questions and satisfy his curiosity if he really didn''t want to do so, but this was still part of Shun Long''s n so he decided to nod and exin ''what had happened''. His parents were also curious as to how Shun Long had healed since he had mentioned earlier that his body was originally full of injuries and he was even brought on the brink of death when those masked people attacked him, before they eventually fled the scene.
Earlier Shun Long didn''t have the time to finish his exnation when Lu Wen arrived at the hall, so he could only postpone it, but since Lu Wen asked it was the perfect time to present his exnation.
Shun Long turned to look at his parents who nodded at him and he then started exining
''''Originally I was attacked by some people and was left to die bleeding on the ground when a thunderstorm erupted, a few hours ago abot 3 miles away from the Blue Forest. Then just as I was about to die an elderly person that was flying close to me, grabbed me and rescued me from the storm. When he saw the injuries on my body, he gave me some mysterious pill and when I swallowed it my injuries started healing instantly. Then after an incense stick of time had passed my my injuries had already healed and not even a scar was left behind. It was truly miraculous. But then the elder abruptly left as soon as he saw that my injuries had healed and I didn''t even have the time to ask for his name as he soared in the sky and flew towards the east.''''
Shun Fang, Shun An and Lu Wen were all speechless.
''How could this kids'' luck be so good'' all 3 of them thought at the same time and didn''t even doubt his story as it madepletely perfect sense. So that''s how he stayed alive and his injuries were healed along with his meridians.
Alchemist Lu was so jealous when he heard this that his face almost turned green from envy.
How high level of an expert would that person have to be to casually give away such a miraculous pill to a kid he had never even met before. It had to be known that cultivators needed to have at least reached the Heaven tier if they wanted to fly in the air. Chances are that such a person was also an alchemist since he could produce such a miraculous pill so easily or at the very least he had to have a close connection with a high level alchemist, so if Lu Wen could meet such a person and obtain even the slightest guidance from him, his benefits would have been immeasurable.
On the other hand Shun Fang and Shun An''s faces went red with excitement.
Not only had their son met a high level expert who had healed his injuries, but that person had also solved the problem that was guing their son since his birth.
When Lu Wen got the answer to his questions he sighed in a tone filled with envy and regret, as he turned his sight from Shun Long to Shun Fang and Shun An, cupped his fists and said
''''Formation master Shun, congrattions, young master Shun will definitely soar in the future now that his meridians are healed. I will take my leave for the night if there is nothing else.''''
Shun Fang also cupped his fists at Lu Wen and said
''''Alchemist Lu thank you for your help today, ept this gift of mine as a token of my family''s gratitude since you came here sote in the night.'''' Shun Fang then pped his hands 2 times and two guards opened the doors of the main hall with another 2 following behind them, while carrying a big heavy looking iron cauldron. The cauldron had runes and lines carved on it''s outer surface while it''s lid was made of pure silver.
As soon as Lu Wen saw the cauldron his eyes shone with desire and he couldn''t wait to return to his home and throw away his old cauldron and rece it with this one. Although Lu Wen was a genius alchemist famous in the entire Blue Forest-city, his current cauldron was only of rank 2 bronze grade, whereas the cauldron that Shun Fang had just gifted him was already a full rank higher, a pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade cauldron. As an alchemist he could obviously tell the grade of this cauldron even from a distance. It was said that only pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade alchemists had such cauldrons, and even some silver grade alchemists were using top grade 3 bronze rank cauldrons as well, since finding a silver grade cauldron was truly extremely difficult.
''''Help alchemist Lu arrive home safely'''' Shun Fang ordered the 4 guards that had just entered the main hall.
''''I also hope that alchemist Lu will not speak to anyone of todays matters'''' Shun Fang said casually, but this was actually the most important part of their conversation.
Lu Wen was extremely happy and knew that he owed Shun Fang a huge favor for this as a grade 3 bronze rank cauldron wasn''t something you could buy easily, let alone one that was at the pinnacle of it''s grade.
Lu Wen answered
''''Please be at ease formation master Shun, I Lu Wen am not that kind of person'''' answered Lu Wen as he cupped his fists one more time and then followed the guards outside.
He also understood what Shun Fang''s words meant and knew that he couldn''t divulge today''s matters regardless. Just the fact that the expert who saved his son, Shun Long, could fly into the air, meant that that person had to be at least a Heaven grade expert. It was also highly probable that that person was also a high grade alchemist as well and so Lu Wen couldn''t and wouldn''t casually discuss such a persons private matters for fear of bringing a disaster upon himself.
When Lu Wen left, Shun Fang looked at his son with eyes full of happiness and gratitude as he said
''''Little brat your father knows that your body is alright and I am finally at ease, but you went through a lot of stuff today, so you should go and rest. Tomorrow we will go together and choose a cultivation technique that suits you HAHAHA.''''
Then without waiting for Shun Long to reply Shun Fang quickly and happily left the hall with Shun An by his side, both of them smiling happily.
The servants were startled to see Shun Fang and Shun An smiling so brightly as they left the hall and headed to their courtyard
Shun Long also followed his memories and as soon as he left the main hall he started walking towards his own room as well.
Shun An suddenly stopped while they were walking and asked Shun Fang in a slightly serious tone
''''Although Master Lu came today, he didn''t do anything aside from an examination, isn''t it too much to give him a pinnacle grade 3 bronze cauldron as a gift? After all he wouldn''t dare to discuss today''s matters that easily, especially when they involve a person who is most likely a Heaven grade expert. Did you do it just to make sure that he wouldn''t tell anyone about Long''ers recovery?''''
Shun An asked as if she had juste to an epiphany. Although she was a very smart woman, she wasn''t as used to dealing with people as Shun Fang, so it took her a while to see through Shun Fang''s intentions.
But Shun Fang was an old fox and his aim wasn''t just that so he exined to his wife
''''Even if it was just to make sure that Lu Wen stays silent, for a matter that involves my, Shun Fang''s son then it would still be worth it. I don''t want people to know yet that Long''er is alright since he was nearly assasinated today, but I also gave him the cauldron because of Lu Wen himself.''''
Shun An looked at Shun Fang but she didn''t understand what he meant. Isn''t Lu Wen just a grade 2 bronze rank alchemist? Although he is talented, he isn''t the best in the entire Sky Fortune Kingdom, and many grade 2 and even grade 3 alchemists would jump in delight at the opportunity to get their hands on such a treasure. As if looking through Shun An''s thoughts, Shun Fang said
''''Lu Wen may just be a bronze grade 2 alchemist but that''s only for now. It will probably take less than a year for him to reach bronze grade 3. At that time having a talented grade 3 alchemist help my son when he needs him will definitely be worth this investment.''''
Shun An looked at Shun Fang''s bright eyes in shock and asked as if she had just understood his intentions
''''Do you mean that you intend for Long''er to..?!''''
''''Yes'''' Shun Fang answered immediately in a voice full of confidence and a tinge of pride in it. Then he continued and with a murderous look slowly filling his eyes he said
''''If any stray dogs think that they can juste and try to kill my son without any repercussions, then they really are naive. They better pray I don''t find who was behind that attack or else..''''
Shun Fang finished his sentence and then harrumped, as if he was trying release part of his pent up anger that suddenly filled him when he mentioned Shun Long''s assasination attack again, as he and Shun An walked to their room to rest.
Shun Long then reached his courtyard, and walked straight towards the biggest room at the center. His room had 5 big wooden bookshelves inside it, all of them filled with all kind of books, with subjects that involved, alchemy, formations, cultivation etc. Shun Long directly locked the door as soon as he entered the room and walked toward the bed that was situated at the side of the room opposite to the bookshelves. He decided to sit down at the center of his bed with his legs crossed and as he closed his eyes his thoughts drifted towards the triangr shaped stone in his mind.
Chapter 9 - 9 Explosive increase in cultivation
Chapter 9 - 9 Explosive increase in cultivation
Shun Long finally sat down cross legged and started meditating on his bed. As soon as he thought of the triangr shaped stone, his mind instantly transformed into a stream that appeared inside his head, and he saw the stone floating with a golden book next to it.
Shun Long was startled, he didn''t know how that golden book had appeared next to the stone. He then remembered a sound that he had felt inside his brain earlier, and after that the feeling of his soul getting rid of a pair of shackles that had always weighted him down hade.
Shun Long''s counsciousness moved towards the golden book, but there was no reaction no matter what he did.
After trying for a while, he turned his sights back towards the triangr shaped stone.
As soon as his thoughts drifted towards it, the stone sucked in his consciousness and Shun Long felt his body appearing in an empty space.
''''How many more secrets do you hold'''' Shun Long said as he thought of the triangr shaped stone magical abilities, the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and the ''golden book''.
Then Shun Long tried to circte the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' art and an indistinct figure of an hourss formed around his body.
As soon as Shun Long followed the breathing technique of the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' art, his meridians started absorbing the qi that came in contact with his body.
This was how people of the Qi cirction level cultivated---> they absorbed the qi in the air that came in direct contact with their body through their meridians, they then circted their cultivation technique and turned that qi into their own energy.
Shun Long also followed this principle, but he kept directing all the energy he was absorbing into his right hand, slowly forming a ball of qi that kept growing each second.
Only when Shun Long felt that the ball had finally reached saturation and wouldn''t absorb any more energy did he finally stop and lifted it in the air as he pushed it in the space above his head.
Imagine that you are inside the bottom part of an hourss and you create a big ball in your hand and then you shove that ball in the opening hole above your head that exists between the top and the bottom part of the hourss where the sand usually flows from.
Well in this particr hourss there was no sand, only that ball that was too big to fit in that tiny hole, but Shun Long kept pushing and pushing until the ballpressed itself and finally went through the hole to enter the top part of the hourss, ''sitting'' there peacefully as if it was floating above Shun Long''s head.
As soon as the ball went through the hole, Shun Long felt that all the energy inside the ball was coursing through his body and that it belonged to him now. Shun Long didn''t stop and repeated this process 2 more times until a bang came from inside his body.
Shun Long was drenched in sweat but was infinitely happy as he had finally reached the early rank 1 Qi cirction stage.
He didn''t stop and kept repeating this process again and again until 5 hours had passed and he had finally reached the rank 2 peak of the qi cirction.
Just a little more and he could reach the early rank 3, but Shun Long had noticed that everytime he repeated the process of pushing the balls inside, he would also face the pressure from the previous balls of qi he had created which made it harder to advance everytime.
Finally Shun Long decided to stop for today.
He imagined himself leaving the triangr stone space and he found himself back in his room.
His tired body finally went to rest after an exhausting day.
When he woke up it was already past noon.
Shun Long decided to fill his stomach in the dining hall before going to see his father.
What shocked Shun Long was that Shun Fang hadn''t recognized that Shun Long was at the peak of grade 2 qi cirction already, and took him to his personal study so he could choose a cultivation technique for himself.
Shun Long assumed that as long as he didn''t intentionally expose his cultivation, others would have a hard time figuring out his realm.
Shun Long didn''t need another cultivation technique since he had the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' art, but still decided to choose one for himself since he couldn''t tell Shun Fang about the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' or he would have no way to exin how he got it, and in the end he settled for a technique called ''Pulverizing Gravity art''.
Shun Long then returned to his room and sent his mind to his spiritual space. He finally understood that the space the triangr stone was upying in his mind was his spiritual space that the stone had forcibly opened when it had merged with him.
Shun Long had also felt his spiritual strength increasing rapidly everytime he advanced a realmst night.
He sat down on his bed again and continued cultivating...
5 days passed in the blink of an eye and Shun Long was just a step away from reaching the 5th rank of qi cirction.
If Shun Fang learned about the speed of his advancements he would probably be frightened to death.
A normal qi cirction cultivator, would need at least 2 months to reach the early rank 4 level of qi cirction and Shun Long was already at rank 4 peak after only 5 days.
7 more days went by and Shun Long had reached the peak of rank 6 in qi cirction.
Other people needed 7-8 months to reach the peak of rank 6 and Shun Long had already reached that level in just 12 days.. that was a truly monstrous speed of advancement.
Finally the pressure he felt from the previous balls of qi when as he tried to push the 55th ball of qi through the opening was too much and in the end he failed to enter the early rank 7.
Shun Long understood that he couldn''t yet fully control all of his strength.
He needed to pressure his body more as just cultivating inside his room wasn''t enough.
Almost half a month had passed by now since Shun Long''s assasination attempt near the Blue Forest, and Shun Long hadn''t left his room once since he had picked a cultivation technique with Shun Fang.
Servants would daily leave the food in front of his door and even a rumor had started circting inside the estate that their young master was mentally traumatized and afraid to leave his room after he came back with tattered clothes about a fortnight ago.
Shun Fang and Shun An didn''t try to put an end to the rumors of the servants as that served as a perfect cover for Shun Long, who has been cultivating non-stop to make up for the lost time he had lost as a cripple in the past.
Finally after 13 days, Shun Long left his room and decided to go and find some guards to spar with so he would understand how to bring out 100% of his current power, which was precisely what he needed to do if he wanted to reach the early 7th rank of qi cirction.
In reality, if Shun Long hadn''t reached a bottleneck in his cultivation he would have stayed in his room until he reached the earth rank or perhaps even higher, but now he understood that he first needed to adapt to his new strength after an explosive increase of his cultivation, before he tried to advance even further.
Before Shun Long could find someone to spar, a maidservant of his mother came to inform him that the Lin family hase for a visit and his father has already requested his presence in the main hall.
Shun Long dismissed the maidservant and headed to the main hall as he tried to recall any memories regarding the Lin family.
Then, just before he reached the doors of the main hall he suddenly stopped and mumbled to himself ''''Oh.. I have a fiancee? How interesting '''' he said as he then opened the doors and entered inside.
Chapter 10 - 10 The shameless Lin family
Chapter 10 - 10 The shameless Lin family
Shun Long''s feet just touched the main hall and as the big 3m(9ft) doors opened, all eyes inside suddenly turned in his direction.
As soon as Shun Long entered the hall apart from his parents sitting at the main seats, he also noticed 3 elders of the Lin family and a middle-aged man all dressed in ck clothes with blue stripes on their chests and sleeves sitting inside, along with a young and rtively pretty girl who was with them, with her back straight as she was seated on her chair, but unfortunately because of the ''straight posture'' she had adopted, people would instantly notice her t chest.
Everything looked normal at first nce, but Shun Long''s past life experience had allowed him to pick on even the most indiscernible of hints, and from their bodynguage how they had seated themselves a fair distance away from Shun Fang and Shun An while being the only guests here, Shun Long understood that this matter had more to it than what meets the eye. After all the reason that Shun Long had survived alone for so long in his past life, was mostly because of his ability to judge people''s intentions based on their slightest movements or gestures.
Shun Fang and Shun An looked at Shun Long with a gentle gaze, but deep inside, Shun Fang''s eyes held a trace of horror.
''''Could it be that there is actually a problem and that''s why Long''er didn''t leave his room for all these days?'''' he asked himself, afraid of finding out the answer as that may send him directly, from the heaven he has been experiencing these days, to the deepest depths of hell.
It was only natural that Shun Fang hypothesized that there was a problem with Shun Long''s cultivation and that he hadn''t yet entered even the 1st rank of qi cirction, otherwise how could his body possibly not emit any aura, if he had already reached it?!
Even if Shun Long had intended to conceal his aura, Shun Fang assumed that as a peak rank 9 earth level cultivator he would have seen through it, and since he didn''t feel anything now that Shun Long had entered the main hall, he naturally felt that his son must have met a problem.
Deep inside him, all these days he and Shun An were patiently waiting, hoping for their son to enter at least the peak of rank 1 in qi cirction, if not the early rank 2, but what he saw now was different to what he expected and that''s why he had assumed that some problem must have urred in Shun Long''s cultivation session.
Shun Long had noticed the trace of shock that shed inside his father''s eyes but acted as if he didn''t even notice anything and smiled at him as he asked
''''Father did you ask for me?''''
''''Nephew Shun has indeed grown even more handsome since thest time we met, congrattions hahaha, in the future you will definitely have droves of beauties waiting for you''''
The main hall instantly turned silent and even a pin drop could be now heard.
Shun Fang''s face frowned and the look in his eyes darkened as he looked at the middle aged man from the Lin family who had just spoken, and with a voice that betrayed his anger he questioned him
''''Lin Shang what the f.u.c.k do you mean by that?''''
Shun Fang had instantly noticed the meaning in Lin Shang''s words. Shun Long would finding some beauties but not someone that belonged in the Lin family.
Had these idiotse to ask him to annul the engagement?
Of course the pretty girl sitting beside Lin Shang was Shun Long''s fiancee in name, and also Lin Shang''s daughter, Lin Wu.
Lin Wu was already 15 years old, just one year younger than Shun Long, and as the daughter of the Lin patriarch she had already reached the rank 5 peak of qi cirction.
Lin Shang was slightly ashamed, but as he thought of his gem of a daughter being stuck in a patch of crippled crap that couldn''t cultivate, along with some other matters that had recently popped up, he steeled his resolve and said as he stood up from his seat
''''Brother Fang please listen to me, I know that Wu''er has been engaged to Shun Long for many years and that Shun Long definitely expected to marry her but some matters have urred so I could only shamelesslye and ask you to please call off the engagement'''' Lin Shang said and then continued in one breath
''''Actually Wu''er has decided to take the entrance test of the ''floating cloud sect'' that will take ce 1 month from now in the pce of the imperial capital. The ''floating cloud sect'' will send their elders to personallye and ept outer court disciples. Everyone knows that your son is crip..*cough* *cough* unable to cultivate due to his meridians, so it would be for the benefit of both of our children to call of the engagement don''t you agree? After all they will be people of 2 different worlds, now that Wu''er will enter the ''floating cloud sect'' and while your son won''t be able to cultivate, my daughter will definitely end up leaving the ''Sky Fortune kingdom'' this time.''''
''''F.U.C.K OFF to the side and don''t call me brother Fang!'' Shun Fang said furiously, his eyes having turned red from his fury, with veins bulging around his temples. His hair was flying behind him in the air as he unleashed his pressure and revealed his aura of a peak rank 9 earth level cultivator, suffocating everyone inside the hall as heughed and said
''''HAHAHA, you shamelesslye and beg me to call of the engagement? HAHAHAHA, you are right, you are truly shameless and your face is so thick that my hand would probably redden from pping you. Did you think that my house is a ce that your tiny Lin family can act as they please at?
- How many times did youe over the years, and by using your status as inws of my family did you SHAMELESSLY BEG ME to help create formations in your home so your family''s territory doesn''t get annexed by high earth rank level experts?
-WHO was the person who begged me on his knees 6 years ago to have his daughter betrothed to my son?
And now you want to ''shamelessly'' beg me to cancel their engagement instead of divorcing you so your daughter''s reputation doesn''t get tarnished? HAHAHAHA!''''
Shun Fangughed furiously and mockingly as he looked at the head and the 3 elders of the Lin family, whose faces had all turned deep red and their fists were all tightly clenched underneath the table, unknown if it was shame or fury that they were feeling.
Shun Long then took a step forward towards the Lin family and Shun Fang instantly retracted his pressure allowing them to breathe, as Shun Long looked at the young girl and asked
''''What do you think?''''
An elder from the Lin family with a long beard then raged as he stood up and shouted
''''Audacious. This is not a ce for children to..''''
But before he could even finish his sentence, Shun Fang''s aura burst out again and the elder that was only at the middle stages of the earth level was instantly swept off his feet from the pressure, and started coughing blood nonstop, as he dyed his clothes and beard red and his body flew in the air, crashing right at the center of the wall opposite to him, and the sound of bones cracking was heard as he crashed and then copsed to the ground twitching.
''''This is not a ce for you to speak so shut your mouth'''' Shun Fang said arrogantly as he looked down from his seat, his gaze stabbing directly at the members of the Lin family.
Shun Long then looked at his ''fiancee'' as he was expecting her to answer his previous question and although this t chested girl didn''t dare to look at Shun Fang, she was still bold enough to raise her eyes and meet Shun Long''s.
Shun Long understood everything from her gaze that was screaming arrogance and pride, as well as ''''I am superior to you and hence I look down on you''''.
Unknown where he had found the courage or the strength to speak from, Lin Shang opened his mouth that was already leaking blood from the corner of his lips, thanks to the unrelenting pressure that Shun Fang had put them under until he said ''''Shun Long you should cons..''''
*pfft*
Lin Shang couldn''t even finish his sentence before he ended up spurting a mouthful of blood, that coincidentallynded on his daughter''s and dyed half her face a deep red colour.
Shun Long didn''t even nce at him or his daughter, after he had noticed that contemptive gaze earlier in Lin Wu''s eyes. He just turned around and shook his head as he walked towards the exit of the main hall and said in a heavily relieved tone as he patted his robes ''''Thank god, for I almost ended up associating with a bunch of trashes this time. Father, destroy this engagement.. destroy it pletely''. ''''
Chapter 11 - 11 The Golden Book reacts
Chapter 11 - 11 The Golden Book reacts
Shun Long had told his father to destroy the engagement pletely'', which showed how dissatisfied he was with the Lin family.
But what he didn''t know was that Shun Fang was even more dissatisfied than him... he was burning with anger. The Lin family wanted to take advantage of him for so many years and then juste and ask for a mutual divorce? These idiots had to be dreaming..
For a woman to get divorced by the man''s side of the family was an extreme insult, as it deemed that woman unfit to marry. Even p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es had better reputations in this world than women who were engaged and then divorced beforepleting the marriage, unless that divorce was mutual from both sides.
A divorce being ''mutual'' here doesn''t refer to both families not wanting their children to marry each other, but it indicated that nothing had happened in-between which would create any suspicions that the woman who had been betrothed to them had been unfaithful.
Even p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es who sold their bodies did it for work, and the men who slept with them did it for enjoyment, but no man would ever want to marry a woman that was engaged with him and yet eyed another man secretly.
That''s why the Lin family went in such pains to beg Shun Fang to mutually end this engagement, or Lin Wu''s reputation would greatly suffer.
But they underestimated Shun Fang''s fury this time. Not only did he kick them out of his estate, but in the next 2 days, word had spread throughout the entire Blue Forest-city and even beyond that, that the Shun family would not ept Lin Wu as their daughter inw and that Shun Long had divorced her.
Shun Long had already heard that the the Lin patriarch''s daughter had already beenbeled as an unfaithful woman in nearly every household of Blue Forest-city in thest 2 days but frankly he didn''t care.
That woman''s family abused their status as their ''inws to be'' for many years and then they wanted to end the engagement without even giving him a proper exnation?
As if Shun Long was naive enough to ept ame half-assed excuse like ''''my daughter will go cultivate in the sect so you have to break up with her now that she decided that, but thank you for being a fat sheep that we could take advantage of for so many years''.
Shun Long easily saw through their lies and understood that there was definitely something else at y here, he just didn''t know what yet.. but one thing was for certain, his feelings for the Lin family couldn''t drop any lower right now.
He even suspected that the attack he had suffered half a month ago, had something to do with the Lin family. He didn''t have any clues back then but now it definitely made sense when he tried to connect the dots. If he died to an assasination, the Lin family could definitely bring up the matter of mutually ending the engagement to Shun Fang as Shun Long would have already been dead , and Shun Fang would have had no valid reason to refuse them then.
The more Shun Long thought about it the more it made sense and his eyes turned colder.
Then he muttered:
''''You better not have had anything to do with this Lin family, or you better watch as I y you to death''''
Shun Long had spent the past 3 days constantly sparring with guards, while revealing more and more of his strength.
In the end he had only revealed a cultivation level of an early rank 5.
He understood that ''Monarch''s Hourss'' was truly a heavenly technique. As long as he didn''t intentionally circte the power inside the balls of qi that he had created and stored in his body, others couldn''t tell his level of cultivation, but Shun Long also assumed that if the disparity between his level and his opponents was too big, then no matter what, he would be seen through in the end.
So to avoid such a situation, he decided to not keep his cultivation hidden any longer, the cultivation of an early rank 5 of course. After all he wouldn''t reveal his full strength for no reason.
It was already miraculous that he had reached the early rank 5 in half a month, Shun Fang and Shun An already found this unbelievable.
He wondered what would they think if he told them that he had already reached rank 6 peak, but in the end he decided not to. That speed of advancement was already too monstrous and he couldn''t exin it, unless he divulged the existence of the ''Monarch''s Hourss and the triangr shaped stone, but these were his biggest secrets and it would surely bring him endless questioning from his parents. Also even if he tried to exin the truth to them it was unsure whether they would believe him, so in the end he decided not to tell them about his real cultivation level yet, after all they were already extremely satisfied with his progress so far and he saw no harm in having a few secrets for his own.
After he had revealed his new strength of an early rank 5, Shun Long could hold his own against a guard who was at the middle of rank 7 in qi condensation.
This was shocking to both Shun Long and the guards as well as Shun Fang who happened to see them sparring.
That was more than 2 full minor levels above Shun Long''s own. If he had used his full cultivation, Shun Long estimated that he could probably fight against a peak rank 8 or even early rank 9. For someone who has been cultivating for only 15 days to fight against ate stage qi condensation cultivator was already unheard of. But for that same someone to fight against an early rank 9 qi condensation who was already almost at the peak of his grade... then even the word crazy wasn''t enough anymore.
After Shun Long had his fill of sparring with the guards, he told his parents that he would stay in his room again for a few days and see if he can advance his strength any further as he also mentioned that he was nning to participate in the ''floating cloud sect''s'' selection test that was taking ce in the imperial pce in 1 month, the same test that Lin Shang had talked about.
Shun Long''s will was to be rich and strong so others couldn''t control him, and he couldn''t achieve this in a ce as small as the Sky Fortune kingdom.
He had already heard from Shun Fang, that Sky Fortune kingdom had more than 100 other kingdoms around it, and that''s just what Shun Fang knew. Who knew how big the actual number was? Could he spend his life in a ce as tiny as the Blue Forest-city?
Originally Shun Long''s parents didn''t have any hope for him to participate in the ''floating cloud sect''s'' selection test that happened every 3 years, even when they had learned that their son''s meridians were cured. But now that they had seen Shun Long''s frightening speed of advancement they were hoping that their son would escape this tiny ce called Sky Fortune kingdom and go cultivate in the behemoth known as the ''floating cloud sect''.
Shun Long had returned to his room sitting cross legged at the center of his bed, as he sent his spiritual strength to his spiritual space, so he would enter the triangr stone''s space once again, when the golden book showed a reaction for the first time.
Chapter 12 - 12 Absorbing knowledge
Chapter 12 - 12 Absorbing knowledge
While Shun Long was sitting peacefully in a cross-legged position atop his bed, an apocalyptic scene was taking ce inside his spiritual space. The golden book had started vibrating inside his spiritual space, and with every passing moment, it was doing so even more intensely.
Every time the golden book vibrated, it was also slowly discharging some kind of heavenly aura which also nourished Shun Long''s spiritual strength every time it came in contact with this aura.
Shun Long then noticed a rune that resembled a lock, as it slowly emerged from the cover of the golden book and it suddenly expanded and binded the golden book, almost as if the rune was trying to seal it.
The book then started struggling desperately as it was trying to rid itself from the rune, but the rune didn''t let up at all, firmly wrapping itself around the golden book.
Just as the book was about to get suppressed by the rune, a tiny fluctuation came from the triangr stone that had stayed silent all this time, and a heavenly pressure radiated from it, that seemed as if it hade from the start of time.
Then the stone sent a small stream of blue light straight towards the rune.
The rune-lock that was suppressing the golden book instantly released it''s hold as it tried to flee, but that tiny fluctuation from the triangr stone had already sealed time and space inside Shun Long''s spiritual space, and the rune couldn''t even move. It tried to instinctively vibrate and rid itself from the temporal restrictions that the little stone had ced around them, but before it could even do anything, the triangr shaped stone instantly released a force that sucked the rune inside it, and then as the temporal restrictions retracted, as everything returned to normal.
The previously suppressed golden book instantly erupted with a burst of golden light, as for the very first time, it''s cover instantly opened to reveal a blindingly bright white page.
As soon as the white page was revealed, the book released a startling kind of force that tried to absorb Shun Long''s spiritual strength inside it.
A person''s spiritual strength was practically their consciousness. If their consciousness was lost or destroyed they would be practically dead.
They would turn into a weed, a body without a consciousness.
Shun Long tried to resist the force from the golden book by retracting his counsciousness back to his mind.
''''F.u.c.k, what is this? Am i really going to be a weed after just reincarnating?''''
He was terrified to see that his consciousness had already arrived in front of the white page, when the golden book instantly absorbed him.
His entire spiritual strength had now left his body, which had now turned into an empty shell.
-
-
-
Shun Long however was startled to see that he was not dead, but he was also shocked because he didn''t have a corporeal body anymore.
Not just a corporeal body, he didn''t have anything aside from his spiritual strength, his consciousness and his thoughts.
There was nothing in front of him, just endless white that covered everything as far as the eyes could see.
All of a sudden the scene in front of him changed..
A nt appeared right out of nowhere, one that he had never seen before, and yet, just by looking at it this time, a sudden influx of information appeared in his brain that told him everything about the nt..
How many stem cells the nt consisted of, how the nt would react in different temperatures, what are its leaves consisted of, how many years does it take for the nt to mature, what is needed for it to mature faster, what are the ideal conditions to nurture it, what are the nts properties and how it can be used, along with all of it''s special individual properties..
''''My brain feels like it will explode any second now'''' Shun Long thought as he suddenly felt that needles were piercing his consciousness... sadly this was only the beginning of his suffering
-
-
-
''''AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH''''
Shun Long suddenly roared, as billions of scenes shed through his eyes, every scene including a nt that went from a seed to it''s full maturation stage until it changed again to another one..
Every scene made Shun Long feel that he was about to die from the pain and he couldn''t even think anymore as information was practically getting crammed in his soul..
The pain was so intense that at some point Shun Long felt that it might be better if he just stopped enduring this and gave up .. then he wouldn''t have to feel this pain he thought.
Although he had felt pain in the past, and although he had suffered from hunger and physical pain, by fighting, or having his underdeveloped muscles aching and stinging him after overworking himself or suffering injuries, this was apletely different type of pain..
The difference in intensity and quantity couldn''t even be mentioned in the same breath as anything that he may have felt in the past. If all the pain he had felt in his past 20 years could be considered as a single drop in a bucket, then the pain he was feeling right now would be much more than an ocean..
And the worst part was that this was a paining directly from his soul.. a stab in your soul was thousands of time worse than a knife stabbing your heart. This was a type of qualitative difference that couldn''t even bepared in the same breath with a flesh wound..
Just as Shun Long felt that he should perhaps give up and that he had already reached his limit, the triangr stone buzzed and a scene reyed itself in Shun Long''s brain..
''''That''s right... It''s better to suffer now and give it my all to be strong after this than give up and die and have people trample upon me in my next life and the next one after that..
No matter what I will not give up, I will rather break than bend.. let''s see who is stronger, this pain or myself..... hahaha COME'''' he roared in the end whileughing and his will was invigorated as he became clear headed all of a sudden.
This was both thanks to the little stone, reying in his mind the scene when he swore his oaths outside of the Blue Forest, as well as to Shun Long''s will to endure this crazy inhumane pain.
But after a few hours, the pain was already so intense that Shun Long couldn''t even speak, as his mind had finally reached a point where he just couldn''t absorb more information and was already full.
This wasn''t a matter of whether he was willing to endure more pain but whether his brain had any more mental capacity to absorb all this knowledge.
All of a sudden Shun Long started to feel that his mind was now absorbing a strange kind of energy that made his soul bigger and stronger as his spiritual strength was improving at an unbelievable pace.
Chapter 13 - 13 Whats the test like ?
Chapter 13 - 13 What''s the test like ?
This was of course the same heavenly aura that the golden book was discharging earlier before it sucked him inside the white page.
As Shun Long''s consciousness absorbed more and more of this heavenly aura, his soul started to expand.
His spiritual strength was also improving rapidly, bing stronger and stronger by the second.
This aura was immensely beneficial to a cultivator''s soul and spiritual strength.
100 breaths of time had barely passed when Shun Long had already sucked in, all the aura around his consciousness.
Every second of it had felt like a heavenly massage on his soul, and he couldn''t help but thirst for more, but that greedy feeling was instantly forgotten, and his mind met another wave of pain as soon as the blissful ''heavenly massage'' had stopped.
Now that his soul had already expanded and could absorb more information, the golden book didn''t hold back any longer.
His mind capacity had already reached a level that was more than 10 timesrger than before and his mind was once again bombarded by scenes of nts.
-
After an unknown amount of time, the golden book stopped cramming Shun Long''s mind with information and he finally found a chance to catch his breath.. or so he thought..
The golden book appeared in front of him, and a thing that horrified Shun Long happened..
His mind was once again full of images along with a barrage of information just like before but this time, it didn''t involve any nts .... but magical beasts.
Shun Long wasn''t just sweating when the second transmission of information ended but he even felt that if he was in his body right now, he wouldn''t even be able to take a breath before he sorted out all this information..
''''ARE YOU F.U.C.K.I.N.G TRYING TO KILL ME ?'''' Shun Long wanted to roar at the golden book furiously, but when he saw that he was about to receive a third transmission, he nearly cked out.
Thankfully the third one was actually thest and also the shortest.
The information it contained was about the human body, it''s illnesses and more, but this didn''t even take 0.1% of the information that he had first absorbed about the nts and medicines.
Actually even the magical beast information, could barely reach 1% of the medicines, this is how immense the amount of information that Shun Long had first absorbed was.
By the end of it though, Shun Long was so tired mentally that as soon as the golden book stopped transmitting information to his mind, he instantly cked out.
When he woke up he was so shocked, that his eyes bulged out.
His body was shrivelled, his eye sockets were sunken in and his hands and feet were so bony that you would be hard-pressed to find flesh no matter where you looked at. He was almost like a moving skeleton and if he wasn''t in the peak of rank 6 in qi cirction, he would have probably already died if his energy wasn''t passively sustaining his body.
He woke up and with a lot of effort he managed to walk all the way to his door, his clothes hanging off from his body like they were 3 or 4 sizes bigger than what he normally wore.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw a young maidservant sleeping outside his room, on the cold hard floor.
Shun Long felt some pity for her and walked towards her to wake her up, when the maid just happened to open her eyes.
''''AAAAAAAHHHH'''' she screamed as she rolled a few meters on the ground before slowly standing up, her robe now full of dirt.
''''Y..You...Young ma..ster?'''' she asked stutteringly as she noticed Shun Long''s previously handsome but now shrivelled face, with his cheeks practically sunken in.
Shun Long frowned while watching the maid''s antics seemingly unaware of his own horrible appearance as he ordered
''''Prepare for me a huge meal, I am starving''''
He then walked with difficulty towards the dining hall.
It was already the middle of the night but the chefs were still awake and in less than 30 minutes they had already prepared a huge meal, which Shun Long ended up woolfing down in less than 10 minutes.
The chefs then had no choice but to keep preparing more as their young master wasn''t even close to being full but they barely managed to get in the new tes of food before Shun Long hadpletely devoured the previous ones.
In the end it couldn''t even be called a meal but an all-you-can-eat-buffet as 6 chefs were working to satisfy the appetite of their famished young lord.
Even Shun Fang and Shun An were startled by themotion their son had caused, but as they saw his shrivelled body which was slowly regaining its original appearance as he ate more and more food, they decided to stay silent.
All questions could be answered after Shun Long had filled his stomach.
Shun Long hadn''t even noticed that his parents had arrived in the hall and only stopped eating when he had eaten enough food for 100 people to fill their stomachs.
Then Shun Fang arrived and sat down by his side as he asked
''''What have you been doing in the past 25 days ?''''
''''WHAT?'''' Shun Long couldn''t believe that he had spent a whole 25 days digesting the information from the golden book.
But when he thought about it, it made sense, especially with the amount of information that his head was filled with right now.
Right now Shun Long probably knew everything about every single medicinal ingredient that existed in this world. Although he practically hadn''t tried yet, his theoretical skills in alchemy should have reached a godlike level by now, considering that alchemy was based onbining 2 things, controlling the medicinal ingredients, and controlling the fire.
Well, in reality it was much moreplicated than that, but Shun Long couldn''t wait to try and see if he was right about this guess he had regarding alchemy.
He then answered ''''I met with some problems but it''s fine now don''t worry. I even advanced a full minor level in my cultivation.''''
Shun Long then revealed his cultivation as an early rank 6 in qi condensation.
He didn''t know what the requirements to enter the ''floating cloud sect'' were but he had assumed that he would need at least this much to pass the tests.
Shun Fang couldn''t believe that his son had already advanced so much in just one month and he even thought that he too would be willing to suffer being famished for a month if would mean a full minor realm leap in his cultivation.
Shun Long was also d that he could still make it in time for the ''floating cloud sect'' test in the imperial capital.
If he had slept for too long and ended up missing the entrance test that takes ce every 3 years, he would have definitely regretted it.
Then Shun Long turned his head to look at his father who was sitting beside him and asked curiously
''''Right, father what''s the ''floating cloud sect''s'' test like?''''
Chapter 14 - 14 The way to advance to a rank 7
Chapter 14 - 14 The way to advance to a rank 7
Shun Fang looked at his son and smiled as he said
''''Don''t worry, ording to the previous years you have 100% chance of passing''''
Shun Long looked at his father with an intrigued expression but Shun Fang said
''''Okay, don''t worry I''ll tell you what I know tomorrow no need to look at me like that. Actually, I had hoped that we would have already left for the imperial capital a few days ago, but since you didn''te out from your room for so long, I could only wait until you were done with your cultivation before setting off.''''
Shun Long was once again taken aback and couldn''t help but ask his father this time
''''Don''t we still have a few days until the test in the imperial pce ? The imperial capital isn''t even one day away from our Blue Forest-city, so we don''t really need to rush, do we?''''
Shun Fang looked at his son who was sitting beside him and didn''t know anything about the ''floating cloud sect'' and said
''''You are right son, we don''t really need to rush, go and prepare whatever you need to take with you on this trip. You can also ask me for anything that you want, your father will definitely help you, don''t worry.''''
Shun Long looked at his father and his eyes moistened.
Since Shun Long had arrived in this world, he was certain that he would have to do everything by himself, just like he did in his previous life, without ever counting on anyone for anything. He was already used to this mindset of his and wouldn''t easily change it, but, his ''newfound'' parents constantly showered him with care and attention, showing him the true meaning of the word family.
Shun Long''s father was enraged for his sake when the Lin family hade to ask them to annul his engagement. His mother had him constantly on her mind, sending maidservants to send him food, and having them report back to her, her son''s condition and if he had asked or needed anything else. Even a few moments ago when the maidservant responsible of watching Shun Long''s room came and informed them that the young master was now all bones, Shun Long''s parents instantly rushed to the dining hall in the middle of the night, worried about their son.. and when they finally confirmed that he was now recovering through eating massive amounts of meat and drinking more than a gallon of water in one go, they didn''t even ask him any questions about what had happened to him. They were just d that he was fine.
To most people, this may seem how parents should act for their children, but to Shun Long who had never felt familial love before, these actions were invaluable to him.
A feeling of warmth spread inside him, as Shun Long watched his parents moving to their courtyard, while he decided to return and cultivate in his room instead.
Breaking through a cultivation barrier wasn''t easy, and Shun Long finally noticed the problem that was holding him back all this time and he couldn''t break through the 7th rank of qi cirction.
Every rank of qi cirction, needed Shun Long to condense 3 balls of qi for each level respectively of early, middle and peak, for a total of 9 levels in each rank ording to the requirements of the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shun Long right now was at the peak of the 6th rank which meant that he had already created and condensed 54 balls of qi above his head. Although it was harder to push in every single ball of qi that came after the previous one it still shouldn''t have been THIS hard, yet everytime he created one ball just like he had done in the previous levels, he would fail to push it inside, and it''s qi would eventually dissipate into thin air.
But this time Shun Long decided that if the balls of qi didn''t have enough power, then he would imbue even more qi inside them while creating them.. and this random guess of his had left him speechless when he tested it.
Shun Long noticed that the balls of qi that would previously be easily filled until they were saturated and couldn''t hold any more qi inside them, were now turned into starved animals that needed more and more qi to fill themselves.
Finally after 3 hours, Shun Long had managed to condense a new full powered qi condensation ball, and he slowly pushed it in the space above his head.... finally after 2 more hours of bitterly trying, a 55th ball of qi had appeared in the space were the rest of his qi balls were.
More than 5 hours had already passed and morning would soon arrive, but Shun Long wanted to try one more crazy thing, something that no one in the qi condensation had ever tried.
''''I wonder if I can put even more energy in the balls of qi I had previously created and have them all reach the quality of this one'''' he said as he looked at the brightest qi ball he had created up until now, the 55th ball.
When Shun Long had fought with the guards of the estate, he had already found out that even if the balls of qi exhausted all their energy they wouldn''t disappear.
They would still remain in the ce above his head and when he entered a meditative state and circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' he would just need to refill them with the qi that he absorbed from the air.
Shun Long decided to try out his hypothesis in the very first ball of qi he had condensed and he was d to find out that his energy did actually enter the ball as it slowly made it stronger.
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After 3 more hours, Shun Long exhausted went to sleep, yet he only slept for 2 hours before his father came to wake him up.
It was finally time to leave the Blue Forest-city.
Chapter 15 - 15 Secrets of the floating cloud sect
Chapter 15 - 15 Secrets of the ''floating cloud sect''
Shun Long woke up and looked at his father and mother who had just barged into his room.
Shun Fang looked at him with a smile on his face as he asked
''''Are you ready ?''''
Shun Long understood that they were leaving, and although he didn''t know why his father was in such a rush to reach the imperial city, he didn''t question him for now as he took a deep breath and said
''''Actually, I need an alchemist''s cauldron, not too big in size so I can carry it with me but the higher the grade the better.''''
Shun Fang was a bit astonished, his son hadn''t even started to cultivate for a year and he already wanted to study alchemy? That''s like a toddler trying to run before they can walk.
Shun An looked at her husband and said smilingly
''''Hehe, you can finally get rid of that old thing''''
As soon as Shun Fang heard her words his eyes twitched
''''Old thing? I spent more than a month refining that cauldron you know..... ahh forget it'''' he said as he personally went to fetch a bowl sized cauldron.
As soon as Shun Long''s eyes met the cauldron that Shun Fang was holding in his arms he instantly understood, although he was neither an alchemist yet nor a formation master, that this small cauldron was extraordinary.
It was emitting some small fluctuations without even being activated yet, so who knew how strong the formations engraved inside it actually were?
Shun Fang saw the look in his son''s eyes and with pride he puffed out his chest as he looked at his wife and gave her a smug look.
Shun An smiled at Shun Fang''s amusing behaviour and said
''''Your father took nearly 2 months to refine this small cauldron and create its runic inscriptions. The formations engraved inside it are all at the peak of bronze grade 3 and they are even on par with some silver grade 1 cauldrons. However, because your father isn''t a silver grade formation master yet, he couldn''t perfectly control the power of some of these formations when he inscribed them and that''s why the aura of the cauldron isn''tpletely concealed.''''
Although Shun An had worded it like that, Shun Long could understand how precious this cauldron truly is.
His father most likely couldn''t bear to sell it as it was a priceless treasure for any alchemist below the silver grade.
Shun Fang was actually happy that his son wanted to practice alchemy, he was just afraid that he would have too much on his te and that could potentially dy his cultivation.
Nevertheless, he was happy to hand his most prized creation to his own son.
He walked up to Shun Long and gave him the cauldron nonchntly as he said
''''Actually you don''t need to take anything else with you aside from this cauldron and some clothes. Come find me whenever you are ready to go.''''
Then Shun Fang walked outside of Shun Long''s room, with a wide grin on his face.
Shun An was happy for her husband as it was rare for him to be in such a good mood, but when she thought of her only son leaving them for what would potentially be a very long time, muffled sobbings were heard from her mouth in the end.
Shun Long understood what Shun An was feeling, it was hard to watch your child leave but he had to steel his heart and leave in order to go to higher ces. He knew that he couldn''t stay behind in Blue Forest-city or else he would never be able to fulfill his oaths to himself.
Shun Long sorted out his thoughts and then he put a gentle smile on his face as he walked towards his mother
''''It''s not like I''m leaving forever you know, I''ll return when I''m stronger in the future.''''
Shun An hugged her son as she said
''''You also have to bring me a bride the next time you return'''' then she put a bright smile on her face and continued
''''Hopefully someone that isn''t t chested like that Lin girl. Also hurry up, your father is waiting for you in the carriage.''''
Shun Long then smiled again at his mother''s words and he grabbed some spare clothes, along with the bowl sized cauldron, and put them all in a medium sized wooden chest.
He then walked to the carriage his father had been waiting right outside of the Shun estate''s gates.
He turned his head back once, to take ast look at his home, the first home he had in this world.
Shun Long''s handsome face then resolutely turned, as he looked forward and said to the driver
''''Let''s go''''.
The horses started neighing as 10 minutester they had already left the Blue Forest-city.
Shun Long and Shun Fang were chatting, when Shun Long asked
''''Father, why did you insist on leaving for the imperial city so hurriedly when we already have plenty of time ahead of us?''''
Shun Fang looked at his son and said
''''Do you know what the ''floating cloud sect''s'' test is like?''''
This question left Shun Long a bit stumped, who eventually shook his head.
Shun Fang continued and said
''''Actually the test itself is really simple, as long as you are below 20 years of age, and at the peak of the middle level of qi condensation then you can definitely pass. You are already an early rank 6 qi condensation cultivator, which means you are at the peak of the middle level so you don''t have to worry about the ''test''. What you should be worried should be whates after the test.''''
''''What do you mean?'''' Shun Long asked puzzledly
''''I myself don''t know too much details about the ''floating cloud sect'' but I have heard one important thing. The more connections you make before reaching the sect the more beneficial it will be for you. Actually Lu Wen, alchemist master Lu from our Blue Forest-city will also participate in the test to enter the ''floating cloud sect'' this time, however the test he will be taking requires someone to be at the peak of the early stages of the earth grade and to be below 30 years of age. As for why the need to build connections before reaching the sect, even your father doesn''t know that. My guess is that you will find out once you finally reach the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
Shun Long and Shun Fang''s journey went as expected, and in just half a day, they could see it clearly in the distance.
They had finally arrived, at the imperial city.
Chapter 16 - 16 Inside the Imperial Palace
Chapter 16 - 16 Inside the Imperial Pce
The outline of the imperial city was slowly getting bigger in their eyes as the carriage was slowly getting closer and closer.
After 3 more hours they had arrived in front of the gates and Shun Long could see that the city gates and the walls were even higher than the Blue Forest-city''s walls.
There were guards standing on the front collecting a fee from everyone who wished to enter.
Each person needed to pay 1 gold coin, while each carriage had to pay an extra 10.
1 gold coin could feed a family of 3 for half a year in the imperial city but this was a paltry amount to a formation master like Shun Fang.
The driver paid the city guards and as soon as Shun Long''s group entered the imperial city Shun Long and Shun Fang left the carriage.
''''Go and book us 2rge courtyards in the ''imperial inn'' to spend the next 2 nights'''' Shun Fang ordered the driver, who bowed and left to go to the best inn of the city.
The ''imperial inn'' was under the imperial family, the prices in the inn were more than 10 times higherpared to any other inn in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' but their service and courtyards were the best in the entire kingdom.
However it wasn''t just anyone that could enter the inn, only people with status like Shun Fang and their families could spend their night here.
Shun Long and Shun Fang, spent their next 2 days touring the imperial capital since it was Shun Long''s first time arriving here. They tasted the best foods and wines of every well-known restaurant in the city during the day and Shun Long cultivated during the night.
His focus was on refining the already created qi balls and bringing their quality on par with the 55th ball he had created. It was a process that required a lot of sweat and effort, but in these 2 nights, Shun Long had further refined 6 more balls of qi. His cultivation didn''t advance with this but his strength was advancing really fast.
Shun Long estimated that when he finished refining all the balls of qi and entered the 7th rank of qi cirction, he could probably even beat a middle stage rank 9 qi cultivator.
The morning came as the sun slowly rose from the east and revealed a city that was bustling since very early in the morning.
The guards were on tight alert around the perimeter of the pce.
Commoners and nobles alike would all have to wait outside today, as special guests from a famous sect had arrived for a selection test to choose outer disciples for their sect.
Only the young people who met their listed qualifications were allowed to enter the imperial pce today.
Shun Fang and Shun Long arrived in front of the entrance of the imperial pce where a guard stopped them and said
''''Unless you are participating in the selection process, entry in the imperial pce is forbidden!''''
It looked like he had already said that line more than 100 times today.
-
Shun Long ignored the guard and turned to face Shun Fang as he said
''''Father, I''m going''''
Shun Fang''s eyes were proud inside but also slightly red
''''What are you waiting for? Just go!'''' he said in an impatient tone that was trying to hide his embarassment.
Shun Long smiled as he turned around and walked towards the guard.
Then he revealed his aura of a middle rank 6 qi condensation as he ordered the guard
''''I''m here for the selection test of the ''floating cloud sect'', lead the way''''
The guard was astonished and a bit angry at the same time that a kid dared to be rude to him, an imperial guard, especially a kid with a much lower cultivation than him when he himself was at the early rank9 of qi condensation..... but he couldn''t do anything about it.
The orders were that anyone who wished to participate in the selection process and met the requirements of the ''floating cloud sect'', had to be brought to the pce hall.
The guard brought Shun Long inside the pce and from there through a mass ofplicated corridors, they went straight to the pce hall.
On the way Shun Long could see plenty of other guards making it obvious that the security was very tight today.
There were even a few earth grade guards that were holding their positions when they headed deeper inside the pce.
When Shun Long and the guard finally reached the end of the corridor the guard said in an impatient tone
''''Here, at the end of this corridor is the pce hall. I am not allowed inside so I''m returning to my post.''''
Shun Long ignored the guard for the second time today, who felt as if he had just swallowed a fly.
''How is this kid so hateful ?'' he thought as he turned to return to his post.
Shun Long arrived at the end of the corridor and pushed open therge door in front of him.
21 young men and women were in the room in front of Shun Long.
The room was decorated with many jewels and stones, golden tables and luxurious chairs along with many couches and sofas.
When Shun Long entered, all the young men and women inside turned their eyes to look at him.
Most of these people seemed younger than 20 years old but there were also a few that seemed older than 20.
Shun Long then heard a familiar voice speaking to him
''''Wow little brother Shun I didn''t think that we would meet here''''
A smilling young man dressed in white, approached Shun Long.
Shun Long''s blue robes and his handsome face, along with the young man dressed in white created a scene so dazzling that made all the youngdies in the room blush.
Shun Long turned around and saw Lu Wen smilling at him.
Lu Wen walked towards Shun Long''s side and patted his shoulder as he said
''''Hahaha who would believe it that in such a short amount of time you would advance so much, this is practically unbelievable''''
Then he whispered and asked
''''Is it because of the pill that expert gave you?''''
Lu Wen knew that although he couldn''t sense Shun Long''s cultivation, he must definitely be at the 6th stage of the qi condensation, or he couldn''t enter the pce.
In reality Lu Wen was an arrogant person deep inside, but he had benefited a lot from the cauldron that Shun Fang had gifted him back at the Shun estate, so his opinion of the Shun family was especially good.
Lu Wen''s mindset was actually extremely simple: ''if you help me then I treat you as a friend, but if you don''t, don''t expect me to give you any face, after all I''m a talented grade 2 alchemist''
And that''s why he was so warm towards Shun Long this time.
Shun Long nodded at Lu Wen and as they were both ready to find a ce to sit, the voice of an unfamiliar man that was oozing hatred came from behind them
''''So you are Shun Long?''''
Chapter 17 - 17 Infuriating words
Chapter 17 - 17 Infuriating words
Shun Long and Lu Wen turned around only to see a rtively handsome young man in red clothes walking towards them.
This man had a frosty look in his eyes as he stared at Shun Long threateningly and if looks alone could kill, Shun Long would have probably died once or twice by now.
A young woman in a flowery dress was walking by this young man''s side.
Although this woman was pretty, her practically t chest was unique in this entire room.
''''Master Lu, greetings to you.'''' The young man said as he cupped his hands at Lu Wen.
''''Today I have some personal matters to settle with this punk and I hope that Master Lu won''t intervene. My marquess estate will definitely not forget this favor.''''
Lu Wen directly ignored Xiao Shitou, the 2nd son of the Xiao marquess and turned to ask Shun Long
''''Do you need my help little brother ?''''
Xiao Shitou furious that Lu Wen had disregarded him when he himself was so polite to him, begun to gnash his teeth in anger but in the end he couldn''t do anything about it. Although his father was a marquess, he couldn''t do anything against a talented alchemist like Lu Wen, especially now that he was about to leave the Sky Fortune Kingdom and enter the ''floatng cloud sect''.
Shun Long waved his hand at Lu Wen, indicating that he doesn''t need any help.
Was this a joke? Why and when would he ever need of other people to take care of his business for him?
Of course, Shun Long had recognised the young woman by this young man''s side as Lin Wu. There wasn''t any other woman he had met so far that had such a small chest.
While the young man by her side was the second son of the Xiao marquess of Sky Fortune Kingdom, Xiao Shitou. Although Shun Long hadn''t met the man before, he had heard that this person was one of the 2 geniuses of the Xiao marquess estate.
''Ahh, if you are asking for a beating then you can''t me me'' Shun Long thought, as he imitated Xiao Shitou''s tone and Lin Wu''s arrogant and straight posture as he first looked at her and said
''''Hey small b.o.o.b.s I almost thought that you were a man there for a second. You really dide to participate, but I heard that the ''floating cloud sect'' doesn''t ept people below the 6th stage of qi condensation.'''' Shun Long said puzzledly. He then paused for a while as if he was pondering something and then with a shocked expression on his face, he shakingly pointed his hand at Lin Wu and asked in a tone full of disbelief
''''Y..You..don''t tell me you are here to apply to be a female dog in the ''floating cloud sect''.. you bitch.. that''s too immoral.''''
*PFFT*
Lu Wen couldn''t help himself as he spat out a mouthfull of wine that had just entered his mouth.
The rest of the people inside the hall who had heard this couldn''t keep a straight face and hurriedly tried to suppress theirughter, leaving behind loud muffled sounds. Most of these people already knew Xiao Shitou and didn''t want to offend him over nothing, but that scene was just tooical for them.
''''F.U.C.K YOU SHUN LONG!! I am already an early rank 6 cultivator, you are the female dog.''''
Lin Wu shrieked at Shun Long.
Of course Shun Long could tell that Lin Wu was already an early rank 6 cultivator. To have gone from the early rank 5 straight into the early rank 6 in just a month, her tiny Lin family wasn''t enough to help her do something like that. She must have definitely consumed some high-level pills, and judging from how she was walking side by side with Xiao Shitou in the hall, it wasn''t hard to imagine who the person that had helped her was.
Just as Xiao Shitou pointed at Shun Long and was about to curse at him Shun Long instantly turned his eyes to look at him as he said
''''Now what should i do about you, you leftover eater?!''''
Shun Long then shook his head as he looked at Xiao Shitou with a pitiful gaze and continued
''''You are obviously the son of a marquess but you are chasing behind and trying to eat my leftovers.. ah how pitiful.
Don''t you know that this young master only throws away food that''s spoiled? Why would I throw it away if it was anything good?
Tsk tsk tsk.'''' Shun Long clicked his tongue as he shook his head while looking at Xiao Shitou with a face as if he was looking at a beggar.
Even the mostmon people of Sky Fortune Kingdom knew about Shun Long, shamefully divorcing Lin Wu before theypleted their engagement so saying that Xiao Shitou was chasing about his leftovers implied that he had already eaten something but it was bad inside and he ended up throwing it away, insulting both Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu in one sentence.
People in the hall tried to suppress theirughter again but this time it was even harder than before, as it came one p in the face right after the other.
''''SHUN LONG YOU F.U.C.KER SHUT YOUR MOUTH!! Everyone knows that nothing happened between you and Lin Wu.''''
Xiao Shitou''s and Lin Wu''s eyes were red, unknown if it was from shame, anger or both.
Xiao Shitou couldn''t hold himself back anymore as he roared
''''Today you will apologise to Lin Wu on your knees in front of everyone here and admit that nothing has ever happened between you two or I will break both your arms and legs and send you crawling back to your home.. now choose before I end up choosing for you or you won''t like the end result''''
Xiao Shitou then unleashed his aura of a rank 6 peak qi cultivator.
'''' Ohh?''''
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned cold.
He would never take threats from other people lying down like that.
His oath was to be strong enough so others wouldn''t be able to ever trample on him so why would he back down when others provoke him so tantly?
Shun Long moved towards the empty space at the center of the hall.
His chilly eyes looked straight at Xiao Shitou, as Shun Long said in an apathetic voice that made people''s hair stand on edge
''''Come and show me how you will break my arms and legs today''''
He then released the aura of a middle stage rank 6 qi cultivator and people in the room started to feel suffocated from its density.
Chapter 18 - 18 The Monarchs Domain
Chapter 18 - 18 The Monarch''s Domain
Shun Long unleashed his aura of a middle rank 6 qi cultivator and most people in the hall instantly started to feel suffocated. The person who had it the worst was Xiao Shitou as he felt the brunt of Shun Long''s aura directly.
Shun Long''s aura was just too purepared to Xiao Shitou''s and that created a natural form of suppression. He had refined 8 out of his current 55 qi balls which made the energy inside them even purer.
But the most important thing that made his aura this terrifying was the hint of heavenly energy that he had absorbed from the golden book.
Even the 3 people that were already in the earth level, Lu Wen included, could sense this feeling of suppression but they could easily resist this by circting their qi inside them.
Xiao Shitou really hated Shun Long right now, but he hated himself even more for bing afraid after sensing his opponent''s aura. When Xiao Shitou saw that his opponent was just a middle rank 6 while he was already a peak rank 6 qi cultivator himself what he felt turned into rage and humiliation.
He circted all of his qi inside his body, and burst it out of his body, forcefully removing that horrible feeling of suppression that was guing him.
Xiao Shitouughed as he said
''''HAHAHA Shun Long is that all you have? In that case prepare yourself, I will make yo....''''
In an instant, everyone and everything in the room turned still.
Only the 3 early earth rank experts could move, but obviously much slower than before and it was obvious that they had to expend quite a bit of their energy to do so.
This was a technique that had appeared in Shun Long''s mind 2 days ago when he had created the 55th ball of qi through the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
This was the first time that Shun Long was testing this technique in a real battle and as soon as he activated it, 2 words instantly appeared in his mind
''Monarch''s Domain''.
This name was truly urate, as soon Shun Long activated this technique, he could feel from inside him the transparent figure of an hourss that only he himself could see, slowly expanding and covering the entire pce hall.
Inside this invisible hourss, time obeyed Shun Long.
Imagine this technique just like when Shun Long creates the figure of the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' to cultivate, but this time instead of creating qi balls and putting them at the top part of the hourss where he stored his energy, he actually drawed energy from his qi balls and used it to sustain the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
This technique truly was godly, especially if it could even affect earth rank cultivators while he himself was only a rank 6 qi condensation novice.
However Shun Long had just understood the huge drawback of this technique...
His qi was being sapped at an rming rate to keep up with the consumption of the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Shun Long estimated that he could only keep the technique active for 6 breaths of time since its activation before running out of strength.
Shun Long didn''t waste any time as he walked in front of a terrified Xiao Shitou whose face was still frozen in aughing state.
Shun Long raised his right hand, and ignoring the terror that sprung up inside Xiao Shitou''s eyes, he brought it down in full-force.
*SLAP*
His right hand directly collided with Xiao Shitou''s left cheek sending him tumbling on the floor.
His mouth was now flowing with blood as his left cheek and even his lips were suddenly swollen.
This p only contained Shun Long''s physical strength as he couldn''t use any qi while maintaining the ''Monarch''s Domain'' or the technique would have copsed before he even finished pping Xiao Shitou.
Shun Long''s hand stinged a bit from the force of this p of his....''''Xiao Shitou must really have a ''thick'' face'''' he thought.
Shun Long stopped circting the ''Monarch''s Domain'' and the people in the pce hall could move again, but everyone stayed silent, as if they were still under the effect of the ''Monarch''s Domain''. Such was their shock and dismay that nobody had yet recovered from their terror. The feeling of being unable to move was truly daunting.
''''I don''t like threats and I do not know how to bow my head to anyone or anything. You can''t force me to do something I don''t want to do even if you were stronger than me, let alone you who is so much weaker inparison that you were sent rolling on the floor with a single p.''''
The room was so silent that his voice echoed through the hall.
Shun Long looked at Xiao Shitou disdainfully as he continued
''''Do not think for a second that I''m kindhearted or that I won''t dare to break your arms and legs just because your father is a Marquess. You are simply not worthy of me putting my spot in the ''floating cloud sect'' at risk to deal with you.''''
Shun Long''s voice was cid but firm, when his tone changed all of a sudden and abruptly became chilly as he said
''''However, if you dare to provoke me again then you can only dream of getting away with just a single p at that time.''''
Everyone in the hall was stupefied by Shun Long''s astonishing disy of dominance.
Even the 3 earth rank cultivators were unwilling to offend him after this disy of power.
Although they could probably beat him now, why would they offend a monster like Shun Long for someone like Xiao Shitou who they had no rtionship with?
Unexpectedly, the first one to react after Shun Long had finished speaking and turned away, was Lin Wu who rushed to Xiao Shitou''s side to support him. She knew that if she lost his support, there was no way she could live a good life in the ''floating cloud sect''.
All of a sudden the main doors of the pce hall opened, and an old man with ck clothes along with 2 young men and 1 young woman dressed in yellow arrived at the hall... all with the same insignia on their chests.
Behind them was the crown prince of the Sky Fortune Kingdom, who bowed tteringly to the old man leading the group and said as he gestured towards the pce hall
''''Senior Lu, these are the young men and women from my Sky Fortune Kingdom who passed your requirements and wish to join the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
Nobody dared to talk in front of ''senior Lu'' whose gaze swept everyone inside the hall.
Everyone inside the hall had stood up, nobody dared to remain sitting in front of this senior from the ''floating cloud sect.''
''Senior Lu''s'' gaze nted itself on Lu Wen, who showed a rare smile as he took a step forward and bowed as he said
''''Greetings uncle Cheng.''''
Chapter 19 - 19 Connections
Chapter 19 - 19 Connections
''Senior Lu''s'' real name was Lu Cheng and from the looks of things he probably had a close rtionship with Lu Wen, or else Lu Wen wouldn''t have called him uncle.
Lu Cheng walked into the hall and he patted Lu Wen''s shoulder as he said
''''Good kid, it''s time for you to return home.''''
Everyone around them was stunned, but the most stunned of them all were the 3 disciples that followed Lu Cheng. They didn''t understand how Lu Cheng could have an acquaintance in such a backward ce like the Sky Fortune Kingdom.
The 3 of them were all outer disciples of the ''floating cloud sect'' and as they traded some stealthy nces between them, it was the young woman who respectfully walked up and cautiously asked
''''Elder Lu, you happen to know this young man from the Sky Fortune Kingdom?''''
Only now did the people in the hall understand that this ''Senior Lu'' was actually an Elder in the ''floating cloud sect''. Usually, outer court disciples didn''t have the qualifications to freely speak to Elders of the sect, especially like this when this woman directly asked Elder Lu about his rtionship with this young man, but since they could all see that Elder Lu was feeling very happy after meeting Lu Wen, the 3 disciples couldn''t help but ask.
Elder Lu then proudly puffed his chest as he said to them
''''Haha, this is my, Lu Cheng''s nephew, Lu Wen.''''
Elder Lu''s words were spoken proudly but the 3 disciples following behind him were even more shocked as this young man seemed to have a direct blood rtion with Elder Lu.
They quickly walked forward while cupping their hands and slightly bowing as they said
''''Greetings senior brother Lu.''''
Lu Wen nodded his head at them and then said to Lu Cheng
''''Uncle, this is a talented brother I am very fond of, his name is Shun Long''''
As Lu Wen introduced Shun Long to Elder Lu, Lu Cheng couldn''t help himself but take a few more nces at the young man beside his nephew.
He wasn''t near the hall earlier so he hadn''t observed Shun Long''s fight with Xiao Shitou or he would have already started paying attention to him even without Lu Wen''s mention.
Shun Long cupped his fist as he said
''''Greetings Elder Lu''''
Lu Chengughed as he patted Shun Long''s shoulder and said
''''Good kid. If you need anything when you enter the sect, you can directlye find me. Since Wen''er has a good rtionship with you, you don''t have to be so polite with me.''''
The faces of 3 people instantly sported different expressions when Elder Lu finished speaking. Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu''s faces instantly turned pale while the crown prince''s face had slowly turned green.
The crown prince already knew that there was a talented alchemist named Lu Wen in Blue Forest-city but he never paid any attention to the matter. If he knew that this alchemist had a rtionship with an Elder of the ''floating cloud sect'' he would have definitely done everything he could to build a good rtionship with him. But now it was already toote for that as Lu Wen was already leaving the Sky Fortune Kingdom.
Although Lu Cheng said that Shun Long could directlye and find him if he needed anything after they entered the ''floating cloud sect'', Shun Long didn''t really take it to heart.
He knew that Lu Cheng was only acting cordial towards him because of Lu Wen, or else there was no way for Lu Cheng, who had never even met Shun Long before to be so warm towards him.
Shun Long himself wasn''t nning to count on others help to get a good andfortable life in the ''floating cloud sect''.
Nevertheless he cupped his hands again at Elder Lu as he said
''''Many thanks to Elder Lu.''''
Elder Lu nodded and then turned his head, scanning the rest of the people in the hall almost as if hewas inspecting them before saying
''''To be honest with you all, your batch is average among the batches that enter the sect this year. There is no one among you who particrly stands out to me as a genius so I guess you will all be at the bottom of the sect when you enter. But there is one important thing you need to know before entering the sect.'''' Elder Lu''s voice had been unemotional when he was talking, but it suddenly turned serious as he continued
''''Those of you who decide to enter the sect, be warned: No one is allowed to leave the sect by themselves until you have reached thete stages of the earth grade, with the only exception being that you have formally epted a sect mission. This is an iron-d rule of the sect, and with the exception of undergoing missions, disciples aren''t allowed to leave the sect.
Now those of you who still wish to enter the sect, take a step forward.
Remember, the ''floating cloud sect'' won''t force you to join, but if you do join it, you have to follow the sect rules.''''
The first to take a step forward was Lu Wen who already knew the rules beforehand. Surprisingly, almost at the same time as Lu Wen, Shun Long and Xiao Shitou also took a step forward. In the end all the disciples here took a step forward as they had all decided to join the ''floating cloud sect''.
Elder Lu faintly smiled as he nodded and said
''''Good, then all of you cane outside the pce, it''s time to leave.''''
''''Elder, how are we going to reach the ''floating cloud sect''?''''
A young man with short spiky hair and a knife on his waist couldn''t help asking the question that most people here were also pondering. After all they had 24 people here and most of them had some kind of luggage with them. If you also counted Elder Lu and the 3 disciples with him they were 28 people. How were they going to travel to the ''floating cloud sect''?
Elder Lu didn''t answer but the 3 disciples in yellow robes that hade along with Elder Lu all sniggered as they said
''''Country bumpkin.''''
The young man''s face reddened but when they arrived at the pce gardens, his mouth along with everyone else''s that were in the pce hall before with him, were all wide open.
A huge red bird over 20m(66ft) long was sleeping on the ground inside the pce gardens.
Elder Lu ignored everyone''s stunned gazes as he walked towards the huge bird and petted it gently on the head before saying
''''This is our ride to the ''floating cloud sect''. All of you, get on.''''
Chapter 20 - 20 Shocking secrets
Chapter 20 - 20 Shocking secrets
''''All of you, get on'''' Elder Lu said and although these kids were a bit afraid of sitting on such a big beast, eventually everyone climbed on top of it.
When everyone was finally on it, Elder Lu patted the bird''s head as he said ''''let''s go''''.
The bird''s eyes snapped open as a terrifying pressure crushed on the people inside the royal pce of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
The bird then stretched open its giant wings of a wingspan more than 45m(147ft) and as it pped them, strong gusts of air hit the ground and blew away everyone in its perimeter that had dared to stand underneath it.
Elder Lu was standing atop the bird''s head as he exined to these soon-to-be disciples of his sect
''''This is a red-winged condor, a rank 3 magic beast. It can even fight head-on against a Heaven grade expert so it''s power is truly terrifying.''''
The people sitting atop the condor were startled. A rank 3 magic beast? Nobody had ever seen one in the Sky Fortune Kingdom. Even if there was any, it was probably deep inside the Blue Forest if anywhere, but no one had ever seen it or at least lived to tell the tale of it.
The condor didn''t fly in a straight line but instead kept flying higher and higher. These kids had never reached such an altitude before in their lives and most of them could feel their legs trembling atop the condor''s back.
Elder Lu looked at these kids and said
''''All of you can be considered as outer sect disciples of my ''floating cloud sect'' now so I guess I should tell you a few things. First of all, it is only now that you kids will enter the ''true cultivation world''.
Take a look at the scenery below you.''''
The condor had already flown up so high that every person seated on its back had a panoramic view of the scene below them.
When everyone looked down they had noticed that the ce they were looking at was so big and their altitude was so high that they couldn''t even spot the Sky Fortune Kingdom anymore.
Elder Lu then said
''''Do you see this? There are over 170 ''kingdoms'' down there. But what you people don''t know is that these are only ''mortal kingdoms''.''''
This number astonished everyone from the Sky Fortune Kingdom. Their own kingdom was already so big, and they were now being told that there were more than 170 other Kingdoms on par with their own Sky Fortune Kingdom? Their minds couldn''t ept this shocking revtion that easily.
''''Elder what do you mean by mortal kingdoms?'''' This time it was a short girl with an immature face and her hair fixed in a ponytail who asked this question.
Elder Lu then said
''''It means that these ''kingdoms'' of yours are mainlyprised of mortals who haven''t even embarked on the path of cultivation. This entire ''continent'' that you think your ''kingdom'' is on, is in reality just a tiny mortal ind in the face of my ''floating cloud sect''.''''
-
If these people were shocked before, when they learned that there were 170 more kingdoms on this continent, then this time they were truly speechless.
Even Shun Long was shocked, as his mind couldn''t process yet the enormity of the ''floating cloud sect''.
Elder Lu then continued soundingpletely apathetic about it
''''That''s why I said that you will only now have the chance to actually enter the ''true cultivation world''.
My ''floating cloud sect'' is in charge of this ind and every 3 years wee down and search for the talented people of every kingdom, allowing them to be outer sect disciples.''''
''''Elder, may I ask what do you mean when you say that you > every 3 years?'''' the spiky-haired kid asked again.
Elder Lu then answered the question with a question of his own
''''Have you ever wondered why there are so few Heaven grade experts on this ind? Even your ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' didn''t have a single Heaven grade expert.''''
Not just the spiky-haired kid, nobody there knew the answer to this question.
Elder Lu seemed to obviously have expected that as he continued
''''Heaven grade experts can fly, and they can also absorb the qi in the air around them when they cultivate. Earth grade experts can absorb the qi from the earth, in a certain radius around them when they cultivate, whereas cultivators in the qi condensation grade can only absorb the qi in the air thates in direct contact with their bodies, they can''t actively seek qi in the air or in the ground as the Heaven or Earth grade experts do.
When cultivators in your ind reach the Heaven grade, they will notice a barrier high up in the air. This barrier is the dividing line between the ''Mortal world'' and the ''cultivation world''. Aside from your ind, there are many other inds in this sea, many of them belonging to other powerful sects simr to my ''floating cloud sect''.
When cultivators from any ind reach the Heaven grade and fly high enough up in the sky, they can use their energy and pass through the barrier, to enter the ''true cultivation world'' where my ''floating cloud sect'' and the other sects are.''''
Shun Long was truly stunned this time.
He didn''t expect that he would learn such secrets so soon after leaving the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
He now understood why the crown prince of a kingdom would act so subserviently towards the members of the ''floating cloud sect''''.
At the same time, Shun Long also rejoiced in his choice to leave the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' and enter the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Shun Long had sworn to be strong enough to protect his own life, never allowing others to control him, but if he had chosen to stay in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' wouldn''t that mean that he allowed the ''Floating cloud sect'' to have absolute control over his life? If they could control the crown prince, then they could definitely control everyone else in the kingdom.
The red-winged condor finally arrived at the ce where the barrier was located in the sky.
He stopped in front of it and Elder Lu suddenly warned everyone
''''Prepare yourselves!''''
Shun Long grabbed the condor''s feathers tightly as he could sense it gathering its energy.
A few breathster, the red-winged condor''s wings were shining brightly with a red light as it exploded forth with an astonishing amount of speed, instantly piercing the barrier.
Chapter 21 - 21 Arriving at the floating cloud sect
Chapter 21 - 21 Arriving at the ''floating cloud sect''
As soon as the barrier was pierced, Shun Long didn''t hear any crashing sound but an enjoyable feeling rushed through his body.
Earlier when they were above the clouds, the pressure from the high altitude had even made the earth grade experts feel some annoyance, let alone the qi condensation rookies. Although Shun Long wasn''t heavily affected by this pressure earlier he had still felt some difort. But as soon as the red-winged condor pierced the barrier every deep breath he took had the feeling of a gentle wave of qi, slowly inserting itself in his body.
As soon as their group pierced the barrier, a blinding light suddenly forced Shun Long to close his eyes, and by the time he reopened them, Shun Long noticed that the scenery in front of his eyes had changed.
A huge city had appeared in the distance in front of their group and the red-winged condor was heading straight at its direction.
''''Have you noticed yet?'''' Lu Wen asked
Shun Long nodded in understanding.
''''The aura truly is much purer in the air herepared to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s.''''
Shun Long answered.
Lu Wen nodded at Shun Long''s deduction and said
''''But of course, otherwise wouldn''t the ''cultivation world'' be just like the ''Mortal world''?''''
Lu Wen then paused for a bit before asking a sudden question
''''Shun Long, what do you think about my uncle?''''
Shun Long pondered for a bit before saying
''''From what I have seen so far, he seems to truly care about you. As for you though, you don''t seem to like your family very much.''''
When Shun Long finished his words he saw a shocked expression on Lu Wen''s face.
''''Actually, that wasn''t hard to guess.'''' Shun Long said
''''When your uncle said that it''s time for you to return home, I was right next to you and could see your reluctance.''''
Shun Long stopped for a bit before continuing to say
''''So my guess is that someone from your family wanted you to return home and you didn''t have much of a choice but to listen to them.''''
*Sigh*
Lu Wen didn''t know what to say at this point.
Shun Long just from observing his reactions and bodynguage, had already figured out most of his situation.
Lu Wen took a deep breath as he said
''''Actually, there is a huge struggle in my family over who will be the next family head of the house. I have a younger brother who is extremely talented and I also have an older brother who is very smart as well as strong. They both want the position of the family head, while I am not interested in it. That is why I decided to leave my home 3 years ago and descend to the ''Mortal world'' while I study alchemy.
However, my father ordered me to return home with this selection process, and he said that in the next 3 years he will pass the position of the family head to one of my brothers. Originally I objected as returning home would only mean that I would have to be involved in my brothers'' struggle but in the end, I didn''t have a say in this matter so I had toe.''''
Shun Long didn''t ask anything about Lu Wen''s family from the start. He didn''t want to involve himself in their family struggle as he had already understood the gist of it even without Lu Wen exining anything.
Lu Wen then left behind onest sentence before heading towards his uncle who was sitting at the head of the red-winged condor.
If you need my help inside the city, you can always find me at the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
Shun Long was about to ask something when Elder Lu''s voice was heard
''''Soon we will be arriving at the ''floating cloud sect''. First off, I''m sure that many amongst you have brought plenty of gold coins with them.''''
When Elder Lu finished his sentence, plenty of people puffed their chests proudly, wanting to show off as they had already prepared thousands and thousands of gold coins.
Elder Lu didn''t praise them as these people had expected. Shun Long even noticed the traces of a mocking smile on his face as he said
''''Let me exin some things beforehand or you may find yourselves feeling lost when we arrive in the city.
First of all, my ''floating cloud sect'' is this city.''''
Everyone was speechless until one person suddenly asked
''''Elder Lu do you mean that the ''floating cloud sect'' is located inside the city?''''
Elder Lu looked at him with contempt as he asked
''''Is it that this old man didn''t make himself clear or that your ears are useless kid? My ''floating cloud sect'' isn''t inside the city, it is THE CITY.
The entire city belongs to my ''floating cloud sect'' and everyone inside is a member of the sect.''''
Everyone''s jaws dropped to the ground.
Only now did Shun Long understand the reason Lu Wen told him that he could find him at the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''. That''s because the entire city belonged to the ''floating cloud sect''.
Elder Lu continued
''''Everything inside my ''floating cloud sect'' can only be bought using sect points. You can obtain sect points by doing missions for the sect, helping other disciples, or conducting transactions with others directly.
When you enter the city, each of you will be given a sect identifying jade.
This jade has 2 main uses.
Firstly, it is the symbol of your identity as a disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'' and at the same time, it is also the ce where your sect points are stored. Each person''s sect identifying jade can only be used by themselves. If you lose yours then even if others find it, they won''t be able to take your sect points from it.''''
Elder Lu continued and with a mocking smile he said
''''As for all of you who have brought thousands of gold coins with you, did you think that gold has any value to a cultivator? Disciples can use sect points to obtain resources, techniques, skills or even to eat and drink. What value would gold have in such a scenario?''''
Only now did Shun Long understand why his father had insisted on him making connections in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' before entering the sect. It was for him to get acquainted with the rest of the people entering the sect from the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' so they could help each other when they are inside.
Nobody said anything to refute Elder Lu as they all knew he was right.
Shun Long then thought
''This old man is right. Did these people think that the others in the ''floating cloud sect'' wouldn''t have any gold themselves? However, this is a good opportunity. There should be plenty of ways for me to gather sect points inside. Perhaps, I can even try out my skills as an alchemist.''
While Shun Long was lost in thought thinking of the best way to gather sect points for himself, Elder Lu''s shout interrupted him as he said
''''Prepare yourselves, we have arrived in the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
Chapter 22 - 22 How to get sect points
Chapter 22 - 22 How to get sect points
The red-winged condornded in front of the city gates and Elder Lu turned to look at the people beside him as he said
''''Follow me, we will go and get your sect robes as well as your sect identifying jades.''''
Shun Long and the rest got off the red-winged condor who let out a screech as it flew up and slowly disappeared in the horizon.
Shun Long and his group followed Elder Lu who walked through the city gates. On the way, they saw countless disciples in yellow robes. The city itself looked to be even bigger than the imperial city of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' and even more bustling as well.
Elder Lu then said
''''Actually, just from the ind that you kids came from, every 3 years my ''floating cloud sect'' recruits almost 60.000 outer disciples. Every disciple with average talent will usually take approximately 30 to 40 years to reach thete levels of the earth grade. And unless these disciples particrly stand out in some way, then until and if therees a day where they can reach the Heaven grade in order for the sect to give them the chance to be sect Elders, they can only stay as outer disciples until then, even if they are at the peak of the earth grade.
And that''s just the disciples that came from the same ind as you. Overall, the sect has more than 1 million outer disciples.''''
Shun Long was shocked as he thought inside that this is not a sect but a small kingdom instead.
Elder Lu guided them deeper inside the city as he continued exining
''''The city is called the ''floating cloud city'' and it is divided in to 2 parts. The outer city where you disciples will stay and the inner city where the inner disciples and the Elders of the sect reside.
Inner disciples and Elders do not meddle in the affairs of you outer sect disciples but that also means that you have only yourselves to count on if you get in trouble with other disciples. However, murder in the ''floating cloud city'' is forbidden unless it is in the arena so you don''t have to be afraid of getting killed over minor things.''''
As Elder Lu was speaking, they had already arrived in front of a huge building with 2 big words written on it
''Administration Building''
Elder Lu then exined as he headed inside
''''This is the ''Administration Building'' and it is also the most important ce in the entire outer city. This is where you will get your disciple robes as well as your sect identifying jades. Administrator Feng will exin the rest to you.''''
The ''Administration Building'' had 5 floors, and Shun Long noticed that each floor was as wide as a football stadium. By the time they arrived on the 3rd floor, a middle-aged man wearing ck robes simr to Elder Lu''s hade out to receive their group.
Elder Lu cupped his hands at Administrator Feng as he said
''''Administrator Feng, this is the recent batch of disciples that I was in charge of. Now that I have delivered them to you, this old man will take his leave, I hope you don''t mind.''''
Then Elder Lu grabbed Lu Wen from his left arm as he said
''''Kid, you areing with me now''''
He then looked at the 3 disciples that had followed with him when he descended to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' and said to them
''''You 3 can go collect your rewards for this mission.''''
He then grabbed Lu Wen and disappeared from the room like a gust of wind.
Administrator Feng seemed to not mind Elder Lu as he looked at Shun Long and the rest before saying in a deep voice
''''I assume that Elder Lu has exined to you the most important things regarding the city.''''
Then by waving his left hand he magically took out 30 or so yellow robes as he said
''''These are your outer sect disciples'' robes. You are required to wear them at all times inside the sect. Remember, sect robes are a ssification of your status inside the sect. Yellow robes are the outer sect disciples, green clothes are the inner sect disciples and ck robes are the sect Elders. A sect Elder or an inner sect disciple will note to the outer city and outer sect disciples are also forbidden from entering the inner city. There are always some exceptions however, for example, my ''Administration Building''.
All of you,e and take a sect identifying jade.''''
Then, Administrator Feng pointed at a desk beside him where a pile of crimson-like jades were arranged in rows.
Shun Long walked forward along with the others and as his hand touched the red sect jade, a cooling feeling rushed through him.
Administrator Feng said
''''Circte your qi and send a strand of it to your jade to bind it.''''
As soon as Shun Long had binded his sect jade, he sent inside his spiritual energy to examine it and noticed a number inside the jade.
''30''
''''In your jades, you will all see a number if you send your spiritual energy inside. This is the number of sect points that the sect gives to all the newly epted disciples.
Administrator Feng''s voice was heard as he continued to exin
''''This is the only time the sect will ever give you sect points for free. Remember, sect points are your resources in the sect. Without sect points, you can''t do anything.''''
''''Administrator, how can we get more sect points?'''' A young man dressed in golden robes asked. This was one of the disciples who was feeling the most sulky in the group, as he had already prepared thousands of gold coins but they had turned out to be useless. The most important thing for these young people was to get more sect points and get more things from the sect.
When Administrator Feng heard this question, he had a crafty smile on his face as he answered
''''There are 4 different ways to get sect points inside the sect.''''
Chapter 23 - 23 Alchemists Guild
Chapter 23 - 23 ''Alchemists'' Guild''
''''There are 4 different ways to get sect points.
The first and ''safest'' way would be to be a miner for the sect. There are many outer disciples who decide to work at the spirit stone mines of our sect. The sect will pay you 50 sect points a month for you to help us mine spirit stones. Of course, there is a quota you need to meet when mining, so those who work harder than others can also obtain more sect points at the end of the month.''''
Shun Long wondered for a second, whether his triangr-shaped stone was some kind of spirit stone, but he quickly discarded the idea.
''''This stone has a special space inside it that I can enter to cultivate the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and it has also integrated itself in my spiritual space. I doubt it is anything even remotely simr to a spirit stone.'''' Shun Long thought
''''Administrator Feng we have never heard of spirit stones before.'''' Said a disciple with a shining bald head and a burly physique.''''
''''Right, I forgot that there are almost no spirit stones on the ind where you all came from.''''
Administrator Feng said, and then he took out a glistening white stone in the shape of a rhombus as he showed it to these disciples and said
''''Spirit stones are stones that are full of pure qi which cultivators at the heaven grade and above can absorb to aid their cultivation.
So what do you think children? Do you want to work in the spirit stone mines? You can get up to 100 sect points in a month if you work really hard.''''
When Administrator Feng finished his sentence, he looked like an old man trying to tempt a child with candy, but the look on his face only served to frighten these disciples.
The young girl with the ponytail then asked him nervously ''''Ad..Adm..Administrator, iii..isn''t there any other way for us to get s-sect points?''''
Only then did Administrator Feng notice that most of these kids were already frightened by him.
''''Tsk cowards..'''' he then clicked his tongue disdainfully as he said
''''There are 3 other ways to get sect points but they are not as profitable for you as the spirit stone mines.'''' Administrator Feng tried to throw his bait once more before saying
''''The second way would be to help an alchemist or to be one yourself. But that would probably not work for any of you.
Alchemists are rich and they could always use some help to finish their pill refinement a bit faster. There are even some rank 3 bronze alchemists that were looking for helpers the other day, but their requirements are of course for you to be an alchemist yourself.
For a rank 1 alchemist, they would pay 20 sect points a month, for a rank 2 it would be 50 while for a rank 3 alchemist to help them the price could go as high as 200 sect points for a month.''''
When Shun Long heard this, his eyes shone brightly. Not because he wanted to help other alchemists, but because he was already nning to be one even before entering the ''floating cloud sect''. Otherwise wouldn''t all the information he had gotten from the golden book and all the pain he had suffered from it be all in vain?
Shun Long then thought
''''So far alchemists really do seem to be the most profitable path to follow if I want to gather sect points, but I should still probably listen to the rest of what this old man says.''''
Administrator Feng continued
''''Aside from alchemists or the spirit stone mines, you can ept sect missions.
Some of these missions are outside the sect and they require you to hunt some strong magic beasts or find specific herbs that alchemists may need, while the missions that can bepleted inside the sect are usually requests for alchemists to refine specific pills that the ''Treasure Pavillion'' doesn''t have.
These are only some examples, as anyone inside the sect can put a request for a sect mission, but the rule is to first deposit the amount of sect points that you are willing to pay for your request to bepleted in the administration building before your mission can be officially listed.
However, I suggest that you don''t visit the mission section just yet, as no one of you should be strong enough to undertake any missions right now.
''''Lastly, you can apply to work in ces like my ''Administration Building'', the ''Treasure Pavillion'', and others.
Now, those of you that are interested in working at the spirit stone mines can stay behind. The rest of you leave.''''
In the end, 11 out of the 24 people stayed behind to apply to work as miners in the sect.
Shun Long had decided to check the mission section that was on the first floor. What Administrator Feng had said earlier was correct, most of the missions were rted to alchemists.
After having a look at the listed missions, Shun Long rented a somewhat decent courtyard on an inn that was a few hundred meters away from the ''Administration Building'' before he decided to take a look around the ''floating cloud city''.
On the way, he saw a lot of street stalls but instead of selling food like the street vendors in the ''mortal world'' would, this time it was the outer disciples of the sect and they were selling everything a person could imagine.
Shun Long saw swords, sabers, and spears for sale, and almost all of them had been engraved by runes from high-level formation masters, most of whom were at least of rank 3 in the bronze level.
He even saw a saber from a rank 1 silver grade formation master for sale. The seller was a middle-aged looking man, probably around 45 years old, with arms as big as a person''s thighs. The price he was asking for this saber was more than 1000 sect points.
Other stalls were selling medicinal ingredients while some even directly sold medicinal pills.
However, the cheapest item that Shun Long had spotted today was still above 50 sect points.
Only now did he understand, that the 30 sect points that the sect had given to him was truly a minuscule amount.
Unknowingly after walking for a long time, Shun Long saw that he had arrived in front of a huge building that was on par with the ''Administration Building'' in size.
It had 2 gigantic doors that even carriages could fit inside and 2 huge cauldrons ced on either side of the doors. There were 2 eye-catching words ted in gold at the top of the building that everyone inside the ''floating cloud sect'' respected.
''Alchemists'' Guild''
Shun Long hesitated for a second before walking towards those gigantic doors.
Chapter 24 - 24 Conflict in the Alchemists Guild
Chapter 24 - 24 Conflict in the ''Alchemists'' Guild''
As soon as Shun Long entered the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' his nose was assaulted by the fragrance of freshly made pills. His body slightly twitched and his pores opened as if they were trying to breathe the medicinal essence in the air.
A young girl around 18 years old approached Shun Long, her aura was at the early rank 8 of qi cirction. Her face wasn''t that pretty but her big b.o.o.b.s and curvy buttocks made every young man who saw her feel a heat on his crotch. Her yellow robes were tightly wrapped around her body, entuating her curves even further.
As she bowed at Shun Long her cleavage was partly exposed which made Shun Long''s body to start heating up as she said
''''Wee junior brother, do you need a cauldron or medicinal ingredients? My name is Jing Fei and I am here to help you. Our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' has everything you will need.''''
In every important building, there were some cultivators responsible for receiving and guiding guests, and obviously this girl was one of them.
Shun Long then said
''''I''m here to take the rank 1 alchemist examination.''''
When he finished his sentence the woman''s expression changed into one of disdain as she said with a mocking look on her face
''''Hey kid, do you know how many people take the rank 1 examination every day? More than 300 people. From those 300 people, less than 1 percent pass. Have you ever studied alchemy before? Ahh, I can''t be bothered with you just scram to the reception over there if you want to apply for the examination.''''
Her tone had changed all of a sudden from the friendly senior sister to an annoyed shrew as if Shun Long was wasting part of her precious time.
Shun Long said in an annoyed tone
''''It''s your job to guide guests and yet you are this rude and irritable. Your face is unpleasing to the eye, to say the least, and your only redeeming quality is your body. Then again I''m sure that I entered the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' not a brothel so I''m not exactly sure what you are doing here showing your b.o.o.b.s to your guests.
Sadly I don''t sleep with s.l.u.ts, who knows how many people have already used you down there. I wouldn''t touch your filthy body even if you begged me.''''
Then without taking a second look at this annoying woman who had already ruined his mood, Shun Long walked towards the reception to register himself.
Just then the woman behind him screamed as she said
''''Wait. You are not allowed to take part in the examination anymore.''''
Shun Long''s eyebrows were raised as he looked at her and his gaze suddenly turned cold and piercing as he was about to speak but an authoritative voice was heard from behind him that said
''''If she said you are not allowed to take the exam then you won''t take the exam. Scram out of the Guild.''''
An obese man around his fifties with a belly so big that he resembled a rugby ball appeared behind Shun Long and Jing Fei. His clothes were white, exclusive only to alchemists inside the sect. The man wasn''t exactly short, but because of how big his belly was, he truly resembled a rugby ball.
''''Alchemist Bu'''' the woman eximed in an overjoyed tone as she rushed towards the man and linked her arms with his.
Then she looked at Shun Long as she said in an impatient tone
''''Didn''t you hear Alchemist Bu? He told you to scram kid!''''
Shun Long was extremely angry at this point.
First, hees to the ''Alchemists'' Guild to take a test, then he gets verbally attacked by an aggressive shrew, and then a fat rugby ball hade to abuse him.
Shun Long''s eyes turned red as he unleashed his aura of a peak rank 6 qi condensation. This time he had truly unleashed his aura, unlike the time he fought with Xiao Shitou where he had only unleashed an aura in the middle of rank 6 in qi condensation.
Jing Fei was happy that Shun Long was only at the peak of rank 6 as she hadn''t used her spiritual strength earlier to probe him.
Although she could feel a suppressive effect from Shun Long''s aura, she didn''t pay much attention to it as she was already more than a full minor realm stronger than Shun Long.
She then walked forward as she said
''''Elder Bu watch as I teach this kid a lesson.''''
''''What do you mean by ''elder bu''? FeiFei, how many times have I told you to simply call me Duyi?
Don''t worry, just let me take care of this brat for you.'''' Alchemist Bu said in an endearing tone, as the fat on his face jiggled every time he opened his mouth.
However, Jing Fei didn''t listen to Alchemist Bu as she rushed to attack Shun Long.
She already knew what Bu Duyi wanted if he were to help her, and she wasn''t willing to pay that price just to handle a small rank 6 qi condensation rookie.
However, Jing Fei had really underestimated Shun Long.
His aura had exploded and Jing Fei was stopped on her tracks, but that wasn''t the end of it.
Shun Long then unleashed his ''Monarch''s Domain'' as well, but he didn''t target Alchemist Bu as he knew that their difference in cultivation was at far too big of a level to cover.
Alchemist Bu had an aura at thete stages of the earth grade, the difference in both their quality and their quantity of their qi couldn''t even be mentioned together.
But Jing Fei was a different matter altogether.
In front of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', with less than 2 minor levels of difference between them, she was incapable of even opening her mouth in front of Shun Long.
Shun Long appeared in front of a terrified Jing Fei who couldn''t move a single muscle, and his left hand pped down on her face with so much force, that as it fell on her cheek, bones were heard breaking from the impact.
Alchemist Bu''s aura thenpletely exploded as he recovered himself from his stupor.
He couldn''t understand how could Jing Fei be beaten so badly by Shun Long, but he knew that it was now his chance to get revenge for her as well as having her owe him at the same time.
Bu Duyi had arrived in front of Shun Long in the blink of an eye, as he clenched his hand tightly before punching Shun Long straight on his chest.
Shun Long''s body flew backwards as it collided with the wall behind him, before vomiting a mouthful of blood.
Chapter 25 - 25 Sudden changes
Chapter 25 - 25 Sudden changes
Shun Long could feel his insides shaking as he crashed on the wall and fragments flew around it copsed.
His sternum had nearly caved in from that punch as he spat another mouthful of blood before exerting all the power he had left in his body to stand up from inside the debris.
Shun Long could feel inside him a power that was rapidly healing his injuries, however at the same time, his qi was being depleted at an astonishing rate.
Bu Duyi was startled.
''''How are you still alive'''' he asked, the astonishment evident in his voice.
Bu Duyi''s aura made it obvious that he had already reached the early rank 9 of the earth grade. Shun Long surviving a punch from him and still being able to stand after that was already nothing short of a miracle.
''''Kill him'''' a shrill voice was suddenly heard from behind Bu Duyi.
Jing Fei had appeared behind him, the entire right side of her face had now turned simr to a pig''s, red and swollen from Shun Long''s p.
''''I can''t kill him inside the ''floating cloud city'' or the punishment I will receive will be too big of a price to pay'''' Bu Duyi said ''regretfully''.
''''I...I will give you what you want, so kill him!'''' Jing Fei said venomously as she grinded her teeth.
''''Ah, if you insist my little FeiFei then I will take care of this kid for you.'''' Bu Duyi said as he looked at Shun Long and said
''''Kid, me your own bad luck for meeting me today and offending my little FeiFei.''''
Shun Long''s mind was filled with endless anger as well as a feeling of powerlessness.
He had left the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' to be stronger so that he can protect his own life, but in the end, he was just a few steps away from death after just one day in the ''floating cloud sect''.
His mind suddenly shook, as both the triangr-shaped stone and the golden book buzzed simultaneously.
Out of nowhere, a silver-white page had appeared in his spiritual space.
This page''s appearance was just like the one that had sucked him inside the golden book, but the aura it was exuding was millions of times greater than that of Bu Duyi''s.
If Bu Duyi was a tiny ant crawling on the ground, then this silver-white page was a divine dragon soaring the skies.
Shun Long could instantly feel that his mind was connected with this silver-white page and he was sure that if he were to take it out of his spiritual space, he could definitely kill Bu Duyi in one-shot.
The triangr-shaped stone however was still buzzing inside his spiritual space, the pressureing from it even overshadowed the golden book and the silver-white page that had just appeared.
Bu Duyi was slowly walking towards Shun Long, trying to torture him with anxiety. What Bu Duyi most wanted to see, was the expression of despair on Shun Long''s face before he killed him.
Shun Long understood what Bu Duyi was trying to do and he thought inside
''''What a shameless old man, he first wants me to feel despair before killing me. Well if you want to be that vicious then you better watch how I y you to death today. Even if I have to flee from the ''floating cloud sect'' I can''t just sit and die like this.''''
Shun Long then put on an expression full of fear on his face, as Bu Duyi came closer and closer.
As long as he was close enough to him, Shun Long was sure that he could sh him with the silver-white page, even if Bu Duyi was a rank 9 earth grade cultivator.
''''What is going on here?''''
An old man with a white long beard had arrived at the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' doors and asked in an authoritative voice full of displeasure.
This old man was dressed in silver robes, and there was a silver badge of a tiny cauldron on his chest with 1 star embedded on it.
Bu Duyi''s face instantly changed as he walked fawningly over to the old man''s side and said respectfully
''''Senior Li, what a pleasant surpr..''''
''''Stop the bootlicking Bu Duyi, I asked you what happened here.''''
Bu Duyi''s face twitched and while his expression didn''t change, his eyes turned cold inside. However, he instantly suppressed that feeling as he answered
''''Senior Li, it was all this kid''s fault. This kid has disrupted the peace and quiet inside the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' so I asked him to leave but he refused, thus I had no choice but to teach him a lesson, I hope that you will forgive me.''''
The old man snorted as he looked around, his eyes instantly falling on the female receptionist. He walked over as he asked her what had happened, with a stern expression on his face.
Bu Duyi tried to give a threatening re to the receptionist but as soon as ''Senior Li'' turned to look at him, he instantly felt his heart turning cold.
''''F.u.c.k if this bitch doesn''t keep her mouth shut, I''ll be in troubleter.''''
The receptionist didn''t dare to lie in front of ''Senior Li''. After all, there were plenty of other people here that had seen what happened earlier, and if any of them were to step forth and tell the truth, even her life could be in trouble then.
When ''Senior Li'' heard from the receptionist what had happened, he turned his head to look at Bu Duyi and Jing Fei threateningly.
'''' HOW DARE YOU LIE IN FRONT OF SENIOR LI YOU INSOLENT WASTE? YOU DESERVE DEATH!''''
Bu Duyi rushed over at the receptionist but before his palm could strike her, Bu Duyi felt a heavy feeling on his waist. ''Senior Li''s'' foot had alreadynded on him from the side, and Bu Duyi''s fat body was sent flying as he destroyed a very thick wall.
''Senior Li'' didn''t even turn to look at Bu Duyi, whose eyes were closed as his body was twitching, while his white robes had turned grey from the dust. Instead, he turned his head to look at Jing Fei who abruptly started trembling as she heard ''Senior Li''s'' next words
''''I''ll deal with you tooter.''''
Then he turned his head to look at Shun Long as he said in a cold voice
''''As for you, although you were partially the victim here, you are too cruel and your mouth is too poisonous. You spat curses at an employee of our ''Alchemists'' Guild''. Although I won''t ask you for anypensation about the broken walls or the trouble you have caused, you are hereby forbidden from entering the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the ''floating cloud city'' ever again.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned frosty as he looked at this disgusting old man, who was trying to cover his subordinates'' wrongdoings even at this time.
''''Hahahaha''''
However, just then, sudden melodiousughter was heard from a corner of the room, drawing everyone''s attention.
Chapter 26 - 26 Liu Mei
Chapter 26 - 26 Liu Mei
Just then, sudden melodiousughter was heard from a corner of the room, drawing everyone''s attention.
An enchantingly beautiful woman was standing there, painting a picturesque scene.
Her wless face had left both men and women in the room dazed.
Her breathtaking ck eyes resembled the starry night while her perfect red lips were simply mesmerizing.
She wore long green robes that indicated her status as an inner disciple in the sect.
Shun Long had never seen a woman more beautiful than her in his life.
''''Even those celebrities from my past life couldn''tpare with this woman in front of me'''' he thought while he was looking at her peerlessly beautiful face when a voice suddenly woke him up.
''''Hey what are you all looking at?'''' the voice was full of displeasure as it reverberated inside the room,ing from behind this peerlessly beautiful woman
Shun Long then noticed another pretty woman in green robes, standing even further behind in the corner. It was this woman who had spoken just now.
''''This woman may be slightlycking in terms of appearance if I were topare her with the peerlessly beautiful girl beside her, but to be honest, she is also a great beauty as well.''''Shun Long thought as his gaze turned to examine this girl too.
''''Senior sister look, now everyone is looking at us.'''' Apparently, this peerless beauty was the ''senior sister'' while the other beauty standing closer to the corner earlier was the ''junior sister''.
Nobody knew what method these two girls had used to conceal themselves inside the room. Otherwise, with their extraordinary appearances, it would be impossible for people to not have noticed them.
''''Hmph, so what if they are looking at us, I didn''t expect that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in our ''floating cloud city'' to only be at this level.''''
''''How dare yo..'''' Bu Duyi who had ''only just recovered'' from ''Senior Li Wei''s'' kick on his waist, and was enraged as he heard what this girl had just said. She directly implied that there was something wrong with the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' and Bu Duyi wouldn''t allow them to expose him like that when even senior Li Wei had covered for him earlier today.
But contrary to all expectations, it was Li Wei who had cut off his words, by sending a heavy p at his face.
Before Bu Duyi could even react, Li Wei warned him in a threatening tone
''''If you speak one more sentence, you will have to collect your rolling head from the floor''''
Then Li Wei put on the best smile he could muster and even though it looked like he was half-smiling and half-crying, he approached the two green-robed girls as he said
''''Miss Liu Mei and miss Lan Jinjing, it is an honor for you to visit my ''Alchemists'' Guild''. Please forgive that ignorant idiot who is too blind to see who you are. If you wish to punish him however, you can do so freely, I will definitely not object to it.''''
Bu Duyi whose heart was zing with mes of rage, now felt like he had just been showered with a bucket full of ice.
Shun Long was also speechless by how shameless Li Wei could be.
''''These two girls must definitely have some extraordinary origins or this shitty old man wouldn''t be so polite to them'''' he thought.
The ''junior sister'' of the two, Lan Jinjing looked at Bu Duyi as she said coldly
''''For daring to speak like that to my senior sister, you deserve death!''''
Lan Jinjing''s eyes were bursting with anger and she looked like she was just half a step away from tearing Bu Duyi''s body apart when Liu Mei stopped her and said
''''We shouldn''t kill anyone inside the city, even if it is sc.u.m like this person or we too would be the same as them in that case.'''' Liu Mei said in a cold voice that didn''t hide her displeasure towards Bu Duyi, before she turned her head to look at ''Senior Li Wei'' saying
''''Mister Li, you should allow this junior brother to participate in the test. Everyone inside the hall knows the truth about this matter and it could possibly affect your reputation. This junior brother only intended to take the test when this woman first insulted him'''' Liu Mei said as she pointed at Jing Fei.
Jing Fei''s face had turnedpletely white. She knew that these two stunning women were definitely inner sect disciples and this time she was most likely doomed.
Shun long was also surprised. Liu Mei''s bluntness astounded him.
Nevertheless, he politely cupped his fists at her before turning and leaving the ''Alchemists'' Guild''. His meaning was obvious.
Shun long had refused Liu Mei''s goodwill as this was a matter of pride for him.
Since the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' had kicked him out the first time, he wouldn''t return even if Li Wei had begged him. Besides, all that he wanted to do this time aside from participating in the examination for the rank 1 alchemists, was to verify some of his theories about medicinal ingredients and see whether a few of his hypotheses were correct or not. But even without the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' he could still do it, it would just take a bit longer to do it.
Lan JinJing was tongue-tied, it was the first time someone hadn''t epted her senior sister''s polite intentions. People would usually rush to fawn over her but this guy did theplete opposite.
Liu Mei wasn''t offended by Shun Long''s refusal to her. It was actually the first time that a young outer sect disciple had picked her interest, her sparkling eyes looking at Shun Long''s lonely back as he walked out of the Guild.
Just as Shun Long had left the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', a big ball of meat could be seen rushing towards him.
Shun Long instantly turned around and was about to curse Bu Duyi before turning to run since he couldn''t beat him just yet, when he noticed that this person''s shape was different from Bu Duyi''s.
If Bu Duyi was like a rugby ball, then this person resembled more like a football (/ser ball), since his belly waspletely round.
Despite being fat, this person had arrived in front of Shun Long almost instantly, as he panted a bit before saying
''''Brother, you were really impressive back there.'''' the fat person said as he pointed behind him at the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
Shun Long looked at this person who was also wearing green robes and thought
''''Aren''t inner disciples supposed to all be in the inner city and only rarely toe to the outer city? Then howe I''ve already seen three today?''''
This fat disciple then cupped his hands as he said
''''My name is Fu Li and I''m from the inner sect. How can I address you junior brother?''''
Shun Long was still on his guard towards this Fu Li but he didn''t sense any ill intentions from this person, so he too cupped his hands as he said
''''My name is Shun Long.''''
Just as Fu Li was about to respond, a familiar white-robed man approached them as he said
''''Brother Shun haha what a coincidence. Will you apany this elder brother for a drink at the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''?''''
Chapter 27 - 27 Friends
Chapter 27 - 27 Friends
The young man in white was of course Lu Wen.
''''Eh? Fatty Fu, what are you doing here?''''
''''I was just going to ask you the same thing. How do you know brother Shun Long?'''' asked Fatty Fu.
''''Ah right!'''' Fatty Fu continued ''''Brother Shun Long let''s go to the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''. Just now I heard Lu Wen invite us which means he is obviously going to pay. We need to order the best food and wine. Especially the ''Mystifying Fragrance wine'', its taste is truly heavenly.'''' Fatty Fu quickly started salivating as he thought of the food and wine in the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''.
''''Hey Fatty, who invited you? I only invited brother Shun, as for you, take a hike! Don''t even dream of having me pay for your meal or I''ll go bankrupt.''''
Shun Long smiled as he saw the 2 bantering like old friends while they were walking towards their destination.
Although Fatty Fu seemed to be closer in age to Shun Long, he was still great friends with Lu Wen. After all, in the cultivation world, 10 years were nothing. When a cultivator reached the earth grade, they could already live for 500 years.
Their group walked for almost 30 minutes until they finally reached a veryrge and luxurious building. The building wasn''t as big as the ''Administration Building'' or the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' but it was definitely far more luxurious than both of them. After all the previous 2 involved pills and administration of the city while this one was probably the most luxurious building in the entire sect, the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''.
Shun Long, Lu Wen, and Fatty Fu all walked towards it and as they got closer, Shun Long noticed that the gates of the Pavilion looked like they were made from pure gold with many runic lines engraved inside.
Lu Wen knew that Shun Long would be curious since it was his first time visiting the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' so he exined
''''This metal isn''t gold, but it''s a formless liquid that only high-grade formation masters can create. It is first formed in a liquid state and the formation masters need to hammer it and create the runic inscriptions inside it before it haspletely solidified its shape.''''
Fatty Fu interrupted Lu Wen as he said
''''The gates of the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' are all created from this metal, and even a full-powered punch from a peak rank 9 earth grade expert probably can''t destroy it. After all, this gate requires at least a formation master of the silver level to cre..''''
''''Enough Fatty, I will exin things so wait until we get to our table first.''''
Their group had already reached the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' but Fatty hadn''t noticed it and had kept bbering.
Lu Wen said to the waiter
''''Bring us to the 3rd floor and bring us 3 jars of ''Mystifying Fragrance wine''.''''
The waiter bowed as he brought them to the 3rd floor and quickly brought over their wine. Fatty Fu then said to Lu Wen
''''Wow, you really are willing to spend today brother Lu. 6000 sect points for 3 jars of wine, impressive. This little brother will be in your care in the future.''''
''''Scram fatty, next time you are the one paying for our wine. Today is an exception since I had to return home and I have been feeling so stifled that I couldn''t take it anymore without drinking some good wine.''''
Fatty Fu then asked ''''Right, brother Lu how did you meet brother Shun here?''''
Lu Wen and Fatty Fu both exined how they met Shun Long, and although Fatty Fu had expected such a normal situation, Lu Wen was astonished.
''''Did you really fight with Bu Duyi?'''' Lu Wen asked Shun Long, disbelief coloring his face.
Shun Long instead smiled self-mockingly as he said ''''Fight? That shameless old man just punched me once, but I couldn''t do anything to him and I almost died from that punch of his. But I will make sure to pay him back ten-fold in the future.''''
Although his insides had almost healed by now, and his chest had no injuries anymore, his qi was almost depleted at this point. Shun Long however was shocked because even now, the triangr-shaped stone still hadn''t stopped buzzing inside his spiritual space.
''''That is still unbelievable. How could a rank 6 condensation rookie survive a punch from ate earth stage cultivator? This is a miracle, brother Shun you are truly amazing.'''' Lu Wen said as he cupped his fists in respect to Shun Long''s feat before they all opened their jars of wine to drink.
As they were all drinking, the atmosphere in the table became even friendlier and at this point, the three of them really regarded each other as true friends. After all, there was an old saying in the cultivation world ''Men be acquaintances after meeting each other, they be friends after drinking with each other, and they be true brothers after sharing life and death with each other.''
Lu Wen then asked Shun Long curiously
''''Right, brother Shun, why did you go to the Guild? I remember that you only started cultivating less than 2 months ago. Could it be that you are interested in studying alchemy?''''
''''What did you say?''''
Now it was Fatty''s turn to be astonished, as Shun Long needed less than 2 months to reach his current level.
''''HAHAHA my, Fu Li''s brother is a genius that needed less than 2 months to reach the peak of rank 6 in qi condensation? Brother, you have toe and meet my grandfather. If he knew that I have a brother who advanced so fast in his cultivation, perhaps he wouldn''t beat me every time he saw me before telling me to go cultivate harder.''''
Fatty Fu thought for a bit before saying
''''Yes, that''s it! It''s not my fault that I am not progressing fast enough in my cultivation, it''s just that I''m not a genius.''''
Chapter 28 - 28 Another alternative
Chapter 28 - 28 Another alternative
''''Yes, that''s it! It''s not my fault that I am not progressing fast enough in my cultivation, it''s just that I''m not a genius.''''
Shun Long and Lu Wen looked at the fatty andughed before Shun Long responded to Lu Wen
''''Actually, I need some books to practice alchemy. Although I have learned a few theories already I still need to expand my horizons, that''s why I was at the Guild intending to take the examination to be a rank 1 alchemist.''''
Lu Wen then said
''''I can give you my own books both for rank 1 and rank 2 alchemists. I don''t need them anymore and hopefully, I will soon be a rank 3 alchemist. I have already learned all that I needed to from these books, therefore the only thing that is currently hindering me from bing a rank 3 alchemist is my cultivation realm.''''
This was the first time that Shun Long had heard something like that.
''''So one needs to advance their own cultivation to advance in ranks as an alchemist?'''' Shun Long asked curiously
''''It''s not that you have to advance realms necessarily, but it''s more like, that you can''t advance as an alchemist unless you advance in your own realm first.''''
Lu Wen''s answer was puzzling and didn''t make a lot of sense, so he continued exining
''''Alchemists rely on their spiritual strength to refine their pills. But every higher rank pill also requires even more spiritual strength from the alchemist in order to seed in the refinement of the pill.''''
Shun Long seemed to understand where this conversation was headed to as Lu Wen continued
''''Theoretically one can be a rank 1 alchemist at the early rank 1 stage in qi condensation, however, that is realistically impossible. There is no way for an early rank 1 qi condensation rookie to have enough spiritual strength to be a rank 1 alchemist.''''
Shun Long understood what Lu Wen was trying to say and he was feeling extremely joyful inside, as his spiritual strength had already advanced by leaps and bounds after absorbing the heavenly aura from the golden book. However, how far he had advanced right now could only be understood when he tried to refine pills himself.
''''I''m certain that even if I can''t refine rank 3 pills yet, I can definitely seed in refining rank 2 pills. Even Lu Wen is only a rank 2 bronze alchemist, so, wouldn''t that put me at least on par with him if my guess is right?''''
Lu Wen then continued
''''Usually, an alchemist advances one rank for every 6 ranks they advance in cultivation.
For example, a person usually needs to reach rank 6 in qi condensation before they have enough spiritual strength to be a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist. That same person would then have to advance all the way to rank 3 in the earth grade before bing a rank 2 bronze grade alchemist. As for bing a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, then that would require this person to be a rank 9 earth grade expert.''''
Right now I am still at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, however, my father told me that if I reach the middle stages of the earth grade before 3 months have passed, he will give me a ''golden eagle spirit nourishing pill''.
When fatty Fu heard this, he almost choked on his wine as he asked Lu Wen in disbelief
''''Is that the same ''golden eagle nourishing pill'' that requires the core of a peak rank 3 golden eagle? That''s a magic beast that even a peak heaven grade expert can''t defeat in a 1 on 1 scenario. It also needs at least a rank 2 silver grade alchemist to refine it, will your family really give something like this to you? Let alone giving it to you, where did you guys even find that?''''
Shun Long was shocked when he learned the pill''s origins, but fatty Fu was even more shocked because he knew how rare this pill is. Even in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' in the city, one wouldn''t necessarily find such a pill even after 10 or 20 years.
''''This pill is actually in my grandfather''s possession and since he said that only I can have it as I''m the only alchemist in the family, none of my two brothers dared to object or my grandfather would give the position of the family head directly to the other. After all, this is something that belonged to my grandfather to begin with, what right does anyone else in the family have to object if he wants to give it to me? It is also due to my grandfather''s wishes that I returned back to the city from the ''Mortal world''.
If I consume this ''golden eagle nourishing pill'', then when I reach the middle stages of the earth grade, I would already be able to refine rank 3 bronze grade pills. So brother Shun you don''t have to refuse these books as they are already useless to me.'''' Lu Wen then finished his sentence and waved his hand as 5 different books appeared from thin air.
Shun Long had already seen the use of a spatial ring back when Administrator Feng had first used his own.
''''Damn, how convenient'''' Fatty Fu mumbled and Shun Long nodded his head in agreement.
Shun Long then epted the books before asking
''''Brother Lu, where can I find medicinal ingredients in the city? Originally I was nning to buy some from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' but there have to be other ces as well in the ''floating cloud city'', right?''''
Lu Wen didn''t answer Shun Long''s question. Instead Shun Long noticed that he had turned to look at fatty Fu, before the fatty stood up from his chair and puffed his chest out proudly.
Then fatty Fu put on a well-pleased smile as he looked at Shun Long and said in a satisfied tone
''''Actually, this brother here works for the biggest auction house in the ''floating cloud city'' the ''Treasure Pavilion''. Our ''Treasure Pavilion'' not only conducts auctions every month but it also has ess to a huge supply of medicinal ingredients.
Just tell me what you need and this brother will definitely get it for you as long as it is within my abilities.''''
Then Fatty Fu stopped talking for a bit before calcting something with his hands. After that, he embarrassingly raised 3 fingers before saying to Shun Long
''''Right now I can only help you this much brother.''''
Chapter 29 - 29 Sect points and Medicinal Ingredients
Chapter 29 - 29 Sect points and Medicinal Ingredients
Lu Wen looked at fatty with disdain as he asked
''''Fatty you only have 3000 sect points?''''
Fatty Fu replied embarrassingly
''''Ah I''m almost out of sect points for this month but I will definitely have more next time. At least this much'''' he said as he then raised all 10 fingers proudly showing off.
Shun Long understood that both Fatty Fu and Lu Wen were both very willing to help him. Shun Long''s rtionship with Lu Wen had only started because of his father''s goodwill to gift him a good cauldron, but it evolved into something much purer.
It was something that Shun Long had never experienced before.. this unconditional friendship... this... was also what brotherhood actually felt like.
Things were the same with Fatty Fu.
He was a simple-minded man. If he liked you then you would know it, whereas if he hated you.. he wouldn''t even hesitate to kick you twice when you are down and struggling.
Shun Long now genuinely understood that from today onwards he would have 2 people by his side who could very well be called his brothers. Although this wasn''t a brotherhood forged between a life and death situation, Shun Long knew that they genuinely treated him like a brother, and he would do the same.
Shun Long and fatty Fu could both ept Lu Wen paying for the wine this time, and they would pay the next time, be it in the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'' or in some other ce. This kind of thing wasn''t calcted by sect points between brothers, sometimes you pay for them when you go out, while sometimes they pay for you.
However, Shun Long would never ept charity from anyone, not even from his friends or his brothers. Especially because something like that could damage their rtionship.
A rtionship involving profits was never pure after all.
Therefore Shun Long said
''''Right now I only want to know whether I''m suitable to practice alchemy or not, not to actually train to be an alchemist. I can see how my refinement process goes and decide in the future if I truly want to be an alchemist. Also, don''t speak about giving me money again. What I want to know is this:
I need ''Honey Fruit'', ''Blue stripped grass'', ''5-leafed giant flower'', and ''Grisly growing root'', 10 sets of these how much would they cost in the ''Treasure Pavilion''? Don''t even think about lying to me or when I find out, we will definitely not call each other ''brother'' by then.''''
Fatty Fu sighed and then he calcted for a bit with his hands before saying
''''These are all rank 1 medicinal ingredients and incrediblymon at that. Therefore 10 sets of these would originally cost you 140 sect points, however if we buy them on my name we will get an extra 40% discount since I''m an employee in the ''Treasure Pavilion'', which would reduce the overall cost to 84 sect points.''''
Fatty Fu stayed silent for a bit before saying again
''''But if you don''t try enough times during pill refinement, how will you know whether you are really suited to practice alchemy or not? There is no way you can seed with such a low amount of medicinal ingredients.''''
Lu Wen also nodded as he had already experienced this first-hand, but they both didn''t try to persuade Shun Long further to ept their help as they both understood his thoughts clearly. They too didn''t want this brotherhood that they had formed between them, to turn into a material rtionship, that''s why they epted his decision.
Shun Long calcted for a bit before saying
''''Then for 3 sets it should be 25.2 sect points right?''''
''''There is no 0.2 sect points in the sect. If the number is closer to 10 than to 0 then it is calcted as one point. Since ''2'' is closer to ''0'' then it is calcted as 0 points which brings the sum to 25 sect points.'''' Fatty Fu answered
Shun Long thought for a bit before saying
''''Then brother help me buy 3 sets of those ingredients, here are the 25 points.''''
Shun Long took out his sect identifying jade as he transferred 25 points to fatty. They all kept drinking merrily for an hour until they had finished their wine and left the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''. Shun Long had already told fatty Fu and Lu Wen the name of the inn he was staying at, and fatty Fu promised him that he would have someone deliver the medicinal ingredients in less than 3 hours.
Shun Long decided to stay in his room and read the alchemy books that Lu Wen had given him.
Shun Long eventually found some information that he hadn''t learned from the golden book.
''''So medicinal ingredients are categorized in 9 different grades and each grade corresponds to each alchemist''s ranks and abilities. For example, a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist would only be able to refine pills from rank 1 medicinal ingredients, whereas a rank 1 silver grade alchemist could use medicinal ingredients from anywhere between rank 1 to rank 4 for his concoctions.''''
Shun Long mumbled to himself.
Unknowingly almost 3 hours had passed and Shun Long had lost himself into studying, when a voiceing from outside woke him up from his thoughts
''''This guest, a person from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' has delivered some goods for you.''''
Shun Long collected the goods from the inn-keeper before returning to his room and spacing out for a bit as he looked at the medicinal ingredients in his hands.
Then he sighed as he thought
''''This is make or break now. I already spent 25 of my 30 sect points for these 3 sets, and I have also already paid the inn-keeper 4 sect points, to reserve this courtyard for the rest of the month. If I fail this gamble I would probably have to go and work in the mines for at least a month. Although I am absolutely confident that I can do this, I only have these 3 sets of ingredients and I can''t afford to waste them.''''
Shun Long then tried to calm his mind before starting his first attempt in pill refinement, when the triangr-shaped stone in his spiritual space quieted down.
His consciousness was once again flooded with images just like it had been in the past before three words appeared in Shun Long''s mind. The characters were unknown to Shun Long, he had never seen them before, but he could sense an ancient aura from them and Shun Long could understand what these words meant as if their meaning was engraved directly in his soul.
''Monarch''s Eternal Body''
Chapter 30 - 30 Monarchs Eternal Body
Chapter 30 - 30 ''Monarch''s Eternal Body''
''Monarch''s Eternal Body''
Shun Long instantly understood everything after these images shed through his mind. The ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' was a heaven-defying technique just like the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
However the ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' waspletely different from the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
This was a body refinement art.
Shun Long had already learned earlier from Lu Wen''s books, that there were 2 types of cultivators.
Qi cultivators and body cultivators.
Qi cultivators gathered qi inside their bodies by circting their cultivation techniques, whereas body refinement cultivators would refine their bodies instead.
When Shun Long had been in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' he hadn''t even heard of body cultivators. Body refinement is said to be 100 times more difficult than qi cultivation, thus it hadpletely disappeared from the ''Mortal world''.
Despite the higher difficulty though, there were plenty of cultivators who focused on body refinement in the ''Cultivation world''.
Shun Long had understood from these images in his head, what type of body art the ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' was. It was an art that enhanced the body and made the person cultivating in it able to tear space with his bare hands.
Shun Long knew that he already had a cultivation technique that could affect time around him, but he was just too weak to properly use it at the moment. Now with a body that could tear through space as well, he wondered
''''How strong will I be by then?''''
He sat in his room cross-legged as he studied this body refinement art.
In the ''Cultivation world'', it was unbelievably hard for people to follow a path of both qi and body refinement as they were twopletely different paths. To be a qi cultivator, the qi you absorbed from nature had to pass through your meridians and circte through your body, before bing yours to use.
However, the path of body refinement waspletely different. The mostmon way to cultivate in body refining was to train your body for many years, injuring yourself every time before then consuming medicinal pills or taking medicinal baths that could help you recover and strengthen yourself even further.
Shun Long though, knew that he couldn''t follow this path of body refinement. Firstly, he didn''t have enough time to do so as that would require many years to seed and secondly, the ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' waspletely different and couldn''t be trained in such a way.
It required Shun Long to refine certain medicinal pills and use the immense energy they contained to destroy and then rebuild his body from the inside.
However, every path had its own shorings.
Although it would be faster for Shun Long to advance in body refinementpared to other body cultivators who have been training their bodies for years, he would have to pay the equivalent price for it.
Instead of having your bones, tendons, and internal organs to slowly strengthen themselves like they usually would have during body refinement, the ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' wouldpletely crush them before reforming them properly. This was the kind of pain that couldn''t be described with just the word excruciating.
Shun Long was slightly afraid inside. The smallest misstep could cause him to die this time.
After taking a deep breath, he seemed to have realized something as he mumbled
''''Now that I think about it, this all seems to be just parts of a bigger whole.
First I had to cultivate in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' to have enough qi in my body as well as be a qi cultivator.
Then, when my qi reached a certain level, the golden book sucked me inside and almost killed me when it filled me with all that information.
And now that I have the knowledge I need regarding medicinal nts, magic beasts, and the human body, I can cultivate the ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' by refining the pills I need.
Could it be that the optimal path to follow is this double way of cultivating both in qi and body refinement? ... Even if it isn''t, I still can''t pass on such an opportunity.
I have to at least try to cultivate in the ''Monarch''s Eternal Body'' as soon as I can gather the medicinal nts I need for it.
For now though, I should start with bing more proficient in alchemy.''''
Then Shun Long took out the 3 sets of ''Honey Fruit'', ''Blue stripped grass'', ''5-leafed giant flower'', and ''Grisly growing root'' that he had purchased with fatty Fu''s help and sat down cross-legged.
After that, he took out the peak rank 3 bronze grade cauldron that his father had given to him before Shun Long had left the ''Blue Forest-city''.
Shun Long took a deep breath, his eyes fully focused in front of him as he said
''''It''s time to start.''''
The first thing he had to do was to turn part of his qi into the fire element and start warming his cauldron.
Unless a person had trained specifically in an ice-focused cultivation technique, they should be able to easily turn their qi into fire.
After about an incense stick of time, the cauldron was already warm enough, so Shun Long took out the ''5-leafed giant flower.
''''ording to Lu Wen''s books, I first have to pluck the petals before throwing the body of the flower in the cauldron. After it is fully converted to medicinal essence, I have to throw in half of the ''Grisly growing root'' before adding the ''Honey Fruit'' and the ''Blue stripped grass''.
Hmm.. but this doesn''t make any sense.
If I pluck all the petals from the ''5-leafed giant flower'' although its energy will be easier to be refined into a pill, the pill would at least be 20% less effective due to this, and the medicinal efficacy will fall even further if you throw in only half of the ''Grisly growing root'' as well. The root grows under rocks and absorbs the energy of the earth to mature, throwing half of it makes no sense if it is just to bnce out the wood energy from the ''5-leafed giant flower'' with the ''Grisly growing root'' s'' earth element. ''''
Shun Long pondered for a bit before he decided
''''I will first add in the ''Blue stripped grass'' before plucking one leaf from the ''5-leafed giant flower'' to bnce out its energy and refine it faster. Then I will put in the rest of the flower along with the grisly growing root, and I will add the ''Honey fruit''st. This way the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill will at least be 60 to 70% more effectivepared to the book''s recipe''''
If anypetent Alchemist had heard Shun Long''s thought process this time, they would definitely spit on his face. ''If it was that easy to modify alchemy recipes wouldn''t everyone just do that?''
Chapter 31 - 31 Refining pills
Chapter 31 - 31 Refining pills
Nevertheless, what others may consider as madness, to Shun Long it seemedpletely logical after having understood every single aspect of these medicinal ingredients he was handling.
Shun Long added the ''Blue stripped grass'' first and he noticed that it instantly started to ''wither''. Before all of the essence had left the grass though, Shun Long threw in one leaf from the ''5-leafed flower''.
The shocking result was that after throwing in the leaf, the ''Blue stripped grass'' had a reaction as the half-withered grass coiled itself around the leaf while it was being refined.
Shun Long smiled proudly as he said
''''Ha, I knew it that this was the correct way to refine the ''Blue stripped grass''. By adding one leaf from the ''5-leafed flower'' the medicinal essence of the ''Blue stripped grass'' that would have been lost in the air is now all focused around the leaf. The refinement is faster and the efficacy of the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill will be higher in the end. But I have to throw the rest of the flower inside soon or its quality will quickly drop after it has lost one of its leaves.''''
When he finished speaking, 5 breaths of time had already passed and Shun Long threw the rest of the ''5-leafed flower'' inside the cauldron.
When a medicinal ingredient was purified, a sizzling sound could be heard as its body would wither and it would leave behind its medicinal essence in liquid form.
The ''5-leafed flower'' was quickly being refined and Shun Long used his spiritual energy to lower the me''s temperature.
''''The ''grisly growing root'' has to be refined slower than the previous two ingredients or its essence would evaporate with only a very small amount remaining in the cauldron in the end.''''
However, even though Shun Long had already lowered the me''s temperature, when he threw in the ''grisly growing root'', more than half of the root''s essence was instantly lost and his first attempt to refine the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill was a failure.
Shun Long sat down with his legs crossed as he pondered for a bit
''''Ahh, although the recipe was perfect, I should have adjusted the temperature of the me even more. If I had lowered it just before the ''5-leafed flower had finished its refinement process then I wouldn''t have failed like this.''''
Even though Shun Long had absolute knowledge regarding the materials he was currently using, alchemy was in the end a process of trial and error. Even if your theoretical knowledge was perfect, you still had to adapt to any sudden changes during the actual refinement of the pills.
Although Shun Long had failed, he wasn''t demotivated in the least. Instead, he was eager to find out if his guess was correct this time.
He rested for an hour to recover the spiritual energy he had expended, before starting the refinement process again from the beginning.
This time Shun Long followed the same steps that he took during the first time, but he lowered the temperature of the mes before the ''5-leafed flower'' waspletely turned into essence.
It took 20 breaths of time for the ''grisly growing root'' to be refined after he had thrown it in. Now there were 3 different colors moving inside the cauldron. Blue from the ''Blue stripped grass'', light green from the ''5-leafed flower'' and a dark brown from the ''grisly growing root'', each of them guided by Shun Long''s spiritual strength to rotate inside the cauldron in a circr motion.
''''All I need to do now is extract the ''Honey fruit''s'' juice before adding it inside the cauldron. Ah, I guess that''s why other alchemists need helpers. It really is a tricky situation since you can''t remove the juice before you start the refinement process or the fruit will wither and die before a few breaths of time have even passed.''''
Shun Long was having a really hard time right now. If he stopped the refinement to extract the juice from the ''Honey Fruit'', the rest of the essence inside the cauldron would be useless without the support from his qi mes and the support from his spiritual power, eventually dissipating in the air. If he didn''t do this though, the entire refinement process will still go to waste eventually without the ''Honey Fruit''s'' needed support toplete the pill.
''''Can I perhaps..?''''
Shun Long had a crazy idea in his mind. And yet, although it sounded crazy, once it was stuck in his mind, he couldn''t get rid of this feeling. It seemed like something inside him was pushing him to try this idea.
Shun Long took a deep breath, his eyes shining brightly. He circted the qi inside him as he activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss''. Then he shouted inside his mind
''Monarch''s DOMAIN''
The indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from his body and covered the entire room as time went still.
Chapter 32 - 32 Qi barrier-breaking pills
Chapter 32 - 32 Qi barrier-breaking pills
The indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from inside his body and covered the entire room as time went still.
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''''Crazy!''''
Shun Long couldn''t help but exim after time had stopped in the entire room.
''''It really worked. I can manipte time forcing everything to go still, before finishing the refining process myself.''''
Although Shun Long was inwardly thinking how much of a cheat his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' technique really is, he didn''t lose any time daydreaming as he quickly moved to extract the juice from the ''Honey Fruit''.
Right now, he could only keep the ''Monarch''s Domain'' active for 6 breaths of time. After that, his qi would be sucked dry from the huge consumption of the technique.
A yellow color had added itself into the mix of blue, light green, and dark brown.
Guided by Shun Long''s spiritual power, the yellow liquid moved inside the cauldron, before it followed the other 3 colors that were already revolving around each other in a circr motion.
Shun Long stopped the activation of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' as the invisible figure of an hourss returned back in his body. And yet, even though less than 3 breaths of time had passed between the activation and the deactivation of the technique, Shun Long still felt that his qi was severely drained.
''''Just activating the ''Monarch''s Domain'' requires so much of my qi. I need to enter the 7th rank of qi condensation soon. I will definitely have more qi then and sustaining the ''Monarch''s Domain'' will be easier.''''
The 4 streams of liquid inside the cauldron were guided by Shun Long''s spiritual power as they tried to merge with each other.
Shun Long knew that he had reached the most crucial phase in his refinement process.
The lid of the cauldron was now closed as it buzzed incessantly, while Shun Long''s mind was fully focused on merging the 4 liquids into one.
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A burst of fragrance came from inside the cauldron as the scent of medicinal herbs suddenly filled the room.
Shun Long stood up and opened the lid of the cauldron as he looked inside.
Two small cyan-colored pills could be seen inside as they emitted a sweet-smelling aroma.
Shun Long quickly gathered both of them and put them inside the bottle that fatty had sent over along with the three sets of medicinal ingredients.
Alchemists stored their pills and herbs in airtight bottles, or else the pills would lose their effectiveness bying in contact with the air for a prolonged period of time.
After resting for an hour to recover his qi and spiritual energy, Shun Long decided to refine thest batch of ingredients he had left.
Now that he had already seeded once, the concoction of the pills was even easier the second time around.
The refinement process was even faster than before and there was one more pill inside the cauldron when he opened the lid this time.
Shun Long now looked at the 5 ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills inside his bottle and was overjoyed as he thought of the price that they could fetch.
''''Normal ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills have a fifty percent chance of allowing someone at the peak of rank 6 to enter the early rank 7 in qi condensation.
My pills however have a seventy percent chance of allowing the people consuming them to directly reach the middle stage of rank 7.''''
Shun Long thought out loud as he looked at the 5 cyan-colored pills in his hand.
As for reaching the early stages of rank 7?
Shun Long had absolute confidence that anyone consuming his pills would experience a breakthrough in less than 15 days.
This was absolutely unheard of in the entire ''floating cloud sect''.
It had to be known that rank 7 was a dividing line and a cultivator with mediocre talent would need to cultivate for more than a year to reach the early stages of rank 7 from the peak of rank 6 if they didn''t use any pills.
But Shun Long''s pills could help someone, regardless of their talent, to directly reach the 7th rank in qi condensation in less than half a month.
Shun Long himself understood that his pills would easily fetch a price of 100 sect points each.
The problem was how to go about selling these pills.
He couldn''t tell people that he had just refined these himself. The efficacy of his ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills and the ones that were out on the market were on apletely different level.
Shun Long then thought
''''I will first try to enter the 7th rank in qi condensation. Then I will consider the matter of selling the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills. The ''Treasure Pavilion'' should be my best option but I will think about it again after Iplete my breakthrough.''''
Shun Long sorted out his thoughts before entering seclusion to reach the 7th rank of qi condensation.
Chapter 33 - 33 Breakthrough to rank 7
Chapter 33 - 33 Breakthrough to rank 7
Shun Long had already received enough food and water from the inn-keeper this time, before entering seclusion to reach the 7th rank in qi condensation.
The bottleneck that other cultivators would meet at the peak of rank 6 wasn''t a bottleneck for Shun Long at all, hence why he didn''t need the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill for himself.
He sat down cross-legged as he entered inside the space of the triangr-shaped stone.
There were 55 balls of qi above his head, 7 of which were shining more brightly than the others.
Shun Long took a deep breath as he said
''''It''s time to start.''''
He then started purifying the rest of the qi balls, his goal was to make them all at the same level as the other 7 above him.
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Days passed while Shun Long was in seclusion, and soon, it was already the 21st day since he had arrived in the ''floating cloud city.
Shun Long had already reached the early stage of rank 7 but still hadn''t exited his seclusion.
After one more week, Shun Long finally stopped cultivating and stood up from his cross-legged position.
His body that should originally be feeling sore after sitting cross-legged for almost a month, was brimming with energy as Shun Long had already reached the peak of rank 7 in qi cirction.
Inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', there were now 63 qi balls of light, all at the same level of power.
As Shun Long stood up and stretched himself, he started pondering on how to sell his 5 ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills.
Suddenly he pped his thigh as he eximed
''''Damn, why didn''t I think of this earlier?''''
He opened the chest he had carried all the way from the ''Blue Forest-city'' and searched among the clothes he had brought with him and found a ck robe that covered him perfectly.
Shun Long tried wearing the ck robe, and after making sure that his face and body were bothpletely covered, he removed it as he stuffed it inside a small bag that he hanged on his left shoulder.
Shun Long then stuffed the bottle with the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills inside his robes and left his courtyard.
The inn-keeper looked at Shun Long who was just leaving his courtyard and approached him as he said
''''Guest, you have used almost the entire month that you paid for. There are 3 more days left. Please remember that the courtyard you are staying in costs 4 sect points each month, so make sure to renew the payment if you wish to extend your stay for another month.''''
The middle-aged inn-keeper said somewhat amiably, but his eyes betrayed the scorn he felt. He had seen plenty of new disciples like Shun Long, who had just arrived from the ''Mortal world'', and instead of looking for ways to gather sect points, they only looked at the short-term benefits of cultivating in the richer aura of the ''cultivation world''. Only when these people''s sect points fell to 0 would they understand their mistakes, but it would be toote by then.
Shun Long heard the inn-keeper but he didn''t really pay any attention to him.
His mind was fully upied with the matter of the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills.
Although Shun Long''s n was good in theory, he didn''t know if it would actually work.
After asking for directions, he walked for half an hour before arriving at the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
The structure of the pavilion was huge, just as big as the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''s''.
The ''Treasure Pavilion'' could be considered slightly inferior to the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' in terms of luxuriousness, but it was definitely above it in terms of grandeur.
Its outer appearance wasn''t any inferior to the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''s'' actually.
The biggest difference between the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' and the ''Treasure Pavilion'' was that while only filthy rich disciples like Lu Wen and fatty Fu tended to visit the first, everyone, whether they were rich or poor, would always need to visit the second.
That was because the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' was a center for entertainment, while the ''Treasure Pavilion'' was a ce for disciples to buy what they needed.
Shun Long didn''t directly walk inside the ''Treasure Pavilion''. Instead, he took a detour and found a secluded alley a few dozen meters away from it.
After making sure that no one was looking at him, Shun Long put the ck robe on his body as he headed towards the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
The streets were bustling and as a result, not many people paid attention to his ck robes. After all, it wasn''t that umon for people to put on a disguise inside the ''floating cloud city''.
Chapter 34 - 34 Treasure Pavilion
Chapter 34 - 34 Treasure Pavilion
Shun Long walked straight towards the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' entrance.
As soon as he entered the pavilion though, he noticed a drastic change in the atmosphere around him.
The air inside the pavilion seemed to be richer in qi,pared to the air on the streets. Also, the loud sounds from the pedestrians on the streets were instantly isted as soon as he had entered inside the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
It was obvious that the pavilion was protected by many formations, some of which even purified the qi in the air to a certain degree, while others isted the outside noise.
Shun Long noticed counters everywhere, where disciples working for the pavilion, were stationed to sell the goods on disy.
As he wasn''t in a rush, Shun Long toured around the first floor of the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
As he walked around the floor, Shun Long noticed that the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had everything that a person would need.
Weapons of all kinds as well as armors were for sale in this room. Swords, sabers, spears, wh.i.p.s, hammers, knives, bows and arrows, and many more were up for sale, all of them forged by rank 3 bronze grade formation masters.
Pills from rank 3 bronze grade alchemists could also be bought on this floor. Even rare treasures that could only be activated once but could kill someone above your level were up for sale here, but their prices were all terrifying. The prices for such treasures started at 3.000 sect points and went up to 10.000.
Shun Long was ted to have even found one of the medicinal herbs he needed to refine the rank 2 ''internal destruction'' pill, that he required in order to reach the first stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Sadly he only had 1 sect point on him right now, so Shun Long decided to stop wasting time and hurry and find someone to sell his ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills to.
Shun Long looked around the first floor, but since he didn''t find anyone who purchased pills here, he decided to move up to the second floor of the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
The second floor had much fewer peoplepared to the first floor, and when he walked in he saw a few young girls in yellow robes giving directions to the people who arrived on the floor.
One of the girls in yellow robes approached the ck-robed Shun Long as she asked politely.
''''Hello, senior, wee to the ''Treasure Pavilion''. Can Mei Yi assist you?''''
Apparently this young girl''s name was Mei Yi and she was there to offer instructions to those who entered the second floor.
Shun Long coughed once trying to change his voice in a much heavier than his usual tone as he said
''''Yes, I have heard that the ''Treasure Pavilion'' both purchases and sells pills, correct?''''
Mei Yi looked at Shun Long and replied smilingly
''''Yes senior, if you wish to purchase pills, there are many pills of even better quality than the previous floor here on the second floor. However, in case you want to sell pills, chances are that you won''t get a good deal as our ''Treasure Pavilion'' has a huge stock of many different kinds of pills. Unless of course senior is nning to sell a rank 4 pill or some other kind of rare pill, in that case, things would be different.''''
Although Mei Yi exined everything clearly and politely, she didn''t hold high hopes for Shun Long, as most alchemists who came to sell their pills here, would usually end up leaving dejected. The ''Treasure Pavilion'' had its own alchemists to refine pills, and it didn''t need to rely on unaffiliated alchemists like them.
Shun Long looked at Mei Yi as he replied again in his heavy voice
''''Indeed, I have some kind of special pills that I wish to sell.''''
''''In that case senior, please follow me.''''
Mei Yi said as she took Shun Long to a rtively big room near the end of the second floor, where alchemists could get their pills appraised. Then she bowed politely as she said
''''Senior please wait until I call an alchemist of our ''Treasure Pavilion'' toe and appraise your pills.''''
Shun Long nodded and Mei Yi left the room for a while.
The room was rtively empty, as it only had a big table at the center, and 2 couches on each end of the table. Shun Long seated himself on one couch as he waited for Mei Yi to return.
Less than 10 minutester, she followed behind a man in white robes who had a white badge with two stars and a tiny cauldron on his chest.
The man looked to be in his early thirties and he had a cid look on his face as he looked at the ck-robed Shun Long and sat down opposite to him without asking for approval or any greetings beforehand.
Mei Yi quickly introduced the man to Shun Long as she said
''''Senior, this is senior Wong Bo, a rank 2 alchemist, and an appraiser of our ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
Shun Long nodded at Mei Yi''s words, as he suddenly heard Wong Bo speaking
''''Please tell me what pills you wish to sell to our pavilion. Hopefully, you won''t waste my precious time.''''
Shun Long''s face smiled underneath his ck robes
''''I have some ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills, have a look'''' he said as he retrieved a bottle from inside his robes.
''''You called me all the way here for some ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills? Even our rank 1 bronze grade alchemists can create this kind of lousy pill'''' the arrogant rank 2 bronze grade alchemist Wong Bo eximed as he was ready to leave the room.
Shun Long didn''t reply to him, all he did was to open the bottle with his ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills and Wong Bo''s expression instantly changed.
Chapter 35 - 35 Stunning price
Chapter 35 - 35 Stunning price
As soon as Wong Bo smelled the fragrance emitted from the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills that Shun Long had brought, his arrogant expression instantly vanished as his eyes focused and he sat straight on the couch opposite to Shun Long.
As an alchemist, he definitely understood that this pill wasn''t ''just a Qi barrier-breaking pill''.
Meanwhile, the young girl''s Mei Yi''s expression had turnedpletely pale. She had forgotten to ask what pill this senior wished to sell to their ''Treasure Pavilion'' before she brought him at the appraisal room.
She stuttered as she said in a weak voice
''''Senior Wong, please forgive me. I didn''t check what pill this senior wished to sell before I brought him to the room. I-I-It is..''''
''''Be quiet!'''' Wong Bo said in a serious voice as he didn''t even look at Mei Yi, his eyespletely focused on the bottle of pills in Shun Long''s hands.
Shun Long closed the bottle but he didn''t return it inside his robes, he just stood seated on the couch as he watched Wong Bo who suddenly stood up.
Wong Bo then bowed as he said
''''Senior, please forgive me for my disrespect earlier. I will personally go and call senior Yin, a grade 3 alchemist of our ''Treasure Pavilion'' to appraise these pills, please wait here.''''
Wong Bo''s voice was full of pleading, as he kept bowing and apologizing.
Shun Long didn''t say anything, he just waved his hand as Wong Bo shed a relieved smile before he rushed out to call that ''senior Yin'' in the room.
''Senior Yin'' who was also dressed in the same manner as Wong Bo, except that the white badge on his chest had 3 stars instead of 2, arrived at the room with Wong Bo in tow and when he entered it, his eyes turned to look at the ck-robed Shun Long and the bottle of pills in his hands.
''Senior Yin'' then said to Shun Long
''''This brother, I heard that you wish to sell some special ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills. Please allow me to inspect them for a while before I can give a proper assessment about their effects.''''
''''Indeed, have a look and tell me what you think'''' Shun Long answered as he ced the bottle of ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills on the table in front of him.
Up to now, neither Wong Bo nor ''Senior Yin'' had managed to ascertain Shun Long''s level of cultivation, which made them have some doubts in their hearts.
Naturally, they didn''t know that Shun Long was training in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and hadpletely retracted his aura, and that caused them to assume that Shun Long''s level of cultivation was above theirs.
''Senior Yin'' then, opened the bottle and his expression was just as stunned as Wong Bo''s when he had inhaled this fragrance from the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills earlier.
He took out one pill from the bottle and inspected it very carefully for a while before putting it back inside. Then he prudently returned the bottle of pills in Shun Long''s hands before saying
''''This brother.. ah no, I mean senior, if you wish to sell these pills to our ''Treasure Pavilion'', we would be more than happy to purchase them from you.''''
Senior Yin pondered for a bit more before gritting his teeth and saying
''''There are 2 ways for senior to sell these pills.
The first, if you aren''t in a hurry, would be to sell them in our monthly auction which will take ce 15 days from now, here in our ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
As ''Senior Yin'' finished speaking, he took something shiny from his spatial ring and said
''''This is the VIP invitation to our monthly auction. If senior decides to attend, you will of course spectate the auction from one of our private VIP booths. I, Yin Xing, hope that senior will attend the auction as there will be plenty of good things to buy.''''
Shun Long epted the shiny silver-colored invitation and put it in his robes as Yin Xing continued
''''The second way would be for senior to sell the pills directly to our pavilion. Although the profit won''t be as high as if senior were to sell them at the auction, our ''Treasure Pavilion'' will still buy them at 500 sect points for each pill.''''
Shun Long almost choked when he heard the price that Yin Xing was willing to purchase the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills at. Normal ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills were only sold for around 50 sect points each, but Yin Xing was willing to pay 10 times the normal price for Shun Long''s pills.
Shun Long was shocked but Yin Xing took his silence as a sign of displeasure so he hurriedly said
''''Senior, it is not that I''m intentionally giving you a low offer, it is just that although these pills are exceptional and something that I have never seen before, they are still rank 1 pills in the end, as they were concocted by rank 1 medicinal herbs, hence I can only offer you this much.''''
''''Low offer?'''' Shun Long thought ''''How is this considered a low offer? I expected this guy to offer me around 100 sect points for each pill, this time I have struck it rich.''''
Shun Long was lucky that he was wearing the ck robes, or his delighted expression would have instantly given everything away.
Shun Long quicklyposed himself, and contrary to Yin Xing''s expectations he said
''''Alright, I will sell them directly to your ''Treasure Pavilion'' this time.''''
Chapter 36 - 36 Gathering Medicinal Ingredients
Chapter 36 - 36 Gathering Medicinal Ingredients
Yin Xing was extremely excited. This was a never before seen, improved version of the normal ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill, and as a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, he could easily understand the effects of a rank 1 pill after inspecting it for a while.
''''Who knows, perhaps if I''m lucky enough, this senior may even give me the recipe for this improved ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill in the end.''''
Although Yin Xing had these thoughts in his mind, he didn''t try to push his luck in fear of incurring Shun Long''s displeasure.
However, Yin Xing was now determined to do everything he can in order to leave behind a good impression on Shun Long.
Since Shun Long had said that he will sell them directly to the ''Treasure Pavilion'' this time, he must have meant that he will sell more pills in the future, but he will probably put them up for auction and won''t sell them directly to the pavilion like he did this time.
''''Perhaps this senior could take a liking in me and ept me as a disciple. Then I will get to learn all sorts of precious pill recipes like this one hehehe...''''
Yin Xing had already started daydreaming, and even his drool had started dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Shun Long was a bit disgusted looking at his expression, while Mei Yi''s and Wong Bo''s faces had turned red from shame.
*Cough*
Shun Long coughed once to wake Yin Xing up before he said
''''I also need to purchase some things from your ''Treasure Pavilion'' this time.''''
Yin Xing realized his blunder as this was a very shameful disy for a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, so he hurriedly said
''''Don''t worry senior, just tell me what you need and I will personally go and bring everything over''''
Just then a sudden idea came to Yin Xing''s mind, as he took something from his spatial ring before handing it to Shun Long
''''Senior, please ept this VIP card as a gift from our ''Treasure Pavilion''. It can give you a 40 percent discount on everything that you directly purchase from our ''Treasure Pavilion''. Unfortunately, this VIP card doesn''t count inside our pavilion''s auctions, but it may stille in handy for when senior visits our Pavilion.''''
Shun Long was astonished by this VIP card''s features. It had the same use as fatty Fu''s privileges inside the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
Shun Longughed and epted the VIP card as he expressed his thanks at Yin Xing, before listing out the ingredients he needed
''''I need 40 sets of ''Honey Fruit'', ''Blue stripped grass'', ''5-leafed giant flower'', and ''Grisly growing root''. I also need a ''white-root Ganoderma'', a ''blood lotus'' at least 50 years of age, a ''fire-spirit fruit'', a ''water element grass'' as well as half a bottle of a rank 3 ''ck-tongued python''s'' poison.
Yin Xing was exhrated that he could manage to leave behind a good impression after his previous blunder, but when he heard the second part of the ingredients that Shun Long had listed his face suddenly paled.
He said in an almost crying tone
''''Senior, although our ''Treasure Pavilion'' has some of these ingredients, I am not sure if we have everything that you listed just now''''
Shun Long was a bit disappointed as he head originally thought that he could gather everything in the ''Tresure Pavilion'', but in the end, he still waved his hand and said
''''I understand, just tell me what is avable. I already spotted the ''white-root Ganoderma'' on the first floor, but if you don''t have the rest of these herbs I will understand.''''
Yin Xing seemed relieved that the senior was so understanding, and said
''''Senior please give me a moment to check, I will be back very soon.''''
Shun Long nodded and Yin Xing quickly left the room.
Half an hourter, Yin Xing returned, and as he waved his hand the previously empty table was now almost full with medicinal herbs.
''''Senior, here are the 40 sets of ''Honey Fruit'', ''Blue stripped grass'', ''5-leafed giant flower'', and the ''Grisly growing root''. Their total cost would be 560 sect points, but considering the 40 percent discount of senior''s VIP card, the final cost is only 336 sect points.''''
Then Yin Xing took some more things from his spatial ring as he introduced every ingredient with great zeal
''''This is the ''blood lotus'' that senior asked for and it is almost 100 years old. Its price with senior''s VIP card is only 300 sect points from the original 500, while this is the ''white-root Ganoderma'' that senior requires and its final price would be 120 sect points.''''
Yin Xing then pointed at a small bottle filled with ck liquid on the table and said
''''Senior, this is the poison of a rank 3 ''ck tongued python'', and its price is only 900 sect points.
I also specifically inquired about the ''fire-spirit fruit'' and the ''water element grass'' and although they aren''t avable in our ''Treasure Pavilion'' right now, I actually found out where senior can acquire them.''''
Shun Long''s eyes brightened when he heard that Yin Xing had information about thest 2 ingredients he needed.
If he could really get his hands on the ''fire-spirit fruit'' and the ''water element grass'' and refine the rank 2 ''Internal destruction'' pill, he would then be able to reach the first stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Just based on the scenes that Shun Long had witnessed inside his mind, the power of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was beyond shocking.
''''Where can I find them?'''' Shun Long asked
Although his tone was heavy, Yin Xing didn''t fail to notice the unmistakable excitement in his voice and that made him puzzled
''''This senior is definitely someone who has reached at least the rank 1 silver grade as an alchemist, just based on the perfection of his ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills. Although the ''fire-spirit fruit'' and the ''water element grass'' are rtively rare rank 2 medicinal herbs, they shouldn''t be that rare to such a senior or hold so much allure for him.''''
Although Yin Xing was somewhat puzzled, he still answered Shun Long''s question
''''They should appear 15 days from now, in our ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' auction.''''
Chapter 37 - 37 Arena Match
Chapter 37 - 37 Arena Match
Shun Long was already interested in participating at the auction, but now that he heard that thest 2 ingredients he needed would probably appear there, attending the auction 15 days from now became one of his top priorities.
''''Senior, after deducting the cost for the 40 sets of rank 1 herbs, the ''white-root Ganoderma'', the ''blood lotus'' and the ''ck-tongued python''s'' poison, our ''Treasure Pavilion'' still owes senior 844 sect points for the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills.''''
Yin Xing said, as he took out his sect identifying jade, and transferred the remaining amount to Shun Long.
Shun Long then, suddenly noticed a problem... he didn''t have a spatial ring to carry all the stuff that he had bought today.
He took a deep breath as he thickened his face and said to Yin Xing
''''I will also need a big bag.''''
Yin Xing looked like he didn''t understand until Shun Long pointed at a finger on his right hand and said
''''Recently I met with an ident and my spatial ring was stolen. Until I find the culprit and get it back, I obviously have to carry everything myself. Hence why I wear these ck robes, so I don''t get recognized while carrying my stuff with me.''''
Even Shun Long admired himself and his ability to spout nonsense in broad daylight.
Yin Xing showed a look of understanding as if he had just now realized the senior''s predicament and he said to Mei Yi
''''Quickly bring a bag for senior.''''
Mei Yi rushed out and soon returned with a big ck bag that Shun Long filled with the ingredients on the table.
Yin Xing''s and Wong Bo''s eyes twitched, watching those ingredients worth over 1000 sect points fill a bag like they were some kind of cheap goods that you could pick up from the side of the road, but they didn''t darement on it.
Although Shun Long''s face was pretty thick and could ignore their reactions, he still had bought everything that he needed from this trip of his to the ''Treasure Pavilion'', so he bade farewell to Yin Xing and the rest as he left to return back to his room at the inn.
After Shun Long left the appraisal room, Yin Xing looked at Wong Bo and Mei Yi and said
''''You guys did very well today. But remember, if in the future this senior returns to our ''Treasure Pavilion'', you must make sure to inform me immediately.''''
He emphasized thest words and Wong Bo and Mei Yi both nodded before they all left the room.
On the way back, Shun Long first found an isted corner near the inn he was staying at and after switching back to his outer disciple robes, he returned to his room where he ced the big ck bag that was full of medicinal ingredients on the floor.
Shun Long sighed as he said
''''It really is difficult to walk around without a spatial ring. I need to obtain one soon or in the future I will be in trouble if I have to carry so much stuff again by myself.''''
Although Shun Long had said that, he knew that a spatial ring was definitely very expensive if even fatty Fu didn''t have one yet, but he was determined to inquire about it the next time he visited the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
After Shun Long left the ck bag with the ingredients in his room, he went to find the inn-keeper to pay the 4 sect points for the next month as well.
As Shun Long now had 845 sect points on his ''sect identifying jade'', the measly 4 sect points that his room costed for a month didn''t mean much to him now.
After paying the inn-keeper, Shun Long decided to eat outside today. Although he had eaten the food that the inn delivered at his room every day, it was food of the lowest quality, and having to eat that for a month, had already made his stomach grumble.
Although Shun Long couldn''t be considered rich right now, with 841 sect points on him, he was definitely not poor anymore, so he chose a rtively good restaurant to eat.
He ate both meat and vegetables until he was full, and although the wine here couldn''tpare to the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''s'', it was still much better than the in water he drank every day for the past month that he was locked inside his room.
As Shun Long paid the bill and left the restaurant, he noticed amotion around him, as most disciples on the street were all heading towards the east of the city.
Shun Long stopped a young man who was running and asked
''''Excuse me brother, why is everyone in such a hurry?''''
The young man that Shun Long had stopped looked at him as if he was an alien and said
''''Haven''t you heard? Today is the arena match between Xiao Juyan and Lei Pong. The winner will advance into the top 100 ranks of the arena.''''
As soon as this disciple finished his exnation, he ran towards the east of the city.
''''Arena matches? How interesting.''''
Shun Long thought to himself as he too followed the rushing crowd.
Chapter 38 - 38 Gathering in the arena
Chapter 38 - 38 Gathering in the arena
After an hour of walking, Shun Long had arrived in front of a huge arena.
The line that the crowd had formed in front of the arena was so long that it took more than 30 minutes until Shun Long finally entered.
When Shun Long entered and found a seat to spectate the iing match, he actually noticed a pair of familiar faces staring at him from a few seats away from him.
This pair was Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu.
When Xiao Shitou noticed Shun Long who had just seated himself to spectate the match, he walked over at his side as he said
''''HAHA, Shun Long, what a small world we live in.''''
Then Xiao Shitou lowered his voice as he whispered to Shun Long
''''I have not forgotten the humiliation from our fight in the ''Imperial Pce'', and I will definitely make sure to pay you back now that I''ve advanced into rank 7.''''
Shun Long looked at Xiao Shitou mockingly and didn''t even bother lowering his voice as he said
''''It''s fine, if you won''t learn your lesson, I''ll make sure to p you harder this time.''''
When Xiao Shitou heard Shun Long''s words, a humiliating memory resurfaced as his eyes brimmed with anger.
Just then Lin Wu stepped forward as she said in a loud voice, almost as if she wanted everyone here to hear her
''''Shun Long, let''s see how much longer you can act arrogant for. Brother Shitou''s elder brother is senior brother Xiao Juyan and he is ranked 100th on the arena rankings. Brother Shitou is no longer a person that someone like you can offend.''''
People were startled to find that this young man was actually Xiao Juyan''s younger brother.
Xiao Shitou''s spirits were lifted when he saw everyone around him looking towards them in shock and with his renewed confidence he said
''''Shun Long, if you kneel in front of me now and ask me to spare you, I may put a good word for you in front of my elder brotherter. But if you refuse.. hmph, don''t think that the second young master of the Lu family can protect you forever.''''
''''Haha, you must think that your elder brother is really powerful huh?''''
Suddenly a voice was heard from behind Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu.
When Xiao Shitou turned his head, he saw Lu Wen and fatty Fu, along with another young man with a burly build and bald head standing behind them.
The one who had spoken just now was obviously fatty Fu. As they all looked at Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu, the burly man next to fatty Fu spoke up as he asked Xiao Shitou in a disdainful tone
''''Do you think that your brother is invincible in the arena? He is barely scraping at the 100th rank''''
Xiao Shitou was enraged at this man who dared to belittle his brother and he asked in a furious voice
''''Who do you think you are to dare talk about my elder brother like that?''''
Just then, some of the spectators had started whispering between each other
''''Hey, isn''t that Fu Peizhi?''''
''''What? The one who is ranked 17th in the arena rankings?''''
''''Yes, I saw him when he challenged the 15th person on the rankings, Li Shuchun, one month ago.''''
When Xiao Shitou heard who this burly man was, his courage was instantly deted as he now resembled a popped balloon.
Even his brother wasn''t a match for Fu Peizhi, let alone he who was just at the early rank 7 in qi condensation.
''''Why is Fu Peizhi here to watch a match that is going to determine the top 100?''''
''''Ah, you don''t know this? I heard from my cousin who works at the ''Administration Building''s'' mission section, that Fu Peizhi and Lei Pong are good friends.''''
Lu Wen''s group ignored the conversations around them as they introduced Fu Peizhi to Shun Long.
''''Brother Shun, this is my cousin Fu Peizhi, and he is at the top20 in the arena rankings.''''
''''Greetings brother Fu'''' Shun Long greeted Fu Peizhi, but Fu Peizhi didn''t even nod his head in response, not bothering to really talk to Shun Long as he sat on his seat with his eyes closed.
Let alone Shun Long, even fatty Fu and Lu Wen frowned at Fu Peizhi''s behavior but Shun Long waved his hand, indicating that he didn''t really care as they instead started chatting between the 3 of them.
Fu Peizhi didn''t understand why his cousin would associate with this weak country bumpkin who came from the ''Mortal world'', but he didn''t spare Shun Long a second look as he waited for the match in the arena to start.
Shun Long was the first to speak
''''Brothers, why are there so many people here for a match that is just going to determine the 100th spot in the arena rankings?''''
Shun Long had already heard this from the discussions around him, but he couldn''t wrap his head as to why there were so many people gathered to spectate this match
Fatty Fu then sighed as he said
''''In the future, you must definitely enter the top100 ranks of the arena, if you ever want to be an inner disciple.''''
Chapter 39 - 39 Arrogant Fu Peizhi
Chapter 39 - 39 Arrogant Fu Peizhi
Shun Long''s interest was piqued as fatty Fu continued exining
''''In the ''floating cloud sect'' there are 4 ways to be an inner disciple. The first way is to be a heaven grade expert and be below 100 years old.
The second way would be to be born in a big family like mine or Lu Wen''s, then you can directly enter the sect as an inner disciple. However, although this is technically possible, even families like my Fu family or Lu Wen''s Lu family can only send very few disciples to directly enter as inner sect disciples. So this method is the most umon of them all.
The third way would be for an Elder of the sect to take a fancy in you and ept you as a direct disciple. But because of how strict their requirements usually are, this method is almost as umon as the second one.
And the fourth and final way to be an inner sect disciple, is to reach the top100 ranks in the arena and get a chance to fight against an inner sect disciple.''''
Shun Long then asked
''''So if someone enters the top100 ranks, they can challenge an inner sect disciple?''''
Lu Wen was the one who answered this time
''''It''s not exactly like this. However, being in the top100 in the arena, usually means that you are among the 100 strongest outer sect disciples. At the end of the year, you may be given the chance to fight against an inner sect disciple then, and depending on the results of the match, you may be promoted to an inner disciple and be allowed entry in the inner city.''''
Shun Long looked around him as he eximed
''''So that''s the reason the arena is so full, even though it''s just a match for the top100.''''
''''Just the top100? The sect has more than 200.000 outer sect disciples. Is it easy to be one of the top100?'''' This time it was Fu Peizhi who spoke with unconcealed anger in his voice.
Shun Long understood that he had unintentionally belittled the top100 and that''s why Fu Peizhi seemed to be angry, however he wasn''t willing to back down as he answered
''''Ah I see, so the top100 must be really amazing and untouchable by mortals like me in your eyes right? In that case, what are inner sect disciples to you? Gods?''''
It wasn''t that Shun Long was intentionally belittling the top 100 outer disciples, but that he himself had already set far loftier goals than that. There was no way he would stop in the ''floating cloud sect''s'' outer city. His goal was to be so strong that no one else could decide his fate for him, and he knew that he already had the means to aplish that by training as hard as possible in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' technique.
As for people like Fu Peizhi who had already growncent by being in the top20 rankings in the arena? He would sooner orter be surpassed by others with that kind of mentality.
The ''cultivation world'' was a cruel one and it wasn''t that much different than the ''mortal world'' in the sense that you will either eat or you will be eaten. If you didn''t strive to be stronger, others would dictate your fate for you instead in the future.
''''Exactly! In my eyes you and everyone else from the ''mortal world'' are all ants. Even that Xiao Juyan is just a slightly bigger ant in my eyes. I only aim to be stronger as I climb through the arena ranks, and my only opponents are those in the top 15 rankings. I don''t put any of you in my eyes as you aren''t even fit to talk to me. I don''t know what the young master sees in you, but in my eyes you will never amount to anything more than an ant.''''
After he finished speaking, Fu Peizhi stood up and left.
''''Brother Shun, please forgive me. He is usually arrogant but this time he went over the line. Although I''m not strong enough to teach him a lesson just yet, I''ll make sure he gets what he deserves after we return to the family.''''
Fatty Fu''s eyes were almost spitting fire at this point as he looked at Fu Peizhi''s back.
However Shun Long just shook his head
''''It''s not your fault so what are you apologizing about? It is obvious that he is too arrogant and he doesn''t ce anyone here in his eyes however I will make sure to teach him in the future, just how wrong his words from today were.''''
''''Right, with brother Shun''s talent you won''t take too many years to reach thete stages of the earth grade since you are already at the peak of rank 6 in qi condensation already.''''
Before Shun Long could respond to fatty Fu''s words, sudden exmations were heard from the crowd as 2 young men had already stepped in the center of the arena.
Chapter 40 - 40 Open secret
Chapter 40 - 40 Open secret
''''It''s Xiao Juyan and Lei Pong''''
People in the crowd eximed as everyone looked at the center of the arena.
There, 2 young men were standing opposite to each other.
Both of them were wearing yellow robes, however each of them was carrying a different weapon on their backs.
One of them was rtively handsome and was carrying an iron hammer on his back. Shun Long instantly understood who this man was, as his face greatly resembled Xiao Shitou''s.
''''That person is Xiao Juyan'''' Lu Wen said as he pointed towards that person with the hammer on his back.
''''Sure enough'''' Shun Long thought as he nodded his head.
''''The person with the blonde hair and the spear on his back is Lei Pong who is ranked 101 in the arena rankings''''
Fatty Fu interjected and just as he was about to continue exining, Xiao Juyan started speaking
''''Lei Pong, do you really think that you have a chance against me? You already lost to me once and you will definitely lose again the second time''''
''''Xiao Juyan, don''t think that I''m the same person that I was 4 months ago. You were already at the peak of rank 5 earth grade while I was only in the middle stages of rank 5. But today, the result will be different.''''
''''Fine then, show me how things will be different this time around'''' Xiao Juyan said in a mocking tone, as his entire body started changing into a rock-like substance, while he held his hammer in his hands.
''''This is Xiao Juyan''s ''rock body''. In the same realm, there is almost no attack that can break through his defenses and harm him.''''
''''That''s not for certain, Lei Pong''s ''thunderspear art'' is extremely strong. Now that he has also advanced at the peak of rank 5 in the earth grade, he can definitely win this time.''''
The crowd was then discussing how the battle would proceed when Lei Pong took out his spear and rushed towards Xiao Juyan.
''''Their fighting styles arepletely different. Lei Pong focuses on attacking, while Xiao Juyan focuses on defense''''
Just as Lu Wen finished speaking, Lei Pong had arrived in front of Xiao Juyan and his spear pierced towards Xiao Juyan''s chest.
Xiao Juyan stumbled 6 steps backwards as he vomited blood. There was no hole in his ''rock body'' but parts of his ''rock armor'' were broken as they fell on the ground after Lei Pong''s attack connected.
Xiao Shitou''s and Lin Wu''s faces paled when they saw Xiao Juyan being injured.
Xiao Juyan however, didn''t look to be in much pain and his rock body was slowly recovering, as he looked at Lei Pong and said
''''Your attacks are strong but too bad that you are still no match for me''''
Lei Pong looked at him confidently and responded
''''Didn''t you just vomit blood from just one of my attacks? I want to see what makes you so act so arrogant in front of me.''''
Just as Lei Pong was about to attack again though, the aura on Xiao Juyan''s body started to rise higher and higher, from the peak of rank 5, all the way until it stabilized at the early-rank 6 of the earth stage.
Lei Pong didn''t pause his movement as he attacked again, but deep in his eyes, traces of anger as well as dejection could be seen.
Xiao Juyan easily parried Lei Pong''s attack with his hammer, as he sent a punch at Lei Pong''s chest, who was then sent flying at the edge of the arena
Lei Pong stood up, with blood flowing from his lips as he asked
''''When did you reach the early stage of rank 6?''''
Xiao Juyan didn''t answer his question but instead, he asked one himself
''''Do you think that you are the only one who is improving here?''''
''''Even if you are at the early stages of rank 6, you won''t stand a chance against an inner disciple 5 months from now, so stop acting so smug.'''' Lei Pong was exasperated as he said this
''''Whether I''m a match for an inner disciple or not shouldn''t concern someone like you who can''t even reach the top 100, should it?''''
Lei Pong dejectedly left the arena, as Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu quickly rushed to congratte Xiao Juyan, before they leisurely walked out of the arena.
Shun Long was too about to bid farewell to fatty Fu and Lu Wen, when fatty Fu looked at Shun Long seriously
''''Brother, you need to do your best and improve your strength as much as possible. I have heard that an alchemist in our ''Treasure Pavilion'' somehow found an improved ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill that can allow people to directly enter the early and even the middle stages of rank 7 in qi condensation. I tried to purchase one for you, but they were all bought by some of the higher echelons in the sect.''''
Shun Long and Lu Wen were both stunned by fatty''s words, and a warm feeling started spreading in Shun Long''s heart.
''''What I''m going to tell you is somewhat of an open secret so pay attention. You need to improve your strength as much as you can in the next 2 months. Because there are 2 months before the outer sect examination begins.''''
Chapter 41 - 41 Outer sect examination
Chapter 41 - 41 Outer sect examination
Fatty Fu revealed something shocking just now.
If there was an outer sect examination and it was an ''open secret'', then why hadn''t Shun Long hadn''t heard anything about it.
Fatty Fu saw that Shun Long had stayed quiet so he exined
''''It''s an open secret because only people who have been in the sect for more than 3 years know about it. This test mostly concerns the newest 60.000 disciples that join the sect every 3 years, so why would the older disciples go about spreading the news of a sect examination for no reason?''''
Shun Long understood that fatty''s words made perfect sense. Why would the older disciples help the new ones for no reason?
''''Although there must definitely be some new disciples that know about the sect exams, there can''t be too many of them. Probably only people like Xiao Shitou who have an older brother inside the sect would know about it. The rest of the disciples are most likely kept in the dark until the sect examination begins.'''' Shun Long thought to himself and surmised that even if he wasn''tpletely correct, the truth probably wouldn''t be that far off from his guess.
When Lu Wen thought about the sect rewards his eyes shone as he said
''''Brother, don''t take the sect examination lightly. Just the rewards for the top 3, and even the top 10 are enough to make me jealous.''''
Shun Long couldn''t help himself as he asked
''''Fatty do you know what the rewards are?''''
''''Haha I knew that you would be interested. I don''t know if the prizes for this year will be different, but 3 years ago the first ce winner got a spatial ring, a rank 1 silver grade sword, and 10.000 sect points.''''
Fatty Fu and Lu Wen were both trying to rouse Shun Long''s interest in the rewards, and indeed they were sessful as soon as fatty mentioned the spatial ring.
Shun Long was embarrassed when he thought of his previous visit to the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and how he had to carry 40 sets of medicinal herbs like they were cabbages.
However, Lu Wen''s next words were like a bucket of cold water to Shun Long
''''The top 3 is probably to be impossible for you brother, however, if you can manage to somehow reach the early rank 8, you can try to get a good ce at the exam.''''
Shun Long looked at Lu Wen who continued
''''It''s not that I''m looking down on you brother, but there will be disciples who have reached the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, while you still are at the peak of rank 6. No matter how talented you may be, you can''t fight someone who is 6 small realms higher than you.''''
Shun Long understood that Lu Wen was only looking out for him and he was just trying to be realistic. After all, how could someone who has barely cultivated for less than 5 months by now, fight against earth grade experts?
''''Usually, the outer sect examination takes ce in the Demonic Mountain Region, but there are some rumors circting, that this year''s sect examination will be differentpared tost time''s.''''
After fatty Fu finished speaking, he took Shun Long and Lu Wen to the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' where they spent 3 hours before deciding to split up.
As soon as Shun Long returned to the inn, he entered his room and started to ponder over what he had learned today.
''''Since the information came from fatty, it must definitely be true. In that case, I only have 2 months to strengthen myself before the outer sect examination begins. I also need to refine the 40 sets of ingredients that I purchased from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' into medicinal pills before the day of the auction arrives, or I may miss the ''fire-spirit fruit'' and the ''water element grass'' since I don''t know what their final price in the auction is going to be.''''
Shun Long then took a deep breath before he decided to first refine the 40 sets of rank 1 medicinal ingredients that he had, into ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills.
He sat on the floor as he warmed up his cauldron, before starting refining the pills.
Refining 40 sets of medicinal ingredients was very taxing to Shun Long. After 14 days of constant refinement, he had finally refined all the herbs into pills, when the day of the auction finally arrived.
Chapter 42 - 42 The day of the auction
Chapter 42 - 42 The day of the auction
The day of the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' auction had finally arrived.
It was already morning yet Shun Long was still exhausted, lying down on his bed with his eyes closed, as he had been refining pills non-stop with barely any time for himself to cultivate.
However, the results were beyond his expectations. He had managed to fill 12 bottles with ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills, for a total of 120 pills.
In other words, he hadn''t failed once in his refinement in the past 14 days. Although part of it was due to the ''Monarch''s Domain'' cheat like ability that froze time around him, after refining pills for so long, Shun Long''s alchemy skills had also advanced exponentially.
Looking at the pill bottles that were scattered around on the floor, all of them filled to the brim, Shun Long felt satisfied with himself. After 2 hours of rest, he stood up from his bed and washed himself, before gathering all the pill bottles from the floor as he started heading towards the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
After checking that he had everything he needed with him, including his VIP card and the invitation for the auction, Shun Long found a secluded corner where he changed into his ck robes before walking towards the Pavilion''s entrance.
Although there were 3 hours until the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' auction begun, there was already a huge line outside the entrance, all of them were disciples wanting to participate in the auction.
Shun Long had no other choice but to walk towards the end of the line, as he patiently waited for his turn to enter.
A pair of young outer disciples who were waiting in front of Shun Long had started chatting
''''Hey, I heard that the fee to enter the auction is 100 sect points. Do you think everyone in front of us has that many sect points''''?
''''Tsk, what do you know? You won''t even be able to buy the cheapest things with 100 sect points in the auction. This ''fee'' is just to stop people from overcrowding the auction when they don''t have any sect points and yet they still try to enter.'''' the second young man clicked his tongue as he looked disapprovingly at the man beside him.
Half an hour passed like this, when suddenly a person in green clothes walked from the side of the line,pletely ignoring the people queuing up, as he headed straight for the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' entrance.
''''Hey, where is this guy goi..'''' The young man in front of Shun Long was about to protest before the man next to him pped his head from behind
''''Do you want to die? Don''t you see that he is wearing inner sect disciple robes?''''
''''So what? There are other inner sect disciples here and they are also queuing up in front of us, so why can this guy walk all the way to the entrance?''''
''''How ignorant can you be? He probably has an invitation from the pavilion.'''' The man next to him was exasperated as he kicked his friend.
As soon as these words left his mouth, they both fell silent, while the young man in green clothes hadpletely ignored the discussions around him as he walked towards the entrance.
There, 2 young women in outer disciples robes weed him, as the young man showed them his shiny silver-colored invitation. After verifying it, the 2 young women politely escorted him inside.
As soon as Shun Long had seen the man''s invitation, he understood how dumb he himself was.
Of course those with an invitation wouldn''t have to wait in line for so many hours.
Shun Long left the line as he walked straight to the pavilion''s entrance.
''''Hey, isn''t that the man who was behind us just now? Senior brother don''t tell me that you think that he also has an invitation.''''
The 2 young men that were in front of Shun Long had started conversing again as they saw him nearing the pavilion''s entrance.
The ''senior brother'' didn''tment but he just quietly shook his head, indicating that this man probably wouldn''t have an invitation, after all the invitations from the pavilion weren''t cabbages.
Shun Long ignored the discussions around him, as 2 young girls in outer disciple robes asked him for his invitation.
When Shun Long took out his shiny silver invitation, the 2 young girls inspected it before one of them rushed inside quickly.
''''Haha senior brother, do you think that this guy came here with a fake invitation? Or else why haven''t they granted him entry yet.''''
''''Haha, your guess makes sense junior brother, I think that you are probably right.''''
Just when the crowd around Shun Long was sneering at him for trying to enter with a ''fake'' invitation, a hurried voice was heard rushing from inside the pavilion
''''Senior, please excuse me for making you wait''''
When the people outside saw the owner of this voice, their jaws all dropped to the ground as the area outside the pavilion had suddenly turned so silent, that even a pin drop could be heard.
Chapter 43 - 43 Putting up for auction
Chapter 43 - 43 Putting up for auction
The person that was hurriedly rushing from the pavilion was Yin Xing, the genius rank 3 bronze grade alchemist of the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
Every invitation from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had the personal mark of the person who had created it and Yin Xing''s invitation wasn''t any different.
Since he knew that this senior would being today, Yin Xing had ordered the people at the entrance to immediately inform him if a person who was dressed in ck robes and was carrying his invitation were to appear today.
As soon as the disciples stationed at the entrance recognized Yin Xing''s personal mark in Shun Long''s invitation, they rushed to inform him that the person he was waiting for had arrived, and Yin Xing in turn hurried towards the entrance.
''''Senior pleasee in.''''
As soon as Shun Long and Yin Xing had disappeared inside the pavilion, the people outside started whispering
''''Senior brother, could it be that this person is some kind of senior alchemist who is of even higher rank than alchemist Yin? Wouldn''t such a person be at the silver grade then?''''
His senior brother nodded his head as he said
''''Mhm, he must definitely be at least in the silver grade if senior Yin came rushing and was so polite to him''''
While these discussions were taking ce at the pavilion''s entrance, Yin Xing was guiding Shun Long deep inside the first floor, towards the depths of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' where 2 huge doors were wide open and guards were stationed at the sides.
Shun Long followed Yin Xing as they entered inside, and he noticed that there were 2 paths that they could follow. One path was leading straight ahead after entering the doors, towards the ''outer seats'' where people without invitations would sit. Yin Xing instead led Shun Long through the side entrance until they reached the private booths, where only people with invitations were allowed to seat themselves.
''''Senior, this way please'''' Yin Xing said as he pointed towards a private booth with the number 6 on it.
Shun Long entered inside and Yin Xing followed behind him.
Although the room was rtively small, in terms of luxuriousness it was perhaps even superior to the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion''.
The room had a luxurious red couch on the center and a table in front of it filled with food and wine. The ''Treasure Pavilion'' had paid a lot of attention to the decorations of these rooms, as they were all meant for important people.
Shun Long took a look at the room before turning his head to look at Yin Xing who was standing behind him and was looking at him eagerly.
Shun Longughed before saying in that altered heavy voice of his
''''Do you have anything that you want to ask?''''
Yin Xing hurriedly shook his head as he answered
''''No senior, I just wanted to know if you find everything to your liking.''''
''''Yes, everything is good so far. Especially this couch that is made from the fur of a peak rank 2 ''scarlet furred wolf'''''' Shun Long answered
Yin Xing''s eyes shone as he said
''''As expected from a great alchemist such as senior, you understood what the couch is made from just by throwing a single nce at it''''
Yin Xing was honestly impressed by Shun Long. A great alchemist had to know, not just how to mix medicinal herbs, but also have a wide knowledge regarding magical beasts.
Shun Long of course had absorbed so much knowledge regarding medicinal herbs, magical beasts, and even the human body, that it was child''s y for him to understand that this couch was made from the fur of a peak rank 2 magical beast.
Yin Xing looked at Shun Long eagerly as he asked
''''Senior, do you happen to have any more of those ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills?''''
Shun Long just smiled under his robes as Yin Xing continued
''''To tell the truth to senior, the 5 ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills that senior sold to our ''Treasure Pavilion''st time were bought by 2 high-rank Elders of our sect, and they have been pressuring me about them ever since.''''
Shun Long felt somewhat afraid inside as if his identity were to be exposed, who knew how the sect would react if they were to learn that a rank 7 outer disciple can refine these kinds of medicinal pills? He took a deep breath to steel his nerves and said in a very heavy and stern voice to Yin Xing
''''I hope that there won''t be any people learning of our deal, otherwise you can forget about obtaining a single pill from me in the future.''''
Yin Xing could make out the irritation in Shun Long''s voice and hurriedly said
''''Senior please rest assured. Although I said that the pills were bought from some mysterious senior, I, Yin Xing would never leak things that senior doesn''t want other people to know.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and said
''''That''s good then''''
Then he took out 12 bottles of pills, with 10 pills inside each bottle as he said
''''Here are 120 ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills. Do you think you can put them up in today''s auction?''''
Yin Xing''s eyes shone with excitement when he saw the pills.
Chapter 44 - 44 Auctioning the pills
Chapter 44 - 44 Auctioning the pills
Yin Xing''s eyes shone with excitement as he happily nodded his head at Shun Long''s question.
The higher-ups of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had pressured him quite a lot to reveal the creator of these special ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills, however, when they noticed that Yin Xing wouldn''t reveal anything they eventually gave up but they still told him that he had to do everything he can to get more of these pills.
Yin Xing had heard that some of the seniors in the sect had gifted these pills to their disciples and just a few days ago, 3 of those disciples who had consumed these pills had left seclusion while their cultivations had sky-rocketed from the peak of rank 6 in qi condensation all the way to the middle of rank 7.
This was many months of hard work, all skipped thanks to one pill.
It was natural that people would go crazy for it.
Yin Xing received the pills as he said to Shun Long with excitement
''''Don''t worry senior, I will definitely ce the pills at the end of the auction.''''
Shun Long shook his head as he said
''''I want you to put the pills at the start of the auction, the closer to the start the better actually. I also want you to sell them in 4 different batches, 30 pills at a time.''''
Yin Xing was baffled as he asked Shun Long
''''But senior, isn''t it better to put them towards the end of the auction so that they can be sold for a higher price? Usually, the more expensive goods are always ced at the ending of the auctions.''''
Shun Long knew that Yin Xing was right, but he wanted to know how much the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills would be sold for, so he could use the sect points from the profits to bid for the ''fire-spirit fruit'' and the ''water element grass''.
Yin Xing didn''t seem to understand but he still listened to Shun Long and left the room to quickly arrange for the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills to be auctioned as early as possible.
Shun Long sat on the couch and he could see everyone below who was sitting on the ''outer seats'', while he also had a clear view of the main stage where the auctioneer would stand on.
Time quickly passed and soon, 2 hours had already gone by.
The private rooms were now almost full while the outer seats below didn''t have any more room for people to sit.
The lights of the ''Auction Hall'' slowly dimmed as a beautiful young woman in green clothes had appeared at the main stage down below.
Shun Long''s eyes widened as he recognized her.
The young woman smiled to the crowd as she said
''''Honorable guests, wee to our ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' monthly auction. I, Lan Jinjing will act as your auctioneer today. I hope that you are all excited, as we have many special treasures for today''s auction.''''
As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd in the outer seats started to silently discuss
''''Isn''t that miss Lan Jinjing? I thought that she acts as the auctioneer only for the yearly auctions of the ''Treasure ''Pavilion''. Why is she participating in the auction of this month?''''
''''I also saw Elder Lu Niu and Elder Meng Liang enter earlier. Could it be that there are some special treasures in this auction?''''
The beautiful auctioneer, Lan Jinjing was the girl who was next to the stunning Liu Mei whom Shun Long had met when he visited the ''Alchemist''s Guild''.
Lan Jinjing gestured with her hand and the crowd quietened, as she started speaking
''''I''m certain that everyone here knows the rules. Every item starts with a minimum price, and the guests with the highest bid in the end can obtain them. Without further ado, this month''s auction officially starts now''''
Lan Jinjing said as she pped her hands, and 2 outer disciples carried the first item for the auction on the main stage, a ck bow.
''''Dear guests, the first item for today''s auction is a creation of master Dugu''s the ''air-piercing bow''. As you all may know, ''Formation master Dugu'' is a rank1 silver grade formation master and although this bow is merely at the pinnacle of rank3 bronze grade, it is a perfect weapon for anyone below the Heaven grade who is proficient in archery
The minimum bid is 1000 sect points and every increment must be at least 50 sect points higher than thest bid''''
''''1050''''
''''1120''''
''''1190''''
In the end, the ck bow was sold for 1500 sect points to an outer disciple girl who was sitting at the outer seats.
After 2 more items were sold, the auctioneer Lan Jinjing took a deep breath as she said
''''The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh items in today''s auction are a bit special. Originally our ''Treasure Pavilion'' would put them towards the end of the auction but the senior who sold them insisted on them being auctioned at the start.''''
A small table was carried at the center of the main stage and 3 small bottles with 10 pills inside them could be seen as Lan Jinjing continued exining
''''These are some very special ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills that can help people at the peak of rank 6 to directly advance to rank 7. Our pavilion has also verified that there is a high chance for those who consume these pills to directly reach the middle of rank7 in qi condensation.''''
As soon as these words were spoken, before Lan Jinjing could list the minimum price of the pills, the crowd had already erupted in an uproar.
Chapter 45 - 45 Water element grass appears
Chapter 45 - 45 Water element grass appears
Lan Jinjing understood how amazing these pills were. As a cultivator, directly skipping a minor stage of a rank in cultivation, would save you at least a few months of work.
However, she still motioned for the crowd to quiet down as she said
''''There are a total of 120 pills for sale this time, all of them will be auctioned in 4 batches of 30 pills.''''
When the crowd heard that, many people in the crowd were disheartened that they couldn''t buy each pill individually, but the eyes of the richer people inside the private rooms were shining as they were eagerly waiting to start bidding.
''''Who knew I would be so lucky today? I came here for the ''golden lion cub'', but stumbled upon this instead.''''
''''Haha Meng Liang, I''m sure that I have more sect points than you. Can you afford to not bid for these ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills? But if you do then how are you going topete with me for the ''golden lion cub?''''
The voices originated from 2 different private rooms.
The 2 people who spoke were Elder Lu Niu and Elder Meng Liang.
Although the 2 of them were friends and were used to bantering with each other, Elder Meng Liang knew that Lu Niu was right.
He gritted his teeth as he said to a young disciple who was standing beside him inside the private room
''''Quickly return to the family and ask the Patriarch for more sect points. Inform him that the ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'' have appeared in the auction and we probably won''t have enough sect points to bid for the ''golden lion cub''ter.''''
The young man quickly acknowledged the order as he rushed back to quickly inform his patriarch.
''''The starting price for the first 3 bottles of pills is 6000 sect points and every increment must be at a minimum of 100 sect points''''
The crowd below was startled at just the starting price of the pills but the people in the private rooms weren''t daunted at all by the high price.
''''7000''''
''''8000''''
''''I, Li Wei bid 10.000 sect points. I hope that the fellow daoists will give me some face'''' suddenly an elderly voice shouted.
As soon as this voice was heard many people stop bidding. Elder Lu Niu said then
''''If senior Li Wei wishes to purchase this batch of pills then of course I won''tpete with you''''
''''Right, I am intrigued by this new recipe to create the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill. Even though it''s a low-level pill, it can prove helpful in my research'''' Li Wei answered from his private room.
Shun Long frowned that this old man wanted to purchase his batch of pills and for such a low price. Shun Long had originally estimated that every 3 bottles of ''Qi barrier-breaking pills would be sold for at least 12.000 sect points but this old man shamelessly used his status when bidding to deter others frompeting with him. As an aplished rank1 silver grade alchemist, people would be unwilling to offend Li Wei just for 3 bottles of pills, especially when there were 9 more bottles for sale.
However, Shun Long was clearly dissatisfied with Li Wei''s way of manipting the prices so he shouted in a heavy voice
''''15.000 sect points''''
Everyone was agape as they heard Shun Long''s altered voice. Not just because ''15.000'' sect points was an astonishing amount of sect points but because someone dared to so openly go against ''Alchemist Li Wei''.
''''Who is that person?''''
''''I wonder who is this person who doesn''t even give ''Alchemist Li'' face.''''
Li Wei frowned and his voice was full of displeasure as he asked
''''This friend I wonder who you are?!
Are you certain that you want to bid against me?''''
''Tsk, old man, you think you can get my pills for free? Today you will either lose all your face or your money. As for obtaining the recipe for my ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills? That''s just wishful thinking'' Shun Long though inside as he felt that he had just released all his anger with his bid.
Li Wei waited for a response but since he received no reply he dered in a voice that was obviously feeling extremely irritated
''''20.000 sect points. If this friend is willing to offer more than this old man then I will allow you to get these ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'' here'''' he said as he looked towards Shun Long''s private room.
''''Hahaha, congrattions ''Alchemist Li''. I wouldn''t pay 20.000 sect points for a few rank 1 pills but I must still congratte you for being so well-off that you can easily squander 20.000 sect points like that.''''
Shun Long saidughingly. Originally, tampering with the prices by bidding for one''s own treasures during the auction was forbidden, but since only Yin Xing knew that the ck-robed Shun Long was the seller of the pills, Li Wei couldn''t find out anything if Yin Xing didn''t betray him.
In the end, the first 3 bottles of ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'' were purchased by Li Wei for the price of 20.000 sect points but he was actually extremely angry and determined to find out who this ck-robed man was, as soon as the auction was over.
Lan Jinjing sent someone to deliver the pills at Li Wei''s private room as well as collect the payment of the 20.000 sect points, before 2 other disciples brought forth the next 3 bottles of pills.
Many people in the private rooms bid for the pills the second time around and in the end, this batch was purchased by Elder Lu Niu for 12.700 sect points.
The third batch and fourth batch of pills were all sold at 13.000 and 14.000 points each.
Yin Xing arrived at Shun Long''s private room and he was holding a sect identifying jade in his hands as he said respectfully
''''Senior, I havee to deliver you the sect points. The final amount that the pills were sold for was 59.700 sect points. Extracting the 5 percent fee of our ''Treasure Pavilion'' whiches at 2.985, the total amount that we owe seniores down to 56.715 sect points.''''
Yin Xing then transferred the sect points to Shun Long and just as he was about to speak Lan Jinjing''s voice sounded as she introduced the next item of the auction
''''Honorable guests, our next item is a rare rank 2 medicinal herb that I am sure many of you are interested in, it is the ''water element grass''.''''
Chapter 46 - 46 Terrifying pressure
Chapter 46 - 46 Terrifying pressure
''''Our next item is a rare rank2 medicinal herb, the ''water element grass''.''''
As soon as Lan Jinjing finished speaking, Shun Long''s eyes shone brightly as his attention was all focused on the main stage of the hall where 2 disciples were carrying a bottle with a blue-colored grass inside it.
''''The minimum bid for this water element grass will be 500 sect points and every increment has to be at least 50 sect points''''
''''600''''
''''700''''
''''1000'''' Shun Long''s heavy voice was heard from inside the private room.
''''1100'''' Surprisingly a young man''s voice was heard from the outer seats as hepeted with Shun Long for the ''water element grass''
''''2000'''' Shun Long said in the same tone as before. The ''water element grass'' was extremely important to him as he needed it to refine the rank 2 ''internal destruction'' pill.
The young man from below contemted for a bit but still gritted his teeth as he dered
''''2200 sect points''''
It was obvious that this young man also needed the ''water element grass''
''''3000'''' Shun Long called again making the young man in the ''outer seats'' to feel dejected.
People in the hall were shocked that the price of the ''water element grass'' had reached double of its market price. Usually a stalk of ''water element grass'' would be sold for 1300 sect points.
Even if the price went up, it wouldn''t exceed 1500 sect points but Shun Long had already bid 3000 sect points for it.
After Shun Long''s bid of 3000 sect points, no onepeted with him for the ''water element grass'' any longer and the staff of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' sent someone to deliver it to his private room as well as collect the payment.
After Shun Long got his hands on the ''water element grass'' he mumbled
''''Now all I need is the ''fire-spirit fruit''.''''
Yin Xing looked like he something to say something but he didn''t know how to say it. Shun Long turned his eyes at him and said
''''If you want to say something, just say it''''
Yin Xing nodded his head as he responded
''''Senior, although no one of the upper echelons of our pavilion would care even if they knew that you slightly inted the price of the first 3 bottles of ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'', I''m afraid that problems could arise due to senior Li''s identity.
Senior Li is a high-ranking member in our ''floating cloud sect'' and I fear that he may try to create some problems for senior when you leave our ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
Shun Long nodded at Yin Xing''s words but he couldn''t show any fear for Li Wei or that could expose his identity. After all Shun Long was supposedly a high-level alchemist himself as well. After thinking about it for a bit he said
''''Although I''m not afraid of any problems that this Li Wei may try to cause me, I still don''t want to waste my time with him.''''
The unconcerned manner in which Shun Long spoke had truly fooled Yin Xing who then replied
''''Then if senior doesn''t mind, how about you leave the pavilion after obtaining everything that you require.''''
Shun Long pondered for a bit before nodding his head
''''Not a bad idea. Then let''s follow your n.'''' Shun Long said in that unconcerned but heavy voice of his.
Yin Xing wiped the sweat from his forehead as he thought inside
''''Thank god that senior is so aloof and doesn''t care about fighting with others over minor matters, otherwise if I had to meditate over their fight with senior Li I wouldn''t have enoughyers of skin to save myself.''''
What Yin Xing didn''t know was that Shun Long was also trying to find a way to avoid Li Wei or that would end up exposing his identity if they were to actually fight. After all, Li Wei had definitely reached the Heaven grade being a silver grade alchemist, and Shun Long would be helpless in front of him if they were to truly fight.
''''I have to be even stronger. The rate at which I''m progressing isn''t enough. People like Li Wei, and even people like Yin Xing are already far stronger than me. If I want to establish a foothold in the ''cultivation world'' I will need to be even stronger than these people. I will do my best to reach the Heaven grade, as only then will I be able to fight with people like Li Wei.''''
Just as Shun Long was about to sort out his thoughts, with his goal of reaching the Heaven grade, the triangr-shaped stone sucked in his consciousness, and an insanely strong force repelled everything around Shun Long.
The decorations in the room and even the couch created from the fur of a rank 2 magical beast were all blown to smithereens while Yin Xing who was at the door of the room was thrown outside like a cannonball.
Everything in a radius of 10 meters around Shun Long was repelled and the heavenly pressure that his body seemed to exude could be felt by everyone in the entire ''Auction Hall''.
Everyone felt like they were about to be pulverized from this terrifying pressure as they couldn''t even breathe properly. Even Li Wei was on his knees inside his private room due to this terrifying pressure. His eyes were full of terror as he looked towards Shun Long''s room and thought of the man who he had wanted to take revenge against, that was now exuding such a pressure.
Chapter 47 - 47 Desires
Chapter 47 - 47 Desires
Shun Long could feel that the triangr-shaped stone was releasing a suppressive aura outside his body but his consciousness was all sucked inside the triangr-shaped stone.
This time he hadn''t arrived in the space where he practiced his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' but had instead been sucked inside a pitch-ck space without the slightest trace of light.
Shun Long couldn''t see anything around him when a dignified voice that came from inside the darkness asked him
''''What do you want?''''
Shun Long was puzzled as the voice asked him again
''''Do you want power?''''
Shun Long didn''t know if it was the triangr-shaped stone that was asking him or if it was someone else, but because the stone had directly merged with his soul, he had always felt as if the stone was part of him so he replied
''''Are you the little stone?''''
The voice repeated the question
''''Do you want power?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he answered truthfully
''''Yes''''
''''How much power?'''' The voice asked him again
Shun Long then thought for a bit before replying
''''Enough to beat Heaven grade experts at least''''
For the first time, the voice from the darkness showed some emotion as itughed and said
''''Heaven grade experts? Then what will you do if you meet someone at an even higher level than a Heaven grade expert?''''
Shun Long hadn''t thought that the voice would ask him such a question and for the first time, he didn''t have an answer in his mind.
The voice then asked him
''''What is your goal?''''
Shun Long thought deep and hard for a long time
''''What is my goal...?''''
Slowly Shun Long replied
''''I want to be free.''''
''''What else?'''' the voice asked
''''I want to control my own fate.''''
''''What else'''' the voice repeated
Shun Long didn''t know what to answer as the voice spoke again
''''Search deep inside you. What do you really want?''''
''''I want to live more.
I want to experience everything in this world.
I don''t want to be constrained by others.
I want to stand at the top of this world.
I want to be the strongest person.
I want to be the one in control.''''
Desires poured out of Shun Long''s heart while his voice grew louder and louder as he kept listing more and more things. Desires were easy to suppress if you kept them in the dark, but hard to control if you showed them even the tiniest bit of light.
''''Hahahahahahaha! YES that''s it! Desire more, ask for more. Use your own hands master. You are allowed to stand at the peak of this world this time, as the owner of the ''Stone of Time''.''''
''''Master?'''' Shun Long asked questioningly
The voice grew weaker and weaker
''''....I will follow you no matter what, as you are my master''''
In the end, the voice was almost inaudible as the darkness slowly receded. It all condensed at the center of this space into a pitch-ck egg.
This egg was at the size of a human and although it was pitch-ck, there were various ancient symbols on top of it, as it emanated a berserk and powerful aura.
Now that the darkness had receded, Shun Long could see the space around him. It was 30 square meters big and the only thing on this space aside from the ck egg was the soil on the ground.
When the darkness was condensed into the pitch-ck egg, the aura that burst out from Shun Long''s body had startled the entire ''floating cloud sect'', before it returned back inside his body.
Be it the ''outer city'' or the ''inner city'', from the weakest outer disciples to the Elders, everyone was rmed by this burst of powerful aura as they fell to their knees, all of them unable to breathe.
In the depths of the ''inner city'' inside a restricted area, there was a luxurious mansion. A man who seemed to be in his early forties was sitting on his bed when he had sensed the burst of aura from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His eyes looked towards the location of the pavilion in the ''outer city'' and after that horrifying aura was retracted back to its source the man stood up.
''''Could it be that some powerful senior has arrived in my ''outer city''?'''' The man mumbled to himself
This man was the strongest person in the entire ''floating cloud sect'', the sect master Liu Jian.
After sensing this aura he issued a summons to the Elders of the sect, ordering all of them to convene at the ''inner city''s'' main hall.
-
Shun Long''s consciousness had been returned to his body before he had time to explore the newfound space in the triangr-shaped stone. However, he clearly remembered that the voice in the darkness had called the little stone ''Stone of Time'' as well as Shun Long its master.
Before Shun Long had time to ponder over things, heavy breathing could be heard from the entire ''Treasure Pavilion'' as people could finally breathe again.
Chapter 48 - 48 Above the spirit realm?
Chapter 48 - 48 Above the spirit realm?
Before Shun Long had time to ponder over things, heavy breathing could be heard from the entire ''Treasure Pavilion''. Everyone could now breathe again as they looked at Shun Long''s private room with different emotions in their eyes. There was horror, reverence, awe, excitement, fear, worship, and more, all at the same time.
Yin Xing who had shot like a cannonball outside of the room earlier, was now looking at Shun Long''s back with admiration and fanatism.
As the loud gasps for air stopped, the entire ''Treasure Pavilion'' was bathed in silence. Nobody dared to utter a word and most people were drenched in sweat from head to toe by now.
Shun Long turned to look at Yin Xing who still on the floor outside the room. Then he looked around the room and noticed that everything was destroyed leaving itpletely empty inside.
''''Yin Xing, are you okay?'''' Shun Long asked with a bit of embarrassment in his heavy voice. After all Yin Xing was a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist and yet he had ended like that, just by being around Shun Long.
Yin Xing waved his hands hurriedly as he stood up and said
''''Of course, senior, thank you for asking.'''' Yin Xing felt ttered that the senior called his name directly. This person was definitely stronger than ''Alchemist Li Wei''. The aura he had emitted earlier was definitely not in the Heaven grade. As Yin Xing thought of the fact that this senior is probably above the Heaven grade, he started trembling with excitement and was even more determined to forge a good rtionship with Shun Long as he then asked nervously
''''Uhh senior, did something happen earlier which caused you to release your aura?''''
Shun Long understood what Yin Xing was talking about. Of course, that aura didn''t belong to Shun Long but to the triangr-shaped stone, however Shun Long had to give an excuse after destroying the entire room so he said in his heavy voice
''''Earlier, something happened that drew my attention so I couldn''t help but identally release my aura.'''' Since Shun Long didn''t exin explicitly what had happened and Yin Xing didn''t ask for more details about that. If the senior didn''t want to exin more then he wouldn''t mindlessly pester him about it. Instead he switched the topic as he asked Shun Long
''''Senior, about the auction..?''''
''''Right! Yin Xing, are there any other private rooms avable? If not, this one will do as well, although we may need another couch.''''
''''Senior means that you still want to participate in the auction?''''
''''Of course, isn''t that what I came here for?''''
''''Okay senior don''t worry, I will make all the necessary arrangements.''''
Yin Xing truly made the arrangements he had promised, as just half an incense stick of timeter, he took Shun Long to another private room, and this one was even slightly bigger than thest one they were in earlier. He also informed the higher-ups of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' that what happened in the room was an ident, and that the mysterious senior wishes for the auction to keep going.
The higher-ups of the pavilion didn''t raise any questions and instead ordered Yin Xing to do his best to forge a close rtionship with that person before they called Lan Jinjing and told her that she should continue with the auction.
Although the crowd was still terrified by the earlier aura outbreak, Lan Jinjing''s exceptional skills as an auctioneer had managed to divert everyone''s attention, and people had started bidding again in no time.
Meanwhile in the ''inner city,'' the main hall was almost full as the Elders of the sect were standing in front of the main seat, where the sect master has sitting on. The Elders in the hall were the strongest people in the ''floating cloud sect. Even the weakest person in the room was at the early stages of rank 7 in the Heaven grade.
''''Sect master, what was that aura earlier?''''
''''Could it be that sect master had a breakthrough?''''
''''Ah yes, that must be it! Who else could release such an aura in the entire ''floating cloud city''?''''
Liu Jian motioned with his hand for everyone to be quiet before he said
''''That frightening aura didn''te from me. Even if I managed to breakthrough and reach the middle stages of the Spirit realm, I still wouldn''t be able to unleash such an aura.''''
Then he took a deep breath as he said
''''Actually, I called all of you here to ask if any of you has any idea why such a powerful person would suddenly appear in our ''floating cloud sect''.''''
The Elders were all aghast when they heard Liu Jian''s words. Silence permeated the hall until a person with white hair and a white beard said
''''Sect master, do you think that this person hase here for the ''Vermilion realm''?''''
The person who asked this question was the Grand Elder of the sect, Lan Hong. His status was only below Liu Jian''s and above every other Elder''s.
Liu Jian thought about it but he eventually shook his head as he said
''''Unlikely. It is too early for the ''Vermilion realm'' to open anyway. Also if this senior wanted to enter the ''Vermilion realm'' I doubt our ''floating cloud sect'' could assist him in any way. From my estimations, this senior''s strength is above thete stages of the Spirit realm. Perhaps even..''''
Liu Jian cut off his words and didn''t dare specte any further.
-
Discussions were taking ce over this matter, just in the main hall of the inner city, but everywhere in the entire ''floating cloud city''. From the ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' to even the cheapest inns everyone was discussing about that sudden burst of suppressive aura.
Meanwhile, the culprit''s, Shun Long''s eyes were shining brightly at this moment as he heard Lan Jinjing saying
''''Our next item for the auction is something that many alchemists need but can''t easily find. Although it''s only a rank 2 medicinal herb it can help you improve your control over the element of fire consuming this fruit. It is precisely the ''fire-spirit fruit''.''''
Chapter 49 - 49 Preparations complete
Chapter 49 - 49 Preparationsplete
''''It is the ''fire-spirit fruit''.The minimum bid must be at least 5000 sect points while every increment must be at least 200 sect points higher than thest bid.''''
Every alchemist sitting in the outer seats had stood up. Even the people inside the private rooms like Shun Long couldn''t staypletely calm as they looked with eyes full of fervor towards the ''fire-spirit fruit'' on the main stage. The only exception was Li Wei who looked down from his private room towards those people with a mocking look in his eyes as he thought
''Look at those bumpkins getting so excited over a single ''fire-spirit fruit''. Our ''Alchemist''s Guild'' has at least 5 of those fruits.''
The bidding immediately started as people called their bids one after the other
''''5500 sect points''''
''''6000''''
''''7000''''
''''7500''''
The price didn''t stop increasing until it reached the 10.000 sect points.
''''Is there anyone who is willing to offer a higher price? If not, this ''fire-spirit fruit'' will go to this honorable guest over here'''' Lan Jinjing said as she pointed towards a guest at the side of the outer seats who had bid 10.000 sect points for the ''fire-spirit fruit''.
In reality, although the ''fire-spirit fruit'' was rare, 10.000 sect points had already exceeded its value, but this was the reality of the auctions in the ''cultivation world''. When you needed something you would pay as much as you had to, in order to obtain it.
''''20.000 points'''' Shun Long called from inside the private room in a cid voice.
The people inside the auction hall who heard Shun Long''s voice and remembered the terrifying aura he had emitted earlier all started to shudder. The alchemist in the outer seats who had bid 10.000 sect points earlier, now felt dispirited. He had a bit more than 13.000 sect points and he was confident that he could obtain the ''fire-spirit fruit'' but this senior had to ruin everything.
Even Yin Xing couldn''t help asking
''''Senior are you certain that you wish to spend 20.000 sect points for a rank 2 ''fire-spirit fruit''?''''
20.000 Sect points was an astronomical price to pay for a rank 2 herb. However Shun Long didn''t mind that. After selling the ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills earlier, his sect points were now more than 50.000.
Shun Long just nodded his head at Yin Xing''s question
In the auction hall, Lan Jinjing was the first to recover as she said
''''If there is no higher offer, then this ''fire-spirit fruit'' will go to the senior in private room number 2.''''
Since no one put forth a higher offer than Shun Long, the staff of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' sent someone to deliver the ''fire-spirit fruit'' in his private room.
A disciple in yellow robes arrived carrying a small wooden box with the ''fire-spirit fruit'' inside. Shun Long paid the 20.000 sect points and after receiving the box, he opened it and saw a red fruit the size of an a.d.u.l.t''s fist, with red lines all over its surface. Shun Long then closed the box and put it inside his robes along with the ''water element grass''.
After the disciple left the room, Shun Long handed Yin Xing a paper as he said ''''Although this recipe isn''t as good as my original ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pill recipe, the pills created from this will still have a 40 percent chance of allowing a peak rank 6 qi condensation cultivator to reach the middle stages or rank 7.''''
Yin Xing was overjoyed when he heard Shun Long''s words and held the recipe near his chest as he bowed repeatedly while thanking Shun Long.
Yin Xing had helped Shun Long a lot while he was in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and as an alchemist, Shun Long knew what Yin Xing desired the most. Although this recipe was nothing in Shun Long''s eyes, to Yin Xing it was a priceless treasure that could help him improve his abilities as an alchemist even further.
Shun Long then decided to leave the ''Treasure Pavilion'' as he had no more interest in the auction. He had already learned from Yin Xing what the rest of the items in the auction were going to be and the only interesting thing left was a ''golden lion'' cub. However, Yin Xing''s estimation was that the cub would be sold for at least 70.000 sect points.
An a.d.u.l.t golden lion was a rank 3 beast that could fight against experts at thete-stages of the Heaven grade. Anyone having such a mount would be near-invincible in the ''floating cloud sect''.
Shun Long walked around the city until he found a secluded corner to remove his ck robes, before stealthily returning to the inn. After paying the inn owner another 4 sect points for the next month, Shun Long shut himself in his room.
He looked at the ''water element grass'' and the ''fire-spirit fruit'' in his hands, as well as the rest of the ingredients that he had previously purchased from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and after taking a deep breath he said
''''Finally, I now have everything needed to refine the ''internal destruction pill''.''''
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Big announcement in the author''s thoughts down below!!
Chapter 50 - 50 Spatial space
Chapter 50 - 50 Spatial space
All 5 ingredients needed for the ''internal destruction pill'' were all neatly arranged on the ground.
However, Shun Long didn''t immediately start the refining process but instead aimed to bring his mental state in peak condition first.
This was the first time that he was going to refine a rank 2 pill, and it was the ''internal destruction pill'' at that. After studying Lu Wen''s alchemy books and the theories that were written inside, as well as all the recipes for the rank 2 pills, Shun Long felt confident that he could refine every pill that was categorized as a bronze grade pill.
However, he only had this one batch of ingredients and in case he failed, he wouldn''t get another chance, so bringing himself in optimal condition was necessary before starting the refinement.
Shun Long used his spiritual strength to inspect the 5 medicinal herbs that were in front of him when suddenly, the ''water element grass'' disappeared from the ground.
Shun Long was stunned as he abruptly stood up, but the ''water element grass'' had vanished from the room. He sent his spiritual strength around the room but he found nothing, when he suddenly sensed something in his spiritual space.
He sent his spiritual strength inside the triangr-shaped stone, and he was shocked by what he saw inside.
The ''water element grass'' had grown by almost one third of its original size as it was buried in the ground inside the triangr-shaped stone''s space. Shun Long could feel his qi depleting but he didn''t even react as he looked stupefied, staring nkly at the ''water element grass'' in the ground. The ck egg was also there but were no visible changes around it.
Different possibilities shed through Shun Long''s mind as he thought
''Can I store medicinal herbs in this space?
Do they grow faster here? Is that why the flow of time feels to be flowing faster in that patch of soil, that the ''water element grass'' has buried itself at?''
Shun Long ignored his qi that was being rapidly depleted, as he used his spiritual strength on the ''fire-spirit fruit''. Originally there was no reaction, but as Shun Long willed for it to be transferred inside the spiritual space of the little stone, the ''fire-spirit fruit'' vanished as it appeared near the ''water element grass''.
Shun Long removed a seed from the ''fire-spirit fruit'' and after burying it near the ''water element grass'' he felt his qi being sapped at an rming rate.
Half an hourter, Shun Long forcibly stopped his qi from being transferred towards the soil as his body was almost emptied out, but the effects of the soil were shocking.
There was a small sapling at the ce where he had buried the ''fire-spirit fruit'' seed earlier, while the ''water element grass'' had already doubled in size.
Shun Long wanted to try the same with the ''white-root Ganoderma'' and the ''blood lotus'' but his body was already out of qi.
Shun Long was thrilled as this discovery solved his 2 biggest problems at the same time, while also providing an even more extraordinary benefit.
''''Although the space inside the little stone isn''t that big, it''s more than enough for me to store what I need here. Wait, I guess I should call the little stone Stone of Time from now on. That''s what that voice had called it as well.''''
Shun Long pondered for a bit more as he said to himself, almost as if he was trying to verify his own finds
''''It seems like I have to exchange my qi for the ingredients to mature faster inside this space, but this way I can ensure that I won''t reallyck the ingredients for the ''internal destruction pill''. In the future, I can also duplicate any rare medicinal herb I find, and then sell them to make a killing.''''
As Shun Long was having these thoughts, a wide smile was hanging on his face.
Although he couldn''t really duplicate the rank 3 ''ck-tongued python''s'' poison in the soil as it wasn''t a medicinal herb, he could always buy it again from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' if he needed it.
Soon, 15 days passed like that, and from the constant depleting and replenishing of his qi, Shun Long had already managed to reach the early rank 8 in qi condensation.
He already had a little tree of ''fire-spirit fruits'' with 3 fruits ready to be plucked. The ''water element grass'' had reached 3 times its original size, and the same went for the ''white-root Ganoderma'' and the ''blood lotus''.
Even if he failed the refinement process, Shun Long would only need the ''ck-tongued python''s'' poison since he already had everything else inside the spiritual space now.
After sitting on the floor and warming up his cauldron, he started adding in the medicinal herbs.
Chapter 51 - 51 Space Tear
Chapter 51 - 51 Space Tear
Refining the ''internal destruction pill'' was harder than what Shun Long had originally estimated.
The whole refinement process took more than an hour toplete and in the end, Shun Long was lying on the floor, drenched in sweat while inside his cauldron was one crimson-red medicinal pill.
Shun Long didn''t even meditate, he just gasped for breath for a while due to his overdrawn qi and spiritual strength.
The ''internal destruction pill'' had to be consumed within an hour after it was concocted, so Shun Long didn''t have much time to rest.
After sitting up and observing the pill in his hands, he noticed that there were faint white lines on its surface
''''Thankfully I managed to refine a high-grade pill.''''
Even pills had their own ranks, from low-grade, to middle-grade and high-grade.
All the special ''Qi barrier-breaking'' pills that Shun Long had refined and sold to the ''Treasure Pavilion'' were between low and middle-grade. The reason for that was because Shun Long had only just started as an alchemist so his aim was toplete the refinement process.
However, this time was different.
The ''internal destruction pill'' could only be consumed once, and the higher the grade of the pill, the better the results would be.
Without hesitation, Shun Long swallowed the pill as he started circting the method of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
As the pill dissolved inside Shun Long''s mouth, the energy inside it followed the cirction method of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' as it flowed from Shun Long''s meridians to every nook and cranny inside his body.
''''AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'''' Shun Long roared like a beast in pain.
Even if he wanted to stop the cirction of the body refinement at this point, he wouldn''t be able to as the energy had already started to wash every part of his body bringing along unbearable pain with it.
Shun Long had grown much more resistant to pain after his soul had been forcefully erged by the ''golden book'' in the past, however the pain he felt now wasn''t much lower than that.
The ''internal destruction pill'' had started with his blood as it slowly burned it, while with the help of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that was circting inside him, the healing properties of the pill were slowly replenishing the blood that he was burning, refining it again and again, making it even purer and stronger.
After his blood, all of his internal organs as well as his meridians followed, as they were all destroyed and then re-created, from his liver to his heart and, even his brain and eyes, they were all turned into a pool of blood before being reformed.
The only reason that Shun Long was still alive, was thanks to the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that was circting inside his body reforming his destroyed organs.
After that, his bones followed, with his skining inst.
Everything inside and outside Shun Long''s body had turned into blood, before being slowly reformed by the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
The pain and suffering that he was feeling throughout this process was enough to leave even the most resilient men wanting to die.
This whole process took nearly a month.
A month of constant destruction and creation.
It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Shun Long was a different man now, after consuming the ''internal destruction pill''.
After this one month, his body had beenpletely reformed.
His external appearance could have been considered handsome before refining his body but now, aside from bing even more handsome, his body also naturally emitted a domineering aura.
He could feel that he was bursting with energy inside, as every part of him was more than 100 times stronger than before.
But the most miraculous thing was that he could now sense the space around his body if he willed it.
He raised his right hand in the air as he tried to touch the space around him. He could sense a matter that was like water and yet not water, something nonexistent and yet tangible at the same time. It was almost as if the space around him was hugging his body, while it didn''t hinder his movements at all.
Shun Long tried cutting through space with his hand, and a small space tear appeared in front of him.
After deliberating for a while, his eyes focused as he slowly put his hand inside it.
His hand had disappeared in the space tear, as it appeared through another tear in space 2 meters away from his original position. Shun Long tried to move the fingers in his hand, and although the hand was 2 meters away from him, it still moved exactly as Shun Long willed it to.
As he retracted his hand from the space tear, the tear then closed.
''''Does this mean that I can now move through space?''''
Shun Long wanted to test some more of his theories when suddenly his ''sect identifying jade'' started glowing.
The voice of an old man appeared from the jade as it said
''''All new disciples that have entered the sect in the past year, are to gather in front of the city gates within one hour''''
Shun Long''s eyes brightened as he thought
''''Could it be for the ''outer sect examination''?''''
Calcting the time that Shun Long had spent in seclusion refining his body, it should be the time for the ''outer sect examination'' to begin.
After gathering all his important belongings and putting them inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long walked towards the city gates.
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APOLOGIES!! I just woke up and saw that there was a bug in the chapters, they will be released properly now every4 hours or so in the right orde
Chapter 52 - 52 Heading out
Chapter 52 - 52 Heading out
Although the city gates weren''t that far from the inn he was staying, it still took Shun Long 20 minutes to arrive there.
On the way, he saw many disciples heading towards the same direction, all of them seeming perplexed on why the sect had summoned them.
By the time he arrived, there was already a huge crowd waiting in front of the gates.
After 40 minutes the crowd gathered had definitely numbered more than 50.000 disciples when 3 sect Elders in ck robes appeared in front of everyone.
The Elder in the lead was white-haired, with a white beard and as the buzzing crowd quietened as they saw him, he started speaking
''''My name is Lan Hong, and I am the Grand Elder of our ''floating cloud sect''. I am sure that many of you are curious as to why the sect suddenly summoned you all. I will exin everything only once, so pay close attention.
Every 3 years, our floating cloud sect tempers our newly epted disciples in the Demonic Mountain Region to the west of our ''floating cloud city''. In the Demonic Mountain Region, you disciples will have topete not just between yourselves, but you will also have to fight against the magical beasts that live there if you want to stay alive.
In your sect identifying jades, each of you will be given a special point, which ispletely different from your sect points. You can directly rob this special point from others if you acquire their ''sect identifying jade''. Your aim in the Demonic Mountain Region will be to survive while gathering the special survival points that the other disciples here have.
The Demonic Mountain Region is a ce where you can be stronger and find fortuitous opportunities, but you can also die there.
You can call the sect unfair or cruel if you want but nothing will change. You are all cultivators, and your aim should be to be stronger instead of staying locked up inside the sect. The sect too has no need for a bunch of weaklings in the qi condensation realm who are content with their lives inside the city.'''' As the Grand Elder finished this sentence his voice had turned stern as he then continued
''''However, this year''s ''outer sect examination'' will be differentpared to the previous years. This time you will also have topete against disciples from other sects inside the Demonic Mountain Region. Namely, it will be 3 sects at the same size as our ''floating cloud sect'', the ''Flying Sword sect'', the ''Roaring Wind Pavilion'' as well as the ''Iron-hardened school''. Their disciples will also try to take your special survival points and you should also do the same.
Remember that you may die at any moment inside the Demonic Mountain Region be it from another cultivator or from a magic beast, so if you want to stay alive you have to be ruthless. Death lurks everywhere in the Demonic Mountain Region and you only have 2 options. Be ruthless or... die. Elder Zhu will give each of you your survival points.''''
As the Grand Elder, Lan Hong finished speaking, he pointed towards the bald Elder Zhu on the side.
After every disciple had a special survival point added to their ''sect identifying jade'', Lan Hong took the lead as he headed outside of the city towards the west before shouting in a loud voice
''''All disciples are to follow after me.''''
Most of the disciples were feeling downcasted as they followed behind Lan Hong.
''''Why do we have to risk our lives all of a sudden for no reason?''''
''''I agree. Nobody informed us about this beforehand or I may not have joined the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
''''The sect is so cruel. They didn''t even ask for our permission before ordering us to participate.''''
Shun Long heard all the hushed whispers of the terrified disciples around him and he just chuckled. After his conversation with the voice in the darkness inside the ''Stone of Time'', his mental state had already changed drastically from before. He was now going to grasp every single opportunity he could to be stronger. These 3 months inside the sect where he did nothing other than cultivating had already felt so stifling to him, so this chance to leave the sect was a good opportunity, albeit a dangerous one.
''''This will be a great opportunity to test my ''Monarch''s Eternal body'''' he thought as he kept following the group headed towards the Demonic Mountain Region.
Lan Hong knew what the disciples were feeling, yet he didn''t pay much attention to them as he said
''''Elder Lu will exin the rewards that the sect will give you, depending on your results.''''
This was the same Elder Lu that had brought Shun Long from the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' to the ''floating cloud sect'', Elder Lu Cheng.
Following behind the Grand Elder, Lu Cheng didn''t even turn around as he started speaking with his back facing the disciples.
''''You will all be able to obtain different rewards from the sect depending on your results. Those of you that manage to keep just one survival point by the end of the exam, will be able to obtain 10 sect points, while those of you that collect 10 survival points will get 100 sect points.
The person ranked in the 100th position will get 1000 sect points, while for every position above that you will get an extra 100 sect points. Aside from that, there will be special rewards for the top10 and the top3 respectively.
The top 10 will all obtain weapons crafted by silver grade formation masters, while the top 3 will each obtain a spatial ring.''''
As Elder Lu finished speaking, all the disciples were shocked. The rewards this year were definitely much better than the previous years.
''''Elder, what about the first ce then?''''
Chapter 53 - 53 The flying sword sect
Chapter 53 - 53 The flying sword sect
''''Elder, what about the first ce then?''''
In the ''floating cloud sect'' where even the lodging wasn''t free for those disciples, and they had to work hard in the sect mines every month just for 50 sect points, an opportunity to earn 1000 sect points at once was worth risking their lives over.
However, the prospect of a spatial ring was even more enticing than that.
Of course, these people knew how small their chances were to get into the top 3 of the sect examination.
In reality, only those disciples that were at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade had a chance to enter the top 3.
The disciple who had spoken just now was short with red hair. His name was Guan Hong and he was a peak rank 3 earth grade disciple.
''''Ohh?!''''
Lu Cheng stopped walking as he eximed in a surprised manner. He turned around to look at Guan Hong and after noticing that he was at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, he nodded his head as he said
''''The first ce will additionally get 100 spirit stones from the sect but that''s not all.
The person who gathers the most survival points out of every other disciple between the 4 sects, will also get a ''Blood Vermilion Fruit''.''''
Although most disciples were perplexed, Shun Long''s eyes shone brightly when he heard of the ''Blood Vermilion Fruit''.
''''If I can get my hands on it, my strength will definitely advance by leaps and bounds'''' he thought.
Lu Cheng saw that most disciples hadn''t even heard of the ''Blood Vermilion Fruit'' and he snorted as he exined
''''The ''Blood Vermilion Fruit'' can be directly consumed and allow a disciple at the peak of rank 3 in the earth grade to directly advance to the early rank 4.
To Shun Long though the ''Blood Vermilion Fruit'' was even more attractive than that as he could refine it into a pill. After consuming it his strength would directly soar.
Everyone in the group was excited as they walked toward the Demonic Mountain Region. The weaker disciples all hoped to enter the top100 while the stronger disciples like Guan Hong who were at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade were all dreaming of taking first ce.
Their group traveled for 7 days until they arrived at the Demonic Mountain Region.
Shun Long was shocked when he saw how vast the region was.
There were mountains and trees as far as the eye could see.
The ''floating cloud sect'' was the second group to arrive. In front of them was another huge group that wasn''t any smaller than their own.
Their disciples were all dressed in white robes and they were all carrying swords on their backs.
A pair of Elders approached the ''floating cloud sect''s'' group and the oldest one of them spoke
''''Haha Lan Hong, I didn''t expect that you would be the one to lead your fledglings all the way from the ''floating cloud city''.'''' This person was the Grand Elder of the ''Flying sword sect'', Hui Zhong.
''''Hui Zhong, it seems that your ''Flying sword sect'' also takes this sect examination quite seriously, otherwise, with how old you are you wouldn''t have stepped a foot outside your sect.''''
''''Are you any younger than me Lan Hong? Hahaha it''s okay, I won''t hold any grudges against you this time. Let me introduce someone to you. This is my grandson Hui Ming.''''
As soon as Hui Zhong finished speaking, a young man with sharp-defined features and a hooked nose appeared from the ''flying sword sect''s'' group. The man had a golden sword strapped on his back and anyone who looked at his pair of eyes would suddenly sense a feeling of dangering from this person.
Lan Hong''s eyes shone brightly as he saw the young man who now stood next to Hui Zhong and he eximed in a loud voice full of bewilderment
''''How is it possible?''''
Hui Zhong smiled brightly as he said
''''Did you notice already? It''s precisely what you think! Ming''er''s talent for the sword is even higher than my own. He has already touched upon sword qi while he is only at the peak of rank 2 in the earth grade. I am not afraid to say that even though his cultivation is low, he has the highest chance among everyone here to obtain the first ce in this survival examination.''''
Lan Hong couldn''t refute Hui Zhong''s words as his ''floating cloud sect'' didn''t have anyone at the same level as Hui Ming.
Usually, sword cultivators would only be able to touch upon sword qi when they reach thete stages of the earth grade.
''''Old man Hui Zhong I''m afraid that your grandson won''t have that chance.''''
As a manly voice was heard from the distance, two big groups could be seening towards them.
Chapter 54 - 54 The black egg
Chapter 54 - 54 The ck egg
Two big groups had appeared in the distance and each of them wasn''t any smaller than the ''floating cloud sect''s''. The people leading them were a beautiful woman with long ck hair and a 2m(6.6ft) tall, robust middle-aged man with a bald shaved head.
Obviously the person who spoke just now was that middle-aged man.
''''Sect master Da Chao. Do you think there is anyone in your ''Iron-hardened sect'' that can defeat my grandson in the same level of cultivation? Why don''t you bring that person out and have thempete with Hui Ming then?''''
''''Hehehehe, that''s fine by me! Da Chong, just go and beat that kid up until his grandfather can''t recognize him anymore.''''
As sect master Da Chao finished speaking, a tall and robust young man thatrgely resembled Da Chao walked from behind him. This young man was wearing brown robes and was almost as tall as Da Chao himself while his hands and feet were even bigger than his.
Just as the situation was taking a turn for the worse, the beautiful woman who had kept quiet so far said in a sweet voice
''''I''m sure that everyone here is eagerly waiting for this year''s examination to start. After all, what the sect examination tests isn''t just brute physical strength, but a disciple''s ability to n ahead as well as their survival instincts. Since everyone has gathered then how about starting the sect examination now?''''
The beautiful woman turned her look towards Grand Elder Lan Hong who in turn nodded and said
''''Since vice-pavilion master Li Huian and sect master Da Chao have also arrived, we should all start with the sect examination. If you insist on fighting now then your ''Flying sword sect'' and your ''Iron-hardened sect'' can just stay behind and wait for the results.''''
Both Da Chao and Hui Zhong snorted, but they knew that the important thing in hand, was to test their disciples this time, so everyone gathered their groups in front of the Demonic Mountain Region''s entrance.
Lan Hong went in front of the ''floating cloud sect''s'' group and said
''''You will all spend the next month inside the Demonic Mountain Region. When the time is up, your ''sect identifying jades'' will light up as they will point your way towards my location. Until then do your best to gather as many survival points as possible and... try to stay alive too. That is all.''''
As Lan Hong finished speaking, so did the other 3 leaders of their respective groups, as the groups started heading inside the Demonic Mountain Region.
Shun Long was feeling excited but also nervous at the same time. After all, it was the first time that he would be participating in something like this. This was going to be a true survival test.
Shun Long started heading inside the Demonic Mountain Region along with the other disciples, but as if in tacit agreement, no one fought as they were entering inside.
''''Everyone is probably waiting for someone else to start a fight, since the first person who starts fighting here would be preyed upon by the others in the end.''''
As he was heading deeper inside the Demonic Mountain Region, Shun Long saw that the number of disciples around him had started to lessen. Just as he was about to find a good spot on the trees around him, he felt a spiritual fluctuation from the ck egg in his spiritual space.
Suddenly, all the qi around the area he was in, had started rushing towards his body... more precisely, towards the ''Stone of Time'' where the ck egg was in.
This wasn''t just the qi that was in direct proximity around Shun Long, but the qi inside the earth as well as in the air around him, all of it was now towards him.
Shun Long started running deeper inside the Demonic Mountain Region, as the ck egg absorbed more and more qi.
His speed had already reached such a terrifying level after entering the first level of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that he was far faster than any peak rank 3 earth grade cultivator.
Suddenly as Shun Long was running deeper inside, a 3m(9ft) long snake jumped at him from the top of a tree. The beast could feel the rich qi around Shun Long and it madly wanted to absorb it all for itself.
Shun Long immediately recognized this magic beast.
''''A rank2 ''dark-venom snake''.'''' Shun Long tried to dodge to the side, but the snake coiled itself around his waist with lightning speed. Just as the ''dark-venom snake'' tried to plunge its fangs on Shun Long''s chest, he instantly activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and gathered all of his strength and qi in his right hand as he chopped towards its weakest spot, the snake''s neck.
Shun Long could feel his hands being bathed in a hot liquid, as the snake''s head was severed and green blood dyed his arms and robes.
Although the ''dark-venom snake'' was a rank 2 magical beast, it was onlyparable to an early stage earth grade cultivator.
This was the first time that Shun Long had killed something, and yet, he couldn''t stop running as beast roars could be heard from every direction.
He could already feel more and more magical beasts chasing him down from all sides. The disciples that were previously around him, had all run as far away as they could when they saw the horde of magical beasts that was now chasing Shun Long.
The most terrifying thing was, that there were even some peak rank 2 magical beasts. A peak rank 2 magical beast was at the very least as strong as a peak rank 9 earth grade cultivator, yet these beasts were now chasing Shun Long in a mad frenzy almost as if he was some kind of extraordinary delicacy.
Thankfully Shun Long''s body had been enhanced after having consumed the ''internal destruction pill'' and entered the first level of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Nevertheless, the beastsunched plenty of attacks, and Shun Long was eventually forced to use the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Although his cultivation had already advanced to the early rank 8, in the end he was just a qi condensation novice and he couldn''t keep the Monarch''s Domain active for more than 100 breaths of time.
As if sensing the ''Monarch''s Domain'', the ck egg started vibrating even more intensely while its size was rapidly erging. After 49 breaths of time had passed since Shun Long had activated the Monarch''s Domain, the egg that had reached 3m(10ft) in height by now, finally cracked from the top as a ck being slowly emerged from it.
Chapter 55 - 55 The Black Dragons past
Chapter 55 - 55 The ck Dragon''s past
As the ck egg cracked, a 3m(10ft) tall creature could be seen emerging from it.
As the creature''s eyes opened, an aura of absolute tyranny burst from it suppressing everything around Shun Long.
Every magic beast in a radius of 3 miles around him was now on its knees prostrating towards the source of this aura. Shun Long could finally catch his breath, as he hurriedly sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time''.
''''WHAT?'''' His mind and thoughts couldn''t believe that what he was seeing was real.
A ck dragon.
Dragons really existed and one of them was inside the ''Stone of Time''.
The dragon was ck from its head to its talons. The only exception was a pair of bright blue eyes that were as deep as the ocean and were glowing with a shining azure light. The dragon was rapidly inhaling from its nostrils, absorbing every single bit of qi that was remaining around it.
It suddenly spread its massive wings open and roared from inside the ''Stone of Time''. This roar carried itself towards Shun Long''s spiritual space and then continued outside of his body.
As the beasts prostrating around Shun Long heard this roar, they all fainted on the spot. It didn''t matter if they were rank 1 magic beasts or even peak rank 2, they had all fainted without exception.
The dragon then looked at the imaginary Shun Long that had appeared inside the ''Stone of Time''s'' space.
His bright blue eyes that exuded absolute tyranny a moment ago, had suddenly turned gentle as the dragon looked at Shun Long and lowered his head in front of him before calling out
''''Master''''
The ck dragon didn''t open his mouth to speak. Instead, his voice had directly sounded inside Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long looked at the dragon perplexed and unknowingly, he had put his right hand on the huge head that was lowered in front of him.
He then opened his mouth to ask
''''Are you the voice that was speaking to me from the darkness?''''
''''Mm'''' The dragon nodded his head.
''''Then, am I your master because the ''Stone of Time'' has merged with me?
What is this stone? Since you called it the stone of time then you must definitely know about it.''''
The dragon shook his head at Shun Long''s question as his answer shook Shun Long to his core.
''''Master, you are not my master because you possess the ''Stone of Time''! You have been my master long before you obtained the ''Stone of Time''.''''
Shun Long didn''t seem to understand what this ck dragon tried to say. Wasn''t he inside the ''Stone of Time''? How could the previous Shun Long, or the Rock from earth to have ever met with any dragons in the past?
The ck dragon seemed to be able to see through Shun Long''s puzzlement as he answered with a question of his own
''''Master, why do you think that the ''Stone of Time'' ''chose'' you?''''
''''Right! Why did the ''Stone of Time'' choose me?''''
Shun Long seemed to be stumped as he couldn''t find an answer to this question. Then he turned his bright eyes towards the ck Dragon as he asked
''''Does that mean that you know the answer?''''
''''Of course. Master there is always a reason for everything that happens. Let me start from the beginning.''''
The dragon then sat down on the space inside the ''Stone of Time'' and coiled his long head around Shun Long before starting to exin through another telepathic message.
''''A long time ago, I was born in a ce called the Sky-Mending world. The birth of any dragon no matter how weak or strong is enough to startle countless superpowers in the universe. Usually, when someone from our dragon race is born, there will always be some seniors from our race to protect us. However, my circ.u.mstances were different, and in the end, I had to flee the Sky-Mending world while still a newborn, as I ended up being chased by a huge group of people.''''
The dragon spoke with a hint of mncholy as well as grief in his voice as he continued
''''Although many people want to enve a dragon, there are even more who want to kill one. A dragon''s body is a priceless treasure. The horns, the scales, the ws, everything, even the tongue of a dragon would be a priceless treasure that many superpowers would kill to obtain.''''
Then the dragon''s eyes shone as he said in a proud voice with a big smile hanging on his face
''''That was when I and master met each other for the first time.''''
Shun Long was speechless.
''''Why is he so sure that I''ve met him before?''''
And yet, he didn''t interrupt the dragon who was exining more about his past, as this story would probably include parts about the ''Stone of Time'' as well as help Shun Long understand more about this dragon.
''''Although we dragons are born with exceptionally strong bodies and are very intelligent from the start, I couldn''t escape the pursuit of all those people. That was when I happened to run into master just outside the Heaven Trampling city. Back then, master saw my scarred body while I was still a newborn and took pity in me as he came to my aid.
Since master was already the lord of the Heaven Trampling city and the Heaven Trampling Legion followed master, aside from a few superpowers, not many would dare to antagonize you.
However, there were still 2 exceptionally strong people who were willing to offend master in order to get their hands on me in the end.''''
''''They brought their armies in front of Heaven Trampling city and demanded master to hand me over.''''
That was when the ck Dragon smirked as he continued
''''But how could it be possible that they didn''t know about master''s temper? Master was already a renowned powerhouse back then and would never s.u.mb to threats or forceful behavior. Their armies shed in a cataclysmic battle with the Heaven Trampling Legion and in the end master personally killed both of their leaders.''''
Chapter 56 Shun Long and the Black Dragon
56 Chapter 56 Shun Long and the ck Dragon
Shun Long didn''t ask anything as the ck dragon continued exining
''''Although dragons will don''t submit to humans, as a newborn with no one else to rely on, master became my only family. That was when I first decided to follow master.
Master helped me grow and after almost 1000 years of cultivation and the continuous consumption of mountains of pills and natural treasures, I had finally reached a level where I was just slightly weaker than master.
That was when master decided for us to go to the Dragon Realm and find out more about my origins. After all, it didn''t make sense for a dragon to be born alone, outside of the Dragon Realm, and with no seniors to protect him.''''
Then the ck dragon''s eyes turned chilly as an aura of murder radiated from his body that made even the surrounding space to tremble
''''However that was when we met HIM.''''
The ck dragon then stopped speaking as his body was now trembling from rage, his eyes having turned hazy with a hint of bloodlust as he remembered those scenes.
''''Who are you talking about?'''' Seeing that the ck dragon wasn''t speaking anymore, Shun Long couldn''t hold in his curiosity and decided to ask
As the ck dragon heard Shun Long''s voice, his hazy and bloodshot eyes became clear again as he answered
''''The person who called himself my father. One of the nine emperors of the Dragon Realm, Long Tianyu.
As soon as we met him, he tried to kill me without any hesitation or reason, and he and master then ended up fighting for 7 full days and nights.
Since no winner could be determined in the end, Long Tianyu and master stopped fighting. However, before he left Long Tianyu looked at master and spat out .
Master then replied without any hesitation .
After that you brought me away as we left the Dragon Realm.
Since then, I followed behind master as we traveled the world and explored many different ruins until one day we entered a ce called ''The ruins of the universe''. In there, we nearly died before master found the ''Stone of Time''.''''
''''Are you sure that the person back then had something to do with me? Also what exactly is the ''Stone of Time'' ?''''
The ck Dragon resolutely nodded his head at Shun Long''s question before saying
''''Master you will understand everything as soon as I finish exining things.''''
Shun Long nodded and let the Dragon continue speaking
''''The ''Stone of Time'' is one of the supreme treasures of the universe. Nobody knows exactly what it is, but it is said that inside it lies the secret to be a God...''''
Shun Long couldn''t resist asking
''''Do gods really exist then?''''
The ck Dragon shook his head as he said
''''I don''t know master, however it was said that inside the ''Stone of Time'' lies the secret for a person to ascend to Godhood. There are other rumors as well, iming that the ''Stone of Time'' is the key to enter another world.
Nobody knows if they are true or not, but one thing is for sure: the ''Stone of Time'' is truly a mysterious and supreme treasure.
There are always numerous people exploring the ''Ruins of the Universe'' at all times, and people happened to see that master obtained a peerless treasure before we could leave the ruins.
In their greed, many powerhouses banded together to attack master and in the end our only choice was to flee.
As the ''Stone of Time'' merged with master and became a part of your soul, the situation back then had reached a point where almost one tenth of all the powerhouses in the universe were chasing us.
However, as master''s soul was fusing with the ''Stone of Time'', your strength was also rapidly increasing. And yet, in the end, an old monster that was in seclusion, heard about master finding a priceless treasure and joined in on the chase. Although master could probably fight him off one on one, we couldn''t win against so many enemies.
As we were cornered then, master took a huge gamble.
Activating the ''Stone of Time'', master ced me inside this space, before you also sealed part of your memories inside the stone. These memories then became a golden book. A third of master''s soul had also been sealed inside that.
After master sealed me and the golden book inside the ''Stone of Time'', master also split the remaining two-thirds of your soul in 2 parts. After that, master, detonated his body as well as his remaining cultivation, while sending the 3 parts of your soul in different directions. ''''
The ck Dragon''s eyes were now glistening with tears as he remembered that scene.
There was a huge explosion as the enemies around them had turned to dust.
Shun Long''s eyes widened as he connected the rest of the dots.
If what the ck Dragon had said was all true, then nothing in his life what happened randomly.
He died on earth, almost at the same time as the other part of his soul died in the ''Mortal world''. The 2 parts of his soul merged, and the third andst one, that was inside the ''Stone of Time'' also found him and merged with him.
Shun Long couldn''t believe what the ck Dragon was saying, and yet deep inside he knew that it was most likely the truth. After all, why else would the ''Stone of Time'' merge with him out of nowhere? But the most important reason that made Shun Longpletely trust the ck dragon... was that he could sense that the dragon was connected to him.
Shun Long took a deep breath as he asked
''''Assuming that everything you said so far is the truth, why did you ask me if I wanted power the first time you met me? Why did you ask me what my goal was? And... why can I sense your emotions?''''
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Chapter 57 - 57 Unbelievable strength
Chapter 57 - 57 Unbelievable strength
The ck dragon answered proudly
''''Master have you felt your personality slightly changingtely? That''s because all 3 parts of your soul have once again be one.
Although back then, you split your soul into 3 parts and reincarnated, your desires were all hidden deep inside you even after your soul fused back together. In other words, you hadn''t yet woken up. That was the only way I could stimte your soul''s desires and help you wake up.
As for the reason why master can sense my emotions, as I am soul-bound to master, we can both exchange messages with our minds. However, master isn''t strong enough yet and you have to wait until you reach at least the Spirit realm before using your soul to directly transmit telepathic messages.''''
''''Spirit realm? Is that the realm above the Heaven grade?''''
''''Mm'''' the ck dragon nodded
''''Also what do you mean by soul-bound?''''
''''It means that my soul is bound to yours, master. In order for my body to enter the ''Stone of Time'', my soul had to be connected to master''s, or the ''Stone of Time'' would have rejected me otherwise and I would have died back then.
Master, you are my only family and I will make sure to protect you. It''s just...''''
The dragon seemed trouble by something and Shun Long could obviously feel it.
''''Just?''''
''''It''s just that I had to restart my cultivation from the start so I am extremely weak right now.''''
Shun Long was a bit disappointed when he heard that the ck dragon was weak. Since he just started cultivating he couldn''t be any stronger than himself right? Probably around the middle or thete stages of qi condensation?!
However, he wasn''t dejected at all.
Instead, Shun Long had a mysterious feeling of intimacy towards this dragon and he could also sense the familial affection that the dragon felt for him.
Shun Long then smiled as he petted the dragon''s head and asked
''''Right, what should I call you?''''
''''Master you have always called me little ck'''' the dragon answered enthusiastically.
''''Fine then, I''ll continue calling you that.''''
Shun Long nodded before falling deep in thoughts
''''Little ck should be telling the truth, both based on the feeling I got from his soul when he was speaking earlier, as well as the fact that everything makes sense now that I know the story behind my past.
Although I''m not really interested in bing a god right now, I will still need to visit those ''Ruins of the Universe'' in the future if I want to find out more about the origins of the ''Stone of Time''. Since it has merged with my soul and it doesn''t seem to have its own consciousness, I doubt it''s anything harmful, but I still have to investigate.
I also need to be stronger to keep both myself and my parents safe.
If it''s possible, I should also try to help little ck to find out more about himself in the future. It isn''t logical for his father to try to kill him as soon as he stepped foot in that ce called the Dragon Realm.
Right now however, I''m too weak that I can''t even leave the ''floating cloud sect''.
For now, I should focus on the ''outer sect examination''.''''
As Shun Long sorted his thoughts he said
''''Little ck, for now it''s better for you to recuperate and be stronger. The outside is dangerous and even I don''t have absolute certainty of staying safe.''''
The ck Dragon, little ck looked at Shun Long in a weird manner as he said
''''Master... the outside is perfectly safe. As far as I can sense at least, there is nothing within 30 miles from your current location that can even match up to me, let alone posing a threat.''''
Shun Long hesitated a bit before asking
''''Little ck.. what is your current strength right now?''''
Little ck thought seriously for a while before answering
''''Right now I''m extremely weak, much weaker than when I was born the first time, as the qi I could absorb back then couldn''t bepared to the thin qi in this ce. If I have to put it in magical beast standards, then I''m just a rank 3 magical beast.''''
Shun Long sucked in a deep breath as he heard this, but the shock wasn''t over yet
''''Despite my low cultivation though, I should be able to easily fight against a Spirit realm cultivator who is in the middle stages.''''
Shun Long was left speechless now. Not only could little ck send his spiritual strength and scan 30miles around his body, but he was also a powerhouse who could fight against middle stage Spirit realm cultivators. Shun Long suppressed his shock as he then asked
''''Can you sense any secluded ce anywhere near my current location?''''
Little ck nodded his head as he answered
''''About 7 miles towards the east, there is a smallke with a rank 3 ''double-headed fish'' hiding inside. There is no magic beast or human anywhere near theke.''''
Shun Long then followed little ck''s directions and quickly reached the smallke.
''''Little ck, take care of the ''double-headed fish'' then. Also, use your spiritual strength to keep watch around theke. If anyonees close, whether a human or magic beast, let me know.''''
''''Understood master.'''' Little ck responded as he flew out from Shun Long''s body and directly headed towards theke.
Little ck stretched his pitch-ck wings as the majestic form of a dragon could be seen diving inside theke, sending a huge current of water up in the sky. The dragon looked just as agile in the water as he looked in the air.
The ''double-headed fish'' watched in horror as little ck approached it, and yet in front of a dragon, it couldn''t move at all.
The battle had no suspense as little ck used his sharp talons to instantly tear the fish in half. A shiny blue core fell out from the beast''s body as little ck grabbed it with its talons and delivered it to Shun Long.
Shun Long looked at the rank 3 beast''s core in his hand excitedly, as he put it inside his spiritual space.
Then he took a deep breath as he thought
''''I didn''t have the time earlier, but now it''s finally time to test the first stage of the Monarch''s Eternal body''''
Chapter 58 - 58 Monarch Eternal bodys fearsome strength
Chapter 58 - 58 Monarch Eternal body''s fearsome strength
With little ck keeping watch, Shun Long had nothing to worry about as he stood in front of theke and decided to test the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''s'' might.
He had already found out earlier that his speed was simply iparable to the past. He was outrunning even rank 2 magical beasts at this point. However, what other change had urred aside from his speed and his external appearance?
Shun Long clenched his right fist tightly as he punched in front of him and an air current traveled through theke, creating a disturbance in the water''s surface.
Little ck''s eyes shone as he saw this and he thought inwardly
''''Master seems to be at the peak of the first stage in body refinement and yet his punch can rival a full-out blow of an early second stage body cultivator.''''
After throwing that punch, Shun Long stood still and closed his eyes as he stood in front of theke.
Without opening them, he raised his left hand as he threw a downward chop in the air and the space in the area was suddenly torn. This chop was much stronger than the one he had used back in his room in the ''floating cloud city''.
The tear in space was sorge that a human could easily fit inside it, but one tenth of Shun Long''s physical energy was sapped to create this.
Having experienced this once already, Shun Long didn''t put his hand inside the void this time. Instead he took a step forward as he walked inside the space tear.
There was a ripple in the space above theke, and 10 meters away from Shun Long''s original location, Shun Long''s body appeared above theke.
Having miscalcted this time, Shun Long fell inside theke, his body now drenched in water. And yet there was a big smile hanging on his face as he had just figured things out.
Little ck''s shock was evident as he flew in the air around Shun Long, who was now swimming towards the shore of theke
''''Master, how can you tear space open when you haven''t even reached the Spirit realm?''''
Shun Long was still smiling as he swam over to the shore.
He lied down on the grass next to theke as he looked at little ck and said
''''This is thanks to the ''Stone of Time''s body refining technique, the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.''''
Shun Long didn''t hide anything from little ck as he continued
''''This was the second time that I tried to tear space open. The first time, the tear in space was very small and as my hand passed through it, it had appeared just 2 meters away from me. However, this time the tear I created was at the size of a human and the distance I traveled was 5 timesrger than before. This time I could also clearly feel my energy being drained as I was tearing the void open.
Therger the tear in space I create and the bigger the distance it covers, the more energy I have to use it seems.''''
Little ck''s astonishment was evident from his expression as he still hadn''t recovered. His jaw was slightly trembling as he said
''''Master, your affinity with the element of space must be at a very high level for you to be able to tear space open and only have to use such a small amount of energy for it. Usually peak rank 3 Spirit realm experts can tear space open just 100 meters away from their original location, but they have to use almost all their qi to do this, while master can create a tear in space 10 meters away just by using some of your physical energy. This is simply impossible to believe.''''
And yet Shun Long knew that 10 meters wasn''t his limit yet. After taking a deep breath, he clenched his fist tightly as he used his full strength to punch the air in front of him. A gust of wind followed after Shun Long''s hand, as the space in front of him was once again torn apart.
The size of the space tear was the same as thest time, however little ck could feel a qualitative difference this time around. More than half of Shun Long''s strength had been consumed with this move.
His body then instantly disappeared, as it appeared again on a patch of grass 45 meters away from his original location.
Shun Long then looked at little ck and pondered seriously for a while
''''If I used little ck''s strength, no one in the ''floating cloud sect'' would probably be a match against him but... little ck is a dragon after all and right now he is extremely weak. If his existence is exposed it''s unknown what problems it may bring. If anyone above the middle stages of the Spirit realm happens to hear about a ck dragon... I doubt that they will let the opportunity go like that. In the end, I shouldn''t allow little ck to reveal his existence unless absolutely necessary.''''
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long exined to little ck the situation they were in, as well as everything about the ''floating cloud sect'' and the Demonic Mountain Region as well as the ''outer sect examination''. Little ck returned to the space inside the ''Stone of Time'' but his spiritual strength was scanning everything around Shun Long.
Shun Long also stored the rank 3 ''double-headed fish''s'' body inside the ''Stone of Time'' as he asked little ck if there were any people or beasts around them.
''''Master, in direct proximity of 2 miles around us, there is no human or magic beast. However, there are approximately 400 humans and more than 500 magic beasts in the surrounding 30 miles. From these magic beasts, more than a third of them have already reached rank 2. I also sense a group of humans in a secluded area around 14 miles away from our current location, fighting with a middle stage rank 2 ''earth bear''. Apparently, the bear is protecting a ''Profound earth fruit'' inside its cave.''''
Chapter 59 - 59 Gathering in the dark
Chapter 59 - 59 Gathering in the dark
''''Quickly, lead me there!'''' Shun Long said in a slightly anxious tone.
Now that little ck was inside the ''Stone of Time''s'' space, Shun Long could directly use his spiritual strength tomunicate with him.
The reason that he was so anxious wasn''t to save those disciples or the ''earth bear'' but instead to obtain the ''Profound earth fruit''.
There were 3 different ways for Shun Long to advance his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
The first way was to consume the flesh of higher rank magic beasts. The flesh rank 2 magic beasts or the rank 3 ''double-headed fish'' inside the ''Stone of Time'' was one such example.
The second way was to directly consume rare herbs or fruits like the ''Profound earth fruit'' or the ''Blood Vermilion fruit''. Although a big part of the fruit''s medicinal efficacy would be wasted this way, it was still more than 100 times fasterpared to slowly strengthening the body by eating magical beast''s flesh.
However, there was an even better and faster way to advance. That would be by first refining the fruits into pills and then consuming them. Although it would be possible for a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist to refine something like the ''Profound earth fruit'' into a pill, the same would be absolutely impossible if we swapped the ''Profound earth fruit'' with a ''Blood Vermilion fruit''.
Although both fruits were rank 3 medicinal ingredients, the ''Profound earth fruit'' needed at least an alchemist at the rank 3 bronze grade to be refined into a pill, while the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'' needed at least a rank 1 silver grade alchemist to sesfully refine it into a pill.
And so the third way was the most umon of them all.
Following little ck''s directions, Shun Long soon arrived at the ce where the battle was taking ce.
There were 5 disciples banded as a group, all of them fighting the ''earth bear''. Of those disciples, 2 of them wore the ''floating cloud sect''s'' robes while the other 3 were dressed in brown robes, indicating that they were disciples of the ''Iron-hardened sect''.
''''It''s him'''' Shun Long thought while he was sitting at the top of a tree watching the fight.
One of the 2 disciples that were dressed in yellow robes, was short and had red hair. He had left an impression on Shun Long when he had asked Elder Lu earlier about the first ce reward. This person was Guan Hong, the peak rank 3 earth grade expert. The other disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'' was at the middle stage of rank 1 in the earth grade, while from the 3 disciples of the ''Iron-hardened sect'' two of them were at the middle rank 3 while the only woman in the group was at the early rank 1 in the earth grade.
Shun Long wasn''t going to let these people take the ''Profound earth fruit'' now that he knew about it, but the problem was how to take it. Everyone, including the ''earth bear'' and the 5 people in their group, were paying attention to the ''Profound earth fruit'' even while they were fighting.
Shun Long could use his teleportation ability to take the fruit and then leave, but he didn''t want to expose himself just yet. All of a sudden little ck''s voice was heard in Shun Long''s head
''''Master, don''t be anxious to make a move yet.''''
''''Did you discover something?'''' Shun Long asked
''''Mm. There is a rank 2 ''iron-winged eagle'' 300 meters away from our location and it has set its sights here''''
''''Of course it has. The ''iron-winged eagle'' is a natural enemy of the ''earth bear''. Now that someone hase to find trouble with it, how could it let this chance go?''''
''''Aside from the ''iron-winged eagle'' there are also 2 little girls who are approaching, around 1 mile away from our east. They will surely stumble upon this fight and I doubt that they will let the ''Profound earth fruit'' go like that. One of them is at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade while the other one is in the middle rank 3.''''
If the fight kept going for much longer, the number of people who would find out about the existence of the ''Profound earth fruit'' would increase over and over.
Meanwhile, in the fight happening in front of the cave, the two middle rank 3 disciples of the ''Iron-hardened sect'', as well as Guan Hong, were fighting the ''earth bear'' head-on, while the girl from the ''Iron-hardened sect'' and the other disciple from the ''floating cloud sect'' were providing support from the distance.
The ''earth bear'' was very tough as both its offense and defense were bnced. Everytime that Guan Hong''s group attacked it, it defended back with its sharp ws, and every attack that the bear sent, would prove life-threatening if their group didn''t dodge in time.
''''Shi Qiang, Shi Shan, if you keep holding back, more and more people will gather after they notice our fight, and taking the ''Profound earth fruit'' then will be much more difficult then.'''' Guan Hong shouted at the two ''Iron-hardened sect'' disciples that were fighting with him.''''
These 2 were a pair of brothers, called Shi Qiang and Shi Shan. Although they weren''t the strongest in the ''Iron-hardened sect'', when the 2 of them were fighting together, they were even slightly stronger than Guan Hong.
The elder brother of the two, Shi Qiang who was using a long saber snorted as he responded
''''Are you trying to say that you have been going all-out by now Guan Hong? If you want us brothers to use our strength for you to take the ''Profound earth fruit'' for yourself you must think that we really are naive. After all, even if we brothers used our full-strength, we still wouldn''t be able to kill this ''earth bear'' just by ourselves, or else why would we fight together with you then?''''
The spear-wielding Shi Shan nodded his head and Guan Hong just snorted but he knew that everything Shi Qiang said was the truth.
His eyes had turned determined as he looked at the 2 brothers and said
''''Distract the ''earth bear'' for 10 breaths of time. I need this much time to activate my martial skill. When I use it, you better not hold back either because that will be our only chance to kill this beast, or else forget about the ''Profound earth fruit''.''''
As Guan Hong finished speaking, he took out a dagger from his robe and started infusing his qi in it.
Meanwhile, a pair of girls dressed in blue robes had also arrived at the scene, their eyes fully focused on the ''Profound earth fruit''.
Chapter 60 - 60 Snatching the profound earth fruit
Chapter 60 - 60 Snatching the profound earth fruit
Everyone, including Shun Long were startled that Guan Hong knew a martial skill.
There were plenty yellow grade cultivation techniques spread around in the ''Mortal world'' and the ''cultivation world'' as well. However, yellow grade martial skills were much rarer than yellow grade cultivation techniques.
Martial skills were different from cultivation techniques to begin with. Although one needed a cultivation technique to train in and be stronger, martial skills were a cultivator''s hidden card as well.
Of course, cultivation techniques at the ck grade and above weren''t freely circted in the world, but instead were all kept as a tight secret inside every sect. The value of these cultivation techniques was at least on par with ck grade martial skills if not higher. After all, the grade of a cultivation technique would indicate how fast a disciple would progress while a martial skill was a way for the disciple to protect themself.
The 2 girls that had just arrived on the scene started discussing
''''Senior sister look! That guy over there also knows a martial skill!'''' The shorter one of the 2 girls who had her hair in two small buns said as she pointed towards Guan Hong.
The ''senior sister'' however, only nced at Guan Hong once, before turning her sights on the ''Profound earth fruit'' as she said
''''It''s only an early yellow grade martial skill. He requires so much time to prepare for it that if he was fighting the ''earth bear'' one on one, he would already be dead by now.''''
The senior sister who was also dressed in blue robes had a beautiful face and short ck hair as well as a slender body. Her b.o.o.b.s were average in size but her butt was definitely a handful. If onepared her with Liu Mei who Shun Long had met in the ''Alchemist''s Guild'', her appearance may be slightlycking, however, she was still a beauty that was on par with Lan Jinjing.
As Shun Long watched the two brothers, Shi Qiang and Shi Shan alternate between themselves trying to draw the ''earth bear''s'' attention, Guan Hong had already finished charging up his martial skill.
As he had infused a lot of his qi inside his dagger he shouted
''''Flying sh!''''
As he shed with his dagger in the air, the qi he had infused became a de that flew towards the ''earth bear''. The bear had already split its attention between fighting Shi Qiang and Shi Shan, as well as defending itself from the asional attacks from the other 2 members of this 5 man group, while also paying attention to its ''Profound earth fruit'' at the same time.
As Guan Hong''s attack approached it, it didn''t have any time to dodge and tried to defend with its ws, but that was when the pair brothers showed their teamwork as they both attacked the bear toward its eyes and heart simultaneously.
The bear could only defend against the brothers'' joint attack, as Guan Hong''s sh hit it straight at its neck leaving behind a huge cut that had nearly reached the bear''s bones. Blood was sent high up in the air as the bear roared in pain. However thanks to its thick hide, it had survived the hit although it was now heavily injured.
Just when everyone thought that their fight was almost done, a huge screech sounded in the air, as a 2 meter(6ft) eagle, with sharp, grey-colored feathers appeared from the sky as it directly chased the ''earth bear''. The injured ''earth bear'' instantly turned to flee as it saw the eagle,pletely disregarding everything else at this point.
The eagle chased the bear relentlessly around the forest.
As everyone''s attention turned to the ''iron-winged eagle'' who was chasing the ''earth bear'', Shun Long who was waiting for this chance, instantly opened a space tear as he appeared next to the ''Profound earth fruit''. It only took a moment for him to appear inside the cave, snatch the fruit and then open another spatial tear to leave the cave from the other side.
However, just as he was about to leave, the ''senior sister'' from the ''Roaring wind pavilion'' had then screamed
''''The ''Profound earth fruit''!!''''
Everyone''s attention immediately turned to the cave, as they saw Shun Long who had his back turned on them, disappear inside the spatial tear.
Although they saw his yellow robes which betrayed that he was a disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', they couldn''t see anything else, as he had suddenly vanished into thin air.
''''NOOOOOOOOO MY ''PROFOUND EARTH FRUIT''!'''' Both the ''senior sister'' and Guan Hong shouted at the same time.
Guan Hong''s group had suffered the biggest loss this time as they had been the ones who had first discovered the fruit and injured the ''earth bear'' as well, only for someone else to y the fisherman and steal their spoils from underneath their nose.
Guan Hong''s eyes were spitting fire as he looked at the blue-robed ''senior sister'' who had just imed that the ''Profound earth fruit'' belonged to her.
Since the person who stole it had disappeared into nothing, Guan Hong''s group had nowhere to vent their anger to. Now, as if they had suddenly found an outlet for their pent up emotions, their group of 5 eyed the pair of female disciples from the ''Raging wind pavilion''.
''''WHO ARE YOU?'''' Guan Hong and the Shi brothers asked threateningly as they surrounded the 2 girls.
The ''senior sister'' ignored them as she turned to leave however Guan Hong blocked her path as he said
''''No matter who you are, if you want to leave, you will also leave behind your survival points!''''
Anger clouded the ''senior sister''s'' eyes as her peak rank 3 aura exploded as she attacked Guan Hong and a fierce battle of two versus five started.
Meanwhile, Shun Long who had just appeared 30 meters away from the other side of the cave could now hear the fight that had broken out.
Directly leaving the scene, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'' to inspect the ''Profound earth fruit'' before heading towards the deeper parts of the Demonic Mountain Region.
Chapter 61 - 61 Requirements
Chapter 61 - 61 Requirements
It was unknown if Shun Long''s luck was good or bad, but not long after he left the ''earth bear''s cave'', an early rank 2 ''''silver-haired fox'''' attacked him.
Without using any of his qi, just by relying on the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''s'' strength, Shun Long sent a full-powered punch towards the fox''s ribcage.
Although the ''silver-haired fox'' also managed to bite Shun Long''s hand before the punch had connected, Shun Long only felt a sting before the fox was sent flying towards the nearby trees.
As a rank 2 magic beast, the ''silver-haired fox'' had expected its teeth to tear through the human''s arm without a problem. However, Shun Long''s body was extremely durable and the fox didn''t evenst one punch before it was heavily injured.
At this point, unless a magic beast had some sort of natural weapon, like the ''iron-winged eagle''s'' sharp wings, they probably wouldn''t be a match for Shun Long, unless the beast had reached the middle level of rank 2.
''''This ''outer sect examination'' truly is a survival test. You may die at any moment if you aren''t careful here.'''' Shun Long thought.
After killing the ''silver-haired fox'' and storing its body, he then headed deeper inside the Demonic Mountain Region.
''''Master, there are plenty of rank 2 beasts in this area'''' little ck warned.
Shun Long was more than 50 miles away from the Demonic Mountain Region''s entrance by now, and the more he walked the more he noticed how the rank 2 magic beasts around him had started to increase in number.
However, with little ck scanning the area around him, he didn''t have anything to worry about, as he avoided the magic beasts that were at the middle stage of rank 2 and above.
Night soon arrived and Shun Long jumped on top of a tree when he heard little ck''s voice inside his head
''''Master, I feel that as we are heading deeper inside this Demonic Mountain Region the qi around us is bing purerpared to when we were still on the outskirts.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he too had discovered this earlier. As he activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', his qi balls were being refined faster than usual.
''''Did you find out the reason behind this change?''''
Little ck shook his head before replying
''''There is definitely something extraordinary deeper in this Demonic Mountain Region or the density of the qi in the air wouldn''t have changed for no reason.''''
Then with a joyous voice little ck said
''''Master, the rank 2 ''blood wolves'' that we were looking for earlier have now appeared almost 4 miles away from our east.''''
ted, Shun Long stood up and followed little ck''s directions as he quickly headed towards the wolves'' location.
The ''blood wolves'' were magic beasts that always hunted in packs, and it wouldn''t be easy to kill them, but their hearts as well as their beast cores were important to Shun Long who wanted to refine the ''Profound earth fruit'' into a pill.
After a short while, Shun Long had arrived in front of a valley where 5 early rank 2 ''blood wolves'' had encircled a small group of blue-robed disciples.
There were 4 people in this group, one man and three women, each of them covering each others'' back so the ''blood wolves'' wouldn''t pick them off one by one
Shun Long could sense that the strongest among these disciples was the good-looking young man with the blue sword in his hand, who was at the early rank 3 in earth grade, while the 3 women''s strength was only at the early rank 2 in earth grade.
Just as he was about to sit at a tree and wait until the ''blood wolves'' had tired themselves with this group of disciples from the ''Roaring wind pavilion'', Shun Long''s mind had a sudden idea as he looked at this group of 4 people before he walked towards them.
As soon as the good-looking young man noticed Shun Long, he waved his hand as he screamed
''''Brother please help us'''' He was fighting off 3 wolves on his own while the 3 young women behind him were also struggling to contain the 2 wolves that were left for them.
Shun Long then looked at the young man whose body was riddled with bites and w marks as he asked bluntly
''''What will I get if I help you?''''
Both the young man and the 3 young women were stunned.
Right! Why will he risk his life to help us?
The young man then gritted his teeth as he said determinedly
''''We can give you 4 survival points''''
But Shun Long just shook his head at this suggestion as he responded
''''Won''t I be able to get your survival points if I just let the ''blood wolves'' kill you? I will also be able to get all your possessions by then.''''
The young man was shocked at Shun Long''s bluntness but he knew that his words were correct. He then asked in a frantic voice
''''What do you want then?''''
''''I want the 4 survival points, as well as the ''blood wolves'' hearts and beast cores.''''
As soon as they heard Shun Long''s demands, all 4 of them were furious as the girls were the first to scream
''''Impossible!''''
The young man also shook his head as he said
''''I can concede and also give you the ''blood wolves'' hearts along with the 4 survival points but I need the beast cores as well as the wolves'' pelts.''''
Shun Long shook his head at this group''s greed as he turned and walked away.
While he may have sounded to be asking for too much, the truth was that if he didn''t help them, not only would these people have no chance to kill the ''blood wolves'' by themselves, but at least 3 of them if not their entire group, would end up dead here.
As the young man in blue robes saw that Shun Long was leaving, he gritted his teeth as he shouted ''''Wait!''''
He then took a deep breath as he continued
''''If you can really help us, then you can take 3 of the beast cores as well..''''
Chapter 62 - 62 You dont know?
Chapter 62 - 62 You don''t know?
Shun Long thought for a moment, before nodding his head as he unleashed his aura of an early rank 8 qi condensation cultivator.
Before the young man and the 3 young girls had any time to get angry at this qi condensation rookie who had been ying them for so long, Shun Long had already arrived behind a ''blood wolf'' as he gathered his qi in his right hand and punched towards the wolf''s back.
As Shun Long''s fist connected with the wolf''s spine, a cracking sound was heard as the wolf whimpered before it copsed on the ground and after twitching for a while, it stopped breathing entirely.
The group of disciples from the ''Roaring wind pavilion'' were shocked, when the young man was the first to recover as he shouted
''''Careful!''''
As one of the 3 women was still absorbed watching Shun Long kill the wolf, another one had appeared above her head as its sharp ws headed straight towards her neck.
The girl screamed and turned to run but the wolf''s ws had ripped off the robes on her back as a bloody imprint of a huge w was left on her skin.
This girl instantly passed out, while the rest of the ''blood wolves'' had suddenly turned frenzied as they smelled the scent of blood from this young woman.
Shun Long who had just killed one of the 3 ''blood wolves'' that were attacking the young man, saw what happened and rushed to kill the other 2 wolves which were now madly attacking the 2 girls.
His speed was extremely fast as he had arrived in front of the 2 wolves in less than 2 breaths, before he ruthlessly kicked with his left foot in a sweeping manner, towards one of the 2 wolves'' front legs.
A cracking sound was heard as the wolf''s front legs were broken, and before it had much time to react, one of the 2 girls used her sword as she stabbed its head.
As this wolf died, the other one was also taken care of quickly, before Shun Long turned to help the young man who was fighting off 2 wolves with his sword.
The hunters had turned into prey as the wolves tried to escape, but in a 2 against 4, their heads were soon chopped off by the sword-wielding young man.
As soon as the fight was over, the 3 disciples of the ''Roaring wind pavilion'' quickly rushed to help the young woman whose back was injured by the ''blood wolf'' and was now unconscious.
After they made sure that she was going to be alright, the young man looked at Shun Long as he said
''''Thank you for your help brother''''
Shun Long just shook his head though as he replied
''''It was a mutual exchange''''
Just as the young man was about to speak, one of the 2 girls looked at him as she whispered
''''Senior brother, are we really going to give him the wolves cores along with our survival points? No matter how strong he may be, he is just a qi condensation rookie in the end.. if we all fight against him then maybe we can...''''
Shun Long''s eyes turned chilly as he heard this, and he turned to look at this woman with undisguised killing intent.
Now that he had saved them this woman wanted them to go back on their word?
The woman staggered back a few steps as her face paled when she thought of how brutally Shun Long had killed the ''blood wolves'' just now.
Contrary to her wishes though, the young man headed towards Shun Long as he cupped his hands before he handed the survival points that he had promised.
After that, he turned his head to speak to the woman who had ''whispered'' to him just now as he answered with anger obvious in his voice
''''Since we promised something, it''s only proper to hold our own end of the deal as well.''''
The woman hanged her head dejected as she replied in a weak voice
''''Yes senior brother, Fei Fang was wrong.''''
Shun Long was impressed by this man''s forthrightness as he nodded at him before he turned to remove the wolves'' hearts and beast cores.
Among the 5 wolves, they found 4 beast cores, while thest wolf hadn''t formed one yet.
However as per their agreement, Shun Long took 3 of the cores for himself as he left the other one for them.
Just as he was about to leave, the young man from the ''Raging wind pavilion'' asked
''''Brother, judging from your robes, you must be a disciple from the ''floating cloud sect'' correct?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as the man continued by cupping his hands
''''My name is Yong Ru and these three are my junior sisters from the ''Roaring wind pavilion''. They are Fei Fang, Ming Zhu and Qiao Lian. Please forgive Fei Fang as she is still immature. May I ask for brother''s name?''''
Although Shun Long was just a qi condensation cultivator, Yong Ru who had witnessed his strength, actually considered him to be a peak rank 3 earth cultivator who was seemingly hiding his true strength for some reason.
''''My name is Shun Long.'''' Shun Long also cupped his hands at Yong Ru.
Yong Ru tried to think, but he didn''t seem to have heard about any strong disciple from the ''floating cloud sect'' with this name.
He then put that matter on the back of his mind as he continued
''''To tell the truth, brother Shun, me and my junior sisters are heading towards the central mountain. If brother Shun is also heading there, perhaps we could travel together.''''
Based on Shun Long''s extraordinary strength, Yong Ru knew that their journey would be a lot safer if he joined them.
''''Central mountain?'''' Shun Long was perplexed as he hadn''t heard anything about a specific mountain in the Demonic Mountain Region.
''''Brother Shun doesn''t know?'''' Yong Ru asked bewildered as he started exining
''''Well, it isn''t really a secret anyway. The Demonic Mountain Region covers a vast distance of more than 5000 miles. Among those 5000 miles, there is arge number of mountains. However, the most important of them all is the one at the center of this region, the central mountain.''''
Chapter 63 - 63 Unable to hide
Chapter 63 - 63 Unable to hide
''''Around the central mountain, there are also many other mountains, and most of them are filled with priceless treasures.'''' Yong Ru said in a tone filled with desire.
Shun Long felt that something was wrong as he asked
''''If there are so many treasures around the central mountain, then why haven''t they all been picked by the various sect Elders, or at the very least the disciples who were here at the previous ''sect examination tests''?''''
Yong Ru shook his head as he said
''''Your words are slightly wrong here brother Shun. Actually this involves a big secret that my grandfather told me.
My grandfather is an Elder in the ''Roaring wind pavilion'' and in the past, he and some other Elders, followed the pavilion master inside the Demonic Mountain Region to pick these very treasures.
That day, a terrifying magic beast at the peak of rank 4 emerged from the central mountain and as it attacked them, barely half of their group managed to escape that day, while the rest of them perished.
Ever since that day, no one above the earth grade has stepped foot inside the Demonic Mountain Region, in fear of being attacked by this magic beast. That is why this region is now used as the examination ground by our sects.
As for the mountains around the central mountain with their priceless treasures? All of them are guarded by magic beasts who are at least in the middle of rank 3 if not higher, hence why no one has managed to obtain any treasures from them.
However, the qiing from the central mountain is much thicker than the qi inside any of our 4 sects, and that''s the reason why every sect believes that there is a huge secret inside the central mountain.
However, with a peak rank 4 magic beast standing guard...''''
As Yong Ru finished speaking, he sighed as he thought of the many unobtainable treasures that they couldn''t be able to get their hands on.
''''However, there is also a bout of good fortune even for us. Every 30 years, the central mountain erupts with pure qi, that enriches the atmosphere in the Demonic Mountain Region. The closer you are to the central mountain during the eruption, the more benefits you would be able to obtain if you manage to absorb the pure qi.''''
As Yong Ru finished speaking, Shun Long said
''''And yet, the closer you are to the central mountain, the bigger the danger to meet a high-rank magic beast right?''''
''''That is why I asked brother Shun if you wanted toe with us. We can better protect each other until we find a ce to hide near the central mountain, while we will wait for the qi eruption to start.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Yong Ru''s words as he said
''''Traveling together doesn''t sound so bad. We can at least go together until we reach the perimeter of the central mountain''''
Everyone in the group was excited to hear that Shun Long would be joining them, as they would now have another strong person to rely on.
''''Haha, thank you brother Shun. With you in our team, it will be an even more enjoyable journey!''''
Shun Long smiled, as he had already formed a favorable opinion of Yong Ru earlier, as he now asked
''''Right, I have a question. Won''t the sects care if a disciple somehow manages to find a priceless treasure near the central mountain?''''
Yong Ru shook his head as he said
''''How could they not care? Even if a disciple finds something precious, how are they going to hide it without a spatial ring? When we leave the Demonic Mountain Region, the Elders will check all the disciples for treasures, and they will of course offer to rpensate the disciples with sect points if they have found anything valuable.
In other words, if you find something precious, you won''t have a chance to hide it from the eyes of the sect and you would be practically forced to exchange it for sect points.
Unless of course, a disciple has a spatial ring. Disciples at the early earth grade who have spatial rings, usually belong to therge families and the sects won''t strain their position with those families if it''s not for a good reason. However, if the treasure is important enough, then of course anything can happen.''''
Shun Long smiled as he cupped his hands and thanked Yong Ru, however deep inside, he started detesting the 4 sects.
''''So the disciples would be forced to risk their lives in the ''outer sect examination'', and yet if they find something they would have to give it to the sect in exchange for sect points whether they like it or not? The sect would also make sure that the disciples would be searched in case they tried to hide something from them?''''
As Shun Long thought of this, his opinion of the ''floating cloud sect'' drastically dropped.
Since it was already night time, their group decided to camp here for the night before heading towards the central mountain in the morning.
Groupping around, Yong Ru started a small fire as they began to cook the ''blood wolves'' meat.
''''Senior brother, won''t the magic beasts around us be attracted by the fire?'''' The girl who had her robes torn earlier, had now changed in a new set as she asked Yong Ru nervously
Shun Long shook his head while Yong Ru smiled and answered
''''When the blood wolves die their bodies emit a poisonous substance, and if another magic beast below the rank 3 consumes them, they will most likely die from this poison. However, by cooking the wolves meat, the poison is excreted along with the fat of the wolves, leaving behind the purest of their meat. Hence, no beast below the rank 2 woulde close after smelling the blood of the ''blood wolves'', so this could also be considered the best form of protection for us.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Yong Ru''s exnation. He was impressed as pretty much everything he had said was correct. It seemed that Yong Ru was very well prepared for this sect exam.
''''But senior brother, what if a rank 3 magic beast spots us?''''
''''Are rank 3 magic beasts that idle that they would be casually roaming outside their territories for no reason?''''
Yong Ru asked in return, when suddenly, the excited voice of a man could be heard around 100 meters away from their group as it shouted
''''Boss, we found some more prey!''''
Chapter 64 - 64 Killers
Chapter 64 - 64 Killers
As this voice was heard, 2 young men, followed behind a huge burly man. They were all wearing brown robes, indicating that they were disciples from the ''Iron-hardened sect''.
The burly man in the front was over 2 meters(6.5ft) tall and his fingers were dripping with blood, while the other 2 behind him, also had blood all over their robes.
At that moment, the young man behind the huge burly man shouted
''''Look boss, they even prepared food for us''''
''''Ah you are right Xiao Li, what a good first day we had. First we killed those ants from the ''floating cloud sect'' and gathered so many survival points, and now there is food and even beauties to keep uspany''''
''''The boss is right, there are 3 of us and there are just 3 beauties, one for each of us HAHAHAHA''''
''''Little beauties, you should obediently listen to our boss, or you won''t be the first women to die by his hands today''''
''''That''s right. If you are obedient, our boss will definitely let you live''''
Shun Long''s eyes slightly narrowed while the 3 girls rushed to hide behind him and Yong Ru.
Yong Ru faced the burly man as he said in a bold tone
''''Who do you think you are to dare speak to us like this?''''
The man named Xiao Li then looked at Yong Ru mockingly as he replied
''''Punk, who do you think you are to talk to boss like that? If you are sensible, you will quickly hand over your survival points before scramming.''''
The boss though looked at the other young man beside him as he said
''''Xiao Wan, Xiao Li, just take care of these punks quickly!'''' After he gave this order, the burly man started walking towards the food.
''''Of course boss''''
Both Xiao Wan and Xiao Li immediately responded as they slowly walked towards Shun Long and Yong Ru.
''''Senior brother!!'''' The 3 girls shouted but Yong Ru looked at them and said
''''Just stay back, you can''t help here''''
Yong Ru had noticed that these two men''s auras were at the same level as him, the early rank3 in earth grade, that''s why he just told the 3 women to stay back.
Xiao Li didn''t immediately start to fight and instead looked at Shun Long as he said
''''You will be the 3rd person I kill today. Too bad that you didn''t cherish the opportunity to give up your survival point and flee while you had the chance kid. But you can still be considered lucky to be killed by me. If the boss had decided to kill you guys, you wouldn''t be dying as easily, while I will make sure to give you a quick death in return''''
Xiao Wan and Xiao Li then, both unleashed their auras at the early stage of rank 3 earth grade.
Xiao Wan fought with Yong Ru while Xiao Li was holding a saber as he rushed towards Shun Long with a big smile on his face.
Shun Long immediately activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' followed by the ''Monarch''s Domain'' as everything around him went still.
In a sphere around Shun Long, time was frozen. Inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long was king. Unless the discrepancy in cultivation was too big or a person had some kind of secret technique, no one could move inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Not just Xiao Li, but even Xiao Wan and Yong Ru along with the 3 girls, everyone was now in a frozen like state.
It wasn''t just their bodies that couldn''t move, even their thoughts were all frozen. The ''Monarch''s Domain'' had grown even stronger after Shun Long had advanced into the 8th rank in qi condensation.
The boss was the only one who could somewhat move his body and thoughts, but even he was extremely slow under the suppression of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', as he turned his horrified eyes towards Shun Long.
Shun Long who was now at the early rank 8 in qi condensation, could render an early rank 3 earth grade cultivator, absolutely helpless.
Even their boss who was at the middle of rank 3 in earth grade was heavily affected by the suppression.
Xiao Li''s face was still frozen with that smile on his face as Shun Long walked towards him.
Shun Long had arrived in front of him as he spoke in a low voice, even though he knew that Xiao Li couldn''t hear him
''''Unfortunately for you, I won''t be the third person that you kill today.''''
After that, Shun Long''s hand was clenched in a tight fist as he punched ferociously towards Xiao Li''s abdomen. That was the ce where a person''s dantian was at.. the ce where Xiao Li held all his qi and cultivated from.
Shun Long''s heavy punch went through Xiao Li''s body as itpletely shattered his dantian.
Then he turned his head to look at the boss who was still struggling under the heavy suppression of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' as he said
''''Although I don''t consider myself some kind of hero, thanks to you I can now see the truth. This is just a survival test and a dog eat dog world after all. You have killed people on your first day here just because you wanted to do so. I was so immersed in the mentality from earth, that I had almost forgotten that people attacked me outside of the ''Blue Forest'' that day. I almost forgot that, that punk Xiao Shitou threatened to break my limbs inside the imperial pce. Threatening to kill me again and again, I guess this is the true ''cultivation world''.''''
After Shun Long finished speaking, he walked towards this man step by step as he slowly approached him.
''''That''s right master. This is the world of cultivation after all. When I was born, people tried to kill me again and again, just because they were stronger than me. While you shouldn''t be like those people, you still shouldn''t be afraid of killing those that threaten your life.''''
Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind.
Shun Long looked at the man in front of him whom these people called the boss, and his eyes narrowed as he told him
''''From the first moment I saw you walking here, I knew what kind of person you are. You walked with your hands filled with blood, acting so proud while you boasted of the disciples that you had just killed before you stole their survival points.
Don''t misunderstand, I am not doing this for justice or because I care about those that you have killed. It''s simply because in my eyes, sc.u.m like you just doesn''t deserve to live.''''
Chapter 65 - 65 Killing
Chapter 65 - 65 Killing
The burly man could sense Shun Long''s killing intention.
His voice was resolute as he sounded like there was nothing that would stop him from killing this man.
Shun Long looked at the man right in the eyes as he said
''''Prepare yourself''''
He himself also took a deep breath as he tried to calm his breathing that had turned somewhat erratic. Despite everything else, Shun Long still hadn''t killed a man in his life. He has killed magic beasts, but beasts only act on instinct, not intelligence. They either kill you or you kill them.
But killing a man was different.
There were 2 types of killers. People who killed wantonly and people who killed with a goal and reason in their minds. In the end, no cultivator could escape from the cycle of killing. To advance in life, you must step on someone else.
''''Wait! Do you know who I am?
I am Wong Huo from the ''Iron-hardened sect''!''''
The burly man could sense Shun Long''s disturbance in his frame of mind as he quickly tried to take advantage of it.
If Yong Ru could hear this man''s name, he would definitely be startled! It was too bad that he was under the suppression of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' and couldn''t even sense that time had stopped around him.
Shun Long just shook his head as he tightly clenched his right hand. As the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' provided abudant energy, Shun Long sent a punch at Wong Huo, straight at the temple.
''''NOOOOO! YOU CAN''T KILL ME!''''
Wong Huo screamed terrified as he saw the approaching punch but couldn''t escape fast enough due to the restrictions of the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
As the punch connected with his temple, Wong Huo''s head exploded like a watermelon as his body was then sent spinning through the air.
Blood filled Shun Long''s right hand and robes, as brain matter sttered all over the ground.
Shun Long watched this scene and his hand started to tremble. The scene of Wong Huo screaming before he died reverberated in his ears for a good while.
Shun Long took a few deep breaths, as if trying to digest the whole scene and calm his rapid heartbeats when little ck''s voice was heard in his head
''''Master, don''t think too much into it. Killing is part of the natural cycle. It''s the same whether it involves animals, magic beasts or humans.
Animals kill each other to survive, whether it is for food or because they feel threatened.
Magic beasts kill everything that they encounter to consume their flesh and be stronger. They don''t differentiate between humans, animals or even other magic beasts.
Humans are the same as well.
They kill animals and magic beasts for food, while they kill other humans for countless reasons, whether that involves a personal feud, treasures, and many other reasons.
This is the life of cultivators, stepping through countless corpses as they walk forward.''''
Shun Long found himself slightly lost in little ck''s words. After all the mental impact of when you kill a person the first time doesn''t go away that easily.
However, the more he thought about it, the more he found that little ck''s words made sense. Although his soul originally belonged to this world before it was split into 3 parts, it was only now, after killing Wong Huo, that Shun Long had started to truly ept this world. The mental barriers in his heart had now started to slowly unshackle themselves.
Shun Long then stopped the ''Monarch''s Domain'', and a scream that sounded like a pig being butchered was heard.
Xiao Wan and Yong Ru who were heading towards each other, suddenly turned their heads to look at the source of the scream, only to see Xiao Li sprawled on the ground unable to move.
''''NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!''''
Xiao Wan rushed to Xiao Li''s side as he supported him while Xiao Li was still screaming in pain.
''''Brother what happened to you?'''' Xiao Wan asked anxiously, but Xiao Li didn''t reply. He couldn''t reply. The pain from having your dantian shattered was both a mental and a physical torture, beyond what most humans could endure.
At the same time, another scream was heard, this time from behind Yong Ru.
Yong Ru turned around and saw his junior sister, Qiao Lian staring at something with frozen eyes. Yong Ru and his other 2 junior sisters also followed her line of vision, only to see a headless corpse dressed in the ''Iron-hardened sect''s'' robes lying on the ground.
Shocked, Yong Ru''s eyes looked around searching for Shun Long, only to see him sitting on a patch of grass with his eyes closed, as blood dyed his robes and his right hand.
This headless corpse obviously belonged to the leader of the enemy''s group, Wong Huo.
Yong Ru didn''t ask anything and instead turned his head to look at the 3 girls behind him. As if in tacit understanding, the girls followed Yong Ru as they encircled Xiao Wan who was still trying to calm the screaming Xiao Li.
Earlier, the 3 girls at the early stage of rank 2 would bepletely useless in such a fight, but now, surrounding just the early rank 3 earth grade Xiao Wan and the crippled Xiao Li, they could definitely turn the tables on them.
Xiao Wan looked around warily as he saw the 4 of them surrounding him and his brother, and he asked in an angry voice that tried to conceal his fear
''''What do you want? What did you do to my brother?? If you don-if you don''t answer.. I-I will kill you all!''''
Yong Ru and the 3 girls who had now surrounded this pair of brothers, all looked at Xiao Wan disdainfully as Yong Ru was the one who spoke
''''Even I can see from here that your brother''s dantian has shattered, don''t tell me that you haven''t noticed it yet.''''
Xiao Wan''s face paled as he shouted
''''BO-BOSS! SAVE MEE!''''
As he screamed, Xiao Wan turned his head around to plead for help from Wong Huo, but when he saw the headless corpse behind him, his head almost nked out.
Chapter 66 - 66 Death and aftermath
Chapter 66 - 66 Death and aftermath
''''B-BO-BOS-S! H-how? How is this possible?''''
Xiao Wan''s eyes had turned frantic, as despair started gripping his heart.
He knew that even if he was stronger than Yong Ru one versus one, he couldn''t win against himbined with the 3 girls that surrounded him. As for wondering how his brother got crippled and his boss died? He had no idea, while his frame of mind just couldn''t process that information right now. His only goal was to escape as far as he could.
He turned his eyes to look at Yong Ru as he said in a pleading tone
''''Please, let us leave. We will give you our survival points and everything else we have. Please!''''
Xiao Wan was practically begging at this point, and Shun Long who had just heard him, opened his eyes from the distance as he watched this scene coldly.
Yong Ru looked at Xiao Wan with cold eyes. Although he didn''t want to kill a man who was begging for his life, he didn''t have many options right now. These people didn''t just want to take their survival points earlier, they also wanted to kill them, and even r.a.p.e his junior sisters. He simply couldn''t allow people like them to live, now that they are in a bad spot, even if they are begging for their lives.
''''Kill!''''
Yong Ru shouted as he and the 3 girls attacked Xiao Wan.
Yong Ru who was brandishing his sword was enough to keep Xiao Wan at bay, however, now that the 3 young women were also added into the mix, Xiao Wan quickly found himself caught in a bad situation.
Yong Ru''s attacks were all powerful and his sword was extremely sharp, while each one of the girls was holding a small dagger as they looked for opportune moments to attack.
Xiao Wan quickly found himself riddled with injuries as Yong Ru''s sword had left deep cuts in his body. His arms, legs, and even his face were already injured.
After an incense stick of time, Xiao Wan could no longer keep up against the heavy barrage of attacks and finally turned to retreat.
As he parried away Yong Ru''s sword with his own and looked to escape, a dagger was suddenly plunged in his back, as it reached all the way inside him until it pierced his heart.
Blood filled Fei Fang''s hands as she pulled the dagger out of Xiao Wan''s body.
Xiao Wan''s eyes turned dull and unfocused, as his breathing grew weaker and weaker. He couldn''t even turn his head to look at the face of his killer, as he copsed on the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath his body.
Yong Ru threw ast look at Xiao Wan''s body, before turning his head to look at Xiao Li whose screaming had just stopped after he heard a loud *bang* and saw his brother''s body fall to the ground.
Shun Long was watching everything from the distance as he saw Yong Ru walking towards Xiao Li step by step.
Xiao Li wanted to speak but his fear had overtaken his reason. His mouth made inaudible sounds as he saw Yong Ru raising his sword and shing it towards his neck.
His head rolled off from his body as a fountain of blood spurted from his neck. The headless corpse rolled on the ground before it finally stopped moving.
Shun Long watched everything as he observed the cruelty of this world and mumbled in his head
''''I was right. It won''t matter if you beg, it won''t matter if you cried, it won''t matter if you are right or wrong, t won''t even matter if you are good or evil... in the end, the only thing that matters is who will be stronger. The ''floating cloud sect'' is stronger than its disciples, so it can afford to take everything for them without an exnation, and just give them ''sect points'' if they want to. These people too thought that they were stronger, so they decided to rob everything from us, including our lives, without an exnation. Yet now that the situation changed, Yong Ru who was stronger than them got to decide the 2 brothers'' life and death. There isn''t even a need for exnations or reasoning. The strong live and prosper while the weak kneel and get stepped on or... they die.''''
''''Master, do you think that''s cruel?''''
''''No, I understand this world now. There is only one rule if you don''t want to get trampled on... be stronger. If Wong Huo was stronger than me, I also would have died.''''
After Shun Long finished speaking to little ck, he stood up as he walked towards Wong Huo''s body.
There was a red jade just like his own ''sect identifying jade'' near Wong Huo''s chest.
Shun Long grabbed it and sent his spiritual strength inside it, only to be extremely surprised.
There were 13 survival points inside it. Aside from the survival points, he also found two early rank 2 magic beast cores inside a small bag.
After absorbing them inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long walked towards Yong Ru and the 3 girls.
Seeing the fresh blood in his right hand and robes, the 4 of them were perplexed and Yong Ru couldn''t help asking
''''Are you okay brother Shun, what happened to you?'''' Noone of them could understand how Shun Long had suddenly got injured.
''''I''m fine, how about you guys?'''' Shun Long shook his head as he responded.
''''Thankfully, no one got hurt!'''' Yong Ru eximed.
Yong Ru still thought that Shun Long had somehow gotten hurt but he didn''t want to exin it so that he wouldn''t embarrass himself.
Yong Ru tacitly stopped mentioning it, but after turning his head to look at the headless corpse of Wong Huo, his voice started trembling as he asked with dread evident in his eyes
''''Brother Shun, do you have any idea what happened earlier? How is it possible for their boss to have been killed in a split second, and for that Xiao Li to be also crippled?''''
Chapter 67 - 67 Regions
Chapter 67 - 67 Regions
In his mind, Yong Ru didn''t even connect the death of Wong Huo directly to Shun Long. Although Shun Long was strong, he couldn''t kill someone in the blink of an eye. Especially someone as strong as Wong Huo, even if he was at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade. However, since he was quite a bit stronger than Yong Ru, perhaps Shun Long should have noticed some clues. At least that''s what Yong Ru had assumed.
Shun Long just shook his head at Yong Ru''s question though.
Obviously, he wouldn''t admit that he was the one who did it. Keeping his trump cards hidden was extremely important. In the past, when he had used the ''Monarch''s Domain'' inside the imperial pce, the pressure from it was truly simr to the ''Pulverizing gravity art'' from the ''mortal world''.
However, after advancing to rank 8 in qi condensation, the ''Monarch''s Domain'' had also evolved. What it exhibited wasn''t just pressure like it did in the past, but a type of temporal restriction that stopped everything around Shun Long.
It was almost as if Shun Long only had ess to an elementary part of the technique at the start, and it was bing stronger as he advanced in his cultivation.
Yong Ru and the 3 girls were disappointed after seeing Shun Long''s reaction. If even he hadn''t seen anything then they wouldn''t know what happened.
How terrifying would it be to have an enemy that can kill you without knowing when or how you were attacked?
Yong Ru then took out 2 red ''sect identifying jades'' as he said
''''Right! These guys also had 7 survival points on them. To tell you the truth brother, me and my junior sisters are attending this ''sect examination'' for 2 reasons. The first, is to take advantage of the qi that will erupt from the from the central mountain, to advance our cultivation, while the second reason is to try and find a ''hell flower'' for my grandfather. We know that it''s impossible to get to the top 100 spots with just our strength, so we don''t aim to gather survival points at all. My grandfather is an Elder in the ''Roaring wind pavilion'' and the measly amount of 10 or 100 sect points is useless to me anyway.''''
As Yong Ru finished speaking, he handed the ''sect identifying jades'' to Shun Long.
Shun Long didn''t refuse and instead said
''''Thank you. If we do find a ''hell flower'' I will help you obtain it. However, I don''t think it''s going to be that easy to find one.''''
Yong Ru shook his head as he said
''''No no, how could these 7 survival points match up to the value of a rank 3 spiritual herb like the ''hell flower''?''''
Shun Long however shook his head and didn''t respond. Yong Ru had treated him sincerely and had shared with him a lot valuable information. If they were going to find a ''hell flower'' then Shun Long would really do his best to help him obtain it. However, as a rank 3 spiritual herb, the ''hell flower'' was usually guarded by rank 3 magic beasts which were equal to Heaven grade cultivators, and it was an issue whether there was a ''hell flower'' in the Demonic Mountain Region in the first ce.
As Shun Long extracted the survival points from the 2 ''sect identifying jades'' of Xiao Li and Xiao Wan, as well as counting Wong Huo''s 13 survival points that he had obtained before and the 5 that Shun Long already had, he had now gathered 25 survival points.
After throwing away the ''sect jades'', Shun Long and the rest finally started eating the ''blood wolves'' meat.
''''Ahh, this meat is so tasty!''''
''''Yes, senior brother we should eat this wolf meat more often!''''
''''I agree senior brother, this is so good''''
As the 3 girls were praising the taste of the meat, Shun Long could even sense that his body had started to slowly absorb the energy inside it. Qi cultivators could also use the energy inside the meat of magic beasts to replenish their qi faster, but it wouldn''t help them advance in cultivation.
However, it waspletely different for body refinement cultivators. Shun Long could sense that although minimal, his body was slowly bing stronger as he consumed the magic beast meat.
Yong Ru just smiled at the 3 girls'' words as he asked
''''Was it that easy for us to kill this group of ''blood wolves''?''''
The 3 girls'' faces turned red from embarrassment. If they weren''t lucky enough to meet Shun Long earlier, they wouldn''t be eating ''blood wolves'' meat, but instead the wolves would be having a grand feast right now.
Yong Ru was still smiling as he saw the 3 embarrassed girls and said
''''Don''t worry, if I manage to advance two more minor stages and reach the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, then we can hunt for ''blood wolves'' without any problems''''
Then Yong Ru''s eyes turned serious as he said
''''This will probably be thest time that we will get to be so rxed in this ''sect exam''. From now on we will have to be more careful, as we will soon enter the inner regions of the Demonic Mountain Region.''''
''''Senior brother, what do you mean by ''inner region''?'''' Ming Zhu asked as everyone''s attention was on Yong Ru
''''My grandfather told me that the Demonic Mountain Region is split into 3 main parts. The outer region where we are right now, the inner region where we will soon enter, and the most dangerous of them all where few people enter and even fewer survive, the central region where the central mountain lies.
The outer region is the weakest, where you will only find rank 1 magic beasts, or at worst, early rank 2 magic beasts roaming around. There are of course some very rare ces in the outer region, where even higher rank magic beasts reside, but they will usually stay in their territories and you should avoid provoking them at all costs. However, the inner region ispletely different. One wrong step in there, and our entire group is dead.''''
Chapter 68 - 68 Heading towards the inner region
Chapter 68 - 68 Heading towards the inner region
''''One wrong step in there and our entire group is dead.''''
Although the Demonic Mountain Region covered a vast distance of over 5000 miles, the biggest problem was the many magic beasts that were increasing in strength as they walked deeper inside the region, so they had to proceed with caution.
The 3 girls sucked in a cold breath while Shun Long had already estimated that even without Yong Ru''s warning.
''''Senior brother, are the magic beasts in the inner region that much strongerpared to the outer region?'''' Fei Fang asked nervously
''''The outer region could only be considered a yground if youpared it with the inner region. Not only are most of the beasts at the middle stage of rank 2 or higher, but there is a possibility that we will even meet rank 3 magic beasts in there''''
''''Then, senior brother, how about we don''t-''''
Yong Ru cut her off as he said
''''Even though it''s dangerous, the deeper we go inside the Demonic Mountain Region, the bigger the benefits we will be able to obtain from the qi eruption of the central mountain. Don''t worry, there is also a safe ce in the inner region as well.''''
The 3 girls'' eyes darted between each other as they looked at Yong Ru pleadingly, who then sighed as he asked
''''Why did you even want toe along if you are that afraid? You can just stay in the outer region if that''s the case. Me and brother Shun can just go to the inner region by ourselves. But it''s true that there is a safe ce. Almost every disciple who makes it to the inner region will probably gather there to rest and take shelter as they wait for for the qi eruption to start.''''
The 3 girls hanged their heads low in embarrassment. Yong Ru had probably seen through their intentions already.
''''We...''''
Before they entered the Demonic Mountain Region, the 3 girls had insisted on following Yong Ru inside, in order to form a better rtionship with him and hopefully, rely on him when they returned back to the ''Roaring wind pavilion''. But now, after hearing about the dangers in the inner region, and after they were almost killed twice in the first day in the outer region, these girls no longer had the courage to follow Shun Long and Yong Ru inside.
Shun Long sighed inside with disappointment. No matter what, in the end not only did the 3 girls forget that Yong Ru had fought for them twice already today, but they also chose to abandon him now that they learned of the dangers inside.
''''Master don''t be disappointed. Such is human nature. Not many people are willing to do things that will put their lives in danger.''''
''''I understand. Yong Ru needs to search for a ''hell flower'' and he also wants to absorb the qi from the central mountain, while these girls only wanted to rely on him. Now that their goals don''t align, or should I say, now that they don''t consider the benefits good enough to risk their lives over, they decided to abandon him.''''
Shun Long shook his head as he left that scene and climbed atop of a tree to cultivate for the night.
Yong Ru had a ridiculing smile on his face as he said
''''I was such a fool to not understand earlier the reason that you wanted to travel together. You truly understand a person only when you are in a difficult situation. After all, everyone can add flowers to a brocade, but few people will actually send charcoal during the snow. Let us part ways here then.''''
''''Senior brother Yong!''''
As he finished speaking, Yong Ru walked in the distance as he too climbed on a tree near Shun Long and closed his eyes.
Dejected, the 3 girls didn''t have any reason to stay around as they left towards the outskirts of the region. Yong Ru opened his eyes as he saw them walking away and thought that if they were lucky, they would find a ce to peacefully wait out the period of one month, until the sect examination ends.
After a few hours, the sun soon rose and the morning rays warmed Shun Long''s body as he opened his eyes. His cultivation was slowly advancing towards the middle of the rank 8 in qi condensation. It would probably take a few days to advance, but fighting in the Demonic Mountain Region was also helping him get ustomed to the rapid increase in his strength.
Yong Ru seemed to have just opened his eyes as well as he greeted Shun Long.
After eating some fruits from a few nearby trees, their group of 2 started walking towards the inner region.
Traveling by just the 2 of them, Shun Long and Yong Ru didn''t waste much time in their journey. Shun Long had little ck constantly scan the way, so he could avoid any situations that they couldn''t deal with.
They traveled during the day while they cultivated during the night.
Their second day proved to be rtively uneventful. Aside from meeting one early rank 2 magic beast and a few rank 1 beasts, nothing notable happened.
The central mountain was estimated to erupt in around 15 days since the disciples had first entered the region, but it could still erupt earlier orter than the 4 sects'' original estimations. Hence, it was better to get to the inner region earlier.
On the third day however, as Shun Long and Yong Ru were heading towards the inner region, they were ambushed by a big group of people.
There were more than 15 people in this group as they threateningly surrounded the two of them.
The disciples in this group belonged to the ''Flying sword sect'' and surprisingly, the ''floating cloud sect''.
A woman in yellow robes as well as a man dressed in white with a red sword strapped on his waist walked out from the front of the group.
The woman was around 16 years old with a pretty face and beautiful blonde hair as she looked at Shun Long and Yong Ru before saying in amanding tone
''''Hand over your ''sect identifying jades'' and we will allow you to pass''''
Chapter 69 - 69 Gaining experience
Chapter 69 - 69 Gaining experience
Of course, little ck had already warned Shun Long about the ambush beforehand, but he didn''t bother changing directions. He was participating in the ''outer sect examination'', what would he gain by avoiding every fight?
After taking a look at the blonde young woman and sensing her early rank 3 earth grade strength, Shun Long''s eyes focused on the white-robed young man.
This young man who had a red sword on his waist was at the middle stage of rank 3 in earth grade, and he was the strongest person in their group.
The man''s eyes were also staring intently at Shun Long, as he then turned his head to look at the pretty young woman beside him before speaking gently
''''Lei Xiang, I will take care of this guy. You can take care of that guy from the ''Roaring wind pavilion''.''''
''''Yi Zeming, are you okay?'''' the blonde girl asked the young man after she saw him staring at Shun Long intently
Yi Zeming had a feeling that Shun Long was more dangerous than Yong Ru, even though he couldn''t sense his strength, so he decided to test him out directly. As for the rest of the disciples, they had surrounded Shun Long and Yong Ru as they waited for orders.
Although Lei Xiang was also from the ''floating cloud sect'', she didn''t have any scruples teaming up with a disciple of the ''Flying sword sect'' or attacking another disciple from her sect. You could do anything you wanted in this ''outer sect examination'' after all and the sect wouldn''t care.
Yong Ru pulled out his blue sword as he stared at Lei Xiang who was holding a yellow bow in her hands.
''''What do you think? Do you feel like surrendering your survival points now?'''' Lei Xiang asked Yong Ru smilingly.
Yong Ru shook his head as he charged straight towards her.
Shun Long instead, looked at Yi Zeming, who had unsheathed his bright red sword as he said to the disciples around him
''''Make sure to assist Lei Xiang properly!''''
As they heard Yi Zeming''s words, both the disciples from the ''Flying sword sect'' as well as the ''floating cloud sect'' who had surrounded them, charged towards Yong Ru while Lei Xiang had taken cover behind the trees as she shot arrow after arrow at him.
''''Draw your weapon!'''' Yi Zeming said sternly but Shun Long simply shook his head as he clenched his left fist.
He could use his ''Monarch''s Domain'' to take care of the guys attacking Yong Ru as well as this Ye Zeming, but he didn''t do so for 2 reasons.
The first reason was that Yong Ru had already seen the inexplicable scenario where Wong Huo had died ''in a split second'' a few days ago and he would instantly connect the dots if the same thing happened again now. While the second reason was that Yong Ru didn''t seem to be in a bad spot and was seemingly smiling as he fought the disciples of the ''Flying sword sect'' and the ''floating cloud sect''.
These disciples'' strength was ranging between rank 9 in qi condensation while the strongest among them was just at the middle rank 1 in earth grade. However, Lei Xiang''s arrows that were covering these disciples were truly dangerous.
''''Are you looking down on me?'''' Yi Zeming roared in anger after seeing that Shun Long wasn''t using a weapon, as he then rushed towards him with his sword in hand.
Shun Long didn''t directly attack Yi Zeming and instead focused on dodging his attacks. With the enhancement in his speed from the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' he could actually keep up with Yi Zeming''s fast attacks as he dodged his sword again and again.
Yi Zeming was advancing forward while Shun Long was moving backwards, but no attack had connected with him just yet. This was a very frustrating fighting style where you couldn''t hit your opponent no matter how hard you swung your sword, but the truth was that this was dangerous for Shun Long as well.
It wasn''t easy to avoid a sword every time and it took a lot of mental focus as well as immense physical strength, to keep up with the speed of Yi Zeming''s sword.
And yet, Shun Long could sense that he was getting better and better at fighting the more this fight dragged on. He had already spotted a few openings during Yi Zeming''s attacks, but because he wasn''t prepared earlier, he couldn''t take advantage of them.
Yi Zeming seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated as beads of sweat were now rolling off his face as he roared
''''Is dodging all you can do brat?''''
Shun Long however ignored him as he continued to dodge repeatedly. Although his body had been reforged from scratch with the help of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Yi Zeming''s sword was definitely at rank 3 bronze grade if not higher, and Shun Long was sure that he wouldn''t be able to withstand it just yet, if his fist were to directly sh with a rank 3 bronze grade sword.
Yi Zeming was starting to get tired after hacking with his sword unsessfully for such a long time. Hitting your opponent and missing them, were 2pletely different concepts. Constantly hitting the air affected not only your physical performance but your mental ability as well, as it both tired the mind and the body much morepared to if your attacks were getting blocked.
Yi Zeming had started hacking senselessly around him feeling extremely frustrated, as Shun Long''s eyes narrowed while he gathered his strength in his right hand.
As Yi Zeming''s sword once again shed the air, Shun Long''s right hand directly collided with Yi Zeming''s lower ribs as a cracking sound was heard loudly before he was sent flying through the air.
Shun Long had used more than 80% of his strength in this punch and the results were devastating.
Yi Zeming''s body flew through the air as itnded a few dozen meters away, on Yong Ru''s and Lei Xiang''s battlefield.
Chapter 70 - 70 Robbing back
Chapter 70 - 70 Robbing back
''''NO!!'''' A woman''s scream was heard as Yi Zemingnded on the ground in the midst of their fight, while he was clutching tightly his left ribcage as he then screamed in pain.
Lei Xiang rushed to his side, and the fight suddenly halted while everyone''s eyes turned towards Shun Long.
Yong Ru looked at him too as heughed loudly drawing everyone''s attention as he walked by his side.
''''Haha as expected of brother Shun!''''
Shun Long smiled at him as he asked
''''Are you okay?''''
''''Just a few cuts here and there but I''m okay! I haven''t been able to fight like this before in my life.''''
''''I will make you pay for this!'''' Lei Xiang''s voice was suddenly heard as she looked at Shun Long with eyes full of hatred
Shun Long however, looked at her disdainfully as he said
''''Hand over your ''sect identifying jades'' quickly.''''
''''WHAT?'''' Lei Xiang''s voice was incredulous as she couldn''t believe what she had heard. This guy wanted to rob them instead?
Yong Ru looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot and asked
''''Didn''t you want to rob us first? Of course, you will lose your ''sect identifying jades'' now. What do you have toin about anyway? Isn''t this a survival test in the first ce?''''
''''Do you know who I am?'''' Lei Xiangpletely ignored Yong Ru''s ''logical words'' as she looked at Shun Long and spoke in a threatening tone
Shun Long''s look in his eyes chilled, when all of a sudden Yi Zeming struggled to stand up before he threw his sect jade over.
''''Brother Yi!'''' Lei Xiang looked at Yi Zeming who in return simply shook his head at her.
Shun Long grabbed his sect jade and took his survival points that had already reached a staggering number of 43.
Lei Xiang gritted her teeth as she also threw her sect jade at Shun Long.
After Shun Long took Yi Zeming''s, Lei Xiang''s, as well as the rest of all their survival points, he now had close to 120 of them.
Yong Ru wasughing in schadenfreude as he looked at Lei Xiang whose eyes looked as they were about to spit fire after having lost all of her survival points and said in a mocking tone
''''You are Lei Xiang right? Are you going to cry to your elder brother after you return to the ''floating cloud sect''? It''s simply bad luck that you tried to rob me and brother Shun though.''''
''''YOU...'''' Lei Xiang was extremely angry but she didn''t know what to say as she watched Shun Long and Yong Ru leisurely heading deeper towards the inner region. After taking a deep breath she asked Yi Zeming
''''Brother Yi what happened back then?''''
Yi Zeming lowered his head as he whispered
''''Xiang''er that guy is a monster! He is a body refining cultivator!''''
''''What? You mean that he is the same as Da Chong from the ''Iron-hardened sect''?''''
''''He is the same type of cultivator as Da Chong but he is definitely weaker than him in terms of strength. Da Chong beats people with his immense physical strength, while this kid used his speed to beat me. I''m not sure if he is a match for Da Chong at all, but he is definitely more than what we can handle now.'''' Yi Zeming shook his head as he answered
''''Hmph, since he is a member of my ''floating cloud sect'' I will definitely have my brother teach him a lesson when we return.'''' Lei Xiang frowned and her pretty face was filled with displeasure as she thought of this guy who stole all of her survival points.
Meanwhile Shun Long and Yong Ru were walking deeper inside as Yong Ru said
''''Brother Shun, I have 3 important things to tell you''''
Shun Long then looked at Yong Ru who continued speaking
''''The first thing is this girl named Lei Xiang. Although she by herself isn''t anything to worry about, I need to warn you about her elder brother. You have certainly heard about him since you are an outer disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', her elder brother is Lei Pong. Brother Shun, I''m saying this so you can be prepared when you return back in your sect, as this person may personally find trouble with you for messing with his sister. Although we didn''t do anything that went against any sect rules, petty-minded people like Lei Xiang will definitely look to get back at us in the future.''''
Shun Long heard this andughed coldly inside. If he managed to get first ce in this sect examination and get the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'' then he would probably be a match for Lei Pong by himself then.
As Yong Ru looked at Shun Long who seemed to be slightly smiling, he continued
''''I''m certain that with your strength, brother Shun, you will definitely try to enter the top 3 in the overall sect rankings for this examination right? In that case there are 2 things that you need to pay attention to.
The survival points that you have gathered up to now, are not even enough to enter the top 100. I don''t know exactly how many points you will need to enter the top 3, but it will definitely be at least 5.000 of them.
And also, since you aim to get in the top 3 rankings there are three people that you need to pay close attention to in this sect examination. These people are all at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, but it is rumored that their strength is even a match for some early rank 4 earth grade experts.''''
Shun Long''s eyes shone as he was intrigued by this. Seeing that he had captured his attention, Yong Ru said
''''One of these 3 people, is my senior sister from the ''Roaring wind pavilion'' and I''m sure that you have heard of her before, her name is Jiao Mingxia.''''
Chapter 71 - 71 Parting ways
Chapter 71 - 71 Parting ways
Yong Ru looked at him expectantly as he was certain that Shun Long would have heard of his senior sister''s name, but when he looked at his face, Yong Ru felt like a deted balloon that had just lost all of its air.
''''Bro-brother Shun, you- don''t tell me that you don''t know who my senior sister is.''''
Shun Long looked at him and answered matter-of-factly as he nodded his head
''''Mm. Never heard of her before.''''
Yong Ru felt like an arrow had just pierced his heart as he said
''''Then brother Shun, let me exin. My senior sister, Jiao Mingxia is a very strong ''ice-element'' cultivator and she is probably the strongest out of everyone else in this sect exam. I''m not looking down on you brother Shun, but you are probably not a match for my senior sister at all.
Aside from my senior sister though, there are 2 more people that you must be wary of brother.
One of them is the son of the sect master from the ''Iron-hardened sect'', people call him the little giant, Da Chong . You probably saw him when sect master Da Chao was arguing with the Grand Elder of the ''Flying sword sect'' when we were at the Demonic Mountain Region''s entrance. It is rumored that Da Chong is a body-refining cultivator, as well as the person with the strongest physical strength in this sect exam.
Thest of the 3 is the grandson of the Grand Elder from the ''Flying sword sect'', Hui Ming. Aside from him being a sword cultivator like most of the disciples in the ''Flying sword sect'', I don''t have any other information about him.''''
As Yong Ru finished speaking, little ck''s voice was heard inside Shun Long''s head
''''Master, sword cultivators are usually extremely proficient in attacking techniques as well as in swiftly killing their opponents. I guess that the reason why people don''t know much about this Hui Ming is so he can keep his trump cards hidden.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he was now interested in meeting these 3 people. One of them was the woman who Yong Ru called the strongest in this sect exam. Although Shun Long didn''t take his words to heart, there must still be something special in this woman for Yong Ru to say something like that.
The other one was a strong body-refining cultivator just like Shun Long, while thest one was the strongest sword cultivator from the ''Flying sword sect'' that was participating in this exam.
Yong Ru then continued
''''Aside from brother Shun, your floating cloud sect must have some peak rank 3 earth grade cultivators as well, but none of them is a match for those 3 that I just mentioned. Brother Shun even though I know you are strong, you can not take those 3 lightly.''''
Shun Long walked towards Yong Ru and patted him on the shoulder as he said
''''Thank you''''
-
Heading deeper towards the inner region, the 2 didn''t meet with any more surprises on the way. Apart from the magic beasts that were at the early rank 2 and needed some effort from Shun Long to get killed, the rest of their journey was easy.
On the fifth day, Shun Long and Yong Ru arrived in front of a huge ins area.
There were almost 20 people, forming 3 different groups, all of them being disciples of the 4 sects.
As the 2 walked in, everyone had turned their heads to observe the neers.
The people who had already managed to arrive here, were all in the earth grade, with some of them having already reached the peak of rank 3.
Yong Ru looked at Shun Long as he said
''''Brother Shun, we are now in the inner region. This is the safe area where most disciples in the earth grade will gather. As we came too early, it is rtively empty, that''s why we don''t see many people here.
But in the next 5 to 10 days, this ce will surely get crowded as no one will want to miss the opportunity to absorb the qi from the central mountain.''''
Shun Long''s eyes were focused ahead, deeper inside the Demonic Mountain region, as he could faintly make out the shadow of a few huge mountain peaks, when little ck''s voice was heard in his head
''''Master! I am certain that there is an extraordinary treasure in this Demonic Mountain Region!''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he responded telepathically to little ck
''''I had guessed so as well. The qi around us has more than doubled in density and purity,pared to when we were on the outskirts a few days ago. I assume that the deeper inside we head, the purer the qi we absorb will be, all the way until we reach the central mountain.''''
''''You are right master. But this won''t be an easy journey for us.
Master, you should probably leave that Yong Ru fellow here. He will only be a burden to uster on and there is a high chance that he may die as we head deeper inside.''''
At the same time, Yong Ru''s voice was heard as he looked at Shun Long and asked
''''Brother Shun, how about we stay here in this ce, while we wait for the qi eruption to start?''''
Shun Long however, shook his head as he replied
''''Brother it''s better if we part ways here for now. I''m going to enter deeper inside the inner region.''''
Yong Ru''s eyes widened as he asked in a trembling voice
''''Brother Sh-un.. are you serious? It is too dangerous to wander around the inner region.''''
Shun Long looked at Yong Ru as he nodded his head and said
''''I have my reasons for heading deeper in the inner region. Although it is dangerous, this is something that I have to do.''''
Yong Ru gritted his teeth as he said
''''I will follow you then brother.''''
Chapter 72 - 72 Red fanged flame bat
Chapter 72 - 72 Red fanged me bat
Yong Ru gritted his teeth as he said
''''I will follow you then brother.''''
Shun Long shook his head after he heard Yong Ru''s words and said
''''It''s better if I go alone. We should part ways for now and meet again after the qi eruption of the central mountain ends.''''
Yong Ru sighed in his heart as he understood that he would be a burden with his strength if he followed Shun Long in the inner region. He was barely of any help while they were traveling through the outer region.
He then took a deep breath as he said to Shun Long
''''Brother Shun you have to be careful. The inner region is extremely dangerous and there are many rank3 beasts here.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he responded
''''I know. Let''s meet again after the central mountain''s eruption then.''''
After parting ways, Shun Long headed deeper inside the inner region. Everyone sitting in the safe area turned their heads to look at him as he was leaving and started discussing between themselves
''''Who is this guy? He dares to enter the inner region by himself?''''
''''Seems like he came together with senior brother Yong.''''
''''So what? Isn''t he just a normal disciple from the ''floating cloud sect''?''''
''''That''s right, the ''floating cloud sect'' doesn''t have anyone at the same level as our senior sister anyway. Even our senior sister didn''t dare to walk alone inside the inner region.''''
''''Exactly! Does this guy think that he is at the same level as the 3 geniuses? He will certainly die for overestimating himself!''''
Discussions were taking ce between the 3 groups that were stationed in the safe area but Shun Longpletely ignored them as he walked forward.
If other people headed deeper inside the inner region, they would surely be suicidal no matter how big their group was, if they were just rank 3 earth grade cultivators. However, Shun Long was different. He had a trump card to rely on that could take care of the magic beasts in the inner region.
After traveling forward for a bit more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea (this is approximately 10-15mins), Shun Long had already left the safe area far behind him when little ck''s voice sounded in his head
''''Master, I can sense two rank 3 magic beasts. One of them is 17 miles towards the west while the other one is 23 miles to our south.''''
''''Let''s go towards the west first since it is closer. Do you sense any humans anywhere near us?''''
''''No master, there are only magic beasts here. If there are any humans, then they must be more than 30 miles away from us for me to be unable to sense them.''''
''''Good, then let''s go!''''
Shun Long said as he summoned little ck from the ''Stone of Time''.
Although Shun Long hadn''t summoned him when he was in the outskirts, that was because there were far too many disciples there while there were barely any threats to Shun Long''s life, aside from beasts like the ''Double-headed fish'' or the ''Iron-winged eagle''.
But the inner region was different. The magic beasts here were all far stronger than what Shun Long could handle alone, while the human groups were practically non-existent, and with little ck''s powerful soul, sensing their surroundings Shun Long didn''t have many things to worry about.
A 3m(10ft) tall ck dragon had then appeared in front of him. Little ck stretched his head as Shun Long climbed on his neck, and sitting on his back he said
''''Let''s go!''''
Little ck spread his majestic ck wings as he soared from the ground heading directly towards the west.
A huge gust of air hit the ground as the ck dragon pped his wings soaring in the sky, causing every magic beast that sensed his aura to immediately prostrate themselves. Dragons were after all, kings among magic beasts.
Shun Long was enjoying the view, as well as the feeling of flying, while he was sitting on top of little ck''s back, and in a very short time they had arrived outside a small cave.
The cave was about 2m(6.5ft) in height but it was wide enough for 3 people to walk inside it side by side.
screech
As soon as little ck and Shun Long arrived outside of the cave, a screeching sound was heard, as a swarm of ck bats flew towards them.
Roar
Little ck opened his mouth as he roared towards the swarm of ck bats that were attacking them from the cave.
As the sound of this roar hit the bats, all of them crashed into the ground with blood flowing from their ears. More than 20 rank 2 bats had directly died from a single roar.
A ck shadow flew from the cave as it directly tried to escape through the air.
''''It''s actually a middle rank 3 ''red-fanged me bat''! Little ck quickly, don''t let it escape!''''
''''Don''t worry master, how could it ever escape from us?''''
Little ck pped his wings and the distance from the bat was immediately halved.
The ''red-fanged me bat'' was a magic beast at the middle stages of rank 3, but as soon as it had sensed little ck''s aura outside its cave, it was instantly terrified as it fled without a second thought. The aura of a dragon, a king of magic beasts was one of the most terrifying things to every living being.
Forget about a middle stage rank 3 magic beast like the ''red-fanged me bat'', little ck could probably fight against even a middle stage rank 4 magic beast right now, and he would only get stronger in the future as he recovers his strength.
In almost no time, Shun Long and little ck had arrived above the ''me bat''s'' head as little ck used his talons to grab the bat''s wings.
The bat screeched loudly as little ck brutally tore its wings from its body, making it crash on the ground.
A small pool of blood had formed beneath the bat''s body while it was still struggling to move and escape from this monster that was chasing it.
Little ck''s talonsnded on the bat''s neck that was now on the ground, as it brutally teared off its head. Finally, the bat stopped breathing as a pitch-ck core rolled off from its now torn head into the ground.
Shun Long fiddled with the beast core in his hand for a while before putting it inside the ''Stone of Time''s'' space along with the bat''s body. Although the ''red fanged me bat''s'' body wasn''t edible, parts of it could still be used as ingredients for alchemy, while its fangs could be used by formation masters to create silver grade weapons.
Aside from the ''red fanged me bat'' there was still that swarm of rank 2 bats that could be sold for a good price in the ''Treasure Pavilion''. Although rank 2 magic beasts rarely had a beast core in their bodies, the rest of their body parts would usually fetch a good price.
After Shun Long put everything inside the ''Stone of Time'', he walked towards the cave that the bats were living in.
Little ck looked at his master, but his own body was too big to enter the small cave so he couldn''t help asking
''''Master, do you think that there will be anything good inside this cave?''''
''''Although the chance is minimal, the truth is that when the ''red fanged me bat'' inhabits a cave, the powerful yin qi that it oozes from its body will sometimes be absorbed into its surroundings to produce rare alchemy materials. One of those materials is the rank 3 ''hell flower''.''''
Shun Long remembered that Yong Ru needed this flower for his grandfather.
However, after searching the cave, Shun Long was confused as well as a bit disappointed to not having found anything of use. Apparently, the ''red fanged me bat''s'' qi hadn''t produced anything inside the cave.
After Shun Long failed to find anything inside, he left the cave as he climbed atop little ck''s back before he pondered for a while
''''I don''t understand. I could sense some yin qi inside the cave, but it was very faint both in quality and quantity. Unless the bats had started living in this cave today, the yin qi here shouldn''t have been so faint. However, based on their sheer numbers, it''s impossible for them to have migrated here today.
Little ck, can you sense anything?''''
Shun Long was truly perplexed this time and his senses weren''t strong enough to understand what was going on so his only option was asking little ck.
The ck dragon closed his eyes as he sensed his surroundings for a long time. After that, he abruptly opened his eyes with an unfathomable glint inside them as he looked towards Shun Long and once again said telepathically
''''Master... you were right. There should have been enough yin qi in the air to create some precious medicinal herbs but...''''
After that little ck turned his head to look outside of the cave as he continued
''''...it''s all been sucked away!''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened as he looked at little ck incredulously before asking
''''Can you sense who is sucking away the yin qi then?''''
''''Master... it''s not just the yin qi here. Aside from the pure qi in the air, every other kind of qi in the surrounding 30 miles, is all being sucked deeper inside towards the central region!''''
Chapter 73 - 73 Hunting rank 3 magic beasts
Chapter 73 - 73 Hunting rank 3 magic beasts
A chill run through Shun Long''s spine as he heard little ck''s words.
What kind of existence did it have to be, to be able to absorb every kind of energy, and from so many miles away?
''''Something is wrong. No matter what kind of magic beast it is, as long as it hasn''t reached an extremely high rank, it shouldn''t be able to absorb every other kind of energy like the yin qi from the ''red fanged me bat'' while being so far away.''''
Shun Long surmised after thinking about it thoroughly.
''''Master is right. Even if I wanted to absorb the yin qi here, I wouldn''t be able to do this from more than 1 mile away and I am a ck Dragon. I refuse to believe that there is a peak rank 5 magic beast inside this Demonic Mountain Region that would do this.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Little ck''s words as he said
''''We will find out everything when we enter the central region so, there is no need to worry about it just yet. It''s time to go towards the south.''''
The ck dragon stretched his majestic pitch-ck wings after hearing Shun Long''s words, and flew towards the south where he had sensed another rank 3 magic beast earlier before.
His flying speed was extremely fast, bringing a sense of horror to the magic beasts that saw a ck dragon flying in the sky as they hurriedly cowered away inside their nests and caves.
Little ck and Shun Long quickly arrived in front of a small forest.
Little ck''s speed didn''t decrease at all as he headed towards one of the tallest trees in the distance.
The tree was green and more than 8m(26ft) tall but its branches had a bright yellow color towards their ends that resembled flower petals.
Shun Long''s eyes glinted while little ck opened his mouth and spat out a ck ball of fire towards the tree.
The tree immediately turned to ck ashes as a small green beast core could be found inside them.
Little ck snorted disdainfully after reducing the tree to ashes and said
''''Just an early rank 3 ''man-eating tree'' and it thought that it would escape my senses?''''
Shun Long grabbed the beast core of the ''man-eating tree'' and after storing it inside the ''Stone of Time'' he asked little ck if he could sense any other rank 3 magic beasts around them.
The pair of the young man riding his dragon flew non-stop as they relentlessly hunted every rank 3 magic beasts they found in their vicinity.
After almost one day of hunting, Shun Long''s spatial space had been filled with all sorts of rank 3 beasts. Most of these magic beasts could easily kill Heaven grade experts as easily as killing chickens and yet, Shun Long''s spatial space had nearly a dozen of them now.
Little ck looked at his smiling master that was now collecting the body of a rank 3 magic beast they had just killed, and he too smiled as he looked in the distance ahead of them, towards the central region before he sent a message to Shun Long
''''Master, we are now very close to the central region. If there is a chance, we should also hunt an early rank 4 magic beast!''''
As little ck finished speaking however he saw that Shun Long''s eyes had turned serious as he said resolutely
''''No''''
Little ck looked at Shun Long puzzledly as he said
''''Master, won''t the body of a rank 4 magic beast be of great help? Although it may prove a bit hard to kill one, I am still more than 80 percent certain of being able to kill any early rank 4 beast with my current strength. We have nothing to worry about and even if the rumored peak rank 4 magic beast from the central mountaines, we can still flee then. Even if it is some kind of aerial flying beast it will certainly be unable to match me in terms of speed.''''
Little ck''s words were spoken with absolute confidence.
Shun Long however shook his head as he replied
''''Although the body of a rank 4 beast would be of tremendous help to me, there is something even more important in this Demonic Mountain Region for us. Additionally, if you fight with a rank 4 magic beast, even if you swiftly kill it you will certainly attract the attention of even stronger magic beasts. The central region isn''t the inner region after all and I assume that there are more than just ''a few'' rank 4 magic beasts inside.
Before we find out about the treasure of the central mountain, we can''t attract the attention of the strong magic beasts in the central region.''''
Little ck didn''t speak anymore as Shun Long walked in front of him and patted his head as continued
''''Don''t worry, after we find out what the secret of the central mountain is, we may still have time to hunt a rank 4 magic beast.''''
After Shun Long finished speaking he noticed that it was almost night time by now.
After hunting magic beasts for the entire day, Shun Long had already arrived just a few dozen miles away from the central region. After finding a secluded cave in a mountain peak close by, he had little ck ensure that there were no magic beasts around them before he started cultivating.
Taking a deep breath inside the cave Shun Long felt the qi around him madly rushing towards him.
''''The quality of the qi here is truly much betterpared to the outer region. Perhaps I can even breakthrough to the middle stage of rank 8 tonight.''''
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cave, Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as he absorbed the pure qi in this ce. Little ck was also cultivating, but he hadn''t entered a state where he was unable to sense his surroundings like Shun Long and was instead keeping watch of their surroundings at all times.
3 hours soon passed and a small popping sound could be heard from Shun Long''s body as he then opened his eyes and eximed joyously
''''I managed to reach the middle stage of rank 8 in qi condensation in such a short amount of time. Just 3 hours of cultivating here is more efficient than 5 full days of cultivation in the outer region!''''
Taking advantage of the opportunity to cultivate in this ce, Shun Long quickly closed his eyes as he once again activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', absorbing the qi around him.
Morning soon came and as the sun rose Shun Long finally stopped cultivating.
After stretching his hands and feet for a while he walked out of the cave and patted Little ck''s head as he said
''''Little ck, when we enter the central region, it''s better for you to stay in the ''Stone of Time''.''''
The dragon''s eyes widened as he heard this and anxiously he asked
''''Master it is too dangerous for you. What if you-?''''
Shun Long patted his head as he said
''''I know. But it''s also dangerous if you are exposed. We could do as we please in the inner region but if the magic beasts in the central region turn their attention towards us, then the best we can do will be to flee by then.''''
Shun Long saw the dejected dragon as he said
''''Don''t worry, if I really get in a dangerous situation, you can alwayse out and help me.''''
Little ck nodded his head as he went inside the ''Stone of Time'' before he used his powerful soul to sense Shun Long''s surroundings.
Shun Long had 3 major advantages that gave him enough confidence to walk by himself towards the central region that was now just a few dozen miles away from him.
The first was little ck''s soul sensing which could warn him for most dangers beforehand.
The second was the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that had both increased his physical strength and his ability to tear space and escape a few dozen meters away.
Shun Long was also certain that after refining the ''Profound Earth Fruit'' into a pill, his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' would be a lot stronger.
''''If I concoct and consume the pill before the ''sect examination'' ends, by the time I finish absorbing the pill''s medicinal effects, I would have probably already run out of time to gather enough survival points to first ce.''''
However, the third and most important advantage that he had, was the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' ability topletely conceal his aura. As long as he was careful enough, he could probably avoid most of the dangers as he explored the central region.
After more than 2 hours, Shun Long had arrived precisely 300 miles away from the tallest mountain in the Demonic Mountain Region, the central mountain.
The central mountain was nearly 10.000meters (32.800ft) tall while the 300 miles around it was what everyone categorized as ''the central region''.
Shun Long took a deep breath to calm his rising heartbeat as he looked at the central mountain, and taking a step forward, he finally entered the central region.
Chapter 74 - 74 The central region
Chapter 74 - 74 The central region
Stepping inside, Shun Long felt the increasing quality of the qi in the air around him, as it was being absorbed by the magic beasts living in the central region.
''''Master, you have to be careful inside. I can sense many magic beasts and none of them is below the rank 3''''
Little ck warned Shun Long as he used his soul to sense everything in a 30 mile radius around him.
Shun Long nodded as he asked
''''Little ck, won''t we get discovered by the magic beasts here if you keep using your soul to sense the surroundings?''''
''''Don''t worry master, unless a magic beast has already reached the rank 5, it is impossible for it to notice my soul sense.''''
Shun Long breathed out in relief but he was still extremely careful as he slowly headed deeper inside. The magic beasts in the central region were all at the rank 3 or even higher, and attracting their attention would be disastrous.
Beast roars could be heard everywhere around Shun Long as the central region seemed to be a constant battlefield for the magic beasts here. After all, this was the ce with the purest qi in the entire Demonic Mountain Region, so how could the fighting here be avoided?
However, with little ck''s directions, Shun Long had managed to avoid the lurking dangers around him as he headed deeper inside.
Anyone who had the guts to enter the central region would witness abundant scenes of rank 3 magic beasts fighting and killing each other.
However, these scenes had started to be less frequent as Shun Long entered deeper inside the region, while the strength of the magic beasts around him grew stronger and stronger, the closer he approached to the central mountain.
After 8 hours of careful walking and detouring, Shun Long had arrived in front of a hugeke that was 150 miles away from the central mountain. Theke was more than 10 miles wide and if Shun Long wanted to reach the central mountain, he either had to go through it or go around it.
On the left side of theke, there was a big mountain, while on its right, one could see arge lush forest.
''''Little ck can you sense anything?''''
''''Master, theke is extremely dangerous. I can sense a magic beast lurking inside that is very close to the peak of rank 4 so we will have to take a detour. Inside the forest on our right, I can sense a middle rank 4 aerial magic beast, as well as quite a big number of rank 3 beasts, while in the mountain on our left, I can only sense the aura of an early rank 4 magic beast but I can''t identify what kind of beast it is yet.
So I think it''s best if master passes through the mountain.''''
Shun Long thought deeply for a while, before he shook his head and said
''''We will go through the forest''''
Little ck was confused after hearing that they will go through the path that had the most magic beasts. One could argue that this forest was even more deadly than theke. Sensing the dragon''s bewilderment, Shun Longughed lightly as he exined
''''Theke is obviously impossible to traverse if we don''t fly over it, which leaves us with only the mountain and the lush forest as our options.
However, although the forest looks to be more dangerous at first nce, in reality this is actually the best choice for us. Since the middle stage rank 4 beast inside it, is a flying type magic beast, it will most likely have a bad sense of smell.''''
Little ck''s eyes inside the ''Stone of Time'' glistened brightly as he heard Shun Long''s words
''''Meanwhile, we don''t know what kind of magic beast that early rank 4 living on the mountain really is.
If it''s not an aerial beast, then even with me hiding my aura there is still a chance that it will locate me through my smell.
But even if it is a flying magic beast, while I can use the environment of the trees to hide myself in the forest, there won''t really be any ce to take cover in a mountain''''
Little ck was dazed for a good while. As a dragon, he would never consider the physical attributes of other magic beasts. He would simply use his strength to do everything he wanted.
But Shun Long seemed to have thought through everything and had already calcted the best route to take.
Entering the forest, Shun Long found nearly a dozen rank 2 medicinal herbs lying around. However, not a single rank 3 herb was anywhere in sight.
''''I guess that the magic beasts here have already hoarded the good stuff'''' Shun Long sighed as he kept walking forward.
The forest had more than 10 magic beasts lying in wait inside, but Shun Long easily avoided them with little ck''s soul sense.
Nearly 2 hourster, Shun Long arrived in front of a stream, as he saw a huge bird more than 5meters(16ft) tall, sleeping atop a big tree at the other side of the bank.
''''This is a ''4 winged ice bird''.'''' Shun Long mumbled as he looked at the sleeping bird atop the tall tree.
The bird had 4 icy-blue wings wrapped around it, that were in stark contrast with its brown body and red beak.
To pass through the forest Shun Long had to get to the other side of the bank. If he actually wanted to swim through the stream, or even jump all the way to the other side, he would definitely end up waking the magic beast.
However, Shun Long simply smiled and thanked his lucky stars that the bird was asleep, as he clenched his right hand and punched the air in front of him.
As his fist hit the air, a space tear big enough to fit a person was formed as Shun Long entered it and instantly arrived at the other side of the bank.
Almost as if sensing something, right after Shun Long entered the space tear, the ''4 winged ice bird'' snapped open its eyes as it looked around the stream.
Although it didn''t find anyone, the magic beast was now keeping a vignt watch over its surroundings. As a middle stage rank 4 beast, the ''4 winged ice bird''s'' senses and intelligence were nothing to scoff at.
Thankfully Shun Long had instantly taken cover underneath a tree, before opening another space tear to flee deeper inside the forest.
At the same time that Shun Long entered the second space tear, the ''4 winged ice bird'' suddenly set its sights on the tree that he had taken cover at earlier. After pping its wings the bird instantly arrived in front of that tree. All 4 of its wings then lit up with a snow-white light as shards of ice had suddenly formed on them.
pping its wings once again, the ''4 winged ice bird'' sent a barrage of ice flying at the tree, filling it with countless holes.
Only after seeing that there wasn''t anyone there, did the bird finally leave.
Shun Long sighed in relief a few tens of meters away after seeing this scene
''''This ''4 winged ice bird'' is really terrifying. I didn''t make the slightest sound and yet it still seemed to have somehow felt my presence!''''
''''Master definitely didn''t leave any traces behind after your spatial leap. It was probably the bird''s intuition that rmed it.''''
Little ck eximed with confidence.
Earlier, he was ready to jump out from the ''Stone of Time'' and fight against the ''4 winged ice bird'', if its attack was about to threaten Shun Long.
After a few more hours, night had already fallen as Shun Long finally reached the end of the huge forest.
He could now clearly see the huge central mountain that was just a few miles away. The mountain had many caves in it and surprisingly, it was void of any vegetation. Forget about trees, not even a single nt existed on it.
''''Master, I can sense two presences inside that mountain.'''' Little ck said after he sent his soul to scan through it.
''''Two?'''' Shun Long asked confused. Could it be that there are 2 magic beasts instead of 1 in the central mountain?
Little ck nodded his head at Shun Long''s question as he continued
''''Master, actually, I don''t understand what is going on here. There seem to be 2 presences but... only one of them seems to actually be alive''''
Even Little ck who had lived for so many years hadn''t met with such a situation before.
Shun Long pondered over it for a bit, before he decided to rest for the night and continue towards the central mountain tomorrow after his strength had replenished, when a loud screech filled with hatred came from the central mountain, shaking the entire central region.
Chapter 75 - 75 Cancel the exam?
Chapter 75 - 75 Cancel the exam?
The screech was so powerful that it didn''t just shake the entire central region but also traveled through every single ce of the entire Demonic Mountain Region.
Even the big shots from the 4 sects were rmed, as they looked at each other with fear in their eyes.
Grand Elder Hui Zhong of the ''Flying sword sect'' looked at the other 3 people around him as he said
''''That was definitely the cry of the overlord of the Demonic Mountain Region! Do you think that perhaps someone has managed to anger it?''''
Everyone looked at Hui Zhong stupefied before Grand Elder Lan Hong was the first one to respond as heshed out at him
''''Nonsense! How could anyone even get close to that magic beast, let alone provoke it!? Hui Zhong, I say, have you gone senile due to your old age?''''
Hui Zhong was immediately angered by Lan Hong''s words as he responded
''''You are the one who has gone senile Lan! Do you think that, that monster would cry out for no reason?''''
Lan Hong snorted disdainfully before the vice pavilion master from the ''Roaring wind pavilion'', Li Huian came forth to meditate as she said
''''Seniors, please calm down. There is no mistaking it, as per to whom that beast cry belonged to. However, it''s also unlikely that there is anyone strong enough in our ''Deste east'' that can fight that bird. Even the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' doesn''t have any confidence in fighting it.''''
However, at that moment Lan Hong''s expression suddenly changed as he remembered something that the sect master Liu Jian had said, back in the central hall about 2 months ago.
Everyone instantly noticed his change in expression as sect master Da Chao was the first one to ask
''''Elder Lan, could it be that you know something about this?''''
(author''s note: the usage of the word elder here, refers to someone''s age and it isn''t the same as the word Elder which refers to someone''s status)
Lan Hong however, shook his head as he said
''''What vice pavilion master Li Huian said earlier, may not be necessarily true.''''
After taking a deep breath, Lan Hong continued
''''About 2 months ago, a mysterious person appeared in my ''floating cloud city''. No one managed tomunicate with him, aside from a small rank 3 bronze grade alchemist.
However, that mysterious person happened to release his aura once, and the entire ''floating cloud city'' trembled. Liu Jian then ordered everyone to keep what had happened a secret as that person had most likely exceeded the Spirit realm. Even I wouldn''t have mentioned it today if the circ.u.mstances weren''t as such.''''
Everyone suddenly sucked in a cold breath as they considered the implications of this shocking revtion.
After hearing Lan Hong''s words Hui Zhong asked gravely
''''Old man Lan, are you certain that this person has reached ''that stage'' then?''''
Everyone stared intently at Lan Hong who in return shook his head as he said
''''This is just the estimation of Liu Jian. However, even if this person hasn''t reached that stage yet, he shouldn''t be too far from it.''''
Silence suddenly permeated the ce as this news was like a hammer that struck everyone''s hearts.
The vice pavilion master Li Huian suddenly asked
''''Then, what will happen to the sect examination?''''
Da Chao and Hui Zhong''s eyes shed with panic as both their son and grandson were inside the Demonic Mountain Region.
''''I think that we should cancel this sect exam and summon all the disciples back here.''''
Da Chao nodded after hearing Hui Zhong''s words and said
''''I agree! Things have gotten out of our control. If every disciple inside dies then that would be a tragedy for our sects.''''
Lan Hong who heard their words immediately understood what they were worried about. He turned his head to look at Li Huian as he said
''''Vice pavilion master, I think it''s best if we first wait for the qi eruption to finish before we end the sect exam prematurely.''''
Since this was a joint sect examination, and 3 out of 4 people had already taken their stance, everything depended on what Li Huian''s vote.
If she sided with Da Chao and Hui Zhong then the sect examination would end now, while if she agreed with Lan Hong, then the sect exam would continue normally as it would, until the central mountain erupted.
As everyone looked at the blue-robed vice pavilion master of the ''Roaring wind pavilion'', she sighed as she turned her eyes at Lan Hong and said
''''I think that we should end the sect examination ahead of time. The dangers for our disciples have already escted beyond our control.
Da Chao and Hui Zhong sighed in relief while Lan Hong felt a slight sense of loss. Although the other 2 had a chance to lose their direct descendants in the chaos, the qi eruption that happened once every 30 years had always allowed the disciples that survived to be stronger than the other batches. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that it was an opportunity filled with endless danger, that allowed a carp to be a dragon.
The 4 of them took out their ''sect identifying jades'' and as they activated them, countless strands of red light flew towards the Demonic Mountain Region.
''''What is this? Did the sect exam end prematurely?''''
''''Haha! I''m sure it''s the Grand Elder. He couldn''t bear seeing so many talents of our ''Flying sword sect'' die here so he must have persuaded everyone to end the sect exam ahead of time.''''
All the disciples who had been frightened silly previously by the terrifying screech that came from the central region, now felt a sense of relief as they saw their sect jades emit a red light that indicated the end of the exam.
At that moment, in the central region, every rank 4 magic beast was looking at the central mountain where that screech had originated from.
After Shun Long had heard that loud cry his brows shot up as he muttered
''''It can''t be. How can something like ''that'' ever be a rank 4 magic beast? I must be mistaken.''''
''''Master, did you find out anything?'''' Little ck asked after hearing Shun Long mumbling to himself
''''It''s nothing'''' Shun Long replied as he shook his head before he saw a faint strand of red lighting all the way from the outer region, as it headed towards the ''sect identifying jade'' at his pocket.
The sect jade lit up with a red light, that was like an invisible string which Shun Long could follow to return back to the Demonic Mountain Region''s entrance.
''''They decided to end the sect exam already? There is no way that I will simply go back after havinge so close to the central mountain''''
Originally, Shun Long was nning to rest for the night before heading towards the mountain in the morning but now, he had to alter his ns.
Little ck who saw that Shun Long was ready to go to the central mountain now said
''''Master the magic beast that cried out earlier, is no ordinary peak rank 4 magic beast. Based on the strength of its roar earlier, I''m afraid that its power could probably match up to even some early rank 5 beasts. I''m afraid that even with your ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' it will be hard for us to escape after entering itsir.''''
Shun Long nodded his head after he heard little ck''s words and replied
''''I know. Don''t worry, I still have a trump card if things really turn bad for us.''''
Absorbing the pure qi in this Demonic Mountain Region, had incited Shun Long''s greed. If the treasure inside the central mountain was really connected to the purity of the qi here, then it was worth taking the risk to obtain it.
Shun Long already knew that both his ''Monarch''s Domain'' as well as his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' would probably be useless against a beast that was at the peak of rank 4 like the overlord of the Demonic Mountain Region. Although treasures were important, one still had to be alive to obtain them, hence without a certain degree of assurance, Shun Long wouldn''t head at the central mountain since he already knew of the dangers beforehand.
Little ck didn''t warn Shun Long again. He had absolute faith in his master, and if he really was about to die, then the ck dragon would apany him to the other world without a second thought. This was what it meant to share life and death.
Almost half an hourter, Shun Long arrived at the foot of this barren mountain.
Looking up from the base of the mountain, one couldn''t even see its peak that was hidden inside the clouds.
Now that they were closer to it, little ck once again sent his soul to sense the surroundings. A couple of breathster he said
''''Master, I can sense the 2 presences from before. They are both inside a cave at the heart of the mountain.''''
Taking a step forward, Shun Long followed little ck''s directions as he started climbing the central mountain,
Chapter 76 - 76 The secret at the heart of the central mountain
Chapter 76 - 76 The secret at the heart of the central mountain
The central region had turnedpletely silent after the king of the beasts had let out that screech earlier.
In the dark night, the only sound that could be heard in the central mountain amidst the eerie silence, was Shun Long''s footsteps as he slowly climbed up. His aura waspletely concealed by the ''Monarch''s hourss'' as he walked towards the heart of the mountain.
The closer he approached towards the mountain''s center, the thicker qi in the air around him was bing.
Shun Long even felt that if he sat down cross-legged to cultivate here, he could probably breakthrough from the middle of rank 8 all the way to the early rank 9 of qi condensation in less than a day.
However, as soon as this thought took form in his head, it was instantly extinguished. The central mountain was the territory of a peak rank 4 magic beast. If Shun Long cultivated here and failed to keep his aura suppressed, he would definitely expose himself and his n would be ruined.
Meanwhile, as Shun Long was climbing up the central mountain, the outer region had turned into chaos as the disciples from the 4 sects were running around recklessly as they looked to leave the Demonic Mountain Region, causing countless fights with the magic beasts on their way.
Numerous disciples had fallen victims to the magic beasts in the process, as the outer region nowpletely resembled a battlefield. The dead bodies of the sect disciples were lying around everywhere and even more were piling up as time went by. After all the vast majority of the disciples participating in the sect exam were between the rank 7 in qi condensation to the early rank 1 in earth grade.
Even the disciples that were previously in the ''safe area'' of the inner region like Yong Ru and the others had already left as they were heading back to the Demonic Mountain Region''s entrance.
Yong Ru who was now resting along with 3 other men and 2 women at the outer region, turned his head to look towards the inner region as he sighed and said to himself in a low voice
''''I hope that brother Shun will be alright.''''
One of the girls that were together with Yong Ru looked at him as she asked
''''Senior brother Yong, are you talking about the person that you entered the safe area with?''''
''''Mhm'''' Yong Ru nodded his head
One of the 3 men that was wearing the robes of the ''Iron-hardened sect'' heard their conversation and butted in as he said
''''Tsk, entering the inner region alone is tantamount to suicide. Even my elder brother died in there as he followed senior brother Da Chong. I heard that senior brother Da Chong and a few others barely managed to survive by the skin of their teeth after they entered the inner region, so that person who was arrogant enough to enter in there alone has probably already turned into magic beast food by now.''''
Yong Ru''s face was visibly angered but he knew that what this person said was the truth.
However, since Shun Long had saved his life back when they were at the outer region and even helped him get to the ''safe area'', Yong Ru couldn''t stay silent in front of this taunting.
Snorting, he looked at the young man in brown robes as he said
''''Do you really think that your senior brother Da Chong is the strongest person in this sect exam? I heard that Hui Ming from the ''Flying sword sect'' only lost 3 people from his group inside the inner region as he came out safely.''''
''''So what, do you think that your friend is at the same level as senior brother Da Chong or Hui Ming? If that''s the case and you are so confident in him making it out alive, then why didn''t you wait for him to return to the ''safe area'' and instead left with us?''''
Yong Ru felt extremely ashamed and angry as he heard these words. He felt ashamed because that person was right, and yet he felt angry because this man had also just exposed him.
Indeed, he too believed that Shun Long would die inside the inner region, and that was the reason why he didn''t wait for him to return to the safe area.
Although he knew that Shun Long was strong, Yong Ru still felt that Shun Long was quite a bit weaker than the 3 geniuses. And since the 3 geniuses were having problems in the inner region and Da Chong''s group from the ''Iron-hardened sect'' had almost faced destruction in there, how could one Shun Long possibly survive?
As these people were arguing, Shun Long who was climbing up the central mountain at that time had almost reached the mid-way point already, as he had nowpletely retracted his aura, and even suppressed his own breathing.
A huge cave could be seen in front of him, with an entrance more than 9m(30ft) high.
Shun Long could feel a powerful dark aura, as well as wave after wave of pure qiing from inside this cave.
This aura wasn''t directly attacking him, and yet Shun Long now felt a heavy feeling in his chest as his steps halted right before the entrance.
A feeling as if he was getting suffocated overcame him, and just as little ck who had noticed this came out from the ''Stone of Time'', the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' had started circting by itself inside his body, instantly getting rid of this suppressing feeling.
Shun Long breathed out in relief while he was shocked to find out that his body still wasn''t emitting any of his aura. Presumably, as long as he didn''t exert himself now, the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' could stay active and keep suppressing this dark aura, without leaving behind the slightest trace.
After entering the cave Shun Long''s surroundingspletely darkened as he walked deeper inside. It felt as if he was walking inside a giant tunnel that waspletely devoid of light.
Thankfully he had little ck''s soul sense, and after about a dozen minutes had passed, he could finally see some light in the distance.
Heading towards the origin of this light, Shun Long who had finally reached the end of the cave, saw a stupefying scene unfold in front of his eyes.
Chapter 77 - 77 Heaven swallowing vine
Chapter 77 - 77 Heaven swallowing vine
As Shun Long reached the end of the cave, the scene in front of his eyes had left him tongue-tied.
A huge bird almost 10meters(33ft) tall had wrapped itself around a giant vine, that was no smaller than the bird itself. The bird''s wings were a shiny silver color while its wingspan was more than 30m(100ft) long.
Shun Long who looked at the bird felt like an explosion had just set off inside his head.
Little ck was shocked as well, as he said in disbelief
''''Master that green vine must be the treasure of this Demonic Mountain region. Also.. what is a roc doing in a ce like this? How can a roc be at just the peak of rank 4? Rocs are very simr to us dragons, so its strength should have at least been at the peak of rank 7 as it was born.''''
Shun Long didn''t even answer little ck''s question as his eyes were glued at the huge vine at the heart of the mountain.
The silver winged roc had tried topletely encapste the green vine by wrapping its wings around it, looking almost like it was trying to absorb it inside its own body.
The green light that the vine emitted held a kind of fatal allure to magic beasts.
Even Shun Long''s heartbeat had started speeding up at the thought of obtaining this treasure.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself down Shun Long answered little ck''s question
''''This isn''t a pure roc, that''s why it is only at the peak of rank 4. Its bloodline seems to belong to the silver winged rocs but it is extremely impure. I guess that one of its ancestors was a pure-blooded silver winged roc but as time passed, the ''pure blood'' of the silver winged roc became thinner and thinner with every passing generation.''''
Taking another deep breath Shun Long continued
''''However, the important thing here isn''t this silver winged roc, but the green vine at the heart of the mountain''''
Little ck''s attention was also on the green vine, as he had too felt the attraction that the vine was emitting he curiously asked
''''Master, do you know what this vine is? I don''t seem to recall ever seeing a nt like this.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''If I''m not wrong.. this is a ''Heaven swallowing vine''.''''
''''Impossible! How could such a treasure exist here?'''' Little ck asked but his voice seemed to be slightly trembling
To Shun Long, little ck''s reaction wasn''t exaggerated at all. Instead, he nodded his head as he answered
''''I don''t know how but it''s definitely real. Originally, I didn''t even think that a ''Heaven swallowing vine'' could exist in this ce, but now I understand why the qi in this Demonic Mountain Region is so purepared to the ''floating cloud city''s''. The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' is absorbing the qi from its surroundings as it turns it into purer qi.''''
Seeing the silver winged roc wrapping itself around the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' little ck felt fury as well as envy in his heart. How could an impure small rank 4 roc try to eat a heavenly treasure like the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
Even little ck in the past, hadn''t seen such a treasure as this vine, if you excluded the ''Stone of Time'' of course.
This ''Heaven swallowing vine'' was a treasure that could advance the rate of your cultivation, if your body cultivated close to it. However, the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' was also rumored to have its own spirit and it was known in the cultivation world that things that were alive couldn''t enter spatial rings.
As Shun Long was staring at the vine with greed evident in his eyes, the roc''s eyes suddenly snapped open.
Its bright red eyes were staring at Shun Long with extreme hostility as it let out a screech before it slowly unwrapped its wings from the vine.
''''Master, it''s going to attack!'''' As soon as little ck finished speaking, he instantly appeared in front of Shun Long. Now that the roc had noticed them, he knew that they couldn''t avoid a fight.
Shun Long was standing behind little ck as he asked him through their mental connection
''''Little ck, can you pin it down just for 3 breaths of time?''''
Little ck didn''t know what n Shun Long had, but he agreed without hesitation as he said
''''Leave it to me master!''''
The roc pped its wings once, as it instantly appeared in front of little ck and Shun Long who were still situated at the end of the cave.
Little ck pped his wings as he took the roc head-on.
However, the disparity in cultivation was too big, and little ck was the one who suffered in the first exchange as he was sent flying, crashing into the inner walls of the mountain.
The silver winged roc didn''t let up as it attacked the ck dragon continuously using its talons to tear off the dragon''s flesh from his body.
Little ck''s body had turned bloodied as wounds appeared all over it, while even his scales were injured as they weren''t enough to defend against the roc''s onught.
However, the dragon didn''t even let out a single sound as he kept enduring the roc''s violent attack.
This was the pride of the king of magic beasts, who even in the face of death would never bow down.
Shun Long who had just retrieved a silver-white page from his spiritual space looked at this scene and his eyes had instantly turned red.
Little ck and Shun Long were sharing a spiritual bond and that''s why he knew what the dragon was thinking in his mind as the roc was destroying his body.
''''Buy time for master, I need to buy more time for master''''
Shun Long raised his left hand as he shed the space in front of him, creating a space tear big enough for him to walk inside.
After Shun Long stepped inside, he had directly appeared above the roc''s neck that was still attacking the ck dragon relentlessly.
Holding the silver-white page in his hand, he circted his qi to activate it, and as a pair of white runes appeared on the page, Shun Long threw it straight at the roc''s spine.
Chapter 78 - 78 Absorbing the vine
Chapter 78 - 78 Absorbing the vine
The silver page seemed as if it had automatically found its target, as it headed towards the roc''s spine.
As soon as it touched the roc though, it didn''t pierce a hole in its body like Shun Long had expected. Instead, it looked as if this silver-white page had turned into something intangible after leaving Shun Long''s hand, as it buried itself deep within the silver winged roc''s body.
SCREECH
The roc cried out?in agony after that silver-white page had entered its body. Letting out cries of indescribable pain it didn''t have any strength to keep attacking little ck as it immediately copsed to the ground.
The ck dragon, whose body had suffered terribly after the roc''s onught, was still lying on the ground as well, when he saw Shun Long approaching him. Little ck tried to stand up but the wounds he had suffered were just too heavy.
Shun Long patted the dragon''s head while his eyes had started to redden seeing the condition he was in after fighting the roc.
Cuts were present all over his body, while blood was flowing from his mouth. Shun Long was also certain that even some of his internal organs were damaged, before he sent little ck inside the ''Stone of Time''.
After handing a purple fruit with red lines on it to little ck, along with 2 pieces of ''blood lotus'', Shun Long said
''''Directly eat this rank 2 ''purple fire fruit'' as well as these 2 pieces of ''blood lotus''. They will stop your injuries, while I will make sure to refine a pill for you in a bit.''''
Shun Long had picked this rank 2 ''purple fire fruit'' from the lush forest earlier along with a dozen more rank 2 medicinal herbs.
He had also gathered the seeds from every fruit that he had obtained so far including the rank 3 ''Profound earth fruit'', and had nted them all inside the ''Stone of Time''. Although they hadn''t matured yet as Shun Long hadn''t found the time to enhance their growth speed, it was only a matter of time until they did.
Little ck seemed to be smiling as he instantly swallowed the ''purple fire fruit'' as well as the pieces of the rank 2 ''blood lotus''.
Although his strength was enough to match a middle rank 4 magic beast and rank 2 medicinal herbs shouldn''t be of much use to him, the ''purple fire fruit''s effects whenbined with the ''blood lotus'' were enough to stop his injuries until Shun Long refined a medicinal pill for him.
After handing the rank 2 herbs to little ck, Shun Long turned his eyes to look at the silver winged roc on that was still wreathing in pain on the ground.
Half an hourter, the roc''s cries had started to weaken as its struggle started to lessen.
At the same time, Shun Long could feel that his connection with the silver-white page was bing thinner by the second, and after an hour, at the same time as the roc stopped moving the silver-white page hadpletely disintegrated inside its body.
From the first time that this silver page had appeared inside his spiritual space, back in the ''Alchemist''s Guild'', Shun Long had instantly understood its use. It was a killing weapon that was meant to save his life once.
The 9m(30ft) roc''s body was now sprawled on the ground. Its red eyes that were still open had nowpletely lost their l.u.s.ter as its body didn''t have the slightest trace of life in it anymore.
Seeing the dead silver winged roc in front of him, Shun Long touched its body without hesitation as he put it inside the ''Stone of Time''. Then hepletely turned his attention to the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' that was buried at the heart of the mountain.
The biggest challenge was about to start now.
The moment that Shun Long removed the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' from the central mountain, he expected pandemonium to take ce in the central region.
As soon as the magic beasts here noticed the absence of the ''silver winged roc'' as well as the disappearance of the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', all of them would definitely rush to the central mountain.
And now that little ck was hurt and couldn''t fly, if even a middle rank 2 magic beast noticed Shun Long, he would be in danger.
''''Since it''s only a matter of time before the rank 4 beasts notice that the ''silver winged roc'' has disappeared, there is no reason to hesitate. After all I can''t leave such a treasure here in the first ce.''''
Hearing Shun Long mumbling to himself, little ck nodded his head as he agreed with him
''''That''s right master, the magic beasts here have taken enough advantage of this ''Heaven swallowing vine''. I''m actually curious as to how no high-level expert has noticed this ce yet.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at little ck''s words as he moved his hand towards the huge vine.
As his hand came in contact with the green body of the vine, Shun Long felt an immense repelling force the moment he tried to put the vine inside the ''Stone of Time''. After all, although the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' wasn''t alive, it had its own spirit and understood that Shun Long was trying to store it inside a spiritual space.
The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' burst forth with a blindingly bright green light that forced Shun Long to close his eyes.
However, just as the vine''s spirit started to resist, the ''Stone of Time'' also reacted, as it emitted an even stronger blue light thatpletely suppressed the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
The 10m(33ft) vine was instantly absorbed inside the ''Stone of Time'', but before Shun Long had any time to rejoice and check his spoils, little ck''s voice sounded inside his head as he said
''''Master, I can sense a lot of magic beasts moving from the forest on our east, and they are alling towards our direction''''
Chapter 79 - 79 A way out
Chapter 79 - 79 A way out
Shun Long hadn''t expected for the magic beasts to immediately react as soon as he took the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' from the central mountain.
'''' How many magic beasts are there? What about that ''4 winged ice bird''?''''
''''Master, it''sing as well. The middle rank 4 magic beast inside thatke, as well as the early rank 4 beast from the mountain next to theke is alsoing''''
Shun Long was stuck in an impossible position. Without little ck, there was no way that he could escape before the rank 4 magic beasts arrived here. Every escape path was blocked as well.
Stuck in this desperate situation, Shun Long tried his hardest to think for a way out when he suddenly remembered theyout of the central mountain.
Looking around him he asked little ck
''''Little ck, are you certain that the magic beasts below rank 5 can''t use their soul to sense?''''
''''Master I am certain but... we don''t have any more time to leave! The ''4 winged ice bird'' has almost arrived at the foot of the mountain. Even if we leave now it''s toote.''''
Shun Long then said
''''I won''t be able to see anything so you have to guide me through this if we want to avoid all the magic beasts here''''
Little ck didn''t understand what Shun Long was saying.
His words made no sense, until he saw Shun Long looking around, before he entered in one of the caves that were inside the mountain''s heart.
''''This central mountain is full of caves, big and small. If I can navigate my way through them, with little ck''s help we can certainly leave.''''
At the same time as Shun Long entered the cave, the middle rank 4 magic beast, the ''4 winged ice bird had already reached the foot of the mountain as it was flying towards the huge entrance in the middle at breakneck speed. To these magic beasts living inside the Demonic Mountain region, nothing mattered as much as the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
In the distance, more than a dozen rank 3 magic beasts could be seen leaving the forest as they all headed towards the central mountain. At the same time, a ferocious beast that resembled a crocodile could be seen running on all fours, as it emerged from the bigke while it too headed towards the mountain.
From the smaller mountain on the left side of theke, a 3m(10ft) tall spider was madly rushing towards them as well... but that was just the start.
Hundreds of beasts from all over the central region were now also rushing towards the central mountain.
Screechhh
The ''4 winged ice bird'' issued a loud cry as soon as it reached the heart of the mountain. Not only was the ''silver winged roc'' missing, but their most important ''Heaven swallowing vine'' had disappeared along with it.
As Shun Long had expected, the beasts that had just arrived at the foot of the mountain didn''t head towards the mountain''s heart, but instead entered from the many empty caves at the base, madly searching for the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
Little ck who was rying the situation to Shun Long, was also calcting the routes to avoid the magic beasts inside
''''Master, there are many beastsing from our left side. Enter the second entrance from our right, and then directly the first entrance from the left.''''
Although little ck had his soul sense and could still guide Shun Long, there were just too many beasts inside the mountain at this point. Although the central mountain was huge, there was almost one beast in every entrance by now.
''''Master, we are in trouble! There is a middle rank 3 magic beasting straight ahead of us and there is no way to avoid it from the other caves''''
Shun Long was now very close to the foot of the mountain, but in the end, it seemed that they couldn''t avoid every magic beast inside.
Facing this situation, Shun Long''s heart had turned cold. Could it be that there was no other choice than for them to fight here?
Little ck''s voice was then heard inside Shun Long''s head
''''Master, I can leave the ''Stone of Time'' and kill it with my ''Darkness fire'' but...''''
Shun Long shook his head as he replied
''''We will definitely be discovered then... I know. I also know the burden that it would ce on you if you fought in your current condition.''''
Stuck under this situation of extreme pressure, Shun Long tried his best to stay as calm as possible before he said
''''There is no other choice. We will either pull this off or we are doomed this time.
Little ck, you have to tell me the exact moment when this magic beast enters a 40m distance from us, and then again when it enters within a 20m distance from us.''''
Little ck wasn''t sure what Shun Long was trying to do but he agreed to his request regardless as he said
''''Master, right now it is 600 meters away from us. 500m.. 400.. 200.. 100''''
The magic beast was closing the distance between them extremely quickly.
As this beast was approaching closer and closer, Shun Long tightly clenched his fists as he emptied his mind from all other thoughts.
''''80 meters.. 60... Master! It is 40m away from us!''''
As soon as little ck''s voice sounded in his head, Shun Long punched the air in front of him and a spatial tear was forcibly opened.
As soon as he created the space tear, Shun Long heard little ck''s voice in his head again saying
''''Master, it''s within 20 meters!''''
Shun Long instantly entered the space tear, while at the same time, the magic beast had just arrived in front of where he was just standing.
His body had appeared 20 meters behind the beast, as he heard it while it was running deeper inside the mountain.
The absolute darkness inside the cave had saved him from being noticed by this magic beast, and approximately an incense stick of time''ster, he had finally arrived back at the foot of the mountain.
Chapter 80 - 80 Healing Little Black
Chapter 80 - 80 Healing Little ck
Leaving the cave, Shun Long had finally arrived back at the foot of the mountain. As the starry sky shed some light to his surroundings, Shun Long heard little ck''s voice saying
''''Master, there are many magic beastsing from both the forest on our left, as well as the mountain on our right. The rank 4 beasts are all inside the central mountain so this is probably the best time for us to leave!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long headed directly towards the bigke in the middle. Since all of the beasts had now entered the central mountain this was the best chance to leave this ce.
Running at full speed, Shun Long had quickly arrived in front of theke as he directly dove inside.
Since thiske was the territory of a magic beast that was infinitely close to the peak of rank 4, no other beast was living here, making it the best path for Shun Long to take to return back.
While Shun Long was swimming through theke, the magic beasts in the central region were swarming the lush forest in droves, as they were all heading towards the central mountain.
Meanwhile, neither the magic beasts in the inner region, nor the bigshots from the 4 sects at the Demonic Mountain region''s entrance had noticed anything yet. After all, the fact that a ''Heaven swallowing vine'' existed in the depths of the central mountain was a closely guarded secret that the magic beasts had never allowed the humans to find.
Although the 4 sects had their suspicions about a mysterious treasure existing at the heart of the central mountain, which increased the qi in the air of this region, they were unable to find out anything thanks to the silver winged roc and the other powerful rank 4 magic beasts inside, that were guarding the vine with their lives,
More and more disciples were gathering back at the entrance of the Demonic Mountain region, while the disciples that were deeper inside like Yong Ru and his group, or the 3 geniuses and their own groups, would take at least a few days to return.
Nearly 2 hourster Shun Long had already swam to the other side of the hugeke. Completely ignoring his clothes that were drenched in water, he rushed towards the inner region.
The sun soon rose and a bit more than 6 hours had passed by since Shun Long had left the central mountain.
After many hours of non-stop running and many detours to avoid the waves of magic beasts, he had managed to return back to the inner region. And yet, Shun Long was now exhausted both physically and mentally.
Not having slept for so long, along with the stress from barely escaping the pandemonium in the central region had really tired Shun Long out.
After finding an isted cave, he sealed the entrance with a big rock as he then immediately fell asleep.
It was only after 10 hours that Shun Long had woken up.
After waking up, the first thing he checked was little ck''s condition to make sure that his wounds hadn''t reopened. After making sure that he was alright, Shun Long heaved a sigh of relief before he took out his cauldron from the ''Stone of Time''.
Taking out the beast core of the rank 3 ''man-eating tree'', as well as a few other medicinal herbs, Shun Long threw them all inside the cauldron as he mumbled to himself
''''The ''man-eating tree'' is a magic beast of the wood element. Its beast core has plenty of wood energy inside, and it''s brimming with vitality which will help you fully heal your injuries. Adding a stalk of a rank 2 ''ice grass'' along with the ''purple fire fruit'' will also enhance the pill''s effectiveness. Since I don''t have any better ingredients at hand, I have to at least create a high-grade rank 2 pill or its effect won''t be enough to fully heal you.''''
As Shun Long was mumbling to himself, his hands were also moving non-stop as he was adding the ingredients inside the cauldron.
The rank 2 ''ice grass'' required Shun Long to be very careful with the cauldron''s temperature or it could easily be destroyed, losing all its medicinal properties, while the ''purple fire fruit'' instead, needed a very high temperature to be properly refined into medicinal essence.
Shun Long who was aiming to create a high-grade rank 2 pill for little ck had topletely split his attention into 3 parts as he ced the ingredients inside the cauldron.
The beast core of the ''man-eating tree'', the ''ice grass'', and the ''purple fire fruit'' had to all be refined at the same time as Shun Long merged their essence into one. If he failed to do so, part of their medicinal essence would be lost during the refinement process and he would at most create a middle rank 2 pill.
Beads of sweat rolled off his forehead, as 30 minutester, Shun Long had reached the most crucial part of the refining process.
The cauldron had started to tremble as Shun Long was mixing the medicinal essence inside it.
With the ''Monarch''s Domain'' though, he had managed to sessfully finish the refinement.
Opening the lid of the cauldron, Shun Long saw a bright green pill inside it. The pill had red and white lines on it and it was emitting a very refreshing smell.
Shun Long smiled as he saw the high-grade rank 2 pill in his hands, before he handed it to little ck.
As little ck consumed the pill, his internal injuries had already started to heal. His external injuries followed right after them and in just a few of hours, his body had already been restored back in perfect condition.
Laughing, the ck Dragon flew around the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' as he said
''''Master I feel really good! Even better than before actually. Now that we have this ''Heaven swallowing vine'' our cultivation will surely advance greatly''''
Shun Long smiled as he watched little ck eyeing the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' greedily, like a kid that had just discovered a treasure.
Little ck however, seemed as if he had just remembered something as he suddenly asked
''''Master, do you really have to return to this ''floating cloud sect''?''''
Chapter 81 - 81 The sects true face
Chapter 81 - 81 The sect''s true face
Shun Long was slightly taken aback by the dragon''s sudden question. Thinking about it for a while, he nodded his head as he said
''''For now, I have to return. I''m still not strong enough to even protect my parents, let alone establish a foothold for myself. I also don''t know anything about the regions around the ''floating cloud sect''.
If it wasn''t for the sect forcing the new outer disciples to participate in this ''sect examination'', we wouldn''t even have a clue about this Demonic Mountain region either.
So for the time being, it''s more beneficial for me to stay there.''''
Little ck agreed with Shun Long''s words. Even he had never heard of this ''floating cloud sect'', so he had no idea where they were right now. Staying inside the sect and gathering more information was probably the best decision.
Shun Long then thought for a bit before saying
''''We have to quickly return to the safe area first. From there, I will head towards the entrance in the outer region alone. I guess that many disciples must have already gathered there by now.''''
After Shun Long walked out of the cave, little ck came out from the ''Stone of Time'', as he unfurled his ck wings and flew towards the safe area.
While flying, little ck was also using his soul sense at the same time, to see if there were any humans anywhere near them.
However, they didn''t find a single disciple from the 4 sects inside the inner region.
After all, only a few elite groups like Yong Ru''s senior sister, or the son of the sect master from the ''Iron-hardened sect'' would dare to enter deep in the inner region in the first ce, and even they had probably left already after the sect exam was officially canceled.
One dayter Shun Long who was flying on the ck dragon''s back had arrived near the ''safe area''. However, he had already noticed from the sky, that the ce had already beenpletely deserted.
Landing near the safe area, Shun Long had little ck return inside the ''Stone of Time'' before he continued on foot for the rest of the journey.
With little ck scanning the way with his soul sense, Shun Long didn''t meet a single beast above the early rank 2 or any disciple from the 4 sects.
After 3 days, he had returned back to the outskirts of the Demonic Mountain region.
''''I''m probably just a few hours away from the entrance''''
Shun Long inferred as he then remembered what Yong Ru had told him while they were traveling together.
Searching inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long grabbed the beast core of an early rank 2 bat, that little ck had killed when they had hunted the rank 3 ''red fanged me bat'' in its cave, and put it inside his pocket.
Then he proceeded to walk towards the Demonic Mountain region''s entrance.
2 hourster, Shun Long had arrived in front of the entrance as he saw 4 huge rows of disciples queuing up in front of it.
The disciples were all split ording to their sect uniforms, and it seemed that at the start of each line, there was an Elder from each sect, doing some sort of inspection.
Shun Long walked at the end of the ''floating cloud sect''s'' line as he stood behind a young man seemingly no older than 14 years old.
Although Shun Long was rtively certain of what was happening, he still decided to ask the kid in front of him
''''Junior brother, do you know what''s happening in the front? Why do we have to line up here?''''
The young man looked at Shun Long who had just queued up behind him nervously, as he clutched something in his hand before he responded
''''Ah.. actu- actually, I heard from a senior sister that there is some inspection going on. I think that they are checking for what we acquired from the outer region and also count our survival points.''''
The young man replied stutteringly when the voice of a young girl sounded from the front of the line as she was shouting pleadingly
''''Please Elder! I need this rank 2 ''water pearl'' to advance into the earth grade. I beg you don''t take this from me.''''
Shun Long looked at the young girl who seemed to be around 16 years old and was clutching a pink pearl in her hands, as her eyes had turned red from tears. She was begging on her knees in front of the bald Elder Zhu.
Elder Zhu however, looked at her coldly as he forcefully snatched the pink pearl from her hands before he said
''''It is thanks to the sect that you could evene here. Not only that, but the sect has helped nurture you since you arrived and now you dare to deny when the sect is asking you for something? After all, I am not stealing this ''water pearl'' from you, but I am giving you sect points in return. This is a fair trade you know.''''
Shun Long snorted inwardly as he heard the bald Elder Zhu''s words and thought
''''What a joke. The sect has helped nurture the disciples? Everyone has to work to get any sect points in the ''floating cloud city''. It''s thanks to the sect that she managed toe here? Yes, she had to risk her life whether she agreed or not as the sect forced her. You are not stealing from her? A fair trade you say? She is clearly being forced to trade whether she agrees or not. So this is the true face of the ''floating cloud sect'' then!?''''
The line was slowly moving up and people who seemed to be hiding something or didn''t offer something of value by themselves, were personally searched by Elder Zhu regardless if they were men or women. 3 hourster, the line hade close to its end and the person in front of Elder Zhu was now the young man who was in front of Shun Long.
Chapter 82 - 82 Not first place?
Chapter 82 - 82 Not first ce?
Elder Zhu looked at the young man who had hidden his hands behind his back and just smirked as he said
''''Show me your hands''''
The young man started sweating as he shook his head, but Elder Zhu just moved behind him as he pried open his hands and took a small beast core that this young man was holding.
''''Tsk, just a middle rank 1 beast core? Come here.''''
As he heard Elder Zhu''s voice, the young man took a step forward and Elder Zhu started his body search. After finding nothing else Elder Zhu was disappointed. He then looked at the young man and said in a generous tone
''''You are lucky kid. I will give you 50 sect points for this beast core.''''
The young man however, shook his head at Elder Zhu.
Elder Zhu then frowned as he asked in amanding voice
''''What? Don''t tell me that you don''t want to exchange this small middle rank 1 beast core. Could it be that you want me to expel you from the sect then? If you keep refusing I will have no other choice.''''
The young man''s face paled instantly as he heard about being expelled from the sect and hurriedly shook his head as he said
''''Elder, i-it''s not that. I-I have just heard from a senior sister from the ''Flying sword sect'' that... the Elders of the 4 sects may not be fair to small disciples like me when they purchase our goods.''''
The young man spoke weakly, and Elder Zhu looked towards the group of the ''Flying sword sect'' in anger before he turned his attention to the young man in front of him and said
''''Who said that?? Ask your fellow disciples here if I have treated any of them unfairly.''''
As Elder Zhu finished speaking he turned his head to look at the nearly 40.000 disciples of the ''floating cloud sect'' behind him, who then turned their heads away as if they didn''t dare to make eye contact with him.
Shun Long''s mouth was agape at Elder Zhu''s shamelessness. His face was probably thicker than the ''floating cloud city''s'' walls, for him to be able to spout lies like that in broad daylight. A middle rank 1 beast core could easily be sold for 70 sect points in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and yet he was ''righteously'' purchasing it for 50 points here.
Even Elder Lu Cheng and Grand Elder Lan Hong, felt their faces somewhat redden as they heard Elder Zhu''s words.
The young man suspiciously handed his middle rank 1 beast core to Elder Zhu, who then transferred him 50 sect points in his sect jade.
As the young man had already lost his survival point long ago, he didn''t get an extra 10 sect points from Elder Zhu.
After patting this young man''s shoulder, Elder Lu looked at thest person in the line, Shun Long.
Shun Long shrugged in indifference as he took out a rank 2 early beast core, making everyone''s eyes widen. Even the strongest people in this ''outer sect examination'' belonging to the ''floating cloud sect'' like the peak rank 3 earth grade Guan Hong, could at most kill an early rank 2 magic beast.
Although they couldn''t sense Shun Long''s cultivation as he hadpletely hidden it with the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', most disciples thought that he must be a peak rank 3 earth grade expert who had hidden himself before the sect exam.
After all, magic beasts at the middle of rank 2 and higher, were strong enough to easily kill rank 4 earth grade experts, so an early rank 2 magic beast was the limit for these disciples.
Although some disciples at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade could team up to defeat a middle rank 2 magic beast, the possibilities of killing the beast were almost nil. After all defeating and killing a magic beast were 2pletely different things.
Most disciples looked at Shun Long in pity. Being forced to give the beast core of a middle rank 2 magic beast that he had worked hard to kill must have been heart-tearing for him.
Elder Zhu however, looked at Shun Long with shining eyes as he patted his shoulder and said
''''Good job, This is how disciples of the sect should conduct themselves. Helping the sect is also helping yourself.
Right, give me your sect identifying jade now. I will give you 1000 sect points for this beast core, as well as count your survival points.''''
Shun Long handed his ''sect identifying jade'' to Elder Zhu, who after grabbing it was stumped for a good while. Taking another look at Shun Long''s face he asked seriously
''''What is your name kid?''''
''''Shun Long''''
''''You did very well!'''' Elder Zhu then, turned his head to look at the rest of the ''floating cloud sect''s'' members as he said
''''The first ce in our ''floating cloud sect'', belongs to Shun Long who has gathered 118 survival points.''''
Everyone from the ''floating cloud sect'' who heard this were shocked, including Elder Lu Cheng and Grand Elder Lan Hong. The previous person in the first ce had only gathered a bit more than 80 survival points.
Among the group of shocked disciples were Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu, who looked at Shun Long incredulously. Due to the huge transformation that had urred in his body thanks to the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', they only recognized him after Elder Zhu had called out his name.
Lei Xiang and her followers however, were the only ones who looked at Shun Long with eyes that were spitting fire when they remembered how Shun Long had robbed them of all their sect points back in the outer region.
Aside from Lei Xiang, one more person looked at Shun Long with hostility, the red haired Guan Hong. Before Shun Long arrived, Guan Hong was certain that he would obtain the 100 spirit stones that the sect would give to the first ce winner along with a spatial ring when they returned. There was also the 100.000 sect points that the person who got first would also obtain. Although second ce would only get 100 sect points less, there was a huge drop in prestige between being first or second from the sect.
A mocking voice however, brought everyone from the ''floating cloud sect'' back in reality as the Grand Elder from the ''Flying sword sect'' Hui Zhong looked at Grand Elder Lan Hong and said
''''Haha, congrattions Lan Hong. It looks like your ''floating cloud sect'' managed to at least get the 4th ce this time.''''
Chapter 83 - 83 Challenge
Chapter 83 - 83 Challenge
Shun Long was shocked to find out that he had only won the 4th ce.
Based on his estimations, unless the 3 geniuses from the other 3 sects didn''t head in the inner region at all and only hunted for sect points in the outer region, they shouldn''t have been able to gather more points than him.
Lan Hong however, looked at Hui Zhong with a mix of both anger and disdain as he said
''''You really have the face to speak? Old man, I definitely didn''t expect you to be so shameless. You actually had the disciples of your sect hand their survival points to your grandson and you still think that your family has any face left ?''''
Hui Zhong wasn''t angered at all by Grand Elder Lan Hong''s insults. Instead he looked at him gloatingly as he said
''''This is called strategy old Lan. What do you know? If you were smart enough, you would have done the same as well as the rest of us.''''
Shun Long finally understood what had happened.
''''Master, these people are too shameless!'''' Little ck felt indignation for Shun Long.
Shun Long however simply shook his head as he responded to him
''''Although you could call them unfair or shameless, the fault still lies with the ''floating cloud sect''. After all, for the other 3 sects to do the same thing under the ''floating cloud sect''s'' nose is truly shameful for them. However, I do feel that it''s a pity that I can''t get my hands on that rank 3 ''Blood Vermilion fruit''.''''
The ''Blood Vermilion Fruit'' would have really helped Shun Long advance in his cultivation by quite a bit.
Grand Elder Lan Hong looked at the group of the ''floating cloud sect'' and said
''''We will wait here for 2 more days. If no disciple shows up after these 2 days, we will assume that they have died inside and will return back to the ''floating cloud city''.''''
After hearing Lan Hong''smand, the disciples set up camp outside the Demonic Mountain region.
However, it seemed as if Shun Long was really among thest people that had left the region. In the next 2 days, very few disciples actually showed up, and Grand Elder Lan Hong summoned everyone to return back to the ''floating cloud sect''.
''''I expected less than 10.000 disciples toe back alive from this ''outer sect examination''. I guess they are lucky that we had to cancel it ahead of time, or there would definitely have been more than just 20.000 that died this time.'''' Elder Zhu was chatting with Elder Lu as they were heading back to the ''floating cloud sect''.
Their return journey was just as peaceful as the first one and 7 dayster, they had arrived outside the ''floating cloud city''.
The people inside the city were startled to see the huge group of new disciples returning back to the sect.
Usually, the ''outer sect examination'' was extremely bloody and only half of the disciples that set out would return alive. However, this year should have been even bloodier as it was the ''joint sect exam'' between the 4 sects. And yet, more than half of the disciples had returned back alive, and most importantly, ahead of time.
Not even a month had passed since the Grand Elder''s group had set out. And yet they had already returned back to the sect. Something must have definitely happened.
The disciples inside the Demonic Mountain region that participated in the sect exam, had also asked the Grand Elder why they were called out prematurely, but the Elder simply didn''t answer.
After entering the city, Elder Lu Cheng called for the disciples to disperse while he had Shun Long, Guan Hong, and a female disciple called Fen Liqing that was also at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, toe to the administration building with him to obtain their rewards.
Following the Grand Elder and the other 2 Elders, Shun Long soon arrived in front of the huge ''Administration Building''. Inside, the disciples hurriedly bowed to the Grand Elder who directly asked to meet Administrator Feng.
A middle-aged man could be seen running from the distance, as he soon arrived in front of the Grand Elder and politely greeted
''''Greetings to the Grand Elder.''''
The Grand Elder, Lan Hong nodded his head at Administrator Feng who looked at him puzzledly, obviously wondering why they had returned back to the sect so soon when he said
''''Xiao Feng, give them the prizes for the top 3. First ce is Shun Long, second ce is Guan Hong and third ce is Fen Liqing.'''' Lan Hong said as he introduced the disciples to Administrator Feng one by one.
It seemed that neither Lu Cheng, nor Administrator Feng whom Shun Long had met in the past realized who he was.
Administrator Feng handed Shun Long and the rest a silver ring, that was identical to his own. This was a spatial ring that only people with status could have in the sect. After transferring the sect points to their sect jades, Administrator Feng also handed 100 spirit stones to Shun Long as he said in an envious tone
''''Haa, 100 spirit stones is really not a small sum.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Administrator Feng without really paying much attention to his words when Grand Elder Lan Hong suddenly ordered them to leave as he had some matters to discuss with Administrator Feng.
Not just Shun Long and the rest, the entire 3rd floor of the ''Administration Building'' was quickly cleared from all the disciples. Only the Grand Elder, the Administrator and the 2 Elders were left inside.
As they left the building, Guan Hong turned his head at Shun Long and said
''''I don''t know where you came from or how you gathered so many sect points, but I have my eye on you now. You better not be aughingstock and forfeit when I challenge you in the arena in the uing days.''''
Shun Long looked at Guan Hong inquiringly, but Guan Hong simply snorted and left. Fen Liqing also cupped her fists at Shun Long before she went on her own way.
Shun Long then, decided to rent a room in the most expensive pavilion inside the ''outer city'', the
''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
Chapter 84 - 84 Subduing the Heaven swallowing vine
Chapter 84 - 84 Subduing the ''Heaven swallowing vine''
The ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' wasn''t only a restaurant, but disciples could also rent rooms to stay there if they had the required sect point.
The Pavilion had 6 floors overall. However, only the first 3 could be used to dine. The other 3 were reserved for the disciples who decided to stay there.
Walking towards the east of the city, Shun Long quickly arrived in front of the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''. The pavilion was actually located just a 10 minute walk away from the arena as well.
Walking through the pavilion''s golden gates, Shun Long was soon greeted by a male waiter who asked him to take his order.
Shun Long however shook his head as he said
''''I am here to rent a room''''
The waiter was startled. Rarely would anyonee to the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'' to rent a room. It wasn''t that their rooms were of low quality. No, it was simply a difference in price.
A room in a random inn anywhere in the ''floating cloud city'' would cost you anywhere from 4 to 8 sect points for a month''s stay. The ''Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion'' however, priced its rooms starting at 100 sect points for each month.
The waiter who looked like he seemed to be in his early twenties, looked at Shun Long as he nodded his head and said
''''Each room in our pavilion''s fourth floor costs 100 sect points for a month''s stay. The fifth floor rooms are priced at 150 sect points a month while the rooms on the sixth floor cost 200 sect points.
Of course, the rooms on the sixth floor are much better than the rooms at the fifth or the fourth floor. Our pavilion had a rank 1 silver grade formation master personally inscribe runes to every room on the sixth floor, making cultivation inside them to be much fasterpared to any other ce inside the outer sect.''''
''''Oh?'''' Shun Long was intrigued as he then said
''''I''m curious to see how good a room inscribed with the runes of a rank 1 silver grade formation master actually is''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long took out his ''sect identifying jade'' and transferred 200 sect points to the waiter.
The waiter bowed as he led Shun Long towards the sixth floor. Someone who could pay 200 sect points to rent a room for one month definitely wasn''t a nobody.
Arriving on the fourth floor, Shun Long only saw closed doorspared to the previous 3 floors where there were tables and chairs everywhere on the floor.
On the fifth floor, the number of rooms seemed to be less than those of the fourth floor, while when Shun Long arrived on the sixth floor, he only saw 6 doors.
The waiter looked at Shun Long and said
''''Dear guest, you only have to put your ''sect identifying jade'' on the door and it will recognize you as the owner of the room for the next one month.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he pressed his sect jade on top of the door, and after a small buzzing noise sounded, the door opened to reveal a luxurious room inside.
Seeing that Shun Long had opened the door, the waiter bowed and left the floor.
Entering inside the room, Shun Long was stunned by its interior.
Although the qi inside the room wasn''t as good as the inner region of the Demonic Mountain region, it was almost on par with the ''safe area'' there.
The room had a big bed in the middle while from the wooden window on the wall, Shun Long could even see the arena that was close to the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
There were even 2 special rooms inside, one specially made for formation masters while the other one was for alchemists.
The room for formation masters had arge hammer as well as a small knife along with some other stuff inside it, while the room for alchemists had a pinnacle rank 3 cauldron that was actually on par with Shun Long''s own.
Ignoring everything else, Shun Long directly sat cross-legged on the bed as he sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time''.
In the 9 days that Shun Long stayed outside of the Demonic Mountain region, he had already reached the peak of rank 8 in qi condensation and was just a step away from the 9th rank.
Since he wasn''t in a secluded environment though, he hadn''t dared to mess with the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' these days, and had simply let little ck absorb the pure qi that the vine was emitting.
Now however, Shun Long sat down as his mind entered the ''Stone of Time''.
Sending his spiritual strength towards the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', Shun Long noticed that the vine immediately turned to absorb his spiritual strength as if it was some sort of food.
This was the way for Shun Long to connect with the vine. Sending his spiritual strength to it, would let the vine be more familiar with Shun Long.
The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' could absorb almost every kind of energy and turn them into pure qi.
And yet it felt like Shun Long was trying to fill a bottomless hole no matter how much spiritual strength he was sending in.
After a full hour, the vine finally stopped sapping his spiritual strength as it becamepletely docile to him. Even with Shun Long''s strength though that was on par with a rank 3 alchemist''s, after a full hour he waspletely spent as he lied down on the bed.
Little ckughed after seeing that the vine inside the ''Stone of Time'' had now bepletely obedient and said happily
''''Congrattions master! This is a true ''heavenly treasure'' that will surely raise our strength. It was truly a waste for that ''silver-winged roc'' to hold on to such a priceless treasure. After absorbing some qi in these 9 days I can already feel that I am close to another breakthrough, and my strength will definitely reach the peak of rank 4 by then.''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard little ck''s words and after sitting cross-legged for a couple of hours to recover his spent spiritual strength, he mumbled to himself
''''Little ck, let''s see the effects of the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' now.''''
Chapter 85 - 85 The Heaven swallowing vines effects
Chapter 85 - 85 The Heaven swallowing vine''s effects
Little ck''s eyes shone as he heard Shun Long''s words, while Shun Long sent a mental order to the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' to start absorbing the qi in the air around him.
Shun Long knew that the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' had a lot of qi inside it that it had absorbed over the years, and every 30 years it would usually discharge it in the Demonic Mountain region. Now however that Shun Long had taken the vine from the central mountain and had formed a mental connection with it, he could choose when the vine would discharge this pure qi.
However, Shun Long didn''t want to have the vine discharge its qi recklessly like that. If the ''silver-winged roc'' could control the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' and slowly absorb the qi for itself instead of having it discharge it all in the environment of the Demonic Mountain region, the roc would have long since broken through to the 5th rank.
Shun Long didn''t touch the qi reserves that the vine had inside it. He decided that it was better to use that qi when he was about to break through the earth grade.
The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' then started absorbing the qi around Shun Long.
During this time, Shun Long could feel that the vine was practically filtering the qi, condensing it more and more before it released it inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long activated the ''Monarch''s Domain'' as he started absorbing the pure qi that the vine was releasing.
As time went by, Shun Long absorbed more and more qi as he tried to create his 73rd ball of qi and enter the early rank 9 in qi condensation.
The more that Shun Long advanced in his cultivation, the harder it became to advance into the next level. However, with the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', the qi he was absorbing was simply iparable to before.
Soon, 12 hours had passed since Shun Long had started refining the qi that the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' was incessantly producing when a small popping sound could be heard from his body as he was still circting the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
In just 6 hours he had entered the early rank 9 in qi condensation.
However, Shun Long didn''t stop refining the qi even after his breakthrough. Instead, he started absorbing even more of it.
After 12 hours had passed since he had started cultivating, Shun Long had entered the middle rank 9 and yet his cultivation still didn''t show any signs of stopping.
Almost a full dayter Shun Long had finally created his 81st ball of qi, reaching the peak of qi condensation.
Only then did Shun Long stop absorbing any more qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
There was no way to create another ball of qi as the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' above his head was already full.
However, after creating the 81st ball of qi, Shun Long noticed that there were inconsistencies in his previous balls of qi. The balls of qi he had created towards thetter parts of the qi condensation, were much purer and brighter than the earlier ones.
To reach the earth grade, Shun Long had to condense all his previous balls of qi into one.
However, the strength of his first ball of qi when he reached the earth grade would be dependent on the strength of his previous balls of qi before they were merged together.
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long started absorbing qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' once more.
He was ready to purify all of his previous balls of qi, bringing them at the same quality as thest one he had condensed.
As Shun Long had started purifying his qi balls one by one, the entire ''floating cloud sect''s'' upper echelons had another meeting inside the main hall of the inner city.
These meetings, where every high-ranked Elder of the sect was summoned, were supposed to be extremely rare and unless the sect was facing an extremely serious situation they would never happen. And yet, around 2 months ago, they had started their first meeting thanks to the ''mysterious expert'' who had appeared in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and now, they started the second one.
The sect master Liu Jian was sitting on the main seat, while everyone''s eyes had turned towards Grand Elder Lan Hong, the bald Elder Zhu and Elder Lu Cheng.
''''Grand Elder, what happened for you to summon another sect meeting?''''
''''Grand Elder, weren''t you supposed to be in the Demonic Mountain region? Did something happen there?''''
''''I heard that Grand Elder brought back more than 40.000 disciples this time from the ''outer sect examination''.''''
Discussions and questions were being thrown around the hall when Liu Jian raised his hand and said
''''Silence''''
The discussions immediately stopped as Liu Jian continued
''''The Grand Elder must definitely have a good reason to summon everyone for a sect meeting.''''
Everyone looked at Lan Hong who then started exining the situation at the Demonic Mountain region.
At the same time, the exact same situation was taking ce in the other 3 sects as well. The representatives of the 4 sects that had been in the Demonic Mountain region this time, had been startled by the ''silver winged roc''s'' cry. If something had happened to the roc, then perhaps the sects would have a chance to head to the central mountain and get a hold of the treasure there.
After Lan Hong had exined everything, there was absolute silence in the main hall as everyone''s eyes had turned to Liu Jian on the main seat.
Liu Jian wore a serious expression on his face as he said
''''I will have to discuss this with Da Chao and the rest. This is a serious matter that requires a lot of thought. Even if something had happened to that ''silver winged roc'' and caused it to be injured, there are still other middle rank 4 magic beasts inside the central region. And in case that the roc is actually alright, then stepping foot in that hell hole will mean death for us.''''
The Elders wore serious expressions as well, when they heard Liu Jian''s words, who was ready to meet up with the other sect masters and discuss about what course of action they should take.
After all, a single ''floating cloud sect'' couldn''t swallow the entire Demonic Mountain region, no matter how big their appetite was.
Almost a month quickly went by while Shun Long was in seclusion and serious changes had urred in the sect, when he finally opened his eyes.
Chapter 86 - 86 Sharing the pills
Chapter 86 - 86 Sharing the pills
After one month, Shun Long had finally purified all of his 80 balls of qi, bringing them to the level of the 81st. This was the absolute peak of qi condensation.
His cultivation now was just a step from entering the earth grade, while his strength would probably easily destroy any peak rank 3 earth grade cultivator.
Although Shun Long was just a step away from reaching the earth grade, he was first nning to make a trip to the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and purchase some ingredients, before attempting his breakthrough.
Just as Shun Long reached the third floor of the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'' however, the familiar silhouette of a fat young man dressed in green robes could be seen rushing at him before that person asked in a somewhat confused voice
''''Bro-brother?''''
Shun Long looked at this person and smiled as he nodded his head.
This familiar person was, fatty Fu and he was looking at Shun Long slightly dazed.
Thest time that these 2 had met, was 2 months before the ''outer sect examination''. However, just before the sect examination had started, Shun Long had refined the rank 2 ''inner destruction pill'' and his body had changed from the inside out, bringing a huge transformation to his outer appearance.
Shocked, fatty Fu looked at him from close up and after making sure that he was truly Shun Long he said
''''Brother, your face seems to have... changed?''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he smiled and walked towards an empty table. He gestured for fatty to sit as well before calling over a waiter and saying
''''Bring us 2 jars of ''Mystifying Fragrance wine''. I''m also staying in a room on the 6th floor. Here are 4400 sect points, for the wine and for 2 months of payment for my room in advance.''''
The waiter bowed as he received the 4400 sect points and hurried to bring Shun Long''s order, while fatty Fu was looking at Shun Long with a wide open mouth before he asked
''''Brother, where did you find so many sect points?''''
Shun Long smiled as he opened his jar of wine, before he started exining to fatty Fu that he had gotten first ce in the ''outer sect examination''.
Aside from some secrets that involved little ck, the central region, the ''Profound earth fruit'', and of course the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', Shun Long recounted most of his experiences inside the Demonic Mountain Region to fatty Fu.
Nevertheless, fatty Fu was still extremely shocked when he heard that Shun Long had taken first ce in the sect on this ''outer sect examination''.
''''Brother... I still can''t believe that you managed to get first ce when there were even peak rank 3 earth grade disciples participating. Lu Wen will definitely be happy when he finds out about this too. Right, have you been in seclusion since you returned from the Demonic Mountain region?''''
Shun Long nodded his head at fatty Fu''s sudden question, who then continued
''''In that case, let me fill you in on some things that you probably are unaware of. First of all, Lu Wen is in seclusion after his grandfather gave him the ''golden eagle spirit nourishing pill'' and if he sessfully refines it, he will probably be on par with rank 3 bronze grade alchemists.''''
Fatty then took a sip from his wine before leaning towards the table and lowering his voice she continued speaking
''''The next 2 things I''m going to tell you are extremely important. Firstly, I heard from my father that the ''floating cloud sect'' is going to ally with the other 3 sects that were in the Demonic Mountain region this time, and asking for the help of another very strong power, they want to probe the Demonic Mountain region. But since this mostly affects the upper echelons of the sect, it is useless for us to worry about it.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as fatty Fu continued
''''Remember how I told you that you need to enter the top 100 ranks in the arena if you wish to have a chance to be an inner disciple? Well, my father said that in the next few months, a secret realm will open and that it''s the chance of a lifetime for us. There will be many precious treasures inside, and even some Elders of the sect will enter along with the disciples. However although all of the inner disciples will be able to enter this secret realm, only the top 100 from the outer disciples will be allowed to enter.''''
As he finished speaking, fatty Fu took out 2 bottles of pills as he pushed them towards Shun Long and said
''''These are half of the rank 2 ''Congealing Qi pills'' that my father has given me to reach the peak of the earth grade. Although half of them won''t be enough to reach the peak of the earth grade, I hope that after refining them, you can reach at least thete stages of the earth grade brother. Then we can enter the secret realm together.''''
Fatty Fu saw that Shun Long didn''t ept the 2 bottles of pills yet and said
''''If you consider me your brother then you have to ept the pills no matter what.''''
Shun Long however, shook his head as he smiled and simply said
''''Thank you brother''''
He then pushed the bottle of pills back to fatty Fu as he said
''''It''s because I truly consider you my brother that I won''t ept these.''''
Shun Long now clearly understood fatty''s character even more than before.
This gesture from fatty couldn''t be counted with money or with anything else.
This was genuine brotherhood.
Shun Long however, had the ''Heaven swallowing vine, as well as enough medicinal ingredients to refine pills. Thus he had to give a good reason why he couldn''t ept the ''Congealing qi pills'', one that Fu Li couldn''t deny
''''Don''t misunderstand fatty, I will definitely do my best to enter the top 100 in the arena ranks in the next few months. The truth is however, that I am mainly a body refining cultivator, so pills that aren''t specifically meant for body refiners can''t help me advance. Don''t worry, soon I will be able to concoct some rank 2 ''Bone Tempering pills'' or even some ''Marrow cleansing pills'' for myself.''''
Fatty Fu was stunned when Shun Long continued
''''I need to make a trip to the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and purchase a few ingredients before entering seclusion once again.''''
Chapter 87 - 87 Meeting Liu Mei again
Chapter 87 - 87 Meeting Liu Mei again
Fatty Fu then stood up as he quickly gulped down the rest of the wine in his jar before saying
''''Great! I also wanted to see my Jinjing.''''
Shun Long looked at him questioningly when fatty suddenly cleared his throat and said
Cough
''''What I meant was that it''s better for me to apany you and help you get a discount on the things that you want to purchase brother. This is what brothers are for, right?''''
Shun Long snorted, before also cracking a smile seeing fatty''s antics and said
''''Okay then, let''s go together. Also, who is that Jinjing of yours?''''
As they walked towards the ''Treasure Pavilion'' fatty Fu puffed out his chest as he heard Shun Long''s question and responded proudly
''''It''s my beautiful fiance. You have also seen her before, back in the ''Alchemist''s Guild''.''''
Shun Long tried to think for a while, and as he recalled the time when he had visited the ''Alchemist''s Guild'', a crazy idea swept through his mind as he looked at fatty Fy and asked in a voice filled with disbelief
''''Fatty.. you... don''t tell me that your fiance is Lan Jinjing from the ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
Fatty Fu startedughing proudly as he said
''''Of course, who do you think this young master is? Her Lan and my Fu family have had a great rtionship for many years.
Actually, there are 5 main families that have the most power in the ''floating cloud sect''. My Fu family and the Lan family are among those 5. The other 3 are the Lu family which Lu Wenes from, the Meng family, andstly the most powerful one is the family of the sect master, the Liu family. Every family has many powerful experts and most of them are high-rank Elders inside the sect.''''
Just as fatty Fu finished speaking, they had already arrived outside of the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
As soon as they entered, the staff of the pavilion greeted fatty Fu respectfully as ''auctioneer Fu''.
Fu Li happily epted everyone''s greetings as he nodded while he took Shun Long deeper inside the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
After arriving on the second floor, fatty didn''t stop as he continued straight towards the third.
The third floor of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' was exclusive only for people with high status inside the sect. Of course, as the heir to the Fu family, fatty Fu had no problem going upstairs and bringing people with him. Shun Long could also enter by himself using the VIP card that he had received from Yin Xing, but since he wasn''t wearing his ck robes he simply followed fatty Fu.
Entering the third floor, Shun Long noticed that the items on disy here were much better than the previous 2 floors.
There were even parts of rank 3 magic beasts that were for sale. Shun Long even saw the beast core of a rank 3 ''red-scaled python'' being sold for 37.000 sect points.
Fatty Fu looked at Shun Long and said
''''The best things of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' are always in this floor. There are even some things that you may not find in the auctions here.''''
Fatty Fu followed Shun Long as he looked for medicinal herbs.
Stopping in front of a certain counter, Shun Long was slightly taken aback as he looked at the price of a certain rank 3 medicinal herb
''''Ohh, a rank 3 ''purple fragrant grass''? I will take this stalk''''
Shun Long said to the young man behind the counter whose eyes lit up as he heard him. Although the ''purple fragrant grass was a rank 3 medicinal herb, the truth was that nobody wanted to purchase it. Hence, even though it was a rank 3 medicinal ingredient, the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had priced it at only 1000 sect points.
The reason that nobody purchased the ''purple fragrant grass'' was because it was practically useless for alchemy. It couldn''t be used as the main ingredient to concoct pills, and it could only be used as a side ingredient to improve the pill''s fragrance, hence why no one had bothered to buy it. Shun Long however, had some special ns for it as soon as he saw the grass.
Looking around the third floor, Shun Long also found some more medicinal ingredients that interested him, and after 2 hours, he had spent almost 15.000 sect points.
As Shun Long and fatty Fu were looking around the third floor, the door of one of the private rooms opened, and a pair of beautiful women attracted everyone''s attention as they walked side by side.
Both women were around the same height as Shun Long and they seemed to be wearing the green robes of an inner sect disciple. Behind the 2 women was a handsome young man in green clothes around 19 years old, who seemed to be fawning over one of the 2 women.
Shun Long too had turned his attention towards them as well and surprisingly, both women were also looking towards him and fatty Fu.
Fatty Fu smiled brightly as he eximed happily
''''Jinjing!''''
These 2 were the most beautiful women in the ''floating cloud city'', Lan Jinjing and Liu Mei.
Lan Jinjing was a bit annoyed as she looked at fatty Fu, but when she thought that he could take care of the guy pestering her senior sister, her eyes lit up as she told him
''''Fu Li,e here.''''
Fatty Fu smiled brightly as he hurriedly grabbed Shun Long''s and brought him along to introduce him.
''''Brother, this is my fiance, Jinjing. Jinjing, this is my brother Shun. You and sister Liu have also briefly met him before at the ''Alchemist''s Guild''. ''''
Lan Jinjing and Liu Mei were astonished to see fatty Fu bringing someone with him. As the young master of the Fu family, Fu Li didn''t have that many people that he called friends and even fewer that he called brothers. Given his frank character, bringing someone along with him, and especially one that he called brother meant that he must have a really good rtionship with this person.
Lan Jinjing and Liu Mei both scrutinized Shun Long with their gazes trying to see when they had met this handsome man before. Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s gazes met and he was once again mesmerized by her beautiful ck eyes and peerlessly beautiful face.
Liu Mei was also stunned for a second as her gaze was attracted by Shun Long''s deep eyes when a sudden voice came from the young man behind her drawing everyone''s attention as he said
''''Fu Li stop spouting nonsense. How could just any stray dog know sister Mei.''''
Chapter 88 - 88 Liu Meis troubles
Chapter 88 - 88 Liu Mei''s troubles
Everyone''s attention had turned to this young man who was looking at Shun Long with a hostile gaze. He had caught him looking at Liu Mei but what had frustrated him even more, was that Liu Mei seemed to be dazed for a second looking at him as well.
The cold and proud Liu Mei who had never showed him any special attention, had her gaze glued to another man.
Fatty Fu was the first to react as he looked at this man and in a voice full of anger he said
''''Meng Shengyi, you pathetic bootlicker how dare you insult my brother?! Why is trash like you even following sister Liu and my Jinjing anyway?''''
The young master of the Meng family was furious after hearing fatty Fu''s insulting words, but before he could even respond to him, Liu Mei''s cold voice sounded as she said
''''Young master Meng, please don''t call me sister Mei as if we are intimate together. You and I barely know each other.''''
Liu Mei was extremely annoyed by Meng Shengyi''s words. Although he had asionally pestered her privately calling her sister Mei even though she had expressed her dislike numerous times, calling her like that in public was almost hinting that they were closer than they really are. However, although Liu Mei disliked Meng Shengyi, she had her own personal problems as well.
Lan Jinjing however gave a thumbs up to fatty Fu secretly as she then said
''''Senior sister, I had an appointment with Fu Li today can you please apany me?''''
Liu Mei nodded her head at Lan Jinjing as they followed behind Fu Li who was heading with Shun Long towards one of the private rooms in the back.
Meanwhile, Meng Shengyi was still like a statue in the middle of the third floor, as everyone watched him being left alone.
His face had turned scarlet, unknown if he was embarrassed or angry as he looked at Liu Mei''s and Lan Jinjing''s back thoughtfully before he turned to leave the floor while he thought to himself
''''Liu Mei, you ungrateful bitch. I have been chasing you for over a year and yet you still refuse to acknowledge me even after all of my sincerity? Watch how I make you pay in the future!''''
As Meng Shengyi left the third floor of the ''Treasure Pavilion'', Fu Li and Shun Long along with the 2 girls had just entered in one of the private rooms near the back. As soon as the door closed, Lan Jinjing startedughing as she said
''''Fu Li, good job. Although you can be considered azy pig most of the time and grandpa Fu is right to beat you, you really made me happy today seeing Meng Shengyi''s bitter face like that.''''
Liu Mei was also smiling as she heard that while Fu Li had a serious expression on his face as he asked Lan Jinjing
''''Meng Shengyi can be a real problem for sister Liu though. He has been trying to court her for such a long time, and his father has even asked for permission from the sect master. Although the sect master said that he will consider this matter, wasn''t today equivalent of pping Meng Shengyi in the face?''''
Lan Jinjing seemed as if she wanted to say something, but she then looked warily at Shun Long before she threw a look at fatty Fu.
Fatty Fu understood her meaning as he said
''''This is my brother Shun Long. Jinjing you don''t have to look warily at him. You had also seen him when he hade in conflict inside the ''Alchemist''s Guild'' with that Bu Duyi. Anyways, he is my brother, you don''t have to worry about anything and can speak freely.''''
Lan Jinjing and Liu Mei turned to look at Shun Long in astonishment as they suddenly remembered that scene from 4 months ago in the ''Alchemist''s Guild''.
Liu Mei then smiled as she looked at Shun Long and said
''''So that''s why you looked somewhat familiar.''''
Seeing Liu Mei''s beautiful smile Shun Long felt his heart stirring for a few moments. However, despite her enchanting appearance and even though he had a rtively good opinion of her, Shun Long wasn''t going to judge a woman simply based on her looks.
Lan Jinjing nodded her head and looked at fatty Fu as she said
''''Since no one of us here have any connections with the Meng family I will speak freely. Although Meng Shengyi is an eyesore and has pestered senior sister a lot, we have put up with him since his Meng family has a good rtionship with their Liu family. However, today he dered to senior sister, that he will bring his father and officially ask for senior sister''s hand in marriage in a few months. Senior sister said that she doesn''t intend to marry him and yet all he said was that it doesn''t matter as they can learn to love each other in the future.''''
As soon as Lan Jinjing finished speaking, silence permeated the room for a while until Liu Mei looked at Lan Jinjing and said
''''It''s okay, I will return and speak to my father about this. I think that he will understand''''
''''But senior sister...''''
''''No need to worry, I understand what you want to say, but you also know the position that I am in.''''
Lan Jinjing nodded her head and didn''t continue to speak.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long''s eyes and noticed that his eyes were also looking at hers with hints of curiosity as well as interest inside them.
Liu Mei blushed and bowed her head at him as she said
''''I apologize if I have caused you any trouble.''''
Shun Long shook his head as he smiled at her while Fu Li responded happily
''''No trouble Sister Liu, no trouble at all.''''
''''Of course she didn''t cause you any trouble Fu Li.''''
Lan Jinjing looked at Fu Li as she spoke matter-of-factly before hooking her arm around Liu Mei''s.
After the 2 women bade their farewells and left hurriedly to find Liu Mei''s father, Fu Li turned his head to look at Shun Long and asked
''''Brother Shun, have you fallen for sister Liu?''''
Chapter 89 - 89 Undercurrents in the floating cloud sect
Chapter 89 - 89 Undercurrents in the ''floating cloud sect''
Shun Long smiled as he shook his head and said
''''I don''t know if I have fallen for her but I am definitely interested in her.''''
''''Haha, but I think that sister Liu has definitely fallen for brother Shun. I saw how her gaze was locked at you the entire time we were speaking.
Haha, congrattions brother. I as your brother will definitely support you.''''
However, fatty Fu''s expression turned serious as he remembered something and said
''''However, brother if you really want to court sister Liu then it will definitely be very hard. Putting aside Meng Shengyi that piece of trash from the Meng family, sister Liu has many admirers even inside the inner sect. And although she definitely seemed to be interested in you, her opinion actually won''t matter at all.''''
Shun Long looked at fatty Fu puzzledly, who then continued exining
''''Right now, if it''s true that Meng Shengyi said that he will bring his father and propose to sister Liu''s father, then he will definitely ept. Sister Liu''s father is the sect master and his Liu family has always had good rtions with the Meng family.''''
Shun Long then couldn''t help but ask
''''Even if they have good rtions and even if her father is the sect master, is it worth to sacrifice his daughter''s happiness if she doesn''t want to marry someone? After all, since the Liu family is the strongest in the ''floating cloud sect'', then the Meng family shouldn''t be able to pressure the sect master into marrying his daughter''''
Fatty Fu shook his head as he then said
''''You are right brother. However, things aren''t as simple as they seem. In reality, although sister Liu Mei''s status in the sect is second to no one as the daughter of the sect master, there is a known rumor going around inside the powerful families of the sect.
It is said that sister Liu''s elder brother hates her a lot, since a little more than a year ago, when his best friend, the third son of the ''Flying sword sect''s'' sect master came to ask for her hand in marriage, she directly refused him saying that she doesn''t want to marry him and that she will be the one who will choose who she marries.
Ever since then, Liu Changpun, sister Liu''s elder brother, has had very strained rtionsh.i.p.s with the ''Flying sword sect''.
Since sister Liu''s elder brother is the son of the sect master''s first wife and he is also going to be the next sect master, his opinion is taken very seriously by the sect master. Because of his extraordinary talent, the sect master views him even more importantly than the sect itself.
Meanwhile, although sister Liu is the child that the sect master had with his second wife, her status in the sect is far below her elder brother''s.
Lately, the Meng family is also said to havee very close to Liu Changpu as well, so if he really decides to intervene on Meng Shengyi''s behalf, considering how much the sect master listens to him, there is a very high chance that the marriage will actually go through.
''''Master, if you want this Liu girl, then you don''t really need to care about anyone and what they think. If worsees to worst then I cane out and destroy everyone here.''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard little ck''s suggestion and said as he looked at Fu Li
''''Fatty, do me a favor. I''m nning to enter seclusion so keep an eye on Liu Mei''s situation and if something really happens, send someone to let me know. The truth is that I am really interested in her and I don''t want someone else to get her.''''
''''Hahaha that''s the spirit. I was already going to keep an eye on the situation anyway. The truth is that my family as well as the Lu''s and the Lan''s don''t want for sister Liu to get married to the Meng family so if something really happens, they will all definitely oppose it. This concerns the bnce of power in the ''floating cloud sect'' after all.
Rest assured. If something really ends up happening then I will send someone to let you know brother.
Also, since I have told my grandfather about you, he said that he wants to meet this brother of mine who has such an amazing talent, so when you are free you shoulde with me to the inner city.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''Thank you brother. For now, I still have to enter seclusion and increase my strength if I want to reach the top 100 in the arena and enter the secret realm, but you can tell your grandfather that I will definitelye and visit in the future.''''
After bidding farewell to fatty, Shun Long decided to directly return to the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
As he entered his room, Shun Long sat down cross-legged on his bed and he seemed to have remembered something as he took a look inside the spatial ring that Administrator Feng had given to him as his reward.
The space inside this spatial ring wasn''t big, barely 10 square meters big and as expected, a ck dagger with small runes on its surface was inside it. It was obvious just from its aura that this dagger was a silver grade weapon.
''''I guess that''s the reward for entering the top 10, a weapon from a silver grade formation master. It''s too bad that I am not proficient in any weapons so this dagger is useless to me for now.''''
After putting the dagger back in his spatial ring Shun Long nted everything that he had purchased today from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' inside the ''Stone of Time'' before he said
''''Little ck, as I attempt to breakthrough to the earth grade this time, you should also try to breakthrough as well. The qi inside the ''Heaven swallowing vine is more than enough for both of us.''''
As Shun Long finished speaking he sent a mental message to the vine, to release part of its stored qi inside the ''Stone of Time''. Activating the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' Shun Long''s body greedily absorbed the pure qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' as he started his breakthrough.
Chapter 90 - 90 Breakthrough to the earth grade
Chapter 90 - 90 Breakthrough to the earth grade
The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' was constantly filling the ''Stone of Time'' with its pure qi, while Shun Long was greedily absorbing as much as his body could handle.
At the same time, in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', the 81 balls of qi were beingpressed again and again.
Shun Long''s aim was topress them all into one ball of qi that would contain even more power than the 81 ballsbined.
Shun Long was surprised to find out that, the pure qi from the vine was even more potent than what he had originally estimated.
Little ck also listened to Shun Long as he too started to absorb the qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' around him.
After 3 hours, little ck had absorbed nearly one-third of the pure qi inside the ''Stone of Time'', until he finally started his breakthrough to rank 4.
In reality little ck was close to breaking through even without the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', however, it would have taken him at least 2 more months to reach that point.
Meanwhile, inside Shun Long''s body, the 81 balls of qi had beenpressed down to just 3. The energy inside these 3 balls of qi was so powerful that Shun Long was finding it hard to keep them under control as he tried to merge them into one.
Sweat had started dripping from his head as he had now reached the most crucial phase of his breakthrough.
His mind was entirely focused on merging the 3 balls of qi into one.
This process required absolute focus and every second felt like an eternity. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes slowly turned into hours.
Almost one full day had passed and inside the ''Stone of Time'', above Shun Long''s head, there weren''t 3 white balls of qi in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' anymore. Instead only a small, silver-white ball was left in their ce.
This was the ball of qi made with the help of the pure qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', as well as the 81 balls of qi of the qi condensation stage.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to have any intentions to stop, as his body started absorbing the qi around him even more greedily.
A dayter, there seemed to be 2 identical silver-white balls of qi in the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shun Long''s cultivation was rising non-stop and 10 dayster he had already reached the peak of rank 1 in earth grade.
And yet, although the qi inside the ''Stone of Time'' had started to thin, Shun Long didn''t stop cultivating and a few dayster he had already reached the early rank 2.
Early rank 2... Middle rank 2... Peak rank 2... Early rank 3!
Half a month went by and Shun Long was now just a step away from the middle rank 3 in earth grade.
But what horrified Shun Long was the incredibly high requirements of the ''Monarch''s Hourss''. With every minor rank that he advanced, the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' required more and more qi.
Finally, 5 dayster another popping sound was heard from his body as his cultivation reached the middle rank 3.
Little ck who had long ago finished his breakthrough was staring at Shun Long with eyes shining brightly.
''''Nearly a month has passed and master has already reached the middle rank 3 in earth grade. However, it seems like the qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' has almost all been sucked dry by master.''''
A few hourster, Shun Long''s cultivation had already stabilized at the middle of rank 3 in earth grade as he opened his eyes.
However the moment that he opened his eyes, Shun Long felt a stinging pain while the ''Stone of Time'' started rotating inside his spiritual space.
Shun Long almost felt as if needles were piercing his eyes and yet he couldn''t even close them, while little ck could only look at him horrified without having any way to help him.
It took almost an hour for the pain to start subsiding and yet, there was still a numbing feeling in his eyes.
Turning his head to look at little ck inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long noticed that the ck dragon was looking at him tongue-tied.
Little ck watched the entire process as Shun Long''s eyes had turned into a golden color, while they were also emitting a faint blue light.
As Shun Long turned to look at little ck, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind where the ck dragon stood in front of him and said
''''Master! Your eyes- their color...''''
Five secondster, Shun Long''s eyes had turned back to normal, only to notice that little ck was looking at him, repeating the exact same words after just a few secondster
''''Master! Your eyes- their color...''''
Shun Long was stunned as a feeling of deja vu overcame him before he felt something akin to a small explosioning from his spiritual space.
It was at this moment that the ''Stone of Time'' had stopped rotating, and it radiated a horrifying suppressive aura that made even Little ck who had just experienced a major breakthrough feel like he was just an ant.
Scene after scene shed by Shun Long''s eyes, as they had unknowingly turned back to that golden color again.
A bit more than an hourter, Shun Long woke up and sent his consciousness back to his body before he sat up from his bed.
Little ck who saw that he had finally woken up then asked
''''Master, what happened to your eyes earlier? Are you okay?''''
Although Shun Long''s eyes had turned back to normal now, little ck wouldn''t forget that they had changed colors earlier.
Shun Long was ecstatic as he thought of his new ability and exined to little ck
''''Don''t worry, I''m okay. I just didn''t expect that the ''Stone of Time'' would have such a gift for me as soon as I advanced to the earth grade.''''
Chapter 91 - 91 Future eyes
Chapter 91 - 91 Future eyes
Little ck was confused as Shun Long then said
''''Take a look at my eyes''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long circted his qi to flow into his eyes.
His eyes immediately turned golden and Shun Long then mumbled
''''Master, what is this?''''
Almost at the same time, little ck also said
''''Master what is this?''''
The ck dragon was stunned for a second, until a horrifying thought shed through his mind and his breathing suddenly became faster.
Shun Long saw that little ck had an idea of what was happening, but he wasn''t nning on keeping it a secret from him anyway so he exined in a serious tone
''''I can glimpse into the future''''
As soon as these words left his mouth, they were akin to an explosion as they reached little ck''s ears, making the dragon unable to even speak.
Shun Long who saw little ck''s reaction continued
''''When my eyes turn golden I can glimpse about 5 seconds ahead into the future. If used properly, this ability can even be stronger than my ''Monarch''s Domain''.''''
Little ck nodded his head at Shun Long''s words as he said
''''Master, this ability will definitely be much stronger than your ''Monarch''s Domain''.''''
Just thinking about the possible uses of this ability, both Shun Long and little ck were trembling with excitement.
Shun Long then asked little ck with a hint of expectation in his tone
''''Little ck what about your breakthrough? Did you seed?''''
The ck dragon roared as he spread his wings and revealed his aura that had reached the early rank 4.
Thankfully little ck was still inside the ''Stone of Time'' and his aura was contained inside it or else the entire sect would have been rmed.
Then he said proudly as he looked at Shun Long
''''I have already reached the early rank 4 master. If I were to fight that ''silver-winged roc'' again, I am more than eighty percent confident that I could beat it.''''
Shun Long was happy that little ck managed to increase his strength as well, and after sitting down and thinking seriously for a bit he decided
''''I can still advance my strength while I let the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' recharge the pure qi inside it but, it''s better if I get ustomed to my current strength first.
I can take this chance to speed up the maturity of the ''Profound earth fruit'', the ''purple fragrant grass'' and the other medicinal herbs, and then refine the pill I need.''''
As Shun Long sorted out his thoughts, he sat cross-legged on his bed and sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'', in the ce where Little ck stayed, and the ''Heavenly swallowing vine'' as well as the rest of his medicinal herbs were stored.
As his consciousness entered inside, Shun Long was stunned.
Somehow, the space inside had grown from 30 square meters, all the way to 300.
Little ck noticed the stunned Shun Long and said
''''Right, master, I noticed that the space here grewrger as soon as your cultivation entered the earth grade.''''
Shun Long was happy that the space inside had actually increased. With little ck practically living inside here, the ''Heavenly swallowing vine'' and all the nted medicinal herbs, as well as the dozens of rank 3 beast corpses, there really wasn''t any more room left here before. But now, Shun Long could nt as many medicinal herbs he wanted, or store magic beast corpses without worrying about the space inside.
Sitting on his bed, Shun Long used his qi to hasten the growth of the medicinal herbs inside. After 3 hours, his qi had beenpletely depleted but the effects on the medicinal herbs were simply astonishing.
After advancing to the middle of rank 3 in earth grade, Shun Long''s qi be it in quality or quantity was iparable to before.
Shun Long spent the next 3 days growing the medicinal herbs in the ''Stone of Time'', as well as getting ustomed to his increase in strength after his consecutive breakthroughs.
3 dayster, he had more than 5 ''Profound earth fruits'', while his stalks of ''purple fragrant grass'' had reached more than 20.
Shun Long took out a few big wooden barrels that he had purchased from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and sat down inside the special alchemy room as he started warming the peak rank 3 bronze grade medicinal cauldron that was ced inside.
Little ck was somewhat puzzled as he asked curiously
''''Master, why aren''t you using your own cauldron if you want to refine pills?''''
Shun Long shook his head as he said
''''My cauldron is too small to refine what I want this time.''''
Little ck curiously watched Shun Long who had just started his preparations.
As Shun Long sat down in front of the medicinal cauldron, more than a dozen rank 2 medicinal herbs, as well as almost all his stalks of ''purple fragrant grass'' were all neatly arranged in front of him in precisely 20 different sets.
After the cauldron was warm enough, Shun Long started throwing in the rank 2 medicinal herbs, adding the ''purple fragrant grass''st.
After advancing to the middle rank 3 in earth grade, Shun Long could easily refine rank 3 medicinal herbs like the ''purple fragrant grass''. He assumed that even the ''Profound earth fruit'' wouldn''t pose much of a problem either with his current spiritual strength that had advanced by leaps and bounds along with his cultivation.
Half an hourter, Shun Long opened the cauldron and a red colored fluid could be seen inside instead of a pill.
Little ck who saw this liquid immediately said
''''Master don''t worry, everyone fails in alchemy sometimes. There are no alchemists that can always seed every single time.''''
Shun Long however, didn''t seem disheartened at all. Instead he lifted the alchemy cauldron that was more than twice the size of his own, as he poured the red colored liquid in the wooden barrels.
Chapter 92 - 92 Arena challenge
Chapter 92 - 92 Arena challenge
After emptying the red liquid from the medicinal cauldron, Shun Long started refining again.
Half an hourter little ck was stunned as he saw the same result inside the cauldron for the second time. Following the same movements as before, Shun Long poured the red colored liquid inside the wooden barrel.
He continued this process 18 more times until 3 wooden barrels werepletely filled.
Shun Long''s entire room was now permeated by an intoxicating fragrant smell, that even wafted outside his room.
After sealing up the barrel tops, little ck was surprised to see Shun Long cing the barrels inside the ''Stone of Time'' as he buried them in the field along with his medicinal ingredients.
A fragrant smell assaulted little ck who was now looking expectantly at the 3 barrels.
Shun Long smiled as he saw the eager ck dragon and said
''''Although we will have to wait for a few days, I''m sure that the wait will be worth it.''''
Little ck nodded his head as he heard this, and he took a deep breath inhaling the lingering smell in the air. Now that the barrels were sealed, the intoxicating aroma had topped diffusing in the air.
Unknown to Shun Long, amotion had already started in the upper 4th and 5th levels of the ''Mystifying fragrance pavilion'' as people were now trying to locate the origin of this aroma.
Just as Shun Long stood up from his bed, his sect jade started shining as 2 words appeared on it
''Arena Challenge 689''
Shun Long''s eyes shone as he understood what this meant.
It was said that those ranked in the top 1000 in the arena, could directly ask for this kind of challenge once per week.
The challenged would then be notified by a message in their ''sect identifying jade'', stating the arena rank of the challenger.
As Shun Long opened the door of his room then, he saw a young man in yellow robes sitting on the ground, waiting outside.
The young man''s eyes shone as he saw Shun Long and he quickly sat up as he bowed and said
''''Senior brother, my name is Jie Chu. Young master Fu has sent me here to deliver a message to senior brother.''''
Shun Long guessed that the message would probably be about Liu Mei and Meng Shengyi as he then nodded his head and asked
''''What did the message say?''''
Jie Chu looked around to see if there was anyone spying on them before he lowered his voice as he said
''''The Meng family will ask for her hand in marriage after the secret realm closes.''''
As Jie Chu finished speaking, he bowed again and without another word he quickly left the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
Shun Long watched the disappearing Jie Chu and thought seriously for a while before he also left the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'' as he headed towards the arena.
''''Master, it looks like the Meng family must havee to some sort of agreement with Liu Changpun if they are going to make their move after the secret realm closes.''''
Shun Long agreed with little ck''s words and nodded his head while he kept walking towards the arena as he thought
''''There is definitely more to this situation than what meets the eye.''''
The arena was just a 10-minute walk from the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'' and soon, Shun Long had arrived in front of that huge building. Since there didn''t seem to be any important matches today, there wasn''t any huge crowd queuing up to enter inside either.
After entering the building, Shun Long first walked towards a counter with the words ''Registration'' above it.
A red-haired man was waiting there, and as soon as he saw Shun Long, his eyes lit up as he said
''''Surprised to see me?''''
Shun Long shook his head as he had already thought earlier of who his challenger would be. There were very few people that would specifically challenge him in the arena as he didn''t even have a rank here yet, and one of them was precisely Guan Hong.
Guan Hong looked at Shun Long who didn''t seem to show any shock and raised his voice as he said
''''Don''t tell me you are going to chicken out now that you know who the person that challenged you is?! Aren''t you the strongest who won first ce in the ''outer sect exam'' 2 months ago?''''
As Guan Hong had raised his voice intentionally, the disciples around them all turned their attention towards him and Shun Long.
''''So this is the person who took first ce in our sect in this ''outer sect examination''?''''
''''I heard that he is nothing much. This batch of new disciples is really weak.''''
''''I agree! I heard that even the person who got first ce from our ''floating cloud sect'', only managed to get the 4th ce in the overall rankings of this year''s joint sect exam.''''
Guan Hong''s expression turned somewhat ugly while Shun Long looked at him and nodded his head as he said
''''Don''t worry, I ept.''''
Then he turned his head to look at the female outer disciple who was in charge of the registration as he asked
''''Can you tell me the rules of the arena here?''''
The female disciple looked at Shun Long in a weird manner. Was this handsome young man going to fight in the arena for the first time? But the person who challenged him is at the top 700!
She smiled at Shun Long as she said
''''Firstly, you need to be registered in the arena if you want to participate in a fight. Please give me your ''sect identifying jade''.''''
As Shun Long handed his sect jade to that woman, he saw her pulling out a ck jade from the bottom of the counter as she ced it above Shun Long''s sect jade for a few breaths of time.
A light then came out from the ck jade as it entered Shun Long''s red jade. The woman then ced the ck jade at the bottom of the counter and as she returned Shun Long''s jade back she said
''''You are now officially registered in the arena.
If you want to participate in a fight, you are free to challenge anyone that is not at the top 100 rankings. A person can only refuse a challenge if he has already fought for that day.
Otherwise, refusing a challenge will count as a loss and the challenger can then take the ranking of the challenged.
Now please take a look behind you.''''
As she finished speaking the woman pointed at a big wall behind Shun Long that was filled with various names and numbers.
As Shun Long turned to look at this wall the woman exined
''''This is the top 100 arena rankings. Only the top 100 strongest outer disciples can be ranked here.''''
At the top of the rankings there were 3 names shining with a golden color that were different from the rest.
As Shun Long''s eyes nced over them, the person sitting at the top of the list shocked him.
''Rank 1
Name: Wen Zihao
Wins: 147 Losses: 2''
Chapter 93 - 93 Beating Guan Hong
Chapter 93 - 93 Beating Guan Hong
Both Guan Hong and Shun Long were now looking at the name at the top of the list in the arena rankings. When the woman saw them she started exining
''''That person is the strongest out of all the outer disciples, senior brother Wen Zihao. It is said that senior brother Wen is not only extremely talented, but he is also said to possess some kind of special physique that is unbeatable within the same level of cultivation.''''
Guan Hong nodded his head and it seemed that he already knew about this person.
Shun Long''s gaze moved downwards as he observed the other names as well. The person ranked second was named Kang Sun and although his wins and losses weren''t as exaggerated as Wen Zihao''s, he still had 110 wins and just 33 losses.
Shun Long kept observing the names in the rankings until he caught sight of a familiar name near the bottom of the list
''Rank 93
Name: Xiao Juyan
Wins: 36 Losses: 20''
The woman was also staring at the rankings as she said
''''Belonging to the top 100 is a form of honor for every outer sect disciple, and only the people ranked 101-200 are allowed to challenge them.
Putting the top 100 aside, even entering the top 1000 is exceedingly difficult.
The sect has millions of outer sect disciples but only about 200.000 of them have reached the earth grade and participate in the arena rankings.
To be in the top 1000 among 200.000 disciples, I''m sure you can guess how difficult that is.''''
As the woman finished speaking, Guan Hong looked at Shun Long provocatively as he puffed out his chest, before the woman continued exining
''''After entering the top 1000, one can issue an official challenge to another person directly through the sect identifying jades, even if the other person isn''t registered in the arena yet, just like senior brother Guan Hong did today. Cultivators at the top 1000 ranks and above, will also receive spirit stones from the sect every month depending on their rank.
I don''t know why senior brother Guan challenged you but I suggest that you forfeit the match. Anyway, in your case, since senior brother Guan is higher ranked than you, even after forfeiting you won''t drop in rank. Although you can''t cripple or kill others in the arena, idents have happened in the past as well.''''
Shun Long shook his head after hearing the woman''s words, and having understood the rules he turned to look at Guan Hong before saying
''''Let''s go then''''
Guan Hong was excited seeing that Shun Long didn''t choose to forfeit from the challenge and he followed him inside the arena.
Guan Hong and Shun Long both had to wait as there was already a battle going on inside.
10 minutester, as soon as the previous battle finished Guan Hong jumped at the center of the stage.
Some of the disciples in the audience immediately recognized him as they said
''''It''s senior brother Guan Hong.''''
''''Senior brother Guan? Who is that?''''
''''It''s senior brother Guan who got the second ce in the ''outer sect examination''. 6 days ago, he even beat senior brother Yu He and entered the top 1000 in the arena rankings.''''
''''The top 1000? Then, is his opponent today also in the top 1000?''''
''''I don''t know, I haven''t seen this person before.''''
After seeing Shun Long, none of the disciples in the crowd recognized him as they watched him enter the arena.
Shun Long who had just advanced to the middle rank 3 in earth grade was also excited to test out his new strength.
Guan Hong then, took out a saber from his spatial ring, and as he held it in front of his chest he said in a voice that oozed confidence
''''I had already warned you that the day woulde when I would challenge you in the arena, since you stole my first ce in the ''outer sect exam''. I''m sure that you epted today''s challenge thinking that you have a chance against me, but... it''s time to show you the difference between us.''''
As Guan Hong finished speaking hepletely unleashed his aura, and he surprisingly had already advanced to the early rank 4 of the earth grade in these 2 months that he had returned to the sect.
Shun Long wasn''t surprised at all by this and after looking at Guan Hong in the eyes as he finally spoke
''''You have been boasting since the first moment I saw you. You even challenged me in an arena fight after breaking through to rank 4 in earth grade because you felt that I stole your spotlight in the ''outer sect exam'' and you are certain that this is your chance to take it back right?''''
After taking a breath Shun Long continued
''''But what you don''t seem to understand is that from the start I didn''t even care about you. I have to admit that if this was 2 months ago, then you would definitely be a troublesome foe to deal with but now?''''
As Shun Long finished speaking, he unleashed his aura of a middle rank 3 earth grade cultivator that made Guan Hong suddenlyugh
''''Just a middle rank 3 earth grade disciple and you dare to stand in front of me? Brat, I don''t know what trick you used to get first ce in the sect exam but you have no chance against me.''''
Holding his saber with his right hand, Guan Hong rushed towards Shun Long as he sent sh after sh at him.
Shun Long''s eyes turned golden as he dodged left and right, avoiding Guan Hong''s shes by a hair''s breadth. Shun Long didn''t even activate his ''Monarch''s Domain'' as he tested his golden eyes. Seeing in the future and knowing every single attack that your opponent would do was a massive advantage.
2 minutester the crowd had started booing as they said
''''Why are you only dodging? Are you even a man?''''
''''Fight! Fight senior brother Guan fairly!''''
However, there were others within the crowd that argued with these people as they said
''''Fairly? Is dodging not a part of fighting?''''
''''That''s right idiot. Senior sister Tong is also an expert at dodging! Are you implying that senior sister isn''t fighting fairly in the arena?''''
As the arguments were getting more heated in the arena, Guan Hong had started to lose his patience when he sent a wide sh towards Shun Long''s face.
Shun Long''s golden eyes shone brightly with a faint of blue light inside them as he then tightly clenched his right fist and took a step back.
It was simply one step and yet Guan Hong''s shpletely missed its target.
Shun Long gathered his physical strength in his right fist, as he then sent a full-powered punch at Guan Hong''s ribs, that werepletely undefended when he had lost his bnce after his wide saber sh.
Crack
A cracking sound was heard from Guan Hong''s ribs as he was sent flying for a dozen meters into the air, before he fell on the ground sideways, his right hand still clutching his saber.
Shun Long looked at him with apathetic eyes, not feeling even the slightest sense of pity for his plight as he asked
''''Give up yet?''''
Shun Long''s golden eyes shone as he saw Guan Hong''s left hand grabbing a concealed dagger from his robes and throwing it right at his face.
Without giving him a chance, Shun Long sent a kick at Guan Hong''s body who was then sent flying once more as it crashed in the arena walls.
Guan Hong spat out blood from the impact as his eyes bulged out before he lost consciousness.
As soon as Guan Hong''s body fell to the ground, Shun Long felt that his sect jade was warming up as 3 numbers appeared on it
''689''
The crowd waspletely shocked as everyone had now fallen silent.
An expert at the top 1000 ranks in the arena had been beaten senseless and toyed around as if he was a kid before falling unconscious.
Amidst this silence, the voice of a woman in the audience was particrly ear-piercing as she said
''''Brother! He is the one!''''
Chapter 94 - 94 Lei Pong
Chapter 94 - 94 Lei Pong
''''Brother, he is the one!''''
Everyone in the audience turned to look at the source of this voice, only to see a pretty young woman with blonde hair, with a young man who was standing next to her.
The man had blonde hair and was carrying arge spear, over 2m(6.6ft) long on his back.
Exmations sounded from the crowd as people immediately recognized this blonde-haired man
''''It''s Lei Pong!''''
''''Senior brother Lei! Also, who is that beautiful woman beside him? Is it his girlfriend?''''
A disciple pped this person in the head as he said
''''Idiot shut your mouth! That is senior brother Lei''s sister. I think her name is Lei Xiang.''''
''''Ah! Then why are they here? Does senior brother Lei have a fight today? Don''t tell me that they came for Guan Hong.''''
''''How should I know idiot?''''
As the disciples in the crowd were discussing among themselves guessing the reason that Lei Pong hade in the arena today, Lei Xiang''s eyes were staring hatefully at Shun Long at the center of the stage.
Lei Pong looked at Shun Long who was also staring at him and his sister nonchntly.
Lei Pong then jumped all the way from the audience seats,nding straight at the center of the arena, his eyes glued at Shun Long in front of him as he asked curiously
''''You are the person who dared to rob my sister during the sect exam? Kid, do you know who I am? If you beg my sister for forgiveness perhaps you will still be able to walk by yourself out then.''''
Shun Long looked at Lei Pong who was caressing his spear in his hands, before he nodded his head seriously and said
''''You are the person who lost to Xiao Juyan 2 months ago right? What was your name? Lei Bong?''''
The crowd was silenced after hearing Shun Long''s ''serious words'', while Lei Pong himself looked at him with narrowed eyes
''''Brat, you only have one chance. Kneel and apologize right now, and then crawl in front of my sister as you ask for forgiveness. Otherwise...''''
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he asked Lei Pong
''''Otherwise what? You will kill me? You will cripple me? Even if the sect rules permitted it, do you even think that you have that ability?''''
The crowd exploded in discussions as they heard the exchange of words between Shun Long and Lei Pong
''''This guy dares to taunt senior Lei even though he knows that he is the strongest person outside the top 100? Is he tired of living?''''
''''I bet that this kid doesn''t know that senior Lei Pong can find other ways to make his life hard inside the sect, that''s why he is acting arrogant now.''''
''''He is dead meat for sure! Senior brother Lei will definitely beat him badly!''''
''''Brother, you have to take revenge for me!'''' Even Lei Xiang started shouting from the audience seats after hearing Shun Long''s words.
Lei Pong looked at Shun Long cidly but he still couldn''t hide the anger in his voice as he said
''''Don''t tell me that you are all talk and you don''t dare to fight kid.''''
Shun Long looked at him mockingly as he asked
''''So I, a middle stage rank 3 earth grade cultivator have to fight a peak rank 5 earth grade like yourself just because you say so? Are you an idiot?''''
Just as Shun Long saw that Lei Pong was finally angry, he smiled as he said
''''Actually, it''s not like we can''t fight at all. You just have to be willing to put a wager for our match, what do you think?''''
As Shun Long finished speaking, he removed 100 spirit stones from his spatial ring as he showed them to Lei Pong and said
''''How about it?''''
Lei Pong''s eyes shone brightly as he said
''''100 Spirit stones? Hahaha! Brat, since you have brought gifts I will dly ept!''''
The crowd was once more astonished as they heard that these white stones that Shun Long was holding were spirit stones.
''What? These are 100 spirit stones? AHH this kid is definitely the idiot here!''''
''''Damn, senior brother Lei is so lucky! I wish I could get paid to beat people I don''t like as well.''''
''''Even if you could get paid, you first have to be strong enough to do it! Didn''t you see that kid beating Guan Hong senseless earlier? Can you beat a rank 4 earth grade expert yourself?''''
''''So what idiot? Don''tpare Guan Hong to senior brother Lei.''''
Shun Long and Lei Pong didn''t pay any attention to the crowd, as they both called for a representative of the arena who handled official bets during fights, before they handed 100 spirit stones each. The winner of the fight would take all 200 of them.
Little ck had already told Shun Long that he will need spirit stones if he wants to swiftly advance to the Heaven grade.
Although cultivators at the peak of the earth grade could also advance to the Heaven grade by slowly absorbing the earth qi, even with the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', if Shun Long didn''t have any spirit stones it would him take at least a few years to advance.
That''s how Shun Long came up with the thought of scamming some spirit stones from Lei Pong. Although Lei Pong was strong, as long as he hadn''t reached the peak of rank 6 in earth grade Shun Long was confident that he could at least fight him evenly.
Lei Hong''s mood had obviously improved after thinking of the 100 spirit stones that would soon fall in his hands and looking at Shun Long he said
''''You must be really dumb if you think that you can defeat me, just because you managed to beat that garbage Guan Hong.''''
As Lei Pong finished speaking, he held his spear with both hands as he started infusing his qi inside it, making his spear buzz as it started to tremble.
Lei Pong seemed to have already reached the early stage of rank 6 in earth grade, instead of the peak of rank 5 that he was when he had fought Xiao Juyan.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned golden and with a serious look on his eyes he said
''''Come!''''
Chapter 95 - 95 Fighting Lei Pong
Chapter 95 - 95 Fighting Lei Pong
Lei Pong''s feet kicked the ground as he quickly arrived in front of Shun Long before thrusting his spear forward.
The tip of his spear was shining brightly with thunder sparks forming on top of it, as it was heading straight towards Shun Long''s chest.
Shun Long tried to dodge to the side, but the spear tip instantly changed its course as it chased after him.
As Lei Pong''s spear was relentlessly chasing after him, Shun Long seemed to have entered a passive position as the fight went on.
Lei Pong''s explosive attacks weren''t that hard to avoid thanks to his golden eyes, but the fact that these attacks never let up, had left Shun Long without any windows to counter-attack.
Lei Xiang who watched this scene smirked as she cheered for her elder brother.
Lei Pong had trained his spear arts for many years, even before he had entered the sect. Although Shun Long had also received some basic training in weapons from his father, he couldn''tpare to Lei Pong in this regard.?Even Lei Pong''s cultivation technique was a perfect fit for him using a spear, and finally, Shun Long had understood his weakness.
He didn''t have enough fighting experience yet.
Although he had trained with the guards on the ''Shun estate'' in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', these people couldn''t even bepared with Lei Pong.
In his fight with Guan Hong, Shun Long could easily exploit the openings that Guan Hong showed after each failed attack as well. However, Lei Pong continued his attacks one after the other, as if they were all part of a set.
''''It looks like this kid doesn''t have a chance after all.''''
''''Of course, who do you think senior brother Lei is?''''
''''After all the boasting, it looks like this kid is only bark and no bite.''''
Hearing thements from the crowd, little ck was actually feeling indignation for Shun Long as he asked
''''Master, why don''t you use your ''Monarch''s Domain''? Although there is a big difference in cultivation, it should still be able to slow him down and give you enough room to attack.''''
Shun Long who seemed to be stuck in a passive position, where all he did was dodge Lei Pong''s attacks, replied to little ck contentedly
''''This guy is so fast and his attacks are like a chain. My biggest w right now is myck ofbat experience. Although this is exhausting, this person is also the best sparring partner I could ask for.''''
Little ck''s eyes shone as he stopped speaking, allowing Shun Long topletely focus on the fight.
As long as his concentration was focused on Lei Pong, with his eyes'' ability to see in the future, he could still avoid his attacks.
20 minutes soon passed and Lei Pong''s attacks had started to slow down. Both he and Shun Long were drenched in sweat but the fight didn''t stop.
The crowd had also noticed this anomaly.
Since Shun Long couldn''t fight back and Lei Pong''s cultivation was so much higher than his, then shouldn''t he have already lost by now?
''''Senior brother Lei''s movements seem to have somewhat slowed down.''''
''''Stop spouting rubbish! They haven''t slowed down, it''s obvious that senior brother is conserving his strength. He just wants to tire this kid out before beating him.''''
''''But senior brother Lei and that kid both look tired.''''
Lei Pong had really started to get frustrated now. It was one thing to not be able to beat Xiao Juyan due to his abnormal defense, but now, fighting against this kid who constantly dodged his attacks was even more frustrating.
''''This kid''s ability to dodge my attacks is even scarier than senior sister Tong''s.''''
Although he was tired, Lei Pong didn''t stop. He was certain that since he was the one with the higher cultivation in this battle, Shun Long would be the one to s.u.mb to the exhaustion first.
As he thrust his spear at Shun Long''s left leg, Lei Pong seemed to have changed its direction at thest moment, sweeping it upwards towards Shun Long''s abdomen... and yet Shun Long still managed to avoid the attack, as if he somehow knew where Lei Pong was aiming from the start.
The fight continued as the 20 minutes soon turned into an hour.
No matter whether it was straight attacks of pure speed, feints, or attacks from a tricky angle, Shun Long managed to avoid every single one of them.
Even the people in the crowd didn''t believe that Lei Pong was toying with Shun Long anymore. as they now understood that this was a real fight.
Lei Pong had already expended more than 70 percent of his qi, and his body was also exhausted as he was drenched in sweat from head to toe.
Although Shun Long''s robes were also drenched with his sweat, since he was also a body refining cultivator, he could actually fight for even longer than this.
Finally, frustration kicked in and Lei Pong stopped chasing Shun Long as he mumbled
''''You asked for it brat!''''
Shun Long''s golden eyes shone as he quickly understood what Lei Pong was trying to do and finally, he activated his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Inside the domain Lei Pong''s speed had unknowingly dropped by more than half as Shun Long rushed straight at him.
The crowd saw Shun Long heading towards Lei Pong who didn''t seem to have realized this yet as he was still infusing his qi in his spear.
''''Brother watch out!''''
As Lei Xiang''s voice was heard, Shun Long''s full-powered punch hit Lei Pong straight on the chest.
Before he could even process what had happened, Lei Pong''s body was flying in the air.
He crashed on the ground with a bang and after vomiting a mouthful of blood he had finally lost consciousness.
The entire arena had fallen dead silent as everyone''s eyes were now on Shun Long who had just won against the strongest expert below the top 100 in the arena rankings.
Chapter 96 - 96 You dont want to touch her
Chapter 96 - 96 You don''t want to touch her
''''NO''''
Lei Xiang screamed as she watched her brother''s body crashing on the ground before he lost consciousness.
She frantically run in the arena to support Lei Pong before turning her head to give a venomous look to Shun Long as she said
''''I will kill you! How dare you hurt my brother? I swear that I will definitely kill you!''''
Her scream seemed to have waken up the entire arena, as everyone turned their heads to look at Lei Xiang who was now madly screaming at Shun Long.
Shun Long''s eyes finally chilled as he then walked up to her.
Lei Xiang seemed to have finally felt fear as she stumbled backwards, seeing Shun Longing closer and closer to her.
As Shun Long stood in front of her looking at her with his cold eyes that didn''t conceal his anger, an apathetic voice sounded from the crowd as it said
''''You probably don''t want to touch her.''''
Shun Long turned his eyes to see a handsome young man in blue hair and yellow robes, around 20 years old staring at him.
The man seemed to be examining Shun Long before he revealed a smiled and said
''''Threatening her is fine but... if you touch her you will probably have more on your te than what you can handle.''''
The blue-haired young man seemed to be warning Shun Long out of good intentions, but the tone in his voice was definite, saying that if Shun Long touched Lei Xiang he wouldn''t be able to handle the aftermath of it.
Shun Long looked at this man as he asked cidly
''''Are you saying that I should let her go because someone is backing her?''''
The man smiled as he nodded his head.
Lei Xiang seemed to have just gained some newfound courage as she looked at Shun Long and said in amanding tone
''''Kneel down now and wait for my brother toe back to his senses. If my mood improves by then I can actually consider letting you go. Or else, when brother Ren hears about today, you won''t have a ce to hide anywhere in the outer city!''''
The blue-haired young man looked at Lei Xiang with an interested gaze, before his eyes noticed Shun Long''s left arm slowly rising in the air.
The young man''s eyes bulged as he understood what was going to happen, but without any time to intervene all he could do was just watch
p
A crisp sound was heard throughout the arena as Shun Long''s hand connected with Lei Xiang''s face as she copsed on the ground.
A bright red palm print was on Lei Xiang''s right cheek as her eyes seemedpletely unfocused.
The arena was so silent that even a pindrop could be heard, everyone''s eyes staring at Shun Long who stood in front of Lei Xiang and said
''''Did you think that I wouldn''t hit you just because you are a woman?''''
As Lei Xiang raised her head, she saw Shun Long staring straight into her eyes, his eyes having a chilling look on them that seemed to have sent shivers all over her body as he continued
''''There will be no mercy if you dare to threaten my life again.
Know your ce!''''
As Shun Long finished speaking, he took the 200 spirit stones from the arena representative before he turned around to leave, leaving behind him a dumbfounded crowd.
The blue-haired young man watched Shun Long as he walked away and shook his head before he too left the arena as he mumbled with a sly smile on his face
''''It looks like Ren Gui and Fu Peizhi will both be really mad when they hear about this.''''
As Shun Long walked back towards the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'', Little ck wasughing feelingpletely refreshed after having seen Shun Long p Lei Xiang in the face
''''Master, that was a great p. Truly a great p hahaha. Did that girl really expect you to get scared and kneel in front of her?''''
Shun Long shook his head and smiled after hearing the jubnt ck dragonughing and 10 minutester he had already returned back to the pavilion.
After entering his room, Shun Long immediately sat down on his bed, as sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'' ''feeding'' 10 spirit stones to the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
The vine seemed to instantly get invigorated as it absorbed the energy from the spirit stones, immediately producing qi, that seemed to be even purer thanst time.
Shun Long was disappointed to see that although the quality of the qi that the vine emitted had increased and the qi was now purer, the quantity was really small.
''''I wonder how much my cultivation will advance after feeding all the spirit stones to the ''Heaven swallowing vine''?''''
Shun Long then ''fed'' 90 more spirit stones to the vine before he started absorbing the refined pure qi that it produced.
As Shun Long was cultivating using the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', the entire outer sect was learning of what had transpired today in the arena.
A person named Shun Long, who was rumored to have taken first ce in the sect during the outer sect examination had first defeated Guan Hong who had recently advanced into the top 700 of the arena rankings, before he proceeded to defeat Lei Pong right after. Of course, the details of him pping Lei Xiang were also not omitted.
Xiao Juyan and Xiao Shitou were chatting inside the ''Treasure Pavilion'' when they learned of these news.
Xiao Juyan was shocked to hear that a newbie had beaten Lei Pong and looked at his brother questioningly as he asked
''''Wasn''t Lin Wu''s previous fiance also named Shun Long, entering the sect with you half a year ago?''''
Xiao Shitou however simply shook his head as he said
''''Although that''s true brother, the Shun Long who entered the sect with me half a year ago was just a rank 6 qi condensation disciple. Do you believe that the same person can breakthrough to the middle orte stages of the earth grade in just half a year?''''
Xiao Juyan shook his head as heughed at his own idea before saying
''''Your words make sense little brother. It''s your elder brother who was foolish. Among millions of outer disciples, it''s not that abnormal for 2 people to share the same name.''''
As Xiao Shitou and Xiao Juyan wereughing over this matter, in a private mansion near the entrance to the ''inner city'', inside the main hall, a young man was filled with killing intent as he looked at the person in front of him and asked furiously
''''What did you just say??''''
Chapter 97 - 97 Refining the Profound earth fruit
Chapter 97 - 97 Refining the ''Profound earth fruit''
''''What did you just say? Someone dared to p Xiang''er? Exin everything!''''
This young man looked to be a bit more than 20 years old, with long ck hair and a burly build. In front of him was an outer disciple that was on his knees, describing what he saw inside the arena earlier.
''''Senior brother Ren, this is what happened...''''
As the outer disciple finished speaking, he suddenly felt as if a hammer had hit his stomach before he was sent flying all the way from the main hall, to the gates of the mansion.
''''Se-senior brother Ren?''''
''''Shut your mouth! How dare you still call me senior brother? My woman was pped in front of you and you didn''t do anything? You still have the face to call me senior brother? SCRAM!''''
The outer disciple felt aggrieved at this behavior as he was only a small disciple at the middle of rank 1 earth grade... he couldn''t possibly fight with Shun Long over Lei Xiang''s face-p. Swallowing down this injustice, he quickly left the mansion without another word.
After all, he couldn''t just express his anger at Ren Gui, who was ranked 7th in the arena rankings.
Ren Gui was looking towards the direction of the arena as he narrowed his eyes
''''To think that there are people who dare touch my woman without giving me any face, Shun Long huh?... You must definitely be tired of your good life in the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
Fu Peizhi''s reaction was simr to Ren Gui''s when he received the news of Shun Long''s fight with Lei Pong, as he too vowed to make this Shun Long''s life miserable when he would meet him. Not even for a moment did Fu Peizhi think, that the person who defeated Lei Pong was the same person that he had met in the arena with Fu Li and Lu Wen back then.
Meanwhile, the culprit who had stirred the entire ''outer city'', was still inside his room cultivating using the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
One dayter, a small popping sound was heard from inside Shun Long''s body as his body felt brimming with energy.
''''Master, congrattions for advancing to the peak of rank 3 in earth grade already!''''
Shun Long who was still sitting on his bed replied
''''This is mainly thanks to the qi inside the spirit stones, that became even purer after it was refined by the ''Heaven swallowing vine''. And yet, after just one day of cultivation, I''m left with less than 90 spirit stones already.''''
Then, Shun Long took a look at the space inside the ''Stone of Time'', and as his eyes stared at his 5 ''Profound earth fruits'' Shun Long pondered over his avable options.
''''I was originally only nning to use the hearts and beast cores of the rank 2 blood wolves to concoct the ''earth refining pill'', but it seems that I have better options in hand.
Although it''s somewhat of a waste to use the beast cores of rank 3 magic beasts to create rank 2 pills, the most important thing is to improve my current strength. Even if the ''earth refining pill'' can''t help me advance my qi cultivation, my strength will still soar after breaking through to the earth grade in body refinement.''''
Little ck then said in an aggrieved tone
''''If only those shameless people from the ''Flying sword sect'' and the others didn''t cheat during that sect exam, master would have also gotten his hands on the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'' as well.''''
Shun Long nodded his head after hearing little ck''s words but he wasn''t really too bothered with that. Although it would be nice for him to have the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'', at the end of the day he could still do without it.
On the other hand, the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' was something that Shun Long wouldn''t give up no matter what, since its value couldn''t be measured even with a million ''Blood Vermilion fruits''.
After sitting on the floor of his room, Shun Long took out his alchemy cauldron, as well as 4 of the ''Profound earth fruits''.
He also took out the beast core and heart of the middle rank 3 ''red-fanged me bat'', together with the cores and hearts of 3 more rank 3 magic beasts.
Shun Long first ced the rank 3 ''Profound earth fruit'' along with more than 10 rank 2 medicinal herbs inside, refining them until only their medicinal essence was left.
He then rotated the medicinal essence inside the cauldron using his spiritual strength again and again until it had turned into a small liquid ball, before cing the bat''s heart inside.
The heart of the middle rank 3 ''red-fanged me bat'' was refined almost instantly as it quickly turned into a small puddle of blood.
ck smoke seemed toe out from the bat''s heart as Shun Long was forcing out its impurities, keeping only the purest of its blood inside.
Finally, Shun Long''s eyes werepletely focused as he put inside the bat''s magic core.
The magic core contained the entirety of a magic beast''s energy inside, which was why it was the most difficult part of the magic beast that an alchemist had to refine.
After cing inside the beast core, Shun Long split his spiritual strength into 2 parts. One of them was controlling the temperature of the cauldron as it was attempting to melt the rank 3 beast core, while the other aimed to protect the ball of medicinal essence inside.
This was a delicate process and even with Shun Long''s vast spiritual strength, he found this pill refinement extremely taxing to his mind.
This process continued for 4 more hours, until the beast core had turnedpletely into liquid, before Shun Long finally merged it with the medicinal essence.
The essence of the beast core as well as the medicinal essence from before had nowbined into one big ball of essence inside the cauldron. Shun Long used his spiritual strength to split this ball into 9 smaller little balls, that were slowly refined inside.
ding
Half an hourter, the lid of the cauldron made a dinging sound indicating that the pill refinement had finally ended.
Chapter 98 - 98 Second stage of the Monarchs Eternal body
Chapter 98 - 98 Second stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''
Opening the lid of the cauldron, Shun Long could see 9 sparkling pills inside.
The pills were all bright red and they emitted a strong scent of blood.
Seeing the pills, Shun Long seemed extremely happy as he collected them in a pill bottle before hearing little ck''s surprised voice
''''Master! Are these top-grade rank 2 pills?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he held one of the pills and exined
''''Originally the ''earth refining pills'' should have just reached the high-grade. But because they were refined wlessly this time, and thanks to the ''Profound earth fruit''s'' high quality, as well as the rank 3 beast core of the ''red-fanged me bat'', it''s normal to refine top-grade rank 2 pills.''''
Although Shun Long had put it like that, in reality, there was no bronze grade 3 alchemist that could refine a top-grade rank 2 pill anywhere in the ''floating cloud sect''. Even a rank 1 silver grade alchemist wouldn''t necessarily be able to produce a top-grade rank 2 pill, let alone 9. (Author''s reminder: bronze grade alchemists can refine up to rank 2 pills--> which is the equivalent of the earth grade. Rank 3 pills and above can only be refined by silver grade alchemists and above. For more info remember to go back and check the auxiliary chapter)
After all, it was thanks to Shun Long''s massive spiritual strength that had allowed him to refine rank 3 ingredients like the ''Profound earth fruit'' and the rank 3 bat''s beast core, which normally only silver grade alchemists or above were able to use.
After collecting the pills, Shun Long closed his eyes as he rested to recover his spent spiritual strength.
It was only 6 hourster that he opened his eyes again after his spiritual strength hadpletely recovered, before?he started another pill concoction.
Soon, 2 days had passed and Shun Long had refined 36 glistening, bright red pills.
Looking at the 4 pill bottles in his hands Shun Long mumbled
''''33 top-grade pills and 3 high-grade ones. I''m curious how much my ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' will advance after I refine their energy and absorb them.''''
Just as Shun Long finished speaking, his ''sect identifying jade'' had suddenly lit up as 2 words appeared on it
''Arena challenge 17''
''''Arena challenge 17? Fu Peizhi?''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile after seeing the challenger''s rank, before he put his sect jade away,pletely ignoring it as he turned his eyes back to the pill bottles.
Taking out a top-grade ''earth refining pill'', Shun Long could feel the immense amount of energy inside the pill. A top-grade rank 2 pill was after all more than 2 times more effective than a high-grade pill of the same rank.
The moment that Shun Long ced the pill in his mouth, he could feel it as it immediately dissolved, turning into a stream of energy that went down his throat like a burning liquid before it spread throughout his body.
Unfortunately, the energy inside the ''earth refining pill'' was extremely violent, and Shun Long had to withstand tremendous pain as his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was circting by itself, absorbing every bit of the ''earth refining pill''s'' violent energy.
After an hour, Shun Long''s body had finally started to get used to the pain.
The ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was absorbing the pill''s energy like a starved beast, as it started to strengthen every single part of Shun Long''s body once again. From Shun Long''s blood, to his meridians, tendons and internal organs, all the way to his skin and bones.
It took 2 hours for the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' topletely absorb the energy of the first top-grade ''earth refining pill''. And yet, Shun Long could feel that his body was now starving for energy as he continued absorbing a second top-grade pill.
At the same time, in front of the arena''s registration counter, Fu Peizhi was waiting for Shun Long toe here, as a huge crowd had gathered around him.
Although people were excited at first, after 2 whole hours even Fu Peizhi had started to get impatient as he waiting for Shun Long to enter. One of the disciples then looked at Fu Peizhi as he said
''''Senior brother Fu, I don''t think that this kid wille. How could he have the guts to fight against senior brother after all? He is probably hiding somewhere, afraid that you will find him and teach him a lesson.''''
Fu Peizhi nodded his head after hearing these words, as he had already started to get impatient long ago when he said
''''You are probably right, if he is bent on hiding then I can''t do anything to him. However, if any of you see him, you must immediately inform me.''''
''''Don''t worry senior brother, if we see that kid we will immediately call for you.''''
''''He won''t be able to hide from us senior brother Fu, rest assured!''''
Fu Peizhi nodded his head after hearing these words, before leaving the arena.
Since Shun Long wasn''ting, he would look like a fool if he kept waiting here.
2 days went by in the blink of an eye before Shun Long opened his eyes.
His body and face were covered by ayer of blood, and even his yellow robes were now dyed red.
His eyes however were shining brightly while his body was now naturally exuding a powerful and majestic aura.
The 4 pill bottles on the floor in front of him however werepletely empty.
''''Master, you advanced from the peak of the first stage in body refinement all the way to the middle of the second stage in just 2 days. I have never heard of anything like this before.''''
Shun Long smiled as he clenched his fist that now felt full of endless energy before he said
''''I can feel that my body is many times stronger than before. I''m not sure if I can win against Fu Peizhi just yet since I don''t know the extent of his abilities, but I''m certain that if I fought with Lei Pong again now that my ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' has reached the middle of the second stage, the fight would only take one punch.''''
After Shun Long finished speaking, the look in his eyes suddenly turned ice-cold as he mumbled
''''It''s finally time to settle some old ounts.''''
Chapter 99 - 99 Rank 4 earth grade
Chapter 99 - 99 Rank 4 earth grade
''''Master, are you talking about that Xiao Shitou and the girl from that Lin family?''''
Since Shun Long had already told little ck about how he had nearly died outside the Blue Forest of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', little ck immediately understood what Shun Long meant when he said that it''s time to settle some old ounts.
After all the timing between his assassination attempt and the Lin familying to ask to break the engagement, was far too close to be simply a coincidence.
Shun Fang as well, as a peak rank 3 bronze grade formation master didn''t have any enemies, and instead people always rushed to please him and tend to his every need. The status of a rank 3 bronze grade formation master was too ill.u.s.trious in the mortal world after all, for people to n an assassination against Shun Long for no good reason.
Shun Long nodded his head at little ck as he always had these thoughts in mind, and now that his strength had advanced enough, it was finally time to unravel the mystery and ''settle this old ount''.
After removing his robes and taking a shower to get rid of the blood all over his face and body, Shun Long also removed the blood from his robes before he heard little ck saying
''''Master, I think that we should celebrate your advancement in body refinement! After all, body refinement is harder than qi cultivation and master has been cultivating for such a short time...''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard little ck''s words andughed before saying
''''Haha, fine! I was nning to let it ferment for a bit longer but we can try one now.''''
Then, under little ck''s expectant eyes, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'', as he removed one of the buried wooden barrels from his herb field.
After he removed the barrel''s top, a fragrant smell filled the entire room, while Shun Long''s face had turned red after smelling this intoxicating scent.
Shun Long took out a big bowl, and after he filling it with the red liquid from the barrel, he handed the entire barrel to little ck inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Then, both at the same time, they drank the red liquid, one man from a bowl and one dragon from a wooden barrel.
Little ck took a deep gulp before he eximed in bliss
''''This! This is definitely among the 3 best wines I have ever drunk.''''
Shun Long also nodded his head, as the taste of this wine that he had made using the rank 3 ''purple fragrant grass'' and a dozen more rank 2 medicinal herbs was truly exceptional. But what was also important was that he had fermented the wine for more than 100 years of time inside the ''Stone of Time''.
That was the reason why the barrel was buried in the herb field. Since everything inside the wine was medicinal essence from spiritual herbs, they were affected when Shun Long used his qi to speed up time inside his herb field.
The ck dragon greedily emptied the barrel before asking Shun Long
''''Hehe, master we still have 2 more barrels.''''
Surprisingly, Shun Long nodded his head as he took out one more barrel from the herb field.
After removing the barrel top and filling his bowl to the brim, he handed the barrel to little ck.
Little ck didn''t expect his suggestion to work, as the ck dragon then blissfully gulped down the wine in the second barrel.
Shun Long who had just emptied his bowl however, closed his eyes as he circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Little ck''s eyes shone as he thought
''''Right! Although the effect the wine has on me is almost negligible, it is after all created by master after mixing a rank 3 medicinal herb with a dozen rank 2 ones, so it can definitely help with master''s cultivation.''''
Shun Long''s qi had reached its peak, as he attempted to breakthrough to the early rank 4 in earth grade. After every 3 minor ranks there was a bottleneck in cultivation, and to advance from the peak of rank 3 to the early rank 4 was precisely one such bottleneck.
Shun Long who had just created his 28th ball of qi in the earth grade, tried to push it upwards inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' above his head, next to the previously created balls. However, his 27 balls of qi already existing inside, were like an immovable wall that simply refused to budge.
After purifying his 28th ball with so much of his qi that he was practically exhausted, Shun Long had finally managed to push it inside, finally entering the early rank 4 in earth grade.
This wasn''t just the difference from a single ball of qi but a qualitative one that greatly enhanced the strength of his qi balls.
''''Congrattions on your breakthrough master. Are we going to find that Xiao Shitou and his brother now?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''I will challenge Xiao Juyan in the arena today, but first, I have to make a trip to the ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
Leaving the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'', Shun Long walked for half an hour until he arrived at the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' entrance.
After finding an alley to put on his ck robes, he then entered inside.
After taking a look at the first floor, Shun Long didn''t find anything of interest before he went up to the second floor.
Surprisingly, among the girls that greeted the guests on the second floor, Shun Long spotted Mei Yi, the young girl that had greeted him the first time that he had arrived on this floor.
Shun Long approached her and after taking out the VIP card that Yin Xing had given him he asked in a deep voice
''''Little girl, is Yin Xing here?''''
After seeing Yin Xing''s VIP card, Mei Yi immediately recognized Shun Long as she stuttered and said in excitement
''''Se-Senior! Alchemist Yin is here, I will call him now. Please senior,e with me first.''''
After leading Shun Long to a spacious private room, with a table full of delicacies inside, Mei Yi immediately left to call Yin Xing.
Not even 5 minutes had passed since Shun Long had entered the room, when an excited Yin Xing could be seen rushing through the second floor.
The customers in the pavilion were shocked to see a dignified rank 3 bronze grade alchemist run like that, but Yin Xing didn''t pay them any attention as he soon arrived at the private room that Shun Long was sitting in.
After entering inside, Yin Xing bowed his head as he greeted excitedly
''''Senior!!''''
Chapter 100 - 100 Challenging Xiao Juyan
Chapter 100 - 100 Challenging Xiao Juyan
''''Senior!!''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Yin Xing, gesturing for him to sit, but Yin Xing remained standing as he said
''''Senior! I''m happy that I can meet you again. Are you here to sell something or do you wish to purchase something this time? Please tell me if I can be of any assistance to you.''''
Yin Xing was very excited to meet Shun Long again. Since Shun Long had gifted him the recipe for the improved rank 1 ''Qi barrier-breaking pill'', Yin Xing''s understanding about alchemy hadpletely changed. He wasn''t that far off from reaching the standards of a rank 1 silver grade alchemist as well and even his status in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had increased. Of course, his cultivation also had to catch up if he wanted to be a silver grade alchemist.
Shun Long nodded his head as he said in a deep voice
''''Indeed, I am here today because I wish to auction something through the ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
As he finished his words, Shun Long took out thest wooden barrel from the ''Stone of Time'' and as he opened the barrel top he said
''''This is a wine that I have specially fermented for more than 100 years using many precious herbs. Not only is its taste exceptional, but it can even improve the cultivation of the person who consumes it.''''
Yin Xing could barely understand Shun Long''s words at this point, as his mind had already been swept by the intoxicating scent of the wine.
However, as he heard Shun Long''sst sentence, he couldn''t hide his shock as he asked
''''Se-Se-Senior! Are you serious? The wine can help improve someone''s cultivation?''''
Shun Long smiled as he nodded his head and said
''''Of course, the rise in cultivation will be different depending on the cultivation of the person who drinks it. The effects after all, will be much bigger to an earth grade cultivator, while a Spirit realm expert will barely feel any increment in his cultivation base.''''
Yin Xing looked at Shun Long in disbelief before he turned his head to look at the barrel of wine.
Shun Long then took a small cup from the table in front of him, and after scooping up some wine from the barrel, he ced the cup in front of the table as he smiled beneath his robes and said
''''Try it and you will understand.''''
Yin Xing carefully took the small cup from the table before he proceeded to drink the wine inside it. After tasting the wine, his expression alternated from joy, and excitement to incredulity and disbelief.
Shun Long then sealed the barrel again with its top as he asked
''''What do you think?''''
Yin Xing came back to his senses as he heard Shun Long''s words and said in disbelief
''''Senior, this is the best wine I have ever tasted in my life! I don''t think that I can ever forget this taste. If you really n on auctioning it, then in 4 days that the monthly auction will take ce, the wine will definitely be the most valuable item.''''
''''I indeed n to auction it, however I don''t need sect points. I only want spirit stones.''''
Yin Xing was stunned, but after thinking about it for a bit, he thought that these words made sense. Not only was this wine''s taste heavenly, but it was made from rare medicinal herbs that could improve one''s cultivation. Yin Xing himself had never heard of a wine that could improve someone''s cultivation but he had personally experienced it today.
Nodding his head he then said
''''Don''t worry senior! I will take care of this. I will also make sure that our pavilion will let the word spread of senior''s wine so that even more people will bid for it. I estimate that the Elders from the powerful families of the sect will definitely fight to get their hands on it.''''
Shun Long epted Yin Xing''s offer as he said
''''In that case, I will return in 4 days to participate in the auction.''''
Yin Xing bowed as he apanied Shun Long until the pavilion''s entrance, before he hurried to inform the higher-ups about this.
Shun Long then found an alley to change back to his normal robes, before heading directly to the arena.
After walking for the time it takes to eat a meal (30-45 minutes), he had already arrived in front of the arena.
Surprisingly, there were some disciples outside, who recognized Shun Long''s face after having seen his fightsst time, and word quickly started spreading that Shun Long had returned to the arena.
Walking in front of the registration counter, Shun Long found the same woman waiting there. The woman was much more polite and respectful to Shun Long after hearing that this person had defeated Lei Pong, but her jaw almost dropped when she heard the reason that he had arrived today
''''I''m here to challenge Xiao Juyan.''''
The crowd that had gathered around Shun Long and was waiting to find out who he was going to challenge, instantly exploded in fervor.
The woman couldn''t help but ask again as if she wanted to verify it
''''D-Do you mean, the one ranked 93rd in the arena rankings? That Xiao Juyan?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he took out his ''sect identifying jade''.
The woman epted it with disbelief before issuing the challenge.
Inside a private room near the ''inner city'', Xiao Juyan''s jade lit up, shocking him as he read the words on it.
''Arena challenge 101''.
He had already heard about the Shun Long who had defeated Lei Pong, as well as about him not epting Fu Peizhi''s challenge. And now this person was challenging him?
Xiao Juyan then stopped cultivating, as he left his room and walked towards the arena.
Word quickly spread through the ''outer city'' that Shun Long had challenged the person ranked 93rd in the top 100 rankings, and even Fu Peizhi and Ren Gui had soon heard of it.
Fu Peizhi was silently heading towards the arena as soon as he was informed about it, but Ren Gui had a frosty smile on his face as he said
''''So you are finally willing to appear? I will make sure to teach you a good lesson then!''''
Less than an hourter, Xiao Juyan arrived in front of the arena entrance, with a huge crowd trailing behind him.
Chapter 101 - 101 Fighting the top 100
Chapter 101 - 101 Fighting the top 100
Xiao Juyan quickly arrived in front of the registration counter and was shocked to recognize Shun Long.
Both Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu that were standing behind him, were also staring at Shun Long in disbelief. Xiao Shitou couldn''t help but ask
''''Are YOU the Shun Long who defeated Lei Pong?''''
Shun Long''s eyes swept through Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu, but he didn''t pay attention to them as his eyes then stared at Xiao Juyan.
Although Xiao Juyan was surprised to see that the person who defeated Lei Pong was the same person that hade in the sect with his brother from the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' half a year ago, he still didn''t take Shun Long seriously as he also turned to look at him and said
''''Although you do have the right to challenge me, you do not stand a chance against me. I heard about your fight with Lei Pong a few days ago. You only won because you managed to tire him out. However, I am much stronger than both you and him. Being in the top 100 of the arena rankings is a different league altogether!''''
Shun Long watched as Xiao Juyan walked at the registration counter and after handing over his ''sect jade'' he had officially epted the challenge.
''''Senior brother Xiao epted his challenge!''''
''''Of course he epted! Did you think that senior brother Xiao is afraid of this Shun Long?''''
Xiao Shitou gave a meaningful look to Xiao Juyan as he said
''''Elder brother...''''
Xiao Juyan however patted his shoulder as he said
''''I know''''
Then, after throwing a deep look at Lin Wu that made her ashamed as she lowered her head, Xiao Juyan walked in the arena.
Standing in front of Shun Long he then said
''''Since you challenged me, how about a bet? You must have 200 spirit stones on you right?''''
Xiao Juyan then took 200 spirit stones from his spatial ring as he looked at Shun Long.
Shun Long nodded his head as if he had expected Xiao Juyan to say this and said in return
''''Indeed but how about a bigger bet?''''
''''What do you mean?''''
''''How about..... we bet everything that we have in our spatial rings?''''
Not just Xiao Juyan, but everyone in the crowd had fallen silent as they looked at Shun Long as if they were looking at a madman.
''''Are you crazy?''''
Xiao Juyan blurted out as he saw Shun Long removing his spatial ring from his hand, while the crowd exploded in discussions
''''Is Shun Long serious?''''
''''Is he confident that he can beat senior brother Xiao or is he just bluffing trying to scare him away?''''
''''I think that he is bluffing. I saw his fight with Lei Pong and all he did was run around!''''
Xiao Juyan looked at Shun Long in skepticism as he asked
''''How do I know that you haven''t removed your items from your spatial ring?''''
Shun Long smiled as he took out a few rank 2 herbs in front of Xiao Juyan and everyone else in the crowd. These herbs were the ones he had picked from the lush forest in the Demonic Mountain region. He also took out the silver grade dagger, as well as a handful of his spirit stones, before cing them back in his spatial ring.
Xiao Juyan looked at Shun Long with apprehension, unknown if he was thinking of him as confident or simply stupid.
''''Is this guy trying to scare me away? However, the items in his spatial ring were definitely real.
No matter what, he fought with Lei Pong just 5 days ago, so his strength can''t really have grown since then.''''
Aftering to this conclusion Xiao Juyan smiled as he removed an iron hammer from his spatial ring and said
''''Then let''s do this.''''
Shun Long then handed his spatial ring to the arena representative, before Xiao Juyan did the same.
The crowd couldn''t believe that Xiao Juyan had epted this crazy challenge. No matter how much confidence these 2 had in themselves, this was truly a crazy bet where you could lose everything you had.
Finally, Shun Long smiled as he then asked something unexpected
''''You must definitely know about the assassination attempt outside the ''Blue Forest'' right?''''
A glimmer shed through Xiao Juyan''s eyes before Shun Long saw him shaking his head and saying
''''I don''t have any idea what you mean.''''
Little ck''s voice however, sounded inside Shun Long''s head at the same time as he said
''''Master, I could definitely feel his heartbeat speeding up with my soul sense, when you asked him about the assassination. He definitely knows something about it.''''
Shun Long nodded his head after getting confirmation from little ck as he circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' while his eyes immediately turned golden.
Xiao Juyan felt the change in Shun Long as he too unleashed his cultivation, that had already reached the middle of rank 6 earth grade, while his body then started changing into a rock-like substance.
Xiao Juyan now resembled a golem as every part of his body aside from his eyes were covered by rocks.
''''This is senior brother Xiao''s ''rock body''! Let''s see how Shun Long wants to break his defenses when senior brother is among the strongest experts of his level when he takes on this form.''''
Shun Long clenched his fists tightly as he looked at Xiao Juyan''s eyes
''''You still have a chance to tell me about the assassination attempt in the Blue Forest.''''
Xiao Juyan however, was much more resolute this time as he answered
''''Then how about youe and find out?''''
Shun Long narrowed his eyes as he walked towards him with firm footsteps.
At the same time, Ren Gui and Fu Peizhi had just arrived in the arena together, when they turned their heads to watch the fight. Since everyone''s attention was at the center of the arena, almost no one had noticed their arrival.
Xiao Juyan smirked as he saw Shun Longing closer. Holding the iron hammer in his right hand tightly, he was ready to take him out in one hit, with the first chance he got.
Finally, as Shun Long took another step forward and entered Xiao Juyan''s attack range, Xiao Juyan immediately dashed forward, swinging the hammer in his hand at full force towards Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up as he unleashed his ''Monarch''s Domain'', before his right leg suddenly kicked the ground, instantly arriving in front of Xiao Juyan instead of retreating.
Clenching his left fist, he punched in full force at Xiao Juyan''s chest.
Xiao Juyan''s hammer had drastically slowed as Shun Long''s fist hit him with a loud bang, instantly crushing the rock armor on his chest.
Xiao Juyan stumbled 2 steps backwards before vomiting a mouthful of blood.
Chapter 102 - 102 Xiao Juyans trump card
Chapter 102 - 102 Xiao Juyan''s trump card
Everyone in the arena was staring in astonishment, as Shun Long''s punch had broken through Xiao Juyan''s armor.
''''D-Did he just punch through senior brother Xiao''s ''rock body''?''''
''''Impossible! Senior brother Xiao is unbeatable within the same level of cultivation!''''
''''Unbeatable? How do you exin this then? Shun Long''s punch definitely broke through Xiao Juyan''s ''rock armor''!''''
It wasn''t just the crowd that was shocked, even Ren Gui and Fu Peizhi who saw this were bbergasted.
Xiao Juyan was someone who was famed for his defense and yet, just one punch from Shun Long had made him stumble and vomit blood.
Fu Peizhi turned his head to look at Ren Gui as he asked with a voice that didn''t hide his shock at all
''''Ren Gui, did you notice yet? This person is the same as senior brother Kang!''''
Ren Gui however didn''t even look at Fu Peizhi, as his eyes were staring at Shun Long at the center of the arena like a hungry beast looking at its prey.
Xiao Juyan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth before he used his qi to recreate the rocks around his chest.
Soon, the crumbled rocks near his chest were quickly restored, as Xiao Juyan turned to look at Shun Long and said in a regretful tone
''''I didn''t expect you to cultivate both in qi and body refinement. Your punch really took me by surprise, but unfortunately for you, my ''rock armor'' is the perfect counter against ''body refinement'' cultivators.''''
As these words left Xiao Juyan''s mouth, the rocks covering his body changed their shape as they slowly turned into sharp spikes.
Xiao Shitou who saw thisughed, as if he had expected this move from the start, while Lin Wu seemed to have just heaved a sigh of relief as she said smilingly
''''I knew that elder brother Juyan was still hiding his true strength. How could he ever lose to someone like Shun Long?''''
''''Hahaha, of course! If Shun Long wants to punch elder brother again, he will definitely destroy his own hands this time!'''' Xiao Shitou also eximed in glee.
Shun Long hadn''t expected that Xiao Juyan would decide to protect himself this way.
If this was 4 days ago when he was fighting Lei Pong and was still at the peak of the first stage in the ''Monach''s Eternal body'', Shun Long wouldn''t have a way to deal with these spikes.
But now, after having already advanced to the middle of the second stage, Shun Long was confident that he could easily smash through Xiao Juyan''s defenses with his full strength.
However, after taking half a step forward, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up before he suddenly tilted his head to the left.
Swish
Just as Shun Long tilted his head, a spike-shaped stone flew at incredible speed, as it swept past him and barely missing his face.
This sneak attack that was aimed at Shun Long''s face, could have easily crippled him if not outright killed him.
Xiao Juyan was genuinely shocked that his attack had missed. This was a trump card that he had never revealed before, and yet Shun Long still managed to avoid it, almost as if he knew that it wasing.
The crowd didn''t even have any time to react as they saw Xiao Juyan constantly bombarding Shun Long with numerous flying spikes.
One after another, the rock spikes flew at Shun Long, who activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'' for the second time, and avoiding all of them he arrived in front of Xiao Juyan.
Xiao Juyan tried to open the distance between them but Shun Long was even faster than him.
Gathering the strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' in his right fist, Shun Long sent a full-powered punch at Xiao Juyan''s abdomen.
His fist passed through the sharp shaped rocks, like a hot knife cutting through butter, as it directly hit Xiao Juyan right in the stomach.
Xiao Juyan was sent flying as he spurted a mouthful of fresh blood. Inside the blood, the crowd shivered as they could even spot pieces of his internal organs, before his body fell back down as it violently crashed on the ground, creating a small human-shaped hole.
The entire arena had started cheering in excitement but Shun Long didn''t seem to be done yet.
Everyone watched him curiously as he slowly walked towards Xiao Juyan, whose body was still buried on the ground.
After dragging him out of the hole, Shun Long suddenly heard someone shouting from the audience seats.
''''Shun Long, what are you trying to do? The fight is already over!'''' Xiao Shitou asked nervously after seeing his brother get dragged around like a dog.
Shun Long, for the first time, shed a devilish smile as he said
''''Then why hasn''t Xiao Juyan surrendered yet? My sect jade hasn''t lit up, so your brother hasn''t lost his consciousness or surrendered yet.''''
Fu Peizhi who also wanted to intervene decided to stay silent. What Shun Long had just said was the truth after all, and in case he decided to interfere in an ''ongoing arena fight'', the Elder responsible for the arena rules might even strip him from his rank.
Ren Gui also curiously watched Shun Long, who smiled at Xiao Juyan all of a sudden.
Then, he turned his head to look towards Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu in the crowd as he asked
''''What do you know about the assassination attempt at the Blue Forest?''''
''''Shun Long is breaking the arena rules! Quickly, someone call the sect Elders!'''' Lin Wu screamed in panic.
Everyone in the crowd around her sneered as they looked at Lin Wu with mocking looks in their eyes, wondering if this girl was some kind of special idiot.
Shun Long didn''t even turn his head to look at Lin Wu. His golden eyes were staring at Xiao Juyan as he waited for his answer.
''''I su-''''
SLAP
Shun Long''s hand pped Xiao Juyan''s face startling everyone before he said in a cold tone
''''Don''t even think that you can surrender in front of me. Did you think that it''s going to be that easy? You will either tell me what I want to know, or I will make sure that you won''t be able to walk out of here by yourself!''''
Xiao Juyan startedughing loudly as he heard Shun Long''s threatening words and asked
''''I won''t walk here by myself? I''m curious as to how you are going to aplish that? Don''t tell me that you have the guts to cripple me, let alone kill me!''''
Shun Long smiled after hearing Xiao Juyan''s words, as he then said
''''Little ck, do it.''''
Chapter 103 - 103 The assassination plan
Chapter 103 - 103 The assassination n
''''Little ck, do it.''''
Suddenly, Xiao Juyan could feel a terrifying pressure bearing down on him, one that brought him unimaginable pain.
This was a kind of pain that he had never felt before, a pain that had almost instantly brought him to the brink of copse. Xiao Juyan was feeling as if someone was trying to tear his soul apart.
Everyone in the crowd was horrified as they watched him, an expert that was ranked 93rd in the arena rankings, scream and roll on the ground while clutching his head all of a sudden.
Even Ren Gui and Fu Peizhi felt a chill at this sight as they backed a few steps back.
Aside from Xiao Juyan, no one else could sense anything wrong. After all, this pressure wasn''t aura or some kind of qi that people could sense, but little ck''s soul power.
Unless someone''s soul was at least at the same level as little ck''s, and that person could also use their soul sense to scan the arena, it was impossible for anyone to sense little ck''s soul sense.
What Xiao Juyan was going through right now, was a kind of torture where his soul was constantly being brought to the breaking point, and just before his mind would copse, Little ck would then give him a few seconds to rest, only to then start again from the beginning.
Not even a minute had passed until Xiao Juyan had started shouting
''''No, please STOP! I will tell you everything. PLEASE!''''
''''Elder brother!'''' Xiao Shitou''s panicked voice also sounded from the audience seats at the same time, but Xiao Juyan couldn''t pay any attention to him as he begged for the torture to stop.
Everyone in the arena understood that Shun Long must have done something to Xiao Juyan, but there was no way to prove anything.
''''Master, I feel that he is ready to tell us everything''''
Shun Long nodded his head as Little ck stopped his torture and Xiao Juyan could finally started to rx, until he heard Shun Long''s serious voice
''''Don''t try to lie to me, or if I start to feel that you aren''t telling me everything about the assassination...''''
Xiao Juyan shivered as he heard this and repeatedly nodded his head as he said
''''Don''t worry, I will definitely tell you everything. It all started with the Lin family-''''
''''Elder brother!!''''
Xiao Shitou shouted when he saw that his brother was ready to recount everything.
Xiao Juyan however, didn''t pay any attention to Xiao Shitou as he continued
''''A few months ago, Shitou met Lin Wu in the imperial city. That same day he returned home and said to our father that it was love at first nce and that he intends to marry her. Father however, investigated things and found that Lin Wu who was the daughter of the Lin family''s patriarch, was betrothed to the son of Shun Fang, the rank 3 bronze grade formation master of the ''Blue Forest city''.
The Lin family patriarch came to our Marquess estate a few dayster, ''to discuss'' matters with our father.''''
At this point, Lin Wu''s face had already turned white as she heard Xiao Juyan exining everything, and understood that there was no way to keep things hidden any longer. Xiao Shitou however held her hand as he said
''''Wu''er don''t worry. Even if he knows the truth, he can''t do anything to you as long as we are inside the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
Lin Wu shook her head as she said
''''But, what about my family?''''
''''Don''t worry. Shun Long will need at least a few years to return back to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''. By then I will have definitely reached the earth grade as well and will have settled everything!'''' Xiao Shitou said as a cold light shed through his eyes.
Lin Wu finally felt reassured after hearing Xiao Shitou''s words, and nodded her head as she hugged him.
Xiao Juyan then continued with the rest of the story, afraid that if he stopped, Shun Long would restart that inhumane torture again.
''''The Lin family patriarch said that it would be cruel to marry his precious daughter to a cripple like you, instead of marrying her to the Xiao marquess'' son. However, father wasn''t stupid and he easily saw through Lin Shang''s intentions.
Father denied, as he told him that our family wouldn''t stain our hands with blood to help the Lin family escape the engagement that they had promised Shun Fang.
However, after Shitou''s pleas to help, father finally agreed to send someone to ''Blue Forest city'', and spread rumors that a treasure that could potentially help you unblock your meridians, had appeared in the vicinity of the Blue Forest.
The timing was perfect as Shun Fang was in the imperial capital at that time and in your desperation, you would definitely choose to go alone.
As for the assassination? That was all done by the Lin family''s Elders and my Xiao family had nothing to do with it.''''
After Xiao Juyan finished narrating the secrets behind Shun Long''s assassination attempt, he looked at Shun Long with relief. Although he had revealed something shameful, schemes in the ''cultivation world'' were all toomon, while his family hadn''t done all that much in this matter.
Everyone in the audience turned their heads to look at Lin Wu and Xiao Shitou in disgust.
Lin Wu lowered her head while Xiao Shitou pulled her hand as they both quickly left the arena.
Shun Long watched the 2 of them as they hurriedly left the arena andughed coldly inside, before turning his head to look at Xiao Juyan.
''''Master, based on the fluctuations of his soul, everything he said was true.''''
After hearing little ck''s words,?Shun Long nodded his head as he hit Xiao Juyan''s neck with a chop, instantly rendering him unconscious.
At that moment, Shun Long''s ''sect identifying jade'' lit up, and a number appeared on it.
93.
At the same time, Xiao Juyan''s name had magically disappeared from the wall of the top 100 ranks, leaving behind only an empty slot for Shun Long to fill his own name there.
Without feeling the slightest sense of pity for Xiao Juyan, Shun Long walked up to the arena representative as he collected the 2 spatial rings before turning to leave.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t nning to have any good opinion of Xiao Juyan just because he had confessed the truth. Let alone that the reason he had confessed was actually thanks to little ck''s excruciating soul torture, Shun Long also wasn''t going to forget that the Xiao family had assisted the Lin''s in their assassination n.
However, before Shun Long could really leave the arena, a voice was suddenly heard from the crowd as it said
''''Shun Long!''''
Turning his head, Shun Long saw a burly young man seemingly around 20 years old. This man had long ck hair and a burly build and was staring right at him. AlthoughShun Long didn''t know who this man was, he recognized the person standing next to him, Fu Peizhi.
''''Hey, who is that?''''
''''Don''t speak and don''t even breathe! If this monster turns his attention to you, you are doomed!''''
The rowdy arena instantly fell silent as people recognized this long-haired man.
This was the person with the worst reputation in the entire ''outer city'', the person ranked 7th in the arena rankings, Ren Gui.
Ren Gui jumped all the way from the audience seats as hended inside the arena with a bang.
He then grabbed the unconscious Xiao Juyan, before throwing him towards the crowd like he was just a sack of meat, before turning his head to look at Shun Long, looking like he was staring at some sort of delicious prey, as he pointed at him and saidmandingly
''''Come here!''''
Chapter 104 - 104 Exchanging blows
Chapter 104 - 104 Exchanging blows
Shun Long didn''t know who this man was but judging from the crowd''s reactions, he was definitely not a pushover.
Walking back inside the arena, he stared at Ren Gui waiting to hear what he wanted to say.
Ren Gui looked at Shun Long as he asked in an arrogant and overbearing tone
''''Do you know what your crime is brat? There are very few people in the ''outer city'' that have dared to not give me, Ren Gui any face.
I don''t give a f.u.c.k if you want to fight with small fries like Xiao Juyan and Lei Pong, but since you dared to p my woman, you better be prepared to pay the price.''''
The moment that Ren Gui finished speaking, he instantly kicked the ground as he rushed at Shun Long.
Shun Long had just now understood, that this was the person ranked 7th in the arena rankings, when he saw Ren Gui practically flying at him.
Ren Gui roared as he sent a powerful punch at Shun Long''s chest, who in return crossed his arms in an X-shape to block.
Ren Gui''s punch sent Shun Long off the ground, as he then slid for more than 10 meters backwards, until he managed to stabilized himself.
Shun Long was shocked. How powerful did this man have to be, to send him sliding for 10m until he could stop?
Since Shun Long had advanced to the middle of the second stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' he was certain that he could easily defeat anyone below even the 8th rank in earth grade.
''''It looks like this person is also a body refiner, and one that has already reached the peak of the second stage!'''' Shun Long thought as he felt his arms slightly aching after taking Ren Gui''s punch
''''This kid managed to take my punch when he is just at the middle of the second stage in body refinement? How is this possible?''''
Both Ren Gui and Fu Peizhi however, were even more shocked than Shun Long.
Everyone in the top 100 rankings knew, that Ren Gui wasn''t just someone at the peak of the second stage in body refinement. He had already reached the peak of this level for the past 2 years, and was just a step away from entering the third stage.
A third stage body refiner was just as strong if not stronger than a Heaven grade cultivator.
After his astonishment, Ren Gui actuallyughed as he said
''''Then let''s see which of us is stronger brat!'''' before he once again sent another punch at Shun Long.
Shun Long activated his golden eyes as well as his ''Monarch''s Domain'', and after avoiding Ren Gui''s punch that had just brushed past his shoulder, he sent his own punch right at Ren Gui''s abdomen.
Ren Gui flinched, as he took 2 steps backwards, pain coloring his face.
''''I actually felt pain from the punch of a middle-second stage brat?''''
Both Shun Long and Ren Gui didn''t ept this oue as they both stared at each other.
However, before they could move again, their ''sect identifying jades'' as well as Fu Peizhi''s, all lit up at the same time.
All 3 of them took out their sect jades, and received the same message.
Ren Gui snorted as he then said in an annoyed tone
''''Your luck may have saved you today but this isn''t over just yet.''''
Then, without even waiting for a reply, he left the arena as he headed towards the ''inner city'' gates.
The crowd was astonished as they watched Ren Gui turn to leave so suddenly since the fight had barely begun, when Fu Peizhi''s voice sounded from the audience seats as he looked at Shun Long and said
''''You seem to be very lucky. Not only did you manage to avoid fighting Ren Gui, but we also don''t have the time to fight ourselves.''''
The crowd saw that Fu Peizhi seemed to be provoking Shun Long and got excited once again
''''It''s senior brother Fu!''''
''''Does Fu Peizhi want to fight with Shun Long?''''
''''I think so. I heard that senior brother Fu came here 3 days ago to take revenge for Lei Pong, but Shun Long didn''t seem to ept his challenge.''''
Shun Long turned his head and stared at Fu Peizhi as he said
''''Lucky? Then let''s see who the lucky one really is. I also have a few things that I have to settle with you.''''
Fu Peizhi seemed to have been caught off-guard before he then asked angrily
''''Do you think that I am Xiao Juyan? Understand that you and I are not on the same level! You won''t even be able tost 5 moves against me! I told you before, didn''t I? In front of me, you and everyone else below the top 20 are all ants.''''
Little ck''s mocking voice then sounded inside Shun Long''s head as he said
''''Howughable. Merely at the middle of rank 9 earth grade and he views everyone below him as ants.''''
The crowd also seemed to have been angered by Fu Peizhi''s words, but as he swept his eyes over everyone, all the disciples in the audience just lowered their heads.
Shun Long however, smirked as he looked at him and said
''''Then, a week from now Fu Peizhi, watch how I squash your worldview.''''
''''HAHAHAHA!''''
Fu Peizhiughed as he left the arena, as he headed towards the ''inner city'' gates.
Shun Long didn''t pay any more attention to Fu Peizhi as he asked little ck
''''Did you find their location?''''
''''I did, master. They are inside arge inn about 20 miles on our east. Are we going to do it now?''''
Shaking his head Shun Long said
''''I would love to take care of them now, but the sect master ordered for all the disciples within the top 1000 ranks to gather in front of the ''inner city'' immediately.''''
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long''s eyes turned golden as he continued ''''However, I will not give them a chance to live for even one more day.''''
Shun Long then left the arena, under the respectful gazes of all the disciples in the crowd, as he headed towards the ''inner city'' gates where the sect master had ordered for everyone to gather.
Chapter 105 - 105 Redstone inn
Chapter 105 - 105 Redstone inn
Not even 30 minutester, Shun Long had arrived in front of the ''inner city'' gates.
More than 500 people were already gathered in front of the gates, including Ren Gui, Fu Peizhi, and even that blue-haired young man that Shun Long had met in the arena when he fought with Lei Pong.
Since Shun Long''s face was unknown to most people here, no one paid him any attention as he waited for the sect master to arrive.
More and more people gradually gathered, and 20 minutester, the ''inner city'' gates opened as an azure-robed middle aged man in his forties, followed by 2 ck-robed Elders appeared before the disciples.
The disciples that were chatting between themselves immediately quietened down, as they saw the sect master, Liu Jian arriving.
Liu Jian''s aura waspletely retracted, and he looked like a normal 40-year-old man.?He took a look at the disciples gathered in front of him and nodded his head as he said
''''Good! It seems that most of you have already arrived. Let me exin the reason I called for you here today.
I''m sure that some of you have already heard about a secret realm that will open in a few months time.''''
Liu Jian saw that most of the disciples wore confused looks on their faces, and only some people like Ren Gui, Fu Peizhi, and the blue-haired man, as well as Shun Long and a few others, didn''t show any confusion as they had already heard about it.
Liu Jian saw that most disciples didn''t seem to know anything and exined in a loud voice
''''In 3 months from now, a secret realm known as the ''Vermilion realm'' will open in our Deste East. This is a realm that opens only once every 100 years, and the opportunities inside are endless.
Our ''floating cloud sect'' has been sending disciples and Elders there for the past 2000 years, and many of them have found heaven-defying fortune inside.
However, due to the restrictions of the realm, only cultivators up to the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade can enter inside. Of course, our ''floating cloud sect'' isn''t the only sect that will be entering the ''Vermilion realm''. There will be many other sects alongside us and all of them will send their own disciples and Elders, which is the reason why every sect has a specific quota of people that it can send inside.
The ''inner city'' will send in a total of 200 Elders and disciples, while from the ''outer city'', only the top 100 people in the arena rankings will be eligible to join.
You have 75 days to see whether you can enter the top 100 rankings in the arena, or secure your rank if you are already there. After the 75 days are over, we will be leaving the sect to enter the ''Vermilion realm''. That is all!''''
After exining everything, Liu Jian didn''t wait for any questions as he turned around and walked back to the ''inner city''.
The moment that the ''inner city'' gates closed, the disciples gathered in front of the ''inner city'' gates, immediately rushed towards the arena, almost as if they werepeting on who would arrive there first.
Only Shun Long and a few others seemed to have no intention to go to the arena, when Fu Peizhi''s mocking voice sounded all of a sudden
''''HA! These idiots think that if they arrive in the arena faster, then they will be able to enter the secret realm?''''
Fu Peizhiughed as he watched the huge group of outer disciples, all running as they hoped to get a rank in the top 100, before he turned to leave the area.
Shun Long also didn''t stay around any longer, but seemed to have headed back towards the arena.
-
Around 20 miles away from the arena, was a veryrge inn, with many private rooms.
This was thergest inn in the ''outer city'', the ''Redstone inn''.
Shun Long saw a huge number of disciples entering and leaving the inn''s entrance, showing how popr this ce was.
''''Little ck, can you still sense them?''''
Little ck sent his spiritual strength to scan over the inn as he said
''''Master, they are still in a room on the second floor.''''
''''Great!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he waited patiently for night to fall.
A few hourster, the sun had already set and most of the disciples had already returned back to their rooms, however, due to the sheer number of disciples in the ''floating cloud sect'', the streets were never really empty.
Shun Long swapped back to his ck robes, as he too walked on the street along with the other disciples. Although his attire was suspicious deep in the night, there were many people who used to wear ck robes and cloaks inside the sect if they wanted to hide their identity for various reasons. (Author''s note: remember that these robes arepletely different from the sect robes that sect Elders wear.)
Shun Long walked parallel to the inn, and after checking that there were no other disciples around him, he shed the void open creating a space tear, and entering inside it, he arrived at the room''s location that little ck had pinpointed.
''''AHHH YES!! MORE!! BROTHER SHITOU DON''T STOP!!''''
Lin Wu''s voice was the first thing that Shun Long heard as he entered the room. Turning his eyes towards the origin of the voice, Shun Long saw Xiao Shitou''s back and forth movements as he connected his body with Lin Wu''spletely n.a.k.e.d body.
Shun Long was disgusted after having to see Xiao Shitou''s bare ass, and immediately activated the ''Monarch''s Domain'' freezing everything inside the room.
Sadly for Xiao Shitou, he wouldn''t be able to finish his night, as Shun Long sent a kick to his body, sending him flying as he crashed to the wall of the room.
After tying both the n.a.k.e.d Lin Wu, as well as Xiao Shitou with a rope and gagging their mouths with 2 pieces of cloth, Shun Long deactivated the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu were utterly confused to see a man in ck robes, appear all of a sudden in front of them. Removing his ck robes, this man then allowed them to see his true appearance.
The n.a.k.e.d couple was terrified to see Shun Long appear out of nowhere inside their room, when they were enjoying themselves just a moment ago.
Lin Wu tried to cover her n.a.k.e.d body with her hands, but the rope didn''t really allow her much movement.
''''Mmff''''
''''Mffm''''
Muffled sounds came from both of their mouths, but Shun Long just looked at them apathetically as he asked
''''Do you have anyst words?''''
Chapter 106 - 106 Last words
Chapter 106 - 106 Last words
The moment that the duo heard Shun Long''s words, they immediately fell silent.
Shun Long could see the terror in their eyes, but soon, the look in Xiao Shitou changed from fear into one of defiance.
Shun Long didn''t bother as he said
''''I will remove your gags so you can say anyst words that you may have. However, if you try to scream or shout for help then you will lose your chance to speak.''''
After removing Lin Wu''s gag, Shun Long activated his golden eyes when she said
''''Sh-Shun L-Long... please don''t kill me! I can even... ASS-!''''
Shun Long shook his head as he gagged Lin Wu''s mouth again, and looking at her with his shining golden eyes he said mockingly
''''I told you not to try and scream.''''
Little ck looked at Lin Wu from the ''Stone of Time'' as he thought
''''How can she scream even is she wants to since master is able to glimpse into the future?
Shaking his head, Shun Long then removed Xiao Shitou''s gag as he asked cidly
''''Anyst words?''''
In response however, Xiao Shitouughed as he said
''''Hahaha, Shun Long, I don''t believe that you dare to kill us inside the ''floating cloud sect''. Even if no one saw you entering our room, people have definitely seen you enter the ''Redstone inn''. Since my brother has revealed everything about your assassination in the arena, people will definitely suspect you as the killer. Don''t tell me that you still dare to touch us after all that.''''
Even Lin Wu seemed to have breathed out in relief after hearing this, but her eyes still held a trace of fear as she looked at Shun Long.
Shun Long pped his hands after hearing Xiao Shitou''s reasoning and nodded his head as he said
''''Indeed, you are right! People will definitely suspect me as the killer. However, so what if they suspect me? As long as there is no proof that I have entered the inn, then no one will be able to do anything about it.''''
Xiao Shitou''s eyes looked at him as if he was crazy and seemed to have just realized that Shun Long was serious about killing him as he said in a trembling voice
''''W-Wait! You know that it wasn''t me that attacked you! My family just spread the rumors. It was Lin Wu. You can just kill her!?I swear I will not say anything! Please! Please don''t kill me!''''
Shun Long looked at Xiao Shitou without anypassion as he said
''''If it wasn''t for you spreading the rumors, then how would her family even be able to attack me?''''
Xiao Shitou was about to shout for help, when he found his mouth stuffed again with a piece of cloth.
Shun Long didn''t show the slightest bit of pity looking at the 2 of them, and using both of his hands, he opened 2 tiny spatial tears in the air in front of him.
Both Lin Wu''s and Xiao Shitou''s eyes popped as they looked at the space tears, but when Shun Long''s hands went inside them, terror wasn''t sufficient to describe the feeling that this couple felt, as they swiftly realized where the space tears lead to.
Shun Long''s hands entered the space tears and grabbed both of Lin Wu''s and Xiao Shitou''s hearts.
Shun Long''s hands were suddenly filled with blood as he clenched them, crushing the hearts inside them.
Both Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu took theirst breaths as their bodies lifelessly copsed on the ground, with their eyes still open.
Shun Long wiped his dripping hands as he looked at the 2 dead bodies in front of him, and putting his ck robes back on, he opened another space tear as he left the ''Redstone inn''.
After advancing to the middle of the second stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long had felt his affinity with space grow even more, as he could now effortlessly open up space tears within 100meters from where he was. However, since he was still inside the ''floating cloud sect'', he couldn''t recklessly test where his limits currently stood.
After walking back to an alley to remove his ck robes, Shun Long soon returned back to the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
After entering his room and washing himself to remove any possible lingering smell of blood from his body, Shun Long sat on his bed as he sent his spiritual strength inside Xiao Juyan''s spatial ring.
Shun Long was pleasantly surprised to find more than 1700 spirit stones inside it. Aside from the spirit stones, there were a few rank 2 medicinal herbs, as well as some bottles with rank 2 pills inside them.
''''Aside from a few of the rank 2 ''dispelling poison pills'' that have reached the middle-grade, the rest of the pills here are just low-grade. Especially the quality of these ''earth-qi restoration pills''. If anyone consumed them, the pill toxins inside them would do more harm than good in the long run.''''
Shun Long thenpletely ignored the pills inside the spatial ring, and since he didn''t find anything else of value, he ced the spirit stones along with the rank 2 medicinal herbs, all inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Looking at the more than 1800 spirit stones inside, Shun Long could barely resist the urge to start cultivating now, as he closed his eyes and used his qi to speed up the flow of time inside the herb garden, hastening the growth of the medicinal herbs.
2 dayster, he had enough ''purple fragrant grass'', as well as the rank 2 medicinal herbs that he needed, to fill 2 wooden barrels of wine.?After refining the medicinal herbs in the alchemy room for more than 6 hours, Shun Long had finally filled 2 barrels of wine.
After burying the 2 barrels, Shun Long once again used his qi to speed up the flow of time inside the herb garden, when finally, the day of the auction had arrived.
Chapter 107 - 107 Senior alchemist
Chapter 107 - 107 Senior alchemist
After closing his eyes for a few hours to rest and recover his qi, Shun Long then stood up from his bed as he left his room, and walked toward the ''Treasure Pavilion.
As he left the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'', he saw many outer disciples on the street whispering about something and running towards the same direction.
Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to them and kept walking towards the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
''''Master, there seems to be quite a bigmotion in that ''Redstone inn''.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''It''s natural that they would find out about Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu''s deaths sooner orter. I''m even surprised that it took the sect 3 days to find out about it. Let''s see how they handle it then.''''
Half an hourter, a ck robed Shun Long had already arrived in front of the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' entrance.
The line to enter the auction this time, was even longer thanst time.
Shun Long however didn''t queue up, as he directly headed towards the VIP entrance.
After showing his invitation, the disciples in the entrance hurried to inform Yin Xing about it, who quickly came to wee Shun Long inside.
As Yin Xing guided Shun Long to a private room he smiled as he started speaking
''''Senior, I''m d you came! If you didn''te I don''t know what I would have done.
As soon as the higher-ups of the pavilion heard about senior''s wine, our pavilion quickly spread the word of a wondrous wine being auctioned and it attracted the attention of a lot of high ranking Elders from the big families.
However, the higher-ups of the pavilion have told me to request from senior, to ept a meeting with the senior alchemist of our ''Treasure Pavilion'' so that he can also verify the wine''s properties.''''
Shun Long turned his eyes to look at Yin Xing, who, to avoid a misunderstanding hurriedly waved his hands as he said
''''Senior, please don''t misunderstand. It''s not that our ''Treasure Pavilion'' doesn''t trust you. The problem is actually with me. My rank is not high enough inside the pavilion, so they also need someone more experienced than me to check.''''
Shun Long thought for a bit before nodding his head as he said in his deep voice
''''I understand. You can call this alchemist of your ''Treasure Pavilion'' then.''''
After hearing Shun Long''s words, Yin Xing breathed out in relief before repeatedly thanking Shun Long.
Yin Xing then led him in front of a private room with the number 1 on it, and after opening the door he said
''''Senior, this is the best private room that our ''Treasure Pavilion'' has, and it is only opened to our most important guests.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t really pay much attention to Yin Xing, but after entering the room he was actually surprised.
The room was slightly bigger than thest private room he had entered in the past.
The decorations were almost identical tost time as well, except that there was a white couch at the center of the room that seemed to have been made from the fur of a rank 3 ''white-furred bear'' this time.
It was really as Yin Xing had said, this room was much betterpared to the one he had entered thest time.
Seeing that Shun Long had sat down on the couch Yin Xing bowed his head as he asked
''''Senior, should I ask for senior alchemist Ma toe now? We have less than an hour left until the auction starts after all.''''
''''In that case, call him here.''''
Seeing Shun Long waving his hand, Yin Xing instantly left the room as he went to call that ''senior alchemist Ma'' over.
Barely 10 minutester, a silver-robed old man with a big beard had arrived at the room, with Yin Xing trailing behind him. This old man had a badge of a one-star silver cauldron on his chest as he was surprisingly a rank 1 silver grade alchemist.
The old man''s eyes, were staring at Shun Long''s back full of shock, as he was unable to detect any auraing from his body.
''''Senior, this is our senior alche-''''
Yin Xing hurried to introduce him, but ''senior alchemist Ma'' was even more eager to speak, as he said
''''This senior, my name is Ma Tengfei and I am the senior alchemist in the ''Treasure Pavilion''. I have heard a lot about you from Yin Xing and couldn''t wait to meet you myself. I hope that senior will forgive my selfishness.''''
Ma Tengfei then bowed his head and was actually extremely respectful as he spoke. Even if Shun Long wanted to find something to pick on with him, this old man was truly a willy fox and did his absolute best to leave a good impression.
Nodding his head Shun Long then said
''''It''s okay. I heard that your ''Treasure Pavilion'' wants you to verify my wine. Here.''''
Taking out the barrel fromst time, Shun Long removed the barrel''s top as the fragrant smell of the wine instantly filled the private room.
Ma Tengfei''s eyes lit up as he inhaled the wine''s smell, while little ck grumbled inwardly
''''If only master didn''t need spirit stones urgently, you monkeys would never get to even smell master''s wine, let alone have a chance to purchase it!''''
Shun Long then took a small cup from the small table in front of him, and filled it halfway with the wine before he said
''''Try it. But you can only taste this much, or whoever buys the barrelter will end up chasing you for his money.''''
Neither Ma Tengfei nor Yin Xingughed though. Instead, Yin Xing nodded his head as he gulped after remembering the taste of this senior''s wine.
He even looked at Shun Long pleadingly but Shun Long didn''t even spare him a nce. He wasn''t going to let Yin Xing drink his wine for free.
Even little ck snorted as he watched this scene.
As Ma Tengfei took the cup, his hands seemed to have been shaking, before he immediately emptied it all in his mouth, in front of Yin Xing''s and little ck''s envious gazes.
The moment that the wine entered Ma Tengfei''s mouth, it was like a delicious c.o.c.ktail of medicinal essence that assaulted his taste buds. Swallowing down the wine, the rank 6 Heaven grade expert could feel his body absorbing the medicinal essence, as it pushed his cultivation base upwards, ever so slightly.
He then turned to look at Shun Long with incredulity as he said excitedly
''''Senior, this wine is an absolute treasure.''''
Then, bowing his head he continued
''''Senior, I have to immediately report everything to the higher-ups of the pavilion about senior''s wine and its effects.''''
Just when Ma Tengfei bowed and was ready to leave the room, Shun Long''s heavy voice sounded in his ears as he said
''''Wait.''''
Ma Tengfei then looked back Shun Long as he asked respectfully
''''Senior, do you have any instructions?''''
Shun Long shook his head at Ma Tengfei''s question, before he took out another wooden barrel from the ''Stone of Time'' and said
''''I have one more barrel that I want your ''Treasure Pavilion'' to auction for me.''''
Ma Tengfei''s eyes shone brightly as he saw this barrel and couldn''t help but ask in excitement
''''Senior! Would you be willing to sell this barrel privately to our ''Treasure Pavilion''?''''
Chapter 108 - 108 Green nectar fruits
Chapter 108 - 108 Green nectar fruits
''''Senior! Would you be willing to sell this barrel privately to our ''Treasure Pavilion''?''''
Shun Long almost burst outughing as he heard Ma Tengfei''s request and asked with a greedy look in his eyes under his ck robes
''''How much is your pavilion willing to pay?''''
Ma Tengfei thought for a bit before asking somewhat weakly
''''H-How about, 80 percent of what the first barrel sells for?''''
Even Yin Xing sighed as he heard this, while Shun Long shook his head and responded
''''That''s far too little. I will sell it to you for 100 percent of what the first barrel makes.''''
Ma Tengfei however immediately protested as he said
''''Senior, that''s too much! What if the first barrel sells for an exorbitant price?''''
Shun Long frowned at how stingy the ''Treasure Pavilion'' seemed to be and responded in an apathetic voice
''''You seem to have misunderstood some things. The ''floating cloud sect'' isn''t the only sect around here. Since your pavilion didn''t agree, then I will sell my wine elsewhere.''''
Ma Tengfei was extremely anxious when he heard this and said with an ugly smile on his face
''''Senior, please don''t be rash. This junior was simply making a joke. Of course, our pavilion would be willing to pay as much as the first barrel gets sold for! For a wine like senior''s no matter how high the price goes, our pavilion will match it.''''
Shun Longughed inwardly, but facing Ma Tengfei, he simply nodded his head as he said
''''That''s good. Alright then, since you have other matters to attend to then I won''t keep you here any longer.''''
Both Ma Tengfei and Yin Xing then bowed before leaving the room.
Little ck''s voice then sounded inside Shun Long''s head as he watched Yin Xing and Ma Tengfei leaving the room and said
''''Master, these people from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' are very greedy. Normally, they wouldn''t even get a chance to purchase master''s wine, and this person still wanted to purchase it at a lower price.''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard the ck dragon''s words before he took out thest wine barrel from the herb garden.
After filling a huge bowl for himself, Shun Long handed the rest of the wine in the barrel to the sulky ck dragon.
Little ck then happily epted the wooden barrel, and this time instead of gulping all the wine down, he took his time to enjoy it.
Time quickly passed as Shun Long and little ck were enjoying their wine, when a beautiful youngdy in green robes stepped on the main stage of the auction hall.
When the crowd saw Lan Jinjing, hushed discussions suddenly filled the auction hall
''''What''s going on with the ''Treasure Pavilion''? Why is miss Lan here today? Don''t we still have a few months until the yearly auction?''''
''''I heard that there is something special with today''s auction. Supposedly, someone even some Elders from the big families enter the private rooms.''''
Lan Jinjing smiled at the crowd and pped her hands once, drawing everyone''s attention to her as she said
''''Honorable guests of our ''Treasure Pavilion'', my name is Lan Jinjing and I will be your auctioneer once again for today''s monthly auction. Our ''Treasure Pavilion'' has prepared some special items for today, so I hope that you are all excited for our auction.
As always the rules remain the same. Every item starts at a minimum price, and the guests with the highest bid in the end can obtain them.''''
Taking a deep breath, Lan Jinjing saw the excited crowd, and pped her hands once more as she continued
''''Without further ado then, let''s start today''s auction!''''
As Lan Jinjing finished speaking, 2 outer disciples carried a small table with a te at the center of the stage. Inside the te were 6 small green fruits that Shun Long recognized as the ''green nectar fruits''.
''''Dear guests, the first item for today''s auction is this bundle of 6 rank 2 ''green nectar fruits''. As you all may know, the ''green nectar fruit'' can allow a cultivator at the early stages of the earth grade to have an 80 percent chance of directly advancing to the next rank. Although the effect for a middle stage earth grade expert would be less than 30 percent, the chance is still there.
There are 6 fruits and they are all sold as a bundle. The minimum bid must be 2000 sect points and every increment must be at least 100 sect points higher than thest bid.''''
As soon as Lan Jinjing finished introducing the ''green nectar fruits'', the crowd at the outer seats instantly started bidding
''''2000''''
''''Ha, you think you can get this fruit with 2000 sect points? 2300''''
''''2500''''
..
''''3400''''
..
''''4000''''
The price of the rank 2 ''green nectar fruits'' had quickly reached the 3500 sect points when Shun Long''s voice drew everyone''s attention as he called his bid of 4000 points.
Although the crowd in the outer seats didn''t know who the ck robed man who called this bid was, the people in the other private rooms had already learned that this senior was the one who had created the disturbance in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' thest time. It was also this senior who was auctioning the ''special wine'' today, and no one in the private rooms were willing to fight with him for a rank 2 fruit.
''''4100'''' A young man in the outer seats, didn''t seem willing to give up so easily, as he gritted his teeth and called out his bid again.
''''5000''''
Shun Long''s heavy voice sounded from the private room once again.
Since there were no more bids after that, Shun Long sessfully obtained the 6 ''green nectar fruits''.
As the auction continued however, Shun Long was disappointed since no other items had managed to pique his interest. Time passed and soon Lan Jinjing''s voice sounded from the main stage as she dered
''''We are now down to thest 2 items of our auction.''''
''''Honorable guests of our pavilion, there are only 2 items left for today''s auction.''''
Then, a white-robed Elder walked on the main stage holding a yellow piece of paper.
The crowd seemed to be unaware of what this was, but most of the people inside the private rooms were already looking at this piece of paper eagerly, as if it was some kind of precious treasure.
Chapter 109 - 109 Wine fervor
Chapter 109 - 109 Wine fervor
''''Our next item was originally meant to be the finale for today''s auction and it is something that is rarely found even in the annual auctions of our?pavilion.''''
Lan Jinjing smiled when she saw that she had captured the crowd''s attention as she then pointed at the yellow scroll and continued
''''This item is something that an outer disciple of our sect found during a sect mission, and I am certain that many of the Elders from the big families here today will want to get their hands on.It is a middle yellow-grade martial skill.''''
The moment that Lan Jinjing finished speaking, the crowd exploded with excitement.
''''A middle yellow-grade martial skill? Now I understand why the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had miss Lan be the auctioneer for today. Even low yellow-grade martial skills are rare, let alone a middle yellow-grade.''''
''''But then, why is this not the final item for this auction? Even miss Lan said that this was originally scheduled to be for the auction''s finale. Could it be that the final item is something even better?''''
''''Could it be a high yellow-grade martial skill then?''''
''''Don''t be an idiot! Even the big families of the sect don''t have a high yellow-grade martial skill. Probably only the Liu family will have one.''''
It wasn''t just the people in the outer seats that had turned excited, but so were the Elders in the private rooms, as they were already on their feet.
Even Shun Long was now interested in this, as he had seen a martial skill only once, back in the Demonic Mountain region when Guan Hong had injured the rank 2 ''earth bear''.
''''The name of this martial skill is the ''Coiling python fist'' and its starting price is at 100.000 sect points. Every increment must also be at least 1000 sect points higher than thest bid.''''
The starting price of this ''Coiling python fist'' was like a bucket of cold water sshing on everyone''s faces.
Even Shun Long didn''t have so many sect points left in his sect jade.
However, the Elders in the private rooms weren''t daunted in the slightest by the high price of the martial skill. After all, one of the things that the big families didn''tck was precisely sect points.
''''101.000''''
''''103.000''''
''''105.000''''
-
At the same time that the Elders of the big families were fighting over the ''Coiling python fist'', inside private room number 4, fatty Fu was respectfully looking at an old man who was sitting on the couch inside the room.
This old man who was dressed in ck robes and was holding a cane in his right hand was the old patriarch of the Fu family, as well as fatty Fu''s grandfather, Fu Lingtian.
Fu Lingtian had a serious expression on his face as he looked his grandson before he asked
''''Are you sure that Meng Shao, that old fox, is here today?''''
Fu Li looked at his grandfather and nodded his head seriously as he responded
''''I''m sure grandpa. When the old patriarch of the Meng family arrived, the disciples stationed at the entrance immediately informed me about it.''''
When Fu Lingtian heard this, he stood up and mmed his cane on the wooden floor of the private room as he cursed
''''Damn it! Since that old man is also here, there is no question that he must be here for the wine as well.''''
At the same time in private room number 6, a simr conversation was also taking ce between Meng Shengyi and his own grandfather, when Lan Jinjing''s voice once again sounded in everyone''s ears as she said
''''Congrattions to the guest in private room number 11 for obtaining the ''Coiling python fist''.''''
Then, the ''Treasure Pavilion'' sent someone to deliver the middle yellow-grade martial skill, as well as receive their payment for it, before a silver robed Elder who was carefully carrying a wooden barrel then appeared atop the main stage.
The entire auction hall was so silent that even a person''s breathing could be heard, as everyone watched Ma Tengfei ce the wooden barrel in the middle of the main stage. People like Fu Lingtian and Meng Shao, had already stood up as they were eagerly waiting to see the contents inside the barrel.
Lan Jinjing smiled lightly as she said
''''Honorable guests of our ''Treasure Pavilion'', it is finally time for the finale of today''s auction.''''
As her voice trailed off, Ma Tengfei''s hands slowly removed the barrel''s top, and an intoxicating fragrance started to spread throughout the outer seats of the auction hall.
The crowd erupted in an uproar as the disciples in the outer seats had already started to get drunk just from the wine''s scent.
''''What is this wine? How is it so fragrant?''''
''''I have never smelled anything like this before.''''
''''This... just the scent of this wine is 100 times... no 1000 times greater than the best wine of our sect, the ''Mystifying Fragrance wine''!''''
''''Ah that may be true, however the taste of this wine may not be as good as its scent.''''
Lan Jinjing then sealed the barrel''s top back as she started exining
''''This is today''s auction final item, the ''mysterious wine''. This wine was created by a mysterious senior alchemist, who merged many precious herbs before fermenting the wine for 100 years. Both the taste of the wine, as well as its effects have all been verified by the senior alchemist of our ''Treasure Pavilion''.''''
She then pointed towards Ma Tengfei, who nodded his head as he said
''''This is definitely the best wine that our ''Treasure Pavilion'' has ever seen. I can personally assure you that, not only is the wine''s taste iparable with any other wine that I have ever tasted, but even my cultivation base slightly improved after tasting this wine.''''
''''What?''''
This time, it wasn''t just the people in the outer seats that were shocked, but even the Elders inside the private rooms were dumbfounded.
Although the message from the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had said that the ''mysterious wine'' could improve one''s cultivation, everyone had assumed that the effects would be non-existent to Heaven grade experts. And yet a rank 6 Heaven grade expert had just said that this wine had improved his cultivation base.
What did this mean?
For those people like Meng Shao and Fu Lingtian who had been stuck in the same realm for many years, even the slightest increase in their cultivation could prove to be their breakthrough factor.
A huge uproar then erupted once again in the auction hall, as even the people from the private rooms now couldn''t sit still as they all waited for the bidding to begin.
Lan Jinjing knew that the crowd couldn''t stay quiet any longer so she finally spoke
''''The senior who is selling this wine, has told our pavilion that he isn''t interested in sect points. He has dered that the wine must be purchased using spirit stones. Our ''Treasure Pavilion'' decided, for the starting bid to be at 1000 spirit stones, while every increment must be at least 50 spirit stones higher than thest bid.''''
Chapter 110 - 110 Bidding war
Chapter 110 - 110 Bidding war
Shun Long smiled mockingly at the starting price that the ''Treasure Pavilion'' had set for his wine.
''''Master, I''m sure that they are intentionally trying to bring down the price of the wine so they can get it cheaper as well.''''
With that mocking smile still on his face Shun Long replied
''''Perhaps if I have put for auction both of the barrels, then this could work. But now ...? There is no chance for this cheap trick to cause any waves today. There is only one barrel, and whoever wants it will obtain it. If the ''Treasure Pavilion'' thinks that this can do any harm today then they really are a bunch of fools.''''
When the people in the outer seats heard that the wine would be sold for spirit stones, they were dazed as they had expected everything in a sect auction to be purchasable with sect points.
However, the Elders in the private rooms had been informed beforehand, so all of them had broughtrge amounts of spirit stones with them, as the bidding war then started
''''1100 spirit stones!''''
''''1100? Hahaha, Lu Niu are you dreaming? 1500 spirit stones''''
''''1800''''
''''2000''''
The price for the wine was climbing at an rming rate, but Shun Long was still casually sipping his wine as he enjoyed the show. Little ck had almost finished his wine barrel by now, and looking at the rxed Shun Long he asked
''''Master, are you certain that you want to challenge that Fu Peizhi in 3 days from now? Why not just fight him after you get a little stronger? We still have 3 months until this ''Vermilion realm'' opens, so even if you decide to fight him near the end of the 3 months, there will still be plenty of time.''''
Shun Long however shook his head at little ck''s question as he said
''''I too would have preferred to go in seclusion after today''s auction but... it may create problems in the future.''''
Shun Long saw that little ck didn''t understand what he meant so he continued exining
''''The real issue lies with the arena rules. Only those ranked 101-200 are allowed to challenge the top 100 people in the arena.
If I go into seclusion while I''m still ranked 93rd, there is no doubt that I will receive plenty of challenges and I will either have to ept all of them or lose my rank.''''
Little ck nodded his head as he said
''''But the worst that can happen is for master to fall below the top 100 ranks then right? Master will definitely be able to reim a spot in the top 100 after exiting seclusion.''''
Shun Long smiled after he heard little ck''s words and said
''''The arena rules state that one can refuse a challenge if he has already fought for that day. Even if I''m strong enough to im a spot in the top 100, if people abuse this rule near thest days of the selection and I end up being unable to sessfully challenge someone in the top 100, then I will still be the one who loses out.''''
Little ck seemed to have just realized that such a ''loophole'' existed in the arena rules. However, this didn''t answer all of his questions so he continued
''''But still, how is it going to help if master challenges Fu Peizhi?''''
''''The bottom 20 of the 100 ranks are the ''easiest target'' for people who aim to reach the top 100 and enter the ''Vermilion realm''. But the fight for the bottom spots of the top 100 will also be much more bloody because of this, whereas someone ranked in the top 20 won''t receive nearly a fifth of the challenges that the bottom rankers will.''''
Realization finally dawned on the ck dragon''s face as he asked
''''So master wants to enter the top 20 to avoid most of the challenges while still securing your rank!''''
Shun Long smiled as he nodded his head and said
''''That, and to teach Fu Peizhi a lesson. Since he dared to challenge me just to teach me a lesson, it''s about time I knock him off his high horse.''''
While Shun Long and little ck were chatting, the auction hall had turned into a bidding battlefield as the price for Shun Long''s wine had already reached 24.000 spirit stones.
''''24.500''''
Fu Lingtian''s voice sounded from private room number 4 as he looked at Meng Shao inside private room number 6.
''''25.000! Old crap Fu, stop fighting with me over this wine. You have been stuck at the 9th rank of the Heaven grade for 400 years, no matter how miraculous the wine is, it won''t help you breakthrough to the Spirit realm!''''
''''26.000! You old shit Meng, talk to me again after you reach the peak of the Heaven grade! This wine is mine!''''
''''27.000''''
The price for the wine had reached such a huge number, that only the old patriarchs of the Fu and the Meng families still dared topete with each other for it.
The higher echelons of the ''Treasure Pavilion'' who were watching the bidding war, felt a pain in their hearts as they saw the price of the wine rise non-stop. Even if they subtracted the 5% that their pavilion took as payment, the price was still much higher than their original estimations.
''''30.000! Meng Shao, are you still going to fight with me over this?''''
Gritting his teeth, Meng Shao called out
''''31.000! Don''t be crazy old fart! This is almost the price of 2 rank 4 medicinal herbs! Even you must feel the pain after losing so many spirit stones at once!''''
''''32.000!'''' Fu Lingtian called out with a determined look in his eyes. Fatty Fu''s knees were now trembling as he watched his grandfather.
Meng Shao exploded in rage after hearing Fu Lingtian''s voice again. 32.000 spirit stones was a huge amount even for the old patriarch of the Meng family.
''''You crazy old fart! Fine! Since one barrel of wine has already appeared, I don''t believe that another one won''t appear in the future again!''''
With that, Meng Shao finally decided to stop bidding, allowing Fu Lingtian to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Inside his private room, Shun Long''s eyes were shining brightly as he thought of the more than 60.000 spirit stones that would be entering his pocket soon.
Barely 10 minutes had passed, when Ma Tengfei along with Yin Xing then arrived in the private room.
Chapter 111 - 111 Fighting Fu Peizhi
Chapter 111 - 111 Fighting Fu Peizhi
Ma Tengfei and Yin Xing both bowed as they entered the room and respectfully called out
''''Senior''''
Then, with a ttering smile on his face, Ma Tengfei looked at Shun Long and said
''''I havee to deliver the payment for senior''s wine.''''
Ma Tengfei then took out a huge amount of spirit stones from his spatial ring and said
''''Senior, here are 60.800 spirit stones. From the 32.000 spirit stones that senior''s wine sold for, our ''Treasure Pavilion'' only took a 5 percent fee, meaning that senior''s profit is a total of 30.400 spirit stones.
Since our ''Treasure Pavilion also promised senior to match the cost of the first barrel, the total would be 60.800 spirit stones.''''
Shun Longughed but didn''t bargain over 1600 spirit stones with Ma Tengfei. After all the ''Treasure Pavilion'' wasn''t exactly wrong to subtract 5 percent from their own purchase as well.
After taking the spirit stones, Shun Long handed the wooden barrel to Ma Tengfei who smiled as he said
''''Senior, if you have anything that our pavilion can help you with, you just have to say the word. Our pavilion would be very happy if we could cooperate with senior.''''
Shun Long however shook his head as he said
''''I am nning to leave the ''floating cloud sect'' today.''''
Both Yin Xing and Ma Tengfei sighed dejectedly when they heard this, but they had already expected to be refused. Such a senior would only be a passerby from their ''floating cloud sect'' after all, and wouldn''t stay here forever.
shing the air with his right hand, Shun Long opened a space tear, and in front of the disbelieving looks of the 2 alchemists from the ''Treasure Pavilion, he entered the space tear and disappeared in front of their eyes.
Shun Long then reappeared in a narrow alley about 50m away from the ''Treasure Pavilion''s entrance, and after having little ck scan the area to make sure that there was no one around him, he removed his ck robes before he headed back to the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
On the way back to the pavilion, Shun Long noticed that themotion around the ''Redstone inn'' had grown even bigger. Shun Long was certain that all of it was due to the deaths of Xiao Shitou and Lin Wu inside the sect.
Without paying any attention to it however, Shun Long returned back to his room.
Sitting on his bed, he then started feeding spirit stones to the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
The vine absorbed the spirit stones that Shun Long fed it like crazy, as it produced more and more pure qi inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long then, looked at the corpse of the peak rank 4 silver winged roc and said
''''Little ck, take your time to consume the silver winged roc''s body and enhance your strength too.''''
Little ck nodded his head as he heard this and without a moment''s hesitation, he started to eat the flesh of the silver winged roc.
After all, at the end of the day, little ck was still a dragon, a king of magic beasts.
Magic beasts grew faster the same way that body refiner cultivators did... by eating the magic beasts'' flesh.
Although the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' could enhance little ck''s cultivation speed, consuming other magic beasts was still the best way for the ck dragon''s strength to grow.
3 days passed in the blink of an eye when Shun Long opened his eyes.
Today was the day that he had promised to challenge Fu Peizhi. In just 3 days, Shun Long had already advanced to the peak of rank 4 in earth grade.
Taking a look inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long smiled as he saw the ck dragon that had already eaten a third of the silver winged roc, and was now asleep.
Leaving the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'', Shun Long heard a lot of discussions on his way to the arena, and surprisingly most people were still talking about the death of Lin Wu and Xiao Shitou.
''''I heard that the sect is investigating to find the culprit of the assassination but there are still no clues from that night!''''
''''Xiao Juyan said that the culprit is the person ranked 93rd in the arena, Shun Long. But the sect investigated and found nothing to prove it so far.''''
''''Whoever killed Xiao Juyan''s brother really did a good job covering his tracks.''''
10 minutester, Shun Long arrived outside of the arena entrance, only to see a huge crowd that had queued up.
Some people from the crowd instantly recognized him as they eximed
''''He really came.''''
''''Shun Long is here! Inform senior brother Fu!''''
''''Senior brother Fu is already waiting for him in the registration counter!''''
The crowd immediately opened a line for Shun Long to walk inside, before they followed after him.
Fu Peizhi had a sinister smile on his face as he saw Shun Long walking towards him at the registration counter as he said
''''I didn''t expect you to actually have the guts toe here today.''''
Shun Long swept his eyes at Fu Peizhi before handing his sect jade to the woman at the registration counter as he said
''''I want to challenge the person ranked 17th in the rankings, Fu Peizhi.''''
Although the crowd was expecting these words, everyone still burst with excitement when they heard them while Fu Peizhi''s eyes had a dark look in them.
Although he was confident that he could defeat Shun Long, this challenge was still a p in his face.
The woman at the registration counter epted Shun Long''s sect jade, and officially issued the challenge, causing Fu Peizhi''s sect jade to start glowing.
Fu Peizhi then looked at Shun Long andughed as he said
''''This is good as well. It''s time for you to understand the difference between the top 100 and the top 20.''''
Then, under the eyes of the crowd around them, Fu Peizhi and Shun Long both walked towards the center of the arena.
Taking out 2 short daggers from his spatial ring, Fu Peizhi looked at Shun Long and said in a derisive voice
''''Did you really think that you are able to fight against me just because you beat Xiao Juyan? Or is it because you traded blows with Ren Gui once and now you think that you are on his level already? Let today''s fight serve as a lesson for you then.''''
As he finished speaking, Fu Peizhi immediately unleashed his middle rank 9 earth grade aura, and after infusing his qi in the 2 short daggers in his hands, he sent them flying towards Shun Long.
Chapter 112 - 112 Dao
Chapter 112 - 112 Dao
''''Fu Peizhi threw his daggers in the air?''''
''''What is he doing? Is he giving up the fight?''''
When another disciple heard the confused disciples around him, heughed as he said
''''Just watch! This is how senior brother Fu fights.''''
Seeing the 2 daggers that were flying at him, Shun Long''s eyes immediately turned golden as he activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss, and unleashed his aura at the middle of rank 4 earth grade.
His golden eyes shone as he moved to the side and easily dodged the 2 daggers that flew past him, causing Fu Peizhi to smirk.
Shun Long had barely regained his footing, when his golden eyes once again lit up as he saw the 2 daggers changing their course mid-air, aiming to stab his back.
The crowd held their breaths as they saw the 2 daggers flying at Shun Long from his blind spot.
Without a moment to think, Shun Long''s feet kicked the ground as he moved a few meters backwards, narrowly avoiding the 2 daggers that plunged themselves into the ground.
''''What? Did I see that correctly?''''
''''Did senior brother Fu''s dagger change direction mid-air? How is this possible?''''
''''Don''t tell me that Fu Peizhi has already touched upon the Dao of Wind!''''
''''Senior brother what is the Dao of Wind?''''
That disciple however, didn''t respond as he stared in shock at Fu Peizhi.
Both Shun Long and Fu Peizhi were also shocked by each other for 2 different reasons.
Fu Peizhi was certain that, Shun Long didn''t know about his ability to manipte his flying daggers mid-air, or he would have avoided them much earlier.
Shun Long however was just as shocked when he understood what Fu Peizhi was doing.
''''He is simply at the middle of rank 9 in earth grade and has already touched upon the Dao of Wind!''''
Normally, cultivators below the Heaven grade, couldn''t control the qi outside of their bodies to fly, or use long-range qi attacks without the help of martial skills.
However, when cultivators reached the peak of rank 9 in earth grade, they could startprehending a Dao that they had an affinity with.
The Dao that a cultivatorprehended, would then be the most important part of their strength.
This was the main reason why no earth grade cultivators could everpete with Heaven grade experts.?After all, Heaven grade experts had alreadyprehended the initial stages of their Dao, while people like Fu Peizhi had just touched upon the most basic principles of it.
Although Fu Peizhi was inwardly astonished when Shun Long dodged his attack, he quickly rposed himself and smiled sinisterly before he said
''''Do you finally understand why I told you, that you and I are not on the same level? I am a genius who has already touched upon the Dao of Wind! You have no right to even stand on the same stage with me!''''
As Fu Peizhi then finished speaking, his 2 ck daggers started spinning in the air as they once again flew towards Shun Long, at a speed much faster than before.
When Shun Long saw the 2 daggers flying towards him again, he didn''t hold back any longer as he activated his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The 2 daggers that were powered up by Fu Peizhi''s Wind Dao, were slowed down dramatically as they entered inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', until they came to aplete halt in mid-air.
Although the difference in cultivation between Shun Long and Fu Peizhi was too big to directly affect him with the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long''s power and cultivation base were still more than sufficient to stop the 2 small daggers in the air.
After all, although Shun Long hadn''tprehended a Dao, his affinity with the Dao of Time, had already reached a level far beyond Fu Peizhi''s and his Dao of Wind.
Fu Peizhi was shocked when he found out that he couldn''t move his daggers anymore, no matter what he did.
Without a weapon in his hand, he now found himself stuck in a bad position against a body refiner like Shun Long.
After all, these 2 ck daggers were Fu Peizhi''s main way ofbat.
Even when he lost against much stronger opponents than him in the past, no one had managed topletely stop his daggers like that.
When the disciples in the crowd saw Fu Peizhi''s daggers frozen in mid-air, they were all stunned by this
''''What happened? Why did the daggers suddenly stop moving?''''
''''Did Shun Long do something to senior brother Fu?''''
It wasn''t just the disciples in the crowd that were shocked, even Fu Peizhi had started to panic as he looked at Shun Long and asked nervously
''''You! What did you do to my daggers?''''
Even Shun Long hadn''t expected that his ''Monarch''s Domain'' wouldpletely suppress Fu Peizhi''s daggers that were powered by his Dao of Wind.
Looking at the panicked Fu Peizhi who was now like a toothless tiger, Shun Long quickly arrived in front of him and gathering all of his strength and qi in his right arm, he sent a full-powered punch at Fu Peizhi''s chest.
After seeing this, Fu Peizhi broke out in cold sweat as he barely managed to raise his arms in front of him and defend against Shun Long''s attack.
However, contrary to what everyone expected, Fu Peizhi''s defense was as thin as paper in front of Shun Long''s powerful punch.
Crack
The moment that Shun Long''s punch hit him, Fu Peizhi felt the bones in his arms along with his chest caving in, as his body violently mmed into the ground.
A huge wave of dust swept by,pletely covering the result of the fight.
Everyone in the arena waited with bated breaths, and as the cloud of dust slowly dispersed, the crowd saw Shun Long standing on his feet, as he stared at the now unconscious Fu Peizhi on the ground.
Shun Long''s ''sect identifying jade'' lit up, as 2 numbers appeared on it.
''17''
The crowd immediately erupted in cheers while the same question was in everyone''s mind
''''He beat Fu Peizhi with one punch?''''
Chapter 113 - 113 Returning to the mortal world
Chapter 113 - 113 Returning to the mortal world
Under the respectful gazes of the crowd, Shun Long then walked out of the arena, as he headed back towards the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
The disciples in the crowd watched Shun Long''s back as he left with eyes full of reverence.
After all, in the ''cultivation world'' only one thing was respected...strength.
First, Shun Long had beaten Guan Hong to enter the top 1000, and Lei Pong followed right after him.
After entering the top 200, Shun Long then challenged Xiao Juyan to enter the top 100, and finally, today he had cemented his position in the top 20 by defeating Fu Peizhi.
His name quickly spread throughout the sect, as he was now considered someone on par with the other experts in the top 20 rankings.
After returning to the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'', Shun Long paid a waiter for the next 3 months of his room in advance, before once again ''entering seclusion''.
For the next 2 days, he cultivated using the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', while little ck was still sleeping inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Although Shun Long''s cultivation hadn''t broken through to the peak of rank 4 yet, he was certain that he would do it in the next few days.
At the same time, in these past 2 days Shun Long had felt little ck''s strength rapidly rising, and finally, on the third day of his seclusion, a powerful aura erupted from little ck''s body inside the ''Stone of Time'' as the ck dragon opened his bright blue eyes.
''''Master!''''
Little ck looked happily at Shun Long who was still absorbing the pure qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine''.
Shun Long then opened his eyes as he looked at the ck dragon who seemed happy and asked
''''Did you finish your breakthrough?''''
''''Indeed master. In terms of magic beast levels, I have reached the middle of rank 4 already. However, my strength right now can easily destroy any spirit realm expert or rank 4 magic beasts.
Shun Long smiled, as he then stood up from his bed and said
''''Then let''s go.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long put on his ck robes and opened a space tear directly from his room, to a small road 50 meters away from the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
''''Master, where are we going?''''
Little ck asked in a voice full of confusion, after seeing Shun Long immediately leaving his room in his ck robes.
Shun Long smiled as he responded
''''To the ''mortal world''!''''
2 hourster, Shun Long had arrived near the city gates.
Although it was deep into the night, the outer disciples serving us the city guards were still patrolling around the gates.
After all, the ''floating cloud sect'' had a rule, that unless a disciple had reached thete stages of the earth grade, they wouldn''t be allowed to leave the city. The only exception to this rule would be if a disciple epted a sect mission.
Shun Long walked close to the city walls, and after making sure that there were no guards in sight, he shed the air with his left hand, opening a space tear.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long entered inside it, as he then appeared at the other side of the city walls.
After walking for a couple more hours, he had returned back to that invisible barrier, that was dividing the ''cultivation'' from the ''mortal world''.
Thest time that Shun Long had been here, was a few months ago when he rode on that rank 3 ''red-winged condor'' and had arrived in the sect for the first time.
More than half a year had passed since he had left the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
Shun Long then summoned little ck from the ''Stone of Time'', and after patting the dragon''s head he pointed at the barrier in front of them as he said
''''After we go through this barrier, we will be entering the ''mortal world''.''''
Sitting on little ck''s back, Shun Long saw the ck dragon grabbing the barrier with his talons and easily ripping it open before he flew inside it.
The moment that they entered inside, Shun Long and little ck saw a sea of clouds in front of them, as they had now returned back to the ''mortal world''.
Little ck''s flying speed was extremely fast, and in just a few minutes, they had already arrived on the ind that the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' was located on.
Pointing towards their northeast, Shun Long guided little ck, and less than an hourter they had arrived above the imperial city of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
Looking at the city below them, Shun Long remembered how he hade here just a few months ago to participate in the sect selection test.
Shun Long and little ck however didn''t stop at the imperial city, and 10 minutester, they had arrived outside of the ''Blue Forest city''.
Looking at the familiar city in the distance, Shun Long petted little ck''s head as they flew above the city walls.
The guards in the city gates were terrified as they saw the ck dragon flying above their heads as they immediately sounded the rm.
Shun Long and little ckpletely ignored the terrified city guards, as they flew straight to the Shun estate.
Less than a minuteter
The guards outside the Shun estate were vigntly holding their spears as they were keeping watch outside the estate, when they saw little cking from the distance. The 2 guards almost pissed themselves from fright as they hurriedly run back inside the estate and locked the gates.
The entire Shun estate, soon entered a state of unrest, as people saw a dragon hovering in the air above them.
Even Shun Fang and Shun An had arrived at the scene and looked at little ck in terror.
Little ck then descended in the Shun estate and as Shun Long removed his ck robes, people finally saw the young man on his back.
Shun An was the first to recognize him as she unconsciously took a step forward, while the look in her eyes changed from the initial terror, to incredulity, and then to joy as she said
''''L-Long''er!''''
Chapter 114 - 114 The city lords visit
Chapter 114 - 114 The city lord''s visit
''''L-Long''er!''''
Both Shun Fang and Shun An, were looking at Shun Long''s face with shock in their eyes. They couldn''t understand how he had changed so much in just a few months time.
Shun Long smiled as he got off little ck''s back, while both Shun Fang and Shun An felt their eyes misting over, as they rushed to hug their son.
''''My lord!''''
''''Madam!''''
The guards shouted when they saw Shun Fang and Shun An approaching closer to the ck dragon.
After hugging his parents, Shun Long could see the visible confusion in their eyes and said
''''Mother, father, let''s speak in my courtyard.''''
Shun Fang and Shun An nodded their heads and dismissed the guards around them before they followed Shun Long as he returned back to his own courtyard.
Aside from the few maids that came to clean this ce every 2 days, no one else woulde here during the past few months of Shun Long''s absence.
Seeing his parents that were still wary of little ck, Shun Long patted the dragon''s head as he said
''''This is little ck. He is an importantpanion of mine. There is no-''''
''''My lord!''''
Before Shun Long could even finish his words, a guard''s shout was heard outside of Shun Long''s courtyard as he said anxiously
''''My lord! The city lord is here!''''
Shun Fang frowned as he heard the guard but after a brief moment of hesitation he said
''''I will take care of it. Shun An, you can speak with Long''er for a while.''''
Shun An had no time to reply when Shun Long said confidently
''''Since the city lord is here, he is obviously here for themotion that little ck and I caused on our way. In that case father, let''s go meet him together.''''
Shun Fangughed and patting Shun Long''s shoulder he said
''''Haha! As expected from my son. Let''s go together then!''''
Outside of the Shun estate, the city lord who was sitting on a white horse, was wearing his silver helmet with the insignia of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' on it.
The city lord of the ''Blue Forest city'' was named Zhen Wang, and he was a count of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''. As an early rank 9 earth grade expert, his cultivation was only below Shun Fang''s in the ''Blue Forest city''.
Behind him, a small army of 1000 experts was gathered as they all waited for Shun Fang''s appearance.
The fact that a dragon had entered the ''Blue Forest city'' andnded inside the Shun estate, had reached the city lord''s ears in no time.
After hesitating for a bit, Zhen Wang then called for his 10 squad captains who were all at the early stages of the earth grade, and with each of them leading 100te-stage Qi condensation experts, they marched towards the Shun estate.
A few minutester, the gates of the estate opened and Shun Long along with Shun Fang then appeared.
Zhen Wang first turned his eyes to look at Shun Fang, before his eyes then stared at Shun Long. Looking at this young man who seemed to be around 16 years old and was walking side by side with the rank 3 bronze grade formation master Shun Fang, Zhen Wang suddenly felt an inexplicable apprehension in his heart.
However, after seeing the yellow robes that this young man was wearing, the apprehension that he was feeling had suddenly changed to fear as he looked at Shun Long and asked
''''This young lord, a-are you perhaps a member of the floating cloud sect?''''
It wasn''t just the pedestrians that were watching this scene who were stunned by these words, but even Zhen Wang''s own soldiers took a step back as they heard this.
After all, although the status of a city lord was ill.u.s.trious in the mortal world, even the status of the crown prince of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' was below that of an official outer disciple of the sect.
In the eyes of the people of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', the ''Floating Cloud sect'' was a true behemoth, with countless experts who had already reached the legendary Heaven grade.
Looking at the pale city lord in front of them, Shun Fang chuckled while Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''You are right'''' before he took out his red sect jade.
Zhen Wang then put on an extremely ttering smile on his face, as he said
''''Haha, so we were right!''''
Then looking at a squad captain behind him he said
''''Xue Xiaodan, you were right. Thanks to your watchful eye we can all pay our respects to this expert from the ''floating cloud sect'' today.''''
Xue Xiaodan was the shortest squad captain behind Zhen Wang, who smiled brightly as he answered
''''No reason to thank me my lord, this is my duty!''''
Zhen Wang smiled again but this time it almost seemed as if he wanted to cry.
Looking at Shun Long, he then bowed as he cupped his fists and said
''''Young lord, may I ask what your connection with the Shun family is? If the young lord is nning to stay in the ''Blue Forest city'', then I would like to invite you to my city lord estate as an honored guest. I can guarantee you that there will be plenty of beautiful women as well as delicious wine for you young lord.''''
Shun Long understood that this city lord was trying to establish a connection with him and replied
''''That won''t be necessary. I n on staying in the Shun estate for as long as I stay here. You can continue with your matters as if I''m not here.''''
Zhen Wang smiled as he understood that Shun Long was nning to stay in the Shun estate for a while and said
''''Of course! Of course! Just paying our respects to a disciple of the sect is already a good reason for our visit here today.''''
Then, looking at Shun Fang, Zhen Wang continued
''''Haha, brother Shun, I didn''t know that an expert hade to visit you. I hope that brother Shun won''t reject me if I visit you to have a drink in the following days then.''''
Without waiting for an answer, Zhen Wang joyfully turned to look at the small army behind him and ordered in amanding voice
''''Let''s go back to the city lord estate!''''
After the city lord''s army left the Shun estate''s entrance, Shun Fang and Shun Long returned back to his courtyard.
''''Long''er''''
Shun An spoke, seemingly as if she had wanted to ask something, but she eventually held herself back.
Looking at his parents that still weren''tpletely at ease, Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''You will surely have some questions that you want to ask me, especially about my experiences in the ''floating cloud sect'' or little ck right? In that case, let me start from the beginning.''''
Chapter 115 - 115 The Lin family
Chapter 115 - 115 The Lin family
''''You will surely have some questions that you want to ask me, especially about my experiences in the ''floating cloud sect'' or little ck right? In that case, let me start from the beginning.''''
As Shun Long finished his words, both Shun Fang and Shun An had turned their eyes on him, watching him as he had started narrating everything that he had experienced after entering the sect.
Of course, what Shun Long had decided to say his parents, was only a fragment of his real experiences.
Aside from exining to them that he is studying alchemy under some Elder, as well as how the sect works, most of his experiences, especially those that included the ''Stone of Time'', werepletely omitted.
The life that he had narrated was that of a normal outer disciple, but this didn''t satisfy his parents?as they still had unanswered questions.
Looking at his son and then at the 3m(10ft) tall ck dragon behind him, Shun Fang asked
''''Then... what about this c... I mean, what about little ck?''''
Shun Long had already expected his question as he said
''''During the ''outer sect exam'', I met little ck in a ce called the Demonic Mountain region. After entering a cave to spend the night, I found him hurt inside, with the corpse of a rank 3 magic beast next to him. Since I have been studying alchemy inside the sect, I could help him heal most of his injuries using some medicinal herbs I had gathered that day, and he has been following me ever since.
Because the sect doesn''t allow the disciples to have their own magic beasts inside the city, little ck has been living in arge forest a few tens of miles away from the ''floating cloud city''.''''
Seeing that his parents seemed to have believed this story, Shun Long turned to look at Shun Fang as he continued
''''Father, there is also something important that I need to share with you about the assassination attempt outside the ''Blue Forest''.''''
Both Shun Fang and Shun An had serious looks in their eyes when they heard this.
The moment that Shun Long finished narrating what he had found out from Xiao Juyan, Shun Fang''s aura exploded as he said
''''I will eradicate both the Lin family as well as Xiao Zhengsheng! To think that they were both behind that assassination attack.''''
Shun An held her husband''s hand but her eyes had turned resolute as well. No matter the status of the Lin family or the Xiao marquess, they both had to pay since they were involved in this.
Shun Long looked at his parents who had a determined look in their eyes and said
''''You don''t have to worry about this matter. I will personally go and take care of this today.''''
Looking at Shun Long, Shun Fang nodded his head as he said
''''That''s good as well. However, you have to be careful of Xiao Zhengsheng. Not only is he also at the peak of rank 9 in earth grade, but his marquess estate has many powerful formations from many bronze rank 3 formation masters as well.''''
Shun Long smiled as he nodded his head, and climbing on little ck''s back he said
''''Don''t worry father. Even if they had experts at the Heaven grade, they still wouldn''t be able to escape today.''''
Shun Fang and Shun An were shocked by their son''s words, as they then started to guess how strong this ck dragon had to be for their son to have so much confidence in him.
Little ck pped his majestic ck wings, and quickly disappeared from the ''Blue Forest city''.
Both Shun Fang and Shun An were shocked by the ck dragon''s speed, and Shun Fang then mumbled
''''I''m afraid that this dragon is at least at the middle grade of rank 3. Perhaps... he has even reached the peak grade!''''
Shun An was astonished by these words, but a feeling of safety also bloomed in her heart as she watched the direction that the ck dragon and her son had disappeared to.
A few minutester, Shun Long had already arrived above a small city that was around 100 miles away from the imperial city.
This city has been under the jurisdiction of the Lin family for many years, and people had even started calling it the Lin city.
Although the city seemed to be rtively poor and most of the houses were in bad condition, the mansion at the heart of the city was the exact opposite.
From the outside, one would see a luxurious mansion that didn''t seem to be muchcking even when it waspared with the Shun estate.
''''Master, that must definitely be the Lin mansion. I can sense a few middle stage earth grade cultivators hidden inside.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at little ck and with a vicious smile on his face he said
''''It''s good that they are all here''''
Little ck then flew above the Lin mansion as he first destroyed the mansion''s gates, alerting everyone inside it.
''''Enemy attack!''''
''''Activate the defensive formations!''''
The experts of the Lin family immediately shouted as they rushed outside to see the enemy while a smallyer of white light covered the mansion.
However, the moment that they saw the ck dragon in the sky and felt his horrifying aura, their eyes were instantly filled with terror.
Little ck snorted after seeing the white light that covered the Lin mansion, and with a p of his wings, he created a violent gust of wind that instantly destroyed the light barrier.
Lin Shang then appeared also appeared, and looking at Shun Long on little ck''s back he asked after noticing his sect robes
''''This young master! May I ask the reason that you attacked my Lin family?''''
After a moment of hesitation he continued
''''Perhaps this is a misunderstanding and young master was just passing through?''''
Although Lin Shang had failed to recognize Shun Long, he could now see the mocking smile on his face and knew that things weren''t looking good for his Lin family. Finally, gritting his teeth he said
''''Actually, my Lin family has a very good rtionship with the Xiao marquess. Since this young master is a member of the ''floating cloud sect'', then I am certain that you must have heard about young master Xiao Juyan.
My daughter Lin Wu is also a disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', and-''''
Shun Long then cut him off as he waved his hand and said in an apathetic voice
''''Your daughter is... already dead.''''
The Elders around Lin Shang were furious and didn''t hold themselves back any longer as they shouted
''''Insolence!''''
''''You brat! How dare you? Our youngdy just left a few months ago, how could she just die?
Lin Shang''s eyes had turned red when he heard this and he shouted with no hints of politeness any longer
''''Impossible! Wu''er is a disciple of the floating cloud sect, she can''t die! Who are you kid?''''
Shun Long smiled as he said
''''Not only is your daughter dead, but all of you will follow her as well today. The moment that your assassination attempt failed, your Lin family was doomed to disappear.''''
Chapter 116 - 116 Destruction of the Lin family
Chapter 116 - 116 Destruction of the Lin family
''''Not only is your daughter dead, but all of you will follow her as well. The moment that your assassination attempt failed, your Lin family was doomed to disappear.''''
Lin Shang''s eyes suddenly widened and a horrifying thought shed through his mind as he asked in a voice filled with disbelief
''''Y-You! You are Shun Long?''''
Shun Long smirked as he heard this and looking at the horrified Lin family patriarch he said
''''You finally realized it.
But then again, how many people would be ''worthy'' for you, the patriarch of the Lin family, to personally go to the Xiao marquess'' estate and n an assassination attempt?''''
Lin Shang''s face suddenly turned ashen as he heard this, but he still gritted his teeth and said
''''Shun Long! You have no proof for what you are saying. This is nder against my Lin family! The ''floating cloud sect'' won''t let you go if you dare to do anything to us!''''
Shun Long stared at him mockingly as he asked
''''The ''floating cloud sect''? Do you think that the sect cares about your Lin family? Let alone the fact that countless outer disciples have already heard Xiao Juyan admitting that you colluded with his father, the Xiao marquess, and nned to assassinate me... even if that wasn''t true, do you think that the sect would pit itself against its own disciples, for a random family that the disciple had enmity with?''''
Lin Shang''s face had turnedpletely white by now, as his heart was gripped by despair watching Shun Long riding on the ck dragon in the sky.
The dragon''s aura was so powerful, that even Lin Shang who was already a peak rank 6 earth grade expert, couldn''t muster the slightest bit of courage in front of him.
Lin Shang then startedughing maniacally as he said
''''Hahaha! Even if you kill my entire Lin family, my Wu''er will definitely take revenge for me. Young master Shitou will also not let things go like that!
No matter what, there is no way for you to harm my daughter inside the ''floating cloud sect'', especially when she is under the protection of young master Shitou. Unless you turn to leave right now, your family will also face the same fate in the future.''''
Lin Shang seemed to have found absolute confidence in his words as he fearlessly looked at Shun Long.
Shun Long''s eyes chilled as he heard this, and shaking his head he said
''''Don''t worry, I won''tpletely destroy your family, but you would probably wish that I had. As for taking revenge? You can personally ask Xiao Shitou and your daughterter.''''
As Shun Long finished his words, he jumped down from little ck''s back, as hended in the midst of the Lin family experts.
The earth grade experts of the Lin family, couldn''t believe their luck as Lin Shang shouted
''''Quickly, capture this brat! Then we will definitely control the dragon as well!''''
The Elders of the Lin family then, all moved to attack Shun Long at the same time.
Seeing that he was ''surrounded'' by all fronts, Shun Long smirked as he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The ''Monarch''s Domain'' was suited perfectly for group battles like this after all.
The 8 Elders of the Lin family, including their peak rank 6 patriarch werepletely frozen in time the moment the indistinct figure of an hourss swept over their bodies.
Turning his head to look at little ck in the sky, Shun Long then said
''''If there are any other earth grade experts hiding inside the mansion, kill them all.''''
Little ck nodded his head as his soul sense covered the Lin mansion, making sure that there was no one else hiding inside.
Shun Long''s eyes didn''t show the slightest iota of pity looking at the Lin family Elders around him, as his hands reaped their lives one by one.
Less than 10 breaths of time had passed since ''the fight'' begun, and aside from their patriarch that still seemed to be frozen, the Lin family members saw their Elders'' heads exploding one by one.
Both the Lin family members, as well as the servants were all terrified, as they hurriedly abandoned the mansion and ran towards the Lin city.
Very quickly, aside from Shun Long, little ck, and the still frozen Lin Shang, the Lin mansion was nowpletely devoid of life.
Without any suspense, Shun Long''s punchpletely crushed Lin Shang''s skull, as blood and brain matter sttered on the ground.
The Lin family patriarch had died like that.
Without taking a look at Lin Shang''s corpse, Shun Long climbed on little ck''s back, and pointing at the Lin mansion he said
''''Little ck, burn it down''''
Little ck then opened his mouth, as he spat a ball of ck mes towards the mansion.
The citizens inside the city, all saw the ck dragon in the sky who spat out a ck fireball towards the Lin mansion,pletely engulfing it in ck mes.
Seeing the luxurious Lin mansion getting destroyed, instead of being afraid, the people of the Lin city all rejoiced.
''''Hahaha! I am certain that those tyrants had finally offended someone that they couldn''t afford to!''''
''''This is divine retribution! God must have finally sent someone to eradicate them!''''
It seemed like the Lin family wasn''t very well-liked inside their own city.
Now, having lost all of their earth grade Elders, as well as their own patriarch, the lives of the rest of the Lin family members will definitely be much harder from today.
Looking at the destroyed Lin family mansion in front of him, Shun Long patted little ck''s back as he said
''''Let''s go to the imperial city.''''
The ck dragon then pped his wings as he instantly disappeared from the Lin city.
Less than 10 minutes had passed since Shun Long and little ck had left the Lin city, when the guards of the imperial city sounded the rm, as they saw a ck dragon flying at breakneck speed towards the southwest part of the city.
Chapter 117 - 117 The Xiao marquess
Chapter 117 - 117 The Xiao marquess
The Xiao marquess'' estate, was situated in the southwest of the imperial city.
It was a huge estate that had more than 1000 servants and 5000 guards.
The Xiao marquess, Xiao Zhengsheng, waspletely different from Lin Shang. He was a real noble of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' who had good rtions even with the King himself. Like most other nobles of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', the Xiao marquess also had a small personal army, which actually wasn''t inferior to even Zhen Wang''s own army.
The moment that the guards of the estate saw the ck dragon flying above their heads, they shouted
''''Quickly! Activate the formations!''''
''''Activate the defensive formations!''''
The moment that themands were sounded,yer afteryer of white barriers immediately covered the marquess estate.
The Lin family mansion only had oneyer of protection, while the marquess estate had more than 5.
This was the difference between the Xiao and the Lin families.
ROAR
Little ck opened his mouth and roared after seeing the barriers of light that covered the marquess estate.
Pop
Pop
Pop
Pop
Pop
5 small popping sounds were heard, as the barriers that had been created by rank 3 bronze grade formation masters, were instantly destroyed.
The guards looked at the dragon in the air terrified, unable to find even the slightest bit of courage to oppose him.
Shun Long looked at the guards that were already trembling from fear and asked
''''Where is Xiao Zhengsheng?''''
The head guard didn''t seem to have any loyalty towards his lord as he was the first one to respond to Shun Long''s question saying
''''The marquess is inside the imperial pce! He was summoned by his majesty the King earlier.''''
Little ck used his soul sense to scan the marquess estate and confirmed that the strongest person was this head guard who was at the early rank 8 in earth grade.
Without a moment''s hesitation, the young man and his dragon immediately flew towards the imperial pce.
Inside the pce, in a huge hall, Xiao Zhengsheng was drinking wine and chatting with the king as if they were old friends.
The king, Dong Weifeng seemed to be a man in his early 60s, and although his hair had turned white, his eyes still hadn''t lost their l.u.s.ter, as he looked at Xiao Zhengsheng in front of him and said
''''Zhengsheng, I heard that your son will be entering inside a secret realm with the ''floating cloud sect''. Now that both of your sons have entered the sect, it''s only a matter of time before your family rises to prominence.
I am actually nning to confer you the title of Duke, what do you think?''''
Xiao Zhengsheng was nearly 190cm(6.2ft) tall, and his face was almost identical to his son Xiao Juyan''s. Although he was an expert at the peak of rank 9 in earth grade, Xiao Zhengsheng was actually still in his early 40s.
Hearing the king''s, Dong Weifeng''s words, Xiao Zhengsheng smiled as he said
''''That won''t be necessary your Majesty. After all, once Juyan reaches the Heaven grade, a single ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' will be very small to keep us here.''''
Dong Weifeng''s eyes twitched when he heard this, but he soon nodded his head and said
''''Of course! Since your eldest son is such an exceptional genius, then it''s only a matter of time before he reaches the Heaven grade. Actually, my second d-''''
''''YOUR MAJESTY!''''
''''YOUR MAJESTY!''''
The doors of the hall immediately swung open, when 2 guards barged inside, only to see a furious look in Dong Weifeng''s face.
The 2 guards immediately knelt down as they heard Dong Weifeng''s angry voice
''''You better have a good exnation for barging in here!''''
The guards both nodded their heads repeatedly, and looking at Xiao Zhengsheng they said
''''Your majesty! We have received word that the Xiao marquess'' estate was attacked just now and the attacker is now heading towards the pce!''''
''''WHAT?!''''
Both Dong Weifeng as well as Xiao Zhengsheng had incredulous looks on their faces as they heard this.
To attack the Xiao marquess estate... even an expert at the peak of rank 9 earth grade wouldn''t be able to break through theyers of defensive formations inside.
Xiao Zhengsheng looked at the guards as he asked
''''Just who-''''
BANG
Xiao Zhengsheng didn''t even have time toplete his words before the roof of the hall was suddenly destroyed.
''''Activate the defensive formations!''''
''''Protect the King!''''
The voices of the guards sounded asyers afteryers of white light covered the entire pce, while an army of soldiers rushed inside the hall to protect Dong Weifeng.
Behind Dong Weifeng, 2 ck-clothed men had also appeared from the shadows, and surprisingly, their auras were just as strong as Xiao Zhengsheng''s... at the peak of rank 9 in earth grade.
Looking at the ck dragon in the sky, everyone in the hall, including the king and the Xiao marquess were shocked.
Shun Long smiled as he stared at the more than 500 people that had already gathered inside the hall, while his eyes immediately focused on the Xiao marquess as he asked
''''Xiao Zhengsheng, are you ready to die?''''
Looking at Shun Long''s outer disciple robes, Xiao Zhengsheng had a serious look on his face as he asked
''''Who are you? I don''t recall meeting you before!''''
A pce guard was about to speak, but Dong Weifeng raised his hand indicating for them to not act rashly. Just based on the fact that Shun Long was an outer disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', unless necessary, the king wasn''t willing to sh with him.
Hearing Xiao Zhengsheng''s question, Shun Longughed as he said
''''You are right! I have never met you before either...''''
''''Then...?''''
Everyone was stunned by Shun Long''s reply, until they then heard thetter part of his answer
''''...And yet, even though you had never met me, you still decided to assist Lin Shang in his assassination attempt against me. Now tell me, do you have anyst words?''''
Chapter 118 - 118 Xiao Zhengshengs death
Chapter 118 - 118 Xiao Zhengsheng''s death
''''...And yet, even though you had never met me, you still decided to assist Lin Shang in his assassination attempt against me. Now tell me, do you have anyst words?''''
Ignoring everyone else''s shock, Xiao Zhengsheng''s eyes widened as he asked in a surprised tone
''''Lin Shang?...You.. you are Shun Fang''s son?''''
Nodding his head Shun Long then said
''''At least you didn''t deny it.''''
Clicking his tongue, the Xiao marquess replied
''''Tsk. Did that idiot Lin Shang tell you everything? Even then, since you are a disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', you should understand the consequences of threatening me.
My son Juyan is someone who is ranked in the top 100 in the ''floating cloud sect'', don''t tell me that you are not afraid of his revenge!?
Ah, perhaps it''s because you have just entered the sect, that you don''t understand how terrifying the people ranked in the top 100 really are!''''
Looking at the arrogant and unafraid look in Xiao Zhengsheng''s eyes, Shun Longughed as he said
''''The top 100? Your son is no longer part of the ''top 100''.''''
Xiao Zhengsheng''s arrogant look suddenly turned angry as he looked at Shun Long on little ck''s back and said
''''Brat, stop spouting obvious lies like that! Do you think I''d believe you?''''
Shaking his head Shun Long said
''''It doesn''t matter whether you believe me or not. I didn''te here to chat with you anyway! As for that so-called revenge of your son... you don''t have to worry about it.''''
The moment that Shun Long finished speaking, little ck''s aura erupted like a volcano as it suppressed everyone inside the pce hall.
No one inside the hall, from the pce guards to the peak rank 9 earth grade experts, and even the king himself, could stand straight in the face of this suppressive aura.
Xiao Zhengsheng instantly lost his courage as he felt the blood in his body getting frozen in fear. Originally, Xiao Zhengsheng had felt that no matter what kind of variant magic beast Shun Long was riding on, he would at most have to hide behind the pce formations to protect himself.
But now, after sending little ck''s immense aura, he finally felt terror as he understood that his life was really in danger.
Looking at Shun Long he then said in a pleading voice
''''No WAIT! I only allowed my personal guards to spread some rumors. I had nothing to do with your assassination attempt! It was all Lin Shang and his whore daughter who nned it! You can''t kill me for this.''''
Even Dong Weifeng wanted to p the Xiao marquess after hearing these idiotic words, before he turned his eyes to look at Shun Long, and with a smilepletely unbefitting of a king he said
''''Young master Shun Long! I have met with your father many times in the past! Of course, if you want to settle your personal issues with Xiao Zhengsheng, then I will definitely not interfere.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Dong Weifeng, before turning his attention to look at Xiao Zhengsheng as he said
''''Without your marquess estate''s intervention, how could the Lin family ever get the chance to attack me? You and your youngest son really are father and son after all.''''
Without wasting any more words, Shun Long patted little ck''s back, who ripped through the pce''s defensive formations in an instant, as his talons pierced through the body of the terrified Xiao Zhengsheng.
''''AAAAAAAHHHHHH''''
Xiao Zhengsheng screamed in pain, as a huge hole could now be seen on his chest. Turning his head around with a lot of difficulty, he stared at Shun Long and little ck with eyes full of hatred, before his body finally copsed on the ground.
Everyone in the pce hall felt a sudden chill as they looked at the lifeless corpse of the Xiao marquess.
Shun Long didn''t waste any more time in the imperial city however, as he and little ck left the pce to return back to the ''Blue Forest city''.
The pce guards watched the young man on the ck dragon''s back disappearing in the distance, before everyone''s eyes turned towards the king.
Dong Weifeng seemed to have fallen into deep thought, until one of the ck-clothed men woke him up as he asked
''''Your majesty! Are you alright?''''
Dong Weifeng startedughing all of a sudden, as he nodded his head and said
''''Alright! I''m more than alright! Quickly, spread my word throughout the kingdom.
The rank 3 bronze grade formation master Shun Fang, is to be conferred the title of Duke! His fiefdom will epass not only the ''Blue Forest city'' and the ''Blue Forest'' itself, but he will also be given the entire western side of the imperial city for his governing.''''
The ck-clothed man was shocked for a few seconds before he nodded his head and disappeared into the shadows.
Being conferred the title of Duke, as well as being given control of one-fourth of the imperial city showed how much importance the king had ced in this matter.
Meanwhile, a few minutester after Dong Weifeng issued his royalmand, Shun Long had returned back to the ''Blue Forest city''.
This time, the guards on the city walls didn''t panic or sound the rm, but instead bowed and greeted respectfully, as they watched the young man and the ck dragon flying inside the city.
Shun Fang and Shun An were waiting at the main hall of the Shun estate. As soon as they heard that Shun Long had returned, they anxiously rushed out of the hall.
Shun Long smiled after seeing the worry of his parents faces disappearing, and looking at Shun Fang he said
''''Father, I n to enter seclusion for a few days and create some pills for you and mother, so you can both breakthrough into the next grade. It will probably take me around 10 days to finish the refinement.''''
Both Shun An and Shun Fang were astonished when they heard Shun Long''s words.
Shun An then, looked at Shun Long as she asked joyfully
''''Long''er, how long will you stay home?''''
Chapter 119 - 119 Refining the green nectar fruits
Chapter 119 - 119 Refining the green nectar fruits
''''Long''er, how long will you stay home?''''
Smilingly Shun Long answered
''''If nothing unexpected happens, then for a bit more than 2 months!''''
Both Shun Fang and Shun An also beamed happily when they heard this, as they turned to look at each other.
Shun Long then decided to ask Shun Fang for another rank 3 bronze grade cauldron.
Although Shun Fang didn''t understand the reason, he still ordered the guards to bring an alchemy cauldron to Shun Long''s room.
Shun Fang was actually shocked when he had heard Shun Long say, that he was nning to create pills that could help him enter the Heaven grade.
Since Shun Fang was already a peak rank 9 earth grade expert, to refine pills that would be able to assist him in his breakthrough, Shun Long would need to be at least a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, if not a silver grade one.
After Shun Fang and Shun An left his courtyard, Shun Long entered his old room, ready to start his pill refining.
Seeing that his room was exactly the same as it was before he had left for the sect, Shun Long felt a warm feeling in his heart as he sat cross-legged on top of his bed.
3 days quickly passed as Shun Long had continuously used his qi to grow his medicinal herbs inside the ''Stone of Time''.
In those 3 days, the entire ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' had 2 major news that were spread throughout every household of the kingdom.
The first, was the death of the Xiao marquess, Xiao Zhengsheng.
It was rumored that a young man on a ck dragon, hade from the ''floating cloud sect'' to take revenge against the marquess. The young man first attacked the Xiao marquess'' estate, before he charged inside the imperial pce. In the end, even the king had decided to abandon the marquess, and the ck dragon took his life.
The second, was the imperial edict of the king.
The king, Dong Weifeng the 5th, had decided to confer the title of Duke to the rank 3 bronze grade formation master, Shun Fang. Aside from the noble title, the formation master would also gainplete control over the ''Blue Forest city'', as well as the entire western side of the imperial capital.
These 2 shocking news had already traveled to every household of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' in the past 3 days.
2 more days passed since then, and Shun Long had already filled 3 wooden barrels with his wine. He had also refined 4 pill furnaces of the ''green nectar fruits'' that he had purchased in the ''Treasure Pavilion''s'' auction.
After a week, Shun Long finally left his room, and was greeted by an energetic little ck.
Shun Long walked to the main hall of the Shun estate, only to find his father looking through a big stack of papers.
Shun Fang didn''t even notice Shun Long entering the main hall as he seemed to bepletely engrossed in what he was reading.
Shun Long then took out a wooden barrel of wine from the ''Stone of Time'' and removed its top.
The moment that the aroma of the wine spread through the main hall, Shun Fang immediately put down the papers as he looked towards his son with shock, before his eyes got glued on the wooden barrel next to him.
Sealing the barrel with its top again, Shun Long took out Xiao Juyan''s spatial ring from his pocket and said
''''Father, I''m sure that you have probably heard about this item already. This is a spatial ring.''''
Shun Fang of course knew about spatial rings, but he had never seen one before.
Shun Long smiled as he handed the spatial ring over to the dumbfounded Shun Fang and said
''''I won this ring during a bet in the sect and since I already have another one, this is useless to me.''''
Shun Fang was feeling emotional as he saw Shun Long handing the spatial ring to him. To a bronze rank 3 formation master, there was no better gift than this. Studying the principles of a spatial ring could allow Shun Fang to step into the realm of silver grade formation masters.
Turning his head to look at Shun Long, Shun Fang startedughing as he patted his son''s shoulders and said
''''Hahaha! I knew that I didn''t raise you for nothing for so many years. Well, if you insist, then your old man won''t be polite!''''
Shun Fang immediately grabbed the spatial ring from Shun Long''s hand and stared at it with sparkling eyes, like a kid that had just found a rare treasure.
Shun Long was speechless.
This was the first time that he had seen his father''s shameless side and he couldn''t help but be stunned for a good while.
Smiling wryly, Shun Long then looked at Shun Fang as he said
''''Father, inside the spatial ring, aside from the wooden barrel of wine, there are also 2 bottles of pills for you and mother.
You should first have mother drink a small cup of the wine, before she then consumes the low-grade rank 2 ''minor advancement pills'', that are inside the blue bottle.
These pills are created from the rank 2 ''green nectar fruits'', and even though they are just low-grade pills, they can easily help a peak rank 3 earth grade cultivator reach the early rank 4.
Originally, I wanted to give mother a few top-grade pills as well, but since she is only at the peak of rank 9 in qi condensation, her body wouldn''t be able to handle the pills'' effects.''''
Shun Fang nodded his head as he heard Shun Long''s words.
Indeed a pill that was too potent could actually bring disaster instead, if the person who consumed it was unable to refine its energy.
''''By my estimations, with these pills, mother will reach the peak of rank 1 in earth grade without a problem.''''
The effects of these low-grade rank 2 pills, had left Shun Fangpletely stunned.
Shun Long then, pointed at the spatial ring in Shun Fang''s hands as he continued
''''The rest of the wine in there is for you father. Aside from the wine, there is a bottle that is filled with top-grade rank 2 ''minor advancement pills''. Although the pills by themselves won''t be enough to help you reach the Heaven grade, when paired with the wine, they will boost father''s chances of sess by more than 80 percent.''''
After hearing everything what Shun Long had prepared for them, Shun Fang couldn''t help but feel touched again.
Looking at the emotional Shun Fang, Shun Long continued
''''Father, I am nning to go in seclusion for the next 2 months. When these 2 months are over, I will have to return back to the ''floating cloud sect''.
If you and mother want to... I can bring you with me in the ''cultivation world''!''''
Chapter 120 - 120 Entering the late stages of the earth grade
Chapter 120 - 120 Entering thete stages of the earth grade
''''If you and mother want to... I can bring you with me in the ''cultivation world''!''''
Shun Fang was stumped when he heard this.
Then, with a big grin on his face, he replied
''''No need! Me and your mother are happy here in the ''Blue Forest city''. The struggles inside the ''cultivation world'' would mean that there is little to no peace for us there. Living in the ''Blue Forest city'' where everything is peaceful is much better.''''
Then, with a proud look on his face, Shun Fang continued
''''You can juste here whenever you miss home. After all, thanks to you, your father is now a Duke in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.''''
Shun Long looked at Shun Fang in shock before he realized what had happened. To forge a better rtionship with him, the king had probably given his father the title of Duke.
Shun Fang grinned as he looked at Shun Long before he said
''''I will find your mother and enter seclusion along with her as well. You shouldn''t worry about us and focus on your own cultivation''''
Shun Long then watched as Shun Fang left the main hall to return back to his room.
Smiling, Shun Long also returned back to his own room as well.
Since he had handed the pills and the wine to his parents, it was time to increase his own strength. There were at most, 2 months left until he had to return back to the sect.
After entering his room, Shun Long looked at the more than 60.000 spirit stones inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he turned his attention to the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
After feeding the spirit stones to the vine, Shun Long once again felt the pure qi that the vine was emitting, and without hesitation, he started to absorb all of it.
Time passed like this while Shun Long was in seclusion.
3 dayster, Shun An had sessfully broken through to the earth grade. At this point, Shun Long''s cultivation had also reached the peak of rank 4 of the earth grade as well.
Half a monthter, a swirling vortex had appeared above Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s room as it sucked the qi of Heaven and earth around the Shun estate.
Shun An looked at her husband as tears of joy continuously flowed down her face.
Shun Fang had been stuck at the peak of the earth grade for almost 10 years now. Even in the ''floating cloud sect'', he could probably be considered a genius of the same caliber as Xiao Juyan.
The reason that he hadn''t broken through to the Heaven grade for so many years, was because the qi in the ''mortal world'' was just too thin.
And yet, with Shun Long''s wine and the bottle of top-grade rank 2 ''minor advancement pills'', Shun Fang had finally broken through to the early rank 1 in Heaven grade.
Shun Fang''s body was now covered with ayer of a silver-colored liquid. This silver liquid seemed as if it was actually a part of Shun Fang''s body. This was the Dao of metal that Shun Fang hadprehended as he entered the Heaven grade.
Shun Long however, was still in seclusion as his strength continued to soar. The more his cultivation was advancing, the more spirit stones the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' needed to absorb, to keep up with Shun Long''s cultivation demands.
Early rank 5 earth grade...
middle rank 5...
peak of rank 5...
Early rank 6...
Time quickly passed and soon, the 2 months period was almost over, while Shun Long had already reached the peak of rank 6 in earth grade.
There were still a little more than 4 days until he returned back to the ''floating cloud sect''.
As Shun Long had expected, during these 2 months of cultivation, he hadn''t received any arena challenges.
His guess was, that just like him, everyone else in the top 50 in the arena rankings would also enter seclusion to advance their cultivation, in preparation for the opening of the ''Vermilion realm''.
Since he had reached the peak of rank 6, Shun Long understood that he had now also reached the bottleneck that divided the middle stages of the earth grade with thete stages.
Shun Long then took out the top-grade rank 2 ''minor advancement pills''.
These pills were like an improved version of the ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'' that Shun Long had refined in the past.
They could only be consumed once by each person, and allow them to break through a bottleneck and advance to the next stage.
After consuming the ''minor advancement pills'', Shun Long gathered all of his qi as he tried to create his 55th Qi ball.
Even with the help from the top-grade pills, Shun Long still found it hard to seed in the creation of the 55th Qi ball.
2 dayster, beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead as a loud popping sound that resounded inside the room, came from his body.
As the 55th ball of qi entered the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long finally reached the early rank 7 in earth grade.
There were now less than 2 days left, before the time period of 75 days came to its end.
Leaving his room, Shun Long saw little ck lying on the ground, as he devoured the flesh of a rank 2 magic beast.
Since the ''Blue Forest'' was so close to the city, little ck would go and hunt rank 2 magic beasts every few days.
Seeing Shun Longing out from his room, little ck was about to greet him excitedly were his words were stuck in his throat.
Since Shun Long wasn''t hiding his cultivation from him, the moment that little ck noticed his aura of an early rank 7 earth grade cultivator, he was left tongue-tied.
''''Ma-Master!''''
Although the ck dragon had been with Shun Long for a long time, he still couldn''t fathom how he could have advanced so much in these 2 months of secluded cultivation.
Little ck had originally believed, that even if Shun Long advanced quickly during thete stages of the Qi condensation, and even the early stages of the earth grade, his speed would definitely fall down dramatically as he entered the middle andte stages of the earth grade.
Shun Long smiled when he saw the speechless ck dragon and said
''''Let''s go and see my parents before we return back to the sect.''''
Chapter 121 - 121 The top 100
Chapter 121 - 121 The top 100
''''Let''s go and see my parents before we return back to the sect.''''
After entering the main hall, Shun Long saw Shun Fang and Shun An sitting next to each other as they were chatting andughing.
When they heard the doors of the main hall opening, they both turned to look at the person who had arrived.
Seeing Shun Long entering the hall, Shun An and Shun Fang stood up as they approached him happily. Shun An then hugged him as she said
''''Long''er! Thanks to your miraculous pills, your mother has already reached the peak of rank 1 in earth grade!''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard this, and looked at Shun Fang who was showing off by floating in the air in front of him
''''What do you think son? Amazing right? Your old man is now a Heaven grade expert!''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he gave a thumbs-up to Shun Fang and said
''''Good job, old man!''''
Shun Fang''s eyes widened as he heard Shun Long addressing him as ''old man'' while Shun An started chuckling.
Shun Long looked at his parents and with a smile on his face he said
''''Dad, mom, I have to return back to the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
Both Shun Fang and Shun An stoppedughing as they heard this but Shun Long continued
''''It may take longer than a year or two until I return home. After all, I don''t n on just staying in the ''floating cloud sect'' for the entire time.''''
Shun Fang and Shun An both fell silent when they heard this. They both understood that since Shun Long had said something like that, then it was very likely that it would take years until he returned home.
Shun An then took a step forward and hugged Shun Long as she said
''''Long''er, just be safe...''''
Shun Fang then also stepper forward, and patting Shun Long''s shoulder he said
''''...And don''t forget, that you have a home to return to if things get tough.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as a warm feeling spread through his heart.
After hugging his parents, Shun Long exited the main hall and saw little ck still waiting for him outside.
After riding on top of the dragon''s back, Shun Long said
''''Let''s return back''''
Little ck then spread his ck wings, as he flew upwards.
Shun Fang and Shun An watched Shun Long riding on little ck''s back, as they flew higher and higher, and eventually disappeared in the sky.
An hourter, high above the clouds, Shun Long and little ck had arrived in front of the barrier that divided the 2 worlds.
Without any suspense, little ck''s talons instantly tore the barrier open before they entered inside.
Shun Long then sighed as he once again felt the difference of the qi, in the air of the ''cultivation world'' and the ''mortal world''.
After little ck returned inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long walked for a few hours until he arrived outside of the ''floating cloud sect''.
Since Shun Long saw that night had almost fallen by now, he decided to wait for a few more hours before entering the sect.
Finally, 2 hourster, Shun Long donned on his ck robes, and arriving at the city walls of the ''floating cloud city''. Opening a space tear, he walked into it and returned back inside the sect.
The moment that Shun Long came out of the space tear, he heard a voice shouting at him from the distance
''''HEY! WHO ARE YOU?''''
Turning his head around, he saw 2 outer disciples that were patrolling around near the city walls, now running towards him with 2 spears in their hands.
Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' before activating the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The two rank 1 earth grade guards were instantly frozen, while Shun Long then walked in the direction of the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
After he had walked far enough, the guards could finally move again.
However, in their own perception, they had never stopped running, so they were stunned to see the ck-robed man disappear like he never existed.
As the 2 guards were busy trying to verify whether there truly was someone out there or not, Shun Long had already changed back to his outer disciple robes as he entered inside the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
After having a meal on the 3rd floor, he then walked up to the 6th floor and entered his room.
Instead of cultivating, this time Shun Long decided to spent the night learning how to control the power of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' better.
Shun Long had already understood that if he could utilize the power of the space tears properly during his fights, then his fighting prowess would rise even more.
Night soon passed and as the sun started to rise, Shun Long''s sect jade then lit up.
After taking a look at it, Shun Long saw that this wasn''t an arena challenge, but a message that said
''''5 hours from now, all outer disciples that are still in the top 100 of the arena rankings, are to gather in front of the ''inner city gates''.''''
Shun Long continued to practice his control over the space tears for the next 3 hours before deciding to stop.
Leaving his room he then walked out of the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'' as he headed towards the ''inner city gates.
30 minutester, when he arrived in front of the gates, Shun Long saw a huge crowd that had already gathered here.
There were already more than 2000 disciples here, and the number was still growing.
The crowd had formed a half-circle around the ''inner city gates'', while the disciples in the top 100 that had already arrived at the scene, were waiting in front of the gates.
Just as Shun Long was walking through the crowd, a girl''s voice sounded as she screamed loudly before she pointed at a handsome blue-haired young man that had just arrived there
''''LOOK! It''s Jin Chuanli!''''
When the crowd heard her, everyone turned towards the man that the girl pointed.
Shun Long had also remembered this name, as this person was ranked 4th in the arena rankings.
The man seemed to have noticed Shun Long among the crowd as he nodded his head at him.
Shun Long was surprised when he saw that this, was the same blue-haired man that he had met in the arena the day he fought with Lei Pong.
The person ranked 4th in the arena Jin Chuanli.
Both Jin Chuanli and Shun Long found their own ces to sit as they waited for the ''inner city gates'' to open.
More and more disciples in the top 100 had started gathering in front of the ''inner city gates'', when suddenly, the crowd exploded in an uproar
''''IT''S SENIOR BROTHER WEN!''''
Chapter 122 - 122 Secrets of the Vermilion realm
Chapter 122 - 122 Secrets of the Vermilion realm
''''Senior brother Wen!''''
When Shun Long heard this name, his attention was piqued as he turned to look at the person who had just arrived.
As the crowd opened the way, a huge man over 2m(6.5ft) tall with a very muscr body appeared.
This man seemed to be around 20 years old, with brown hair and a in-looking face. His eyes however were looking at the crowd around him, like a giant that was looking down on ants.
This was the outer disciple who was ranked 1st in the arena rankings, Wen Zihao.
Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s head as he said
''''Master, this person definitely possesses a unique physique, and it even seems to be one that is suited for closebat.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he had already heard rumors about Wen Zihao possessing a unique physique, and knew, that people who were born with these unique physiques were much stronger than the average cultivators.
After Wen Zihao arrived, a few other people shortly followed suit, and soon, everyone from the top 100 rankings had appeared in front of the ''inner city gates''.
An incense stick of timeter, the enormous gates opened, and the sect master along with many Elders and inner disciples appeared from the ''inner city''.
Shun Long was surprised to see Liu Mei and a white-haired man walking behind Liu Jian.
Although this man''s hair was white, it was obvious that it wasn''t due to aging, as he barely looked a day above thirty. His handsome face that greatly resembled Liu Jian''s, instantly allowed Shun Long to guess his identity.
Indeed, this was the number one genius of the ''floating cloud sect'', Liu Changpun.
The moment that people saw the sect master arriving, all the discussions died down and silence permeated the scene.
There was a serious atmosphere in the air, as Liu Jian''s eyes scanned the disciples in front of him. After confirming that everyone had already arrived, Liu Jian nodded his head as he said in a loud voice
''''I will not waste much time speaking since you all know the reason you are here. It''s because you are at the top 100 of all the outer disciples in the sect.
Today, by standing here in front of me, you have earned a once in a lifetime opportunity for yourselves... to enter the ''Vermilion realm''.''''
As Liu Jian finished speaking, he waved his hand, and 10 ''rank 3 red-winged condors'' appeared from the sky as they allnded in front of him.
Liu Jian then turned his head to look at the inner disciples and Elders behind him as he said in amanding voice
''''Get on!''''
The 200 inner disciples and Elders behind him immediately mounted the rank 3 ''red-winged condors'' without a question.
The sect master then looked at the 100 outer disciples in front of him as he continued
''''Where there is fortune, danger also lies. The ''Vermilion realm'' isn''t a ce for vacation. There are boundless fortuitous opportunities for you all, but death also lies in every corner.
If you are not afraid to lose your life, then you can also sit on the condors.''''
As soon as Liu Jian''s words ended, Wen Zihao was the first one to jump on a condor''s back.
Shun Long also didn''t need to think about it as he too climbed on one of the condors.
In the end, there wasn''t a single outer disciple that was scared off, by Liu Jian''s words.
Seeing that none of the disciples had hesitated, Liu Jian nodded his head as he said
''''Good! Since no one of you is scared then let''s go!''''
After he gave themand, all of the ''red-winged condors'' flew up in the sky in a straight line, as they quickly left the sect.
The crowd that was still in front of the ''inner city gates'' was shocked by how brief the sect master''s appearance was.
-
Liu Jian who was sitting on the forefront condor''s head, looked at the restless disciples and Elders and said
''''There is no reason for you all to be anxious. We still need 10 days until we arrive at the Lightning Wastnd. The ''Vermilion realm'' will also open in half a month from now, so there is still plenty of time.''''
An outer disciple named You Huan who was ranked 98th in the arena rankings, looked at Liu Jian and asked stutteringly
''''S-Sect m-master! Will you also enter the ''Vermilion realm with us?''''
It wasn''t just You Huan who had this question in his mind but many other disciples as well.
Liu Jian looked at everyone around him and shook his head as he said
''''The ''Vermilion realm'' is a very special secret realm. Only cultivators at the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade and below can enter inside. If anyone above that level tries to enter, they will face punishment from the secret realm itself.''''
An Elder at the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade looked at You Huan then mockingly as he said
''''If everyone could enter inside without restrictions, considering that the sect only has 300 spots, do you really think that it would be your turn to enter now?''''
You Huan lowered his head in shame after getting berated by this Elder, while Liu Jian''s voice sounded once again
''''Although what Elder Qiu said may sound harsh, it is the truth.
The treasures inside the ''Vermilion realm'' are coveted even by experts above the Spirit realm, let alone earth or Heaven grade cultivators like you all. After all, there have been many experts who have managed to break through their limits and ascend to a higher realm, all thanks to a fortuitous opportunity found inside the ''Vermilion realm''!''''
Just as Liu Jian was exining how precious the treasure inside the ''Vermilion realm'' really were, little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s head as he said
''''Master, this ''Vermilion realm'' may actually be an even bigger opportunity than I originally estimated. If thews of a secret realm attack cultivators above a certain level, then that can only mean 2 things.
Either thews of the secret realm cannot contain an existence higher than that level of cultivation, or...
...this is most likely a man-made secret realm created by a Dao King!''''
Chapter 123 - 123 Wen Zihao and Kang Suns answers
123 Chapter 123 Wen Zihao and Kang Sun''s answers
''''A Dao King? Is that the stage above the Spirit realm?''''
Little ck nodded his head as he started exining
''''Right! I forgot that master doesn''t have any memories regarding the cultivation stages. Above the Heaven grade is the Spirit realm and above that is the Nascent soul stage. Then, above the Nascent soul is the Dao King. Master knows that when cultivators enter the Heaven grade, they then startprehending a Dao that they has an affinity with. As the cultivators advance deeper in the Heaven grade then, their affinity and control over their Dao bes stronger and stronger.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he already knew about this as little ck continued exining
''''After that,es the Spirit realm. In the Spirit realm, a cultivator has to strengthen his spirit sense and spiritual strength, all in preparation for the Nascent soul stage. When a cultivator enters the Nascent soul stage, their spiritual sense then transforms into soul sense and can finally leave their body, much like my soul sense can.
Not only that, but a cultivator in the Nascent soul stage can even send his soul to possess another body, if his own body has already been killed but his soul has survived.
That is why the Nascent soul stage is also called the Nirvana stage. Because even though this isn''t true rebirth, a cultivator can still regain a new chance in life.''''
Little ck then took a moment to stop speaking as he allowed Shun Long to digest all the information about the cultivation stages. After a while, Shun Long sorted out his thoughts and asked
''''Then what happens in the Dao King realm?''''
Little ck then answered seriously
''''In the Dao King realm, a cultivator has already attained control over their Dao. In other words, if a Heaven grade expert who hasprehended the Dao of Water can bombard the enemy with attacks, a Dao King realm expert can summon a tsunami with a wave of his hand and drown an entire city. This is why Dao King realm experts are also considered kings, among cultivators.
Powerful Dao King realm experts who reach the end of their lifespans, will sometimes opt to open a secret realm and leave behind some of their treasures behind some trials.''''
Shun Long was shocked after hearing little ck''s words, when Liu Jian''s voice suddenly brought him back to the present, as he pointed at the white-haired man next to him and introduced him to everyone
''''This is my son, as well as the young lord of the ''floating cloud sect'', Liu Changpun.
Since you are all members of my ''floating cloud sect'', I expect that all of you will listen to his orders inside the ''Vermilion realm''.''''
It wasn''t just Shun Long''s brows who frowned as he heard this, but everyone else in the top 10 of the arena rankings as well. It was obvious that Liu Jian wanted everyone here to bepdogs for his son inside the secret realm.
Liu Changpun then took a step forward, and looking at the ''outer disciples'' in the top 100, he introduced himself in a proud voice
''''I am your future sect master, Liu Changpun.
Although father has said that he expects you to listen to my orders, in reality, most of you will be dead weight when we enter in the ''Vermilion realm''.''''
Then, pointing at 3 people he said
''''Aside from Wen Zihao, Kang Sun and Tong Yueying, the rest of you ''outer disciples'' can move as you please when we enter inside.''''
Most of the outer disciples had their faces painted with anger after being called dead weight, but the angriest out of everyone was Wen Zihao and one other man who had both stood up. Wen Zihao then, looked at Liu Changpun as he asked in a loud voice
''''Why do I have to listen to your orders when I enter inside? Do you think that my life belongs to you to order as you please, just because you are the young lord of the sect?''''
Shun Long also saw the other man that Liu Changpun had pointed at earlier, who was now looking at Wen Zihao and nodding his head at his words. This thin and bald young man, who seemed to be around 25 years old and was a head shorter than Wen Zihao was Kang Sun, the person ranked 2nd in the arena rankings.
Then, turning his head, Shun Long also saw Tong Yueying, a somewhat pretty short-haired young woman who was looking at Liu Changpun with infatuated eyes.
''''INSOLENCE!''''
The same Elder Qiu that had mocked Hou Yuan before now shouted at Wen Zihao in rage. Displeasure had also filled Liu Jian''s face, but Liu Changpun simply smiled as he said ''''Today, I, as the future sect master of the sect have offered you a chance to be my followers in front of everyone here, because I recognize your strength. If you agree, then there will certainly be bouts of good fortune waiting for you in the future.
However, don''t misunderstand things!
It is the sect that has offered you the chance to enter the ''Vermilion realm''. If you don''t agree to be my followers, then you can sit outside as you watch the rest of us enter.''''
Liu Changpun saw that every outer disciple had been shocked by his words but he didn''t seem to mind, as he looked at the top 3 of the arena rankings and waited for their response.
Be his followers, or lose their chance to enter the secret realm? Liu Changpun was certain that they knew what the best choice was.
The first one to step forward was actually Tong Yueying who was ranked 3rd in the arena rankings. Looking at Liu Changpun she smiled coquettishly before she bowed and said
''''I hope that the young lord can take good care of Yueying from now on.''''
Liu Changpunughed as he heard this, while a burning gleam shed through his eyes as he looked at Tong Yueying''s body and said
''''Of course! Don''t worry, as I will make sure to personally protect you.''''
Tong Yueying had a bright smile on her face, while Liu Changpun then turned his attention to look at Wen Zihao and Kang Sun as he waited for their answers.
Shun Long was also curious to see what the 2 of them would choose, but he was also shocked by the brashness that Liu Changpun showed when he asked the 3 of them to follow him. It was obvious to everyone by now, that in Liu Jian''s eyes, everyone that wasn''t Liu Changpun was expendable.
Wen Zihao and Kang Sun were now staring at each other, before they both gave their answers at the same time
''''I agree!''''
''''I refuse!''''
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ZeusTheOlympian
Chapter 124 - 124 Arriving in the Lightning Wasteland
Chapter 124 - 124 Arriving in the Lightning Wastnd
''''I agree!''''
''''I refuse''''
These 2 different answers had shocked everyone.
Liu Changpun looked pleased as he looked at Wen Zihao, but his face turned stern as he stared at Kang Sun and asked
''''Are you certain about your answer?''''
Kang Sun however didn''t reply to him as he looked at Wen Zihao with wide eyes and asked instead
''''You! The person ranked 1st in the arena rankings, the one who was born with the fighting ape physique, are contented with bing someone else''s dog?''''
Wen Zihao then looked at him expressionlessly as he answered
''''Between following the next sect master and entering the ''Vermilion realm'', or having to watch as everyone else around me grows stronger, I obviously know which one to choose!''''
Kang Sun looked at him mockingly as he said
''''So you are willing to be anyone''s dog as long as you get stronger, is that it? I must have been blind to think of you as my rival for the past 3 years!''''
Then, turning his head to look at Liu Changpun, Kang Sun said
''''I refuse. I, Kang Sun, am a man who would rather be stronger by myself, than having to ce my life under someone else''s hands!''''
Liu Changpun nodded his head as he said
''''Very well! I admire that you choose to stick to your beliefs.
However, since you refuse to follow the sect''s orders, I now officially revoke your right to enter the ''Vermilion realm''!''''
Kang Sun''s eyes twitched when he heard this, but he still held his head high, showing that he didn''t regret his choice in the least.
Shun Long looked at him admiringly as he nodded his head.
''''Idiot! No cultivator ever grew stronger by saving his pride!''''
Elder Qiu''s voice then sounded as he mocked Kang Sun.
Kang Sun however didn''t respond to him, and Elder Qiu simply closed his eyes as he started cultivating.
-
10 days soon passed while Shun Long and the rest were flying on top of the red-winged condors, when a boundless barrennd appeared in the distance.
Liu Jian opened his eyes as he looked at the disciples behind him and said
''''We have arrived in the Lightning Wastnd. Soon, we will meet with many other sects like us who are waiting for the ''Vermilion realm'' to open.''''
An inner disciple with short ck hair, looked ahead in the distance and couldn''t help asking
''''Sect master, why is it called the Lightning Wastnd since there is no lightning at all?''''
Liu Jian looked at the inner disciple who had asked this question and smiled as he said
''''Wait for a few more days and you will understand.''''
The rank 3 condors then continued flying forward, and a few hourster, they had arrived in front of arge campsite.
Looking at the campsite in front of them Liu Jian exined
''''Down there are the sects that are going to be entering the ''Vermilion realm'' along with you. Our sect will also set up camp as we wait for the opening of the secret realm so make sure to follow the Elders'' instructions! ''''
As the condors flew closer to the campsite, Shun Long noticed the insignias of many different sects on each camp. He estimated that there were at least 400 different sects that would be entering the ''Vermilion realm'' along with the ''floating cloud sect''.
The rank 3 ''red-winged condors'' thennded in an empty patch ofnd inside the campsite, as the Elders then gave a small tent with the insignia of the ''floating cloud sect'' to each disciple.
After Shun Long set his own tent, he saw a smiling fatty walking towards him.
Fatty Fu had a huge grin on his face as he gave Shun Long a bear hug and said
''''Hahaha! Congrattions brother! When I heard that you had beaten Peizhi in the arena I couldn''t stopughing. If my grandfather hadn''t put me on house arrest, I would havee to find you much sooner.''''
Shun Long looked at the smiling Fu Li and was astonished to find out that he had already broken through to the peak of rank 8 in earth grade.
Laughing, Shun Long patter Fu Li''s shoulder as he said
''''Congrattions fatty! Reaching the peak of rank 8 is a cause for celebration!''''
Fu Li smiled bitterly as he said
''''Brother, you have no idea how much I have suffered. My grandfather didn''t even allow me to leave the house once in the past few months. We definitely have to drink today!''''
Without waiting for Shun Long''s answer, Fu Li then run inside Shun Long''s tent.
Shun Long smiled as he saw Fu Li''s antics before he too walked inside.
Fatty Fu then took out a small table and a big bottle filled with wine from his spatial ring, before he showed it to Shun Long and said
''''What do you think brother? Finally my stingy grandfather gave me a spatial ring!''''
Shun Longughed as he said
''''It would have been really amusing if everyone else here had a spatial ring except for you, the young master of the Fu family.''''
Fu Li nodded his head seriously as he agreed with Shun Long.
Then his eyes turned serious as he said
''''Brother, I didn''t juste here today to drink wine with you. There is also something important that you must know about the ''Vermilion realm''.''''
Shun Long looked at the serious fatty who then continued
''''My grandfather said, that in the center of the ''Vermilion realm'', an extremely high-level senior has left his inheritance. Liu Changpun has gathered a lot of manpower, including the Elders of the Liu and the Meng families, in order to get his hands on this inheritance.''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened as he had finally confirmed that little ck''s guess was correct.
The ''Vermilion realm'' was most likely a secret realm created by a Dao King level expert.
Just as Fu Li''s words ended, a huge mor sounded from the crowd outside as a huge flying whale over 100m long could be seen in the sky.
The whale''s shadow hadpletely covered the ''floating cloud sect''s campsite as little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s head as he said in astonishment
''''Master, a Nascent Soul expert has arrived.''''
Chapter 125 - 125 Opening of the Vermilion realm
Chapter 125 - 125 Opening of the Vermilion realm
Both Shun Long and fatty Fu then quickly exited the tent, as they stared at the flying whale above their heads.
On the whale''s back, there were many bald monks dressed in golden robes.
The whale that the monks were on, kept flying forward until it stopped in an empty patch ofnd in front of the ''floating cloud sect''s'' campsite.
Fatty Fu looked at the golden robes of the monks and said
''''Brother! This, is one of the biggest superpowers of our Deste East, the ''Golden Buddha temple''!''''
Shun Long had never heard of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' before, but based on the fact that they had a Nascent Soul level expert, as well as a rank 4 ''Flying blue whale'', he understood that this temple was far stronger whenpared to the ''floating cloud sect''.
When Liu Jian saw the huge whale stopping a few hundred meters away from the ''floating cloud sect''s'' camp, he immediately took a few Elders, as well as Liu Changpun, and went to pay his respects to the ''Golden Buddha temple'' experts.
After seeing the bald monk who sat at the top of the ''Flying blue whale'', Liu Jian bowed his head as he sped his hands and said
''''Greetings to the head priest!''''
The Elders behind him all followed him as they said
''''Greetings to the head priest!''''
This bald monk was the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'', an early Nascent Soul level expert, as well as the strongest expert of the temple.
Looking at the bowing Liu Jian, the head priest sped his hands as he said
''''Benefactor Liu, no need to be so polite.''''
Liu Jian bowed again with sped hands as he responded
''''It''s only natural for our ''floating cloud sect'' toe and pay our respects to the temple''''
After the ''floating cloud sect'', there were many other sects who also came to pay their respects to the ''Golden Buddha temple''.
Fu Li left Shun Long''s tent as well, as he too had to pay his respects to the temple with the Elders from his Fu family.
Sitting cross legged on his tent, Shun Long spent the next few days either cultivating, or trying toprehend the Dao of Time.
Although most people would startprehending a Dao when they entered the Heaven grade, there were still some geniuses like Fu Peizhi who had a high affinity with certain Daos and could startprehending them earlier than the rest.
As Shun Long sat down inside his tent, little ck''s words echoed inside his head
''''Master, to startprehending a Dao means to start feeling its existence around you. Most Daos, like the Dao of Water, or the Dao of Wind, are easier to sense since they exist in certain parts of nature, while others like the Dao of Ice or the Dao of Thunder are much harder to sense.
Since master wants toprehend the Dao of Time, then this will be even harder.''''
Shun Long understood that, it was an arduous task for an earth, or even a Heaven grade cultivator, to start sensing andprehend the Dao of Time. However, thanks to his golden eyes as well as the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space, Shun Long''s affinity with the element of time gave him hope that he could seed.
4 days soon passed, and Shun Long spent each day either cultivating or trying to connect with the Dao of Time.
Although his cultivation was slowly rising, it would still take a few more days until he reached the middle of rank 7 in earth grade.
Finally, today was the day that the ''Vermilion realm'' was supposed to open.
Liu Jian''s voice sounded in everyone''s ears as he shouted
''''GATHER HERE!''''
A few minutester, seeing that all of the disciples and Elders had gathered in front of his tent, Liu Jian nodded his head as he said
''''The ''Vermilion realm'' will open in a few hours. All of you, follow me.''''
It wasn''t just the ''floating cloud sect'' who had gathered its disciples, but the rest of the sects as well.
Shun Long and the rest of the disciples, followed Liu Jian in front of a huge canyon, where the ''Golden Buddha temple'' and a few other sects had already arrived.
ck clouds had already started filling the sky, when all of a sudden, an unexpected loudughter reverberated throughout the silent canyon.
''''HAHAHAHA!''''
Everyone turned their heads towards the source of thisughter, and saw 2 people flying in the sky, as they quickly approached the ''Golden Buddha temple''s'' group.
When these 2 people arrived in front of the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'', everyone could finally make out their appearance.
An old man was leading the way while a ck-haired young man was following behind him, both of them wearing blue robes embroidered with snow patterns.
The old man looked at the head priest in front of him, and sped his hands as he said
''''You must be the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple''s'' branch in the Deste East. I assume that you can understand who we are.''''
The head priest''s eyes widened when he saw the 2 men''s robes and sping his hands he replied
''''Benefactors of the Snowcloud country, may this humble monk ask, what is it that you seek to find here in the Deste east?''''
The young man dressed in blue robesughed as he heard this and said
''''What we seek? Hahahaha! Aren''t you all here for the same reason? The inheritance of the expert who left the secret realm?''''
Every sect master''s eyes widened as they heard this, before they turned their heads to look at the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple''.
Since the head priest was the strongest out of everyone else here, he could be considered the representative of all these sects.
The old man dressed in blue robes looked at the young man behind him and said
''''Your Highness, although the rest of the sects here are puny, the ''Golden Buddha temple'' does have some standing in our Eastern continent. Please allow me to handle this.''''
The young man thought for a bit before nodding his head.
The blue-robed old man then looked at the head priest,pletely disregarding every other sect master around them as he said
''''Head priest, I am certain that you know the rtionship between your ''Golden Buddha temple'' and my Snowcloud country. This is the sixth prince of my Snowcloud country, Yang Gongsun. If you agree to His Highness'' request to enter the secret realm, then we will not forget th-.''''
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
Before the old man in blue robes could finish his words, huge rumbling sounds were heard from the sky as the ck clouds had all gathered above the canyon.
Finally, a huge bolt of thunder, followed by many smaller bolts of lightning bombarded the canyon.
BOOOOM
As the bolt of thunder entered inside the canyon, a gigantic pir of light came from the canyon''s depths, as it pierced through the clouds in the sky. When an Elder from one of the sects saw this pir of light, he couldn''t help shouting in excitement
''''The ''Vermilion realm'' has opened!''''
Chapter 126 - 126 Entering the Vermilion realm
Chapter 126 - 126 Entering the Vermilion realm
''''The ''Vermilion realm'' has opened!''''
This sentence drew everyone''s attention towards that huge pir of light inside the canyon, before they turned their heads to look at the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple''.
It was a tradition, for the members of the ''Golden Buddha temple to always be the first to enter inside the ''Vermilion realm'', before the rest of the sects followed.
However, since the head priest hadn''t spoken yet, although the ''Vermilion realm'' had already opened, no one dared to be the first one to enter.
The blue-robed prince, Yang Gongsun, looked at the head priest as he asked
''''So? What do you think? Can I enter this secret realm?''''
The head priest''s beady eyes, stared at Yang Gongsun for a while before he smiled as he nodded his head and said
''''Since the benefactor of the Snowcloud country wishes to join us, then of course you are wee.
However, there is only a limited quota of people who can enter inside the ''Vermilion realm'', so benefactor will first have to obtain permission from one of the sects who is willing to give up their spot.''''
Yang Gongsun turned to look at the sect masters in front of him, waiting to see which one would take the initiative to offer him one of their spots. He didn''t believe for a second that there was no one interested in forming good rtions with his Snowcloud country.
Indeed, Liu Jian was the first to take a step forward, as he looked at the head priest and bowed before he said
''''Then please allow me to offer a spot to this young gentleman. My ''floating cloud sect'' happens to have an extra spot, since one of our disciples didn''t want to enter the ''Vermilion realm''.''''
Yang Gongsun turned to look at Liu Jian andughed as he said
''''Hahaha! Finally, someone here who knows to be sensible. What is your name?''''
Liu Jian''s eyes twitched slightly as he heard this arrogant and disrespectful address, but after remembering that a Nascent soul senior was backing this kid, he swallowed it down as he sped his hands and said
''''I am the sect master of the ''floating cloud sect'', Liu Jian!''''
Nodding his head Yang Gongsun said
''''Very well Liu Jian. I, Yang Gongsun will not mistreat you in the future!''''
Yang Gongsun''s eyes then swept over the members of the ''floating cloud sect'', only stopping for a while when saw Liu Mei. His eyes lit up as he saw her peerlessly beautiful face, and after licking his lips, he was actually the first to enter inside the giant pir of light.
The Elders of the Meng family were furious when they noticed Yang Gongsun''s lecherous smile as he looked at Liu Mei, but Liu Jian simply acted as if he hadn''t seen anything.
The head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' threw a meaningful look at Liu Jian before he said
''''In that case, let us all enter the ''Vermilion realm'' then.''''
Finally, after the members of the temple entered inside the light pir, all of the other sects, including the ''floating cloud sect'' quickly followed suit.
Before they entered the light pir, Liu Changpun looked at the Elders and disciples behind him and said
''''Remember, when we enter inside, we will all be split up. Spend the first 5 days looking around the outer region, as you search for our sect members. We only have 3 months inside the ''Vermilion realm'', so 5 dayster, no matter what you are doing, start heading towards the central region.''''
Liu Changpun then was the first to head inside the light pir as the rest of the members of the ''floating cloud sect'' followed after him.
Shun Long didn''t immediately enter as he asked little ck
''''Will there be any problems for you?''''
Little ck immediately understood what Shun Long meant and after thinking for a moment he shook his head as he said
''''I don''t think so master. Although a Dao King is a rtively powerful expert, my aura ispletely hidden inside the ''Stone of Time''. Unless I intentionally expose myself, there shouldn''t be any problem''''
Shun Long nodded his head at little ck''s words as he then took a step forward.
The moment that Shun Long''s foot touched the giant pir of light, he could feel his body leaving the ground, as if he was getting pulled upwards by some kind of ethereal force.
Shun Long could feel that he didn''t have control over his body any longer.
He felt as if he was traveling inside the light pir until a familiar sensation suddenly coursed through his body. It was the same sensation that Shun Long felt when he traveled through his space tears, but this one was much more intense.
A piercing white light forced Shun Long to close his eyes as he felt his body abruptlynding on a solid surface.
A few momentster, after the piercing pain receded, Shun Long opened his eyes to see countless huge trees everywhere around him.
The trees were all more than 20m(66ft) tall, and they spanned as far as Shun Long''s eyes could see.
Before Shun Long could even stand up from the ground, little ck''s voice suddenly sounded in his mind
''''Master! Be careful!''''
At the same time that he heard little ck''s voice, Shun Long felt a sharp pain in his right leg, as his blood spurted like a small fountain.
Shun Long was surprised to see a 30 cm(12inch) arrow that had managed to pierce through his leg.
ROAR
The moment that little ck saw this, he jumped out of the ''Stone of Time'' without any hesitation, as he unleashed a furious roar toward one of the trees behind Shun Long.
Little ck''s roar was like a powerful sonic wave, whose force uprooted almost a dozed of these 20m(66ft) tall trees.
5 creatures dressed in leather clothes fell down from the trees behind Shun Long, as they started foaming from their mouths.
These creatures that were barely above 1m(3.3ft) tall, had sharp horns protruding out of their heads, while their huge noses and ears made a sharp contrast with their tiny eyes.
Shun Long was shocked as he saw the 5 leathered creatures wreathing in pain on the ground, when little ck''s voice sounded inside his head
''''Master, these creatures are the half-fiend race!''''
Chapter 127 - 127 The half-fiend race
Chapter 127 - 127 The half-fiend race
''''Master, these creatures are the half-fiend race!''''
Although Shun Long''s memories included many things, the half-fiend race wasn''t one of them.
Little ck looked at the confused Shun Long, who was staring at the seemingly unconscious members of the half-fiend race, and said
''''Master, the half-fiend race is said to be descendants of the actual fiend race. Although they aren''t pure-blooded descendants, their intelligence isn''t any lower than that of a human''s.
Moreover, as descendants of the fiend race, their bodies can naturally cultivate what humans call ''body refining techniques'', just by eating or sleeping.''''
Shun Long was actually shocked by this revtion as his eyes kept examining the 5 members of the half-fiend race.
Swords, shields and even a crossbow, were scattered on the ground in front of them, when Shun Long suddenly noticed that the breathing of one of the 5 half-fiend members was much weaker than the rest.
Little ck snorted as he looked at this half-fiend member, who was the one who had fired the arrow that had pierced Shun Long''s leg earlier.
Shun Long then turned his attention to his right leg. Although the arrow was still on his leg, it didn''t hurt as much as before, even though his leg was already painted red with his blood.
Shun Long first removed the arrow from his leg before he circted his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Examining the arrow in his hands, Shun Long saw that it seemed to be no different than an average arrow. And yet, this simple-looking arrow had managed to pierce through the defenses of his middle 2nd stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
This was actually the first wound that Shun Long had gotten since he had be a body refiner. It wasmon knowledge in the ''cultivation world'', that body refiners could heal their wounds very quickly, thus Shun Long decided to test the regenerative abilities of his own body.
Surprisingly, the wound in his leg stopped bleeding almost instantly, but at the same time, a strong feeling of hunger overcame him.
Shun Long took out a few of the rations that he had stored inside the ''Stone of Time'', but no matter how much he ate, he found out that it was like a small drop of water trying to fill a bucket.
The wound on his leg had already closed by now, but the feeling of hunger didn''t seem to go away.
After taking out a ''Profound earth fruit'' from the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long decided to consume the fruit directly.
The medicinal essence from the fruit finally managed to satiate his hunger, as Shun Long could feel his body filled with energy once again.
Shun Long then fell in deep contemtion as he thought about the use of the ''Profound earth fruit''.
''''It seems that the energy that my body uses when it heals me, can be directly replenished by consuming medicinal herbs!''''
Just as Shun Long''s thoughts were racing, the 4 members of the half-fiend race had woken up.
When they saw that one of their nsmen had already stopped breathing, they didn''t seem to exhibit any emotions at all. There was neither pity, nor sorrow in their eyes, as if the death of their nsman was just a trivial matter.
However, the moment that these four, saw the ck dragon next to Shun Long, an intense feeling of reverence overcame them.
They looked at little ck with a fanatic look in their eyes, as they immediately prostrated themselves on the ground while chanting something in a weirdnguage.
Shun Long was astonished as he saw this, while little ck stared at the half-fiend members apathetically.
Then, turning his head to look at Shun Long, he said
''''Master, although the half-fiend members here can''t pose a threat to us, perhaps they can actually give us some clues about this ce. After all, we still don''t know much about this ''Vermilion realm''.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he asked
''''Then, do you have a way tomunicate with them?''''
Little ck nodded his head as he exined
''''Master, it''s actually very easy tomunicate with the half-fiends. They share the samenguage as the fiend race. All dragons are proficient in thenguage of the fiend race from the moment they are born.''''
Shun Long then observed as little ck opened his mouth and uttered some iprehensible sounds as he looked at the half-fiends.
''''Aeytu etuae tuaev''''
''''Tuaeu etauev yeat''''
The 4 members of the half-fiend race responded zealously to little ck, when they saw that he was willing tomunicate with them.
Shun Long observed as the ck dragon spoke with the half-fiend members for 10 minutes, before they suddenly started jumping around in excitement.
Little ck then turned his head to look at Shun Long as he said
''''Master, I have gained some information from these four.
Apparently, the forest that we are in, is near the edge of the ''Vermilion realm'' and is called the Forest of the Giants.
The members of the half-fiend race live in a small vige inside this forest, that is around 50 miles away from our current location.
Although these four don''t know much about the ''Vermilion realm'', they said that their vige chief has ventured out of the Forest of the Giants in the past.
Considering how much the half-fiend race reveres the dragon race, it''s unlikely that they are lying to me.''''
Shun Long thought for a bit before nodding his head as he said
''''In that case, let''s go to their vige.''''
They didn''t have any other lead right now, and getting some information from the half-fiends was much better than trying to find their way around the ''Vermilion realm'' blindly. Little ck could also use his soul sense to scan for any potential danger in the ''half-fiend'' vige as well, so even if these 4 half-fiends were lying to them, little ck would be able to detect it ahead of time.
Seeing that Shun Long had agreed, little ck nodded his head at the 4 half-fiend members, who then started chanting something before they eagerly led the way.
Shun Long could also finally sense the cultivation of these 4 members of the half-fiend race, and found out that all of them were at the early 3rd stage in body refinement.
As they were walking towards the vige, little ck who was using his soul sense to scan the surroundings said
''''Master, there are many hidden magic beasts inside this forest, and even the weakest of them is at least at the peak of rank 2.''''
When Shun Long heard this, he felt pity for any other disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'' that was unlucky enough to be also sent here in this forest along with him, as they would probably end up in the belly of one of those magic beasts.
Shun Long and little ck kept following the 4 members of the half-fiend race, and finally, 20 minutester, they arrived in front of a small vige that was hidden near a smallke inside the forest.
When Shun Long''s eyes fell upon this small vige, they immediately shone with a greedy light as one question shed through his head
''''Is this a rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree''?''''
Chapter 128 - 128 The village chiefs request
Chapter 128 - 128 The vige chief''s request
''''Is this the rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree''?''''
Shun Long could barely restrain his excitement once he saw the golden tree at the entrance of the vige.
After taking a few moments to calm down his heartbeat, he looked at little ck as he said
''''Little ck, tell them to call their vige chief.''''
The ck dragon nodded his head as he thenmunicated with the 4 members of the half-fiend race.
''''Ateuty tyuav ttaeve''''
The 4 half-fiends immediately responded as they hurried inside the vige.
A few minutester, more than 100 members of the half-fiend race could be seen gathering at the vige''s entrance.
Shun Long was stunned for a moment when he saw more than 100 half-fiend members dressed in leather clothes, running towards little ck.
An old, white-haired half-fiend was leading the rest of his nsmen, and when he approached 10 meters away from little ck, he immediately knelt down on the ground as he prostrated himself.
The rest of the half-fiend members quickly followed suit, as they all then chanted in a loud voice
''''Aytuev vatyetu vtaytue!''''
Shun Long was stunned when he saw the entire vige of half-fiends prostrating themselves, as he looked at little ck and asked curiously
''''What are they saying?''''
Little ck who was staring at the half-fiend members without any emotion in his blue eyes, like a king who was observing his loyal subjects, then turned to look at Shun Long as he replied
''''They are saying ''''
Shun Long''s eyes lit up after seeing the devotion that the half-fiends had for dragons and said
''''In that case, tell them that we want to ask their vige chief a few questions.''''
Little ck nodded his head as he then started speaking with the half-fiends.
The white-haired vige chief stared at little ck in trepidation as he said
''''Autyevu tyaveu vuaty''''
Little ck then looked at Shun Long as he asked
''''Master, the vige chief asks how he can be of service?!''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard this, and had little ck be the intermediary for their conversation with the half-fiends.
''''We want to know more about this ''Vermilion realm''.''''
The vige chief looked at little ck in a confused manner as he said
''''I don''t know what the Lord Dragon means by the name of ''Vermilion realm'', but if you are referring to the king''s world, then of course I will tell you all I know.
Right now, we are at the forest of the Giants.
This is a huge forest that covers more than 3000 miles ofnd. There is even a big quarry near our vige where our nsmen extract a very durable iron. This iron is very special and easy to melt, and we even make our houses from it.''''
Shun Long immediately remembered the arrow that had injured him earlier. If this iron could easily pierce through his middle second stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' without any inscriptions on it, then he was certain that if he sold it to a high-grade formation master, he could fetch a hefty price for it. Shun Long had even considered to start learning the art of formation masters himself.
Continuing the conversation with the half-fiend vige chief, Shun Long then asked
''''Aside from the iron quarry, is there anything else in this forest?''''
The vige chief looked at little ck as he responded with earnestness
''''There is! Towards the depths of the forest, there is a hugeke that spans more than 500 miles. The ancestors'' records state that when the King created this world, he had personally created theke as well!''''
Shun Long''s eyes instantly lit up as he heard this. If the king who created this world was really a Dao King realm expert, then thiske that he had personally created was probably more than just a normalke.
At this moment, in Shun Long''s mind, the decision to go and check thisketer was already set.
Looking at the vige chief, Shun Long had little ck trante his words for him again as he continued
''''Then, what about the ce outside of this forest?''''
When the vige chief heard this question, he shuddered for a bit, but in the end he still responded.
''''Lord Dragon, the world outside of the forest is typically peaceful but, in the depths of the King''s world there are many dangerous creatures. The King is also said to have created a pce at the center of this world, but our half-fiend race doesn''t ever go near it. Some of our ancestors have tried to enter the King''s pce in the past, but they never returned back to our vige!''''
Little ck then looked at Shun Long as he said in excitement
''''Master, if there really is a pce in the depths of this ''Vermilion realm'', then that must be the inheritance ground of the Dao King. Any treasure that a Dao King has left behind, would prove to be of great use to master at this point.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''Then, tell them that we want to have a look at the iron quarry and take some iron from it. Also, ask their vige chief if they are willing to trade the golden tree in their vige entrance.''''
Little ck nodded his head as he ryed Shun Long''s message to the vige chief.
The vige chief''s expression stiffened, and his face looked troubled as he said
''''Lord Dragon... there is naturally no problem if you want to take iron from the iron quarry. After all, our vige has more than enough for many generations. But... the golden tree was nted by an ancestor of ours...''''
Little ck stared at the vige chief with eyes full of anger when he heard his refusal.
After all, dragons were prideful creatures who would never ask anything of others. It was only because the half-fiends revered dragons like gods that little ck would even bother asking the vige chief, instead of taking the rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' directly.
The vige chief cowered back when he felt the dragon''s anger, and he once again prostrated himself on the ground before he said
''''Lord Dragon please forgive my insolence... However, if the Lord Dragon is willing to do a favor to our vige then, not only can you take the golden tree away, but our half-fiend tribe will also give you iron from the quarry ourselves.''''
It seemed that although the vige chief really revered the dragon race, he was still willing to haggle with little ck over something.
When little ck mentioned this matter to Shun Long, it also aroused his curiosity.
Shun Long then looked at the vige chief as he told little ck to ask them what they wanted in exchange.
The vige chief turned his head to look at the half-fiend members who all prostrated themselves on the ground as well before the chief said
''''Please mighty Lord Dragon, help us kill the monster that lives inside theke!''''
Chapter 129 - 129 The monster in the lake
Chapter 129 - 129 The monster in theke
''''Please mighty Lord Dragon, help us kill the monster that lives inside theke!''''
When Shun Long heard the vige chief''s request he couldn''t help asking
''''Why do they need to take care of a monster that lives in theke?''''
The ck dragon nodded his head as he asked this question to the vige chief, who then trembled as he responded honestly
''''Mightly Lord Dragon! Actually, the water from theke is greatly beneficial to the cultivation of our tribe members. After drinking just a little of it, a second stage warrior at the peak can advance to the third stage!''''
I would still be a third stage warrior if I hadn''t consumed theke''s water 200 years ago.
However... every time that our tribe tries to take some water from theke, we lose many of our warriors to that monster!''''
Excitement filled not only Shun Long''s, but little ck''s eyes as well. If the water could help with the cultivation of the half-fiend members, then it was probably another huge treasure on par with the ''Golden Jade spirit tree''.
However, Shun Long didn''t immediately ept the vige chief''s request, as he had little ck then ask him
''''How strong is that monster that lives inside theke?''''
When the vige chief heard this question, he couldn''t help take a few steps back. Then, after taking a deep breath he responded seriously
''''It... it has reached the 5th rank.''''
The 5th rank!
Shun Long sucked in a cold breath of air as he heard this.
This was a magic beast that was just as strong, if not stronger than the average early-stage Nascent soul expert.
Although little ck had already reached the middle stage of rank 4, he was still a rank 4 magic beast in the end. Although he could probably fight against an early rank 5 magic beast for a bit, he was unable to really kill one.
Little ck understood what Shun Long was thinking and said
''''Master, if it''s a rank 5 magic beast, then not just its beast core, but its entire body will be a treasure for us. I can definitely advance my strength as well if I can consume its flesh.''''
Shun Long however looked at the greedy ck dragon and asked
''''How confident are you that you can kill a rank 5 magic beast then?''''
Little ck thought seriously for a while and said
''''If we are talking about an early rank 5 magic beast... then about 20 percent. I''m also 50 percent certain of defeating it, and more than 80 percent certain of being able to run away if things look bad.''''
Shun Long thought seriously for a while before he nodded his head and said
''''Alright. There is also something that I want to try as well.''''
Seeing that Shun Long had agreed, little ck looked at the half-fiend members as he spoke in theirnguage.
The half-fiend vigers all looked ted as they kowtowed repeatedly on the ground and shouted
''''Aytuev vatyetu vtaytue!''''
''''Aytuev vatyetu vtaytue!''''
Little ck ignored the kowtowing vigers, as he then flew above their heads and directly arrived in front of the 30m(98ft) rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree'', that was in front of the half-fiend vige entrance.
Grabbing the golden tree''s trunk with his talons, the 3m(10ft) tall little ck slowly uprooted the giant tree.
The half-fiend vigers looked at the ck dragon who was taking away the golden tree with excitement in their eyes.
Since he had already agreed to fight against the rank 5 magic beast inside theke, the vigers didn''t even think that little ck would try to trick them.
After storing the ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long looked at little ck and said
''''Since we don''t have anything else to do now, then let''s go to thatke. We can alwayse back and collect that mysterious iron from the half-fiend vigerster.''''
Little ck nodded his head and looking at the vige chief, he had him lead the way to theke.
The vige chief excitedly jumped up and gave some orders to the rest of the vigers, before he personally lead the way for little ck and Shun Long.
As they traveled deeper inside the forest, little ck noticed that the number of magic beasts in the surroundings had drastically decreased.
The half-fiend vige chief seemed to know exactly which path to take, so that they wouldn''t encounter any magic beasts on the way as well.
Finally, an hourter, their group had arrived in front of a hugeke with crystal blue waters.
The surroundings of theke were extremely peaceful and there didn''t seem to be a single animal around, let alone a magic beast.
The moment that they arrived in front of theke, little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s head as he warned gravely
''''Master, be careful!''''
At the same time as little ck''s voice sounded in his head, Shun Long saw a huge beast head emerging from the depths of theke.
A 25m(82ft) long magic beast that was shaped like a giant worm slowly revealed itself. The beast had 9 eyes spread on its face, while multiple tentacles were hanging from the sides of its body.
The half-fiend vige chief shivered as he saw the beast once again and stepped back as he hid behind a tree, while even Shun Long was stunned for a moment after seeing the beast.
The aura from this worm made it clear that this was truly an early rank 5 magic beast.
Looking at little ck who had already flown up in the sky, ready to fight against it, Shun Long warned
''''Little ck be careful! This is a rank 5 ''Nine-eyed giant worm''! Its tentacles have a paralyzing poison that can incapacitate even early rank 5 magic beasts.''''
The moment that Shun Long finished exining the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''s'' strengths, he immediately circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as well as his golden eyes.
Then, turning his eyes to look at the rank 5 giant worm, he mumbled
''''Let''s see if this will really work.''''
Chapter 130 - 130 Shun Longs method
Chapter 130 - 130 Shun Long''s method
''''Let''s see if this will really work.''''
Shun Long watched as little ck started fighting against the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''.
The worm extended its huge tentacles as it tried to grab the ck dragon in the air.
Little ck however, flew between the gaps of the tentacles as he skillfully avoided them.
Opening his mouth, he spat out a ck fireball at the worm''s back, but the giant worm immediately dove back into theke as it avoided the attack.
The ball of ck fire made a sizzling sound as it came in contact with theke''s water before it eventually dissipated.
Seeing that it had sessfully avoided the dragon''s attack, the worm resurfaced again, as it continuously tried to grab the ck dragon with its tentacles.
Shun Long''s eyes were focusedpletely on the rank 5 ''Nine-eyes giant worm''.
He noticed that his qi was being depleted much faster than usual, as he tried to see what the worm would do in the future.
That was probably due to the huge difference in cultivation between himself and the ''Nine-eyes giant worm''.
Seeing that the worm was about to attack the ck dragon once more with its tentacles, Shun Long shed the air in front of him with his hand as he opened a space tear.
The space tear led directly to the giant worm''s face, but this one seemed to be different than Shun Long''s previous space tears.
It looks like this space tear wasn''t meant for Shun Long to jump inside it, but to drag the worm to him.
A space tear that was barely 40cm(15inch) long was trying to drag the worm towards him.
Shun Long sighed as he saw this result, before he closed the space tear and once again started to observe the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' again.
The worm didn''t even feel anything from Shun Long''s ''attack'', as it kept fighting back and forth with the ck dragon.
Every time the dragon spat out that ck fireball, the worm would dive back into theke, only to resurface a few breaths of timeter and continue fighting.
5 minutester, Shun Long once again clenched his right fist, as he opened another space tear, this time one that was even bigger than before. However, the location of the space tear was different this time, as it led directly inside the worm''s mouth.
This was a test to Shun Long''s space control, as he tried to seed again and again.
Even after fighting back and forth for more than an hour, neither little ck, nor the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' seemed to have gotten any tired.
Shun Long however, had already depleted more than 70 percent of his qi, just by keeping his golden eyes active for this past hour.
At this moment, his focus had reached its peak, and as he clenched his right hand tightly once again he punched through the air in front of him.
A space tear that was even bigger than the previous two appeared, as it connected Shun Long''s location with the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''.
GRUUUUUUAAAAAH
A horrifying scream left the worm''s mouth as a huge eyeball appeared in front of Shun Long''s feet.
The worm thrashed around in pain, as green blood was constantly flowing from where its eyeball was previously located.
Little ck''s eyes gleamed with a ruthless light, and without missing this opportunity, he spat out a huge ck fireball straight towards the worm''s face.
The ''Nine-eyes giant worm'' seemed to have sensed the danger in the air, as it tried to suppress the pain it felt and dove back into the water.
However, although the giant fireball had missed the worm''s face, it had stillnded right on its neck.
GRAAAAAAAAHHHH
The giant worm screamed once again as half of its head was now almost severed from its body.
Green blood was spurting through the air like a fountain, as the worm''s cries slowly stopped.
Less than a minuteter, its giant body was floating on the water''s surface, while its blood slowly dyed the water an emerald color.
Shun Long hadn''t even seen how the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' had died, as his eyes were staring at the huge eyeball on his feet.
Although his body was feeling fatigued after having opened nearly a dozen space tears earlier, while more than 80 percent of his qi had been depleted already, the excitement in his eyes couldn''t be concealed. At the moment that he had created thest space tear, Shun Long could feel that he had even managed to touch upon the Dao of Space for a brief moment.
The half-fiend vige chief then fell down on his knees as he saw the corpse of the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' floating in theke. Looking at little ck in the air, the vige chief shouted loudly
''''Etuae tuaevu yeat!''''
Little ck barely nced at the vige chief before he grabbed the worm''s corpse from theke, and carried it through the air, and ced it next to Shun Long who was still deep in his thoughts.
Recovering from his stupor, Shun Long then turned his eyes to look at the corpse of the giant worm next to him. After cing it inside the ''Stone of Time'', he turned his attention to little ck as he said
''''Let''s see how special thiske water really is!''''
Although the water seemed absolutely ordinary at first nce, Shun Long could feel that there was some kind of mysterious energy inside it.
cing his hand inside theke, Shun Long was shocked when he felt the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had started circting by itself, as it greedily absorbed theke water. Shun Long''s body was like a starved beast that had finally found food, as it greedily absorbed theke water without restraint.
Shun Long could feel that his body was growing stronger at an incredibly rapid pace, and taking off his robes, he then dove inside theke without any more hesitation.
Little ck saw the excitement in Shun Long''s eyes, as he then followed him inside theke.
The effects of theke''s water were far beyond what the 2 of them had imagined.
Chapter 131 - 131 The waters effects
Chapter 131 - 131 The water''s effects
Shun Long and little ck were standing more than 1 mile apart from each other, as 2 small vortexes, one small and one big had appeared on theke''s surface.
There was both reverence, as well as envy in the half-fiend vige chief''s face as he saw Shun Long absorbing theke water.
Shun Long could feel his body getting stronger and stronger, as it madly devoured the water of theke like a hungry beast.
This situation continued for 3 days, as the vortex around Shun Long was now twice as big as its original size.
Finally, Shun Long felt as if the energy inside his body had reached the limits of the middle second stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', when a banging sound suddenly sounded from his body.
The moment that this banging sound was heard, Shun Long felt his strength rising at an unbelievable rate.
''Peak of the second stage in body refinement''
Having reached the peak of the second stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', the vortex around Shun Long once again doubled in size, as he started absorbing more and more of theke''s water.
10 days had passed since Shun Long and little ck had entered inside theke, when the water vortex around little ck had finally exceeded one mile.
Shun Long opened his eyes as he nced at the ck dragon who was unaware of themotion he had caused.
In the bank of theke, more than 20 half-fiend vigers had gathered, as they observed little ck with shining eyes.
Half a dayter, a huge pir of water shot up in the air, before the huge vortex around him vanished.
ROAR
Little ck let out a roar of contentment, as he had now reached the peak of rank 4.
Shun Long smiled as he saw this, when a sudden idea shed through his mind.
Taking out the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' from the ''Stone of Time'', he ced it inside theke as he then sent a mentalmand for it to absorb theke''s water.
What shocked Shun Long was, that although the vine seemed to be unable to turn the water into pure qi, since it wasn''t some kind of qi in the first ce, the vine itself seemed to have grown taller after absorbing theke''s water.
Half a month more passed like this, and it had now been 25 days since Shun Long had entered inside the ''Vermilion realm''.
Opening his eyes, he wasn''t sure if he should be happy or frustrated.
Although the energy inside his body was enough for him to breakthrough to the third stage in body refinement, he still couldn''t do it as he hadn''tprehended the Dao of Space.
Shun Long could feel that he was just a step away from it, but this step still required a spark of inspiration.
He was certain that if he could replicate that feeling, from when he had opened thest space tear that had sucked in the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''s'' eye, then he could definitely breakthrough to the third stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Turning his eyes to the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', Shun Long was shocked to see that it had already grown to more than 40m(130ft) long.
After returning the vine to the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long swam to the bank of theke where little ck and the half-fiend vigers were waiting for him.
The vige chief then approached him as he bowed and said
''''Tuavey tvayve eatuave''''
The rest of the vigers then bowed as they repeated their vige chief''s words.
Shun Long looked at little ck whoughed as he tranted the half-fiends words
''''Master, the vige chief said
''Thank you mighty warrior for taking care of the demon monster. Our tribe''s warehouse is open for the mighty warrior to take as much iron as he wants.''''''
Shun Long smiled as he looked at little ck and said
''''It looks like they are really eager to send us off. Alright, ask for one of their vigers to escort us to their warehouse. The rest of them can stay here and cultivate since that''s what they obviously want. Theke''s water doesn''t have any more use to us anyway.''''
Shun Long had already tested whether theke''s water was effective to the rest of his medicinal herbs since it could aid in the ''Heaven swallowing vine''s'' growth, but without any effect.
The vige chief was ted when he heard this, and gave the order to an unwilling young half-fiend warrior to escort Shun Long and little ck back to their vige.
Before they left, the vige chief also handed a brown beast skin to Shun Long.
Unfurling the beast skin Shun Long saw, that the drawings inside had theyout of a map.
With this ''map'' in hand, Shun Long knew which path to take, to head towards the central region where the ''King''s pce'' was located.
-
Half an hourter, the half-fiend warrior had returned with Shun Long and little ck back to the half-fiend vige, before he entered through a secret path to arrive in front of a huge warehouse.
After opening the gates of the warehouse, Shun Long saw mountains of iron being stored inside.
In just a few minutes, Shun Long had already taken half of the warehouse''s iron, and yet, the expression on the half-fiend warrior''s face was still that of indifference.
''''It looks like that quarry has much more iron than what I had originally estimated.''''
Then, turning his head to look at little ck, Shun Long unfurled the beast skin that the vige chief had handed to him as he said
''''Since there isn''t anything else for us to do in this ce, it''s time to go. ording to this map, it looks like we are at the extreme north of the secret realm. There should still be a little more than 2 months until the ''Vermilion realm'' closes.''''
Sitting on the ck dragon''s back, Shun Long then looked forward as he said
''''Let''s go to the pce in the central region!''''
Chapter 132 - 132 Tying loose ends
Chapter 132 - 132 Tying loose ends
''''Let''s go to the pce in the central region!''''
Little ck then soared in the sky, quickly leaving the forest of giants.
Shun Long observed the 20m tall trees below him, as they became smaller and smaller in his eyes.
Surprisingly, the region around the giant forest seemed to be just a in desert.
Although the scorching sun in the ''Vermilion realm'' could be avoided under the protection of the tall trees back in the forest, the temperature in the desert was suffocating even for earth grade cultivators.
However, Shun Long was barely affected by it on top of little ck''s back, as they continued to fly towards the central region, following the half-fiend vige chief''s map.
2 dayster, Shun Long and little ck seemed to have arrived at the end of the desert, when a huge purple fog appeared in front of them.
The thick fog seemed to shoot up in the sky, as itpletely surrounded the central region.
ording to the map in Shun Long''s hands, the ''King''s pce'' was just behind this fog.
Little ck was stunned when he found out, that even his soul sense was unable to pierce through the fog.
Seeing that little ck''s soul sense was actually obstructed, Shun Long thought for a bit before he said
''''Return back to the ''Stone of Time'' for now.''''
Little ck looked at Shun Long worriedly who smiled as he exined
''''Right now, we are too close to the central region. With the number of sects that have entered the ''Vermilion realm'', it will be too dangerous if you are exposed.''''
Little ck nodded his head andnded on the ground, before he returned back inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Although he knew that there were probably no dangers for Shun Long in the purple fog, he still couldn''t help but be worried because of the obstruction that it posed to his soul sense.
Looking at the thick purple mist in front of him, Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as well as his golden eyes before he entered inside.
After stepping inside the fog, he noticed that aside from impeding his vision, the fog didn''t seem to have any other effects.
Although Shun Long was confident that his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' could protect him from many different kinds of poisons, as an alchemist, he could only count on himself if he somehow still got poisoned in the end.
Without little ck''s soul sense and with his own vision obstructed, he could only walk straight ahead until he reached the other side of the fog.
2 days quickly passed since Shun Long had entered the purple fog, when he could finally hear faint voices ahead of him.
Speeding up his footsteps, he soon reached the end of the purple fog, where a vast in field appeared in his eyes.
Beyond the in fields, was a magnificent white pce, that seemed to have been situated there for countless years.
In front of the pce gates were 2 statues, one of a handsome young man, and the other of a voluptuous woman that could invoke countless desires in the eyes of the young men here.
Shun Long was surprised to see more than 1000 disciples sitting cross-legged on the in fields, while even more of them were slowly making their way towards the white pce.
From the struggle of their movements, it was obvious that not just anyone could reach the pce gates.
Seeing that no one seemed to have paid any attention to his arrival, Shun Long followed the crowd as he started walking towards the pce as well.
Shun Long didn''t feel anything abnormal, until he was 500 miles away from the pce gates. At that moment, he felt the eyes of the 2 statues lighting up for a second as a wave of pressure crashed upon his body.
This pressure could instantly bring any early-stage earth grade expert to his knees, and yet, in front of Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' it felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze.
Shun Long seemed to be walking leisurely towards the pce, but he could still feel the pressure around him increasing with every step that he took forward.
It seemed that, to at least reach the pce gates, one needed to have a certain level of strength.
As he approached closer to the pce, Shun Long noticed a group of inner and outer disciples of the ''floating cloud sect'' who had almost reached the pce gates.
Shun Long noticed that although their advancing speed was extremely slow, it was still steady, as they all walked as a unit one behind the other.
When he saw the people in this group, a chilling look shed through his eyes as he hastened his speed.
Thest person in this group was a handsome young man dressed in outer disciples robes. There was a determined look in his eyes, as he stared at the white pce gates in front of him,pletely unaware that Shun Long was also staring at him at the same time.
This was the eldest son of the dead Xiao marquess.
Based on his aura, Shun Long could guess that Xiao Juyan was close to breaking through to the early rank 7 in earth grade.
After his brother had ''mysteriously died'' in the sect, Xiao Juyan had done everything he could to be stronger and take revenge. He didn''t know how he would face his father when returned back to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', if he didn''t kill his brother''s assassin.
Although he was certain in his heart that the person who had killed Xiao Shitou was Shun Long, it was impossible to do anything against him since he hadn''t left behind any clues that night.
At the same time, Shun Long''s mind had simr thoughts as Xiao Juyan.
Having killed both his brother?and his father, Shun Long didn''t intend to allow Xiao Juyan to live. If he ever returned back to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' and heard that his father had also died, it was very possible that he would choose to take his anger on Shun Long''s family.
Finally, a few minutester, Shun Long had arrived just 100m away from Xiao Juyan.
After making sure that there was no one around him, Shun Long immediately activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'' as time around Xiao Juyanpletely came to a halt.
With his eyespletely focused on Xiao Juyan''s back, Shun Long shed the air in front of him with his finger, as he opened a tiny space tear.
Chapter 133 - 133 The Kings palace
Chapter 133 - 133 The King''s pce
This space tear was almost impossible to notice with the n.a.k.e.d eye, unless one stood right in front of it.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long thrust his finger inside it, and a small popping sound sounded from Xiao Juyan''s body at the same time.
Although this sound was nearly inaudible, the disciples of the ''floating cloud sect'' in front of Xiao Juyan head clearly noticed it, as they all turned their heads to look at him.
Looking at the unmoving Xiao Juyan, a stern expression appeared in the leading disciple''s face.
The disciple who was leading the group was named Liu Huan and was Liu Jian''s nephew, as well as Liu Changpun and Liu Mei''s cousin.
Seeing that Xiao Juyan was intentionally stalling their group, Liu Huan looked at him in impatience and asked
''''Xiao Juyan, what do you think you are doing? Do you think that everyone here has time to wait for you?''''
Seeing that Xiao Juyan was still unmoving after his berating, caused the expression on Liu Huan''s face to change into one of anger.
At the same time, a warm liquid had stained Shun Long''s finger when he had thrust it inside the space tear.
After all, this space tear, was leading directly to Xiao Juyan''s heart.
After closing the space tear, Shun Long retracted his ''Monarch''s Domain'', and saw Xiao Juyan taking a step forward before he fell on the ground.
Incredulous looks had appeared on the faces of the members of the ''floating cloud sect'', as they finally understood that something was wrong.
Xiao Juyan''s mouth was vomiting blood non-stop, as soon as time around him had started to flow normally again.
The rest of the disciples of the ''floating cloud sect'' simply couldn''t understand what had happened to him, while his sudden copse even attracted the attention of other people as well.
Shun Longpletely ignored themotion that Xiao Juyan''s death would cause as he kept walking towards the pce gates.
When he was just 100m away from the pce Shun Long could sense that the pressure around him was strong enough to incapacitate a peak rank 6 earth grade cultivator.
In other words, only those disciples whose strength had exceeded the middle stages of the earth grade were allowed to step inside the pce.
However, with his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that had already reached the peak of the second stage, this pressure felt nothing more than a slightly strong gale.
Arriving in front of the half-opened gigantic pce gates, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he walked inside.
The interior of the pce was decorated with gold, emerald jade, and other rare materials.
Walking deeper inside, Shun Long noticed that these scenes were bing all the moremon, as gold and rare jades could be found everywhere inside this pce.
Even the knights'' armors that were decorating the halls were made from a mysterious type of gold.
However, Shun Long also noticed that none of these ''decorations'' could actually be moved from the pce.
The moment that his hand tried to touch one of the golden armors, a powerful repelling force erupted from the knight''s armor that pushed him backwards.
At the same time, little ck''s voice then sounded as it said
''''Master, it looks like these armors were most likely created by a gold grade formation master. Otherwise, the repelling force wouldn''t be so powerful that it could effortlessly push master away.''''
A bright light appeared in Shun Long''s eyes when he heard this, as this was the first time that he had seen an item created by a gold grade formation master.
In the ''floating cloud sect'', even a rank 1 silver grade formation master was considered an incredible expert, let alone a gold grade formation master.
Looking at the golden armors around Shun Long, little ck sighed as he continued
''''Unfortunately, the restrictions around these armors are too strong, even for me right now.''''
Since he could only see and not touch, Shun Long didn''t waste any more time staring at the armors around him any longer, as he kept walking deeper inside the pce, until he eventually arrived in front of an enormous silver door.
The door was more than 50m(160ft) tall, while its handles seemed to have been made from some kind of red ruby.
Walking through this half-opened silver door, Shun Long found himself inside a huge hallway.
Looking around him Shun Long thought, that everything in this pce seemed to have been created with the mindset of ''the bigger it is, the better''!
The hallway in front of him however, seemed tock the usual luxurious decorations that were previously present everywhere in the pce.
Aside from 1000 ck doors that were located on the sides of this hall, Shun Long didn''t see anything else.
For a moment, he even wondered whether this hall was really created by the same person who had also created the rest of the pce.
As he looked around, his eyes immediately noticed the difference in some of these doors. More than 300 of them had a character with the word ''SEAL'' that seemed to be enveloping the doors with ayer of white light.
Shun Long''s curiosity was piqued as he looked at these ck doors, when little ck''s voice once again sounded in his head
''''Master, I can sense people fighting behind some of these sealed doors. It''s very likely that some trial will start after master enters inside.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he heard this, while the excitement in his eyes was obvious.
If this was the pce of a Dao King, then what sort of trials and what kind of treasures will await inside?
After taking a deep breath to calm his excited heart, Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and his golden eyes, before he walked towards one of the unsealed ck doors.
The moment that he entered inside the ck door, Shun Long''s vision instantly turned dark, before an emotionless voice that seemed to havee from the depths of this darkness sounded in his ears
''''Trial taker number 323, I officially wee you to the King''s pce!''''
Chapter 134 - 134 The rules of the Kings trials
Chapter 134 - 134 The rules of the King''s trials
''''Trial taker, number 323, I officially wee you to the King''s pce!
The great king has set a number of trials for the young people of the Deste east to test themselves. At the end of every trial, there will be a corresponding treasure that will match the trial''s difficulty.
This is the first of the trials that the great King has set and the difficulty is also the lowest.
Nod your head once if you wish to participate, or shake it twice and I will teleport you out of the King''s pc-... Oho? Interesting...''''
Little ck''s voice then sounded inside Shun Long''s head, as the ck dragon said in a somewhat panicked tone
''''Master, we are in trouble! That''s an early rank 4 Nascent soul cultivator and he has already noticed my soul sense!''''
At the same time that little ck''s voice ended, a powerful soul sense from the depths of the darkness had already locked on Shun Long, as it scanned him from head to toe.
The voice seemed surprised that it couldn''t locate little ck''s soul any longer, but it still chuckled as it said
''''I am certain that I noticed a soul senseing from your body just now, but no matter. In front of my watchful eyes, no one can cheat inside the King''s trials. If you want to participate you will have to use your own strength, otherwise you will be disqualified and forcefully ejected from the King''s realm. Weapons below the silver grade are also allowed during the trials.
Now make your decision!''''
Shun Long had felt cold sweat dripping from his forehead, when he had heard that this voice had already sensed little ck''s soul sense earlier.
After all, to Shun Long, Little ck wasn''t just one of his secrets or a simple magic beast, but also an importantpanion.
Although this voice didn''t seem to care about little ck right now, Shun Long had the feeling that if he shook his head and refused to enter the trial in an attempt to escape the pce, this voice would definitely try to force little ck out of the ''Stone of Time''.
The moment that a weak dragon revealed himself, Shun Long was certain that a bloodbath would follow.
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long almost subconsciously nodded his head.
The voice''s tone seemed to have turned somewhat cheerful at that moment as it then said
''''Very well. In that case, let me exin the rules.
In this trial, you will fight against a magic beast that has reached the middle of rank 2.
If you don''t manage to defeat this magic beast within 24 hours, the fight will stop and you will be given 4 hours to rest. After these 4 hours are over, you will once again have to fight until you either win, or this process repeats itself.
Remember that you cannot quit in the middle of the trial. If you don''t win, you cannot leave the King''s pce, and will have to keep fighting until you either die, or the King''s realm closes. ''''
The moment that the voice in the dark faded, light once again illuminated Shun Long''s surroundings, as he found himself inside arge cage.
The cage was around 300 square meters (3000sq ft) wide, while a 2m(6.5ft) tall and 5m(16ft) long ck bull with red horns, was standing on the other end of the cage.
Shun Long immediately recognized this magic beast as he mumbled smilingly
''''A middle rank 2 ''crimson-horned bull''?''''
The bull''s eyes were staring at Shun Long the same way a hunter would look at his prey, before its hooves kicked the ground as it rushed towards Shun Long.
Watching the magic beast running towards him, Shun Long was still smiling, as he gathered his strength in his left arm, and met the ''crimson-horned bull''s'' charge head-on.
Without any suspense, the bull''s charge was immediately halted, and the look in the its eyes changed into one of fear as it stared at Shun Long.
Raising his right arm, Shun Long punched the bull on the ribs, sending it flying sideways until it lost consciousness.
The moment that the bullnded on the ground, 3 shining red fruits appeared out of nowhere in the air in front of Shun Long, before the same emotionless voice once again sounded in his ears
''''Congrattions, you have passed the first trial! Your reward will be 3 ''Blood Vermilion fruits''.
If you wish to take on the second trial then nod your head once. If you wish to leave the King''s pce then shake your head twice.''''
Shun Long was stunned for a bit as he observed the 3 shining red fruits in his hands, and recalled that the reward for the ''outer sect examination'' was precisely this ''Blood Vermilion fruit''.
''''It seems that this is where the 4 sects got their ''Blood Vermilion fruits'' from.''''
Smiling, he ced the 3 fruits in the ''Stone of Time'' before he nodded his head, epting the second trial.
A ck door then materialized in front of him, seemingly out of thin air, as the emotionless voice once again sounded in his ears
''''Very well! You are the 281st person in this century''s batch who is entering the second trial.
However, this trial will bepletely different than the first. This time, it won''t just be your strength that will be tested, but your scheming ability as well as your perceptiveness.''''
Shun Long was curious as to how the second trial was going to differ from the first, when the emotionless voice continued
''''You will be sent to join the rest of the contestants that are currently undertaking the trial inside the King''s garden.
Kill a rank 3 magic beast and take its beast core, and you will have sessfully passed the second trial.''''
The voice then paused for a moment as if it had just remembered something, before it continued exining
''''You can also team up with other contestants, and you can even kill them if you want to, but only the person who gets his hands on the magic beast''s core first, will be considered to have passed the trial.
Additionally, using any other form of external help, including talismans, weapons at the silver grade and above, or... helpers that are not officially participating in the trial... will immediately cause you to get disqualified.
If you are ready, step inside the ck door.''''
Shun Long felt realization dawning his mind when he heard everything regarding the second test, as he then mumbled to himself
''''This must probably be the main reason, why Liu Changpun wanted Wen Zihao and Kang Sun to be his followers.''''
Then, with a serious look in his eyes, Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as well as his golden eyes, before he pushed the ck door open and stepped inside.
Chapter 135 - 135 Coincidence or Fate?
Chapter 135 - 135 Coincidence or Fate?
The moment that Shun Long''s feet passed through the ck door, a blinding white light forced him to close his eyes, as a familiar feeling of spatial teleportation passed through his body.
The moment that Shun Long opened his eyes again, he noticed that the scene around him had changed, as he found himself inside an unfamiliar forest.
The colorful trees around him, as well as the cries of the magic beasts in the distance made it obvious that Shun Long had arrived in the king''s garden.
After remembering the restrictions that the emotionless voice had set before he had entered the second trial, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'', and looking at the ck dragon who was now happily munching on the flesh of the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' he said
''''Little ck, make sure to avoid using your soul sense again until we leave this ce.
Although I didn''t sense any hostile intentions from that voice, I''m not sure if things will remain the same if you end up being exposed. So unless it''s absolutely necessary, you must not use your soul sense until we leave this ''Vermilion realm''.''''
Little ck suddenly stopped eating, as he looked at Shun Long with serious eyes, and nodding his head he said
''''Master, I will try to breakthrough to the 5th rank, as soon as I finish with the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''s body. After my breakthrough, even a peak rank 5 Nascent soul expert won''t be my match!''''
Shun Long shook his head as he heard little ck''s words and said seriously
''''Don''t rush your breakthrough until you are ready. If worsees to worst, then we can just flee from this ce. I''m also not sure how strong a rank 4 Nascent soul cultivator really is, but I doubt that he will be that much stronger than the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''.''''
The ck dragon felt warmth in his heart as he heard this, and nodded his head in response as he continued eating the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''.
Shun Long''s consciousness then returned to his body, and after taking a look around him, he climbed on top of the tallest nearby tree, as he observed the area he was in.
A cloud of dust had been raised a few miles away from him, as Shun Long could sense the violent sh of auras all the way to his current location.
After deliberating for a bit, he still decided to head over and check what was going on.
Although Shun Long''s strength had grown exponentially, especially after he had reached the peak of the second stage in his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', he still didn''t know if he could defeat an early rank 3 magic beast.
After all, even the weakest rank 3 magic beasts, were as strong as peak rank 3 Heaven grade cultivators.
A few minutester, Shun Long had already arrived at the scene, only to see 6 disciples in tattered ck robes lying on the ground.
Shun Long recognized the emblem on these disciples'' chests, and understood, that they belonged to the ''Poison Hall''.
Liu Jian had already warned the disciples of the ''floating cloud sect'', that there were 3 main powers that they shouldn''t offend inside the ''Vermilion realm''.
The ''Golden Buddha temple'' was the first on this list, as they were the strongest power in the Deste east.
The second was the Bright Moon academy. Liu Jian had even mentioned that this academy didn''t lose out to the ''Golden Buddha temple'' by much in terms of power, and their roots even extended beyond the Deste east.
The third power on Liu Jian''s list was precisely the ''Poison Hall''. If a disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'' was to offend the disciples of the ''Poison Hall'', then the sect wouldn''t offer them any protection.
All of a sudden, less than a mile away from Shun Long, the sounds of fighting once again resumed.
Shun Long followed the sounds until he arrived at the foot of a small mountain.
The scene unfolding in front of his eyes had left him tongue-tied.
3 ck-robed disciples of the ''Poison Hall'', 2 of them at the early rank 1 Heaven grade, and the other one in the middle of rank 1, had surrounded a gorgeous girl in green clothes.
The girl was holding a thin but long white sword, and seemed to be at the middle of rank 1 in Heaven grade as well.
The moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on this girl''s face, his mind almost nked out for a moment.
Shun Long didn''t even immediately move as a series of questions shed through his head
''''Do these coincidences really exist? Or is this what people refer to as fate?''''
Shun Long had never believed that one day he would have to y the hero for a damsel in distress.
Although he had believed himself to be a cold person, one who only cared about his close ones, the moment that his eyes saw Liu Mei with blood all over her robes, he felt like someone was tugging the strings in his heart.
''''Is it because she stood up for me when I first entered the sect? Or is it because I felt pity for her after hearing about her life from Fu Li?''''
Shun Long didn''t know when or why, but he just found out that at some point, he had already developed a soft spot for this peerlessly beautiful girl in front of him.
The young man at the middle of rank 1 in Heaven grade, finally woke up Shun Long who had fallen into a stupor with his loudughter, as he looked at the injured Liu Mei in front of him and said
''''HAHAHAHA Bitch! Did you think that you could escape after injuring so many of my brothers? This young master simply asked you to apany me for a drink, and yet you dare to not give face to my ''Poison Hall''?!''''
Then, with a lewd smile on his face, the young man from the Poison Hall looked at Liu Mei who was still on the ground as she struggled to get up with the help of her sword, and said
''''Don''t worry, I, Su Honghui am known for being benevolent after all. Come here and beg this young master, and I can still forgive you.''''
Chapter 136 - 136 Sinister methods of the Poison Hall
Chapter 136 - 136 Sinister methods of the Poison Hall
Shun Long quickly understood what had happened, while the look in his eyes had turned a bone-chilling cold.
Since Liu Mei had refused to ''''apany Su Honghui for a drink'''', the situation had probably ended with her injuring the disciples of the Poison Hall and fleeing, until it lead to the current scene that Shun Long was watching right now.
Seeing the frosty look on Liu Mei''s face, Su Honghui snickered angrily as he pointed at the saber in his hands and said
''''Bitch! How many poisons do you think my de has beenced with over? Do you think that you can stay alive without my help?''''
''''Senior brother Su, there is no need to get anxious. Did you forget about junior brother Pei''s dagger?''''
''Junior brother Pei'' also looked at Su Honghui with a lewd smile on his face as he winked at him.
After seeing the looks on his junior brothers'' faces, Su Honghui''s eyes brightened, as he once again burst in a loudughter. Looking at Liu Mei, he no longer suppressed the l.u.s.t in his eyes as he said
''''It''s okay even if you don''t want to beg this young master. With my junior brother''s ''special poison'', let''s see for how long you will be able to even move your own body. Seeing the look on your helpless face, will bring m-''''
Pfftt
Before he could finish his words, Su Honghui clutched his chest, and fell on his knees, as blood had started spurting from his mouth non-stop.
''''Senior brother!''''
''''Senior brother!''''
The 2 other disciples of the Poison Hall, quickly rushed to Su Honghui''s side as they couldn''t understand what had suddenly happened to their ''senior brother''.
Su Honghui who was now clutching his chest, had clearly felt that his heart had suddenly ruptured, as a wave of pain assaulted his body.
Trying to suppress the excruciating pain, Su Honghui quickly took out a few pills from his spatial ring and consumed without a second thought. Knowing that these pills could only suppress the pain he was feeling but couldn''t actually heal him, Su Honghui took a deep breath, as a sinister dark green color had appeared in his palm.
After a moment of hesitation, he ced his palm on the left side of his chest, and using his Dao of Poison, he attempted to temporarily mend the hole in his heart.
Shun Long retracted his bloodied finger from the space tear that he had just opened, and was actually surprised to see that Su Honghui hadn''t died yet.
''''It looks like this guy is using poison to stop the blood loss from his heart.''''
Although he hadn''t managed to kill Su Honghui immediately, Shun Long was still satisfied with the result, since at least one of the 3 disciples from the Poison Hall was practically incapacitated.
Liu Mei looked at the kneeling Su Honghui in shock, while a burning feeling had already started to spread through her body. At the same time, the 3 cuts on her arms had started to slowly turn ck, as a heavy poison was spreading through her body.
''''Watch out! There is someone else here!''''
After sealing the hole in his heart, Su Honghui spoke in a low voice to his 2 junior brothers, afraid that if he pushed himself to speak louder, his injury would worsen.
The sound of footsteps suddenly sounded from behind Su Honghui and the other 2 disciples of the Poison Hall, as they turned their heads to see Shun Long slowly walking towards them.
Su Honghui and his junior brothers retreated a few steps backwards after seeing Shun Long''s unfamiliar face appear behind the trees, while Liu Mei''s eyes couldn''t conceal the shock she was feeling.
Shun Long''s face wasn''t unfamiliar to her after all, and from his yellow robes, the 2 disciples of the Poison Hall understood that this must be another disciple of the ''floating cloud sect''.
''Junior brother Pei'' wasn''t sure if this was the person who had injured his senior brother, but taking a step forward he unleashed his early rank 1 Heaven grade aura as he asked threateningly
''''Brat who are you? Are you the one who sneakily attacked my senior brother? Do you even know who we are?''''
''Junior brother Pei'' was certain that even Liu Changpun would back off after seeing the members of the Poison Hall, let alone a normal disciple of the ''floating cloud sect''.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long''s eyes, as the shock in her heart gradually intensified.
She had never expected for him to appear here, especially when she was at the weakest point of her life.
The look in her eyes however revealed her struggle, as she knew that Shun Long hadn''t even joined the ''floating cloud sect'' for a year, and it was clearly impossible for him to fight against the disciples of the Poison Hall.
Finally, with a determined look in her eyes, she looked at him and said in a determined tone
''''Don''t meddle in other people''s business. Quickly leave!''''
The cold look on Shun Long''s face had started to warm, as he looked at Liu Mei who was trying to give him a way out, when he asked with a smile on his face
''''Didn''t you also choose to meddle in my business in the past?
Don''t worry, since I have already attacked one of them, I can also take care of the other 2 as well.''''
The look in Su Honghui''s face had turned both cold, as well as somewhat fearful when Shun Long had confirmed that he was indeed the one who had attacked him. After all, the mysterious method that he had used to attack his heart, had left Su Honghuipletely terrified.
''Junior brother Pei'' however, didn''t seem afraid in the least, as he stared at Shun Long and said in a confident tone that left no room for discussion
''''Very good brat! Since you have dared to attack the disciples of our Poison Hall, then don''t expect to escape alive today.''''
After taking out a second dagger from his waist, ''junior brother Pei'' turned to look at the other ck-robed disciple next to him, and said
''''Senior brother Bo, let''s take care of this brat together!''''
Senior brother Bo nodded his head, as he and ''junior brother Pei'' both nked Shun Long from the sides.
Chapter 137 - 137 Killing a disciple of the Poison Hall
Chapter 137 - 137 Killing a disciple of the Poison Hall
Senior brother Bo nodded his head, as he and his ''junior brother Pei'', both nked Shun Long from the sides.
Shun Long first activated his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', before his eyes turned golden, and looking at the 2 disciples of the Poison Hall on his left and right sides, he still decided to activate the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The invisible figure of an Hourss extended from Shun Long''s body, as it covered both ''senior brother Bo'', and ''junior brother Pei'' inside it.
Although the ''Monarch''s Domain'' seemed to not be as effective when Shun Long fought with people whose cultivation was far above his, it could still slow down the two early-rank 1 Heaven grade experts by 20 percent.
''Junior brother Pei'' almostughed when he noticed Shun Long''s cultivation that was at the early rank 7 in earth grade, while he hadn''t even realized that his own actions had slowed down considerably.
Shun Long didn''t wait for the 2 of them to nk him, as he kicked the ground in front of him and rushed at ''senior brother Bo''.
Looking at Shun Long who was running towards him, ''senior brother Bo''s'' eyes narrowed, as a purple glow covered the saber in his hands, before he shed it horizontally towards Shun Long''s neck.
Shun Long''s right fist, met with the glowing saber directly, as the powerful collision created a small shockwave, that pushed both Shun Long and ''senior brother Bo'', a few steps back.
Now that his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had reached the peak of the second stage, Shun Long was confident that even a peak bronze grade saber couldn''t bring any harm to him.
The moment that Shun Long''s punch collided with the saber, ''senior brother Bo'' felt a sharp pain in his hand as the skin between his thumb and his index finger was violently torn apart.
Feeling the force from Shun Long''s punch, ''senior brother Bo'' stared at him in horror as he felt his saber leaving his hand.
Shun Long was also surprised as he felt a stinging pain in his fist, but looking at the unprotected ''senior brother Bo'' who was trying to open up the distance between them, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he quickly caught up to him and sent a full-powered punch towards ''senior brother Bo''s'' stomach.
It was only after seeing the saber that was sent flying in the air, that the disciples of the Poison Hall had realized, that Shun Long was a dual cultivator of both qi and body refining.
''''QUICKLY! FLY AWAY!''''
Su Honghui''s urgent voice sounded in everyone''s ears, as he saw the terrified ''senior brother Bo'' about to get hit by Shun Long once again.
''Senior brother Bo'' had just remembered that his opponent couldn''t fly, as he was still an earth grade cultivator, but before his feet could actually leave the ground, he felt a sharp paining from his abdomen.
Shun Long''s left hand that was now filled with blood, had already pierced a hole through ''senior brother Bo''s'' body, under everyone''s astounded eyes.
''Senior brother Bo'' looked at the hole in his abdomen with disbelief, as his internal organs were destroyed, while his blood painted the ground beneath him red.
Feeling the strength getting sapped from his body, ''senior brother Bo'' crashed on the ground with his face facing the sky, as he inched closer and closer to death.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long agape, as she couldn''t believe that this man who had just defeated a Heaven grade expert in a few breaths of time, was the same disciple whom she had met in the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' a few months ago
''''NOOOOOOOO!''''
''Junior brother Pei'' let out an ear-piercing scream, as he threw the dagger in his left hand towards Shun Long without a second thought.
Wooosh
The dagger flew through the air with a lot of momentum, but as it neared closer to Shun Long, its speed instantly diminished, until it was finally frozen in mid-air, 3m away from Shun Long.
The ''Monarch''s Domain'' that was still active, had easily neutralized the danger of the flying dagger, as Shun Long then turned his head to look at the dumbfounded ''junior brother Pei''.
Anger, fear, terror, and disbelief, were written all over his and Su Honghui''s face as they watched Shun Long walking towards them.
''''Run!''''
This was the first thought that came to ''junior brother Pei''s'' mind, as he took flight and turned to leave the scene.
''''Wait!''''
Su Honghui shouted at his junior brother in horror, seeing that he had forgotten about him, but to his surprise, he received no response as the ck-robed ''junior brother Pei'' kept flying away.
The look in Shun Long''s eyes turned serious as he chased him through the woods.
Although Heaven grade cultivators could fly in the air, as an early rank 1 Heaven grade cultivator,?''junior brother Pei''s'' speed wasn''t considered fast, since he had only broken through to the Heaven grade very recently.
''Junior brother Pei'' watched Shun Long who had easily caught up with him, butughed sinisterly after feeling assured of the distance separating them.
''''Hahaha! Brat, just wait! Once my senior brothers and sisters learn of what you did, your entire ''floating cloud sect'' will have to pay the price for your actions!''''
Since he was flying at an altitude of more than 30m(100ft) in the air, ''Junior brother Pei'' was sure that even if Shun Long was a body refining cultivator who could jump that high, he would still be able to move away in time and avoid him.
Shun Long smiled mockingly as he heard this, before he suddenly stopped his chase.
''Junior brother Pei'' who saw this, sighed in relief as he kept flying away, certain that he had managed to properly intimidate Shun Long.
However, in his heart he still vowed to take revenge for his senior brother today.
Shun Long''s eyes were focused on ''Junior brother Pei''s back'', before he shed the space in front of him open with his left hand. Without missing a beat, his right hand immediately followed suit, as Shun Long sent a full-powered punch inside the space tear.
Crack!
''Junior brother Pei'' suddenly felt, as if a huge hammer had just connected with his spine, before his body was sent crashing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.
After the cloud of dust receded ''junior brother Pei'' who opened his eyes, felt an indescribable terror gripping his heart, as he saw Shun Long standing above his head.
Although he wanted to beg for his life, ''junior brother Pei''s'' mouth only made some indiscernible sounds as he saw Shun Long''s foot descending on his chest.
Crack
Crack
The sound of bones getting crushed reverberated throughout the surroundings, before the ck-robed disciple of the Poison Hall finally stopped breathing.
Without the slightest shred of guilt, Shun Long took the spatial ring from his hand, before he returned back to the foot of the mountain where Liu Mei and Su Honghui were.
Shun Long wasn''t afraid that Su Honghui, or even ''senior brother Bo'' would manage to run away in the short time that he had chased ''junior brother Pei''.
Let alone that Su Honghui couldn''t even stand up, it was also unknown whether ''senior brother Bo'' was still alive or not.
Chapter 138 - 138 Resolving the poison
Chapter 138 - 138 Resolving the poison
Shun Long''s conjecture was right, as after arriving at the foot of the mountain he saw ''senior brother Bo'' who was unmoving on the ground, the earth beneath him painted red with his blood, while Su Honghui was struggling to crawl away.
When they saw Shun Long returning, Liu Mei''s face was painted with joy, while Su Honghui felt fear from the bottom of his heart.
He didn''t even ask anything about his junior brother who had abandoned him earlier, while deep inside him, Su Honghui even hoped that Shun Long had managed to kill that traitor who had dared to abandon him and run away alone.
Looking at Shun Long who was walking towards him, Su Honghui didn''t even know what he should say to beg for his life.
Shun Long didn''t n to let Su Honghui live in the first ce, as he effortlessly crushed his neck without another word, and took his spatial ring before he threw his body to the side.
After making sure that ''senior brother Bo'' was also dead, Shun Long took his spatial ring as well, and after putting it inside the ''Stone of Time'', he walked up to Liu Mei.
Liu Mei looked at the bloodied Shun Long who had just killed 3 disciples of the Poison Hall to save her, and gave him a dazzling smile that took his breath away for a moment.
Shun Long felt his surroundings dimming after seeing this peerlessly beautiful girl''s smile, before his eyes suddenly fell on her injured arms that had started to turn a ckish green color. It looked like the poison had already started to seep into Liu Mei''s body, as Shun Long looked at her and said with a serious look
''''The poison is quickly spreading throughout your body. If you don''t expel it soon, then once it enters your meridians, it will be a miracle if you are still alive.''''
Liu Mei looked at her slender, jade-like arms, and saw that there were indeed 3 dark green spots that were slowly expanding in her body.
Using her long white sword, she tried to stand up, but her body simply didn''t listen to her. Shun Long''s eyes widened as he remembered Su Honghui''s words, and understood that there must have been some kind of paralyzing poison in ''junior brother Pei''s'' dagger.
roarr
At the same time, both Liu Mei and Shun Long were startled as magic beast roars sounded from the forest behind them.
Liu Mei lowered her head embarrassed, while a tinge of red had painted her face, as she said
''''Uhm, ju-junior brother... can you... help me?''''
Shun Long was stunned when he heard Liu Mei''s request, but after noticing that she couldn''t move her own body, while magic beasts seemed to be quickly approaching them from behind, he nodded his head as he said
''''Alright, make sure to hang tight!''''
Liu Mei seemed a bit confused after hearing Shun Long''s words, until she saw him cing one hand on her back and the other one on her feet.
Lifting her up in a ''princess hug'', Shun Longpletely ignored Liu Mei''s tomato-red face as he ran towards the mountain in front of him.
Although he tried not to think about the peerlessly beautiful girl in his arms, after feeling the supple body in his hands, Shun Long couldn''t stop his heartrate from speeding up, especially since Liu Mei was the first girl that he was in such a close contact with.
Simr thoughts were also flooding Liu Mei''s head as she turned her head to look at this man who was carrying her in his arms.
A warm feeling filled her heart, when she felt Shun Long''s loud heartbeat that betrayed his nervousness, despite his calm facade.
A few minutester, Shun Long had already climbed halfway up the mountain, until he finally found a natural-made cave nearby.
After making sure that there was no magic beast inside the cave, he exhaled a sigh of relief before he gently ced Liu Mei on the ground.
A feeling of loss suddenly filled Liu Mei''s heart after she was separated from Shun Long''s warm embrace.
Shun Long also felt a simr feeling, but he quickly suppressed it as he looked at Liu Mei''s wounds and said
''''Senior sister it looks like the poison is still expanding on your arm. You should circte your qi around it to stop it from seeping deeper inside your body. I will look at their spatial rings and see if they have the antidotes on them.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head and smiled lightly, before she closed her eyes and circted her qi around her wounds.
Shards of ice appeared on top of her skin, as the dark green spots seemed to have stopped expanding any further.
Then, opening her eyes to look at Shun Long who was now searching through the spatial rings in search of an antidote, her eyes formed 2 crescent moons as a smile that could dazzle anyone who could see her at this moment, had unknowingly appeared on her face.
Searching through all 3 of the Poison Hall disciples'' spatial rings, Shun Long found more than 70.000 spirit stones in total, along with various poisonous herbs, as well as 2 small boxes.
The boxes were filled with ck and green ointment respectively, but the scent they emitted was anything but pleasant.
Usually, poison masters would always carry the antidote for their poisons with them, in case they identally affected themselves while fighting so Shun Long didn''t found this unexpected.
Opening his eyes, Shun Long was captivated by Liu Mei''s bewitching smile.
A momentter, he rposed himself, and taking out the 2 ck boxes with the antidotes he said
''''Senior sister, these ointments need to be applied externally on your injuries.''''
Liu Mei looked at the ck boxes in front of her and embarrassedly nodded her head once again.
She was surprised to find out that her heart was actually looking forward to Shun Long''s hands touching hers once again.
Chapter 139 - 139 Leave the sect?
Chapter 139 - 139 Leave the sect?
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled as he first dipped his fingers inside the ck ointment.
His hand then stroked Liu Mei''s slender hand, like a brush painting on a canvas.
The feeling of his hand touching Liu Mei''s milky-smooth skin as he applied the ointment was something unique to Shun Long, while the atmosphere around the 2 of them was slowly changing.
It felt like the distance between them, was shortening with each stroke of his hand.
After Shun Long finished applying the ck ointment on Liu Mei''s hand, he looked at her and said
''''Senior sister, you should be able to move your body very soon. The paralyzing poison will quickly go away and you should be able to apply the green ointment on yourself.''''
Looking at Liu Mei''s face who seemed somewhat sad when she heard this, Shun Long smiled as he continued
''''However, if you happen to feel any difort and don''t want to move just yet, I can certainly help you apply the rest of it.''''
Feeling that her thoughts had been seen through, Liu Mei felt embarrassment, but she still happily nodded her head with an enchanting smile on her face, as she then whispered
''''You don''t have to call me senior sister anymore... just call me Liu Mei.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, and with the same smile as before, he said
''''Then, you should also call me Shun Long.''''
Feeling her cheeks heating up, Liu Mei lowered her head but she still felt happy in her heart.
After Shun Long had finished applying the green ointment on her hands, he said
''''You should start feeling the effects of the green ointment in less than 10 minutes.''''
Liu Mei then stared at Shun Long''s eyes intently, and after taking a deep breath she said in a serious voice
''''Shun Long... you should leave the ''floating cloud sect''.''''
...
The moment that he heard Liu Mei''s words, Shun Long was dumbfounded, as he stared at her with eyes full of surprise.
He hadn''t expected to hear something like that, especially from the sect master''s daughter.
Liu Mei however, didn''t seem to mind Shun Long''s reaction as she continued
''''Unless you n to stay an outer disciple forever, you should leave the sect while you still can... because once you be an inner disciple, you may no longer have that chance.
After all, the ''inner city'' isn''t as simple as it actually seems.
Don''t you find it weird that I''m all alone inside this second trial, since Liu Changpun had ordered all the inner disciples and Elders to rush to the central region 5 days after entering the ''Vermilion realm''?''''
Indeed, this thought had passed through Shun Long''s mind, but he had simply assumed that Liu Mei hadn''t managed to meet with anyone else up until now.
However, Liu Mei had also called Liu Changpun by his actual name instead of calling him ''elder brother'', and based on the hatred and disgust that she disyed, it seemed that there was more to this than what meets the eye.
Seeing that Shun Long was pondering over what she had said, Liu Mei then continued
''''The reason I am not together with the rest of them, is because I don''t n to ever return back to the ''floating cloud sect''!''''
It seemed that after she had finally said these words that she had been keeping in her heart, all of Liu Mei''s suppressed emotions burst out along with them, as she then continued exining everything, without any intent to actually conceal the inner matters of the sect.
''''Do you know why none of the disciples or Elders of the ''inner city'' protested, when Liu Changpun said that everyone must gather in the central region 5 dayster no matter what?
It''s because once you be an inner disciple, you will be forced to choose one of the 5 families that you want to ''follow''.
The family that you choose to follow, will then offer you enticing rewards depending on your strength and potential, but once you join them you will have to follow their every order.
Everyone that entered the ''Vermilion realm'' from the inner city, has to listen to the words of the ''future sect master''.... while as for the top 100 in the arena rankings? It is because they are all the strongest outer disciples as well as the ''future of the sect''.
As long as they don''t die in here, everyone in the top 100 will enter the ''inner city'' sooner orter, and be inner disciples. Therefore, allowing them to enter the ''Vermilion realm'', is still in the best benefits of the sect in the end.''''
Shun Long had trouble believing what he had just heard, but deep in his heart, he felt that what Liu Mei had told him was the truth.
Unknowingly, Shun Long couldn''t help but blurt out a question that had suddenly appeared in his mind
''''Then, did Fu Li know about all of this?''''
If fatty Fu really knew about this and didn''t tell him, then things would bepletely different.
Liu Mei shook her head as she said
''''I don''t know. As the heir of the Fu family, Fu Li should have known, but... because of his character it is quite possible that his family hasn''t told him anything yet.''''
Liu Mei''s answer however, didn''t reassure Shun Long, as many different scenarios had now formed in his mind.
''''Did Fu Li and Lu Wen approach me because they wanted to draw me in their families? It''s actually possible for Lu Wen who imed that he was ''forced'' to return back to the sect, but Fu Li didn''t know anything about me when he had met me in the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.''''
Coming to this conclusion, Shun Long''s furrowed brows slightly rxed, but he had still decided to obtain a clear answer from fatty Fu in the future.
''''So, will you still stay in the ''floating cloud sect''?''''
As Liu Mei voiced her question, she hadn''t realized that she was eagerly staring at Shun Long with sparkling eyes, as she waited to hear his answer.
Chapter 140 - 140 A pair of fishermen
Chapter 140 - 140 A pair of fishermen
Shun Long fell in contemtion for a while, after hearing Liu Mei''s question, before he finally answered
''''I wasn''t nning to stay in the ''floating cloud sect'' forever, so, leaving the sect after exiting the ''Vermilion realm'' isn''t such a bad choice then.''''
What Shun Long had said was the truth. After all, he was still nning to find out more things about the ''Stone of Time'', visit the ''Ruins of the Universe'', and be strong enough to protect himself and his parents. He also had to learn more about little ck''s origins, so he wasn''t nning to stay in the ''floating cloud sect'' for the rest of his life.
Liu Mei felt happy when she heard Shun Long''s answer, as she then continued
''''Then, why don''t you alsoe to the Silver sword city?''''
Shun Long''s eyes betrayed his puzzlement as he looked at Liu Mei, since he had never heard of the name Silver sword city before.
Liu Mei understood that Shun Long must not know about the internal secrets of the King''s realm, as she then said
''''Ah, let me exin what I know first.
There are actually 2 ways to leave the ''Vermilion realm''.
The first, is the normal way, where you just have to wait for 3 months to pass. 3 months after everyone has entered the ''Vermilion realm'', a teleportation array will force us to return back to the Lightning Wastnd.
The second way however, requires one to have passed the second trial. After we pass the second trial, the overseer of the King''s pce will allow us to choose, if we want to stay in the Deste east, or... if we wish to go to the Silver sword city of the Night star continent.
Both the ''Golden Buddha temple'', as well as the Snowcloud country where Yang Gongsun is from, are actually located in the Night star continent as well, while the ''Golden Buddha temple'' here, is said to be just a branch of the actual temple.
The Night star continent is actually located very close to our Deste east, and even experts at the Nascent Soul realm are not rare there.
...But as for why the overseer would choose to send us in the Silver sword city... I don''t know that.''''
After listing everything that she knew about the King''s pce, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long who was still digesting all this information.
A few breaths of timeter, Shun Long smiled at Liu Mei while his eyes were staring at her deep ck eyes, before he said
''''Thank you.
I still have to consider the matter about that Silver sword city for some more, but before that, we still need to kill 2 rank 3 magic beasts to pass the second trial.''''
Liu Mei felt her cheeks reddening after seeing Shun Long''s smile when she nodded her head. Indeed, Shun Long couldn''t just decide to leave the Deste east on the spot.
Then, with a serious look on her face she said
''''That''s why Liu Changpun had ordered everyone to gather in the central region.
I believe that he has already passed the second trial long ago. After all, his aim is to get the legacy inside the King''s pce, so, passing the second trial earlier gives him more time to fully focus on the third trial.''''
Just as Liu Mei finished her words, tremors sounded from the top of the mountain, while the cave that the 2 of them were in seemed as if it was on the verge of copse.
Shun Long and Liu Mei quickly rushed out of the cave, as they turned their heads to look at the top of the mountain.
2 magic beasts seemed to be fighting, and based on the destructive power that they were exhibiting, it was clear that they weren''t simple early rank 3 magic beasts.
Shun Long and Liu Mei turned to look at each other before they slowly ascended the mountain.
After they reached closer to the mountain''s peak, Shun Long immediately understood what was happening.
In the world of magic beasts, there were certain beasts that were natural enemies, one example of which was the ''iron-winged eagle'' and the ''earth bear'' that Shun Long had seen in the Demonic Mountain region.
Once they started fighting, these magic beasts usually wouldn''t stop until one of them was dead.
The scene in front of him now was another such example, as a middle rank 3 ''Ice hawk'' was fighting with a middle rank 3 ''Demonic spider''.
Looking at the 2 magic beasts that were fighting with reckless abandon, unwilling to rest until the other one was down, Shun Long''s eyes shone as he gestured at Liu Mei to be silent.
Liu Mei''s eyes widened as she understood what Shun Long wanted to do and whispered
''''Is it really possible to act as the fishermen on 2 middle rank 3 magic beasts?''''
It wasn''t that Liu Mei didn''t believe in Shun Long, as she had already seen his strength when he had killed the 3 disciples of the Poison Hall.
But even an early rank 3 magic beast could also kill Su Honghui and his 2 brothers, let alone a middle stage one.
Shun Long smiled as he heard Liu Mei''s question and said
''''Before entering the second trial, that ethereal voice had said, that this trial wouldn''t only test one''s power, but also their scheming ability as well as their perceptiveness.
If there was no other way to pass the second trial aside from banding together, then wouldn''t those like Liu Changpun who got help from their sect members, be the only ones who pass through it?''''
Liu Mei looked as if she had just understood a critical point that she had previously missed regarding this trial.
Right! The second trial also tests one''s perceptiveness.
After all, it wasmon knowledge that average magic beasts, could usually dominate cultivators who were at the same level as them, so how could those disciples who were still at the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade or lower, kill magic beasts at the early rank 3 or even higher?
Chapter 141 - 141 Passing the second trial
Chapter 141 - 141 Passing the second trial
Looking at Liu Mei who was staring at him with bright eyes as she waited to hear his exnation, Shun Long turned his head to observe the fight of the 2 magic beasts at the mountain peak, as he said
''''Actually, one of the ways to pass the second trial, is to band together and hunt for early rank 3 magic beasts, but the question is, how many early rank 3 magic beasts are inside this ''King''s garden'' in the first ce?''''
Seeing that Liu Mei seemed to have juste to another realization once again, Shun Long continued
''''However, aside from teaming up, there is another way to pass this test. That is to ambush and kill a magic beast. This method however, is far more dangerous than the first one, since you need to have perfect grasp of what''s happening around you before you actually attack the beast.
Normally, I may not have chosen to attack 2 strong middle stage rank 3 magic beasts, like the ''Ice Hawk'' and the Demonic Spider. The current situation however is different.
The reason that these 2 beasts are enemies, lies with the ''Ice Hawk'' after all.
Both the ''Demonic Spider'', as well as the ''Ice Hawk'', are magic beasts who ''cultivate'' Yin qi inside them, and although their attribute isn''t the same as one of them focuses on ice while the other one focuses more on poison, the yin qi inside the ice hawk isn''t that much different than the yin qi of the Demonic Spider in the end.
Usually, since their strength is about the same, the ''Ice Hawk'' wouldn''t attack the ''Demonic Spider''s''ir for no reason.
However, once a Demonic spider has given birth to its eggs, then, just before the eggs hatch, at the end of their incubation period, the yin qi inside them is at their purest and most dense form. The ''Ice Hawk'' can sense the rich yin qi from far away, and will then start a life and death battle with the spider.''''
Liu Mei''s mouth was agape after hearing Shun Long''s exnation.
She finally understood that Shun Long didn''t decide to attack these 2 magic beasts out of recklessness, but because he had prior knowledge about their characteristics and their nature.
Looking at the young man beside her who didn''t seem to be any older than herself, Liu Mei felt an inexplicable attraction to the mysterious aura that he was emitting.
As time passed, more and more wounds had appeared on the ''Ice Hawk''s'' and the ''Demonic Spider''s'' body.
After pping its wings, the 5m (16ft)rge ''Ice Hawk'' summoned a small hailstorm that pierced the ck spider''s body.
Green blood was flowing from its wounds but the spider didn''t seem to feel any pain, as it opened its mouth and spat many small balls of purple liquid.
The liquid let out a sizzling sound as it touched the hawk''s body, almost as if it was burning through its blue and white skin.
Finally, 3 hourster, the ''Ice Hawk'' had fallen on the ground, while more than half of its body had been corroded by the spider''s poison.
But the ''Demonic Spider'' was also filled with terrible wounds.
More than half of its back had been pierced with ice shards, while 3 of its 8 legs had already been severed from its body.
Looking at the terribly injured spider, as well as the ''Ice Hawk'' that had finally stopped breathing, Liu Mei couldn''t help turning her gaze at Shun Long as she asked
''''Should we attack now?''''
Shun Long shook his head as he said
''''Wait until the spider has confirmed that the hawk is dead. Once it has let down its guard, use your strongest move and aim at its back. You only need to attack once, and then quickly retreat. Even if you don''t hit it, you can leave the rest to me.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head as her eyes stared at the ck spider, who was unsteadily walking towards the dead ''Ice Hawk''.
Only after stabbing one of its feet on the hawk''s head and confirming that it was dead, did it finally rx slightly.
At that moment, Liu Mei circted her cultivation technique, before numerous shards of ice appeared in the air around her. More than 1000 ice shards instantly merged together, as they formed a huge ice pir more than 20m(65ft) long.
Shun Long was amazed as he saw the huge ice pir flying towards the Demonic Spider, as he also activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'' along with his golden eyes.
Although the spider was a middle rank 3 magic beast, its body had already weakened so much by its battle with the ''Ice Hawk'', that the huge ice pir would pose a lethal threat to it.
The moment that it sensed the gigantic ice pir flying towards it, the ''Demonic Spider'' hastily dodged to the side, when out of nowhere, one of its eyes suddenly exploded.
The pain from having its eye exploding, immediately sent the spider into a frenzy, as it thrashed around madly while it screeched in pain. And yet, thanks to its erratic movements, it still managed to luckily dodge Liu Mei''s ice pir.
Without missing a beat, Shun Long''s body quickly slid under the spider that was still iling around, and gathering the strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', he used his full strength as he punched repeatedly on the same spot.
Screeeeeeech
A terrifying cry escaped the spider''s mouth, as Shun Long''s punches had finally pierced a hole through its body.
A few breaths of timeter, the spider seemed to have finally lost its strength, as its body crashed on the ground.
When Shun Long and Liu Mei had both dug out the beast cores of the ''Demonic Spider'' and the ''Ice Hawk'', they suddenly felt their vision turning ck at the same time.
Shun Long''s surroundings instantly darkened, as a powerful spatial force surrounded his body.
Shun Long once again, felt the familiar sensation of spatial teleportation, when a deep voice sounded in his ears that said
''''Congrattions for passing the second of the King''s trials!''''
Chapter 142 - 142 The final trial
Chapter 142 - 142 The final trial
''''Congrattions for passing the second of the King''s trials!
You are the 14th person in this century''s batch, who has sessfully managed to pass through the King''s garden.''''
As this voice sounded in his ears, Shun Long''s surroundings brightened, before he found himself inside a jade-white room.
This room waspletely empty, without any decorations, except for what seemed to be a red meditative pillow that was ced on the floor, right in the center of the room.
A ck door seemed to have materialized in front of Shun Long, seemingly out of thin air, as a ck-haired, middle-aged man then appeared in front of him.
Although this man seemed to be smiling, the look in his eyes gave off a dangerous feeling, akin to that of a viper that was staring at a helplessmb.
After sizing Shun Long up, the man had that same smile on his face as he said
''''Very good, kid. I didn''t expect you to actually have the guts, to scheme against the ''Demonic Spider''. That was really impressive.
Congrattions.
The reward for passing the second trial however, is not something tangible, but rather an opportunity that the King himself had personally set.
You can choose whether you want to stay in the Deste east, or go to the Silver sword city of the Night star continent.
There are still 2 months of time until the King''s realm closes, so you until then before you give me your answer.
You can also decide whether or not you want to challenge thest of the King''s trials, but... I suggest that you don''t.
Although you are not weak... for an earth grade cultivator at least, I can guarantee you that you have zero percent chance of passing thest trial.''''
The middle-aged man listed everything in one go, before he turned to look at Shun Long as he waited for his answer.
Shun Long in turn, had been thinking about the Night star continent ever since he had heard about it from Liu Mei.
''''If the strongest sect in the Deste east is only a branch from the actual ''Golden Buddha temple'', then going to the Night star continent might really be the best choice for me to advance faster. I still need to expand my field of vision and learn more about the outside world after all.''''
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long looked at the middle-aged man in front of him before he asked
''''Senior, can you tell me anything else about the Night star continent?''''
The middle-aged man looked at Shun Long in amus.e.m.e.nt, as he shook his head and replied
''''In the world of cultivation, knowledge is never given away for free. The King has decreed, that only the person who passes through the final trial, can ask the overseers any questions. All I can tell you is, the Night star continent is a heaven-sent opportunity if your aim is to be stronger and leave the Deste east.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he clearly understood this fact. Knowledge was indeed priceless in the cultivation world, and one such example, was precisely the knowledge that he had received from the golden book.
Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, Shun Long then asked
''''In that case senior, can you tell me how do I enter the third trial?''''
The middle-aged man smiled when he heard this, before his hand pointed at a golden door on the right side of the room as he said
''''If you wish to challenge the final trial, all you have to do is step through that door and you will understand.''''
Shun Long turned his head to look at the golden door that had just appeared at the side of the wall, and noticed a white-colored ''SEAL'' character on top of it.
The ck-haired man''s eyes were also staring at the seal character as he said
''''It seems that someone is already challenging the final trial, so you will have to wait for your turn. Remember, you can only challenge the third trial only once every day.
...As for whether you live or die, that will be up to you.''''
Without another word, the ck-haired man waved his hand, as he then entered inside the ck door behind him and disappeared from the room.
After the middle-aged man disappeared, Shun Long turned his head to look at the golden door with the white ''seal'' character on it, before he sat on the red cushion at the center of the room.
After sending his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'' and noticing that little ck was sleeping, he started feeding the spirit stones to the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', before starting another cultivation session.
After breaking through to the ''early rank 7'' in earth grade, Shun Long noticed that his refining speed had increased dramatically.
Looking at the 55 balls of qi above him inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long began absorbing the qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', as he started condensing the 56th ball of qi.
A dayter, there were already 58 balls of qi hovering above his head, as he had now reached the middle rank 7 in earth grade.
Opening his eyes, Shun Long then noticed that the ''seal'' character had disappeared from the golden door.
Standing up from the red cushion, he first stretched his body a few times before he walked towards the golden door.
After taking a deep breath and activating his golden eyes, Shun Long pushed the door open with his right hand as he entered inside.
Surprisingly, after entering the golden door, Shun Long found himself inside a majestic hall.
Rows of golden knight armor seemed to be greeting the guests that were entering the hall for the first time, while luxurious chandeliers made from silver and emerald jade decorated the ceiling.
Shun Long''s eyes traveled at the end of the hall, where he saw a golden throne, adorned with countless rare jades.
A handsome, golden-haired young man in histe twenties, could be seen sitting on the throne, and while his deep green eyes were staring at Shun Long, a single word came from his mouth
''''Wee!''''
Chapter 143 - 143 Dao King
Chapter 143 - 143 Dao King
''''Wee!''''
The golden-haired young man said, as he slowly stood up from the throne.
Although this man was dressed in in white robes that were in sharp contrast with the rest of the luxurious hall around him, his in robes didn''t make him feel out of ce. Instead, they seemed to have entuated his presence even more, giving off the feeling of a king who didn''t care about material wealth.
Shun Long was stunned after seeing the golden-haired man''s face.
His face was the same as the statue in front of the King''s pce.
All of a sudden, the sleeping little ck opened his eyes inside the ''Stone of Time'', as he said in a warning tone
''''Master, be careful! This is a soul incantation!''''
''''A soul incantation?''''
Shun Long had never heard of this term before, as little ck started exining
''''A soul incantation is created, when an expert at thete-stages of the Nascent soul or above, splits a small part of their soul and injects it into another body.
However, the body that houses the split soul, has to be specially created from a formation master who has reached at least the gold grade, while every single detail of it, must be identical to the original body''s.''''
Staring at the white-robed young man in front of Shun Long, little ck then continued
''''Master, after seeing this soul incantation, one thing is now clear.
If the person in front of master is actually the Dao King who created this realm, then he certainly hasn''t reached the end of his lifespan yet... otherwise, his incantation would have also died along with his original soul.
He is either still alive somewhere, or his original body was killed, but his soul incantation remains intact in here.''''
The golden-haired young man''s eyes were staring at Shun Long with an impassive look, as he then said in a resounding voice
''''Wee, to the third, and final trial of my pce.
I, Cui Guoliang, officially wee you to my world!''''
The golden-haired man''s voice resonated throughout the entire hall, making Shun Long''s ears buzz in the process.
Waving his sleeve, Cui Guoliang immediately unleashed his aura at the pinnacle of rank 3 in Heaven grade, as he continued
''''The test for thest trial is simple.
I will limit my strength to the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade.
All you have to do... is simply defeat me.
Of course, weapons above the silver grade or special talismans are not allowed.
Prepare yourself!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, the white-robed Cui Guoliang spread open his left palm, as a small ball of water appeared in his hand.
The water ball quickly erged, while its shape also started to change.
Half a breathter, a 2m(6.6ft) long crystal-blue, lifelike water python, had appeared around the golden-haired young man.
Waving his hand, Cui Guoliang immediately sent the water python flying towards Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long''s golden eyes shed with a faint blue light, as he immediately activated his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The python however, was barely slowed down after entering the ''Monarch''s Domain'', as it quickly arrived in front of Shun Long.
Opening its giant mouth, the python showed his lifelike water teeth, that were aiming to devour Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long had no time to dodge the python''s attack, as he gathered his strength in his right hand, before it collided with the python''s face.
BOOM
The impact of the collision had surprisingly sent Shun Long flying backwards, until he crashed on the wall behind him.
The python was actually much stronger than Shun Long had estimated.
Although its power wasn''t enough to match a middle rank 3 magic beast, it was still strong enough to dominate most early rank 3 beasts.
Although Shun Long was sent flying from the impact, the python seemed to be barely affected from it, as its slightly deformed face quickly returned back to its original shape.
Staring at Shun Long with emotionless eyes, Cui Guoliang immediately ordered the python to attack him again, before he conjured another ball of water on his left palm.
The second ball of water quickly erged itself, and half a breath of timeter, another water python had coiled itself around the golden-haired man.
This python however, didn''t attack Shun Long, as it continued to hover in the air around Cui Guoliang instead.
Fighting against the first water python, Shun Long seemed to have already found himself in a tough spot.
Although he knew exactly when and where the python was going to attack him from, the difference in their speed was too great.
Even when Shun Long managed to dodge the first attack, he was unable to dodge the one that followed right after, as he was sent crashing on the walls of the hall again and again.
Although his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was sturdy, numerous wounds had already appeared on his body.
Looking at the white-robed Cui Guoliang who was leisurely looking at him from the distance, Shun Long felt extremely frustrated.
''''The power of the Dao is much stronger than I had originally estimated. Although Fu Peizhi had alreadyprehended a fragment of the Dao of Wind, in front of this man''s Dao of Water he would have died from a single attack.''''
''''Master, this is only natural. Although this is probably just a fragment of the Dao of Water that this man hasprehended, in the end, you are still fighting against a Dao King who has suppressed his power.''''
Seeing that Shun Long was still hanging on against the first python, Cui Guoliang turned his head to look at the newly created python that was hovering in the air around him.
The second python immediately followed the first, as they relentlessly attacked Shun Long.
Half an incense stick of timeter, the 2 water pythons dispersed themselves, as Shun Long''s badly damaged body appeared on the ground.
Cui Guoliang was about to return to his throne, when his eyes twitched, as he saw Shun Long''s half-destroyed body slowly standing up.
Chapter 144 - 144 Comprehending the Dao
Chapter 144 - 144 Comprehending the Dao
''''Interesting.''''
Cui Guoliang''s voice sounded as he slowly walked back to his throne.
With his back still turned at Shun Long he said
''''Among the 6 of you that are participating in the third trial, you are probably the weakest.
The strongest is that brat with the red armor, along with the little bald monk. The little poison brat as well the beggar kid are next, followed by the monkey man and then you.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that you are only weak because you haven''t entered the third stage in body refinement yet. Otherwise, you would probably be as strong as that poison brat.
You can go back and rest. Remember, you are only allowed toe here once per day.''''
As he finished speaking, Cui Guoliang waved his sleeve, before he sat back on his throne.
Shun Long then cupped his hands, before he entered inside the golden door, and returned to the jade-white room.
After returning back to the room, Shun Long sat on the red cushion, and took out a few ''Profound earth fruits'' from the ''Stone of Time'' to replenish the energy of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
The wounds that he had suffered weren''t just deep, but they were also too many to count. After all, the power of Cui Guoliang''s water pythons, was far above that of average early rank 3 magic beasts.
After eating the ''Profound earth fruits'', Shun Long noticed that the wounds on his body had started to heal at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye, and half an hourter, there were only a few scars left.
An hour after that, even the scars werepletely gone, as Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
After taking a look at the now ''sealed'' golden door in front of him, he mumbled to himself
''''What does it mean toprehend a Dao? Cui Guoliang hasprehended the Dao of Water and can summon powerful water pythons, while Fu Peizhi seemed to haveprehended the Dao of Wind and could amplify his daggers flying speed, or even manipte in the air. Then, what about the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space? Is the Dao of Time just used to freeze my enemies like the ''Monarch''s Domain''?''''
Just as Shun Long was pondering over the meaning of the Dao of Time, inside the final trial, in front of the throne, Cui Guoliang was leisurely watching a young man in blue robes fighting against his water pythons.
If Shun Long was here, he would probably recognize this man as the arrogant sixth price of the Snowcloud country.
A crimson battle armor was protecting Yang Gongsun''s upper body, as he was fighting against more than 50 water pythons.
The pythons constantly attacked Yang Gongsun, but his red armor seemed to be sturdy enough to receive their attacks without fail.
It seemed that the entrapment of the 50 pythons however, was impossible to escaper. as Yang Gongsun was slowly pushed towards the end of the hall.
The moment that his back touched the wall, an endless barrage of attacks followed from the water pythons, as his crimson battle armor started to dim.
An incense stick of timeter, his red armor hadpletely disappeared, as the blue-robed prince''s body was filled with numerous wounds.
The moment that the water pythons disappeared, Yang Gongsun''s condition wasn''t any better than Shun Long''s when he had left the hall.
The blue-robed prince stared at Cui Guoliang with eyes filled with determination, before he finally lost consciousness.
Cui Guoliangughed after seeing Yang Gongsun falling unconscious, as he then grabbed his body and unceremoniously threw it inside the golden door.
Half an hour passed by, when a golden-robed, bald young man entered inside the throne room.
Anyone in the Deste east could guess from his sect robes and his shaved head, that this young man was a member of the ''Golden Buddha temple''.
The moment that he saw Cui Guoliang, the young monk bowed his head, as he sped his hands and said
''''Greetings benefactor Cui.
I hope that you can teach this young monk once again today.''''
Cui Guoliangughed as he heard this and said
''''Little bald monk, not bad, not bad.
Out of everyone else participating in this trial, you are the only one who pays his respects every time you see me.''''
The young monk bowed his head once again, before he took a defensive stance, as he then stared at Cui Guoliang expectantly.
Cui Guoliang smiled lightly, as he raised his left hand and once again created a water python.
The moment that the python appeared, he rushed at the young monk at lightning speed.
The monk''s hands however, shone with a golden light, as he sent a palm strike at the python.
The palm strike instantly connected with the python''s head, as it tore it in half.
After getting hit by this golden palm, the python immediately copsed, as it turned into a ball of water that crashed on the floor.
Cui Guoliang was stunned when he saw this, when a big smile covered his face as he said
''''Little bald monk, well done. It seems, that your Dao of the Buddha has advanced another step forward.
However... it''s far too early for you to celebrate.''''
Waving his hand, Cui Guoliang created more than 100 water pythons, who immediately drowned the young monk in their attacks.
This time, the monk had turned on the defensive as he endured the pythons'' violent assault, but he barely managed tost for a few minutes, before he was sent flying on the wall of the hall.
Looking at the still smiling Cui Guoliang, the young monk stood up from the ground, and cupping his hands, he said
''''Thank you, benefactor Cui. This monk hopes to learn from you again tomorrow.''''
After giving another bow, the golden-robed young monk then entered the door and disappeared from the hall.
As the rest of the contestants were fighting in the final trial one after the other, Shun Long had spent the next few days meditating in his room.
Finally 7 dayster, he opened his eyes, and looking at his right hand that was glowing with a faint blue light, he couldn''t help but mumble to himself
''''Is this the Dao of Time?''''
Chapter 145 - 145 The Dao of Time
Chapter 145 - 145 The Dao of Time
''''Is this the Dao of Time?''''
Looking at the bright glow in his right hand, Shun Long had fallen into deep contemtion.
The look in Little ck''s eyes however, was unable to hide his shock and excitement.
With his experience, how could the dragon not understand, that Shun Long had already touched upon the Dao of Time?!
''''It only took master, as a mere rank 7 earth grade cultivator, a week to startprehending the Dao? This...''''
Even with Shun Long''s extraordinary affinity with the element of Space, he still hadn''t managed to touch upon the Space Dao, despite having already reached the pinnacle of the second stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
And yet,prehension in the Dao of Time seemed to havee extremely naturally.
As the ck dragon was absorbed in his thoughts, Shun Long released his ''Monarch''s Domain'' as the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body.
At the same time, looking at the blue glow in his hand, his golden eyes shone as if he had juste to a realization
''''That''s right. If my ''Monarch''s Domain'' can be used to halt, or slow down the flow of time inside it, then why can''t it also amplify it?''''
The blue glow around his hand then expanded in the air, as it merged with the invisible figure of the hourss around him.
Shun Long could feel an imperceptible change happening in the ''Monarch''s Domain'', while his control over it had suddenly increased.
With a simple thought, the flow of time around Shun Long then started to change.
The time inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', was now flowing twice as fast,pared to the outside world.
''''This is not yet my limit...''''
After injecting even more of his qi in the ''Monarch''s Domain'', the flow of time around him was now 6 times faster than normal, when Shun Long finally realized a problem.
Sitting cross-legged on the red cushion, his eyes fell on the blue glow in his hand as he said
''''Using the ''Monarch''s Domain'' this way, would not only cause it to lose its original properties, but it would also amplify the speed of anyone else who enters inside it as well.''''
More than an hour passed while Shun Long was pondering over this problem, when his eyes suddenly lit up, as another thought came on his mind
''''What if...?''''
Activating the ''Monarch''s Domain'' once again, Shun Long didn''t change anything in it this time.
Instead, the bright blue glow in his hand changed.
At the same time as Shun Long was still experimenting with his ''Monarch''s Domain'' and the Dao of Time, inside the third trial, Liu Changpun was fighting with more than 20 water pythons.
The pythons seemed to have surrounded him, as they attacked relentlessly from all fronts.
Countless ice shards floated around Liu Changpun, forming a huge ice-shield that covered him from the attacks of the pythons.
Cui Guoliang looked at him, as he pped his hands and said
''''Come on little beggar kid. If you don''t even try to attack the pythons, then how do you expect to beat them?''''
Crack
Crack!
Under the unceasing attacks of the pythons, Liu Changpun''s ice shield barely managed tost for a few minutes, before it finally broke into pieces.
Liu Changpun fell back, as he waved his hands, creating a huge ice wall in a desperate attempt to stall the pythons, as he tried to open up the distance between them.
Cui Guoliang however just smiled, as the pythons crashed on the wall head-on, destroying it in an instant as their attacks then continued on Liu Changpun''s body.
Less than 10 breaths of timeter, Liu Changpun''s body was covered in injuries, while he evencked the strength to stand up on his own.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Cui Guoliang looking at him, before he shouted
''''Master! Please ept me as your disciple!''''
Cui Guoliang slowly walked up to Liu Changpun''s body, and looking at him he said
''''Little beggar kid, you are not fit to be my disciple. How many times are you still going to ask?
You should know that I am not looking for a disciple to begin with...
I know what you really want, but if you think that you can get your hands, on the dragon lord''s medallion by begging, then you must really be an idiot.''''
Liu Changpun''s face immediately turned red when he heard this, but he actually didn''t refute any of Cui Guoliang''s words. Instead, he shouted loudly once again
''''Senior! Just give me a chance.''''
Finally, the look in Cui Guoliang''s face changed, as his left foot angrily kicked Liu Changpun''s body, sending him flying to the golden door behind him.
Then, without another word, he returned back to his throne, as he stared at the golden door with eyes full of anger.
Back in his room, Shun Long noticed that the ''seal'' character had just disappeared from the golden door, but he didn''t pay any attention to it, as he started walking around the room.
At first nce, there was nothing odd about his movement, aside from a blueyer of light that wasing from his body.
However, barely 5 minutester, Shun Long''s breathing had turned uneven as he sat back on the red cushion, and started recovering his qi.
3 hourster he stood up, as he slowly walked towards the golden door.
Once again, the scene in his eyes changed, as he found himself inside the throne room, with the same golden-haired young man sitting on the throne.
Cui Guoliang''s eyes lit up, as he saw Shun Long entering the hall.
Annoyed from Liu Changpun''s earlier behavior, he decided to punish Shun Long a bit and vent his residual anger.
Waving his hand, 5 water pythons appeared in front of him, as they instantly flew towards Shun Long.
Shun Long was shocked to see 5 pythons this time instead of 2, but with a slight smile on his face, he activated his golden eyes as well as the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
This time, a faint blue light was alsoing from Shun Long''s body, as he watched the 5 pythons that were flying at him.
Cui Guoliang waited expectantly for the pythons to hit Shun Long''s body, but the moment that they arrived in front of him, Shun Long suddenly vanished.
Cui Guoliang immediately stood up from his throne, as he stared at the scene in front of him with wide-open eyes.
Chapter 146 - 146 Dao of Light?
Chapter 146 - 146 Dao of Light?
Cui Guoliang immediately stood up from his throne, as he stared at the scene in front of him with wide-open eyes.
The 5 pythons hadn''t even touched Shun Long''s body.
He had actually moved so fast, that he had left behind an afterimage at the ce he was standing on.
The golden-haired young man, looked at Shun Long with an incredulous look in his eyes, before his body started trembling with excitement as he asked
''''Kid, what was that move just now? Was that a martial skill?
No... it didn''t feel like a martial skill! I actually felt the power of the Daoing from you.
But... you are just a brat at the peak of the second stage in body refinement, how could you possibly have startedprehending a high-level Dao?!
In addition, there are very few Daos that can actually give you such an enhancement in speed.
Hmm... the Dao of Wind can also enhance your speed but not at this level.
It''s also obvious that you have notprehended the Dao of Thunder...
Don''t tell me...! Kid... you actually managed to get enlightened in the Dao of Light??
Judging by the faint lighting off from your body, this old man must be right huh? HAHAHA!''''
Cui Guoliangughed excitedly, as he could barely contain his tion. He looked so certain about the conclusion that he had arrived in, that he didn''t even need to hear Shun Long''s answer.
Shun Long instead, looked at the excited Cui Guoliang in front of him, as he answered with a sly smile on his face
''''Senior, you overpraise me. I have only just started my Daoprehension after all.''''
Of course, Shun Long would never admit that he hadprehended the Dao of Time instead of the Dao of Light, as he clearly understood how many follow-up questions that could bring him.
In a sense, he considered himself very lucky that Cui Guoliang hade to the wrong conclusion by himself, so all he had to do was y along with him.
Cui Guoliang shook his head as he stared at Shun Long with shining eyes and said
''''Brat, you don''t know how rare the Dao of Light actually is.
Even in the Night star continent, only some incredible geniuses canprehend this Dao. For a brat of the Deste east to have such good fortune, even this old man envies you.''''
As he finished speaking, Cui Guoliang waved his hand, as he created more than 20 water pythons in an instant.
Shun Long''s eyes bulged when he saw this, but Cui Guoliang smiled as he said
''''Even if you haveprehended a rare Dao like the Dao of Light, your cultivation base is still insufficient to win against me.''''
The 20 water pythons quickly surrounded Shun Long, as they attacked him one by one.
Shun Long however, wasn''t going to stick in the same passive position as he did thest time.
After taking one step forward, he immediately disappeared from where he stood, as he avoided all the water pythons and rushed, at the golden-haired young man in front of the throne.
Shun Long''s speed was extremely fast, as he quickly covered half of the distance between himself and Cui Guoliang.
Cui Guoliang then raised his right hand, as he created a whip made of water.
Crack
Crack
Crack
The sounds of the water whip cracking through the air resounded in the throne room as Cui Guoliang attacked Shun Long again and again.
Shun Long''s golden eyes however, shed repeatedly, as he easily avoided the water whip''s attacks.
A few breaths of timeter, he had already closed the distance, and clenching his right fist, he sent a full-powered punch towards Cui Guoliang''s chest.
A water python appeared from Cui Guoliang''s body, as it met Shun Long''s punch head-on.
Shun Long smirked as he saw the python, meeting his full-powered punch with its face as he continued forward without stopping
''''If it was me from a week ago, I would probably be unable to defeat this python. But now, with my new ''Monarch''s Domain'', it''s impossible to lose again.''''
BOOM
The result of the sh waspletely different than the first time.
Amplified by his speed,?Shun Long''s fist immediately pierced through the water python''s head, as itpletely destroyed it before colliding with Cui Guoliang''s body.
The golden-haired Dao King, stumbled back a few steps, before he stared at Shun Long in shock.
It only took him a moment to understand how Shun Long had managed to defeat the water python so easily.
Amplified by his ''Dao of Light'', it was natural for Shun Long''s punch to be this strong.
Although he was hit by Shun Long''s punch, Cui Guoliang shrugged as he stared at the young man in front of him and said
''''Hahaha! I told you kid... you are still too weak. Do you think that you are the only one who cultivates in both qi, and body refinement?''''
Shun Long noticed that the ce that he had punched in Cui Guoliang''s chest, had turned in a bright grey color.
Cui Guoliang smirked as he said
''''Of course, aside from the Dao of Water, I have alsoprehended the Dao of Metal. Unless you manage to breakthrough to the third stage in body refining, you won''t be able to have a chance against me.''''
It was obvious that Cui Guoliang was thinking, that Shun Long had startedprehending the Dao thanks to his peak second stage body refinement level. After all, whether it was breaking through from the earth grade to the Heaven grade, or from the second stage of body refinement to the third, every cultivator needed toprehend at least one Dao that they would use for their breakthrough.
But since Shun Long was nning to use the Dao of Time, as his basis for his breakthrough in qi cultivation, he couldn''t use it to breakthrough to the third stage of body refinement.
After a brief moment of silence, the golden-haired young man stared thoughtfully at Shun Long as he then continued
''''If you manage to breakthrough to the third stage of body refinement and pass the final trial...?I can tell you that, not only will you get the dragon lord''s medallion, but all of my secret arts, martial skills and secret techniques, will be yours to browse.
Now go.
The next time we fight, it will be a real fight. I will not hold back at all.''''
Shun Long didn''t understand what the dragon lord''s medallion was, but he still nodded his head as he cupped his hands and entered the golden door.
He clearly understood that since he hadn''t managed to break Cui Guoliang''s defenses with his full-powered punch, then it was impossible to win this time. Unless of course, he used a lethal move... but even then, thanks to Cui Guoliang''s high perception, even that wasn''t certain to defeat him.
After all, this was still a Dao King who had suppressed his cultivation.
Looking at Shun Long who was leaving the hall, Cui Guoliang''s eyes were fixed on his back, as he then mumbled inaudibly
''''I will be waiting for you kid... don''t let me down...''''
Shun Long waspletely oblivious to Cui Guoliang''s mutterings, as he returned back to the jade-white room, and sat cross-legged on top of the red cushion as he thought to himself
''''It looks like, having 2 different ''Monarch''s Domains'' active at the same time, is really hard.''''
Chapter 147 - 147 Fighting Cui Guoliang
Chapter 147 - 147 Fighting Cui Guoliang
''''It looks like, having 2 different ''Monarch''s Domains'' active at the same time is really hard.''''
Indeed, since Shun Long couldn''t change the flow of time in the ''Monarch''s Domain'' without having it lose its original effects, he had used the Dao of Time to create a second ''Monarch''s Domain'', using the original as a guideline.
The second domain was actually much smaller than the first, as it barely epassed his body, which was where that blue glow wasing from when the domain was active around him.
Thanks to the second domain that was created by the Dao of Time, Shun Long''s speed was more than 5 times faster than normal. However, the qi inside his qi balls was also being used at an rming rate when both of his ''Monarch''s Domains'' were active at the same time.
Thinking back to his fight with Cui Guoliang, Shun Long understood, that the difference between their qi cultivation, as well as their Daoprehension, was too big.
After all, even if he had restrained himself to the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade, Cui Guoliang was still a Dao King, while Shun Long was just a rank 7 earth grade cultivator.
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'', and after feeding the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' with spirit stones, he looked at the ck dragon who seemed to be eating the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''s'' body, as he asked
''''Little ck, do you know anything about the dragon lord''s medallion?''''
Little ck thought seriously for a moment, but in the end he shook his head and replied
''''Master, if this was regarding the Dragon king''s medallion of the Dragon dimension, then that would be a different story, but I have never heard anything regarding a dragon lord.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at little ck''s words, and as the ck dragon started gorging himself in the giant worm''s body, Shun Long also started to absorb the energy of the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
Cui Guoliang''s words had really managed to spark his interest, as Shun Long clearly understood, that the one thing hecked the most right now, was martial skills or other simr techniques.
Time passed by quickly when Shun Long was in seclusion, and while the ck dragon seemed to have fallen into slumber, Shun Long''s cultivation was rising at an incredible rate.
Peak of rank 7 in earth grade, early rank 8... middle rank 8... peak of rank 8...
A monthter, Shun Long''s cultivation had stabilized at the early rank 9 in earth grade, while his body was actually brimming with energy.
Above his head, there were 75 balls of qi, some of which seemed much brighter than the rest.
While Shun Long was in seclusion, Liu Changpun and the rest of the contestants were constantly fighting with Cui Guoliang.
Although Cui Guoliang had high hopes for Shun Long, in reality, during their fight a month ago, he hadn''t even released a third of his true strength against him.
Although he hoped that a genius who hadprehended an extraordinary Dao would be able to pass his trial, he also understood that the young monk from the ''Golden Buddha temple'', as well as the sixth prince from the Snowcloud country, weren''t really inferior to Shun Long.
Especially the young monk, Mao Ye, whoseprehension in the Dao of the Buddha, seemed to be growing day by day after ''sparring'' with Cui Guoliang.
Half a month more passed like this, as Shun Long''s cultivation took another step forward, reaching the middle of rank 9 in earth grade.
However, at the same time, his spirit stones had been sorely depleted, as he had less than 30.000 of them left by now.
If he hadn''t received the ''kind donation'' of 70.000 spirit stones, from Su Honggui and his junior brothers, Shun Long would have long since ran out of them by now.
As for the ''Blood Vermilion fruits'' that he had gotten from the first trial, he was nning to refine them into pills before he attempted his breakthrough to Heaven grade.
Finally, a week before the ''Vermilion realm'' was about to close, Shun Long opened his eyes as he stared at the ''sealed'' golden door in front of him.
A few hourster, the character ''seal'' disappeared from the door, as he then stood up and walked inside it.
In front of the throne, Cui Guoliang seemed to be fiddling with a brown small badge in his hands, but his eyes immediately lit up as he saw Shun Long entering the hall.
With an excited voice he said
''''Kid, it''s about time you showed yourself!''''
However, disbelief quickly colored his face, as he then asked with an incredulous look in his eyes
''''Brat... you... have already broken through to the middle of rank 9 in earth grade?''''
Since Shun Long wasn''t hiding his cultivation, it was child''s y for Cui Guoliang to ascertain his level.
Without waiting for an answer, the golden-haired Dao King immediately waved his hands, as more than 50 water pythons appeared around him.
Looking at Shun Long who was staring at him speechlessly, he then said without any shame
''''Brat, don''t look at me like that. This King has already warned you, that, the next time we met, there would be no holding back. Whoever strikes first is always the winner!''''
The moment that he finished his words, the water pythons charged at Shun Long like a flock of hungry beasts.
Activating his golden eyes, as well as the 2 ''Monarch''s Domains'', a blue light appeared around Shun Long''s body, as he walked around the attacking pythons looking like he was taking a stroll in his own garden.
This time, the pythons'' speed had noticeably dropped as they entered the ''Monarch''s Domain'', and in merely a few breaths of time, Shun Long had already left them far behind him.
Cui Guoliang in turn, had already expected the scene in front of him, as he smiled, while his body turned into a shiny metal hue.
Looking at the golden-haired young man in front of him, Shun Long didn''t hold back in the slightest, as he gathered all of his strength in his right hand and sent a full-powered blow at Cui Guoliang''s chest.
Cui Guoliang didn''t shy away from this challenge, as his own fist met with Shun Long''s.
BOOOOM
A powerful collision resounded throughout the hall and a burst of blood spurted in the air, as both Shun Long and Cui Guoliang were sent flying backwards.
Chapter 148 - 148 Facing death
Chapter 148 - 148 Facing death
Both Shun Long and Cui Guoliang were sent flying backwards from the impact of their collision.
Shun Long felt a sharp pain in his hand, as blood had already covered his entire fist.
This was the first time that Shun Long had bled after fighting someone, ever since he had started his body cultivation.
Turning his head to look at Cui Guoliang, he saw him staring at his own fist in disbelief.
A crack had appeared on his metal-like fist, as his blood was slowly dripping on the floor of the hall.
Looking at Shun Long, Cui Guoliang smiled, as he actually took the initiative to attack this time.
The crack in his left hand had quickly reformed itself, while arge halberd made of water had appeared in his hands.
Raising the 2m(6.6ft) long halberd in the air, the golden-haired Dao King swung it down aiming at Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long''s golden eyes shed, as he clearly saw the trajectory of the halberd, and stepped to the side, easily dodging the attack.
Cui Guoliang smirked as he saw this, while the bright-blue halberd''s attack met with the floor.
BOOOM
It was almost as if a powerful earthquake had just shaken the entire hall, as Shun Long''s feet lost their contact with the ground.
Cui Guoliang''s eyes shed as he immediately swept the halberd sideways, towards the airborne Shun Long.
Seeing that he couldn''t avoid the halberd, Shun Long crossed both of his arms in an X-shape in front of his chest as he attempted to block Cui Guoliang''s strike.
The moment that the ice-blue halberd connected with his arms, Shun Long felt an overpowering force that sent him flying backwards, as his back finally crashed on the wall behind him.
Shun Long felt pain coursing all over his body, while even the ribs on his left side were actually fractured.
Withstanding the pain, he slowly stood up as he once again faced the golden-haired young man opposite to him.
Cui Guoliang was stunned when he saw Shun Long standing up.
He was certain, that hisst strike was powerful enough, to even kill some peak rank 3 Heaven grade cultivators.
And yet Shun Long could somehow still stand up after taking a hit by his halberd head-on.
Laughing, he then said
''''Brat! Not bad! You can actually still stand after taking a direct hit from my water halberd. Let''s see how many more hits you can take then.
Holding his halberd with his right hand, Cui Guoliang kicked the ground as he rushed at Shun Long.
Shun Long''s golden eyes once again lit up, as he immediately understood what Cui Guoliang wanted to do.
Once again, swinging his halberd down the same way as before, Cui Guoliang seemed as if he was going to hit the ground next to Shun Long once again.
Shun Long quickly dodged to the side, making the golden-haired Dao King smirk, as he mumbled to himself
''''Really a newbie''''
Just as the halberd was about to hit the ground, Cui Guoliang changed its trajectory, as he sent a strike towards Shun Long''s right ribs.
However, Shun Long smiled as he took advantage of the moment that the halberd changed its trajectory, to immediately move behind Cui Guoliang.
Clenching his right hand, Shun Long sent a powerful punch at Cui Guoliang''s ribs.
Cui Guoliang''s eyes widened as he saw this, but since he didn''t have enough time to dodge, he could only cover his left ribs with the Dao of Metal as he took Shun Long''s blow directly.
Crackk!!
The moment that Shun Long''s fist connected with his ribs, cracking sounds resounded throughout the hall, as a contorted expression appeared on the golden-haired Dao King''s face.
The force from Shun Long''s punch had sent him flying sideways, as his body tumbled on the ground for a few dozen meters until it came to a stop.
Cui Guoliang grimaced in pain as he struggled to stand up, before he allowed his halberd to fall on the ground, as it then turned into a small puddle of water.
The look on Cui Guoliang''s face had now turnedpletely serious, as he faced Shun Long with a grim look in his eyes.
Suddenly, his feet started moving erratically, as his body left behind many afterimages.
Shun Long swiftly tilted his head to the side, as Cui Guoliang''s fist grazed his cheek.
Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, the golden-haired young man was about to retreat when Shun Long sent a sweeping kick at his feet.
A small shield of water blocked Shun Long''s kick, when Cui Guoliang once again vanished.
Shun Long''s golden eyes scanned the area around him, as countless water droplets appeared in front of him.
Slowly, they converged together, creating a gigantic water python, more than 10m(33ft) tall and 50m(160ft) long.
At the heart of the python, Cui Guoliang was staring at Shun Long with a solemn look on his face.
This was the strongest move he could use while his qi cultivation was restricted at the peak of rank 3 in the Heaven grade.
The python opened his gigantic jaws as he quickly moved to bite Shun Long''s waist.
Shun Long however, didn''t retreat, but instead, he dove head-on inside the python''s mouth,pletely avoiding the terrifying bite.
Shun Long had thought that once he had entered inside, he would be able to get to Cui Guoliang without any hindrance, however, once he was actually inside the python''s mouth, he understood how wrong he was.
The water that the python was created from, was Cui Guoliang''s Dao of Water.
The pressure inside the python was so intense, that Shun Long could feel the water around him trying to crush him to death.
Cui Guoliang''s eyes were glued on Shun Long''s body, as he used his qi to make the water pressure even stronger.
Shun Long could feel, the water around him churning, as his body had finally started to break down. Blood had started flowing from the previous wound in his hand, while his already fractured ribs on his left side actually broke, as one question shed through his mind
''''Am I going to die here?''''
His rapidly beating heart then started to slow down, as more and more wounds appeared on his body.
Crack
Crack
His bones had started to crack under the immense water pressure, as death approached closer and closer, while the look in his eyes had started to turn somewhat lethargic, looking as if they were about to close at any moment.
The expression in Cui Guoliang''s face however, was extremely serious, without any intention to hold back or stop.
Just as Shun Long felt his thoughts getting muddled, he abruptly widened his eyes as he shouted inwardly
''''NO! I will not die here! I can still stop this.
stop...
...
Stop..
...
I SAID STOP!''''
Chapter 149 - 149 Cui Guoliangs request
Chapter 149 - 149 Cui Guoliang''s request
''''I SAID STOP!''''
Shun Long''s golden eyes, were now emitting a bright blue light from their corners, while the angry water inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', had suddenly turned into a docile child.
Cui Guoliang''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, since he couldn''t believe what he had just felt.
A powerful Dao fluctuation wasing from Shun Long''s body, as the water around him was being suppressed by an even stronger power than his own Dao of Water.
Cui Guoliang stared at the scene in front of him in disbelief, as he then mumbled
''''Is this Dao suppression? But... I have never heard of the Dao of Light being able to suppress my Dao of Water like this... Could it actually be... that this kid hasprehended another Dao as well?''''
Of course, this didn''t mean that Shun Long''sprehension in the Dao of Time was at the same level as Cui Guoliang''s Dao of Water, but rather... since Cui Guoliang had suppressed his cultivation, his insights to the Dao of Water are currently equivalent to his own, when he was still at the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade.
Cui Guoliang''s breathing had started getting rugged, while at the same time, countless thoughts were running through Shun Long''s mind, as he seemed to have entered a state of sudden enlightment
''''Time...
Is it really just an untouchable, ethereal feeling?
No, I can feel that it is more than that...
Time exists everywhere, so how can one not be affected by time?''''
Shun Long felt as if he had suddenlye a step closer to the Dao of Time, as he then opened his eyes.
Gui Cuoliang''s fervent eyes stared at Shun Long as if he was looking at a treasure, while his body quickly floated towards the mouth of the python.
Clenching his metal-colored fists he shouted
''''COME KID! SHOW ME YOUR TRUE STRENGTH!''''
Shun Long saw the golden-haired man in front of him gathering his strength in his 2 arms, as he sent a violent flurry of punches at him.
Shun Long''s body didn''t have the same agility inside the water as he had in thend, but as his gazended on Cui Guoliang, Shun Long felt a sudden headache, as more than half of his remaining qi was sapped in an instant.
At the same time, unknowingly to Cui Guoliang, his own movements had turned extremely slow.
Seeing that the white-robed man in front of him had suddenly slowed down, Shun Long gathered the power of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' in his right hand, and amplified by the speed of the second ''Monarch''s Domain'', he sent a full-powered blow at Cui Guoliang''s left ribs.
BOOM
The sound of Shun Long''s punch hitting Cui Guoliang''s body exploded in the throne room, as the golden-haired Dao King was immediately sent flying through the air like a cannonball.
His body crashed on the ground but didn''t stop at all, as he left a long chasm on the luxurious floor of the throne room for a few hundred meters.
As the dust started to settle down, Cui Guoliang''s tattered robes and injured body came into view.
Staring at Shun Long, thest scene reyed through the golden-haired young man''s eyes again, as he simply mumbled
''''So fast...''''
His lips then curved upwards into a smile, as he said
''''Congrattions kid. You win.''''
As Cui Guoliang''s words sounded in Shun Long''s ears, the water python dispersed on the floor, while Shun Long secretly heaved a sigh of relief at the same time.
He only had less than 10 percent of his qi left after the fight, and aside from the space tears, he had used every other move he had. Surprisingly, his golden eyes had sapped more than half of his qi in an instant, at the final moment that Cui Guoliang was slowed down.
Cui Guoliang slowly stood up, and despite his tattered robes and injured body, his eyes were shining brightly as he startedughing like a madman
''''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
FINALLY! I CAN SEE HOPE!''''
Walking up to Shun Long, the Dao King then patted his shoulders as he continued with a huge smile on his face
''''Kid, you have no idea how long I have been waiting for this.''''
Then, with a wave of his hand, Cui Guoliang produced a small table along with 2 chairs and a big jar of wine, as he gestured for Shun Long to sit.
Shun Long didn''t understand why Cui Guoliang was so excited, if this was really just a trial to ''help the disciples of the Deste east'' like the overseer had said, but in the end, he still sat down on the chair as he faced the white-robed man in front of him.
Cui Guoliang looked at Shun Long who was sitting opposite to him, and taking a deep breath he said
''''First of all, let me introduce myself.
I am Cui Guoliang, an Elder of the Cui n in the Night star continent.
Since you have passed the final trial of my pce, I will of course give you everything that I have promised, and even more.''''
As he finished speaking, Gui Guoliang waved his hand, as the floor around them was filled with countless different scrolls.
Some of the scrolls were golden while others seemed old and on the verge of destruction, but in the end, Shun Long counted more than 200 scrolls around him.
Gui Cuoliang looked at the young man in front of him who was staring at the scrolls on the floor and continued
''''These, are almost all of the cultivation techniques, martial skills, and secret techniques, that I have .u.mted in the past 10.000 years.
As promised, these can all be yours, but.... I also need you to help me with something.''''
When Shun Long heard Cui Guoliang''sst sentence, he immediately understood that his previous conjecture was correct, as he thought
''''Certainly, there is no such thing as a free meal. Everything requires a corresponding price to pay.''''
However, knowing that he needed martial skills above everything else right now, Shun Long turned to look at the man in front of him as he said
''''Senior, please speak.''''
Cui Guoliang shook his head, as he opened the big jar of wine in front of him, and taking out 2 big jade-green bowls from his spatial ring, he personally filled them up.
When the wine touched the green bowls, its aromatic fragrance slowly diffused in the air around them.
Cui Guoliang was the first who took a sip from his wine, as Shun Long followed right after him.
As the crimson-red wine''s taste spread in his mouth, Shun Long understood that this wasn''t an ordinary wine.
If he were topare this wine with the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''s'', that would be likeparing sea water with a 200 year old nectar.
Although the taste wasn''t as good as his own wine, the medicinal essence in this wine was actually superior to his own.
After he emptied his own bowl, Cui Guoliang looked at Shun Long as he then continued with a solemn tone
''''I need you to go to the ''Dragon Lord vi'' of the Night star continent.''''
Chapter 150 - 150 The scheme behind the Vermilion realm
Chapter 150 - 150 The scheme behind the Vermilion realm
''''I need you to go to the ''Dragon Lord vi'' of the Night star continent! I will give you the Dragon Lord''s medallion, as well as anything else you need. So.... what do you think kid?''''
Shun Long had a look of confusion on his face, as he looked at the expectant Cui Guoliang who was staring at him and asked
''''Senior, can you tell me more about this ''Dragon Lord''s vi''?''''
Cui Guoliang was stunned for a second, before he nodded his head and said
''''Right! I almost forgot that you must be a native of the Deste east! Let me exin everything first before you give me your answer.
It was approximately 15.000 years ago, when I sent my soul incantation from the Night star continent, all the way to the Deste east, and created this secret realm, in hopes of finding a genius that had the potential to enter the Dao King realm.''''
Cui Guoliang had a solemn look on his face, as he stared at Shun Long and continued
''''Entering the Dao King realm however, is more difficult than you can imagine.
30.000 years ago, I almost died during my breakthrough. I can still feel the shivers as I remember the pain I went through, only to barely survive in the end.
So I decided, to set 3 main trials to test the young people of the Deste east. After all, if someone can''t even defeat my soul incantation, then, how can I believe that they will have any chance to be a Dao King in the future?
However, even managing to defeat my soul incantation, doesn''t necessarily mean that you will be a Dao King... it just shows that you have more potential than the rest.
After all, there are countless geniuses in the Night star continent who could pass this final trial that I have set, while in the Deste east, you are actually the only one after so many years.''''
Cui Guoliang sighed with disappointment, but at the same time with a hint of relief
''''In that case senior, wouldn''t it make more sense for you, to create this secret realm in the Night star continent instead of the Deste east?''''
Cui Guoliang nodded his head at Shun Long''s words as he said
''''Of course, do you think I woulde to this backward ce if I had a choice? The Night star continent is more than 40 timesrger than your Deste east after all, while the geniuses there, are even more than the stars in the sky.
Finding people who have the same level of talent as you, and probably even higher wouldn''t have been impossible within a thousand years. And yet, more than 15.000 years have passed here, but s...''''
After taking a deep breath, the look in Cui Guoliang''s eyes suddenly turned serious as he then said
''''There is a reason for everything, and it all started the day that I sent my soul incantation here. Since I need your help, there is no point in hiding things from you.
15.000 years ago, the day that I sent my soul incantation in the Deste east, both my original body along with my wife, entered inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''. Although it is called a vi, it is actually an extremely dangerous ce, filled with both danger and fortune.
However, even Dao King realm experts can''t resist the allure of the treasures inside. Since I knew that we would be heading into danger, I decided to create this secret realm beforehand.
The reason of course, wasn''t to help the poor people of Deste east, but to help myself and my wife, in case we ended up trapped and unable to escape on our own. And in the end, that seemed to be case.''''
As Shun Long heard Cui Guoliang''s exnation, the pieces of the puzzle had started to naturally fall into ce.
''''So, Cui Guoliang created this secret realm, to find someone who could help him and his wife, who are trapped inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''. Since he didn''t he ask someone else, like the overseers who are at the middle stages of the Nascent soul, means that he needs someone with strength close to the Dao King realm, if not an actual Dao King. However, this still doesn''t answer why he has created this ''Vermilion realm'' in the Deste east instead of the Night star continent.''''
Cui Guoliang seemed to have understood what Shun Long was thinking, and continued with the final part of his exnation
''''As for why I didn''t create this secret realm in the Night star continent but chose the Deste east instead, it''s because of one simple reason... your Deste east simply has no Dao Kings.
In the Night star continent, there is more than 90 percent chance, that any genius strong enough to pass thest trial, would be connected to a Dao King in one way or another. Can you guess what would happen to me in that case?''''
Shun Long immediately understood what Cui Guoliang was hinting at.
Indeed, if a Dao King with malicious intentions were to find out, that Cui Guoliang was trapped and probably without any means to resist, in the cultivation world that would mean almost certain death.
Cui Guoliang nodded his head, seeing that Shun Long had understood, and taking out a small bronze medallion from his spatial ring he continued
''''However, although I originally intended to keep everything regarding my secret realm hidden from the Night star continent, I had forgotten that certain powers had already created branches of their own sects in the Deste east.
Thus, to cover the real reason behind my realm''s existence, I intentionally spread the rumor in these top sects, that I am looking to take on as a personal disciple, anyone who manages to pass the final trial, while this small medallion, will also be given as a reward.
After all, even Dao Kings cannot enter the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' without a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.
Of course, there are many more medallions aside from the one that I have, but each one of them is closely guarded by other Dao Kings, or at the very least by peak Nascent Soul cultivators.''''
This was the first time that Cui Guoliang had spoken so much to anyone, in thest 15.000 years. Looking expectantly at the young man in front of him, he took a deep breath before he finally decided to ask the question, that he had been keeping at the tip of his tongue all this time
''''So, kid, will you help me?''''
Chapter 151 - 151 Extorting a Dao King
Chapter 151 - 151 Extorting a Dao King
''''So, kid, will you help me?''''
Hearing Cui Guoliang''s question, Shun Long thought seriously for a moment before deciding on his response
''''If I really choose to help Cui Guoliang, not only would the journey be extremely dangerous, but I would have to enter a ce that I know nearly nothing about.
However, I can learn more regarding the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', when I''m in the Night star continent. If I find that things aren''t as Cui Guoliang has said, I can always back off then. After all, if I choose to refuse helping him since he has already told me everything about his life, it''s unlikely that he will happily let me go.''''
Looking at the white-robed young man who was sitting opposite to him, Shun Long finally nodded his head as he said
''''Alright, if I be a Dao King in the future, I will do my best to help senior get out from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.''''
''''Great! it''s good that you decided to help me kid. But to be certain, I still need you to take a Dao oath that you wille and help me immediately after you be a Dao King. Otherwise, what will I do if you decide to change your mind after leaving my pce?''''
It seemed that Cui Guoliang was already prepared for every scenario, and wasn''t going to let Shun Long go without swearing an oath.
Shun Long frowned as he already knew what a Dao oath was. This was an oath that only someone who hadprehended a Dao would usually take, and if one went against the contents of the oath, they would never be able to progress in that Dao again.
This was practically Cui Guoliang looking to chain Shun Long''s fate to himself. Even if Shun Long found that things weren''t as he was told, as long as he wanted to progress in his Dao again, he would have to go to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and help him.
Nodding his head, Shun Long stared at the golden-haired young man in front of him as he said
''''I swear, that once I be a Dao King, I will do my best to head to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and help you. I shall never advance in the Dao of Light ever again, until I help senior get out from the vi.''''
An imperceptible glint shed through Cui Guoliang''s eyes as he heard Shun Long''s oath, but he still nodded his head and smiled as he said
''''Haha, well done brat! As promised, you can take all of my cultivation techniques, secret arts, and martial skills. In a week from now, I will also activate the teleportation formation and send you along with the rest of them to the Night star continent.''''
Looking at the Dao King in front of him, Shun Long had a sly smile on his face as he said
''''Senior, you also said that I can take anything else I need as well, right?''''
Cui Guoliang''s eyes twitched as he heard this, but nodding his head he replied
''''Of course, if you need anything else just tell me. If it''s not too hard, then of course I will do my best to help you.''''
Shun Long''s shed his white teeth with a smile, as he continued
''''Don''t worry senior, I am certain that this is something very simple for someone as powerful as you. Since I am just a small disciple, of a very small sect in the Deste east, I would need some cultivation resources, and of course, a few spirit stones.
Hmm.. a few million spirit stones will do I think.''''
Cui Guoliang''s eyes twitched as he understood what was happening in front of him.
''''This brat is clearly extorting me!''''
Shun Long didn''t seem to pay any attention to the Dao King in front of him however, and after pondering for a few moments he continued
''''Senior, the Night star continent is probably going to be extremely dangerous as well, for someone like me.
Right! I think that senior should also give me a few dozen rank 5 magic beasts so I can protect myself. After all, if I die before I be a Dao King, wouldn''t senior''s hard work for the past 15.000 years all be in vain?''''
Cui Guoliang couldn''t take it anymore as he shouted in disbelief
''''BRAT! Do you think that rank 5 magic beasts are cabbages that you can buy on the streets? Forget about taking a few dozen, I don''t even have a dozen of them. Why don''t you go rob someone instead?''''
Shun Long however, didn''t seem to have gotten offended, as he continued
''''Senior, your words are wrong. After all, if I die, how long will it take for you to find someone who can help you? I also think that senior should give me a few weapons of the gold grade to choose from. After all, Ick a suitable weapon as well.''''
Pfftt
Cui Guoliang couldn''t take it anymore, as he spat a mouthful of blood on the floor before he exploded
''''ENOUGH!!''''
Cough cough
''''Brat, don''t be too unreasonable! We can discuss things.
I''m already giving you so many martial skill and cultivation techniques.
I can give you a few spirit stones, but a few million are out of the question. At most I can give you a million.
I can also let you choose an early rank 5 magic beast, as well.
As for gold grade weapons, you can also choose one of them, but that''s it. Don''t push your luck any further.''''
Shun Long felt surprised when he saw, that Cui Guoliang could part with a million spirit stones so easily. It seemed that Dao Kings were much richer than he had originally estimated.
Seeing that Shun Long wasn''t asking him for more things, Cui Guoliang secretly heaved a sigh of relief as he waved his hand, and instantly collected all of the scrolls around him inside a green spatial ring.
After handing the ring to Shun Long, he said
''''Inside the ring, aside from the scrolls, there is also a map of the ''Dragon King''s vi'', that you will need, to find me once you enter inside, as well as a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', and a million low-grade spirit stones.''''
Sending his spiritual strength inside the ring, Shun Long indeed found a mountain of spirit stones lying inside.
At the same time, Cui Guoliang''s hands formed many different seals, as a ck door materialized in front of him.
Turning his head to look at Shun Long, the white-robed Dao King gritted his teeth, and after taking a deep breath, he said in an unwilling tone
''''Kid, if you want to get a magic beast, thene with me.''''
Shun Long followed Cui Guoliang, as he entered inside the ck door, and his surroundings once again changed.
After the familiar feeling of spatial teleportation, he found himself standing inside anotherrge hall.
Looking around him, he saw an elderly man, with almost no hair left on his head, kneeling in front of Cui Guoliang as he called out
''''My king!''''
Cui Guoliang nodded his head in response, and looking at the old man in front him he asked
''''Old Tao, which magic beasts at the early rank 5, are in good condition right now?''''
Chapter 152 - 152 Rank 5 Silver-winged panther king
Chapter 152 - 152 Rank 5 Silver-winged panther king
''''Old Tao, which magic beasts at the early rank 5, are in good condition right now?''''
The old man looked a bit confused at Cui Guoliang''s sudden question, but he still answered respectfully
''''My king, the magic beasts at the early rank 5 that are in a good condition, number only 4.
They are the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' on the north, the ''Thousand-eyed spider'' on the west, the ''Twin-headed wolf'' on the northeast, and...''''
The old man had a look on his face that couldn''t conceal his difficulty, as he stopped speaking.
''''And what?''''
Cui Guoliang didn''t hide his displeasure, seeing that ''old Tao'' was hesitating to speak.
As the caretaker who was responsible for the rank 5 magic beasts inside the ''Vermilion realm'', ''Old Tao'' would never hesitate to speak, unless there was a serious issue.
Indeed, the old man took a deep breath as he knelt on the ground and said
''''My king, please forgive me! I have done everything that I can, but the ''Silver-winged panther king'' still hasn''t advanced to the middle stages.''''
The moment that the old man finished his words, displeasure had already covered Cui Guoliang''s face, while Shun Long''s eyes were actually filled with shock.
He almost couldn''t stop himself from asking
''''How is a ''Silver-winger panther king'', only at the early stage of rank 5?''''
Turning his head to look at Shun Long, Cui Guoliang suppressed his frustration as he said
''''Brat, I suggest that you choose the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''. I have been raising it for many years inside a very specialke, and although itsbat strength isn''t as big as the ''Thousand-eyed spider'' or the ''Twin-headed wolf'', its defense is much better than the other 2. It can definitely protect you well enough.''''
Shun Long''s eyes twitched as he heard Cui Guoliang mentioning the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'', and immediately shook his head, as he responded with a determined tone
''''Senior, thank you for your suggestion, but I would rather choose the ''Silver-winged panther king''.''''
Was this a joke? How was he supposed to choose the ''Nine-eyed giant worm''? Hasn''t little ck already eaten it? Should he force the ck dragon to spit it back out for him?
Cui Guoliang looked at Shun Long like he was looking at an idiot as he said
''''Brat, are you dumb? Didn''t you hear old ''Tao'' saying, that the ''Silver-winged panther king'' hasn''t broken through to the middle stages? It''s obvious that there is a serious problem with it. You should choose the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' instead.''''
Shun Long however, shook his head, as he said resolutely
''''Senior, I still wish to choose the ''Silver-winged panther''. I hope that senior will agree.''''
Cui Guoliang couldn''t understand why Shun Long was so adamant on taking the ''Silver-winged panther king'', but in the end, he still nodded his head, as he looked at the kneeling old man in front of him and said
''''''Old Tao'', go and bring the ''silver-winged panther king'' here then.''''
''Old Tao'' got up from the ground, and bowed to Cui Guoliang, before he hurriedly left the room.
The old man couldn''t believe his eyes.
What was so special about this kid, that the king was going to give him one of his rank 5 beasts? However, he didn''t dare to question Cui Guoliang''s order as he quickly left, to bring the ''Silver-winged panther king''.
Less than an hourter, a 2m(6.6ft) tall and 6m(19.8ft) long ck panther, with shining yellow eyes, and a pair of beautiful silver wings on its back, appeared in front of Shun Long and Cui Guoliang.
Shun Long''s eyes shone as he saw the panther in front of him, while his eyes carefully examined its body.
Although Cui Guoliang felt unwilling to part with the magic beasts that he had painstakingly raised, he understood that if Shun Long didn''t have a suitable protector, then he could very likely die before he reached the Dao King realm.
With these thoughts in mind, the reluctance in his heart slowly disappeared, and looking at Shun Long he said
''''Kid, this panther is still soul-bound by me. Gather your spiritual strength in a drop of your blood, and feed it in the panther''s mouth. I will sever my connection with the panther at the same time, so it can ept you as its new master.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, and knew that this was the mostmon way that beast tamers usually followed, when they wanted to sell the powerful magic beasts that they had tamed.
There was almost no danger following this process, except if the magic beast received a strong mental stimtion. In that case, it was possible for the link between master and servant to be severed, if the beast''s spiritual strength far exceeded its master. However, these situations weren''tmon in the ''cultivation world''.
At the same time that Shun Long fed his blood to the ck panther, Cui Guoliang immediately severed their connection.
Shun Long could now feel a mental connection with the panther, but it waspletely different from the one he had with little ck.
He couldn''t mentallymunicate with the panther, but he could feel its emotions.
Cui Guoliang nodded his head as he saw that everything went smoothly, while ''Old Tao'' had an envious and resentful look in his eyes as he stared at Shun Long.
Cui Guoliang didn''t pay any attention to the old man, as he looked at Shun Long and said
''''There is only a week left, until the teleportation array for the Night star continent is activated. Take a look at the martial skills inside the spatial ring, before you decide what type of weapon you want. I''m certain that the techniques that you have practiced in the Deste east are simply iparable to those of my collection. When you are ready, you can simplye back to the throne room.''''
As he finished speaking, Cui Guoliang turned around and entered inside the ck door, as he then disappeared from the room.
Shun Long told the panther to follow him, as he too entered the ck door, which returned him back to his room.
Returning back to the jade-white room, Shun Long didn''t choose to put the panther inside the ''Stone of Time''. Instead, he seriously examined its body for a couple of minutes, before a big smile covered his face as he thought
''''That ''Old Tao'' really isn''t qualified to take care of magic beasts.''''
After patting the panther''s back, Shun Long let it roam freely around the room, while his eyes were staring at the spatial ring on his hand, as he then mumbled to himself
''''Let''s take a look at the techniques and martial skills of a Dao King.''''
Chapter 153 - 153 Purple Blossom staff
Chapter 153 - 153 Purple Blossom staff
''''Let''s take a look at the techniques and martial skills of a Dao King.''''
Sending his spiritual strength inside the green spatial ring, Shun Long saw the nearly 200 scrolls, scattered around the mountain of spirit stones.
His heartbeat once again started to rise, after seeing the mountain of one million spirit stones inside the spatial ring, as he imagined how much his strength would rise, after the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' had refined them all into pure qi.
Without any hesitation, he then transferred everything inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he turned his attention to the 200 scrolls.
After separating everything into 3 categories, Shun Long noticed that more than 137 of these scrolls were cultivation techniques, 50 of them were martial skills, while the rest were some kind of secret techniques.
After splitting the cultivation techniques ording to their levels, Shun Long found out that more than 70 of them were at the Yellow high-grade. The other 60 were ranging from the Mystic low-grade, to Mystic high-grade, while only one of them seemed to be at an even higher rank.
His eyes then fell upon this golden scroll, as he started reading its contents
''''Saint low-grade cultivation technique, Moonlight Sigil. This cultivation technique can only be practiced at night, absorbing the moonlight to purify the qi inside the dantian. A person cultivating in this technique, can reach the Dao King realm within 3000 years.''''
Although he was stunned for a moment, Shun Long wasn''t nning on changing his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' for another cultivation technique, and after putting aside the cultivation technique scrolls, he then turned his focus on the martial skills.
Of the 50 martial skill scrolls, 13 of them were at the Mystic grade, while 3 of them were even at the Mystic high-grade.
Shun Long''s attention, was immediately captured by one of these 3 scrolls.
''''Mystic high-grade martial skill, Gale steps. After practicing this martial skill, one can move like the wind, fast and unpredictable. Cultivators who haveprehended the Dao of Wind, will be nearly untouchable when using the Gale steps.
Shun Long remembered, that near the end of their fight, Cui Guoliang had turned almost invisible.
''''So this must be the martial skill he had used back then.''''
After putting the Gale steps to the side, his eyes then looked at the other 2 martial skills.
''''Mystic high-grade Thunderbolt finger. Condensing the qi in one finger, a cultivator can create a powerful thunderbolt that destroys everything in its path. Experts who haveprehended the Dao of Thunder, are especially suitable to cultivate this martial skill.''''
''''Mystic high-grade martial skill, Staff of obliteration. With a single staff in hand, 32 moves can sunder the Heavens. This martial skill cannot be practiced without a weapon at the silver grade or above. Cultivators who train in both qi, and body refinement, are exceptionally suitable to train in this martial skill.''''
Shun Long''s eyes immediately lit up, after reading the descriptions of the Thunderbolt finger and the Staff of obliteration, as he then mumbled to himself
''''The collection of a Dao King is really amazing...''''
After cing the 3 Mystic high-grade martial skills to the side, Shun Long''s eyes turned to look at the scrolls with the ''secret techniques''.
However, most of them seemed to only include methods, on how to cultivate poison inside the body, or how to rear poison beasts.
Just as Shun Long had started to get disappointed in these techniques, his eyes noticed a silver-colored scroll that he hadn''t checked yet.
''''Yin-Yang conjoined technique. A dual cultivation secret technique that shares the Yin and Yang. This technique can only be used when a man and a woman share their Yin and Yang essence.
A man can fill the woman with his Yang essence, while at the same time he can absorb her Yin essence. This technique allows both the male and the female, to join their Yin and Yang together and advance in their cultivation.''''
Shun Long kept reading this ''secret technique'', until he got a basic idea of how it worked.
In the end, he could only imagine it as a man and a woman, each having one bowl. Each bowl was filled with Yin and Yang respectively, and during the cultivation of this ''art'', the Yin and Yang were joined togetherplementing each other, allowing both the man and the woman to advance in their cultivation together.
However, Shun Long also understood, that this ''Yin-Yang conjoined technique'', wasn''t a ''main type cultivation technique'' like his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' or the ''Moonlight sigil'', but rather a supportive one. Excessive use of this technique in a short amount of time, could also bring negative results instead.
Standing up from the red cushion, Shun Long entered the golden door, and once again found himself inside the throne room.
Cui Guoliang seemed to have been expecting him toe, as he smiled and asked lightheartedly
''''Kid, have you already decided on what weapon you want?''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response, as he saw Cui Guoliang removing a spatial ring from his hand and throwing it at him.
Shun Long''s hand caught the spatial ring, when he heard Cui Guoliang''s voice saying
''''You can choose one of these weapons.''''
Sending his spiritual strength inside the spatial ring, the scene that Shun Long saw, hadpletely dazzled him.
There were more than 600 weapons, and almost all of them were emitting powerful fluctuations. Swords, sabers, shields, halberds, spears, daggers, bows, and even arrows, all of them had countless runes on them, clearly showing that they were rank 1 gold grade weapons.
Shun Long''s spiritual strength searched through the spatial ring, when he found a staff that immediately caught his eye.
It was a wooden staff, 1.5m(5ft) long, neither too thick nor too thin, with countless runes engraved on it. Unlike most other weapons inside the ring, this staff didn''t emit any powerful fluctuations despite the countless runes on its surface.
Shun Long instantly recognized, that this staff was made from a very rare wood, called the ''Purple Blossom tree''. The wood from this tree was the best choice if one chose to create rank 1, or even rank 2 wooden, gold grade weapons.
He immediately chose the wooden staff, before he returned the spatial ring to Cui Guoliang.
The Dao King''s eyes twitched as he stared at the staff in Shun Long''s hands, and said
''''Brat, I don''t know if you are knowledgeable or just lucky, but I''m starting to think that you would happily take away my entire pce if you could.''''
Shun Long smiled at Cui Guoliang, and ignoring his burning gaze, he put away the staff, as he then said
''''Senior, thank you for your gift.''''
Cui Guoliang''s eyes twitched once more, but in the end, he put on a generous front as he replied
''''Of course brat. Do you think that this kingcks weapons made from ''Purple Blossom tree''? If that''s going to save my main body, I wouldn''t even hesitate, giving you the rest of the weapons as well.''''
Then, with a deep breath, the white-robed Dao King continued
''''Remember, you only have one week, until the teleportation formation is activated. No matter whether you are cultivating or not, a weekter, make sure toe here.''''
Shun Long nodded his head indicating that he understood, as he entered the golden door and returned back to his room.
Sitting cross-legged on top of the red-cushion, he started another cultivation session.
A week passed by in the blink of an eye, and the day that Shun Long and the rest were about to leave the Vermilion realm, had finally arrived.
-
Chapter 154 - 154 Leaving the Desolate east
Chapter 154 - 154 Leaving the Deste east
As Shun Long opened his eyes, a popping sound was heard from his body, while 81 balls of qi were now hovering above his head.
He had finally reached the peak of rank 9 in earth grade.
Standing up from the red cushion, Shun Long took a look at the room around him, before he then changed his robes.
He had no need for the yellow robes of the ''Floating cloud sect'' anymore.
After putting on a clean set of blue robes, he sat on the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' back, as he then entered inside the golden door.
Cui Guoliang nodded his head when he saw Shun Long entering the hall, and with a smile on his face he said
''''Brat, it''s about time that I send you to the Night star continent. In a while, everyone else who has passed the second trial and wishes to go to the Night star continent as well, will alsoe here.
Make sure that you keep everything, about you passing the final trial, a secret.''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Cui Guoliang''s words. Of course, he wasn''t nning on telling people that he had passed through thest trial and paint a giant target on his back for no reason.
Otherwise, if other people caught wind of it, and thought that he had obtained a lot of treasures, that would certainly bring needless troubles.
Cui Guoliang smiled after seeing that Shun Long had understood his intentions, while his hands then formed a set ofplicated seals.
The golden doors inside the rooms of the disciples, who had passed through the second trial were now unsealed, allowing these disciples to enter the throne room, one after the other.
Everyone was shocked to see a blue-robed young man sitting on top of a ck panther, but in the presence of the Dao King, no one dared to utter a word.
Among the people entering the room, Shun Long soon spotted Liu Mei, who was staring at him, with astonishment in her eyes. A momentter, she shed him a dazzling smile, before she followed the rest of the crowd, standing in a horizontal line in front of Cui Guoliang.
The disciples from the various sects were entering the throne room one after the other, and a few minutester, including Shun Long, 10 people had already gathered inside, as they all looked at Cui Guoliang sitting on the throne.
Among those disciples, Shun Long saw a bald young monk from the ''Golden Buddha temple'', as well as a ck-robed disciple from the Poison Hall, who both stared at him with unconcealed shock in their eyes.
How could someone sit on a magic beast in the presence of the Dao King after all?
Also, where did this person get a rank 5 magic beast in the first ce?!
A few minutester, Shun Long was also surprised, that he didn''t see Liu Changpun or the sixth prince of the ''Snowcloud country'', Yang Gongsun, among the disciples around him.
Remembering that Yang Gongsun hade to the Deste east with an elder of the Snowcloud country, it wasn''t actually that shocking, since he may have intended to return back, along with him. Liu Changpun''s absence however, was truly baffling.
Just as everyone thought, that there was no one elseing along with them, the golden door once again lit up, as another person appeared in the throne room.
Both Shun Long, and Liu Mei, were stunned when they recognized this person.
It was a 2m(6.5ft) tall young man in yellow robes, with brown hair, and a in-looking face.
When Wen Zihao entered the room, he exhaled a sigh of relief after seeing that everyone was still there.
Just like the rest of the disciples when they had entered the hall, he was also shocked after seeing the young man sitting on top of the ''silver-winged panther king''s'' back.
Staring at Shun Long, Wen Zihao felt certain that he had seen this man before, but he couldn''t remember where.
Of course, as the number one disciple of the outer city in the ''Floating cloud sect'', Wen Zihao hadn''t really cared about Shun Long in the past. Although he had nced at him once when they left the ''Floating cloud city'', thanks to Shun Long changing his yellow robes, as well as Wen Zihao''s own arrogance, he was unable to recognize the person in front of him just yet.
Cui Guoliang suddenly coughed, and seeing that he had gotten everyone''s attention, he finally spoke
''''I''m sure that all of you understand the reason that you are here. I, am offering you a chance, to leave this tiny ce called the Deste east, and go to a much bigger world. You will all be teleported a few hundred miles away, from the Silver sword city of the Night star continent.
You have all been used to, having your sects as your backings for many years, but this time, you will be on your own.
You can start your lives over again and enter new sects if you want, or you can even be mercenaries and hunt for magic beasts or take on other dangerous missions.
From today onwards, you are going to start a new life, and I hope that all of you can reach even higher heights!''''
As he said thest line, Cui Guoliang stared at Shun Long for a second, before he formed anotherplicated set of seals with his hands.
The disciples of the sects bowed as their thanks to Cui Guoliang, when suddenly, a huge inscription lit up from beneath their feet.
The feeling of traveling through the void, once again enveloped Shun Long''s body, and surprisingly, this time itsted for quite a while.
A few momentster, the scene around Shun Long changed, and from the luxurious throne room, he now found himself on top of a tall mountain.
Seeing the scene around him, Shun Long remembered that it was exactly one year ago that he had arrived in the ''floating cloud sect'' for the first time. So many things had happened since then, and now, a full yearter, he has finally left the Deste east, and arrived in the Night star continent.
Chapter 155 - 155 Healing the Silver-winged panther king
Chapter 155 - 155 Healing the Silver-winged panther king
Arriving on top of the tall mountain, everyone, including Shun Long, was now curiously staring at their surroundings.
In the far off distance, a few hundred miles away from their location, the disciples of the Deste east could see a huge city standing tall.
There was only a forest separating them from the city, when they finally turned their attention to Shun Long next to them, who was sitting on top of the ck panther.
Everyone hastily opened up the distance between them, afraid that the ck panther would attack them, when all of a sudden, Liu Mei started walking towards him.
''''Senior sister Liu, that''s dangerous!''''
Wen Zihao shouted hurriedly, when he saw Liu Mei approaching the panther.
Liu Mei however, didn''t seem to hear him, as she quickly arrived in front of the ck panther.
Shun Long smiled at her, and without a single word, he took her right hand, as he then ced her behind him on top of the panther''s back.
Shun Long then sent a mentalmand to the ''silver-winged panther king'', who immediately jumped from the mountain''s peak, as he entered the forest below them.
The disciples of the Deste east were left speechless, but none of them dared to say anything as they watched the young man along with the beautiful woman behind him, quickly disappear in the forest below them.
After all, despite the fact that none of them knew Shun Long''s identity, they were still certain that one way or another, he must be rted to the Dao King from the ''Vermilion realm''.
Wen Zihao too, didn''t say a word, but simply stared at Liu Mei''s back with a venomous look in his eyes.
At the same time, on the ck panther''s back, Liu Mei stared at Shun Long who was sitting in front of her and whispered
''''I''m happy that you came.''''
Shun Long turned around his head and smiled, before he held Liu Mei''s hand with his own.
A sweet feeling filled Liu Mei''s heart, as that warm sensation from the second trial resurfaced once again.
As they were traveling through the forest, with the early rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' unleashing its aura, there wasn''t a single magic beast that interrupted them on the way.
However, Shun Long didn''t head directly to the Silver sword city, but instead took a detour, as they headed toward a small mountain in the distance.
Looking at Liu Mei he then said
''''Let''s rest here for a few hours before we head to the Silver sword city.''''
Liu Mei didn''t ask the reason why Shun Long wanted to stop, but instead nodded her head, as she followed him inside a small cave in the mountain.
Seeing that Shun Long was inspecting the ''Silver-winged panther king'', Liu Mei couldn''t resist asking
''''Shun Long... was this panther the reward for passing the third trial?''''
Although the rest of the disciples of the Deste east may not have known Shun Long''s identity, Liu Mei was very clear that Shun Long was an outer disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', and he surely didn''t have a rank 5 magic beast during the second trial.
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei''s beautiful eyes, and with a smile on his face he replied
''''He was one of the rewards for passing the trial.''''
Shock immediately filled the young woman''s face after hearing the confirmation from Shun Long, but she didn''t ask anything else, as she watched him from the side.
Shun Long seemed to have examined the panther''s tail numerous times, before he took out a few rank 2 and rank 3 medicinal herbs from the ''Stone of Time''. Surprisingly, he even took out one of the rank 3 ''Blood Vermilion fruits'' that he had obtained from the first trial.
After extracting the medicinal essence of the herbs inside his alchemy cauldron, Shun Long then started refining the pill.
20 minutester, the fragrance of the medicinal essence had already filled the cave, as a bright green pill had appeared inside Shun Long''s cauldron.
Liu Mei wasn''t an expert in alchemy, but she instantly realized that this was a pill that only a silver grade alchemist could concoct. This meant that Shun Long''s level was at least on par with a rank 1 silver grade alchemist''s.
After feeding the pill to the panther, Shun Long noticed, that the ''Silver-winged panther king'' started convulsing incessantly, before foam came from its mouth and it passed out.
''''D-Did it die?''''
Shun Long couldn''t helpughing lightly after hearing Liu Mei''s question, as he shook his head and said
''''Just wait for a while.''''
Since little ck was still sleeping after he had eaten the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'', in preparation for his breakthrough to the rank 5, Shun Long had decided to heal the ''Silver-winged panther king'' before they entered the Silver sword city.
2 hourster, the ck panther''s body emitted a powerful aura, like a beast waking up from a long sleep.
Its aura climbed higher and higher, and soon, it had broken through from the early, to the middle rank 5.
However, this wasn''t the end as its aura continued to rise without stopping, and a few minutester, the ck panther broke through once again, reaching the peak of rank 5.
A peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'', was strong enough to destroy averagete stage Nascent soul experts, almost instantly.
Forget about a peak rank 9 earth grade rookie like Shun Long, even some Dao Kings didn''t have such a mount. If Cui Guoliang knew that Shun Long had healed the panther''s problem in just a few hours, it was unknown what his reaction would be.
The ''Silver-winged panther king'' finally opened its eyes and stared at Shun Long with endless gratitude, as it nudged its head on his foot.
Normally, ''Silver-winged panther kings'', would always reach the peak of rank 5 once they be a.d.u.l.ts. However, there were some rare cases for the male ck panthers, where their bodies wouldn''t naturally go through that process of evolution, and would need external stimtion instead.
This could be usually detected, by how developed the muscles near the panther''s tail were.
Shun Long had immediately understood the problem, and concocted a pill that was potent enough to ''wake up'' the ''Silver-winged ck panther''s'' sleeping body.
Shun Longughed as he patted the ck panther''s head, before he turned his head to look at Liu Mei, as he said with a smile on his face
''''Let''s go and see this Silver sword city then.''''
Chapter 156 - 156 Silver sword city
Chapter 156 - 156 Silver sword city
''''Let''s go and see this Silver sword city then.''''
Liu Mei''s beautiful ck eyes stared at Shun Long, as she then smiled brightly and nodded her head as she said
''''Then, give me one moment first.''''
Liu Mei took out a white veil from her spatial ring, and ced it on her face, covering itpletely, before she turned to look at Shun Long.
Shun Long smiled when he saw Liu Mei''s actions, but he understood, that since they were going to enter apletely new city that they knew nothing about, it was possible that Liu Mei''s beautiful face would attract a lot of unnecessary attention.
Nodding his head, Shun Long took her hand as he mounted on the ''Silver-winged panther king'', as they then left the cave.
Liu Mei had nned to wear this veil on her face, ever since she had seen Yang Gongsun''s look on his face, when he stared at her outside the entrance of the ''Vermilion realm''.
With the ck panther''s speed, it took less than 20 minutes for Shun Long and Liu Mei to reach the end of the forest, and they were now just a few miles away from the Silver sword city.
As soon as they got out of the forest, Shun Long had the panther lower his speed, as they approached closer and closer to the giant city in front of them.
When they were just one mile away from the enormous city gates, Shun Long and Liu Mei noticed 2 long queues for the people who wanted to enter the city.
One of the queues seemed to be for the pedestrians, while the other one was for carriages or people riding on their magic beasts.
Many luxurious carriages were lined up, all the way from the city gates, to Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s current location.?Most of them had rank 2, or rank 3 magic beasts pulling them, when suddenly, everyone''s attention was drawn to the 2 people sitting on the ''Silver-winged panther king'' that approached them from the distance.
A handsome young man, along with the young woman who was wearing a white veil on her face, had painted a picturesque scene.
The nearby magic beasts however, instantly started to shiver as they felt the aura of a peak rank 5 magic beast approaching them.
The people sitting inside the carriages immediately got out, looking to to calm down their agitated magic beasts, while the pedestrians had started to silently discuss between themselves.
''''That''s a rank 5 magic beast! Heavens! How can these people ride on a rank 5 magic beast?! I wonder if they are members from one of the powerful ns?''''
''''That''s not just a rank 5 beast, but a peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king''! These beasts aren''t just extremely rare, but theirbat power is also above average magic beasts at the same level as them. I wonder which ns these 2 people belong to?!''''
''''But... look at their clothes... they are so in! I''m not so sure that theye from a big n.''''
Shun Long and Liu Meipletely ignored the discussions around them, and a little more than an hourter, they had already arrived in front of the enormous city gates.
2 guards dressed in ck robes, with swords strapped on their waists, approached the ck panther, as one of them then looked at Shun Long and sped his hands as he said
''''Wee to the Silver sword city. If you are new to the city, then you will have to pay 100 spirit stones for each person on your magic beast. Of course, if you are a member of one of the sects, or part of the mercenary association, then you can enter free of charge.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he had indeed saw everyone else before him pay 100 spirit stones, and waving his hand, he handed 200 stones to the guard in front of him.
The ck-robed guard then moved aside, as Shun Long and Liu Mei finally entered the Silver sword city.
Passing through the gates, Shun Long noticed that the city was much more prosperous than he had imagined, as countless carriages could be seen on its wide streets. The tall buildings around them, would also immediately attract the attention of whoever visited the city for the first time.
Walking through the streets of the Silver sword city, Shun Long and Liu Mei saw countless street vendors haggling with their customers, as well as innumerable shop signs. From street food, to alchemy pills and weapons made from formation masters, the street vendors of the Silver sword city had everything.
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long''s lips curved up as he said
''''Let''s find a good ce to eat, and get some information about this city. Then we can decide what we want to do.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, and a smile was formed beneath her white veil, as Shun Long held her hand while they searched for a good ce to eat.
10 minutester, they arrived in front of a luxurious restaurant, that was more than 5 times bigger than the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''. Shun Long then patted the ck panther''s head, as he told him to wait for them outside, before he and Liu Mei walked inside.
As soon as Shun Long and Liu Mei had walked through the silver colored gates of the restaurant and entered inside it, a seductive woman in a red dress, that seemed to be in her early 30s approached them, and with a bright smile on her face she said
''''Wee to the ''Red rose pavilion''! Young master, youngdy, how may I be of service?''''
Looking at the bustling first floor of this pavilion, Shun Long then turned his attention to the woman in front of him as he asked
''''Are there any empty tables on this floor?''''
The woman nodded her head with that same professional smile on her face, as she replied
''''Of course! Please follow me.''''
The woman in the red dress, soon led Shun Long and Liu Mei to an empty table near a window.
Since this was the first time that he and Liu Mei were visiting the Silver sword city, Shun Long was curious about the food here, as he looked at the woman in the red dress and said
''''Bring us two dishes of each of your pavilion''s specialties, as well as 2 jars of your best wine.''''
The woman nodded her head as she took the order and left, while Shun Long and Liu Mei quietly listened to the discussions around them, while they waited for their order to arrive.
20 minutester, when their order arrived, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already learned quite a bit of valuable information from the people in their surroundings.
It looked like the Silver sword city had many strong powers inside it. There were even some sects, who had set their headquarters inside the city. However, the most interesting piece of information that Shun Long and Liu Mei had heard, was regarding the Mercenaries'' Association. It seemed to be some kind of super power, that was even stronger than the various sects inside the Silver sword city.
After they finished tasting their dishes, Shun Long and Liu Mei both marveled at the quality of the food. Even the best inn of the ''floating cloud sect'', couldn''tpare in the slightest with this random restaurant in the Silver sword city.
Just as they had finished their food, the quiet Liu Mei''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s ears as she asked
''''Shun Long... do you n to enter one of these sects? Or maybe... you are interested in joining this Mercenaries'' Association?''''
Chapter 157 - 157 The Mercenaries Association
Chapter 157 - 157 The Mercenaries'' Association
''''Shun Long... do you n to enter one of these sects? Or maybe... you are interested in joining this Mercenaries'' Association?''''
Shun Long smiled at the beautiful young woman in front of him, and after tapping the fingers of his right hand on the table for a while, he answered
''''From what these people said, this Mercenaries Association is probably one of the strongest powers inside the Silver sword city. I n to go and take a look, but I''m not sure about joining them yet. After all, I don''t know what I would get by joining them, or what limitations they would set on their members in the first ce.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, and after taking a deep breath, she asked
''''Then... should Ie with you?''''
Thankfully, she had already put on her white veil back on her face, or Shun Long would have noticed that she had turned red from embarrassment.
Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at her, and with a serious look on his face, he said
''''Liu Mei, I want you toe with me.''''
''''Mhm!''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, as a warm feeling spread through her heart. At the same time, Shun Long could also feel a tug in his heartstrings as his eyes stared at the beautiful young woman in front of him.
A few minutester, when Shun Long asked to pay the bill, the same woman in the red dress from before arrived.
After paying a little more than 200 low-grade spirit stones, Shun Long also asked her for directions regarding the Mercenaries'' Association.
He and Liu Mei then both left the ''Red rose pavilion'', and under the astonished gazes of the crowd around them, they sat on top of the ''Silver-winged panther king''s back'', as they headed towards the south of the city.
An hourter, Shun Long and Liu Mei had arrived in front of a gigantic ck castle.
The castle''s walls were made from some kind of ck steel, while countless formations seemed to be active at all times around it.
The huge gates of the castle were wide open, as countless people and even carriages wereing and going at all times.
2 simple words were engraved above the castle''s gates, but no one in the entire Silver sword city dared to take them lightly
''Mercenaries'' Association''
Shun Long and Liu Mei followed the rest of the carriages, as they walked through the castle''s gates.
Of course, with the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'', it was impossible to not the attract attention from the people around them.
The moment that Shun Long and Liu Mei stepped through the castle''s gates, it was like a whole new world had unfolded itself in front of their eyes.
The castle''s interior was much bigger than Shun Long had imagined, while countless people could be seen around chatting,ughing, or even fighting with each other.
Looking around him, Shun Long also saw many different counters, with a sign above each of them, while a huge bulletin board could be seen, with countless people gathering around it.
After dismounting from the ''Silver-winged panther king'', Liu Mei looked at the handsome young man next to her and asked softly
''''Shun Long, should we go over to the information counter then?''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he and Liu Mei both stood in the long line behind therge sign ''Information counter''.
Less than half an hourter, a pretty young girl with red hair, dressed in violet robes weed them, as she said with a smile on her face
''''My name is Huan Lo, how can I help you? Would you perhaps like to set up a mission?''''
Shun Long shook his head as he then responded
''''I want to know what are the requirements to enter the Mercenaries'' Association, as well as what are the limitations or benefits that a member would have.''''
Huan Lo hadn''t expected such an elementary level question, and after scrutinizing Shun Long and Liu Mei with her eyes for a bit, she nodded her head as she replied
''''Of course, everyone is wee to be a mercenary of our Mercenaries'' Association, as long as they have at least reached the 7th rank in earth grade. As for any limitations or benefits, there aren''t actually that many.
Every mercenary of our association is only allowed to take on missions, at the same level or lower than their mercenary rank.
Of course, if it''s a group mission, then only the rank of each team''s captain will be taken in ordance. This means that a high ranked captain is allowed to take on low level mercenaries with him in high level missions, but that is something very rare.
Our association provides its mercenaries with an abundant amount of missions, that each customer has to pay a fee for before registering. The customers also have to hand over the reward for the missions to our association in advance, so that they won''t try to avoid payment once the mission is sessfullypleted. Of course, higher level missions will also have better rewards as well.''''
Since Shun Long and Liu Mei seemed to be interested in joining the Mercenaries'' Association, Huan Lo guided them to the registration counter behind her, where an elderly man in violet robes without a single hair on his head, weed them this time.
Shun Long noticed, that in this elder''s chest, there was a small silver badge with the word ''B'' on it.
The elderly man slightly opened his eyes when he saw new people approaching, before he turned his head to Huan Lo and said
''''Little girl, did you bring more work for me again?''''
Huan Lo smiled sweetly when she saw the elderly man in front of her, before she looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei and said
''''Grandpa Huo, these people would like to join our association.''''
The elderly man called ''grandpa Huo'' opened his eyes wide after seeing the ''Silver-winged ck panther'' following behind Shun Long. He could immediately sense the panther''s terrifying aura, as he then stood up from his chair, and looking at Shun Long and Liu Mei in front of him, he cupped his hands, as he spoke with a big smile on his face
''''Wee! My name is Huo Weiyu, and I am in charge of this registration counter. Can I ask if you have already entered one of the Guilds?''''
Chapter 158 - 158 Mercenaries ranks
Chapter 158 - 158 Mercenaries'' ranks
''''Wee! Can I ask if you have already entered one of the Guilds?''''
Huan Lo''s mouth was wide open, as she didn''t understand why the usually proud and aloof ''Grandpa Huo'', was suddenly so polite towards the 2 strangers. Of course, with her cultivation at the middle of rank 7 in earth grade, she couldn''t understand the terror of the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' that was following behind them.
Shun Long however, shook his head at ''Grandpa Huo''s'' question as he replied
''''We are still new to this city and don''t know anything regarding the Guilds here yet.''''
Huo Weiyu nodded his head when he heard this, and with that same smile on his face he said
''''Ah, that makes sense. In that case, please allow me to exin.
The Silver sword city has many powerful merchant guilds residing inside it. These guilds will often try to recruit strong mercenaries, by offering them spirit stones or other treasures, in exchange for their help during important missions.
However, a guild will only ask for the help of its private members, only when there are some sensitive or important missions, and will not interfere with their daily lives otherwise.
The rest of the time, the guild will post its missions in the Mercenaries'' Association. That is also the reason why the association hasn''t interfered with the guilds, poaching the mercenaries.
After all, mercenaries can also ept helping the guild when needed, but they don''t want to be ves. Being a mercenary can earn far more money by taking on various missions, rather than bing a ve in one of the guilds.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he then thought to himself
''''In other words, the mercenary association allows the guilds to ''form'' their private teams, simply because its impossible for its position to be challenged. Based on what I learned toda
Based on what Huo Weiyu had said, the mercenary association seemed to be a win-win situation, for both the mercenaries, as well as the association itself. The mercenaries get to take on various missions, while the association makes money by being the official middleman and listing the missions.''''
Just as Shun Long''s train of thought hade here, Huo Weiyu''s words sounded in his ears once again
''''Allow me to introduce myself once again. I am Huo Weiyu, from the ''Blue Orchid merchant guild''.
Our Blue Orchid merchant guild is quite a strong guild in the Silver sword city, and if you are willing to join us, the guild would be more than happy to ept you.''''
As he finished speaking, Huo Weiyu stole a furtive nce at the ''Silver-winged panther king'', thinking of what his reward from the higher-ups would be, if he could bring someone with such a strong mount to join the guild.
Shun Long however, shook his head, and looking at Huo Weiyu he said
''''For now, we won''t be joining any guilds. After all, we haven''t even be official mercenaries yet.''''
Then, turning his head to look at Liu Mei, he said
''''Let''s get registered first.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, while Huo Weiyu pped his hands as he said
''''Of course, of course!'''' while inwardly, the old man grumbled, thinking that he had been too anxious to recruit them to the guild.
Looking at Shun Long and Liu Mei, he then said
''''In that case, please fill in these papers, so you can officially be members of our association.''''
Joining the Mercenaries'' Association was actually a very simple process, and right after filling the papers, Huo Weiyu took out 2 small white boxes from the counter, and handed them to Shun Long and Liu Mei respectively, as he said
''''Considering that this young master is still at the peak rank 9 of the earth grade, and the youngdy is at the middle of rank 1 in Heaven grade, these are your official badges as mercenaries. Of course, if you advance in your cultivation, you can simply apply for a new badge that same day.''''
Since Shun Long wasn''t hiding his cultivation, it wasn''t hard for Huo Weiyu to understand that he was still at the 9th rank of the earth grade.
Shun Long and Liu Mei both opened their boxes, where Shun Long saw a small silver badge with the letter ''D'' on it.
Liu Mei too, opened her white box, but her badge had the letter ''C'' instead.
Both Liu Mei and Shun Long, looked at the old man in front of them who chuckled as he continued
''''Ah, it looked like this old man forgot to talk about the ranks. A mercenary''s rank is directly rted to their qi or body cultivation. Cultivators at thete stages of the earth grade, are D-rank mercenaries.
Cultivators at the early and middle stages of the Heaven grade are C-rank cultivators. Above them is the B-rank, which is reserved for cultivators at thete stages of the Heaven grade, or the early stages in the Spirit realm.
Above the B-rank, are the A-rank mercenaries, who had a cultivation at the middle orte stages of the Spirit realm.
A rank cultivators are among the top of our Mercenaries'' Association.''''
After a brief pause, Huo Weiyu''s eyes involuntarily fell upon the ''Silver-winged panther king'', as he then continued
''''Above the A-rank, is the S-rank. Only cultivators at the early and the middle of the Nascent soul stage, can be S-rank mercenaries, and above even that... is the legendary SS-rank, which is reserved forte-stage Nascent soul experts. I have only seen an SS-rank mercenary once in my life.''''
Seeing that Huo Weiyu had stopped speaking, the pretty red haired girl who had only heard about the S-rank cultivators for the first time, couldn''t help asking out of curiosity
''''Then, grandpa Huo, are the SS-rank cultivators the strongest?''''
Huo Weiyu involuntarily nodded his head, but after thinking for a while, he took a deep breath as he said in a very uncertain voice
''''Actually... I have also heard some rumors... but these are just rumors... that there are mercenaries even above the SS-rank. They are called SSS-rank mercenaries... and they are all said to be at the Dao King realm.''''
Chapter 159 - 159 Come with me
Chapter 159 - 159 Come with me
''''Actually... I have also heard some rumors... but these are just rumors... that there are mercenaries even above the SS-rank. They are called SSS-rank mercenaries... and they are all said to be at the Dao King realm!''''
It wasn''t just Huan Lo who was shocked when she heard this, but Shun Long and Liu Mei as well.
Seeing the looks on everyone''s faces, Huo Weiyu shook his head as he continued
''''Like I said, this is just a rumor. At least I don''t think that anyone has ever seen an SSS-rank mercenary in our Silver sword city.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long sped his hands after thanking the old man, before he and Liu Mei walked towards the huge bulletin board in the back.
After taking a look at the D-rank and the C-rank missions, Shun Long noticed that most of them required the mercenaries to act as bodyguards, or help the merchant guilds to safely escort their carriages outside the Silver sword city, while the rewards ranged, from 100-300 spirit stones for D-rank mercenaries, while the C-rank missions mostly ranged from 500-800 spirit stones.
Of course, there were also missions that asked the mercenaries to kill magic beasts, or find rank 3 medicinal herbs as well, but these were usually more time-consuming.
Looking at the young man next to her, Liu Mei asked curiously
''''Do you want to take on a mission?''''
Shun Long shook his head as he smiled at her, and holding her hand he replied
''''Let''s find a ce to stay for now. I still need to enter seclusion and advance my strength. After that, we can see if there are any good missions.''''
''''Mhm.''''
Liu Mei nodded as the 2 of them then left the Mercenaries'' Association.
A few hourster, Shun Long and Liu Mei were still touring around the southern part of the city, when they saw a big inn in the distance.
Arge signboard with the words ''King''s courtyard'' was hunged above the inn''s gates.
After walking through the inn''s gates, Shun Long and Liu Mei saw a tall middle aged man in white robes, walking towards them.
The man had brown hair and dark green eyes, that were entuated by his sword-like eyebrows. His hawk-shaped nose along with his 1.9m(6.2ft) tall body, gave an intimidating feeling to the people around him.
Standing in front of the ck panther, the man only flinched once, before he turned his head to look at Shun Long and said with an emotionless look on his face
''''Wee to the King''s courtyard. I am the inn-keeper Deng Zixin.
If you are looking to rent a single room, magic beasts are not allowed in our inn. If you want to rent a courtyard however, then you are allowed toe inside.''''
Shun Long stared at the middle-aged man in front of him before he said
''''We will rent a courtyard then.''''
The brown-haired middle-aged man seemed to have heaved out a sigh of relief as he then said
''''Very well. A small courtyard costs 200 spirit stones a month, a medium-sized one costs 300 spirit stones, while arge one costs 400 spirit stones a month.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he took out nearly 2000 spirit stones from the ''Stone of Time'' and said
''''We will rent a medium-sized one, for the next 6 months.''''
The middle-aged inn keeper, happily epted the spirit stones, before he led Shun Long and Liu Mei towards a rtivelyrge courtyard.
After cupping his hands, the man then left, allowing Shun Long and Liu Mei to have a look at the courtyard.
There was arge main room, over 200 square meters wide, and 2 guest rooms 100 square meters each.
Every room was furnished luxuriously, with a king-sized bed, couches, tables, and many other decorations.
Looking at Shun Long who had paid nearly 2000 spirit stones for the courtyard, as well as 200 more earlier for their meal, a warm feeling spread through Liu Mei''s heart, before she took out 2000 spirit stones from her spatial ring and shoved them in Shun Long''s hands as she said in a soft voice
''''Shun Long, actually, I also have around 20.000 spirit stones as well. You don''t have to pay for everything by yourself.''''
Shun Longughed lightly, while he felt a contented feeling inside him after seeing Liu Mei''s actions, as he then said with a smile on his face
''''Don''t worry, the Dao King in the ''Vermilion realm'' seemed to like me very much, as he gave me a lot of spirit stones before I left.''''
He then pushed open the door of the main room, and after entering inside, he sat on one of the meditative cushions on the floor. Taking a look at the green-robed young woman in front of him who had turned her eyes to the white meditative cushion opposite to him, Shun Long then said with a smile on his face but a serious look in his eyes
''''Liu Mei.''''
Seeing that the peerlessly beautiful girl in front of him had just taken her white veil off as she turned her attention to him, Shun Long continued
''''I will not stay in the Silver sword city forever. I don''t know how long I will stay here yet... perhaps 6 months, a year, two, or maybe even more... but the day wille, that I have to leave.''''
Liu Mei''s beautiful ck eyes were staring at Shun Long in shock.
She didn''t understand why he would have to leave in the future, nor why he would bring this matter up all of a sudden.
Her voice had turned weak, sounding almost like a whisper, as she asked
''''Is it... because of the Dao King from the ''Vermilion realm''?''''
Her ck eyes seemed to have lost part of their l.u.s.ter, as she weakly stared at the young man in front of her.
Shun Long shook his head as he then said
''''A small part of it is about him, but there are also other things that are rted to me.''''
Looking at the dejected look in Liu Mei''s eyes, Shun Long took a deep breath, before he uttered 2 simple sentences
''''Come with me! I want you to be my woman.''''
Chapter 160 - 160 First love
Chapter 160 - 160 First love
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN SOME S.E.X.U.A.LLY EXPLICIT CONTENT
''''Come with me! I want you to be my woman.''''
Liu Mei''s body immediately trembled when she heard Shun Long''s words, while her mind felt as if it was suddenly struck by a thunderbolt.
Looking at the young man who was sitting on the ck cushion in front of her, scenes from the past year shed through her mind one by one.
The scene at the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' where she had seen him for the first time, as well as the day that she saw him in the ''Treasure Pavilion'' with fatty Fu a few monthster, had both ended up leaving a deep impression of Shun Long in her mind.
Finally, a few monthster, they met again during the second trial of the ''Vermilion realm'', where he had saved her when she was at the lowest point of her life, fighting against the disciples of the Poison Hall.
At that moment, Liu Mei''s heart had felt a connection with the young man in front of her.
As her beautiful eyes stared at Shun Long, she finally understood that feeling inside her.
That warm feeling when Shun Long had carried her in his embrace before he had removed the poison from her body. The warm feeling that she felt every time he held her hand, and the security she felt staring at his back when they were sitting on top of the ck panther''s back.
This was the feeling of first love.
Her bright ck eyes slowly turned moist, as she stared at Shun Long before she nodded her head.
It seemed like the formless barrier between them was suddenly shattered, as Shun Long walked up and took her in his embrace.
The only sound inside the room, was the sound of their 2 hearts beating against each other.
Shun Long lowered his head to look at the gorgeous girl in his arms, before he slowly inched closer towards her lips.
His heart started beating even faster, while Liu Mei saw that and closed her eyes in return.
She could feel the beating in Shun Long''s chest, when suddenly, she felt a warm sensation in her beautiful red lips.
Shun Long tasted her cherry-like lips for more than a minute, before his hands started moving around Liu Mei''s body.
Liu Mei felt a jolting sensation coursing through her body, as she reflexively took a step back.
Her face had already turned red with embarrassment, but she didn''t lift it to see Shun Long''s reaction.
Instead, she tried to catch her breath for a moment, before her beautiful eyes met with Shun Long''s.
Shun Long was about to say something, but his eyes widened as he saw that this time, Liu Mei took the initiative to seal his mouth with her lips.
This time, their kiss wassting even longer than earlier, when Shun Long slowly stepped back, until he fell on his back on top of the king-sized bed behind him.
Liu Mei''s petite body had fallen on top of him, while Shun Long''s hands were still on her small waist.
Shun Long moved his body to the side, positioning himself above Liu Mei, as he stared at her beautiful eyes.
His hands then removed his blue robes, revealing his well-shaped body.
Liu Mei''s face had turned bright red as her eyes looked at Shun Long, before they involuntarily moved down, towards his erect dragon.
Her heart had started beating wildly, almost as if it was about to jump out from her chest, as Shun Long''s hands slowly opened up her green robes, revealing her pure, jade-like body.
Shun Long''s eyes feasted on the scene in front of him, as his eyes traced all the way from her beautiful neck, to her corbone, until they stopped at the 2 full mounds on her chest. The 2 pink jewels in their middle, made the scene in front of him one of irresistible temptation as he felt his dragon involuntarily growing even harder.
He then ced his mouth on Liu Mei''s chest, as he sucked and nibbled her beautiful pink n.i.p.p.l.es.
AAH!
An idental m.o.a.n couldn''t help escaping Liu Mei''s mouth, as Shun Long''s hands slowly moved down to her undergarments.
Liu Mei''s fingers suddenly twitched, but she still allowed Shun Long to take it off, as a beautiful scene then appeared in his eyes.
Liu Mei''s pink private ce now showed itself in front of Shun Long, who could now barely hold himself back anymore.
As he moved his right hand downwards, his hand touched and rubbed Liu Mei''s sensitive spots, making a muffled m.o.a.n to leave her mouth.
Shun Long then spread Liu Mei''s legs open, his eyes taking in the full view of her secret ce, before he rubbed his already erect dragon on it.
As he positioned his hard dragon on Liu Mei''s entrance, he could feel a liquid-like substance from it.
Finally, he pushed his waist forward and a feeling of bliss overcame him, as a warm and smooth sensation enveloped his lower body.
Shun Long then turned his head to look at Liu Mei who had a pained expression on her face.
Just as Shun Long wanted to speak, the peerlessly beautiful girl in front of him hugged him instead, as she passionately kissed his lips.
The more the 2 of them kissed, the more proficient they became at it, while Liu Mei slowly felt the pain disappearing.
Soon, there was no longer any pain left, and looking at Shun Long, she cupped his face with her soft hands as she said
''''Thank you! I''m alright now.''''
Shun Long smiled at her as his hands traced her beautiful face, before he started moving his lower body back and forth.
Soon, the 2 of them could match each other''s movements, as m.o.a.ns of pleasure and ecstasy filled the room.
Shun Long soon changed their positions, as he had Liu Mei stand on the bed in all fours, before they once again continued from where they had left off, when he suddenly remembered the contents, of the ''Yin Yang conjoined technique''.
Chapter 161 - 161 Dual Cultivation
Chapter 161 - 161 Dual Cultivation
Shun Long soon changed their positions, as he had Liu Mei stand on the bed in all fours, before they once again continued from where they had left off, when he suddenly remembered the contents, of the ''Yin Yang conjoined technique''.
The technique itself was actually very simple to use. Its only requirement was for Shun Long to circte his qi ording to its method during intercourse, and his Yang essence would be automatically absorbed by Liu Mei''s Yin essence, while he would also absorb her Yin essence at the same time.
The sound of Shun Long''s h.i.p.s meeting Liu Mei''s butt, resounded throughout the room, mixed with the m.o.a.ns of pleasure and excitement that they were experiencing for the first time.
Suddenly, Shun Long felt his body and mind reaching the peak of their pleasure limits, before he felt a kind of warm energy leaving his body, as it slowly filled Liu Mei.
At the same time, Liu Mei felt the energy inside her body growing, as it fused with Shun Long''s warm energy, growing stronger and stronger, before a simr kind of energy left Liu Mei''s body, heading towards Shun Long''s.
Shun Long felt his body getting rejuvenated, as Liu Mei''s yin energy was fusing with his Yang.
Not only was he feeling more energetic, but he could even feel his cultivation growing, when suddenly, the energy inside Liu Mei''s body had started to rapidly rise.
Less than a minuteter her aura burst out of her body, before it was retracted almost immediately.
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei in disbelief, understanding that she had just broken through to the peak of rank 1 in Heaven grade almost instantly.
Shun Long could also feel himself ready to breakthrough to the Heaven grade, as a blue vortex had started to expand from his head.
Shun Long was still ''connected'' physically with Liu Mei and his mind was still relishing in the pleasure of dual cultivation. The Yin Yang conjoined technique also amplified this sensation greatly.
He tried hard to clear his head, before he suppressed the vortex above his head, as he then used the energy from their dual cultivation to purify his qi balls instead.
Obviously, Shun Long didn''t intend to break through to the Heaven grade before he had purified all of his balls of qi, bringing them to the same level as the 81st.
The instant that he directed his energy to his balls of qi, the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' had started to circte by itself, as the purification progress then started.
Liu Mei turned her head to look at Shun Long who seemed to be in a daze, as she asked worriedly
''''Long-ge... are you okay?'''' (Author''s note: In this case, the -ge at the end of Shun Long''s name, is another way to call someone you are close with. Calling him Shun Long isn''t okay anymore as their rtionship has grown, while calling someone by their full name in the Chinese culture, is the same as in the western culture where people do it if they are going to speak formally.)
Shun Long snapped out of his reverie, and looking at the n.a.k.e.d body of the beautiful young woman in front of him, he smiled as he nodded his head, before he once again continued with their ''cultivation session''.
Two hourster, Shun Long was lying face up on the bed, while Liu Mei was now gently leaning on his side, as they had just finished another round of their arduous cultivation.
Looking at the peerlessly beautiful young woman who was lying with her head on his chest, Shun Long smiled as he gently caressed her cheek and thought to himself
''''From today onwards, I will protect you no matter what happens.''''
Then, seeing that the sky outside had already darkened, Shun Long suddenly remembered the contents of a golden scroll inside the ''Stone of Time'', as he took it out, and looking at Liu Mei he said
''''Mei''er, this is a cultivation technique that the Dao King from the ''Vermilion realm'' gave to me before we left. Although I am already cultivating in another technique, this is probably better than any technique from the ''Floating cloud sect''.''''
(Author''s notes: Although the veterans amongst you probably know it, for those that happen to not know this, putting an at the end of someone''s name is another way of endearment, while it also indicates a close rtionship, usually one between confidantes, lovers, couples, or family members)
Liu Mei happily epted Shun Long''s gift, but the moment that she read the first few words, her mouth was agape as she incredulously stared at the golden scroll in her hands.
''''S-aint?''''
Shun Long looked at the peerlessly beautiful woman next to him, whose mind had almost cked out, as he nodded his head and said
''''Right. It is a Saint low-grade cultivation technique called the Moonlight Sigil. Don''t waste any time and start training in it right away.''''
Shun Long saw that Liu Mei''s first reaction was to involuntarily refuse, and smiling, his hand gently touched her beautiful face as he said
''''What are you hesitating for? After all, you are already my woman.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head a bit embarrassed but at the same time happy by Shun Long''s blunt words, before she then started to read through the golden scroll in her hands.
The more she read, the more astonished she became by this technique.
Although the Moonlight Sigil could only be practiced during the night, as a Saint low-grade cultivation technique, it was still countless times better, than the ''floating cloud sect''s'' Mystic low-grade ''White-cloud art'', that her father and brother were cultivating.
As for herself, Liu Mei was only given a Yellow high-grade cultivation technique to train in.
It was obvious, that her actual talent in cultivation, was actually much higher than Liu Changpun''s who was much older than her, but still, at the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade.
Shun Long smiled as he saw that, Liu Mei had quickly found herself engrossed in reading the golden scroll in her hands, while he slowly stood up from the bed, and moved towards the ck meditative cushion on the floor.
After sending his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long spent the next 2 days, hastening the growth of the medicinal herbs in his herb garden.
In the meantime, although little ck still hadn''t woken up from his slumber, Shun Long noticed that the dragon''s body had grown noticeably bigger, almost double of its original size by now.
2 dayster, as he opened his eyes, he saw that Liu Mei was now sitting on the white cushion next to him, while she was still cultivating in the Moonlight Sigil.
More than 400 spirit stones were scattered on the floor around them, filling the entire room with their pure energy.
Shun Long smiled as he saw this, before he started feeding spirit stones to the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
Almost a week quickly passed like this, and along with the energy that he had obtained from his dual cultivation with Liu Mei, it actually took less than 7 days, for Shun Long topletely purify the 80 balls of qi above his head, finally bringing them on par with his 81st.
Seeing the 81 bright balls of qi above his head inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long knew, that he was now ready to try and breakthrough to the Heaven grade.
Chapter 162 - 162 Pale Moon merchant guild
Chapter 162 - 162 Pale Moon merchant guild
Seeing the 81 bright balls of qi above his head inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long knew, that he was now ready to try and breakthrough to the Heaven grade.
After sending his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'' however, he noticed a severe issue that he had neglected so far.
It was almost impossible to refine the ''Blood Vermilion fruits'' into rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'' without a rank 1 silver grade cauldron.
Shun Long sighed inwardly as he opened his eyes, only to see a gorgeous young woman sitting next to him, staring at him with a smile on her face.
Looking at the stunning young woman in front of him, Shun Long smiled as he asked
''''How about we go and purchase some things? Coincidentally, we also need a few new clothes.''''
Lowering her head to look at her green inner disciple robes of the ''Floating cloud sect'', Liu Mei nodded her head with that same mesmerizing smile on her face, as she and Shun Long exited their room.
The peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged ck panther'' who seemed to be sleeping in the courtyard opened his eyes, as he saw his new master and mistress leaving their room together.
The ck panther had originally followed Shun Long, only because of the magic beast contract that had changed hands, from Cui Guoliang to him.
But after Shun Long had solved his problem, the panther was truly happy and willing to follow his new master, even if there wasn''t a contract anymore.
Seeing the peak rank 5 magic beast that was looking at him eagerly, Shun Long patted its head, as he and Liu Mei sat on its back and left the inn.
After touring around the southern part of the city, Shun Long and Liu Mei soon arrived in front of arge building, where many people were entering and leaving at the same time.
''''Pale Moon merchant guild''''
The 4 blue colored words on top of the building were particrly eye-catching, while 4 guards dressed in silver armor could be seen guarding its entrance.
Of course, the guards were only guarding the entrance in case something unexpected happened, and wouldn''t block the people who wanted to enter inside.
Shun Long and Liu Mei weren''t obstructed as they walked inside the building with the ck panther following behind them.
The shocking thing that Shun Long noticed however, was that the cultivation levels of the 4 guards, were all at the early stages of the Heaven grade.
These people could have be Elders in most sects of the Deste east, like the ''floating cloud sect'', and yet, they were just guards in a merchant guild on the Night star continent.
After entering inside the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'', Shun Long noticed that it was a ce very simr to the first and second floors of the ''Treasure Pavilion''.
There were countless counters spread around the floor, that sold everything, from alchemy pills and formation master weapons, to even magic beasts inside their cages.
Shun Long and Liu Mei first walked to a counter close to the guild''s entrance, and spent a bit more than 500 spirit stones on new clothes.
After all, it wasn''t suitable for Liu Mei to wear the green robes of the ''floating cloud sect'' anymore, while Shun Long''s robes that he had carried with him from the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', would easily get destroyed during a fight just by the qi aftershocks.
After they finished their purchase, Shun Long purchased a few rank 2 medicinal herbs from another counter, before he asked the clerk whether they sold even better alchemy ingredients, as well as alchemy cauldrons in their merchant guild.
The clerk nodded his head and called a servant girl, who guided Shun Long and Liu Mei even deeper inside the guild.
After entering through arge door, Shun Long and Liu Mei soon found themselves inside a vast room filled with the scent of medicinal herbs.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up as he looked around him, seeing that there were plenty of rank 3 herbs for sale.
''''Rank 3 earth withered root, ck centipede''s powder, crystal ice lotus...''''
All of a sudden, Shun Long''s eyes were focused on a half-opened case made from ck jade, where a yellow-colored medicinal herb was priced for 20.000 spirit stones.
''''Rank 4 Sunskirt grass''''
The rank 4 ''sunskirt grass'' could be considered a healing panacea after it was sessfully refined into a pill from a silver grade alchemist.
Walking up to the counter, Shun Long looked at the white-robed clerk behind it, and under the astounded gazes of the people around him, he instantly took out 20.000 spirit stones as he purchased the rank 4 medicinal herb.
Seeing that Shun Long had taken out 20.000 spirit stones without any hesitation, greedy eyes stared at him hungrily from all directions, but inside the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'', no one dared to make any trouble.
Shun Long didn''t even bother with the greedy looks of the people around him, as he walked around the room, purchasing medicinal herb after herb.
An hourter, he had already spent more than 30.000 spirit stones, filling the herb garden inside the ''Stone of Time'' with many new medicinal herbs.
Seeing that there were no more herbs that he wanted to buy, Shun Long took Liu Mei at the back of the room, where he had seen the alchemy cauldrons that were up for sale.
Shun Long immediately skipped through the bronze grade cauldrons, as he went for the silver grade ones, however, the prices for even the rank 1 silver grade cauldrons were much higher than he had imagined.
An average rank 1 silver grade cauldron costed anywhere from 3.000 to 7.000 spirit stones, while a pinnacle rank 1 silver grade cauldron was priced at 10.000 spirit stones.
Just as Shun Long turned his attention from the rank 1 silver grade cauldrons, to the rank 2 ones, hushed discussions had started taking ce in the crowd around him, as everyone opened the way for a purple-robed middle-aged man, who approached Shun Long and Liu Mei with a smile on his face.
Chapter 163 - 163 Zhang Dingxiangs purpose
Chapter 163 - 163 Zhang Dingxiang''s purpose
Shun Long turned his attention towards the source of the noise, as he too saw a purple-robed middle-aged man approaching them through the crowd.
It was a bald, chubby man with gentle facial features, who was seemingly around histe 40s with a big bump on his forehead. A big smile adorned the man''s face, as he seemed to have been staring at Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Shun Long also noticed 2 badges on this man''s chest. One of them had the shape of a crescent moon, while the other one was surprisingly a silver badge with the word ''A'' on it. This meant that this middle-aged man was actually an A-rank mercenary.
''''Isn''t that Elder Zhang? What is he doing here?''''
''''Right! I have heard that Elder Zhang is already at the 6th stage of the Spirit realm and is one of the strongest experts of the Pale Moon merchant guild.''''
''''Perhaps he is here because he needs a new alchemy cauldron? I have heard that Elder Zhang is already a rank 2 silver grade alchemist.''''
The middle-aged man stopped in front of Shun Long and Liu Mei, and under the astonished gazes of the crowd, he cupped his hands as he looked at them, and said smilingly
''''This young master and youngdy, my name is Zhang Dingxiang and I am an Elder from the ''Pale Moon merchant guild''. May I ask for your names?''''
Shun Long frowned slightly when he saw an Elder of the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' approaching them for seemingly no reason, but when he saw the furtive nce that Zhang Dingxiang stole at the ''Silver-winged panther king'' behind him, Shun Long had a guess of what was going on, as he then replied with a slight smile on his face
''''I am Shun Long, and this is my wife, Liu Mei.''''
Shun Long of course, didn''t have any reason to hide his real name in the Night star continent. He didn''t believe that, even if he made any enemies here, that there was anyone who could trace him back to the Deste east all the way from the Night star continent, and even manage to find the ind that the ''floating cloud sect'' has control over, in the mortal world.
Besides, he was probably not the only person in the entire continent named Shun Long, and the same went for Liu Mei as well.
Liu Mei felt her face behind her white veil turning red when she heard Shun Long calling her ''wife'' in public, while at the same time, a sweet smile also appeared on her face.
Zhang Dingxiang nodded his head, as he then continued
''''I heard that around 10 days ago, a handsome young man and a white-veiled young woman with an enchanting figure had appeared on the Mercenaries'' Association, on top of a ck panther.
Now that I see the 2 of you, I must definitely admit that the rumors were true. Only a handsome gentleman such as yourself could have such a woman by your side.''''
Shun Long didn''t feel ttered by Zhang Dingxiang''s bootlicking, since he clearly understood that this man had a certain goal in mind beforeing here.
Indeed, barely a momentter, the chubby middle-aged man continued
''''Actually, I wonder if you would agree to have a private chat with me young master Shun. There are certain things that I would like to discuss with you.''''
Seeing that Shun Long seemed to be interested in their silver grade cauldrons, Zhang Dingxiang also added
''''Coincidentally, we have even better alchemy cauldrons in the private room in the back.''''
Shun Long''s eyes glinted for a moment, before he smiled and cupped his hands as he said
''''In that case, I will have to trouble you.''''
Zhang Dingxiang smiled widely as he shook his hands repeatedly and said
''''No trouble, no trouble at all! If you agree, then don''t view me as an outsider young master Shun.''''
Liu Mei smiled lightly beneath her white veil, as the chubby middle-aged man led them towards a private room in the back.
After entering inside the room, Shun Long saw a rtively small ck table, that seemed to have been made from a material that was simr to marble. Around the table there was a couch and 3 chairs, all of them made from the hide of a rank 3 ''Golden eyed crimson fox''.
Shun Long knew that the fur of a rank 3 ''Golden eyed crimson fox'', was always warm no matter what environment it was ced in.
At the wall at the end of the room, there were many ''shelves'' on the wall, with more than 100 silver grade cauldrons on top of them.
Shun Long wasn''t afraid that he would be walking into a trap before he stepped foot in the room.
Unless they had a few peak rank 9 Nascent soul stage, or a Dao King, it practically impossible that anyone could stop the ''Silver-winged panther king'' if he went on a rampage.
It was unknown if Zhang Dingxiang had guessed what Shun Long was thinking, as he then pointed at the silver grade cauldrons on the wall and said with a smile on his face
''''As you can see young master Shun, my intentions towards you arepletely sincere.''''
Shun Long didn''t go to inspect the silver grade cauldrons on the wall, but instead, he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, who gestured at him to sit on the couch as he said
''''Young master Shun, youngdy Mei, please have a seat.''''
''''Thank you''''
Shun Long smiled after seeing that the man in front of him seemed to be sincere, as he and Liu Mei then sat on the couch opposite to Zhang Dingxiang.
Zhang Dingxiang looked at Shun Long and asked
''''Young master Shun, I won''t mince my words. I would like to offer you to join our Pale Moon merchant guild as a mercenary. I assume that you already know that, as a mercenary, you will only need to help our guild during the very important missions, and we will not ask for your help otherwise.''''
After a brief moment of pause, the bald middle-aged man looked at Shun Long in the eyes as he continued
''''Although our guild isn''t the strongest in the Silver sword city, we can still be considered among the 10 strongest. Additionally... if young master Shun agrees to join us, our ''Pale Moon guild'' is also willing to take out 10.000 spirit stones every month, as payment for young master Shun''s help.''''
Chapter 164 - 164 The Pale Moon guilds offer
Chapter 164 - 164 The Pale Moon guild''s offer
''''Although our guild isn''t the strongest in the Silver sword city, we can still be considered among the 10 strongest. Additionally... if young master Shun agrees to join us, our ''Pale Moon guild'' is also willing to take out 10.000 spirit stones every month, as payment for young master Shun''s help.''''
Both Shun Long and Liu Mei were stunned for a moment, hearing that the Pale Moon guild was willing to take out so many spirit stones every month, in exchange for ''Shun Long joining their guild''.
Liu Mei turned to look at Shun Long next to her, who had clearly understood that the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' didn''t really value his abilities as a D rank mercenary all of a sudden.
Instead, they were enticed by the strength of the ''Silver-winged panther king'' next to him.
As a peak rank 5 magic beast, the ck panther is definitely as strong... no, it is even stronger than the average SS-rank mercenary.
Looking at the bald man in front of him, Shun Long pondered seriously over his offer.
10.000 spirit stones a month, would mean 120.000 spirit stones in a year.
Although it wasn''t a huge amount to the current Shun Long who still had nearly a million spirit stones inside the ''Stone of Time'', it was still quite a big sum.
After ncing at the ck panther who was sitting near the door, Shun Long turned his head to look at the middle-aged man in front of him and said
''''What you really value, is just the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' strength, right?''''
Zhang Dingxiang suddenly fell speechless for a second, seeing how bluntly Shun Long had exposed his thoughts, before he scratched his head as he answered with a smile
''''That.. hehe, although it''s true, I''m sure that young master can see, that our guild is still willing to pay you as much, as the other guilds pay for their SS-rank mercenaries.''''
Shun Long however, shook his head, as he asked with a serious look in his eyes
''''Elder Zhang, do you think that an SS-rank mercenary, is as strong as a peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king''?''''
''''That...''''
Zhang Dingxiang didn''t know how to respond to this.
After all, it was true, that average peak rank 5 magic beasts could probably fight off against 3 of their human counterparts at the same time, and still escape alive if needed.
The bald middle-aged man was also very clear that he had tried to take advantage of Shun Long, since it wasn''t him who had the cultivation of ate-stage Nascent Soul expert, but his magic beast instead.
Zhang Dingxiang took a deep breath as he then said matter-of-factly
''''Young master Shun, I admit that you are right, however, no matter how strong an SS-rank mercenary may be, in the end they are still just one person.''''
After thinking for a moment, a glint shed through the middle-aged man''s eyes as he continued
''''How about this? Young master Shun will only have to help our guild once in the next 3 months, and in return, I will gift the young master a pinnacle rank 1 silver grade cauldron, along with the payment of 30.000 spirit stones. After that, perhaps the young master will like our guild and won''t want to leave.''''
A light shed by Shun Long''s eyes when he heard Zhang Dingxiang''s words, when Liu Mei''s soft voice suddenly sounded in his ears, as she looked at the middle-aged man in front of her and asked with a smile beneath her veil
''''Elder Zhang, can you please give us a moment to discuss this?''''
A bright smile covered Zhang Dingxiang''s face, as he looked at the white-veiled Liu Mei who had been quiet all this time, before he replied amiably
''''Of course! You should discuss this between yourselves. I will be waiting outside the room, so call me when you are ready.''''
''''Thank you!'''' Liu Mei said in her gentle voice, as she waited for Zhang Dingxiang to leave the room.
Then, with a worried look on her face, she looked at the young man next to her as she said
''''Long-ge, there is definitely something fishy with this ''Elder Zhang''. Although he tried to hide it, I am certain that he had been expecting your question.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, and holding Liu Mei''s hand he said
''''Don''t worry, I noticed it as well. It seems like his main goal for asking us to join the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'', has something to do with whatever is going to happen 3 months from now.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head without saying anything else. Since Shun Long understood what she had wanted to convey, there wasn''t much else to add to it.
Shun Long then fell into contemtion for a while.
He didn''t ask Zhang Dingxiang what the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' was nning to do 3 months from now, since he clearly understood that this was something pointless to do.
From Zhang Dingxiang''s tone, this had to be something really important for their guild, while he as an outsider couldn''t be given much information or that would risk their ns getting exposed.
Of course, Shun Long could choose to refuse joining the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' as well, but if he chose to join, he could also use the guild in the future to buy or sell anything that he may need, including medicinal herbs, or even information regarding the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
A few minutester, Zhang Dingxiang heard Shun Long''s voice that called him, and with a smile on his face he asked
''''Young master Shun, have you made your decision?''''
Shun Long nodded his head and looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, he too smiled as he replied
''''I ept your conditions, but, I want a pinnacle rank 2 silver grade cauldron.''''
Zhang Dingxiang was ted when he had heard the first part of the sentence, but when he heard that Shun Long wanted a pinnacle rank 2 silver-grade cauldron, his left eye involuntarily twitched. The price of a pinnacle rank 2 silver-grade cauldron ranged anywhere from 30.000 to 50.000 spirit stones.
With an ugly smile on his face, the middle-aged man looked at Shun Long and said
''''Young master Shun, your request is a bit too excessive. In that case, just for helping our guild once, we would have to pay you from 60.000-80.000 spirit stones in the end.''''
Shun Long however shook his head at the bald man in front of him, as he replied with a deep look in his eyes
''''Senior Zhang, your words aren''t correct. Even if your pavilion sells something for 50.000 spirit stones to outsiders, that doesn''t necessarily signify the true value of the item. Additionally, as arge merchant guild, I do not believe that you also do not offer discounts to your members.''''
Shun Long then pretended to think for a moment, as he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, and with the same sly tone that Zhang Dingxiang had spoken to him earlier before he said smilingly
''''How about this? Senior Zhang only has to tell me what you need my help with 3 months from now, and in return, I won''t even take the pinnacle rank 1 silver grade cauldron from you. After all, it is also a big risk for me to agree to help you, without even knowing what''s going on.''''
Zhang Dingxiang now regretted trying to trick Shun Long, as he sighed and said
''''Very well, young master Shun. It was my mistake earlier. Our guild is of course very amodating with our mercenaries wishes. You can choose a cauldron from the ones on the wall, but please remember, that no matter what, you have to help our guild 3 months from now.''''
Shun Long looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and said with a serious tone
''''As long as your request isn''t too excessive, I will of course help you.''''
The middle-aged man nodded his head, allowing Shun Long to choose a cauldron from the ones on the wall as he thought to himself
''''Even if I let you take all of these cauldrons, our guild would still profit from you in the end.''''
Of course, his request wasn''t going to be ''too excessive'' as well. After all, this was going to be something that involved more than one SS-rank mercenary.
After choosing a cauldron, Shun Long gave Zhang Dingxiang his address, before he and Liu Mei left the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' and returned to the ''King''s courtyard''.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Liu Mei watched Shun Long as he took out his new medicinal cauldron, as well as the ''Blood Vermilion fruits'' from the ''Stone of Time''.
After warming up the new medicinal cauldron in front of him, Shun Long brought his spiritual strength to its peak, before he finally started refining the rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills''.
Chapter 165 - 165 Breaking through to the Heaven grade
Chapter 165 - 165 Breaking through to the Heaven grade
One after the other, the rank 2 medicinal herbs were quickly turned into a puddle of purple liquid while their essence was extracted inside the cauldron.
After he was done with the supportive medicinal herbs, Shun Long turned his attention to the crimson rank 3 fruit in front of him.
Now that he had already advanced to the peak of rank 9 in earth grade, his spiritual strength had long since reached the standard of a rank 1 silver grade alchemist, giving him absolute confidence in this pill refinement.
Shun Long grabbed the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'' with both hands and tore it wide open, causing a red-colored liquid that was darker than blood, to merge with the rest of the medicinal essence inside the cauldron.
A sizzling sound was suddenly heard, the moment that this red liquid touched the purple puddle of medicinal essence, as bright red mes instantly engulfed the cauldron.
Shun Longpletely ignored the mes that were burning his hands, as he used his spiritual strength to merge the 2 medicinal essences into one.
It seemed that the essence of the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'' innately rejected the purple liquid, but under Shun Long''s constant refinement, the 2 liquids had started to slowly merge into one.
An hourter, the scent of medicinal essence exploded from the cauldron, as a fragrant aroma quickly filled the room.
Liu Mei''s eyes widened as this intoxicating scent assaulted her senses.
After opening the lid of the cauldron, Shun Long saw 5 sparkling red pills lying inside, all of them emitting a blinding red l.u.s.ter.
Seeing the 5 top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'' inside the cauldron, Shun Long''s lips curved up in satisfaction.
He ced the pills in 2 different bottles before he stood up and walked up to Liu Mei who was sitting on a white cushion opposite to him.
Liu Mei gave him a dazzling smile when she saw the satisfied expression on his face after the sessful pill refinement, when Shun Long smiled at her, before he handed her a bottle with 2 pills inside it, as he said
''''Mei''er, when you cultivate tonight, consume one of these pills and try to breakthrough to the rank 2 in Heaven grade. With these top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'', along with your Moonlight Sigil, I don''t think that you will have any difficulty in breaking through.''''
''''Mhm!''''
Liu Mei didn''t try to decline, and instead, gently nodded her head at Shun Long, who then sat down on the ck cushion as he circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
As the indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from his body, Shun Long took a deep breath to calm his mind, as he saw the 81 balls of qi floating above him.
Without any hesitation, he immediately consumed a top-grade ''Bloodbustion pill'', as a blue-colored whirlpool appeared above his head, absorbing the qi of Heaven and earth around the courtyard.
At the same time, the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' was consuming spirit stones non-stop, filling the space inside the ''Stone of Time'' with its pure qi.
Just like his breakthrough from the qi condensation to the earth grade, Shun Long needed topress the 81 balls of qi into one, before he could sessfully enter the Heaven grade.
The 81 balls of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' werepressed again and again, and half an hourter, they were down to just 27 of them.
Shun Long could feel the difficulty increasing, every time he tried topress the balls of qi further, but at the same time, the blue-colored vortex above his head was growing bigger in size.
Shun Long had already started to feel the qi in the air around him, while his heart had also started to feel a connection with thews of Heaven and earth.
Every time that a cultivator advanced to the Heaven grade, they would be able to sense thews of Heaven and earth around them, helping themprehend a Dao that they had an affinity with.
The moment that Shun Long''s mind made contact with thews of Heaven and earth around him, the ''Stone of Time'' vibrated lightly, as the blue-colored vortex immediately doubled in size.
Shun Long could feel his understanding of the Dao of Time bing deeper, while at the same time, the balls of qi above his head were beingpressed at an even faster rate.
An hourter, there were only 3 qi balls left inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', each of them emitting astonishing power.
As Shun Long wasprehending the Dao of Time and waspressing his qi balls, the swirling blue vortex above his head had already engulfed the entire ''King''s courtyard''.
Everyone inside the inn had already turned their heads to look at the gigantic vortex in the sky, as shocked discussions quickly filled the inn.
''''Could it be... that someone is breaking through to the Heaven grade?''''
''''Impossible! Not with such a huge vortex. If I had to guess, then this is probably a senior who is training in some secret technique.''''
''''Right, this makes sense. After all, even when the youngdy of the Silver sword n had broken through to the Heaven grade, her qi vortex had already reached 50 meters in size, while this one seemed to have already exceeded 900 meters.''''
Inside a luxurious private room, the Inn-keeper Deng Zixin, had a deep look in his eyes as he stared towards Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s courtyard, while he mumbled something inaudibly.
Shun Long however, waspletely oblivious to the attention that his breakthrough had attracted, as his mind was fully focused on merging together the rest of his qi balls.
4 hourster, there were only 2 balls of qi left inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Each of these 2 balls of qi, had far more energy inside them,pared to all the previous 81 ballsbined.
An hourter, the swirling blue vortex in the sky quickly shrunk, before it disappeared inside Shun Long''s body a few momentster.
BOOOM
The moment that the vortex entered Shun Long''s body, a terrifying sound was heard from the inside of the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as a single, white ball of qi could be seen floating inside.
Suddenly, the ''Stone of Time'' that hadn''t reacted for so many months vibrated intensely, and under Liu Mei''s horrified eyes, Shun Long''s body abruptly disappeared into thin air.
Chapter 166 - 166 Mysterious Palace
Chapter 166 - 166 Mysterious Pce
Suddenly, the ''Stone of Time'' that hadn''t reacted for so many months vibrated intensely, and under Liu Mei''s horrified eyes, Shun Long''s body abruptly disappeared into thin air.
In the courtyard outside of the room, the ''Silver-winged panther king'' opened its eyes, and without any moment to lose, it quickly arrived outside the room.
Although it could feel that its connection with Shun Long was still intact, but even with its soul sense, the peak rank 5 magic beast was unable to locate its master.
ROAR!
The ck panther let out a violent roar towards the sky, sending shivers to everyone else who was staying in the inn.
Liu Mei opened the door of the room, only to see the ck panther searching for Shun Long in confusion.
The young woman understood why the panther hade outside the room, as she then patted its head with her soft hands, but she still couldn''t hide the worry in her eyes. After all, it wasn''t normal for someone to disappear into thin air, especially under the nose of a peak rank 5 magic beast who was guarding the room.
At the same time that Liu Mei was cating the ck panther, Shun Long opened his eyes, as he then found himself within an unknown space that he had never seen before.
It was a small ce of a little more than 40 square meters, surrounded by thick white fog from all sides.
Shun Long took a look around him, but aside from a patch of vibrant grass on the ground, as well as the white fog in the surroundings, there didn''t seem to be anything else in this ce.
Soon, a look of disbelief had covered Shun Long''s face, as he immediately closed his eyes and started to sense his surroundings.
If it was the Shun Long from a few hours ago, he probably wouldn''t have been unable to notice this, but after breaking through to the Heaven grade, hisprehension of the Dao of Time was simply iparable to before.
He could now clearly feel, that the flow of time in this ce was very simr to his herb garden.
In other words, time in this ce was flowing faster than the outside world.
Speechless, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength inside his spiritual space, only to see the ''Stone of Time'' that was rotating slowly in a clockwise motion, as it emitted a bright purple light.
The purple light quickly ''assaulted'' Shun Long''s spiritual strength, as countless images shed through his mind one after the other.
Shun Long felt a ripple around his body, as he suddenly found himself in front of the gates of a majestic red pce.
This pce was thousands of meters tall, while sculptures of countless creatures decorated its surroundings. Some of these statues were barely a meter tall (3ft), while others were as tall as a few thousand meters, all of them seemed as if they had been made by the best sculptor under the Heavens.
Among these statues, Shun Long saw dragons, tigers, vermilion birds, phoenixes, kilins... and even goblins, elves and dwarfs. Nine-tailed foxes as well as giants that were holding huge clubs, were also amidst the ranks of these statues.
The lifelike expressions on the statues'' faces, made it hard for Shun Long to believe that these were just inanimate objects.
If Shun Long had topare this pce with Cui Guoliang''s, then the Dao King would seem like a beggar, unting his wealth in front of a tycoon.
All of a sudden, a creaking sound was heard, as the gigantic gates of the red pce had started to open.
Shun Long took a step back as he saw the gigantic gates slowly opening in front of him, but to his surprise, there didn''t seem to be anyone inside the pce.
Just as Shun Long was hesitating over whether he should enter inside or not, the ''Stone of Time'' that was still rotating inside his spiritual space, abruptly emitted a mix of purple and blue lights, before it sent a colorful beam inside the pce.
The pce itself started rumbling, looking like it was just hit by an earthquake, as a purple beam of light shot up, from the depths of the pce high into the sky.
The sky immediately darkened as multiple thunderps sounded from the direction behind Shun Long, all of them heading towards the pce.
Shun Long was about to turn his head around and have a look at the scene behind him, when suddenly, his vision turned blurry as he found himself back in that ce surrounded by fog.
For a moment, he waspletely stunned, as his mind could barelyprehend what had happened.
The ''Stone of Time'' seemed to have teleported him outside of a huge pce, before it sent a colorful beam of light inside it. Before Shun Long could get a clear grasp of the situation, he quickly found himself back inside this space, where time was flowing much faster than the outside world.
Sending his spiritual strength inside his spiritual space, Shun Long saw that the ''Stone of Time'' had already stopped rotating. As his spiritual strength ''touched'' the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long soon found himself back inside his room.
''''Long-ge!''''
Shun Long heard Liu Mei''s concerned voice behind him, as he then felt her soft hands hugging his waist.
Turning around, Shun Long saw the beautiful young woman in front of him, with hints of tears still in her eyes.
Shaking his head, he sighed as his hands took her in his embrace as he said
''''I''m sorry that I worried you.''''
''''It''s okay''''
Liu Mei shook her head as she replied with a beautiful smile on her face.
She didn''t ask Shun Long what had happened to him or where he went. Instead, she could finally put down her worries when she saw him returning back in one piece.
-
-
At the same time, outside the pce that Shun Long was standing on a few moments ago, 2 old men with blurry facial features were staring at the sky in front of them.
The old men didn''t speak to each other, even though a scene of utter pandemonium was taking ce in front of their own eyes.
Finally, a few minutester, the old man on the right couldn''t stay silent anymore, as he looked at the old man next to him and asked in a fearful tone
''''Brother Hu... do you think that... the 5th lord has returned?''''
Chapter 167 - 167 The place surrounded by fog
Chapter 167 - 167 The ce surrounded by fog
''''Brother Hu... do you think that... the 5th lord has returned?''''
The old man who was named ''Brother Hu'' fell silent for a second after hearing this question.
Although his facial features were still blurry and one couldn''t see the look in his eyes, he still couldn''t hide his hand that had suddenly started trembling, as various thoughts shed through his mind.
Looking at the old man next to him, ''Brother Hu'' replied in an uncertain voice
''''I... don''t think so. After all, the 4th pce lord would never allow it...''''
The 2 old men immediately fell silent, as their eyes stared at the sky in front of them that had already started to turn red.
Cries of pain, ecstasy, fervor, unwillingness, along with many more mixed feelings filled the 2 old men''s ears, who they watched the horrifying scene that unfolded in front of them with perfectly calm eyes.
It seemed that the massacre before their eyes was unable to move the 2 old men in the slightest.
-
-
At the same time, back in the King''s courtyard inside his room, Shun Long exined to Liu Mei that his disappearance just now was connected to his cultivation technique.
Liu Mei nodded her head without saying anything else, as she sat down on the white meditative cushion and circted the Moonlight Sigil, absorbing the moonlight inside her body.
Opening her eyes lightly, she nced at Shun Long who was still inside the room with a smile, before she swallowed a top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pill''.
Seeing that everything was alright with Liu Mei''s cultivation, Shun Long sat cross-legged on top of the ck cushion, as he once again sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time''.
It seemed that his mind could still enter inside the space where little ck was currently sleeping, before his consciousness returned back to his body.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long imagined being in that small space surrounded by fog, when his body suddenly disappeared from the room.
Looking at the patch of grass that he was now sitting on, as well as the white-fog in his surroundings, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''It really is rted to the ''Stone of Time!''''''
With a single thought, he then imagined leaving this space, as his body returned back to his room, where Liu Mei was still absorbing the ''Bloodbustion pill''.
After making sure that he coulde and go to that space surrounded by fog at will, Shun Long''s nerves slightly rxed, when the image of that gigantic pce once again appeared in his mind.
Shun Long didn''t know what that pce was, or how it was connected to the ''Stone of Time'', but even after trying for a while, he was unable to return back to it.
''''It seems like the ''Stone of Time'' holds even more secrets inside.''''
After thinking seriously for a while, Shun Long decided to enter inside that ce surrounded by fog once again, and see if he could really use the enhanced flow of time to advance his cultivation.
Indeed, as soon as he entered this space once again, Shun Long verified that the flow of time was approximately 10 times faster here, than the outside world.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength in his spiritual space, inside the ''Stone of Time'', as he dragged out the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' from the herb garden, and brought it to this ce.
The vine absorbed the spirit stones like crazy, as it produced more and more qi for Shun Long.
Absorbing the pure qi around him, Shun Long started creating another ball of qi in his right hand.
3 hourster, a pure white qi ball, that was almost identical to the one inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' had appeared in Shun Long''s hand.
Grabbing the ball of qi with both hands, Shun Long pushed it upwards, towards the small hole above his head. A few minutester, a popping sound was heard, as 2 white balls of qi were now floating inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shun Long didn''t rest after seeing that he had sessfully created another ball of qi. Instead, he continued absorbing the qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' at an even faster rate than before.
10 days had soon passed like this, until Shun Long stopped his cultivation.
He had already spent more than 40.000 spirit stones, but his cultivation had already advanced to the peak of rank 1 in Heaven grade.
The moment that Shun Long imagined leaving this space surrounded by fog, his body instantly returned back to his room.
Although 10 days had passed for Shun Long while he was cultivating, it was just one day for Liu Mei inside the room.
There were only a few hours left until the sun had set in the Silver sword city.
Seeing Shun Long appearing inside the room, a sweet smile suffused Liu Mei''s face.
Shun Long''s eyes widened slightly, as he saw that Liu Mei had already reached the early rank 2 in Heaven grade, in just one night. It seemed like the results of the Saint low-grade Moonlight Sigil,bined with the top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pill'' were even better than what he had originally thought.
''''Mei''er, good job!''''
Liu Mei however was even more surprised than Shun Long, when she saw that he had already reached the peak of rank 1 in Heaven grade ''in just one day''.
''''L-Long-ge!''''
Shun Long smiled brightly at Liu Mei, before he lifted her up in his arms and took her straight to the bed, as they engaged in another round of ''arduous cultivation''.
Half a month quickly passed like this for Liu Mei, but nearly half a year had already passed for Shun Long.?''During the day'' he would either cultivate inside the special ce that was surrounded by fog, or he would try to get a deeperprehension in the Dao of Time or the Dao of Space. Of course, he would also spend some time refining pills for himself and Liu Mei as well.
Finally, a small purple vortex had appeared above Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s room, as Shun Long''s body that was still inside the foggy ce, had now started to glow with a powerful purple-colored light.
Chapter 168 - 168 Breaking through to the third stage of body refinement
Chapter 168 - 168 Breaking through to the third stage of body refinement
At the same time that the purple vortex had appeared above the room, Shun Long''s eyes abruptly opened inside the foggy ce.
Looking at the purple-colored light that his body was emitting, Shun Long''s lips slightly curved up.
It was finally time for him to break through to the third stage of body refinement.
The energy inside his body had long since .u.mted enough for his breakthrough, that the only thing that Shun Long had beencking all this time, wasprehension in the Dao of Space.
Thankfully, he had already experienced the feeling of ''touching upon the Dao of Space'' once, back when, he and little ck had killed the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' inside the Forest of Giants.
Crack
Crack!
Crack!!!
Shun Long''s bones begun to emit cracking sounds, as the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had started circting by itself.
The familiar pain of having his bones crushed, once again filled his body, followed by his nerves and tendons.
The slow but painful restructuring process seemed to be taking ce, every time that Shun Long advanced in the next stage of his body cultivation.
Although he had already experienced this feeling twice, the pain didn''t seem to diminish at all, but instead, it was bing even stronger.
4 hours quickly passed like this, and the small purple vortex above Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s room had now expanded beyond their own courtyard.
The residents of the inn were shocked, seeing the purple whirlpool in the air, but with the precedence from half a month ago, they were now even more sure that this was a senior who is cultivating in some kind of secret technique.
''''Hahaha! Hey, Jia Wen! Didn''t I tell you that this vortex was created by some kind of mysterious technique? What do you have to say now?''''
''''Shut up ''Old Ting''! I admit that I was wrong but, don''t tell me that you didn''t think even for a second, that this was the Dao vortex of someone who was breaking through to the Heaven grade!?''''
''Old Ting'' looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a disdainful look in his eyes, as he replied
''''Tsk tsk tsk... I already told you that it was impossible for that to have been a Dao vortex, brat. Then, do you believe that this is some kind of Dao vortex as well?''''
The man named Jia Wen merely shook his head in response, indicating that he was agreeing with his friend.
Even the inn keeper, Deng Zixin, was now staring at the sky above him in confusion.
If the blue vortex from half a month ago, could be attributed to that young man on the ck panther havingprehended an extraordinary Dao when he broke through to the Heaven grade, then how could this purple vortex be exined? After all, the white-veiled young woman next to him when they entered the inn, was already a Heaven grade cultivator.
''''Could it be, that there really is some powerful senior who is following these 2 pups? But... how strong does he have to be, for me to have actually failed to notice him yet?''''
Deng Zixin''s eyes suddenly widened, while a terrifying thought shed through his mind, as he subconsciously stared towards Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s courtyard with eyes filled with dread.
2 more hours passed, as the purple-colored whirlpool above Shun Long''s room had now expanded throughout the entire inn.
Finally, the massive whirlpool started to shrink, until it condensed itself into a tiny vortex above Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s room.
Inside the foggy space, Shun Long''s body was lying on the ground, as he repeatedly gasped for breath.
Perspiration had already drenched his forehead, as he did his best to slowly stand up from the ground.
He clearly understood, that his advancement to the third stage in body refinement wouldn''t beplete, until the purple-colored vortex entered inside his body.
Shun Long visualized himself leaving the foggy ce, as his body returned back to his room.
The purple-colored whirlpool seemed as if it had suddenly found its target, as it rushed to enter inside Shun Long''s body.
His aura was now rising at an incredible rate, while the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had finally started to digest all of the mysterious water that he had absorbed along with little ck, from theke that the ''Nine-eyed giant worm'' was living in.
BOOOM
Shun Long could clearly feel his body growing stronger with every drop of water that he absorbed, and barely 10 minutester, a powerful booming sound was heard from his body, as it reverberated inside the room.
It seemed like thest barrier that was holding Shun Long to the second stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', was suddenly destroyed, as he instantly entered the early third stage of body refinement.
Liu Mei who was sitting on the white cushion next to Shun Long''s opened her eyes, and a look of joy soon covered her face. She clearly understood that Shun Long had seeded in his breakthrough.
And yet, the remaining energy inside Shun Long''s body was still churning, as the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' made him seem like a starved beast that was simply unwilling to stop eating, now that it had finally woken up.
Half an hourter, under Liu Mei''s astounded gaze, his body once again exploded with a burst of powerful aura, that swept through everything inside the room.
It seemed as if the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', had finished absorbing the water down to itsst drop, when Shun Long''s aura finally stabilized at the middle of the third stage as he slowly opened his eyes.
Half a month ago, when his body had been forcefully transferred in front of that huge red pce, Shun Long''s heart had been ovee with a feeling of urgency.
It was a feeling that stemmed from the depths of his heart, telling him that if he didn''t be stronger, then one day he would end up dying.
Shun Long didn''t know how many secrets the ''Stone of Time'' held, but he had clearly decided that he would do his utmost to be stronger and discover them all.
After all, although it was fortunate that there were no people with malicious intentions near the red pce back then, if a simr situation happened in the future, where Shun Long ended up being teleported somewhere without being able to resist, then it was unknown if he would be able to stay alive or not.
''''Since the ''Stone of Time'' has already merged with my soul, it''s not something that I can simply ignore, and take my time to investigate in the future.''''
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long first sorted out his thoughts, before he turned his head to look at the beautiful young woman next to him.
Liu Mei''s small mouth was still agape as she stared at him, nearly unable to believe what she had just witnessed.
Shun Long smiled at the stunned Liu Mei, who soon put on a bewitching smile on her face as well.
Seeing that it was still morning, Shun Long stretched his limbs, before he looked at Liu Mei and said with that same smile on his face
''''Mei''er, let''s go to the Pale Moon guild!''''
Chapter 169 - 169 A stunned Zhang Dingxiang
Chapter 169 - 169 A stunned Zhang Dingxiang
A confused expression filled Liu Mei''s face, who nodded her head nheless.
The ''Silver-winged ck panther'' opened his eyes as he saw Shun Long and Liu Mei exiting their room, before he got up and happily walked towards them.
Shun Long patted the ck panther''s head, as he and Liu Mei sat on its back and left the ''King''s courtyard''.
On the panther''s back, Liu Mei couldn''t restrain her curiosity any longer as she asked
''''Long-ge... how did you breakthrough, from the peak of the second stage in body refinement, all the way to the middle of the third stage in one day?''''
Although Liu Mei wasn''t a body cultivator, she clearly knew that body refinement was a far more arduous path than qi refining.
However, the results were, that if a body refiner could close the distance between himself and a qi refiner during a fight, then 90 percent of the time, the body refining cultivator would easily win.
A moment after the words had left her mouth, Liu Mei shook her head as she stared at Shun Long''s back and said
''''I''m sorry!
If it''s something that you don''t want to talk about...''''
Shun Long smiled lightly, and turning his head to the side he said
''''There isn''t anything to hide anyway. Back in the ''Vermilion realm'', there was argeke inside a forest that was called ''The Forest of Giants''. The water from thatke had amazing effects on any body refining cultivators or magic beasts who consumed it.
Back then, I absorbed as much water as I could, and stored its energy inside my body. Unfortunately, since I hadn''tprehended a Dao just yet, I couldn''t break through to the third stage of body refinement, keeping that energy stayed inside my body until today. Even I hadn''t expected, that I would be able to breakthrough to the middle of the third stage in one go.''''
Liu Mei hugged Shun Long''s chest with her arms, as she ced her head on his back and whispered
''''Thank you.''''
She had felt a warm feeling in her heart when she heard Shun Long''s answer. After all, it wasn''t umon for Dao partners to have a few secrets that they wouldn''t reveal, even if their partner asked about them.
This was also the reason why Liu Mei hadn''t asked about the warm energy that had entered her body, every time that she and Shun Long had intercourse. She was afraid that Shun Long wouldn''t answer since that may involve some kind of secret that he wasn''t willing to disclose. But it seemed that her worries were unfounded, as she didn''t sense any hesitation from Shun Long just now, when he answered her question. (Author''s notes: The term Dao partners refers to a man and a woman who are practically married. They embark on the path of cultivation together, from the start to the end.)
Shun Long chuckled as he felt Liu Mei''s warm body on his back, before he said in an almost inaudible voice
''''Silly girl...''''
Liu Mei didn''t choose to ask for the reason that they were heading towards the ''Pale Moon guild'', and 10 minutester, the ck panther had already arrived in front of the guild''s entrance.
Once again, there were 4 guards in silver armor, stationed in front of the guild''s entrance.
Just likest time however, Shun Long and Liu Mei entered inside without any obstruction, as they headed towards the guild''s depths.
Shun Long took out a ck-colored token that Zhang Dingxiang had given to him thest time before they left, as he and Liu Mei walked all the way to the back of the guild, until they arrived in front of a small private room.
A young maidservant was standing outside the room, as she eyed Shun Long and the white-veiled Liu Mei curiously seeing they approached closer.
Shun Long smiled casually at the maid, as he showed her the ck token in his hands and asked
''''Is Zhang Dingxiang inside?''''
The maid''s eyes widened when she saw the Elder''s personal token, as she hurriedly bowed and replied politely
''''The Elder isn''t here yet. If you would like to, I can call him right away.''''
This was the room that Zhang Dingxiang had told Shun Long to go to, if he needed to find him in the future.
As for the ck-colored token, anyone who was holding such a token would represent an Elder of the ''Pale Moon merchant guild''.
Shun Long nodded his head at the maid, who then run away, deeper inside the guild.
A quarter of an hourter, the young maid trailed behind a purple-robed middle aged man. This bald and chubby man, with his gentle facial features, could be no one else other than Zhang Dingxiang.
Spotting Shun Long and the white-veiled Liu Mei from the distance, Zhang Dingxiang was stunned for a moment, before a wide smile filled his face, as he greeted enthusiastically
''''Young master Shun, youngdy! Wee back to our guild.
Please enter inside.''''
Zhang Dingxiang quickly walked up to the door of the private room and pushed it open, revealing a luxurious room around 50 square meters big.
Shun Long and Liu Mei sat on the couch opposite to Zhang Dingxiang, before the middle-aged man asked in a friendly tone
''''Young master Shun, is there any way I can help you with?''''
Seeing that Shun Long hade to him directly, Zhang Dingxiang assumed that he must have a private matter that he needed his help with.
Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, and taking out 2 small bottles that were filled with top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'', as well as 10 white scrolls from the ''Stone of Time'', he ced them all on the table in front of him.
His eyes were still looking at Zhang Dingxiang as he asked in a nonchnt tone
''''Elder Zhang, I wonder if your ''Pale moon guild'' has anyrge auctions in this month.''''
Zhang Dingxiang casually grabbed the bottle of pills on the table and opened it, as a refreshing herbal scent immediately filled the room.
The words that the middle-aged Elder from the Pale Moon guild had wanted to say, were now stuck in his throat, as he stared at the pills in front of him with mad fervor in his eyes.
Chapter 170 - 170 The sly Elder Zhang
Chapter 170 - 170 The ''sly'' Elder Zhang
As a rank 2 silver grade alchemist who was close to the rank 3, Zhang Dingxiang immediately understood that these were top-grade rank 3 pills.
Although Zhang Dingxiang could refine even rank 4 pills, he couldn''t necessarily refine top-grade rank 3 pills at will. The refinement of the pills had to be perfect, from the condition and maturity of the medicinal herbs and the extraction of their essence, all the way to the pill forming stage.
But the most important reason that made the chubby bald Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' so excited, was that he had never seen this kind of pill before.
It looked like the man hadpletely forgotten proper etiquette, as he took a pill in his hand and started sniffing it, while at the same time he mumbled
''''Mmm. It smells simr to a rank 4 ''Blood-sucking fruit''... but the feeling it gives off is closer to that of a rank 4 ''Aura qi pill''...''''
Shun Long was a bit surprised, seeing a dignified silver grade alchemist, sniffing the pill without stop.
As for the reason why he decided to put the top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'' for auction, there were 2 main reasons.
The first, was that he had plenty of time to refine pills, inside the foggy space that the ''Stone of Time'' had provided him with. Shun Long had even guessed, that the ce surrounded by fog, was a separate space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
As for the second reason, in the past half a year that he had spent cultivating inside the ''Stone of Time'', his spirit stones supply had already started to run low. The more that his cultivation increased, the more qi he had to absorb to advance to the next level, which made the amount of spirit stones that he required, reach a terrifying number. Right now, although he had already advanced to the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade, he had just a little more than 400.000 spirit stones left.
Additionally, Shun Long had also noticed, that as his cultivation advanced further and further in the Heaven grade, the effects of the ''Bloodbustion pills'' were bing increasingly weaker. He estimated, that by the time that he reached the peak of rank 6 in Heaven grade, the top-grade ''Bloodbustion pills'' would bepletely useless to him.
Looking at the middle-aged man who was sitting in front of him, Shun Long didn''t get anxious as he waited for him to finish examining the pills.
Cough
Cough
''''Ahem. Young master Shun, may I ask for the name of this pill? I''m embarrassed to admit it, but even as a rank 2 silver grade alchemist, I have never heard of this pill before.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Zhang Dingxiang''s words. Of course he hadn''t heard of this pill before, since there wasn''t any set recipe for it as far as Shun Long knew. Shun Long had created this recipe himself, so, even though it was possible that other alchemists would have also done the same and create a simr recipe, it wasn''t surprising for Zhang Dingxiang to have no idea about it.
Additionally, the ''Blood Vermilion fruit'' wasn''t amon rank 3 medicinal herb, which made the bald middle-aged alchemist of the ''Pale Moon guild'' unable to figure out, what the main herb for the creation of these pills was.
''''These pills are called the ''Bloodbustion pills''. As for their effects, just one of them has more than a 70% chance, of helping a peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivator to advance to the early rank 2.''''
Zhang Dingxiang''s eyes widened for a bit, before he nodded his head, and with arge smile on his face he said
''''Young master Shun, there is indeed an auction that our ''Pale Moon guild'' is hosting near the end of this month, 5 days from now. However, since I cannot verify the effects of these pills, and our guild doesn''t have a rank 3 silver grade alchemist, I will have to ask young master Shun to allow us to privately test one of them. After all, we cannot auction unknown pills that we cannot verify their effects.''''
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he understood what Zhang Dingxiang was trying to do. After all, as an alchemist himself, Shun Long clearly knew, that every alchemist above the bronze grade, was able to ascertain the effects of a pill, just by shaving off a tiny part of the pill, that wouldn''t affect its overall potency.
Shaking his head, Shun Long stared at the middle-aged man in front of him, before he retrieved the 2 bottles of pills from the table, as he then said in a cold tone
''''Elder Zhang, I think that you have misunderstood me.
I didn''t ask you to verify my pills'' effects, I told you to auction them. Since you are incapable of understanding their effects, then our partnership ends here.''''
Zhang Dingxiang''s mouth was wide open, as he saw Shun Long returning the pill bottles, as well as the scrolls that he hadn''t checked yet, back in his ''spatial ring''.
Then, he turned his head to look at Liu Mei, as they both stood up and prepared to leave the private room.
This was the second time that the bald, middle-aged Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' had tried to take advantage of Shun Long and failed.
He also hadn''t expected for the young man in front of him to be so decisive, as to pack everything and leave.
For a moment, he also wondered whether Shun Long knew about the technique of ''shaving off a part of the pill'', and if that was the reason that he had turned so angry.
Standing up from his seat, Zhang Dingxiang put an ingratiating smile on his face, as he looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei and hurriedly said
''''Young master Shun, youngdy, please wait. It was my fault just now, as I seemed to have forgotten another way to verify the effects of the pills. Please, if you are willing to sit down and discuss this, then I would be very happy to be of assistance.''''
Shun Long however shook his head as he said
''''Elder Zhang, this seems to be the second time that you are ''at fault''. I already forgave you the first time, so tell me, why shouldn''t I just go to another guild now? After all, I am certain that with the ''Silver-winged panther king'', other guilds will be more than happy to wee us, and offer me the same benefits as your ''Pale Moon merchant guild''.''''
Zhang Dingxiang''s eyes bulged out as he heard this, and with a pained look on his face he asked
''''You-Young master Shun. Would you really do that? B-But... you have already joined our ''Pale Moon merchant guild''. I even gave you a peak rank 2 silver grade cauldron.''''
Shun Long scoffed at the pretentious behavior of the bald Elder in front of him, and with the same cold look, he narrowed his eyes as he replied
''''You can only me yourself for being greedier than you should be. I epted your offer to join your guild but you were still dishonest, and tried to take advantage of me for one extra pill. Who knows if you will be dishonest again tomorrow, or the day after?''''
The bald middle-aged Elder felt as if he had fallen into a trap, hook, line and sinker.
However, with the way that things had developed so far, he clearly understood that he was in the wrong and that his greed had gotten the better of him.
Hence, although he knew that he was in a passive position, he couldn''t help but take a deep breath as he asked
''''Then... young master Shun... what must I do, for you to forgive me?''''
A big smile covered Shun Long''s face, as he finally heard the words that he had been waiting to hear, since the first time that they had met with Zhang Dingxiang.
Chapter 171 - 171 Heavens Dome city
Chapter 171 - 171 Heaven''s Dome city
''''Then... young master Shun... what must I do, for you to forgive me?''''
A big smile covered Shun Long''s face, as he finally heard the words that he had been waiting to hear, since the first time that they had met with Zhang Dingxiang.
All of his actions until today, since he had arrived in the Night star continent, including having the ''Silver-winged panther king'' out in the open and strolling around the Silver sword city on its back, were nned to lead to this moment.
Shun Long was certain that since he had entered a ''seemingly big guild'' from the outside, there would definitely be a high-rank Elder who would try to recruit them, as soon as he and Liu Mei stepped inside.
And indeed, as soon as he and Liu Mei entered inside, everything went ording to his expectations, as an Elder from the Pale Moon guild hade to meet them.
Of course, Shun Long hadn''t been certain that Zhang Dingxiang would be tricked with just a few top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'', which was why he was prepared to refine the rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' into a rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pill'' before he came here again.
Who would expect after all, for the Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' to be so greedy, that Shun Long didn''t even need to put in motion his second n ?!
Shun Long smiled as he looked at Zhang Dingxiang in front of him, but the tone of his voice was still cold as he said
''''I have a few questions. If Elder answers truthfully, then I will think of staying to the ''Pale Moon guild'' until the 3 months period is over. However, if you lie to me again Elder Zhang, then you can forget about me helping your guild.''''
Zhang Dingxiang''s heart constricted, as he clearly understood that he had fallen into a trap, and with a painful look in his eyes, he nodded his head as he said
''''Please ask your questions young master Shun. If I can answer, then I will definitely do so. But you should also understand, that some things are impossible to reveal.''''
Shun Long didn''t seem to mind the bald Elder''s words, and nodding his head he asked
''''Then, here is my first question. Who is the strongest person in your ''Pale Moon guild''?''''
Zhang Dingxiang exhaled a sigh of relief when he heard the question before he replied
''''This isn''t really a secret within the Silver sword city. At least, all of the strong guilds know, that our Guild Leader is madam Xie.
Madam Xie is an S-ranked mercenary, as well as an early stage Nascent Soul expert.''''
Shun Long nodded his head without asking any more questions regarding this matter. After all, he hadn''t really cared that much about the guild leader, but it was good to have a general idea of how strong the upper echelons were.
With a nonchnt look on his face, he then continued
''''Then, what about the rest of the guilds who are ranked in the top 10?''''
Zhang Dingxiang replied truthfully, without hiding anything
''''Aside from the ''Turtle Tycoon merchant guild'', as well as the ''Dark de guild'', there are no other guilds inside the Silver sword city that have any SS-rank mercenaries. Of course, the Mercenaries'' Association, as well as the rulers of the Silver sword city, the Silver sword n, also have SS-ranked mercenaries.''''
Shun Long nodded without any expression on his face, but inwardly he was actually surprised.
Thankfully, what Zhang Dingxiang considered mon knowledge'', while he thought that Shun Long was still testing him, was actually valuable information to Shun Long who had just arrived here?with Liu Mei just half a month ago.
After all, Shun Long didn''t know anything about the Silver sword n so far, but ording to Zhang Dingxiang''s words, both they and the Mercenaries'' Association, had at least an SS-ranked mercenary each, if not even more.
At this point, Shun Long only had 2 more questions to ask the bald Elder in front of him.
An invisible glint shed through his eyes, but the tone in his voice was still the same ''uncaring tone'' as before, as he asked the chubby Elder
''''Then, what do you know about the Heaven''s Dome city?''''
Shun Long saw the look in Zhang Dingxiang''s face change into one of fear, astonishment, and awe. The middle-aged Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' observed Liu Mei and Shun Long seriously for a few moments before he asked a question on his own
''''Young master Shun... are you referring to the Heaven''s Dome city where the Mercenaries'' Association''s main headquarters is?''''
Even Liu Mei was astonished, as she didn''t know how Shun Long knew a city named Heaven''s Dome city. The only logical conjecture would be, that the Dao King inside the ''Vermilion realm'' had told Shun Long about this.
Liu Mei saw Shun Long nodding his head at Zhang Dingxiang without any change in his expression, confirming that they were talking about the same city.
Shun Long however, had only seen the name of this city inside the map that Cui Guoliang had given to him, so he wasn''t entirely certain if this was truly the same city. After all, with how vast the Night star continent is, it was possible that there was more than one city with the same name.
Zhang Dingxiang nodded his head somewhat absent-mindedly, looking like he was recalling some memories. After taking a deep breath, he looked at Shun Long and said
''''Young master Shun... I really wonder about your origins. However, I must warn you, that even with a peak rank 5 magic beast to protect you, you will still be weak inside the Heaven''s Dome city.''''
Shun Long''s eyes shed with a bright light, as he looked seriously at the bald Elder in front of him.
After a brief pause, Zhang Dingxiang continued with a serious look in his eyes
''''Actually, I have only been to the Heaven''s Dome city a few times, mostly while I apanied Madam Xie.
However, young master Shun I can tell you the same thing that Madam Xie told me before we entered the city.
''The Heaven''s Dome city, is a city filled with luxury, where you can find everything inside as long as you have enough money... but it is also a city filled with terrifying monsters.''''''
Chapter 172 - 172 Shun Longs offer
Chapter 172 - 172 Shun Long''s offer
Shun Long and Liu Mei were stunned when they heard Zhang Dingxiang''s words, but the bald Elder didn''t seem to notice as he continued
''''Although I haven''t personally seen any of them, I have heard rumors of some very powerful underground sects, hidden inside. So, if you really intend to go to the Heaven''s Dome city, I suggest that you seriously rethink about it.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, but a myriad of thoughts were shing through his mind.
Obviously, he couldn''t avoid going to the Heaven''s Dome city, since it was the city closest to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', at least ording to Cui Guoliang''s map.
Additionally, Shun Long had his own ns as well, so knowing more information about the city, no matter how trivial, could prove to be of enormous help in the future.
Liu Mei stole a nce at Shun Long, but she didn''t notice any change in his facial expression, as he was staring at the Elder in front of him, and asked in a leisurely tone
''''I only have onest question for you Elder Zhang.''''
Zhang Dingxiang nodded his head, while inwardly he exhaled a sigh of relief. It seems that each and every one of Shun Long''s questions, was eithermon knowledge inside the Silver sword city, or of no use whatsoever.
Although he was a bit curious, as to why the young man who was sitting in front of him was interested in the Heaven''s Dome city, Zhang Dingxiang wouldn''t meddle if Shun Long and Liu Mei wanted to court death.
''''Then, Elder... do you mind telling me, what is it that you need my help with, in 2 months from now?''''
Even Liu Mei turned to look at the chubby middle-aged Elder in front of them curiously.
Zhang Dingxiang however, cursed his bad luck inwardly. This was the one question that he didn''t want to answer the most, since he was afraid that Shun Long would back out once he learned about it. However, knowing that it would be even more suspicious if he didn''t answer, Zhang Dingxiang took a deep breath as he said with a crafty glimmer in his eyes
''''Young master Shun... well, this is quite a sensitive topic so I can''t reveal too much information for now. However, what I can tell you is, that this concerns a personal matter of our Guild master, Madam Xie.''''
Seeing that Shun Long was still looking at him with that same smile on his face, Zhang Dingxiang knew that he had to reveal a few more things, otherwise the young man in front of him would inly refuse him, based on what he had said earlier. however, all of this was still within the expectations of the middle-aged Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'', who suddenly smiled as he looked at the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' that was lying next to Shun Long before he continued
''''Well, since young master Shun seems to be interested in this topic, I suppose that I can tell you one more thing. The only thing that young master Shun will have to do, will be to take care of an early rank 7 Nascent soul cultivator. Everything else will be handled by our guild. ''''
A light seemed to have shed inside Shun Long''s eyes, as he didn''t speak but simply stared at the bald Elder in front of him.
Although Zhang Dingxiang had tried to put it in such a way that it wouldn''t attract his attention, Shun Long still understood the hidden meaning of his words.
An early rank 7 Nascent soul stage cultivator, was also an SS-ranked mercenary.
Liu Mei''s eyes behind her veil, looked at the bald Elder in front of them in astonishment, but Zhang Dingxiang didn''t seem to mind too much.
After all, although he had preferred to keep everything a secret until the time came 2 monthster, he still wouldn''t be able to hide this matter from Shun Long in the end. The only problem would be Shun Long''s reaction.
Zhang Dingxiang clearly noticed a sneer in Shun Long''s face as he looked at him, but the middle-aged Elder still thickened his skin and asked smilingly
''''So, what do you think young master Shun? I answered all of your questions honestly after all...''''
Contrary to Liu Mei''s and Zhang Dingxiang''s expectations, Shun Long nodded his head as he replied
''''I can indeed agree to help your ''Pale Moon guild'', but do you really think that I will fight against an SS-ranked mercenary for your guild, just for a rank 2 silver grade cauldron and 30.000 spirit stones?''''
Zhang Dingxiang was stunned for a moment, but his shock receded almost immediately as he had been prepared for Shun Long''s renegotiations from the start.
After all, he hadn''t really expected for Shun Long and Liu Mei, to agree dealing with an SS-ranked mercenary just for the original 30.000 spirit stones. Zhang Dingxiang had intentionally kept the price at this range however, so that when they would try to renegotiate with him again 2 monthster, he would be the one in control by then.
Nodding his head, the bald Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' seemed to have an understanding expression on his face as he said
''''Indeed, young master Shun,?I admit that your words aren''t unreasonable. After all, you are not a native of the Silver sword city, so this matter may cause some inconveniences to you.''''
Zhang Dingxiang seemed as if he had fallen deep in thought for a couple of minutes, before he raised his head, and looking at the young man and young woman in front of him, he said in a ''sincere'' tone
''''How about this young master Shun? Our guild can officially offer you up to 150.000 spirit stones, in exchange for your assistance this time. If you want, I can even agree to pay you right now.''''
Liu Mei felt surprised, that the usually cunning Elder Zhang was willing to raise the price, 5 timespared to his original offer.
Shun Long looked as if he was pondering seriously over Elder Zhang''s offer, however, a minuteter, he shook his head at the middle-aged Elder, before he said in an amiable tone
''''Elder Zhang is truly ''generous''. However, I have a different offer for you. If you really want my help this time, then I want half of the earnings.''''
Shun Long smiled as he said these words, since inwardly he waspletely certain by now, that there was no way for the ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' to offer him 150.000 spirit stones if there wasn''t going to be tremendous earnings for them as well.
When Zhang Dingxiang heard these words, his smiling expression immediately turned ugly as he involuntarily shrieked
''''Impossible! Do you even know how many millions of spirit stones this concerns?''''
Chapter 173 - 173 Zhang Dingxiangs clues
Chapter 173 - 173 Zhang Dingxiang''s clues
Shun Long frowned when he saw Zhang Dingxiang''s reaction, who shook his head vehemently as he continued
''''Half the earnings is absolutely impossible.''''
As he heard these words, Shun Long stood up and took Liu Mei''s hand, before he walked towards the door of the private room. The ck panther opened his eyes and threw a cold look at the bald Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'', before it followed its master.
Zhang Dingxiang however, waspletely bbergasted.
He had originally expected for Shun Long and Liu Mei, to be immediately swayed by his generous offer of one hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones, but instead, they demanded half the share that their guild would earn.
The Elder had originally felt happy to be praised by the guild master, for finding an SS-ranked level magic beast to help them with their mission. However, it seemed that their deal wouldn''t be going through now.
After all, Zhang Dingxiang was certain that, even the guild master wouldn''t agree to give up millions of spirit stones in exchange for Shun Long''s help.
Just as Shun Long and Liu Mei reached the door of the private room, the chubby Elder couldn''t help raising his voice
''''200.000 spirit stones! Just to help our ''Pale Moon guild'' once!''''
Shun Long and Liu Mei however, didn''t even flinch at his offer as they opened the door.
Zhang Dingxiang gritted his teeth as he then spat out another offer
''''400.000 spirit stones! This is my final offer!''''
Just as he opened the door of the room, Shun Long turned his head around and stared at the purple-robed middle-aged man before he said
''''You should probably talk with your Guild master if this is really your final offer.''''
Without waiting for an answer, Shun Long took Liu Mei and got on the ''Silver-winged panther king'' as they then left the ''Pale Moon merchant guild''.
Shun Long was confident that this wouldn''t be Zhang Dingxiang''s final offer.
From the frenzied offers that he had received before he left the room, Shun Long understood that the earnings for the ''Pale Moon guild'' would simply be astronomical.
A stunned Zhang Dingxiang was still staring at the door of the private room, unable to believe what had just happened.
He thought that he had managed to secure the assistance of the peak rank 5 ck panther for their guild''s mission, but everything seemed to have changed in just one hour.
Unable to hold it inside him anymore, Elder Zhang''s amiable image finally crumbled as he roared madly
''''F.U.C.K!!!
I-I... I''m f.u.c.k.i.e.d...
Madam Xie will kill me...''''
While Zhang Dingxiang was just a few moments away from a mental breakdown, Shun Long and Liu Mei were now touring around the Silver sword city.
Liu Mei who was still staring at Shun Long''s back, couldn''t resist asking
''''Long-ge... was it a good decision to refuse helping them?''''
Liu Mei was certain, that Shun Long had asked for such an exorbitant reward because he knew that the ''Pale Moon guild'' wouldn''t agree.
Shun Long smiled as he told the ck panther to head towards the King''s courtyard, before he turned his head to the side look at the beautiful young woman behind him as he said
''''Mei''er you don''t seem to understand. I have already gotten all the information that I needed from the ''Pale Moon guild''. When we entered inside the first time, I hadn''t even expected that there would be such a ''bountiful'' mission for us.''''
Liu Mei felt a bit confused by Shun Long''s words, who then continued exining
''''The main reason that I agreed for us to enter the ''Pale Moon guild'' in the first ce, was to get information regarding the Heaven''s Dome city. Even if it wasn''t the ''Pale moon guild'', any other guild in the top 10 of the Silver sword city, would work just the same for us.
However, Zhang Dingxiang seems to not have understood their situation properly.
Since he said that the strongest person in their guild, is their S-ranked mercenary guild master, how are they going to fight an SS-ranked mercenary without us? Even if we hadn''t entered their guild, considering that we were walking around the city on top of the ck panther, they would have reached out to us by themselves. It was simply a pure coincidence that we found them first.''''
Seeing the shocked look on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long smiled as he continued
''''Now, think about the second clue that Zhang Dingxiang gave us.
He said that he wants to fight against an SS-ranked mercenary, but he also admitted, that there are only 4 forces in the Silver sword city that have SS-ranked mercenaries. What does this mean?''''
Liu Mei''s eyes suddenly widened, as she seemed to have suddenly understood what Shun Long was trying to say, when she asked
''''Then.. Long-ge, do you mean that they are trying to attack one of the 2 top-ranked guilds?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he exined
''''No matter how strong or bold the ''Pale Moon guild'' may be, they shouldn''t have the guts to scheme against the Mercenaries'' Association, whose headquarters isn''t even in the Silver sword city.
As for that so-called Silver sword n, since they are the official rulers of the city, it''s likely impossible for a single guild to be able to challenge them.
Zhang Dingxiang also said that, since we aren''t natives of the Silver sword city, this is a matter that can bring trouble to us in the future, which means that there are only 2 powers left inside the city that could potentially bring any trouble to us. It would be that ''Turtle Tycoon merchant guild'', as well as the ''Dark de guild''.''''
After a brief moment of pause, Shun Long continued
''''Of course, I could have also agreed to help them for 400.000 spirit stones, since fighting against an early rank 7 Nascent soul cultivator wouldn''t prove to be of any danger to the ''Silver-winged ck panther'', but their guild wasn''t honest from the start. Besides, we don''t have any reason to take any risks, for the ''Pale Moon guild'' to get most of the profits.''''
Liu Mei was left speechless.
It looked like every single word that Zhang Dingxiang had said, was actually a clue that had shaped their current situation.
It wasn''t just her who hadn''t noticed these details during their conversation inside the room however, but the Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' had missed them as well.
Shun Long didn''t decide to look for another guild to auction his ''Bloodbustion pills'' or the cultivation techniques that he had received from Cui Guoliang, and 10 minutester, they had already arrived back to the ''King''s courtyard''.
At the same time that Shun Long and Liu Mei entered their room, inside a private room in the depths of the ''Pale Moon guild'', Zhang Dingxiang was kneeling on the floor, with whip marks all over his body. His back was filled with blood, but the Elder didn''t say a single word, as he kept kneeling on the ground.
Suddenly, the angry voice of a woman resounded throughout the room, sending chills down Zhang Dingxiang''s spine
''''You trash! Do you have anything else to say for yourself?''''
Chapter 174 - 174 Xie Rong
Chapter 174 - 174 Xie Rong
Zhang Dingxiang''s body started to tremble when he heard this voice, but he didn''t dare to raise his head from the ground.
In front of him was a beautiful woman in her early 30s, dressed in a light green dress. She had long blonde hair and light green eyes, but the expression on her face was anything but amiable as she stared at the Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'' in front of her.
Zhang Dingxiang felt aggrieved in his heart, since he was the one who had ''discovered'' Shun Long in the first ce, but in front of the tyrannical blonde woman in front of him, he didn''t dare to give any excuses.
Seeing that Zhang Dingxiang wasn''t trying to defend himself, Madam Xie''s rage started to slowly die down.
She then proceeded to seat herself on arge white couch, before she took a deep breath to calm herself.
The rage in her eyes however hadn''t disappeared just yet, as she looked at the still kneeling Elder in front of her, and with a cold but hopeful tone she asked
''''Do you think that there is any hope for us to mend our rtionship with this kid?''''
Zhang Dingxiang shook his head as he replied with certainty
''''Guild master, that kid is just too greedy. He made it absolutely clear, that he wasn''t willing to help our guild unless we gave him 50 percent of the earnings. How can we give him this much? We should just proceed with our original n anyway.''''
Xie Rong didn''t speak when she heard Zhang Dingxiang''s answer.
Instead, she gritted her teeth, seemingly as if she was trying toe to an agreement with herself.
She knew that right now she had 2 options. The first was to proceed with their n without Shun Long, while the second was to pay Shun Long an exorbitant price in exchange for his help.
Deep in her heart, she wasn''t willing to follow any of these 2 ns, since both of them would cause her tremendous losses, which caused her to fall into a state of deep thought.
10 minutester, she finally opened her eyes as she looked at Zhang Dingxiang with a determined look.
At the same time, back inside Shun Long''s courtyard, heavy panting filled the room, as Shun Long and Liu Mei had just finished another round of dual cultivation together.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long with gleaming eyes, before she nted a deep kiss on his lips as she said
''''Long-ge... every time we.. sleep together, I can feel a powerful energy filling my body.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Liu Mei, who was now just a few steps away from entering the early rank 3 in Heaven grade as he said
''''This is a secret technique that I got from the Dao King inside the ''Vermilion realm'' that connects my Yang with your Yin essence, and slowly strengthens them both at the same time.
You can think of this secret technique as a rope that ties the 2 of us. The higher one of us advances in cultivation, the higher the benefits will be. The only drawback of this technique is that, it can only be used once a day at most.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, as she too had felt this in the past days. Now that Shun Long''s cultivation had advanced to the peak of rank 3 in Heaven grade, he was filling her own body with even more Yang essence. At the same time, this was dragging Liu Mei''s cultivation even higher, and the higher she advanced, the more Yin essence she held inside her as well.
A day soon passed in the outside world, while Shun Long had spent 10 more days inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''. Although he hadn''t managed to breakthrough to the early rank 4 in Heaven grade just yet, he wasn''t that far away from sessfully condensing his 28th ball of qi. He estimated, that it would take around 15 days, to a month at most, until he managed to enter the middle stages of the Heaven grade.
He then visualized himself leaving the ''Stone of Time'', as he returned back to the room and saw Liu Mei looking at him with a strange gaze.
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei curiously, who opened her small mouth as she said
''''Long-ge, there are 2 guests outside.''''
''''Guests?'''' Shun Long asked questioningly
''''Isn''t it just Zhang Dingxiang?''''
He had already expected Zhang Dingxiang to visit them within the next 3 days, since Shun Long had already told him where they lived, but he didn''t expect him to bringpany as well.
Liu Mei nodded her head as she continued
''''They arrived early this morning, but since Long-ge wasn''t inside the room, I had them wait in the courtyard.''''
Shun Long smiled at Liu Mei and grabbed her hand, before he opened the door of the room.
In the courtyard, the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'', was staring at the 2 ''guests'', who were standing a few dozen meters away from it.
When Shun Long opened the door, aside from Zhang Dingxiang, he also saw a stunning blonde woman dressed in green.
The blonde woman had a sweet smile on her face when she saw Shun Long and Liu Mei, an expressionpletely different than when she was facing Zhang Dingxiang in the ''Pale Moon guild''.
Inparison, Zhang Dingxiang had his head lowered all this time, evident that he hadn''t been having the best of times.
The beautiful blonde woman curtsied at Shun Long and Liu Mei as she held her green dress, before she introduced herself
''''Greetings, young master Shun, youngdy.
I am Xie Rong, and I am the Guild master of the ''Pale Moon guild''. I have heard everything from Zhang Dingxiang, and I am here to personally offer you an apology on behalf of our guild. I can assure you that Elder Zhang has been personally punished by me for his behavior.''''
At the same time, Zhang Dingxiang also stepped forward with a lowered head, as he said
''''Please forgive me young master Shun, youngdy Liu.''''
Shun Long hadn''t expected the Guild master to personally visit them in the inn, let alone to also have Zhang Dingxiang apologize.
However, this couldn''t possibly mean that everything was now fine, just because of an apology.
Xie Rong looked at Shun Long with her beautiful green eyes, and with a charming smile on her face she said
''''Young master Shun, I hope that you can forgive Zhang Dingxiang''s behavior and assist our guild this time. Of course, this is a very important matter for me so I can''t reveal too many things unless you agree, but everything can be negotiated.''''
Shun Long looked at Xie Rong who seemed willing to step back and negotiate their terms with a smile on his face, as he then asked her
''''In that case miss Xie, tell me what you are willing to offer!''''
Chapter 175 - 175 Xie Rongs conditions
Chapter 175 - 175 Xie Rong''s conditions
Xie Rong smiled brightly when she heard Shun Long''s question, and taking out a small yellow-colored spatial ring from one of her pockets, she said
''''Young master Shun, our guild is willing to offer you 300.000 spirit stones as advance payment, as well as 15 percent of the earnings from the mission. After all, we will put the manpower of our entire guild, while all young master Shun will have to do, is keep an SS-ranked level mercenary busy. I believe that this is a good and reasonable offer.''''
Shun Long however, shook his head as he looked at the alluring woman in front of him, immediately rejecting her offer
''''If repelling an SS-rank mercenary was that easy, then why don''t you do it by yourselves? Even if you could sessfully do it... I wonder if would you really be willing to take this risk?!
No matter what, it is certain that if I agree to help your guild, I will end up bing enemies with such a person. Now tell me, is it worth it for me to create such a powerful enemy, only for your guild to take most of the profits in the end?''''
The blonde-haired Xie Rong nodded her head at Shun Long''s question, before her eyes turned to look at the ck panther next to him, as she replied with a pleasant smile on her face
''''Indeed, your words are reasonable young master Shun. However, would you really be afraid of making enemies with an SS-ranked mercenary, with a peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' as your mount?''''
Shun Long smiled calmly when he heard this, while the look in his eyes had turned into one of amus.e.m.e.nt, as he looked at Xie Rong and said
''''You are right, I wouldn''t be afraid of a single SS-rank mercenary.
However, what about an entire guild?''''
Xie Rong''s pupils constricted, while she involuntarily took a step back. She immediately turned to look at Zhang Dingxiang who was next to her, only to see that the look in his eyes was just as shocked as hers.
Zhang Dingxiang hurriedly shook his head as he looked at ''Madam Xie'', indicating that he hadn''t leaked anything.
Shun Long looked at the shocked Madam Xie, and shaking his head he continued
''''Aside from the ''Turtle Tycoon merchant guild'' or the ''Dark de guild'', which other power in the Silver sword city can employ SS-rank level mercenaries?''''
Madam Xie nodded her head hesitantly, understanding her blunder. If she hadn''t mentioned that there was an SS-ranked mercenary, then Shun Long wouldn''t have been able to narrow down their target.
Zhang Dingxiang''s eyes immediately widened, but he kept his mouth tightly sealed.
He clearly remembered that he had been the one who gave this information to Shun Long yesterday, but Madam Xie didn''t know of this.
Xie Rong took a deep breath, as she looked at the young man in front of her in shock.
Even though she didn''t want to admit it, she clearly found herself in a passive position right now.
She then closed her eyes for a few moments, seemingly pondering over what she should do.
Finally, a few breaths of timeter, she opened her eyes, and looking at Shun Long, she nodded her head as she agreed with him
''''Very well young master Shun.
We can split everything equally, between our guild and you... but, I also want to pick one item first. If you don''t agree with this term, then I will be forced to do this without you.''''
Shun Long had no idea what it was that Xie Rong wanted to take, but he instantly understood that it must be something really important to her, if she was willing topromise about giving him half of everything else, except for just one item.
Nodding his head, his eyes stared at the beautiful blonde woman in front of him before he replied
''''Alright! As long as the spirit stones from this mission are enough, I can agree to your terms.''''
Xie Rong finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
Although she could feel a pinch in her heart for sharing half the profits from this mission, the risk would be much lower for her, with Shun Long''s peak rank 5 magic beast handling the SS-rank enemy mercenary.
Besides, as long as she could get ''that'' item, everything else was worth it.
Turning her head to look at Shun Long''s eyes, Xie Rong then said in an excited tone
''''You don''t have to worry about this, young master Shun. If we can really seed, our total earnings will exceed 100.000 middle-grade spirit stones!''''
Shun Long and Liu Mei were both shocked when they heard this amount.
Shun Long had already heard about middle-grade spirit stones and their value, while Liu Mei, as the daughter of the sect master of the ''floating cloud sect'', had obviously seen middle-grade spirit stones in the past.
One middle-grade spirit stone, was worth as much as 100 low-grade ones. Then, 100.000 middle-grade spirit stones, were worth as much as 10.000.000 low-grade ones.
Ten million spirit stones.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up when he imagined half of this amount entering his ''Stone of Time''.
At the same time, seeing that his Guild master hade to an agreement with Shun Long, Zhang Dingxiang smiled brightly as he looked at the young man in front of him and asked
''''Then, young master Shun, will you still put your pills up for auction? I can assure you, that I will personally make sure that they fetch a high price.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and waved his hand, as 2 small bottles of pills along with a dozen scrolls, appeared in front of him.
Zhang Dingxiang excitedly took the pill bottles in his hands, and stared at them as if he was looking at some priceless treasures.
As a rank 2 silver grade alchemist, the bald middle-aged Elder hadn''t paid any attention to the scrolls.
Xie Rong took a look at the white scrolls, before she said in a slightly surprised voice
''''All of them are Mystic low-grade cultivation techniques!''''
Although she was cultivating in a Mystic high-grade cultivation technique as well, Xie Rong knew that these cultivation techniques weren''t cabbages found in the streets.
If Shun Long had one or two of them, she wouldn''t have been surprised, but a dozen of them... even her ''Pale Moon guild'', only had around 30 Mystic grade cultivation techniques.
Looking at the scrolls in front of her, Xie Rong thought seriously for a moment before she said
''''In a rough estimation, these techniques will probably fetch around 200.000 low-grade spirit stones, young master Shun.''''
Shun Long nodded his head but he didn''t really care about the price. After all, having the scrolls taking up dust inside the ''Stone of Time'', didn''t bring any immediate benefits to him, which made it a much better option to sell them for spirit stones.
However, he wasn''t willing to sell everything he had to the ''Pale Moon guild''s'' auction. After all, he had other ns for the rest of his cultivation techniques and martial skills.
Xie Rong stored the scrolls inside her spatial ring before she continued with her light voice
''''Young master Shun, you cane to the guild 4 days from now for the auction. Although my ''Pale Moon guild'' isn''t the strongest in the Silver sword city, with my connections, you will not regret auctioning your items.''''
She then curtsied once again as she held the hems of her dress, and bade farewell to Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Liu Mei looked at Xie Rong and Zhang Dingxiang who had finally left their courtyard, before she turned her head to look at Shun Long, when she said in a serious tone
''''Long-ge... I could feel that, that woman didn''t care about the 10 million spirit stones that much. Although she had put on an excited facade, I could feel that this wasn''t her real aim.
Instead... I think that the item that she wants to choose, is going to be even more valuable for her than the spirit stones!''''
Chapter 176 - 176 The Silver Sword clan
Chapter 176 - 176 The Silver Sword n
Shun Long nodded his head at Liu Mei, as he had also noticed this matter.
After all, Xie Rong had been willing topromise on anything else, other than her, choosing one item first. Just from that, the value of ''this item'' was obvious.
Shun Long didn''t keep dwelling on this matter, as everything about this mysterious item would be revealed in 2 months from now.
Both he and Liu Mei entered their room to cultivate, while 4 days quickly passed.
What Shun Long didn''t know was, that thanks to Xie Rong''s connections, word over his mysterious top-grade rank 3 pills, had spread throughout the entirety of Silver sword city.
Even some high-ranking people from the Silver sword n, had informed the ''Pale Moon guild'' that they were going to attend the auction this time, sending waves throughout the entire city.
Inside the majestic manor of the Silver sword n at the center of the city, there were 2 handsome young men and a gorgeous silver-haired young woman sitting in front of a table, drinking and talking with each other.
One of these young men had narrow eyes and short spiky hair, giving his face a sinister expression. His seemingly ''in'' ck robes had arge ''Venom'' character on its back, that very few people in the Silver sword city would be able to recognize.
Looking at the white-haired young man in front of him, the man with narrow eyes put down his cup of wine, and after stealing a nce at the quiet silver-haired young woman he then asked
''''Yin Cuifen, I heard that you are intending to participate in a small auction of your city today.''''
The young man who was sitting opposite to him, had his long white hair in a ponytail, while his luxurious white robes had the character ''Silver'' on them.
This was the young master of the Silver sword n, Yin Cuifen.
Yin Cuifen immediately understood what the man in front of him was trying to say as he replied smilingly
''''Indeed brother Changpu. Word has already spread throughout the city, that a small guild is going to auction some mysterious top-grade rank 3 pills, that are extremely beneficial to Heaven grade cultivators.''''
After a brief moment of pause, the white-haired young master of the Silver sword n turned his head to look at the silver-haired young woman next to him, before he continued with a smile on his face
''''And of course, since my beautiful sister is just a step away from entering the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, I have decided to apany her as we take a look at this auction.''''
The spiky-haired young man turned his head to look at the beautiful silver-haired young woman as well, as he smiled politely and said
''''Youngdy Run, I am certain that your Silver sword n definitely doesn''tck top-grade rank 3 pills. Is it worth it for you to make a personal appearance then? If you simply nod your head, my Gu family can provide you with countless top-grade rank 3 pills for your use.''''
The beautiful silver-haired Yin Run, looked at the spiky-haired young man in front of her, and nodding her head she replied
''''Thank you for your concern fourth young master Gu.
Although it is true that I aim to advance to the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, a new type of pill appearing in our Silver sword city can be considered an important matter on its own as well.
If the pills are worth it, we can even find the alchemist who produced them and have him work for our Silver sword n.''''
A bright light shed through the spiky-haired Gu Changpu''s eyes, when he nodded and smiled as he looked at Yin Run, before he replied
''''Of course. Youngdy Run''s words make sense.
In that case, please allow me to apany you to this auction today. I am also curious to see these top-grade rank 3 pills.''''
The white-haired Yin Cuifen looked at his sister and interjected before she could speak
''''Sister, brother Changpu is also a renowned rank 2 silver grade alchemist. If hees with us, he will definitely be able to give us his opinion on the pills as well.''''
Gu Changpu had that same smile on his face as he looked at Yin Run, who nodded her head slightly as she stood up and said
''''In that case, let''s get going, brother. Young master Gu. The auction will start in less than an hour.''''
Yin Cuifen stood up and winked at Gu Changpu, before he followed Yin Run outside of the room.
At the same time, Shun Long was still cultivating inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
He had already spent more than a month cultivating in this ce, when suddenly, a popping sound was heard from his body.
Shun Long could feel his strength rising, as the 28th ball of Heaven qi finally entered the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
A smile quickly formed on his face, before Shun Long visualized himself returning to his room.
Liu Mei was still practicing her sword moves in the courtyard, when Shun Long''s body suddenly appeared on the ck cushion inside the room.
After changing his clothes, he opened the door, and saw the beautiful young woman dressed in purple, who had now turned her eyes on him.
Liu Mei''s bright ck eyes stared at Shun Long with both shock and joy, seeing that he had broken through once again.
With a sweet smile on her face, her beautiful ck eyes turned into two crescent moons, as she walked up to Shun Long and hugged him before she said
''''Long-ge, congrattions.''''
Shun Long smiled at the excited Liu Mei, before he said
''''Mei''er, let us go to the ''Pale Moon guild''s'' auction then.''''
Shun Long wasn''t certain if he would havepleted his breakthrough in time, before the auction had started.
Liu Mei nodded her head, and walked back inside the room to change from her training clothes.
At the same time that Shun Long and Liu Mei were leaving their courtyard, in the auction venue of the ''Pale Moon guild'', the young master of the Silver sword n, Yin Cuifen, along with his sister and the fourth young master of the Gu family, were all sitting inside a private room as they stared at 2 bottles of pills on a small table in front of them.
If Shun Long was here, he would immediately recognize these pills, since they were his own, top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills''.
Chapter 177 - 177 The balance in the Silver sword city
Chapter 177 - 177 The bnce in the Silver sword city
A few meters away from them, was a middle-aged man dressed in purple robes, who smiled tteringly at the 2 siblings of the Silver sword n as he said
''''Young master Yin. Youngdy. These are the newest pills that our guild has received.''''
This middle-aged man was no one else than Zhang Dingxiang.
Since Yin Cuifen had ''asked'' the ''Pale Moon guild'' to have a look at their pills before they were auctioned, even Xie Rong couldn''t decline his request, let alone the Elder himself.
After all, this was the young master of the strongest power in the SIlver sword city, the Silver sword n.
The ''Pale Moon guild'' couldn''t choose to offend the Silver sword n for something so minor.
As for the 4th young master of the Gu family, since Zhang Dingxiang didn''t know him, he eventually chose not to greet him.
Gu Changpu didn''t pay any attention to Zhang Dingxiang anyway, since his eyes were glued to the pill bottle in his hands.
Without even asking for permission, he opened the bottle and took one of the top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'' in his hand.
Just like how Zhang Dingxiang had reacted the first time, under the astonished gazes of Yin Cuifen and his sister, Gu Changpu started sniffing the pill in front of them.
Of course, everyone inside the room knew, that this was how an alchemist would try to identify some of the medicinal ingredients that a pill was made of, as the overpowering scent of some powerful medicinal herbs could still be discerned even after the sessful refinement of the pills.
A few minutester, Gu Changpu raised his head, and stared at the chubby, bald Elder of the ''Pale Moon guild'', before he asked in shock
''''Pig! Who is the alchemist who created this?''''
Zhang Dingxiang''s eyes widened like saucers when he heard these insulting words that held no regard for his identity, while his face had started to turn red, unknown if it was due to embarrassment or anger.
He wanted to walk up to Gu Changpu, and p him in the face, but considering that this brat hade with the young master and youngdy of the Silver sword n, Zhang Dingxiang took a deep breath to calm himself down, before he said in a sarcastic tone
''''I have no idea..''''
Gu Changpu''s expression warped, when he saw that, this fat Elder was refusing to answer his question. As the fourth young master of the Gu family, Gu Changpu felt that he had already lowered his status by speaking to him directly.
Zhang Dingxiang smirked after seeing that Gu Changpu had finally gotten angry, before he turned to look at Yin Cuifen with a ttering smile on his face, as he then cupped his hands and said
''''Young master Yin. I am certain that you are also aware that I cannot reveal such information. This is a rule that every guild must adhere to, otherwise it could hurt our own reputation. Of course, if you really force me, using the power of the Silver sword n, then I will have no other choice but to tell you everything...''''
Yin Cuifen nodded his head without any expression on his face, as he waved his hand dismissingly and said
''''You can leave.''''
Under the dumbfounded expression of Gu Changpu, Zhang Dingxiang smiled as he retrieved the 2 pill bottles and put them in his robes, before he cupped his hands at the 2 Yin siblings and left without another word.
The moment that the middle-aged Elder left the room, Gu Changpu stared mockingly at Yin Cuifen, as he said
''''Yin Cuifen, I didn''t think that you are actually a coward.
Are you sure that your Silver sword n is the ruler of the Silver sword city, and not the pig that just left? Otherwise, why would you have to give face to such a small guild?
If we were at my ce, anyone who dared to refuse a request of my Gu family would have already died countless times, no matter which guild they belonged to.''''
Yin Run''s expression turned into one of disgust, but Gu Changpu didn''t notice it, as he was still staring at the nonchnt Yin Cuifen.
The young master of the Silver sword n didn''t seem to have gotten offended, as he replied with a profound look in his eyes
''''Gu Changpu, do you think that every ce is like your Thousand Venoms valley?
There is more than just one power in my Silver sword city, including the Mercenaries Association. Do you think that your Gu family would have been able to be so arrogant, if there was also a branch of the Mercenaries Association inside your ''Thousand Venoms city''?''''
Gu Changpu''s expression changed when he heard this.
Although he was arrogant, he wasn''t totally stupid. He simply hadn''t left the ''Thousand Venoms city'' enough times in the past, so he didn''t understand how the outside world worked.
But from Yin Cuifen''s words, he understood the hidden implications inside them. It seemed that in the Silver sword city, the Mercenaries Association was keeping their Silver sword n in check. Even if the Silver sword n was actually stronger than the association branch, it probably wouldn''t be by much.
At the same time, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already arrived outside the entrance of the ''Pale Moon guild''.
After showing the token that he had previously received from Zhang Dingxiang to one of the young girls in the entrance, Shun Long and Liu Mei were immediately led to a private room on the second floor of the auction venue, that Xie Rong had personally reserved for them.
The private room was almost identical with the one that Shun Long had entered, the first time that he and Liu Mei had met with Zhang Dingxiang.
There was arge couch that was facing the main stage of the auction hall, while a small table made of ck marble was ced on each side of the couch.
A few minutes after Shun Long and Liu Mei had entered their private room, the lighting of the auction hall was suddenly focused on the main stage.
Under the scrutinizing gaze of the crowd, a young man seemingly in his early 30s slowly walked on the main stage.
The man had a round face and a slightly fat nose, as well as a small mole under his left eye. His red robes fluttered as he walked towards the main stage, before he revealed his cultivation that immediately silenced the buzzing crowd on the outer seats.
Even Shun Long was slightly stunned, when he saw that this man had already reached the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
His cultivation was even higher than Zhang Dingxiang''s.
The man looked at the crowd in front of him with an amiable smile on his face, as he introduced himself
''''Honorable guests of our ''Pale Moon merchant guild'', wee to our guild''s auction.
My name is Yuan Ling, and I will be your auctioneer for today.
Today''s auction will be a bit special, as there will only be 10 batches of items.
Of course, the quality of each and every one of them is guaranteed by our ''Pale Moon guild''.
Now, without further ado...
Let the auction begin!''''
Chapter 178 - 178 The final 3
Chapter 178 - 178 The final 3
The crowd below Yuan Ling was astonished when they heard, that there will only be 10 items for this auction.
In the normal auctions of the ''Pale Moon guild'', there were always more than 100 items every time.
Yuan Ling pped his hands twice, and 2 young women appeared behind him, carrying arge, crimson saber on the main stage.
Yuan Ling personally ced the red saber, on the ck table at the center of the main stage, before he turned his eyes to look at the crowd in front of him.
The people in the outer seats of the auction hall, stared at the blood-colored saber with bright eyes, when Yuan Ling''s voice resounded in everyone''s ears.
''''Honorable guests, our first item for today''s auction, is a peak rank 2 silver grade weapon, called the Bloodyer.
This saber belonged to a rank 3 silver grade formation master, of our Night star continent''s Hongmeng empire. After the formation master passed away, this saber was handed to our ''Pale Moon guild'' to be auctioned by his descendants.''''
Looking at the excited crowd below him, Yuan Ling knew that he didn''t have to say much else. After all, a peak rank 2 silver grade saber was already a hard-to-findmodity in the Silver sword city.
Of course, thergest powers would definitely possess even rank 3 silver grade weapons, but these weapons would never appear in the city''s auctions.
Seeing that the crowd was ready to start bidding, Yuan Ling smiled as he raised his right hand and said
''''The starting price for this Bloodyer will be 40.000 low-grade spirit stones, while every subsequent increase, must be at least 1000 spirit stones.''''
Although the private rooms were quiet, the people in the outer seats couldn''t hold themselves back any longer as they started shouting their bids.
''''41.000!''''
''''43.000''''
''''45.000''''
In Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s private room, Shun Long watched the bidding below him without any change in his expression. After all, neither he, nor Liu Mei used a saber, so he held no interest in the bidding.
A few minutester, an old man in the outer seats had sessfully won the bid, after spending 83.000 low-grade spirit stones for the Bloodyer.
The red-robed Yuan Ling smiled as he pped his hands once again drawing the crowd''s attention back to him.
The 2 young women from before carried the saber off the stage, when a slightly plump, tall woman with ck hair, appeared on the stage, carrying a thick stack of scrolls in her hands.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw these white scrolls, when Yuan Ling''s voice sounded in everyone''s ears at the same time
''''Honorable guests, I am sure that many of you will be interested in our auction''s next items!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Ling took one of the scrolls from the woman''s hands and unfurled it half-way, before he turned his head to look at the people inside the private rooms, as he said with that same, amiable smile on his face
''''I am sure that there are plenty of esteemed seniors in the private rooms here today, and you can all understand what the scroll that I am holding in my hand is.''''
Then, pointing at the plump woman next to him, the red-robed auctioneer continued
''''All of the scrolls here today are Mystic low-grade cultivation techniques. They were entrusted to our ''Pale Moon guild'' to be auctioned today, and our guild has decided to sell them all in a batch sale.''''
Surprisingly, the people in the outer seats started shouting at Yuan Ling, with eyes full of indignation and fury
''''Shameless! Your ''Pale Moon guild'' is so shameless!''''
''''Right, right! Why are you selling them in a batch? Doesn''t that mean that we will have no chance topete with the people inside the private rooms?''''
''''All the strong guilds have Mystic grade cultivation techniques, but the rest of us barely have a Yellow high-grade technique to train in!''''
''''Sell them separately!! Don''t be shameless!''''
Yuan Ling smiled at the raging crowd, but although there was still an amiable smile on his face, his body suddenly exploded with the aura of a middle rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s
The crowd was immediately silenced, like cicadas on the winter, before Yuan Ling turned his eyes back to the people in the outer seats as he said
''''Our guild has already decided to auction the scrolls separately, as that would yield the biggest profit for the senior who entrusted them to us. Of course, although Mystic grade cultivation techniques aren''tmon, they aren''t that rare either.
I am sure that all of you are aware, that the price of a Mystic low-grade cultivation technique, will usually not exceed the 25.000 spirit stones. So, even if you don''t manage to sessfully bid for these scrolls today, there will certainly be more chances in the future.''''
Without giving any more exnations to the people who were previouslyining, Yuan Ling continued
''''The starting price for these 12 scrolls, is set at 100.000 low-grade spirit stones, while every additional increment must be at least 2000 spirit stones.''''
The people inside the private rooms that belonged to the strong powers of the Silver sword city, had their eyes lit up. After all, every power needed more Mystic grade cultivation techniques, since that could strengthen their members even more.
''''100.000''''
''''102.000!''''
''''108.000''''
Voices sounded in rapid session from the private rooms, as the price of Shun Long''s scrolls quickly rose.
In the end, they were purchased by a middle-aged man in a private room, for 264.000 spirit stones.
As the auction continued however, Shun Long was disappointed that there weren''t any high-rank medicinal herbs, or anything else that caught his interest.
Like this, an hour quickly passed, when the red-robed auctioneer''s, Yuan Ling''s excited voice, resounded throughout the auction hall.
Looking at the people in the outer seats in front of him, Yuan Ling smiled brightly as he pped his hands twice, and a beautiful woman in red robes simr to his walked on the main stage.
Seeing that the crowd''s eyes were attracted to the beautiful woman on the stage, and that their excitement was once again fully invigorated, Yuan Ling''s lips curved up even further as he spoke
''''Honorable guests of our guild, our auction hase down to the final 3 items.
I am certain that many of you havee here today, after you heard the rumors of a new pill that has never before appeared in our Silver sword city.''''
Seeing that the crowd hadpletely focused its attention on him, Yuan Ling turned to look at the red-robed woman who had just appeared on the stage.
The woman shed a charming smile to the crowd, before she waved her hand, and a bottle filled with 10 red pills appeared out of thin air.
Seeing the pills that were emitting a powerful red l.u.s.ter, the crowd stared at Yuan Ling with eyes full of fervor, who in turn started to exin
''''I can confidently tell you, that the rumors are true. These are all top-grade rank 3 pills, and their effects are extremely beneficial to Heaven grade cultivators.
It is estimated, that an average peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivator, will be able to advance to the early rank 2 within 3 days, after consuming one of these pills.
However, the most important part is, that no other major power near the Silver sword city can produce these pills right now.
This is something that our ''Pale Moon guild'' has already verified, and I believe that all of you understand what this means.
If any major family in the city can obtain the form for the pills...''''
Everyone, be it within the private rooms, or the people sitting in the outer seats, were staring at the red pills, with eyes full of excitement.
If what Yuan Ling had said was true, then this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Chapter 179 - 179 Brother Zian
Chapter 179 - 179 Brother Zian
At the same time, in Yin Cuifen''s private room, Gu Changpu stared at the gorgeous, silver-haired young woman who was sitting next to him, as he said smilingly
''''Youngdy Run, don''t worry! I will make sure to win these pill for you.''''
Yin Run however, didn''t seem to be paying any attention to Gu Changpu''s words, as her eyes were focused on the main stage in front of her.
Although her Silver sword n was the strongest power in the Silver sword city, in reality they weren''t much stronger than a single branch of the ''Mercenaries'' Association''. But if they could obtain the recipe of this new pill, then with her n''s power, they could expand even beyond the Silver sword city. By then, they wouldn''t have to be afraid of the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
On the main stage, Yuan Ling understood that the crowd couldn''t wait any longer.
Pointing at the pill bottle in his hand he then said
''''Our guild has obtained 2 bottles filled with these top-grade rank 3 pills, and has decided to auction them separately.''''
The crowd exploded with even more fervor when they heard that there were 2 bottles filled with these pills.
This meant that even if they lost the first pill bottle, they still had a chance to acquire the second one.
Yuan Ling smiled as he pointed at the bottle in his hand and continued
''''Our guild has decided, for the starting price of these 10 pills, to be set at 160.000 low-grade spirit stones. Every additional increment must also be at least 2000 spirit stones higher than thest.''''
The crowd in the outer seats immediately went silent when they heard this terrifying price.
Every pill''s starting price would then be at 16.000 spirit stones. This was almost the same as a rank 4 medicinal herb, and this was just the starting price.
However, although the people sitting in the outer seats were daunted by the huge price, those sitting in the private rooms didn''t hesitate at all, as they started shouting bids one after the other.
''''164.000''''
''''169.000''''
''''172.000''''
The price quickly rose, and even after it had reached the 200.000 mark, it didn''t seem to slow down at all.
''''204.000''''
''''208.000''''
Barely 2 minutester, the bids had already reached the 250.000 mark, until they started to slowly slow down for the first time.
But even then, the fervor in the air of the auction hall couldn''t be suppressed.
''''251.000!''''
''''253.000!''''
At the same time, inside Yin Cuifen''s private room, Gu Changpu slowly stood up from the couch.
His eyes were also glued at the pill bottle in Yuan Ling''s hands before he said confidently
''''It''s finally time for me to join the party!''''
Just when the price had reached the 260.000, Gu Changpu''s powerful voice sounded from the private room as he called out his bid
''''300.000 low-grade spirit stones!''''
The crowd was immediately silenced, as everyone turned their heads to look at the private room, where the voice hade from.
''''Who is this person? He immediately raised the price by 40.000 spirit stones!''''
''''That voice sounded so young! I wonder if that''s a scion from one of the powerful families!?''''
''''Wait! I- that... that is the room where the members of the Silver sword n entered earlier!''''
When everyone heard this, the discussions immediately died down. No matter how powerful a family may be, inside the Silver sword city, no one dared to antagonize the Silver sword n.
Gu Changpu turned his head to look at the silver-haired Yin Run before he said
''''Hahaha! Youngdy Run, didn''t I tell you that I would definitely win this bid for you?''''
A small smile was finally formed on the ice-cold face of Yin Run.
Although 300.000 spirit stones weren''t a big amount to her Silver sword n, if she could avoid spending them, then that would be for the best.
Yuan Ling sighed inwardly as he looked at the silent crowd.
He clearly understood that, if the Silver sword n was willing to join the bidding war, there was no one else in the Silver sword n who could actually fight with them, aside of course from the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
Just when Yuan Ling was about to dere Gu Changpu as the winner of this bid, the calm voice of a young man sounded from the outer seats attracting everyone''s attention
''''302.000!''''
''''What?''''
Everyone, including Shun Long and Gu Changpu, as well as the Yin siblings, had now turned their heads at the outer seats.
The crowd immediately parted, to reveal a young man dressed in azure robes.
This man had arge forehead, as well as distinctivelyrge nose and earlobes, however, he could still be regarded as somewhat handsome.
His eyes were a deep blue color, that revealed a calmness and tranquility inside them.
Yin Cuifen''s eyes constricted as he looked at this man, and just when Gu Changpu was about to rage and curse, Yin Cuifen hurriedly said
''''Brother Zian!''''
Everyone, including Yin Run, were stunned when they heard Yin Cuifen addressing this young man as ''brother''.
''''Then again, no normal person who is sitting in the outer seats, would be able to take out 300.000 low-grade spirit stones so easily!''''
As Yin Run thought of this, her curiosity for the blue-robed young man who was sitting in the outer seats was peaked.
Although the formations inside the private rooms, allowed the people to look at the outer seats and the main stage, those sitting in the outer seats couldn''t recognize the people who were inside the private rooms.
''Brother Zian'' looked at the private room where Yin Cuifen had called him from and smiled gently as he asked
''''Yin Cuifen, do you want to bid against me?''''
Everyone in the outer seats as well as the private rooms, stared at this ''Brother Zian'' in astonishment.
Not only had he recognized the voice from the private room that seemed to have belonged to the young master of the Silver sword n, he even asked him if he wanted to bid against him.
However, Yin Cuifen''s answer was even more shocking, as he shook his head inside the private room, and under the astonished gaze of Yin Run and Gu Changpu he said
''''How could I bid against brother Zian? If you are free after this auction, you must definitely visit my Silver sword n!''''
While the people in the outer seats were stunned, ''Brother Zian'' smiled as he looked at the private room and said
''''Very well! Since we both know the young white lord, we can be considered acquaintances after all.''''
Gu Changpu who was about to scold Yin Cuifen for being spineless, immediately paled when he heard the title young white lord.
Turning his head to look at the young lord of the Silver sword n, Gu Changpu saw a relieved expression on his face, as Yin Cuifen nodded his head and said
''''Of course, brother Zian!''''
Aside from Yin Cuifen, and Gu Changpu, the rest of the people in the auction hall didn''t seem to have any reaction when they heard the title young white lord.
Since no one else was willing to bid against brother Zian, in the end, he won the first bottle of pills for 300.000 spirit stones.
The second bottle of pills, was instead won by Yin Cuifen for 300.000 spirit stones.
Although the big families in the private rooms were interested in the pills, 300.000 spirit stones wasn''t a small amount to them. But the main reason was, that they weren''t willing to offend the Silver sword n as well.
Surprisingly, the finale of the auction was a bottle of pills again.
They were 30 high-grade rank 4 Spirit enhancing pills, that could help cultivators at the Spirit realm, to enhance their spirit sense and spiritual strength in preparation for the Nascent soul stage.
However, Shun Long estimated, that these pills wouldn''t be as good as his own rank 4 Spirit nourishing pills, that he could concoct after refining the rank 4 Golden Jade spirit tree.
In the end, the Spirit enhancing pills were purchased by the patriarch of one of the big families for 400.000 spirit stones, as the auction came to an end.
Although Shun Long was disappointed that he didn''t actually find anything of interest in this auction, he had still managed to refill his supply of spirit stones.
After he received the spirit stones from Zhang Dingxiang, Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t stay in the ''Pale Moon guild'' any longer, as they returned back to the ''King''s Courtyard''.
There were only 2 months left until Xie Rong''s n started, and Shun Long nned to advance his, and Liu Mei''s strength as much as possible in these months.
Chapter 180 - 180 Training in the martial skills
Chapter 180 - 180 Training in the martial skills
Night had already fallen, by the time that Shun Long and Liu Mei returned back to the inn.
Since it was already night, Liu Mei sat down on the white meditative cushion, as she started circting the Moonlight Sigil.
At the same time, Shun Long once again entered the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of Time'' as he circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
More than half a year passed like this for Shun Long, while a little more than half a month had gone by in the outside world.
After consuming countless top-grade ''Bloodbustion pills'', as well as more than 900.000 spirit stones he had already reached the peak of rank 6 in Heaven grade.
However, although time was flowing 10 times faster inside this ce, Shun Long also noticed a ring issue. Without using spirit stones, there was no other way to obtain qi to cultivate inside this ce. This meant, that now that he was almost out of spirit stones, Shun Long couldn''t advance his cultivation inside this ce any further.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, countless thoughts shed through his mind
''''Selling Mystic grade cultivation techniques isn''t actually a good way to earn spirit stones. After all, I don''t have that many of them left to begin with. As for auctioning more ''Bloodbustion pills'', since the Silver sword n has already obtained the first batch, the other families wouldn''t be willing to spend more spirit stones anymore.''''
After thinking about it for a while, Shun Long decided to cultivate in the outside world during the day, and practice the martial skills as well as get a deeperprehension in his Dao of Time and the Dao of Space during the night.
2 months quickly passed like this, when the time for Xie Rong to execute her n had finally arrived.
In these 2 months, Shun Long''s cultivation had already broken through to the middle of rank 7 in Heaven grade,
Thanks to their dual cultivation during these 2 months as well, Liu Mei was extremely surprised to find out, that her cultivation had also been pushed upwards, reaching the early rank 5 in Heaven grade.
During these 2 months, Shun Long had also refined countless pills, including the rank 4 ''Sunskirt grass'' into many top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', along with many other pills, like anti-toxin pills and so on.
He had also reached a certain degree of proficiency, in each of the Mystic high-grade martial skills that he had gotten from Cui Guoliang during this time.
Surprisingly, the ''Gale steps'' was the easiest of these 3 techniques to train in.
Shun Long understood that there were 7 different ranks for the ''Gale steps''.
Having spent more than a year in the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of TIme'', Shun Long had already mastered the 3rd rank of this movement technique.
Although he couldn''t be invisible like Cui Guoliang when he used it, Shun Long could move extremely fast inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'' when he used this martial skill.
However, both the ''Thunderbolt finger'', as well as the ''Staff of Obliteration'', proved to be much harder to master.
The Thunderbolt finger was only split in 3 different ranks.
Shun Long had already mastered the first rank, which allowed him to gather his qi in his finger, and turn it into lightning, before he fired a powerful lightning bolt towards the enemy.
Additionally, although this martial skill required a lot more of his qipared to the ''Gale steps'', Shun Long could still use it while he had his ''Monarch''s Domain'' active.
However, from the 3 martial skills, Shun Long had spent the most time training in the ''Staff of Obliteration''.
This martial skill was split into 6 different ranks, and each rank was followed by a single hit of the staff.
After training in this martial skill the most out of all 3 of them, Shun Long had already reached the 2nd of its 6 ranks. He was certain however, that paired with the ''Purple Blossom staff'' as well as his middle third stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', the might of the ''Staff of Obliteration'' would be even stronger than the ''Thunderbolt finger''.
Standing up from the meditative cushions, Shun Long and Liu Mei knew, that it was time for them to go to the ''Pale Moon guild'' today.
The ''Silver-winged panther king'' was still lying on the ground, in the courtyard outside of the room.
Shun Long walked up to it and patted the ck panther''s head, before he and Liu Mei got on its back and left, towards the ''Pale Moon guild''.
Inside an empty private room in the depths of the guild, Xie Rong was standing in front of 30 men and women dressed in purple and red robes.
These, were the strongest members of the ''Pale Moon guild'', as well as Xie Rong''s most trusted aides.
Looking at the people in front of her, a sharp glint shed through Xie Rong''s eyes, as she took a deep breath and said in a cold voice
''''You all know why you are gathered here today.
Some of you have followed me from the start, while some others joined me on the way, but all of you are equally important to me.
After today however, our ''Pale Moon guild'' will officially disband, no matter whether we seed or fail.''''
The people in front of Xie Rong, nodded their heads solemnly, when suddenly, a red-robed Elder came inside the private room.
He bowed hurriedly at Xie Rong before he said
''''Guild master! The people whom you have been waiting for, have arrived at the guild''s entrance!''''
Xie Rong nodded her head as she looked at the red-robed Elder, and said
''''Very well, guide them here.''''
The red-robed Elder nodded his head, as he personally led the way for Shun Long and Liu Mei to the private room where Xie Rong and the rest were in.
Shun Long was slightly shocked by the solemn atmosphere in the room, when Xie Rong looked at him, before she said in a slightly warmed voice than before
''''Young master Shun, youngdy Liu, wee.''''
Shun Long''s eyes stared at the beautiful blonde woman in front of him, who then continued speaking
''''I believe that you also want to know why I needed your help. Since you havee here today, I don''t have a reason to keep anything a secret any longer.''''
Chapter 181 - 181 Xie Rongs plan
Chapter 181 - 181 Xie Rong''s n
Shun Long stared at Xie Rong, who looked as if a myriad of different emotions had suddenly shed through her eyes, the moment that she was about to speak.
After taking a deep breath, she then turned her head to look at Shun Long and Liu Mei, before she said
''''I could avoid telling you all this, but I am certain that word will spread either way after today, so there is no point in hiding anything.
Actually, Ie from the Xie family of the Silver Mountain, and my father is the younger brother of the current patriarch.''''
Although Shun Long had never heard of the Xie family, judging from Xie Rong''s tone, it must be a rtively powerful family.
Xie Rong''s eyes seemed as if they had fallen into reminiscence, as she continued speaking without stop
''''My father''s rtionship with my uncle has always been very good... until one day..
One day, my mother and father were on a secret mission for the family, when my mother was inflicted with an extremely lethal poison.
When my father brought mother back to the Silver Mountain, no one from the Xie family was able to help.
In the end, even when my father''s own father, the previous patriarch of the family exited his seclusion for this matter, there was nothing he could do.
My mother''s symptoms were worsening, day after day, and my grandfather finally concluded, that if my mother wasn''t cured within 3 months, her body would s.u.mb to the poison and die.
Seeing that my father was devastated, grandfather left the Silver Mountain for a few days, and invited a powerful Dao King to the Xie family.
This Dao King was a well known rank 1 gold grade alchemist, and after verifying what poison my mother had been inflicted with, he imed that he could definitely help her, but...
the price that he asked for was too high.
It was so high, that even my own grandfather, as well as my own uncle refused to pay.''''
Tears had unknowingly welled up in Xie Rong''s eyes, as she continued
''''My father begged my grandfather and uncle on his knees, for 3 consecutive days, but they both refused to change their minds no matter what.
In the end, under my grandfather''s and uncle''s noses, my father used all of his connections, as he sneaked the item that the Dao King had required as payment, outside from the Xie family.
After handing the item to the Dao King, my father indeed received a pill that helped my mother recover, but...
When my grandfather learned everything, he kicked my father out of the family without hesitation.''''
Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t know what to say when they heard this story. It seemed that Xie Rong''s father had done everything as a Dao partner, but at the same time he had taken something important from his family.
Xie Rong''s emotions seemed to have calmed down, as she continued speaking
''''Actually, even I can''t say that my grandfather''s decision was entirely unfair. After all, the item that this Dao King had asked for, was something that was simply too precious for the Xie family.
Do you know, young master Shun?
That in the Night star continent, there is a very dangerous and mysterious ce, called the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!?
The vi has countless treasures inside, but the dangers are also innumerable.
And to enter the vi, you need to possess a certain token called the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.
It was this exact same item that my father traded with that Dao King, in order to save my mother.''''
Both Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes widened when they heard this.
Although she didn''t know much about it, as the daughter of the sect master of the ''Floating cloud sect'', Liu Mei had at least heard of the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.
As for Shun Long? He had this medallion stored inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Xie Rong was certain that Shun Long and Liu Mei must have heard of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''. After all, how could someone who was riding on a peak rank 5 magic beast, not have heard of this ce in the Night star continent?!
Xie Rong''s eyes had now turnedpletely serious, while her voice was filled with determination as she said
''''In the end, I left my home and founded the ''Pale Moon guild'' by myself, in order to help my father clear his grudge, and return back to the family.
Finally, I paid more than 3 million low-grade spirit stones to learn, that the Guild master of the ''Dark de guild'', has a simr ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' in his possession. He seemed to have found it during arge mission of his guild, around 10 months ago. Thanks to my good rtions with one of his Elders, I managed to purchase this information from her, the day that they found the medallion.''''
Shun Long finally understood why Xie Rong wanted his help.
What she wanted to obtain, was a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''!
Completely oblivious to what Shun Long was thinking, now that she had revealed everything about her past, the guild master of the ''Pale Moon guild'' finally smiled as she said
''''Actually, Tan Duyi and the rest of his guild, are supposed to return to the Silver sword city by tomorrow. My n is to ambush them and obtain the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.
I believe that since you have already promised to help me young master Shun, you won''t back down now that you know everything.
Actually... I don''t even need the spirit stones that Tan Duyi has.
You can keep everything else. I only need the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.''''
Finally, Xie Rong didn''t have anything else to say.
She had already revealed everything to Shun Long, from her past, all the way to her creation of her guild and her n.
Everyone inside the room stared at Shun Long with bated breaths, as they waited for his answer.
Chapter 182 - 182 Ambushing the Dark Blade guild
Chapter 182 - 182 Ambushing the Dark de guild
Shun Long looked at the anxious blonde woman in front of him, and thought seriously for a moment, before he eventually nodded his head.
After all, although the value of a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' would probably exceed the 10 million low-grade spirit stones, this was Xie Rong''s n to begin with.
Besides, in his own future ns, the only thing that Shun Long currently needed was spirit stones.
The fact that Xie Rong was willing to give up all the spirit stones to him, was enough for Shun Long to agree to help her.
Xie Rong was ted when she saw the young man in front of her nodding his head, as Shun Long''s voice then sounded in her ears
''''Madam Xie, I can agree to your request, but I will also need your assistance with something.
I n to leave the Silver sword city soon, and have a look at the Heaven''s Dome city, but I am currentlycking a map.''''
What Shun Long had said was the truth. Although Cui Guoliang had given him a map regarding the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and its immediate surroundings, the map didn''t show the Silver sword city inside it, making Shun Long unable to confirm their current distance, as well as a route that he was supposed to follow to get there.
Xie Rong was stunned for a second, before she hurriedly nodded her head as she answered
''''This won''t be an issue, young master Shun! Consider this as a gift from me.''''
Waving her hand, she then took out a big piece of beast skin from her spatial ring, before she handed it to Shun Long.
Shun Long took a look at the map that Xie Rong gave to him, and saw that it was indeed much better than the small, hand-drawn map that Cui Guoliang had handed to him.
Xie Rong''s map wasn''t only more detailed, but the area that it covered was hundreds of times bigger than Cui Guoliang''s map.
On the map, Shun Long saw both the Silver sword city, as well as the Heaven''s Dome city. He also noticed a ce with the words Silver Mountain on it, but there was nothing regarding the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
After thinking about it for a while, Shun Long understood, that the vi''s location wasn''t known to most people, so it would obviously be unlikely for its existence, to be casually marked down on a map.
After cing the map inside his spatial ring, Shun Long turned to look at Xie Rong as he asked
''''Then, madam Xie, when do you want to leave?''''
Xie Rong''s eyes lit up when she heard this question, and after turning her head to look at the 30 people behind her, she said
''''Right now. We don''t have much time to lose, otherwise, if Tan Duyi manages to return to the Silver sword city, then even with a peak rank 5 magic beast, it would be impossible for our n to seed. After all, both the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', as well as the Silver sword n, would prevent any fights from taking ce inside the city!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he and Liu Mei, along with the 30 people from the ''Pale Moon guild'', all followed Xie Rong through a secret passage beneath the guild.
20 minutester, they had already arrived a few tens of miles outside from the SIlver sword city.
Xie Rong however, didn''t stop walking, as she headed further towards the south.
While they were walking, Xie Rong turned her head to look at Shun Long and Liu Mei as she exined
''''Young master Shun, ording to my information, Tan Duyi and his ''Dark de guild'' will set camp tonight, before they head towards the Silver sword city in the morning.
That will be the best time for us to strike.
If things go ording to n, Tan Duyi will have already been poisoned by the time that we get there.
I don''t care if he is dead or not, but I will do my best to assist you in taking off his spatial ring!''''
Turning her head to look at the Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'' behind her, Xie Rong then said seriously
''''You all must do your best to fight the members of the ''Dark de guild'', until I and young master Shun have taken care of Tan Duyi.
After today, the ''Pale Moon guild'' will officially disband!''''
The Elders solemnly nodded their heads when they heard Xie Rong''s words, while determination could clearly be seen in their eyes.
Like this, the day soon passed, as the starry night once again filled the sky.
Under the glowing light of the moon, the ''Pale Moon guild''s'' group stopped in front of arge canyon.
Shun Long noticed a group of scouts dressed in brown robes, as they were patrolling near the canyon''s entrance.
Although these 4 scouts'' cultivation, was only at the early rank 2 in Heaven grade, they all had a vignt look in their eyes as they were patrolling the area.
Xie Rong turned her head to look at everyone behind her as she whispered
''''They are members of the ''Dark de guild'', which means that the rest of their group must definitely be inside the canyon. I hope that you are all prepared.''''
Xie Rong then circted her cultivation technique, before she clutched her 2 hands together.
Suddenly, the ground beneath the 4 members of the ''Dark de guild'' split apart, before it swallowed them whole.
There wasn''t even a single cry that escaped their mouths, before the 4 ''Dark de guild''s scouts immediately disappeared.
Shun Long and Liu Mei both circted their cultivation techniques, along with the 30 Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'', as they walked inside the canyon in front of them.
Inside a tent that was surrounded by more than 100 other tents, a man in histe 30s was sitting cross-legged, while wisps of visible ck aura seemed to have been floating around his body.
The man had a in face, without any distinctive facial features, aside from arge scar that went downwards, from his forehead and his right eye, all the way to his chin.
Next to him was arge ck sword, over 1.8m(71 inches) long, that seemed to release the dark aura that this man was absorbing.
The moment that Shun Long and the rest had stepped inside the canyon, the man''s eyes abruptly opened, and they emitted a chilling, terrifying light, as he turned his head to look towards the entrance of the canyon.
Chapter 183 - 183 Tan Duyis power
Chapter 183 - 183 Tan Duyi''s power
If Xie Rong was here, she would immediately recognize this man, as the Guild master of the ''Dark de guild''.
Tan Duyi stood up, as he ced his hand on the hilt of his sword, and strapped it on his back.
He then walked outside of his tent, and after taking a deep breath, he shouted
''''WAKE UP!''''
His loud voice that was meant to wake his guild members, resounded throughout the entire canyon, as it reached Shun Long''s and the rest ears.
Xie Rong''s face paled slightly when she heard this voice, as her ambushing advantage seemed to have suddenly been lost.
She hadn''t expected for Tan Duyi to be scanning the valley entrance with his soul sense, right when they arrived.
Clenching her teeth however, Xie Rong continued forward.
Her eyes then turned to look at Shun Long and Liu Mei who were riding on the ck panther, and the worry in her heart slightly eased.
Less than a minuteter, the ''Pale Moon guild''s'' group had appeared in front of the ''Dark de guild''s'' campsite, when the expression in Xie Rong''s face finally changed.
More than 400 members of the ''Dark de guild'' were waiting for them in their campsite''s entrance, while the severed head of a red-haired woman, was impaled on top of a spear, still dripping with fresh blood.
Xie Rong immediately recognized the red-haired woman who had her head cut off.
It was this same woman who was supposed to poison Tan Duyi today, as well as the one who had sold her the information of the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''!
The 1.9m(6.2ft) tall Tan Duyi, was staring at the people from the ''Pale Moon guild'' with a frosty look on his face.
Originally, his expression was a rxed one, but the moment that he sensed the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' strength, his easy-going appearance immediately vanished from his face.
Shun Long saw the 1.9m tall guild master, who was carrying arge sword on his back, but his attention was soon focused on someone else.
It was a 2m tall man, who was staring at Shun Long and Liu Mei with eyes filled with disbelief, jealousy and hate.
Shun Long and Liu Mei both recognized this man... he was the strongest outer disciple of the ''Floating cloud sect'', Wen Zihao.
It seemed that in the past 3 months, he had managed to join the ''Dark de guild''.
Tan Duyi didn''t notice Wen Zihao''s strange gaze, as he first looked at the young man and young woman on the ck panther''s back, before he turned his eyes on Xie Rong.
The look in his eyes was like he was looking at a dead person, as Tan Duyi said in a cold voice
''''Xie Rong. So you were the one whom the bitch Zeng Chuntao betrayed me for huh?
Don''t try to deny it, I already found several million low-grade spirit stones in her spatial ring. Speak! What do you want?''''
Tan Duyi wasn''t a person who would usually negotiate with his enemies, especially with those who were weaker than him.
However, because of the presence of the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'', if he could peacefully solve this issue, he didn''t mind taking revenge on Xie Rong in the future.
Xie Rong was stunned for a second, before she nodded her head and said in a sincere tone
''''Alright! As long as you are willing to sell to me the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', then you can tell me your price and I will do m-''
''''SHUT UP!''''
The moment that Xie Rong raised her head, she saw that Tan Duyi''s eyes had turned red.
The ''Dark de guild''s'' Guild master looked at her, as he said in a furious voice
''''That bitch, Zeng Chuntao seems to have told you everything.
Forget about the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion bitch! Just f.u.c.k off and I will consider sparing your life in the future.''''
Xie Rong understood that Tan Duyi was ready to kill her. The killing intent oozing off from his body brought shivers down her spine.
As a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivator, Xie Rong could be considered an expert of her own right in the Silver sword city.
However, in front of the blood-honed Tan Duyi who had already reached the early rank 7 in the Nascent Soul stage, she still couldn''t stop herself from shivering.
Even the people behind Tan Duyi seemed to have gotten angry when they heard Xie Rong''s words, as they started shouting
''''Guild master, let''s kill her!''''
''''How dare the ''Pale Moon guild'' be so arrogant in front of us?''''
''''In front of Guild master, what is a single ''Pale Moon guild'' after all? Kill them!''''
Although this wasn''t the full force of the ''Dark de guild'', the people that Tan Duyi had brought with him were still powerful experts.
Even the weakest of them was at the early rank 2 in Heaven grade, while aside from Tan Duyi, there was even an S-ranked mercenary, whose strength had already reached the peak of rank 4 in the Nascent soul stage.
The look in Xie Rong''s eyes immediately turned cold.
Although she knew that she was unreasonable by asking Tan Duyi to sell the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' to her, she wasn''t willing to back down.
After all, the reason that she had founded her ''Pale Moon merchant guild'' in the first ce, was to obtain connections and strength in order to get her hands on a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' for her father.
Although Tan Duyi had more people with him, in front of a peak rank 5 magic beast, as well as all of the elites from the ''Pale Moon guild'', even he would have a hard time.
Tan Duyi seemed to have understood what Xie Rong was thinking, as he suddenly raised his ck sword in the air.
Staring at Xie Rong with eyes full of bloodl.u.s.t, his aura of an early rank 7 Nascent soul expert exploded from his body.
Surprisingly, under the horrified eyes of Xie Rong, Tan Duyi''s aura started rising even higher.
Middle rank 7.... Peak rank 7...
Early rank 8 Nascent soul stage!
Xie Rong finally understood that she had made a blunder.
Tan Duyi was actually hiding his cultivation, as he had already reached the early rank 8 of the Nascent soul stage.
He then looked at Xie Rong with bloodshot eyes, as he gathered his qi in his ck sword.
The Guild master of the ''Dark de guild'', grabbed the hilt of his ck sword with both hands, as he shouted madly
''''IN THAT CASE, YOU CAN ALL DIE!''''
Tan Duyi swept his ck sword sideways using all of his strength as he aimed to kill Xie Rong and her guild Elders in one sweep.
His sword glowed with a ck light, before it released a huge wave of qi, that brought out the full terror of the early rank 8 Nascent soul expert.
Xie Rong and the 30 Elders behind her, felt boundless terror when they watched the scene in front of them.
They couldn''t even muster the slightest ability to resist, in front of Tan Duyi''s horrifying power.
The ck panther suddenly shot up in the sky, as its silver wings started glowing with a bright light.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone below them, the ck panther''s wings met directly, with Tan Duyi''s powerful st.
Chapter 184 - 184 Liu Mei vs Wen Zihao
Chapter 184 - 184 Liu Mei vs Wen Zihao
The ck wave of qi collided with the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' wings, but Tan Duyi felt like his sword sh had met with an immovable steel wall.
The peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' stood steadily in front of the ck qi wave, while the lighting from its silver wings seemed to havepletely blocked its power.
A horrified expression shed through Tan Duyi''s eyes when he saw that his attack waspletely blocked, but soon, the look in his face turned serious.
Without any hesitation, he looked at Xie Rong with eyes filled with rage as he shouted
''''KILL!''''
Seeing their Guild master going into battle, the rest of the ''Dark de guild'' members also followed behind him, as they rushed at the Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild''.
Shun Long and Liu Mei both jumped from the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' back, as the panther flew at Tan Duyi, immediately intercepting him and stopping his charge.
The rest of the ''Dark de guild'' members however didn''t stop, as they surrounded the Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild''.
Although the cultivation of the Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild'' was higher than the normal members of the ''Dark de guild'', each of the Elders had to fight almost 10 members from the ''Dark de guild''.
Shun Long and Liu Mei were also surrounded along with the Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild''.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw the scene in front of him, as a bout of excitement filled his body.
This was the first time that he could get to test out his strength, ever since he had advanced to the Heaven grade.
Shun Long then circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss, as his eyes immediately turned golden.
A bright blue light instantly covered his body, as he activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain''.
At the same time, Liu Mei also drew her white sword, as her body started glowing with strands of silver light, as a chaotic fight suddenly ensued.
Shun Long found himself surrounded by more than 10 people, all of them carrying either swords or sabers.
The weakest among them was the same as him, at the middle of rank 7 in Heaven grade, while the strongest was at the peak of rank 2 in the Spirit realm.
One person at the middle of rank 9 in Heaven grade attacked Shun Long from the front, while 2 others at the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade pincer-attacked him from the sides.
Shun Long''s feet kicked the ground, as he moved towards the brown-robed cultivator in front of him.
The man smirked as he saw Shun Longing towards him.
He had clearly seen him and Liu Mei sitting on the ck panther earlier, which was the only reason that his boss was now in an unfavorable situation.
Indeed, the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' hadpletely suppressed Tan Duyi, who was already having a hard time, even though the fight had just started.
The brown-robed man brandished his saber at Shun Long''s head the moment that Shun Long closed the distance between them, but to his astonishment, the speed of his saber couldn''t even match up to Shun Long''s speed.
Under the effects of his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long moved extremely fast as he dodged the saber attack, and clenched his right fist tightly, before he sent a terrifying punch at this young man''s left ribs.
Crackk
Cracking sounds resounded in the air, as the man was sent flying sideways. He tumbled on the ground for tens of meters, before his body came to a stop as it collided on the wall.
The people around Shun Long were stunned for a moment, and even the 2 peak rank 9 Heaven grade cultivators were stopped in ce, when they saw the oue of their teammate.
Their eyes turned red as they looked at Shun Long, before they continued with their pincer attack, while even the other 7 members of the ''Dark de guild'' who were previously watching from the sidelines, now decided to join the fight.
At the same time, Liu Mei was also surrounded by more than 6 members of the ''Dark de guild''.
Surprisingly, among these members was also the 2m(6.6ft) tall Wen Zihao.
Wen Zihao''s cultivation had already reached the middle of rank 2 in Heaven grade, while his eyes stared at Liu Mei like a hungry wolf.
He still hadn''t forgotten how Liu Mei had ignored his words, when he had told her to not get close to Shun Long, the moment that they had all arrived at the ''Night star continent''.
All of a sudden, the brown robes on his torso exploded, as his body started growing strands of red fur.
Liu Mei had already heard of Wen Zihao''s ''Fighting ape physique'', but this was the first time that she had witnessed it herself.
With his cultivation at the middle of rank 2 in Heaven grade, after he had activated his ''Fighting ape physique'', Wen Zihao could even fight against a cultivator at the peak of rank 2 in Heaven grade.
Muscles bulged from his arms and legs, as he jumped high in the air, before he sent his fist at Liu Mei''s head.
It was obvious that he hadn''t held back at all, and he aimed to kill Liu Mei with a single punch.
Liu Mei who was already entangled with a middle rank 5 Heaven grade cultivator from the ''Dark de guild'', saw Wen Zihao''s powerful punch that was aimed at her head and felt a feeling of lethal danger.
After all, the head and the heart were still the vital spots for every cultivator.
The brown-robed cultivator in front of Liu Mei suddenly felt the hair on his neck standing up, as he subconsciously stepped backwards.
Liu Mei''s white sword had started emitting a bone-freezing cold while strands of white ice were now floating in the air around her body.
Wen Zihao''s eyes widened when he saw the scene in front of him, while the countless shards of ice around Liu Mei started to merge with each other, creating 2 thick ice-pir more than 3m(10ft) long, and 1m(3ft) thick.
Liu Mei had already expended more than 20 percent of her qi to create the 2 ice pirs, but even the middle rank 5 Heaven grade cultivator didn''t dare to take them head-on.
After all, this was a Mystic middle-grade martial skill that Shun Long had given to Liu Mei 2 months ago.
Thanks to Liu Mei''s Dao of Ice, her affinity with ice-rted martial skills had skyrocketed, allowing her to grasp the basic principles of this Mystic middle-grade martial skill in just 2 months.
The name of this martial skill was the Hexagon seal, and at full mastery, a cultivator could create 6 giant pirs of ice that could destroy everything in their path.
Wen Zihao roared when he saw the 2 ice pirs flying towards him, while his fists started glowing with a red light as he punched at the first pir with all of his strength.
The moment that his fist collided with the ice pir, Wen Zihao felt the bones on his arm ready to crack.
Pain filled his hand as the terrifying cold from the pir invaded his body, immediately destroying any feeling that he still had in his arm.
The look in his eyes finally changed, as he tried to retreat, but at that moment, Liu Mei''s second pir collided with his stomach.
Even Shun Long turned his attention at Liu Mei''s battlefield, only to see a pale-blue Wen Zihao falling from the sky as he crashed on the ground.
BOOM
Wen Zihao''s body raised a cloud of dust as it violently crashed on the ground, leavingpletely unknown whether he was dead or alive.
Chapter 185 - 185 Shun Longs new move
Chapter 185 - 185 Shun Long''s new move
Everyone around Liu Mei stared at the 2 disappearing pirs of ice above her head with trepidation in their eyes, before they turned their heads to look at where Wen Zihao hadnded.
The cloud of dust slowly subsided, revealing Wen Zihao''s body.
The fingers in his hand were actually still twitching, but there was a huge hole in his stomach, in the ce where he was previously struck by the ice pir.
It was unknown how we was still alive, but it was obvious that his injuries were too heavy this time.
The middle rank 5 Heaven grade cultivator who had retreated earlier, wasn''t sure if he should continue to fight.
Although Liu Mei''s cultivation was the lowest among the people of the ''Pale Moon guild'', the strength that she showed when she used this martial skill, could probably injure even a rank 6 Heaven grade expert.
At the same time that Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s fights were taking ce, Xie Rong was fighting against 4 of the elites from the ''Dark de guild''.
A man less than 1.6m(5.2ft) tall, with a big nose, was her main opponent, while the other 3 provided support.
This man was the only S-ranked mercenary of the ''Dark de guild'', a peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert who had alsoprehended the Dao of Wind.
Although Xie Rong''s cultivation was higher than this big-nosed man''s, along with the help of the 3 other elites, who were at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, the S-ranked mercenary of the ''Dark de guild'' had managed to reach a stalemate.
Xie Rong desperately tried to take the upper hand, but with the help of his Dao of Wind, the S-ranked mercenary from the ''Dark de guild'' could easily avoid her earth-based attacks.
Surprisingly, the biggest advantage in this fight, was held by the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' who was fighting against Tan Duyi.
The guild master of the ''Dark de guild'' had expected to be able to hold his own against the ck panther until his guild memberspletely crushed the ''Pale Moon guild'', but the results were different from his expectations.
Even with his peak rank 3 silver grade sword, he was still sent in a miserable state while fighting against the ck panther.
The only thing he could do was dodge its attacks, while every time that the panther attacked him with its silver wings, Tan Duyi would feel like his internal organs were getting disced.
He barely hanged on however, as he waited for his guild members to support him.
Of course, the reason that he didn''t try to run after seeing the difference in strength between himself and the ''Silver-winged panther king'', was because he knew that the chances of outrunning it were practically zero.
As for the Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'', although they were surrounded by more members of the ''Dark de guild'', their overall strength was still higher.
Of course, Tan Duyi was an experienced fighter, who could easily understand the situation of the battle.
However, deep inside him, he still hoped that the tables would turn and he could somehow win.
After all, no matter what, he would never surrender and give up his ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' to Xie Rong. Being ckmailed and giving up his most important possession would have been an insult to his honor.
At the same time, Shun Long found himself in a tough spot as he was surrounded by the members of the ''Dark de guild''.
The peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert who was leading the group, had already joined the fight, bringing a lot of pressure to Shun Long, and even after using both of his ''Monarch''s Domains'', Shun Long was still a bit slower than this man.
The peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert, was holding a curved saber in his hands, and each of his attacks was aimed at Shun Long''s vital spots.
Shun Long''s pointed at this man with his left hand, as his finger suddenly lit up.
A quick bolt of lightning left his finger, as it aimed to hit the brown-robed man''s head.
Raising his saber, the man hurriedly blocked Shun Long''s thunderbolt finger, when he felt the danger that this lightning contained.
The peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert felt pain in his hands as he blocked Shun Long''s attack, while his feet slid backwards for more than 2m. However, even with his hurried defense, he still managed to retreat unharmed from Shun Long''s attack.
After all, even with a Mystic high-grade martial skill, the difference between Shun Long''s and this man''s cultivation, couldn''t be bridged.
At the same time that he pushed the peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert back, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up, as he immediately stepped to his right.
2 des of wind traveled through the air, as they hit the ground in the ce where he was just standing on.
Finally, a wooden staff around 1.5m(5ft) long, appeared in Shun Long''s hands.
This was the rank 1 gold grade ''Purple Blossom staff'' that he had gotten from Cui Guoliang.
At that same moment, the peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert had also closed the distance between them, when Shun Long infused his qi in the staff as he swung it sideways.
Shun Long''s attack seemed simple and ordinary at first nce, but the power hidden inside the ''Purple Blossom staff'' was shocking.
This was the first move from the Staff of Obliteration.
The peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert, attacked Shun Long with his saber, but surprisingly, Shun Long barely took a step back to stabilize himself.
The brown-robed man waspletely shocked when he saw this. Even though it was true that he hadn''t used his full strength this time, but even then, it shouldn''t have been possible for Shun Long to take his attack head-on.
Shun Long understood from this man''s expression that he was finally angry. Just as this peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert was about to use his full strength in his next attack, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up with a blue light, while the expression on his face changed.
Tan Duyi understood that the situation was only growing more unfavorable for him. Even if his guild somehow managed to win, he would have already lost and probably even died to the ''Silver-winged panther king'' by then.
Clenching his teeth, he then expended more than 30% of his remaining qi, as he used his strongest martial skill, and managed to hit the unprepared ''Silver-winged panther king''. Although the ck panther wasn''t injured, Tan Duyi''s attack had still managed to stall him for a single moment.
And yet, that single moment was all that he needed, as the ''Dark de guild''s'' Guild master, flew towards Shun Long at full speed.
The ck panther was furious when he saw Tan Duyi rushing towards his master, as it then pped the silver wings on its back and moved forward like a streak of ck lightning.
However, the distance between Shun Long and Tan Duyi had been covered in the blink of an eye, giving Shun Long no room to dodge or escape against the rank 8 Nascent soul expert.
Seeing this scene with his golden eyes, Shun Long sighed inwardly, as he thought to himself
''''I didn''t n to reveal this move just yet...''''
Excitement filled Tan Duyi''s eyes, as his hand reached closer and closer to Shun Long''s neck.
At that moment, one word appeared in Shun Long''s mind, and in front of the eyes of the rank 8 Nascent soul expert, he immediately vanished
''Blink''
Chapter 186 - 186 Ruthless Tan Duyi
Chapter 186 - 186 Ruthless Tan Duyi
Space was distorted around Shun Long, as he instantly vanished in front Tan Duyi''s disbelieving eyes.
Both Tan Duyi, as well as the peak rank 2 Spirit realm expert who was fighting with Shun Long, stared at the ce that Shun Long was standing just now with wide-open eyes.
Suddenly, a furious roar sounded from behind Tan Duyi, as the Guild master of the ''Dark de guild'' turned around and saw a ck w erging itself in front of his eyes.
Tan Duyi raised his sword, as he tried to defend against the furious ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' w, but the result was a lot worse than he had expected.
The ck panther had been furious when he saw his opponent attacking its ''weak'' master, as its full-powered w met with Tan Duyi''s ck sword.
The overpowering force of the peak rank 5 ck panther''s w, sent the ''Dark de guild''s'' Guild master flying for more than 200 meters, until his body crashed on the canyon''s wall.
BOOM
Everyone''s attention was suddenly attracted to the loud crashing sound, that Tan Duyi''s body made upon impact with the canyon''s wall.
However, the ck panther didn''t seem to have been satisfied, as he once again pounced on the ''Dark de guild''s'' Guild master.
At the same time, Shun Long had felt space around him distorting, as he appeared 50m away from his original location in an instant.
This was the move that he hadprehended by himself once he broke through to the third stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', ''blink''.
Blink was slightly differentpared to opening a space tear and entering inside.
Compared to the lengthy process of opening a space tear before walking inside it, blink could be used to bend space itself and envelop it around Shun Long''s body, teleporting him in an instant.
Of course, ''blinking'' consumed much more qi than opening a space tear and the range was much, much lower than when Shun Long entered a space tear to teleport himself.
However, even with all these disadvantages, it was still a life-saving technique.
BOOM
BOOOM
The furious ck panther was constantly bombarding Tan Duyi with its attacks, sending shivers down to everyone who heard this.
Some of the members of the ''Dark de guild'' even were under the impression, that the entire valley was shaking from the ck panther''s attacks.
Surprisingly, when everyone''s attention was focused on the ''Silver-winged panther king'', Xie Rong took advantage of the situation, as she rushed towards Tan Duyi.
Her intention was obvious to everyone; she wanted to kill Tan Duyi in the shortest amount of time possible.''
The first one to react was actually the big-nosed, peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert, as he looked at Xie Rong and shouted angrily
''''YOU BITCH! COME HERE!''''
He knew that, if Tan Duyi were to die at Xie Rong''s hands, there was no way that he would be able to escape alive.
Without a second thought, he immediately chased behind Xie Rong.
Tan Duyi''s eyes shone with a murderous gleam as he saw Xie Rong approaching him, while one thought shed through his mind.
''''Bitch! Everything happened today because of you!''''
Determination filled his eyes as he saw Xie Rong approaching closer and closer to him, and despite the attacks of the ''Silver-winged panther king'', there was only one target in Tan Duyi''s eyes.
At that moment, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up as another scene yed through his mind.
This scene wasn''t just shocking, but it was the one that Shun Long had actually expected the least to happen.
Since the ''Silver-winged panther king'' was also Shun Long''s contracted beast just like little ck, it immediately sensed the change in Shun Long''s emotions, as it turned its head to look at its master.
At the same time, Tan Duyi put on a devilish smile on his face, as hepressed all of his qi inside his dantian.
Although the dantian was the ce where the qi was supposed to be stored, if Tan Duyi chose to forcefullypress all of his qi together, there could only be one oue.
Dantian explosion!
This was a suicidal move, where one sacrificed all of their .u.mted cultivation topress their qi, before it erupted into a violent explosion.
This was a move that one usually wouldn''t use, even when they had reached the end of their lives.
After all, not only would this move bring immeasurable pain once it was used, but Tan Duyi''s soul would have almost no chance of surviving after this.
Although the ck panther was stronger than the Guild master of the ''Dark de guild'', it would also suffer heavy injuries if it was caught in the center of the explosion.
Both XIe Rong, as well as the peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert from the ''Dark de guild'', saw the panther flying towards them at extreme speed, when horror immediately filled their eyes.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Everyone on the battlefield turned to look at Tan Duyi, when a massive explosion erupted from his body.
Be it the Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild'', or the members of the ''Dark de guild'', everyone felt their faces paling with fear.
A gigantic wave of ck qi had erupted from Tan Duyi''s body, as it swept the area around him like a powerful tsunami.
Xie Rong and the S-rank mercenary from the ''Dark de guild'' had also turned to run when they saw the ''Silver-winged ck panther'' flying towards them, but in the end, they couldn''t get out of the explosion radius in time.
Although Shun Long was more than 200 meters away from Tan Duyi, he still felt a lethal danger as the wave of ck qi approached him.
Without any hesitation, he immediately raised his right hand and shed the air in front of him, opening a space tear.
The moment that he entered inside the space tear, Shun Long appeared next to Liu Mei, almost 300meters away from his original location.
Liu Mei heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Shun Long was alright, but her eyes couldn''t hide her worry, when she remembered that the ck panther had been caught inside this terrifying explosion.
Simrly, Shun Long was also staring at the gigantic wave of ck qi, that still hadn''t started to disperse.
Chapter 187 - 187 A green wisp of smoke
Chapter 187 - 187 A green wisp of smoke
The fight between the ''Pale Moon guild'' and the ''Dark de guild'' hadpletely stopped, as everyone stared at the wave of ck qi that swirled around in the air.
The terrifying explosion had enveloped everything within 300 meters around Tan Duyi, while the power inside the qi wave made everyone unable to enter inside it.
Finally, a few minutester, the ck wave of qi in the air had started to thin, before it slowly started to disperse.
3 figures could be seen in the distance, that made everyone''s eyes bulge from their sockets.
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he arrived in front of the ck panther, as he saw the panther''s silver wings covered with blood, but he eventually heaved a sigh of relief, when he understood that it was just a superficial injury.
However, Shun Long still fed the panther with the top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', that he had refined from the ''rank 4 Sunskirt grass''.
The effects of the top-grade rank 4 pills immediately healed the wounds on the panther''s back, when crying was suddenly heard next to Shun Long and Liu Mei.
''''Guild master!!''''
''''Elder brother!''''
2 groups of people had gathered around Xie Rong and the big-nosed, peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert from the ''Dark de guild'', whose injuries were extremely severe.
Shun Long turned his eyes to look at Xie Rong who was lying on the ground, with her body facing the sky, as wounds covered her arms and legs.
During the explosion, she had used all of her qi to create a 10m(32ft) tall earth wall, but in front of the terrifying explosion from Tan Duyi when he detonated his dantian, Xie Rong''s earth wall ended up as nothing more than a piece of mud.
Her breathing had grown much weaker by now, while her closed eyes showed no signs of movement.
An elderly old man from the ''Pale Moon guild'' dressed in red robes then walked in front of Shun Long, before he immediately fell on his knees. Without any hesitation, the old man started kowtowing as he said in a pleading voice
''''Young master Shun! I beg you! Please save the Guild master!''''
Shun Long looked at the old man in front of him who wasn''t even willing to raise his head, when he felt a tug on his arm.
Turning his head to the side, Shun Long saw Liu Mei who had a pitying look on her face, as she looked at the kneeling old man in front of Shun Long.
Shun Long nodded his head lightly, before he walked towards the unconscious Xie Rong.
Seeing the situation that she was in, Shun Long took out a rank 4 ''Sun-healing pill'' and ced it directly in Xie Rong''s mouth.
No one from the Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'' questioned Shun Long''s actions, as they stared at their Guild master with anxious eyes.
Less than 5 minutester, Xie Rong''s eyes twitched before they slowly opened.
The blonde-haired Xie Rong felt pain assaulting her senses, as soon as she regained her consciousness.
Her eyes looked around her with a confused gaze, while thest thing she remembered, was her earth wall breaking down under Tan Duyi''s explosion.
At the same time, many of the members from the ''Dark de guild'' had started to stealthily leave the scene.
As for the peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert from their guild, it was obvious that he was on hisst breaths.
He was the one with the lowest cultivation among himself, Xie Rong, and the ck panther, as well as the only one who didn''t have any way to defend himself when he was swept in Tan Duyi''s explosion.
By now, there were less than 10 members of the ''Dark de guild'' left around him, while the rest had already started to flee from the canyon.
As for Tan Duyi who was at the source of the explosion? No one even dared to go near him.
The big-nosed man''s body twitched one final time, before it stopped moving entirely.
The members of the ''Dark de guild'' who were around him, pounced on his body like hungry hyenas, all of them aiming for the same thing;
The peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert''s spatial ring.
The 30 Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild'' looked at each other and nodded their heads, before they surrounded the members from the ''Dark de guild''.
Suddenly, a green-colored but ethereal wisp of smoke, appeared from the big-nosed man''s body.
This, was the peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert''s soul.
The big-nosed man''s soul watched the people below him fighting over his spatial ring with a smirk on his face.
No matter who won, he would definitely possess that person''s body and start to cultivate all over again.
Most of the Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild'' couldn''t see this green wisp of smoke, but some of them who were at the middle or at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, felt their faces suddenly paling when they saw the green soul above their heads.
The ''Silver-winged panther king'' looked at Shun Long with a hungry look in his eyes, as he sent a mental message to him.
Although the panther''s soul wasn''t at a high enough level tomunicate with Shun Long the way that little ck did, the panther could still express its feelings properly.
Shun Long understood that there was something near the big-nosed peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert that the ck panther really wanted, and nodded his head without hesitation.
The ''Silver-winged panther king'' instantly soared into the air, and under the terrified gazes of the ''Pale Moon guild''s'' Elders, it rushed directly at the green soul.
The members of the ''Dark de guild'' were originally excited topete with each other for the spatial ring, but the moment that they saw the ck panther flying towards them, they immediately scattered around in fear.
After all, everyone remembered how the ck panther had sent their Guild master in a sorry state during their fight.
However, the most horrified out of everyone else, was the soul of the peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert.
He had never expected that the ck panther would suddenly attack him.
A soul couldn''t stay without a body for too long, but the big-nosed man clearly understood that if the ck panther caught him, he would even lose his soul.
The ''Silver-winged panther king'' however, didn''t give the peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert a single chance, as it instantly swallowed the green soul.
The Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'' heaved out in relief, when they saw the green soul being swallowed by the ck panther.
The panther then removed the big-nosed man''s spatial ring, before it returned back to Shun Long.
Some of the Elders were very dissatisfied with Shun Long obtaining the spatial ring from the peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert, but with the deterrent of the ck panther, no one said anything.
Completely ignoring the gazes of the Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild'', Shun Long ced the spatial ring inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he walked towards the ce where Tan Duyi had detonated himself.
The closer that Shun Long walked towards the ''center of the explosion'', the denser the remnant ck qi in the air around him would be.
However, the remaining ck qi in the air wasn''t a threat to Shun Long, who quickly arrived in front of Tan Duyi.
Tan Duyi''s dantian explosion hadpletely destroyed his body.
On the ground, there was only a damaged spatial ring, along with a half-broken ck sword, without a single sign of Tan Duyi''s soul around.
The Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'' felt their hearts turning green with envy when they saw the spatial ring on the ground.
They wanted to walk up and snatch it right away, but none of them dared to take the first step.
Shun Longpletely ignored the fervent gazes of the ''Pale Moon guild''s'' Elders behind him, as his attention waspletely focused on the spatial ring that was now in his hands.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength in Tan Duyi''s spatial ring.
Chapter 188 - 188 A stunning amount of wealth
Chapter 188 - 188 A stunning amount of wealth
The moment that Shun Long''s spiritual strength entered inside the spatial ring, an astonishing scene greeted his eyes.
Millions of low-grade spirit stones were stacked on top of each other, forming small mountains inside Tan Duyi''s spatial ring.
With a rough estimation, Shun Long calcted, that the low-grade spirit stones in front of his eyes numbered more than 4 million.
However, after looking at the millions of low-grade spirit stones, Shun Long''s eyes were soon glued to a small shining mound next to them.
This mound was made from spirit stones that were much brighter than the usual low-grade ones, while the qi inside them was obviously many times purer.
Shun Long immediately understood, that these were all middle-grade spirit stones.
There were less than 100.000 of them, which equaled to nearly 10 million low-grade spirit stones.
Combined with the 4 million low-grade ones from earlier, Tan Duyi''s spatial ring had more than 14 million low-grade spirit stones in total.
Shun Long''s eyes shone with a bright light when he saw the stunning amount of wealth in front of him, before he then turned his attention to the rest of the things inside the spatial ring.
Aside from the spirit stones, there were also 2 ck-colored scrolls, some bottles of pills, along with a small bronze badge.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly fell on the familiar-looking bronze badge. It was actually identical to the one that he had received from Cui Guoliang in the ''Vermilion realm''.
''''The ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.''''
This was the reason that Xie Rong had brought the Elders from her guild, to fight against Tan Duyi.
After cing the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' to the side, Shun Long turned his attention to the 5 bottles of pills.
4 of these bottles seemed to contain low-grade rank 5 healing pills, with asionally a middle-grade one mixed inside them, while thest bottle was actually filled with some middle-grade rank 4 anti-toxin pills.
As a mercenary who often ventured outside of the SIlver sword city, Tan Duyi would always carry healing or antidote pills along with him, in case he fell in a dangerous situation.
Shun Long sighed in disappointment when he saw the pills in front of him.
Both his top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', as well as his rank 3 anti-toxin pills were of a higher quality than Tan Duyi''s, making these pills essentially useless in Shun Long''s eyes.
Shun Long then turned his attention to the 2 ck scrolls that were left inside the spatial ring.
The first scroll was actually a Mystic high-grade cultivation technique, called the ''Dark Aura gathering''. This cultivation technique absorbed the qi in the air and turned it into dark qi, before it stored it inside the dantian.
However, the most terrifying part of this technique was, that it allowed a cultivator who trained in it, to have a chance toprehend the Dao of Darkness.
The Dao of Darkness was a high-level Dao, simr to the Dao of Light, which very few people in the entirety of the Night star continent had managed toprehend.
Shun Long estimated, that this technique wasn''t much worse than Liu Mei''s Moonlight Sigil.
As for the second ck scroll, it was a Mystic middle-grade martial skill, called the ''Darkness sh''.
A cultivator had to use a sword or a saber in order to train in this martial skill, creating a horizontal qi wave that could cut everything in half.
Shun Long smiled inwardly, before his consciousness returned back to his body.
Just the 14 million low-grade spirit stones that he had obtained, were more than what he had expected to earn this time.
The moment that he opened his eyes, Shun Long saw the Elders from the ''Pale Moon guild'' opening the way, as Xie Rong slowly walked towards him.
When she was just 2 meters in front of Shun Long and Liu Mei, Xie Rong bowed as she said
''''Young master Shun, thank you for your help. Without your pill, I don''t know when I would have woken up.''''
Shun Long waved his hand, as a small bronze token suddenly appeared in his hand.
Not just Xie Rong''s, but the 30 Elders'' eyes widened as well, when they saw this bronze token.
With a slight smile on his face, Shun Long handed the token to Xie Rong as he said
''''This is what you have been searching for''''
Xie Rong was stunned for a moment.
She hadn''t expected for Shun Long to hand her the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' like that.
Her hands trembled as she inched them forward, until they touched the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''s'' smooth surface.
The bronze token in her hands weighed even more than a mountain to her.
Her breathing had started to be even rougher, as she immediately ced the bronze badge inside her spatial ring.
Her green eyes had started to mist as she once again bowed deeply and said
''''Thank you!!''''
Her voice this time was even more sincere than before.
It was an emotion that hade from the depths of her heart.
Only Xie Rong knew, how much she had to endure for so many years, in order to get her hands on this medallion.
Shun Long nodded his head, while Liu Mei smiled at the beautiful woman in front of her.
Shun Long''s eyes then fell on the half-destroyed, ck sword on the ground.
Although Tan Duyi''s ck sword was heavily damaged, it was definitely a pinnacle rank 2 silver grade weapon, if not a rank 3.
After storing the ck sword inside the ''Stone of TIme'', he turned to look at Xie Rong, only to see that she was staring at him with her shining green eyes.
After taking a deep breath, the gorgeous blonde-haired woman then said in a voice full of hope
''''Young master Shun, do you.... want toe with me to the SIlver mountain?''''
Both Shun Long and Liu Mei were stunned by this sudden question.
Neither of them had actually expected for Xie Rong to invite them to the ce where her family lived.
Shun Long however shook his head, as he looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. before he replied
''''I am thankful for your offer Guild master Xie, but I will have to decline. After all, there is already a ce that we have to go to after today.''''
Xie Rong''s expression quickly turned disappointed, as she then looked at Shun Long and asked, in a tone that was filled with anxiousness, as well as fear
''''Young master Shun... is the ce that you have to go to, the Heaven''s Dome city?''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Xie Rong, who now had a difficult expression on her face.
Looking at Shun Long, she then steeled her heart as she said
''''Young master Shun, the Heaven''s Dome city is a really terrifying ce!
I have already been there a few times, and I have even seen peak rank 9 Nascent soul stage experts dying in front of me!
I suggest that you don''t go to that city just yet! Although your peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' is extremely strong, the truth is... that there are even Dao King realm experts in the Heaven''s Dome city!''''
Chapter 189 - 189 To the Heavens Dome city
Chapter 189 - 189 To the Heaven''s Dome city
Shun Long was stunned when he heard Xie Rong''s words.
Although he had already expected for Dao King realm experts to exist within the Heaven''s Dome city, it was one thing to specte about it, and another one to have it confirmed.
Cupping his hands at Xie Rong, Shun Long then said
''''Thank you for your warning ''Guild master Xie''.''''
Xie Rong shook her head, understanding that she couldn''t change Shun Long''s mind. She then waved her left hand and took a small white token from her spatial ring, before handing it to Shun Long.
Shun Long received the white token and noticed a silver-colored ''Xie'' character engraved on it, when Xie Rong spoke with a dazzling smile on her face
''''Young master Shun, if you want to...you can just call me Xie Rong.
Also, if someone has to say thank you, then that would be me. Not only did you save my life, but you also helped me obtain the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''.
Although I cannot help you with the Heaven''s Dome city, if you ever require assistance, you can bring this token to the Xie family of the Silver Mountain.''''
Shun Long epted Xie Rong''s token, and saw a bright smile blossoming on her face.
Xie Rong then turned to look at the 30 Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'' as she said
''''It is time for me to return back to the Silver Mountain! Thank you for being with me for all these years. Those of you who want to follow me, you are wee toe along.
If you want to follow your own path however, I will not stop you.''''
Surprisingly, less than 10 Elders from the guild chose to follow Xie Rong to the SIlver Mountain. The rest bowed before they went on their own ways.
Since Shun Long had gotten the Tan Duyi''s and the big-nosed man''s spatial ring, there was nothing left for them to do here.
These Elders had followed Xie Rong for many years, which was why they had chosen to put their lives on the line in this battle against the ''Dark de guild''. But since the battle was over, they wouldn''t owe anything to each other anymore, and each of them would follow their own paths.
Xie Rong wasn''t angry when she saw the Elders leaving.
She understood that each of them had their own ambitions, and after bowing to Shun Long onest time, she also left towards the south.
Shun Long patted the ck panther''s head, while Liu Mei watched Xie Rong and the Elders of the ''Pale Moon guild'' leave.
Since Liu Mei knew that the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' had something to do with the Dao King from the ''Vermilion realm'', she didn''t ask Shun Long why he wanted to go to this city.
Shun Long and Liu Mei both sat on the ck panther''s back, as Shun Long unfurled the map that Xie Rong had given to him.
On the map, he noticed that the Silver sword city was at the east of the Night star continent, while the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' was closer to the center.
Since there was nothing left for them to do in the Silver sword city, the ck panther flew towards the center of the Night star continent.
The panther was like a bolt of ck lightning in the air, as it crossed through many mountains and forests.
3 days soon passed like this, when Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived outside a big town.
Although the panther wasn''t tired, after flying for 3 days straight, Shun Long decided to stop for today.
After all, they had already covered almost half of the distance between the Silver sword city and the Heaven''s Dome city in just these 3 days.
After finding a small inn to stay for the night, Shun Long and Liu Mei started to cultivate.
Meanwhile, during thest 3 days of travel, Shun Long had already taken a look at the big-nosed man''s spatial ring.
However, for a peak rank 4 Nascent soul expert, only 2 words could describe the big-nosed man; dirt poor!
Inside his spatial ring, Shun Long found just a few bottles of pills, a Mystic middle-grade cultivation technique, as well as 8000 middle-grade spirit stones.
If they were converted into low-grade spirit stones, they would just amount to 800.000 of them.
Shun Long also estimated, that Liu Mei must be running out of spirit stones by now.
After all, she only had 20.000 low-grade ones with her, when she had left the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
After making sure that Liu Mei had enough spirit stones as well, Shun Long then entered the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of Time''.
It was finally time to test the effects of the middle-grade spirit stones.
After feeding the spirit stones to the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', Shun Long felt an unprecedented amount of pure qi filling the air around him.
This qi was more than 10 times purer than thating from the normal low-grade spirit stones.
Shun Long could feel his 61st ball of qi being condensed much faster than before.
By the time that the sun had started to rise in the outside world, less than 4 days had passed in the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of TIme''.
In just these 3-4 days, Shun Long had advanced from the middle of rank 7 in Heaven grade, to the peak of rank 7.
He estimated that he would just need 6-7 more days of cultivating inside the foggy space, until he advanced to the early rank 8 in Heaven grade.
Leaving the inn, Shun Long and Liu Mei left this town, as they headed deeper towards the center of the Night star continent.
It was unknown whether it was because of luck, or thanks to the powerful aura of the peak rank 5 ck panther, but on the way, they didn''t meet with any magic beasts or any other cultivators even once.
Finally, on the seventh day, Shun Long and Liu Mei could see a gigantic city in the distance ahead of them.
Chapter 190 - 190 Shun Longs plan
Chapter 190 - 190 Shun Long''s n
The city spanned for countless miles, while 3 majestic words seemed to have been carved on the more than 100 meters(330ft) tall city walls
''Heaven''s Dome city''
Shun Long could feel an indescribable, powerful intenting from these words.
As the ck panther was flying closer to the city, Shun Long noticed many carriages on the ground, all of them heading in the same direction as them.
All of these carriages were being dragged by powerful magic beasts, and even the weakest among them was at the early rank 3.
When they were just a few miles away from the city gates, Shun Long had the ck panther slow down its speed.
Simr to the Silver sword city, there were city guards that collected a fee, from every cultivator who wanted to enter the Heaven''s Dome city for the first time.
A few minutester, it was already Shun Long and Liu Mei''s turn to enter the city.
The 5 city guards who were at thete stages of the Heaven grade, were astonished when they saw the ck panther who had appeared in front of them.
Although they existed, it was still rare for people to ride on peak rank 5 magic beasts even in the Heaven''s Dome city.
The ck-robed city guards approached the panther carefully, and with a rare, respectful expression on their faces, they looked at Shun Long as the head guard among them said
''''Greetings fellow cultivators. If it is your first time entering the city, I will have to ask you to pay 1000 low-grade spirit stones for each person on your magic beast, as per the city rules.
If you are members of the Mercenaries'' Association however, you only have to pay 500 low-grade spirit stones for each person.
Although the price was extraordinarily high just to enter the city, Shun Long already had seen the people earlier paying the same fee.
After taking out his mercenary D-rank badge, he paid 1000 low-grade spirit stones for himself and Liu Mei, before they walked through the city gates.
The moment that he entered the city, Shun Long felt as if he had passed through an invisibleyer of formations when he felt the qi in the air around him. The qi inside the city was actually many times purer than the outside world.
As for the Heaven''s Dome city, the city itself was actually even more bustling than what Shun Long had originally expected.
Countless people along with luxurious carriages filled the vast roads of the Heaven''s Dome city, while the street stalls were even more than those of the Silver sword city''s.
Alchemy shops where one could request the services of high and low-level alchemists, cksmithies where formation masters worked at, luxurious restaurants and inns, they all filled the Heaven''s Dome city along with the houses of the residents, as far as the eyes could see.
However, for someone to own a residence in the city, they would have to pay an exorbitant amount of spirit stones.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long''s back as she asked in a curious tone
''''Long-ge, where should we go now?''''
Liu Mei had already understood that Shun Long had certain ns, long before they came to the Heaven''s Dome city.
Smilingly, Shun Long looked forward as he said
''''Let''s have a look around the city first.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, as the ''Silver-winged panther king'' walked around the busy streets of the Heaven''s Dome city.
Although people were astonished to see a peak rank 5 magic beast used as a mount, this sight wasn''t unprecedented in the city.
Half an hourter, Shun Long and Liu Mei had arrived outside of a building called
''Heavenly Intoxication Restaurant''.
From the people walking close to this restaurant, Shun Long had already heard that this could be considered as one of the 5 best restaurants in the entire city.
With the ck panther waiting outside, Shun Long and Liu Mei entered inside the restaurant.
A handsome young waiter dressed in striped blue robes approached them as soon as they entered inside, and with arge smile on his face he said
''''Greetings, young noble, youngdy! Wee to the ''Heavenly Intoxication Restaurant''.''''
The waiter guided Shun Long and Liu Mei to a table near a window, as Shun Long then ordered 2 dishes of each of the specialties in this restaurant.
An incense''s stick of timeter, the waiter arrived with more than 6 dishes in his hands, as well as 2 jars of wine.
Shun Long was surprised when he noticed, that most of the dishes were made from rank 3 magic beasts, while one of them was even made from an early rank 4 magic beast called the ''Sharp-toothed carp''.
The dishes, as well as the wine from this restaurant, were all rich in qi, and someone who consumed these dishes daily, could even advance in their cultivation.
At the same time, Shun Long remembered, that he had been too engrossed with his cultivation, that he had actually neglected making a new wine.
After paying more than 2000 spirit stones for the meal, Shun Long and Liu Mei then both exited the restaurant, as they got on the ck panther''s back.
Although Shun Long hadn''t heard anything interesting from the people eating in the restaurant, this didn''t really matter to him as he already had his own ns.
Shun Long and Liu Mei continued exploring the southern part of the Heaven''s Dome city, and 2 hourster, they arrived in front of a huge white building.
Liu Mei''s eyes widened when she saw the building in front of them, while Shun Long smiled brightly, before he led the ck panther to enter inside it.
This building was important to Shun Long''s ns in the Heaven''s Dome city after all.
2 enormous doors were wide open, both for carriages or for magic beasts to enter inside, while a pair of golden-colored cauldrons adorned the building''s entrance.
On top of the building, there were 2 eye-catching words ted in a color between gold and silver that everyone in the Heaven''s Dome city looked with respect
''''Alchemist''s Guild''
Chapter 191 - 191 Alchemists Guild test
Chapter 191 - 191 Alchemist''s Guild test
Liu Mei hadn''t expected for Shun Long to go to the ''Alchemist''s Guild''.
After all, Shun Long didn''t really have a need to be a certified alchemist, nor did he need to ask for a high-level alchemist''s help.
Although Liu Mei wasn''t an alchemist herself, she clearly understood that the top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'' that Shun Long had refined, were probably enough to set him on par with other rank 2 silver grade alchemists.
Entering inside the guild, the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' immediately attracted the crowd''s attention.
Shun Long however, ignored the gazes of the people around him, as he directly headed towards the registration counter.
Looking at the young receptionist behind the counter, Shun Long smiled lightly as he said
''''I would like to take the test for a silver grade alchemist.''''
The receptionist looked at Shun Long in puzzlement, since she couldn''t detect the slightest bit of auraing from his body, as she then asked
''''May I ask if you are already a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist?''''
Shun Long was slightly stunned, before he shook his head
He didn''t know the rules of the ''Alchemist''s Guild'' and hence, he wasn''t aware that he had to be a bronze grade alchemist before taking the test for the silver grade.
The receptionist looked at Shun Long in a daze, before she shook her head and replied
''''If you are not an official alchemist registered in the ''Alchemist''s Guild'', then you must start with the test for rank 1 bronze grade alchemists.''''
Afraid that Shun Long wouldn''t understand, the receptionist exined
''''This is done in order to avoid any cheating. After all, if an alchemist can refine a low-grade rank 3 pill, but they can''t refine a rank 1 pill, then they can''t be considered a proper alchemist.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he also agreed with this. Looking at the woman in front of him, he then asked curiously
''''Then, can I take the test for a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist now?''''
The receptionist nodded her head, as she pointed towards arge door with the word bronze on it before she said
''''If you enter through that door, you will find yourself in arge room, where our ''Alchemist''s Guild'' conducts the tests for the bronze grade alchemists.
The rules are very simple. For the rank 1 bronze grade alchemist test, you only have to pay 1 low-grade spirit stone before taking the test.
Once you enter inside the room, you will have to refine a low-grade rank 1 pill, in front of the overseeing alchemists.
Of course, you can refine any rank 1 pill you want, as our guild doesn''t ce any restrictions on this. Additionally, if you don''t have the medicinal herbs needed for your pill, you can purchase them directly from our ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
As long as the alchemists who oversee your test, can verify that you have sessfullypleted your pill refinement, then you will officially be a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at the young receptionist, before he turned to look at Liu Mei, as he then smiled lightly and said
''''I won''t take long''''
''''Mhm''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, as she and the ck panther watched Shun Long entering inside the ''Bronze'' door.
As soon as Shun Long entered the door, he found himself in arge room with many bronze grade cauldrons spread around.
In front of each cauldron, there was a ck meditative pillow, for the alchemists to sit on while they were refining their pills.
A young man who seemed to be in his early 20s walked towards Shun Long, the moment that he entered the room.
This man was dressed in white robes, and had a small white badge on his chest with a single star on it.
Shun Long knew, that this was the badge of a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist.
Aside from this young man, there were more than 20 other people in the room, who were currently using the bronze grade cauldrons on the floor.
There were also 3 middle-aged men dressed in white robes, with the badge of a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist on their chests.
The rank 1 bronze grade alchemist walked in front of Shun Long, and stretched out his right hand as he said in an emotionless tone
''''If you want to take the test for a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist, you must pay 1 low-grade spirit stone. If you want to take the test for a rank 2 bronze grade alchemist, you must pay 20 low-grade spirit stones. In case you want to take the test for a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, then you have to pay 100 low-grade spirit stones.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long handed a low-grade spirit stone to the man in front of him, who then pointed at the cauldrons on the floor and said
''''You can choose any of the cauldrons here to use for your pill refinement, but you only have 2 hours to refine a low-grade rank 1 pill, if you wish to pass the test. The esteemed overseers will also judge your pill in the end.''''
As soon as he finished speaking, the man immediately left without waiting for an answer.
Shun Long didn''t seem to have paid any attention to this young man however, as he walked in front of a random cauldron in the front row.
With a smile on his face, he took out 4 rank 1 medicinal herbs from the ''Stone of Time''.
A stalk of ''Blue striped grass'', a 5-leafed flower, a ''grisly growing root'' as well as a ''Honey fruit''.
The rank 3 bronze grade alchemists weren''t paying any special attention to Shun Long.
When they saw the medicinal herbs that he took out, they could immediately guess which pill he was going to refine.
Although the ''Qi barrier-breaking pill'' was aparatively harder rank 1 pill to refine, it was still a rank 1 pill in the end.
With a light smile on his face, Shun Long reminisced how this was the first pill that he had refined in the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
His movements were extremely practiced, as he first added the ''Blue striped grass'' inside the cauldron. As the grass had started to wither, he then added in a leaf from the 5-leafed flower, and watched as the half-withered grass coiled itself around the flower leaf as they were being refined at the same time.
If the rank 3 bronze grade alchemists were paying attention to Shun Long''s cauldron, their eyes would pop out of their sockets.
Not only was the sequence in which he ced the medicinal herbs inside the cauldron ''wrong'', but the result was something unbelievable.
5 breaths of timeter, Shun Long put the rest of the 5-leafed flower inside the cauldron, when a sizzling sound was suddenly heard.
One of the rank 3 bronze grade alchemists, turned to look at Shun Long and frowned when he heard this sizzling sound, certain that Shun Long had already failed in his refinement.
Shun Long didn''t pay attention to anyone else while he was refining the medicinal herbs, as he slowly lowered the mes of the cauldron, before he ced the ''grisly growing root'' inside.
Shun Long then used his spiritual strength, to guide the medicinal essence from the ''Blue striped grass'', the ''5-leafed flower'' and the ''grisly growing root'' in a circr motion inside the cauldron.
Nobody inside the room, including the 3 bronze grade alchemists had noticed, that time had gonepletely still for a moment.
After activating the ''Monarch''s Domain'' for less than a breath of time, Shun Long extracted the ''Honey fruit''s'' juice, as he mixed the 4 essences into one.
Less than 5 minutes had passed since he had started his pill refinement, when his alchemy cauldron exploded with a sudden burst of medicinal fragrance.
The three rank 3 bronze grade alchemists immediately turned to look at him with eyes filled with disbelief, as Shun Long slowly opened the lid of his cauldron.
Chapter 192 - 192 Shun Longs pill alchemy skills
Chapter 192 - 192 Shun Long''s pill alchemy skills
A shocking scene unfolded in front of the rank 3 bronze grade alchemists'' eyes.
4 cyan-colored pills could be seen inside Shun Long''s alchemy cauldron, and all of them were actually top-grade rank 1 ''Qi barrier-breaking pills''.
Based on the medicinal herbs that were used in the pill refinement, the most that one could actually get, out of a single alchemy cauldron, was 4 ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'' in one batch.
However, the most surprising thing out of all, was that these were all top-grade pills.
The trio of the rank 3 bronze grade alchemists seemed to have forgotten that they were the overseers of the test, as they hurriedly walked towards Shun Long''s cauldron.
Their eyes twitched when they smelled the fragranceing from the alchemy cauldron, and without even asking for permission, each of them grabbed a ''Qi barrier-breaking pill'' in their hands.
The more they observed the pills in their hands, the more astonished the rank 3 alchemists became, as all 3 of them simultaneously looked at Shun Long with an excited gaze.
After inspecting the pills, they had instantly understood, that these weren''t the normal ''Qi barrier-breaking pills''.
One of the 3 bronze grade alchemists took a deep breath as he looked at Shun Long, and with a bright smile on his face, he returned the pill back to Shun Long with some embarrassment as he asked
''''Young man...no, I mean, fellow alchemist, are these really ''Qi barrier-breaking pills''?''''
The other 2 alchemists looked at Shun Long expectantly as they also waited for his answer.
As rank 3 bronze grade alchemists, they could clearly understand, that these were certainly ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'', however, it was obvious that they weren''t normal pills.
As for the person who had refined these pills, he also couldn''t be just an average young man. Even if they couldn''t sense Shun Long''s cultivation, they would still give him due respect, as an alchemist who was at least at the same level as them.
Nodding his head, Shun Long casually stored the pills in an alchemy bottle as he looked at the 3 alchemists in front of him and said
''''They are of course ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'', however, they were created through a special recipe, so their effects are much better than the average pills.
A normal ''Qi barrier-breaking pill'', could increase the chance that a peak rank 6 ''Qi condensation stage'' cultivator advanced to the early rank 7 by 50 percent. However, these top-grade ''Qi condensation pills'' can give that same cultivator, a 90 percent chance to advance directly to the middle of rank 7.''''
The trio of overseers stared at Shun Long with wide-open eyes.
Although this sounded unbelievable, as pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade alchemists they knew, that even if Shun Long''s words were a bit exaggerated, based on the pills that they had inspected just now, the truth couldn''t be too far from that.
One of the 3 overseers then smiled, as he took out a small white badge from his spatial ring, and handed it to Shun Long as he said
''''Congrattions fellow alchemist. You are officially a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist of our ''Alchemist''s Guild''!''''
Shun Long turned to look at the white badge on his hands, that was shaped like a tiny cauldron with a single star on it. Shun Long could also sense a small formation engraved inside it, and he assumed that it was used to prove the authenticity of the badge.
At the same time, the rank 1 bronze grade alchemist who had ''weed'' Shun Long earlier, stared at him with envy from the distance, after seeing that he was surrounded by the 3 overseers.
''''He is just a rank 1 bronze grade alchemist, I don''t know why the esteemed overseers pay so much attention to him.''''
The young man mumbled as he consoled himself that Shun Long wasn''t a better alchemist than him.
At the same time, Shun Long looked at the three rank 3 bronze grade alchemists in front of him, as he then took out 20 low-grade spirit stones from the ''Stone of TIme'' and asked
''''Can I also take the test for rank 2 and rank 3 bronze grade alchemists here?''''
The overseer who had handed back the ''Qi barrier-breaking pill'' to Shun Long, excitedly nodded his head as he heard Shun Long''s question, before he immediately replied
''''Of course! The tests for bronze grade alchemists are all done in this room.''''
The 3 overseers exchanged furtive nces with each other, as they made up their minds to carefully observe Shun Long''s movements, and learn his pill recipes no matter what.
The overseer then pointed at the pill bottle in Shun Long''s hands and said
''''Actually, for the test to be a rank 2 bronze grade alchemist, you would have to refine at least a low-grade rank 2 pill, while to be a rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, you would have to refine a low-grade rank 3 pill.''''
Shun Long then nodded his head with a slight smile on his face.
Seeing the 3 overseers who were staring at him expectantly, he had immediately understood their intentions. However, this was exactly what Shun Long was aiming for.
Without another word, Shun Long took out 6 rank 2 medicinal herbs from his spatial ring, and under the astonished gazes of the 3 alchemists in front of him, he ced them all inside the cauldron at the same time.
''''What are you doing??''''
One of the 3 overseers couldn''t help asking, but the other 2 immediately shot him a threatening nce. Observing an alchemist, and asking them for their secrets were 2pletely different things.
Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to the middle-aged man, as he continued with his pill refinement.
At the same time, the other alchemists in the room had also turned their gazes towards him, curious why the 3 overseers would pay so much attention, to a new rank 1 bronze grade alchemist.
Just like thest time however, less than 5 minutes had passed, when a strong medicinal aroma had started to fill the room.
This time, it wasn''t just the 3 overseers, but every single alchemist in the room stared at Shun Long in shock.
''''He took less than 5 minutes toplete the pill refinement?''''
''''No! He must have certainly failed! I have never heard of a bronze grade alchemist, who can do something like this!''''
Although the other alchemists were also curious and wanted to crowd around Shun Long, nobody dared to approach the 3 overseers, who were staring at the young man in front of them like he was some kind of treasure.
Even though they hadn''t managed to understand anything about Shun Long''s pill refinement, since he had ced all the medicinal ingredients together, they could understand that the method he had used wasn''t something that they had met with before.
Under their astonished gazes, Shun Long opened the lid of the cauldron, revealing 3 bright green pills.
One of the overseers couldn''t stand still anymore, and looking at the other 2, he took a deep breath as he said
''''I''m calling senior Yao!''''
Then, without waiting for a response from the other 2 overseers, the peak rank 3 bronze grade alchemist stormed out of the room in a hurry, his face a mixture of shock and crazy excitement.
Chapter 193 - 193 Yao Huang
Chapter 193 - 193 Yao Huang
Next to the room where the tests for the bronze grade alchemists were being conducted, was also arge door with the word ''Silver'' on it.
This was where the tests for the silver grade alchemists were taking ce.
Contrary to the busy room where the bronze grade alchemists were being tested, there were only 4 people in this room.
A rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, along with a rank 1 silver grade alchemist, were both sitting in front of 2 cauldrons, refining their pills.
In front of them were 2 men, both wearing badges of rank 2 silver grade alchemists.
One man seemed to be in his middle 40s with a long ponytail and a stern expression on his face.
The other one, had a unique wide jaw, short spiky ck hair and a pair of cold eyes.
The door of the room abruptly opened, and both men turned their heads to look at the neer.
The middle-aged rank 3 bronze grade alchemist, Lai Rong, entered the room in a hurry, and looking at the man with the short ck hair, he quickly bowed as he said
''''Senior Yao!''''
The man with the cold eyes looked at Lai Rong without any change of emotions on his face, as he waited to hear the reason that he hade to meet him.
At the same time, the man with the long ponytail frowned slightly, before he continued watching the tests of the 2 alchemists in front of him,pletely ignoring Lai Rong.
Lai Rong took a deep breath as he stared at the man with the short hair in front of him, before he said
''''Senior Yao! There is a very unusual alchemist who came to take the bronze grade examination!''''
Understanding that his words weren''t enough to garner ''Senior Yao''s'' interest, Lai Rong hurriedly exined
''''He just took 5 minutes to refine 4 top-grade rank 1 ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'', but that''s not everything.
His ''Qi barrier-breaking pills'' arepletely different from the normal ones. He even imed, that those pills can allow someone who is at the peak of rank 6 in Qi condensation, to have a 90% chance of advancing directly to the middle of rank 7. Brother Jie, brother Rui and me, all examined the pills, and we can estimate that even he exaggerated his words, the pills should still have a somewhat simr effect as what he described.
Aside from that... he... also passed the test to be a rank 2 bronze grade alchemist in less than 5 minutes as well... again refining some top-grade rank 2 pills.''''
Lai Rong had his head lowered staring at the ground, as he recounted everything with great detail.
As he raised his head, he saw a dumbfounded ''Senior Yao'' staring at him in shock.
Even he, who was a rank 2 silver grade alchemist, couldn''t say for sure that he could refine top-grade rank 2 pills in less than 5 minutes.
''''Could it be, that this person is actually a pinnacle rank 2 silver grade alchemist?''''
As ''Senior Yao'' gathered his thoughts, he didn''t even spare a look at Lai Rong in front of him, as he quickly walked towards the examination room for the bronze grade alchemists.
Back inside the room, Shun Long was still extracting the essence of the rank 3 ''Crystal Ice lotus'', as he prepared to refine his anti-toxin pills.
As soon as ''Senior Yao'' entered the room, the overseers and the alchemists who were observing Shun Long, stared at him in shock. A rank 2 silver grade alchemist had actuallye to watch the test of a rank 2 bronze grade newbie?
''Brother Jie'' and ''brother Rui'', the 2 overseers immediately walked up to him, and with fawning smiles they greeted him
''''Senior Yao!''''
''Senior Yao'' however, stared at them with an ice-cold look in his eyes, as he pointed at the rest of the alchemists and said
''''You idiots! If you aren''t supervising the tests of everyone, then what are you doing here?''''
The 2 overseers immediately lowered their heads, but an aggrieved feeling overcame their hearts as they thought to themselves
''''Aren''t you also here because you are interested in this person? Why can''t we observe him as well?''''
However, the 2 rank 3 bronze grade alchemists didn''t dare to argue with ''Senior Yao'', as they continued observing everyone in the room.
The spiky-haired ''Senior Yao'' walked towards Shun Long, while at the same time, he was seriously observing the movements of his hands.
Shun Long seemed to have been deconstructing the petals of the rank 3 ''Crystal ice lotus'' in front of him, one by one, before he ced them inside his alchemy cauldron.
''Senior Yao'' had never seen something like this before.
It was known that the ''Crystal ice lotus'' could only be refined properly if it was intact and under low temperatures.
The person in front of him however, was doing the exact opposite.
Not only did he ''destroy'' the ice lotus, but the mes of his cauldron were scorchingly high.
After cing the ''Crystal ice lotus'' inside the cauldron, Shun Long also added the rank 3 ''ck centipede''s powder'', before he put back the lid of the cauldron.
''Senior Yao'' could no longer see what was going on inside the cauldron.
Additionally, since even the bronze grade cauldrons of the ''Alchemist''s Guild'' were equipped with special formations, he couldn''t have a look inside it even with his soul sense.
The rank 2 silver grade alchemist didn''t speak, as his eyes were staring at Shun Long''s cauldron, curious if he was going to seed in his pill refinement, after he had practically ruined the ''Crystal ice lotus''.
Less than 10 minutes passed, as Shun Long then opened the lid of his cauldron, revealing the contents inside.
''Senior Yao''s'' mouth was agape when he saw the 5pleted pills, all of them being top-grade rank 3 pills.
''Senior Yao''s'' mind was now in a mess.
As a rank 2 silver grade alchemist, he had even received pointers from a rank 1 gold grade alchemist in the past.
And yet, he had no way to exin the scene in front of his eyes, that waspletely different to what he knew.
Taking a deep breath, the spiky-haired ''Senior Yao'' approached Shun Long and cupped his hands as he said
''''Greetings. My name is Yao Huang, an overseer for the tests of the silver grade alchemists in the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.''''
Shun Long looked at the man in front of him, and noticed the silver-colored badge with 2 stars on his chest, showing that he was a rank 2 silver grade alchemist.
Nodding his head, he then cupped his hands in response, as he said
''''My name is Shun Long''''
Yao Huang''s mind immediately tried to remember if he had ever heard of this name before, but to his surprise, no such young alchemist seemed to have appeared in the ''Heaven''s Dome city''.
With a smile on his face, the rank 2 silver grade alchemist then said
''''Younger brother Shun, did you juste to the ''Heaven''s Dome city''? Otherwise, such a talented young alchemist couldn''t have stayed nameless.''''
Shun Long understood that Yao Huang was probing him for his origins, as he smiled and said calmly
''''Indeed, I have only juste to the city and I don''t know many people here.''''
Yao Huang startedughing when he heard that, and patting Shun Long''s shoulder he continued
''''Haha, thening to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was the best choice. Almost all of the alchemists in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' are members of our Guild. The ''Heaven''s Dome city'' is a dangerous ce, and being a member of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' offers you a certain degree of protection as well as status.
Actually, I also wonder, if younger brother Shun intends to join any of the strong powers of the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' as well!''''
Chapter 194 - 194 Passing the tests
Chapter 194 - 194 Passing the tests
Shun Long looked at Yao Huang curiously, who then started exining
''''Aside from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', there are also many other strong powers in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' who want to have their own private alchemists, and not have to rely on the Guild at all times. These powers would usually offer, far more benefits to promising alchemists like brother Shun, than the guild usually does.''''
Shun Long smiled lightly when he heard Yao Huang''s words, as he then asked in a seemingly interested tone
''''In that case, I wonder if you are also a member of one of these strong powers, brother Yao!''''
Yao Huang nodded his head seriously
''''Indeed, although I am working for the Guild, I have also joined another strong power.
The ''Alchemist''s Guild'' doesn''t have any restrictions to its alchemists joining other powers after all.
You can think of the Guild as arge ce, where all of the alchemists are part of a big family. The Guild can provide you with alchemy recipes if you are willing to pay the corresponding price, or you can also sell a unique recipe of your own, and request what you want from the Guild.
The same thing works for medicinal ingredients as well.
Additionally, you can also choose to work for the Guild, and either be an overseer like me, or an exclusive alchemist. After all, the Guild also sells pills, so it needs its own alchemists to concoct them, while usually, the strong powers of the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' will be the biggest customers who purchase these pills.''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened slightly, as he seemed to have just understood even more things regarding the ''Heaven''s Dome city'', while countless thoughts were now shing through his mind
''''It seems that the ''Alchemist''s Guild'' has even more power than I imagined. ording to Yao Huang''s words, the guild practically controls the mass flow of pills in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'', making these ''strong powers'', reliant to it. These powers also want promising or strong alchemists that they can exclusively work for them, in order to escape the ''Alchemists'' Guild''s'' shackles.
However, no matter what benefits these ''strong powers'' are willing to offer, in the end, I would have to be a personal alchemy ve once I joined them. Whereas, if I use the ''Alchemist''s Guild''s''work and connections, I can spread my name and sell my personal pills through the guild.
Although my profits wouldn''t be as high as if I had opened my own alchemy shop, with the ''Alchemist''s Guild''''s'' backing, I will probably not have to worry about any of the underlying threats of the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' as well.''''
Seeing that Shun Long had fallen deep into thought, Yao Huang guessed that he was probably trying to gauge the benefits that each power would be willing to offer him upon joining. After all, for a talented young alchemist who was at the same level as him, many of the strong powers in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' would be interested in recruiting him.
With a smile on his face, the spiky-haired Yao Huang looked at Shun Long and said
''''Younger brother Shun, actually, I''m also a member of the ''Blood Moon sect''. Our sect is one of the more powerful ones in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'', and I am certain that younger brother Shun will be greatly valued by the higher-ups once you join.''''
Shun Long recovered himself from his thoughts, as he had already made his decision.
Shaking his head, he looked at the spiky-haired man next to him and said
''''For now, I don''t n to join any power aside from the ''Alchemist''s Guild''.''''
Seeing that his offer was rejected, Yao Huang then guessed, that Shun Long wanted to fish for better offers. But since he was the first to found him, the spiky-haired Yao Huang was nning to return to the ''Blood Moon sect'' and report everything.
If the higher-ups from the sect decided to contact Shun Long and managed to sessfully recruit him, then by bringing a young and promising alchemist to the sect, he would also obtain bountiful rewards.
Nodding his head, the rank 2 silver grade alchemist then smiled as he asked with a friendly look on his face
''''In that case younger brother Shun, do you n to take the test to be a rank 1 silver grade alchemist? If so, you can follow me.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he followed Yao Huang to the room where the tests for the silver grade alchemists were taking ce.
Entering inside, Shun Long saw a man in his middle 40s, with a long ponytail and a stern expression on his face, supervising the 2 alchemists who were taking their tests.
The man threw a scornful look at Yao Huang as soon as he entered the room, before he turned his attention to Shun Long.
Yao Huang however, didn''t seem to have paid much attention to the ponytailed man, as he smiled brightly at Shun Long, and pointing at the silver grade cauldrons on the floor he said
''''Younger brother Shun, you can choose any of these cauldrons for your pill refinement. For the test to be a rank 1 silver grade alchemist, you will have to pay the Guild 1000 low-grade spirit stones.
You also have 2 hours to refine a high-grade rank 3 pill, in order to pass the test. Additionally, after bing a rank 1 silver grade alchemist, you can purchase medicinal ingredients or alchemy recipes from the guild directly at a 20 percent discount.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he then took out 1000 spirit stones from the ''Stone of Time'' and handed them to Yao Huang, before he turned his attention to the 20 silver grade cauldrons on the floor.
After randomly picking one, Shun Long didn''t hesitate, as he picked more than a dozen rank 3 medicinal herbs from the ''Stone of Time'', and ced them in front of him.
Since he wanted to spread his name as an alchemist and attract more attention, the best way to do that was by showing his real abilities.
Time soon passed like this, and Shun Long took on, one test after the other.
-
4 hours quickly passed, while Yao Huang and the ponytailed man were now staring at Shun Long with their mouths agape.
Shun Long instead smiled lightly as he opened the lid of his cauldron, revealing 6 golden-colored pills, as a powerful medicinal scent wafted throughout the room. A revitalizing feeling swept the 2 silver grade alchemists bodies.
Seeing the top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', both Yao Huang as well as the ponytailed man, were now at a loss for words.
Yao Huang wanted to speak, but the ponytailed man took a step forward first, as he took out a silver-colored badge from his spatial ring and handed it to Shun Long as he said smilingly
''''Brother Shun...no senior Shun... I offer you my congrattions! This is the first time that I have such a young rank 3 silver grade alchemist! I am certain that the higher-ups of our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' will be very excited.
From the way that this ponytailed man was speaking about the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', Shun Long guessed, that he most likely wasn''t a member of some other power, like Yao Huang.
Yao Huang instead was rmed, when he saw the attention that the ponytailed man was now cing on ''his target''. He had originally hoped to find a promising silver grade alchemist, but Shun Long had already passed all 3 tests, to be a rank 3 silver grade alchemist.
Probably, even the higher-ups of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' wouldn''t allow other powers to poach him.
Shun Long''s lips slowly curved up into a smile, as he received the cauldron-shaped badge with 3 stars from the ponytailed man in front of him.
The man then looked at Shun Long who was holding the badge in his hands with a respectful look on his face, as he asked
''''Senior Shun, would you like toe with us and meet with the higher-ups of our ''Alchemists'' Guild''? After all, me and Yao Huang both have to report it, when a rank 3 silver-grade alchemist appears in the examination.''''
Chapter 195 - 195 The gold grade alchemists of the Alchemists Guild
Chapter 195 - 195 The gold grade alchemists of the Alchemists Guild
Shun Long thought for a moment, before he nodded his head at the ponytailed man in front of him.
Since he had decided to show his skills, then meeting with the higher-ups of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was important in establishing himself.
Seeing that Shun Long had agreed, the ponytailed man bowed slightly as he said
''''In that case, please follow me senior Shun.''''
Shun Long followed the ponytailed man, as well as the now sullen Yao Huang, whose mind was still trying to think of a way to get Shun Long to the Blood Moon sect.
The people in the lobby of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' were stunned, when they saw they saw the 2 rank 2 silver grade alchemists guiding a young man deeper inside.
Liu Mei also noticed this scene, and seeing the confident look in Shun Long''s eyes, a wide smile covered her face beneath her white veil.
After walking through arge corridor, Shun Long and the 2 silver grade alchemists, arrived outside of arge white door, more than 10m (33ft) tall.
6 men more than 2m(6.6ft) tall each, dressed in ck armor from head to toe, were standing guard in front of this door.
The ck armor guards were each holding a 1.9m (6.2ft) halberd, while their backs were all ramrod straight.
Shun Long was shocked when he felt the aura of these guards, sensing that they were all at the Nascent soul stage.
The moment that Shun Long''s group approached the white door, the 6 guards simultaneously took a step forward, as they pointed their halberds toward the 2 alchemists in the front.
Thebined pressure that the 6 Nascent soul stage guards exuded, forced Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' to start circting by itself, as it tried to resist their overpowering aura.
The ponytailed man and Yao Huang who were in front of him however, felt their knees about to give in, as the ponytailed man quickly took out a white badge from his robes, and showing it to the ck-armored guards he said in a serious tone
''''I am here to see the Elders!''''
Seeing the white badge in the alchemist''s hands, the 6 ck-armored guards retracted their pressure, as they resumed their previous stance.
Yao Huang and the ponytailed man heaved a sigh of relief, while Shun Long''s body felt much lighter now that he didn''t have to endure the ck-armored guards'' pressure.
His ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' stopped circting, as he followed the 2 alchemists who started to push open the white door.
Shun Long was surprised when he saw the scene behind the white door unfolding itself in front of his eyes.
Arge garden that spanned for more than 10 miles appeared in front of him, while the scent of countless medicinal herbs assaulted his senses.
A group of 2 elderly men along with an elderly woman and a middle-aged man, were all sitting in front of a table inside this garden drinking wine and chatting with themselves, when they suddenly turned their attention to the group of neers, with a look of surprise in their eyes.
Yao Huang and the ponytailed man hurriedly bowed as they saw the golden-robed Elders in front of them, while Shun Long''s eyes immediately spotted the golden badges in their chests.
The golden-robed middle-aged man stood up from his seat, and looking at the ponytailed man he asked in a sonorous voice
''''Dong Zhaohui, is there a reason for you toe here today?''''
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden-robed middle-aged man turned his attention to Shun Long.
Shun Long noticed that this man had a square jaw and a pair of sharp eyes, that seemed as if they could see through a person''s soul.
The ponytailed Dong Zhaohui looked at the middle-aged man who had quickly appeared in front of him, and raising his head, he gestured at Shun Long as he said
''''Elder Kong Yan, as per your instructions, I havee to report to you, as a new rank 3 silver grade alchemist appeared in our ''Alchemists'' Guild''s'' examination.''''
Kong Yan''s eyes constricted as he stared at Shun Long in disbelief. The young man in front of him didn''t look more than 20 years old.
Of course, Kong Yan didn''t believe that Shun Long was just 20 years old, but based on the fact that a cultivator''s outer appearance changed, depending on their cultivation realm and age, Shun Long couldn''t be much older than 100 years old.
Even the 2 elderly men and the elderly woman who were sitting in front of the table, had now stood up as they looked at Shun Long with incredulous looks in their eyes.
Kong Yan didn''t pay any more attention to Dong Zhaohui, and taking a step forward he appeared in front of Shun Long, as he asked him curiously
''''What pill did you refine for yourst test?''''
Even the 3 Elders behind Kong Yan perked up their ears when they heard this question.
Looking at the middle-aged man who had suddenly in front of him, Shun Long took out a small bottle from his spatial ring as he then answered
''''Rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills''''''
Staring at the top-grade rank 4 pills inside the pill bottle, Kong Yan was stunned for a second.
If the young man in front of him could refine top-grade rank 4 pills, then didn''t that mean that there was a good chance that he could also refine low-grade rank 5 pills? That would then make him at the same level as Kong Yan and the other rank 1 gold grade alchemist in here.
After all, aside from the elderly woman and one of the 2 old men behind him who were rank 2 gold grade alchemists, Kong Yan and the other old man were still rank 1 gold grade alchemists themselves.
The Elders of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' chatted excitedly with Shun Long for more than an hour, as they attempted to get to know him. Shun Long also learned their names, and at the same time, he learned that there were 8 more gold grade alchemists in the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' aside from the 4 in front of him.
An hourter, under the reluctant gazes of Kong Yan and the 2 old men, Shun Long followed the elderly woman named Jin Wenling, to officially ce his pills for sale in the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
Chapter 196 - 196 The peak powers of the Heavens Dome city
Chapter 196 - 196 The peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city
As the white-haired Jin Wenling led the way, she exined to Shun Long about the powers in the Heaven''s Dome city.
''''Little brother Shun, there are 4 other peak powers in the Heaven''s Dome city, aside from our ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
Although our guild isn''t afraid of any of them, you should still pay attention to them when you stroll around the city.
They are, the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', the ''Golden Exchange firm'', the members of the Dark elf race, and the royal family of the Shengtian dynasty.
Of course, even though they are all peak powers as well inside the Heaven''s Dome city, all of them have to at least give our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' some face.''''
Although Shun Long had heard Jin Wenling and the other 3 Elders earlier mention some of these ''strong powers'' in passing, it was only now that he had started to get a clear picture of the strongest powers in the Heaven''s Dome city.
Jin Wenling looked at Shun Long who seemed to be thinking of what she had just said, and with a smile on her face she then added
''''Little brother Shun, although I don''t know why I''m unable to sense your cultivation, but since you were able to pass the test and be a silver grade alchemist, you must be at least a rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator.''''
It seemed that Jin Wenling wasn''t asking Shun Long, but she was just stating what was only normal to her, as she continued
''''Since that''s the case, I suggest that you take a look at a very interesting ce near the western part of the Heaven''s Dome city, called the House of Rankings.
It is a ce where many young people go and spar with each other.
Although as alchemists we don''t really have to care about ourbat power since there will be people who will be willing to fight for us anyway, it is still a ce that every young person in the Heaven''s Dome city should check out.
It can also help you make some personal connections and meet the strongest and most influential people of your generation inside the city.''''
Shun Long hadn''t expected to hear something like that from Jin Wenling. Nodding his head, he inwardly agreed to have a look at this House of Rankings. After all, although his cultivation had been growing at an insanely fast speed, hisbat experience hadn''t been honed at the same rate.
Aside from Cui Guoliang, the Dao King who had suppressed his own cultivation when he sparred with him, Shun Long hadn''t met with anyone else who could give him such a good fight.
So the moment that he heard about the strongest young people in the Heaven''s Dome city, a spark of excitement lit up inside him, curious to check out that ce.
A few minutester, under the shocked gazes of the alchemists around them, Shun Long and Jin Wenling walked in front of one of the many counters, where the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' sold its pills to the crowd.
The white-robed rank 2 bronze grade alchemist behind the counter immediately stood up and bowed, as he looked at Jin Wenling with a reverent look in his eyes. His voice was trembling slightly as he stared at the bigshot in front of him and asked reverently
''''Grand Elder Jin, c-can I help you?''''
Since Jin Wenling was a rank 2 gold grade alchemist, she was a Grand Elder of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', inparison to Kong Yan who was still an Elder.
Nodding her head, the white-haired Jin Wenling looked at Shun Long with a smile, her slightly wrinkled face looking like a kind elder who was looking at her junior, as she then said
''''Show me your pills, and tell me how many of them do you wish to sell every month. I will verify everything personally.''''
It wasn''t just the rank 2 bronze grade alchemist who was shocked when he heard that, even the people who were purchasing pills from the nearby counters, along with the alchemists who were responsible for their sales, were now staring at Shun Long with shocked eyes.
Who was Jin Wenling? She was a rank 2 gold grade alchemist, as well as a Grand Elder of the ''Alchemists'' Guild''. To pay so much attention to this person... could it be that she wanted to take him as a disciple?''''
Shun Long ignored the gazes of the people around him, and waving his hand, more than 20 pill bottles appeared on the counter in front of him.
The 20 pill bottles were filled with either rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'' or with rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', with only one of them having rank 3 ''anti-toxin pills'' inside it
Jin Wenling had already inspected the pills earlier along with the other 3 Elders, so after taking a brief look at them, she looked at the white-robed alchemist in front of her and said
''''Each of these rank 3 pill bottles will be sold for 100.000 low-grade spirit stones each. These pills can help increase the cultivation of Heaven grade cultivators, and as top-grade pills, there will be no pill toxins left inside the cultivator''s body. Although the price can be considered expensive, these pills don''t exist anywhere else, aside from our ''Alchemists'' Guild''.''''
Shun Long had already discussed this with Jin Wenling. Although he could price the pill bottles at 300.000 spirit stones each, that would be far higher than the actual market value of the pills and would also hurt his image as an alchemist. Of course, at the start, there would surely be some alchemists or big families who would purchase the pills in hopes of finding out the pill recipe, just like the SIlver sword n did in the Silver sword city, but no Heaven grade cultivator would ever purchase them for themselves. Besides, these big families would only need to buy one pill bottle each.
As for the pill recipe, Shun Long wasn''t afraid of people uncovering it by themselves. Even if he revealed that the ''Bloodbustion pills'' were made from rank 3 ''Blood Vermillion fruits'', the actual pill refinement process was derived by Shun Long himself, after using his knowledge of countless medicinal herbs.
Looking at the rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', Jin Wenling had a serious look on her face as she said
''''Each of these pill bottles filled with top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'' will be sold for 160.000 low-grade spirit stones each. Although there is an abundance of healing pills, top-grade rank 4 pills made from ''Sunskirt grass'', can even affect Nascent Soul stage cultivators.''''
The man behind the counter was shocked when he heard the terrifying prices that the Grand Elder was listing, but he still nodded his head as he recorded down everything.
However, after taking a look at the rank 3 ''anti-toxin pills'', Jin Wenling turned her head to look at Shun Long as she asked curiously
''''Little brother Shun, are you certain that you want to sell rank 3 anti-toxin pills? Even though they are top-grade rank 3 pills, they still won''t be sold for even 8.000 low-grade spirit stones.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, not minding the low price that the anti-toxin pills would fetch.
Nodding her head, Jin Wenling helped Shun Long set up the price for his pills.
After thanking Jin Wenling, Shun Long ignored the curious gazes from the crowd around him, as he walked back to the lobby, where Liu Mei was waiting for him along with the ck panther.
Seeing Shun Long returning to the lobby, everyone who had seen him walk along with the 2 silver-grade alchemists earlier, had looks of respect in their eyes.
Liu Mei had a bright smile beneath her white veil as she looked at the man in front of her, as Shun Long then held her hand, and mounted on the ck panther''s back, as they then left the ''Alchemists Guild''.
Looking at the excited Shun Long in front of her, Liu Mei asked in a curious voice
''''Long-ge, where are we going?''''
However, just as Shun Long was about to respond to Liu Mei, he could feel an extremely powerful aura erupting inside the ''Stone of Time''. Shun Long was rmed when he felt this aura, that seemed to be even stronger than the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king''s''.
Inside the space of the ''Stone of Time'', a pair of blue eyes had suddenly opened.
Chapter 197 - 197 Little Blacks advancement
Chapter 197 - 197 Little ck''s advancement
Little ck who had been in slumber for months, finally opened his blue eyes, as a horrifying aura erupted from his body.
The ck dragon let out a roar, thatpletely shocked Shun Long who had just sent his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of TIme''.
Little ck was delighted when he saw Shun Long again, and with an excited tone he said
''''Master!''''
Shun Long smiled when he saw the ck dragon finally waking up, but a shocked expression quickly filled his face, when he sensed Little ck''s aura
''''Peak of rank 5''''
Before Little ck had fallen asleep, he was still at the peak of rank 4, but now, in just a few months, his cultivation had grown all the way to the peak of rank 5, the same level as the ck panther.
Seeing the shocked expression on Shun Long''s face, Little ck seemed to have instantly understood Shun Long''s thoughts as he started exining
''''Master, I was also stunned. As soon as I started my breakthrough to rank 5, I could feel my soul touching upon some weird power inside me. It was probably because we dragons, are usually born above the 5th rank, so our soul doesn''t need to go through the primary evolution that normal magic beasts have to experience.
I don''t know how long I slept for, but I could feel that I was inside a very, very long dream, and as soon as I woke up, my strength had already reached the peak of rank 5''''
After listening to everything that Little ck said, Shun Long was speechless for a moment.
The dragons were indeed kings among other magic beasts.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long smiled at the ck dragon in front of him, as he then started exining everything that had happened in thest 4 months, ever since little ck had fallen asleep while they were inside the ''Vermilion realm''.
From defeating Cui Guoliang and listening to his request, as well as getting the ck panther and getting together with Liu Mei... all the way to where he was just now.
Liu Mei was stunned when she saw Shun Long suddenly falling in a daze, and didn''t know what she should do.
The ck panther however, could sense that its master was still alright, as it continued towards the western part of the city.
At the same time that Shun Long was traveling towards the House of Rankings, in arge building at the east of the Heaven''s Dome city, the spiky-haired rank 2 silver grade alchemist Yao Huang, was kneeling in front of a red-haired woman who seemed to be in her middle 30s.
Her oval-shaped face and her beautiful red-hair, along with her stunning body, gave people a feeling of indescribable allure. However, if one took a look at her cold red eyes, they would immediately feel shivers all over their body.
The woman looked at Yao Huang who was kneeling in front of her with an icy look as she heard his report.
Yao Huang had just rushed over from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', to report that a very young rank 3 silver grade alchemist had appeared from the examination tests that he was responsible for.
Seeing that the woman in front of him wasn''t speaking, Yao Huang knew that she was angry that he hadn''t managed to rope in that young man to the Blood Moon sect.
The red-haired woman''s hands were supporting her chin, as she stared at Yao Huang for 10 minutes without uttering a single word.
Every minute felt like a day to Yao Huang, who now had sweat dripping from his forehead, under the stifling atmosphere that had permeated the room.
The rank 2 silver grade alchemist felt that he couldn''t take it anymore, and just as he was about to raise his head slightly, a cold, emotionless voice then sounded in his ears
''''Yao Huang, you have been working for our Blood Moon sect for 5 years, and yet, you have only managed to bring useless trashes to me. Aside from a handful rank 1 silver grade alchemists, the rest were all bronze grade worms. I can forget about all your mistakes in the past... however, THE ONE TIME that a rank 3 silver grade alchemist appeared, you still failed to rope him in!
What use do you have to me any longer? What should I say when the other Elders ask me about your progress?
Should I tell them that within 5 years, you only brought a handful of rank 1 silver-grade alchemists?''''
Yao Huang''s face had an ugly look when he heard these words.
Although he hadn''t worked as hard as he could for the Blood Moon sect, he also didn''t want the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to find out what he was doing.
However, he was still dissatisfied with the red-haired woman''s behavior.
Taking a deep breath, his eyes stared at the woman in front of him, as he said with an aggrieved look
''''Elder Zhong, I have done everything that I can so far. It''s not easy to recruit a rank 3 silver grade alchemist from the ''Alchemist''s Guild''. The higher-ups will immediately learn of it, and do everything that they can to keep such a person in the guild. Of course, if we approach this person secretly, then we may still have a chance!''''
The red-haired woman didn''t respond to Yao Huang, as she fell into deep thought.
At the same time, more than half an hour had passed while Shun Long and Liu Mei were touring through the western part of the city. Shun Long had just finished narrating the most important parts of thest months to the curious little ck, when the ''Silver-winged panther king'' had arrived in front of a huge building that seemed to have been made from wood.
On top of the building, the 3 words ''House of Rankings'' were ted in gold, and right above them were also the words ''Golden Exchange firm''.
Many young men and women could be seening and going from the building, while a huge board with 200 names was erected right in front of it.
Shun Long and Liu Mei walked towards the building, while the ck panther attracted everyone''s attention around them.
The moment that they stepped through the wooden gates, a whole new ce unfolded itself in front of Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes.
Arge, floating screen of light was suspended mid-air, showing the scenes of countless young men and women fighting with each other.
Chapter 198 - 198 House of Rankings
Chapter 198 - 198 House of Rankings
Arge crowd of more than 1000 people had gathered in front of the screen of light, while a huge ranking board could be seen standing tall next to it.
There were 200 names on this ranking board, each of them with a number next to them, but these names werepletely different than the ones that Shun Long and Liu Mei had seen before they entered the building.
Surprisingly, although some people noticed Shun Long and Liu Mei who seemed to have a peak rank 5 magic beast as their mount, no one seemed to bother too much with them, as they soon turned their attention back to therge screen in front of them.
Shun Long turned his eyes to the screen of light as well, where he saw numerous people fighting in many differentndscapes.
At the start, he saw 2 young men fighting inside a lush forest, each of their attacks destroying numerous trees around them. The scene however, soon changed, showing a young man and a young woman both dressed in purple robes, teaming up against a young woman who was dressed in red, as she flew above a waterfall, trying to escape the people behind her.
Shun Long then stopped staring at the light screen in the air, as he turned his attention to the ce around him.
The space inside the ''House of Rankings'' was actually much bigger than it seemed on the outside.
Aside from therge screen of light that was right in the middle once someone entered inside, there were also many other smaller screens spread around the ce.
There were also 3rge gates towards the back, where people entered and left continuously.
The first gate was the Challenge Gate.
The second was the Survival Gate.
The third was the Ranking Gate.
Shun Long however noticed, that most people were entering the Survival and the Challenge Gates, while no one was going through the gate in the middle, the Ranking Gate.
Seeing the manyrge and small counters around him, Shun Long then headed towards therge, ''Information counter'', that was close to the entrance.
2 young women in their middle 20s were sitting behind the counter as they observed their surroundings.
One of the 2 women had short blue hair that reached up to her neck, along with a pair of green eyes, while the second woman had long ck hair and a pair of brown eyes.
Shun Long also noticed the words ''House of Rankings'' on the 2 women''s robes.
The 2 women smiled professionally at Shun Long and Liu Mei who were walking towards them, before their eyes were suddenly focused on the ck panther that was following behind them.
The blue-haired woman was the first to reign in her shock, and with that professional smile on her face, she looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei, as she asked curiously
''''Wee! Is this perhaps your first time entering the ''House of Rankings''?''''
Shun Long wasn''t surprised at the blue-haired woman''s question. After all, only people who were unfamiliar with the ce, would choose to head to the ''Information counter''.
Nodding his head, Shun Long confirmed this, as he then said
''''Right, it''s our first time here and we don''t know much about this ce.''''
The ck-haired woman seemed to have juste to their senses, as her eyes curiously looked at the handsome young man in front of her, before she turned her attention to the veiled young woman.
Although she couldn''t see Liu Mei''s appearance, a tinge of envy filled her heart when she saw the young man next to her, as well as the ck panther that was following behind them.
With a wide smile on her face, her eyes stared deeply at Shun Long, as she took the initiative to speak
''''In that case, please allow me to exin!
As you may know, our ''House of Rankings'' was created by the ''Golden Exchange firm''.
The aim of the House is to gather the strongest people who are below 1000 years old, and have thempete with each other for the glory of the strongest person in our ''Heaven''s Dome city''. There have also been rumors of course, that there is something even more important than the glory of being the strongest, but these are all just rumors.
Anyway, everyone who registers themselves in the House of Rankings for the first time, will obtain a golden medallion, that is required to participate in the challenges of the House.''''
As the young woman finished speaking, she took out a golden medallion from her bosom, and showed it to Shun Long with a smile on her face.
Liu Mei''s eyes didn''t have a single change inside them, as she stared at the woman in front of her with an expressionless look beneath her white veil.
Shun Long however, was slightly surprised, to hear that the House of Rankings was created by the ''Golden Exchange firm''.
The blue-haired woman frowned inwardly as she looked at her colleague, who continued with her exnation as she pointed towards the 3rge gates behind Shun Long and Liu Mei
''''As you can see, there are 3rge gates, each gate containing a different type of challenge, as well as different rules set by our House of Rankings.
To enter a gate, one must of course pay a fee of 3000 low-grade spirit stones to our House.
Out of the 3 gaters, the first is the Challenge Gate. No matter what your ranking actually is, as long as you and your opponent agree, you can both fight with each other in the Challenge Gate.
Once a person wins in the Challenge Gate, they can then choose to obtain their opponent''s ranking. Thus, the Challenge Gate is mostly used for personal challenges between the rankers.
The second, is the Survival Gate. This gate is much harder than the Challenge Gate. A group of 200 rankers will enter this Gate together, all of them having to fight against each other. Once you defeat an opponent inside the Survival Gate, you will have to use your Ranking medallion to obtain their survival points.
The time limit for the Survival Gate is 3 days. 3 dayster, the people who have gathered the most survival points will rise in the rankings, depending on how strong the other rankers who were participating in the challenge were.''''
After taking a deep breath, the young woman looked at the third gate as she said in a very respectful tone
''''As for the third one, the Ranking Gate, is a gate that can only be used from the top 300 in the rankings when they challenge each other. No one else below them is allowed to enter inside.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he seemed to have understood the general principles behind the House of Rankings.
''''ording to Jin Wenling, the strongest young people of the Heaven''s Dome city,pete with each other in the House of Rankings. Even if the reason for the House''s existence is to simply make money for the ''Golden Exchange firm'', a few thousand low-grade spirit stones isn''t much in the end. After all, even though my cultivation has been rising quickly, both mine and Mei''er''sbat experience could be honed even more, and this ce seems very suitable for this.
The only problem is... how strong are the rest of the people in the Heaven''s Dome city. After all... Jin Wenling sent me here thinking that I have already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.''''
Shun Long then organized his thoughts, as he and Liu Mei both received a golden medallion, from the blue-haired woman in front of them.
Just as Shun Long had turned to look towards the light screen in the air however, and get a general understanding of the cultivation level, of those who were participating in the Survival challenge, the crowd started to buzz in excitement, as arge path had been opened, from the entrance of the House all the way to the Ranking Gate.
Everyone had turned their heads towards the entrance, only to see a stunning woman walking through the crowd.
Shun Long was also stunned when he saw the woman''s appearance.
She had a dark-colored body, and a face that would probably not lose out to Liu Mei''s by much. The woman had pointy ears however, and dark red hair, as well as a pair of supple ckish-red lips.
She was wearing a ck-colored robe, that entuated her body''s figure.
''''It really is miss Yi Mingzhu, the 3rd princess of the Dark elf race!''''
''''Sister Mingzhu really came! Could it be that she will really challenge?Su Shanyuan today?''''
Chapter 199 - 199 Ranking battle
Chapter 199 - 199 Ranking battle
''''No way! Su Shanyuan is way above miss Mingzhu in the rankings!''''
''''Shut up! If miss Mingzhu dares to challenge Su Shanyuan, then she must definitely have enough confidence in beating him!''''
Yi Mingzhu, the third princess of the Dark elf race, had plenty of supporters in the crowd. Especially the male cultivators, who all went crazy for her.
Everyone watched the beautiful red-haired woman with looks of reverence in their eyes, as she slowly walked towards the Ranking Gate.
Shun Long watched the woman of the Dark elf race, as she came to a halt in front of the Ranking Gate''s entrance.
She then turned her attention towards the entrance of the House, as if she was expecting for someone toe.
Few people paid attention to the Survival Gate''s challenge in the floating light screen any longer, as they all watched the entrance of the House of Rankings with excitement.
''''I wonder if senior Su will reallye!''''
''''Su Shanyuan will definitelye.... if he was challenged! Let alone that he would lose his ranking to Yi Mingzhu since he hasn''t fought in the Ranking Gate this month, so he can''t refuse the first challenge, why would he be afraid of Yi Mingzhu to begin with? Su Shanyuan is already ranked 147th, while Yi Mingzhu is almost at the bottom.''''
Once people heard this, they stopped asking whether Su Shanyuan woulde or not anymore, as they all silently waited for his arrival.
Shun Long however wasn''t looking at the entrance, as he examined the cultivation of the people around him.
More than half of the people inside the building, were actually cultivators at the rank 4 of the Spirit realm or higher.
Although Shun Long had absolute confidence of crushing cultivators at the same level as him, fighting against someone who was 6 minor realms higher in cultivation would be close to suicide.
After he looked at the people around him, he then sighed inwardly as he thought to himself
''''Although Jin Wenling wanted to help me, the problem was that she assumed that I was a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator. As a peak rank 7 Heaven grade cultivator, how could I fight against these people. As for making connections, I will still have to wait until word of my pills spread. I should return to this ce, once my cultivation had at least entered the Spirit realm. By then, I would probably be able to fight against, even early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivators.''''
After he made his decision, Shun Long didn''t choose to leave the House of Rankings right away.
Since a fight between the top 300 looked like it was going to take ce, it was a good opportunity to get a sense, of how strong the younger generation of the Heaven''s Dome city really is.
Almost half an hourter, a handsome young man dressed in blue robes entered through the entrance of the House of Rankings, making the people around him immediately walk away even further away from him.
The man had long ck hair that reached his back, as well as a white colored sword strapped on his waist.
His eyes were like the eyes of a hawk, as they stared at the people around him, almost as if he was a magic beast looking at his prey, while a ck-colored badge with the word ''S'' was pinned on his chest.
This man was actually an S-ranked mercenary in the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', which meant, that his cultivation had reached at least the early rank 1 in the Nascent Soul stage.
The man looked at Yi Mingzhu without a single change on his face.
Unlike the people around him, his eyes didn''t hold the slightest trace of respect or l.u.s.t for the woman in front of him. Rather, it was like he was looking at a skeleton.
Yi Mingzhu looked at the blue-robed man who was walking towards her with a cold look in her eyes, as she then spoke in a frigid tone, almost as if she was ordering around a ve
''''Su Shanyuan,e with me!''''
The blue-robed Su Shanyuan ignored the Dark elf race princess, as he walked first towards the Ranking Gate.
The red-haired Yi Mingzhu harrumphed first, before she too entered inside therge gate.
As soon as the 2 high-level rankers had entered inside the Ranking Gate, the crowd exploded in excitement, as everyone started to gather around arge, floating screen of light.
The screen was pitch-ck, not emitting any light at all, but it seemed that the people around it were already certain that it would soon light up.
Indeed, less than a minuteter, the blue-robed Su Shanyuan, was standing opposite to Yi Mingzhu, in what seemed to be the hall of an ancient pce.
Yi Mingzhu looked at the man in front of her, before she waved her hand, as a pair of small blood-colored daggers appeared in front of her.
Seeing the daggers that were floating in the air, although Shun Long couldn''t sense Yi Mingzhu''s aura, he was certain that this woman hadprehended the ''Dao of Wind''!
Yi Mingzhu had a serious look in her eyes, as she coldly stared at the young man in front of her.
Looking at the young man and young woman who were facing off in the screen of light, some people in the crowd couldn''t keep silent any more, as someone among the crowd asked curiously
''''Do you know why Yi Mingzhu and senior Shanyuan are fighting with each other? I heard that they had a very good rtionship.''''
A man next to him who heard this, then chuckled mockingly as he answered
''''Good rtionship? I heard that Su Shanyuan asked miss Mingzhu to marry him 1 month ago, during a banquet of the Dark elf race. Miss Mingzhu however declined, making Su Shanyuan furious. Su Shanyuan then called miss Mingzhu a s.l.u.t who was ying with his feelings. Angry, the 3rd princess then said that she would personally challenge Su Shanyuan one monthter, and make him pay for his words.''''
The man who spoke just now, looked at the crowd around him with a proud look in his eyes, almost as if he was unting his knowledge.
When a young woman heard this, a look of confusion filled her eyes, and looking at the proud man who had spoken just now she asked
''''But isn''t miss Mingzhu''s cultivation at the early rank 1 in the Nascent Soul stage? I have heard that Su Shanyuan has already broken through to the middle of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul stage long ago.''''
The proud young man who had spoken before nodded his head in response, but before he could speak, a sudden change had appeared in the screen of light in front of them.
Yi Mingzhu''s flying daggers shot at Su Shanyuan at lightning speed.
The blue-robed Su Shanyuan instantly unsheathed his white sword, while ayer of frost quickly appeared on it. Su Shanyuan seemed as if he was infusing his qi inside his sword, before he hacked at the air 3 times in rapid session.
A sudden blizzard appeared in the pce hall, as a hailstorm attacked Yi Mingzhu in response.
As Shun Long watched the fight, he understood, that both of these people had given up defending, almost as if they were daring the other person to step back first. However, it was obvious that the person who turned to defend first, wouldpletely lose the momentum of their attack.
The 2 blood-colored daggers tore through the hailstorm, as they approached closer to Su Shanyuan, but at the same time, the hailstorm was also close to engulfing the dark elf princess.
The people in the crowd watched with bated breaths, as the hailstorm was the first to reach Yi Mingzhu.
A cold smile appeared on Su Shanyuan''s face, as he saw the hailstormpletely swallowing Yi Mingzhu.
However, less than a breath of timeter, one of the daggers had already arrived in front of Su Shanyuan.
The blue-robed man snorted at Yi Mingzhu''s desperate struggle, as his sword easily parried the flying dagger, when a sense of danger suddenly filled his heart.
Su Shanyuan quickly tried to dodge to the side, but his speed simply wasn''t far enough.
A spurt of blood painted the floor of the pce hall red, as the second blood-colored dagger had plunged itself on his back.
Su Shanyuan was furious while his feet had started to stumble, when Yi Mingzhu''s voice resounded throughout the pce hall, as she said disappointed
''''I quit.''''
Chapter 200 - 200 Gathering in the Heavens Dome city
Chapter 200 - 200 Gathering in the Heaven''s Dome city
Pain and anger had colored Su Shanyuan''s face, as he stared at the beautiful woman who was engulfed in his hailstorm.
Although he was reluctant, he still stopped the hailstorm in the end.
Since Yi Mingzhu had already given up, it was against the rules to continue attacking her, otherwise, he would be punished by the rules of the House of Rankings.
As the blizzard around Yi Mingzhu receded, the beautiful red-haired princess of the Dark elf race was now covered in ayer of frost.
And yet, it only took a wave of her hand, for the ice around her body to disperse.
Her purple eyes didn''t seem to care about anything else, as she stared in disappointment at the young man in front of her.
Su Shanyuan was furious when he saw the disappointed look on Yi Mingzhu''s face, as he then roared in his heart
''''Bitch! Are you really disappointed that you didn''t manage to kill me?''''
And yet, Yi Mingzhu clearly understood, that since she had failed to kill Su Shanyuan with her second dagger, or at least seriously injure him, she wouldn''t stand a chance against him with her early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivation.
After all, she was more than familiar with Su Shanyuan''s fighting style and knew his own strength and weaknesses, just as she did know her own.
Without a word, the red-haired princess of the dark elves turned around, as she left the Ranking Gate.
A momentter, she appeared in the hall of the House of Rankings, and soon the respectful gazes of the crowd, she slowly walked towards the entrance.
No one dared to mock her for giving up against Su Shanyuan.
After all, although she was the one who had issued the challenge, with her lower cultivation, she had still managed to injure the genius who was ranked in the top 150 of the House''s rankings.
When Su Shanyuan appeared from the Ranking Gate, there was a gloomy look in his eyes, as he looked at the back of the woman who had refused to spare him a second nce.
Seeing that Yi Mingzhu was leaving, Su Shanyuan didn''t choose to stay in this ce either, allowing the people around him to breathe a sigh of relief.
Everyone then started discussing the ranking battle that had just taken ce, when Shun Long decided to leave the House of Rankings as well.
Since he couldn''t participate in the battles just yet, it was pointless for him to stay here any longer.
He and Liu Mei then both got on the ck panther, as they left the House of Rankings.
After touring through the western part of the city, Shun Long and Liu Mei had arrived in front of arge inn, called the ''Golden Pig inn''.
It seemed that this inn also belonged to the ''Golden Exchange firm'' as well.
Since they had been looking for an inn anyway, Shun Long paid 9000 low-grade spirit stones to rent a medium-sized courtyard for 3 months.
At the same time that Shun Long and Liu Mei had entered the room in their courtyard however, inside a pce situated at the northern part of the Heaven''s Dome city, in a secluded room that no one dared to approach, an important discussion that involved the future of the entire Night Star continent was now taking ce.
This was the pce of one of the peak powers in the Heaven''s Dome city, the royal family of the Shengtian dynasty.
10 people were gathered around arge, circr table made of wood, as they solemnly stared at each other.
At the head of the table, an old man who had nearly no hair left on his head was sitting there with his eyes closed. However, although this old man looked like he was at the end of his life, the terrifying pressure that wasing from his body could scare senseless any ordinary Dao King.
This man was the previous king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun.
On his right, a woman who seemed to be in herte 50s was seated, as she looked at everyone around her with a solemn look in her eyes. This woman was the previous queen of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun''s wife, Qiao Lifen.
Aside from the 2 previous rulers of the Shengtian dynasty, 2 high-ranking members from each of the other 4 peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city, were also seated in front of this table.
2 old men dressed in the golden robes of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', were also seated on the table, next to the old king of the Shengtian dynasty. Shun Long hadn''t met these 2 old men in the ''Alchemists'' guild'' earlier, but he had already heard about them from Jin Wenling and the other Elders. These 2 were the only rank 3 gold grade alchemists in the ''Alchemists'' Association''.
Next to these old men, were a pair of stunning women, in their early 40s.
The 2 women had dark skin and pointy ears, as well as ckish red hair. Their exquisite faces would draw attention everywhere they went, while their alluring, perfectly shaped bodies could invoke a man''s deepest and darkest desires.
A middle-aged man and an old woman from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' were also present, along with 2 men from the ''Golden Exchange firm''.
Everyone had a serious look in their eyes, as they all stared at the previous king of the Shengtian dynasty.
Sheng Jun opened his eyes, and a whole new world seemed to have opened along with them.
Looking at the people around him, the old man took a deep breath as he said with a serious look in his eyes
''''We have less than 3 years left. I have already spoken to the other peak experts in our Night star continent, and I can tell you, that no one of them is confident.
Everything will depend on the younger generation of our Night star continent from now on.,
The white lord will send his son to the Heaven''s Dome city within the next 3 months, and the same goes for many other peak experts, who have decided to send their descendants here.
I have also heard, that the Martial star continent is doing something simr as well.
This is the only way for our Night star continent to survive against the Demon Emperor Pce!''''
Chapter 201 - 201 Secrets of the Night star continent
Chapter 201 - 201 Secrets of the Night star continent
Everyone in the room was silent when they heard Sheng Jun''s words.
The old king of the Shentian dynasty, turned his attention to the 2 old men from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', as he asked in a slightly expectant tone
''''Is there any hope for the main ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to help us?''''
The 2 old men turned their heads to look at each other with a hopeless expression on their faces, before the old man who was sitting the closest to Sheng Jun took the initiative to answer
''''Old man Jun, you should know the answer to this already... The main ''Alchemists'' Guild'' is governed by the Feng family, who has a good rtionship with the Demon Emperor Pce.
We also know what would happen if the Demon Emperor Pce took control of the Night star continent but... when we requested from the headquarters to intervene, their answer was that the ''Alchemists'' Guild branches in the continent would not be affected by the Demon Emperor Pce in any way.''''
Everyone was disappointed when they heard the old alchemist''s response, but his answer had been within their expectations.
After all, everyone here was a person of high status in the Night star continent, and they were privy to secrets that normal Dao Kings would never be aware of.
Seeing that silence had permeated the room once again, one of the 2 stunning women from the dark elf race coughed once, attracting everyone''s attention to her, as she spoke in a somewhat angry but at the same time hopeless tone
''''Even if we really put all of our attention into raising the younger generation, do you really think that anyone of them will be at a high enough level, to enter the Holy sect in just 3 years of time?''''
Turning her head to look at Sheng Jun, the dark elf woman continued
''''Old man Jun, do you really have that much confidence in Sheng Huang? Or do you perhaps think that the test for the Holy sect may not be that hard for your own grandson?
I don''t think that it''s good to bet everything on the younger generation. We have all been there before, so I''m sure that everyone here remembers the cruelty of those tests.
How many people will die this time? Which one of you can say with confidence, that your descendants or your disciples can sessfully survive, and pass the fourth test?
If they don''t, do you really think that the Demon Emperor Pce will have the slightest misgivings in taking over the Night star continent?''''
After a brief pause, the red-haired dark elf woman looked at everyone who was seated around her, as she then continued
''''I think it''s actually better for us, to all enter the Dragon Lord''s vi together, and try to look for a treasure that will help us breakthrough to the Emperor realm. I refuse to believe that the core of the vi doesn''t have at least one such item inside it.''''
Sheng Jun''s wife, Qiao Lifen, looked at the dark elf woman with undisguised mockery in her eyes, and without waiting for anyone else to speak, she replied
''''Yi Huian, do you really think that you are the only one who has thought about this? Me and Sheng Jun have entered inside the vi more times than anyone else here... there is simply no way to forcefully breakthrough to the core of the vi by using force.''''
Seeing that the red-haired Yi Huian had fallen silent, Qiao Lifen continued in a forceful tone
''''Let me ask you then, is there any other alternative, aside from putting all of our hopes onto the younger generation? Do you think that we can take on the Demon Emperor Pce by ourselves in that case?
Although no one of us probably considers themselves a hero, if we can''t even protect the ce where our families live in, then what''s the point of cultivating in the first ce?
You should know that, once the Demon Emperor Pce takes over the Night star continent, blood will start flowing in rivers, and even I can''t estimate how many mortals and cultivators alike will die!''''
Seeing that no one else was speaking after Qiao Lifen, the elderly woman from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' stood up from her chair, and as her eyes swept over everyone around her, they settles on Sheng Jun, as she then spoke in a hoarse voice
''''I agree with Yi Huian. I don''t believe that anyone from the younger generation is more talented than we were in our youth.
However... no one of us here has any confidence in breaking through the Dao Emperor realm on their own, otherwise, we would have already attempted that long ago. Without a Dao Emperor realm expert, our Night star continent will not have any protection, so as much as I may not like it, I will agree with Sheng Jun and Qiao Lifen this time.
Our ''Mercenaries'' Association'' agrees!''''
The middle-aged man from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' stayed silent, indicating that he had also agreed with the elderly woman''s decision.
Sheng Jun nodded his head when he heard this, before his eyes then stared at the other 6 people around him, as he waited for their decision.
At the same time, while the bigshots from the 5 peak powers in the Heaven''s Dome city were trying toe to an agreement, Shun Long had entered inside the foggy ce of the ''Stone of TIme''.
His goal right now, was to advance to the peak of the Heaven grade as quickly as possible, before he started to refine the rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' that he had gotten from the entrance of the half-fiend vige, into rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' in front of him, was quickly swallowing the middle-grade spirit stones, as an unprecedented amount of pure qi had started flowing around Shun Long''s body.
The pure qi inside the middle-grade spirit stones, was actually iparable to the qi from the low-grade ones.
As Shun Long absorbed the pure qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', he could feel the qi ball that he was forming in his hand, as it quickly turned into a bright golden color.
Almost 2 months had passed like this inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of TIme'', when a popping sound was heard from Shun Long''s body, as his cultivation had reached the early rank 9 in Heaven grade.
Chapter 202 - 202 Refining the Golden Jade spirit tree
Chapter 202 - 202 Refining the Golden Jade spirit tree
Shun Long opened his eyes and looked upwards, where 75 balls of qi were floating above his head inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
The balls of qi that were closer to the entrance of the hourss, were shining with a golden color that was brighter than the rest, indicating that the qi inside them was evidently purer.
Although Shun Long hadn''t reached the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, he was still satisfied with the results of his cultivation in the past 2 months.
After thinking for a moment, he then transferred the rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit tree'', from the herb garden of the ''Stone of Time'' to this ce.
By now, Shun Long already had more than 10 fully-matured ''Golden Jade spirit trees'' in his herb garden.
Shun Long then turned to look at the tree in front of him that seemed as if it was made from pure gold, before he also took out a dozen more medicinal herbs from the ''Stone of TIme''.
It was finally time for him to refine the ''Spirit nourishing pills''.
Little ck who was also inside the foggy ce along with his master now, stared at the golden tree with curiosity in his eyes.
Although he didn''t know the use of the tree, the ck dragon clearly remembered Shun Long''s excitement, when he had seen the ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' at the half-fiend vige''s entrance.
Shun Long however, knew about the use of this tree.
He already knew that in order for a cultivator to breakthrough from the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade to the Spirit realm, 3 conditions needed to be met.
The first was, that the cultivator''s dantian had to .u.mte enough qi until it had reached saturation. Shun Long knew that this was simr to him having 81 balls of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
After all, although the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' was different from any other cultivation technique that he had currently seen, Shun Long didn''t believe that the process of breaking would be different than most other cultivators, at least during the breakthrough to the Spirit realm.
The second condition, was for the cultivator to enhance their spiritual strength. In order to step into the Spirit realm, cultivators needed to enhance the power of their own spirit first. This was usually aplished, by either spending countless hours in meditation, or by consuming precious pills that could help in this regard.
However, such pills were extremely scarce in the Night star continent, as both the medicinal herbs that were needed were extremely rare, and the alchemists who could refine such pills were almost all at the gold grade.
As for the third condition, it was for the cultivator to increase theirprehension of their Dao.
Without sufficient insights in their Dao, a cultivator wouldn''t be able to break through to the Spirit realm, and would have to spend their life stuck at the peak of rank 9 in the Heaven grade.
As for Shun Long''s rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pill'', it was precisely such a pill that could help enhance his spiritual strength.
Of course, the reason that Shun Long hadn''t started to refine the ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' earlier and waited until his cultivation had advanced, was because of the difficulty in the refinement of the tree.
As a rare high-level rank 4 medicinal ingredient, the ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' was much harder to refine into medicinal essence than the rank 4 ''Sunskirt grass''.
Shun Long estimated, that even now that his cultivation had reached the early rank 9 in Heaven grade, he may still not seed in the pill refinement.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long''s spiritual strength had reached its peak, as a small me appeared beneath his cauldron.
The look in his eyes was serious as his qi me was warming up the cauldron.
A few minutester, he then started to slowly ce the medicinal herbs inside, refining them one after the other.
''''Rank 3 ''Silverwood branch'', a handful of rank 3 ''purple illusion powder'', rank 2 ''white-smoke fruit''...''''
Shun Long started to mumble as he continued with the refinement of the herbs.
Finally, a quarter of an hourter, Shun Long stared at the golden tree that was on his side, before he raised his left hand, and using his forefinger, he gently poked a hole on the tree''s trunk.
A golden-colored liquid that resembled honey, had then started to flow from the ''Golden Jade spirit tree''.
Shun Long used his spiritual strength, to guide the golden-colored liquid inside the cauldron.
However, this liquid was extremely resistant to spiritual strength, making Shun Long struggle to even guide it inside the cauldron.
The moment that the golden liquid entered inside the cauldron, Shun Long could feel a stinging pain in his head, almost as if his spiritual strength was suddenly being attacked.
Although the golden liquid wasn''t a sentient being, any rare medicinal herb that involved the spiritual strength in any way, had a certain danger of bacsh.
Shun Long''s qi me increased in strength, as it tried to purify the liquid and refine it into medicinal essence even faster than before.
The golden liquid however was greatly resistant to fire, making the refining process extremely slow.
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long then activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', but instead of having it envelop his own body, the blue lightpletely covered the golden liquid.
Beads of sweat were rolling down from Shun Long''s forehead, but with the use of the Dao of Time, the golden liquid had started to rotate clockwise inside the cauldron, under the guidance of his spiritual strength.
Finally, more than an hourter, a strong medicinal scent erupted from the cauldron, while at the same time, Shun Long''s qi me was extinguished and he slumped on the ground.
His spiritual strength was almostpletely drained by now, but he still willed himself to sit up and open the cauldron''s lid.
Little ck was also staring at his master''s cauldron with anticipation in his eyes.
The moment that the lid of the cauldron was opened, 5 pills that were shining with a golden hue could be seen inside, emitting a powerful medicinal scent.
Shun Long wasn''t disappointed when he saw that 2 of the pills were high-grade instead of top-grade.
Instead, he ced them in 2 different pill bottles, before he sat down to recover his spiritual strength.
3 hourster, his spiritual strength had recovered to its peak, but Shun Long didn''t choose to consume the top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' right away.
He could clearly feel thattely, although his cultivation base was advancing at a rapid rate, hisbat strength hadn''t reached his peak.
He was certain that if this situation continued and he didn''t get fully used to his strength, his cultivation would start to stagnate in the future.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long simted himself leaving the foggy ce, as his body appeared back in the room of the inn.
Chapter 203 - 203 Accepting a mission
Chapter 203 - 203 epting a mission
The sun had long since risen a few hours ago, and the moon was already hidden in the sky.
In the courtyard outside of the room, Shun Long saw Liu Mei who was once again practicing her sword arts.
Although 2 months had passed for Shun Long inside the foggy ce, barely a week had gone by for Liu Mei.
And yet, because of her dual cultivation with Shun Long, the top-grade rank 3 ''Bloodbustion pills'', as well as her Saint grade cultivation technique, her cultivation realm had already reached the early rank 6 in Heaven grade.
Shun Long however knew, that in reality, Liu Mei had the same problem as him.
Since she wasn''t honing her cultivation in real life battles, it was very likely for problems to ur in the future as well.
After all, there were no experts being born, just from cultivating in seclusion.
After bringing this matter up, Shun Long then said
''''Mei''er, let''s go and see if there are any suitable missions in the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head and with a smile on her face, she quickly changed from her training robes before she returned back to the courtyard.
Shun Long already knew that the headquarters of the ''Mercenaries Association'' was also at the west of the Heaven''s Dome city.
He and Liu Mei were both sitting on the ck panther''s back, as they soon reached the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' headquarters.
However, before the ck panther entered through the giant gates of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', Little ck''s voice sounded in Shun Long''s head
''''Master! You should be careful! I can sense many Dao Kings inside this ce and 2 of them seem to be paying attention to us!''''
Shun Long was stunned when he heard this, and sensing the change in his emotions, the ck panther slowed down his speed.
Sending his spiritual strength inside the foggy ce,?Shun Long looked at Little ck as he then asked
''''Won''t they discover your soul sense, since we have already found out about them?''''
Little ck shook his head, as he then said in a proud tone
''''After I broke through to the peak of rank 5, my soul sense has be a lot stronger. It was as if a mysterious power inside me had suddenly woken up. Unless it''s a peak rank 9 Dao King, they won''t be able to discover my presence.
And even a peak rank 9 Dao King won''t be able to find me easily.''''
Shun Long was stunned, but at the same time happy that Little ck had grown so strong already.
After thinking about it for a bit, he still decided to enter the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
Although some Dao Kings may have been paying attention to him, that was probably because of the panther, and not because of his individual ability. After all, Shun Long hadn''t revealed anything that would tempt a Dao King, aside from the ck panther itself of course.
And even then, rtively strong Dao Kings had the ability to capture even rank 6 magic beasts, let alone a peak rank 5 one.
Liu Mei understood that Shun Long seemed to have been facing some kind of problem, but since he had told the ck panther to enter inside the headquarters of the Association, she didn''t say anything.
At the same time, 2 old men were sitting in front of a table, inside a hidden room in the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', drinking and smiling to each other.
One of these old men had a face filled with wrinkles, 2rge earlobes and almost no hair left on his head. The other one was a stout old man with long white hair that reached his back, and arge forehead.
Each of these men had a golden badge pinned on their ck robes, which indicated their status in the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
They were both SSS-rank mercenaries.
The moment that the bald man''s soul sense noticed the ck panther hesitating for a moment, he looked at the man with the white hair andughed as he said
''''Hahaha! It seemed that this pup has noticed your soul sense Hao Ping!''''
The long-haired man had a shocked look in his eyes as he mumbled
''''Did I make a mistake? How was I discovered?''''
The bald man with the big earlobes however, was still scanning his panther covertly with his soul sense, as a greedy look was filling his eyes.
The white-haired man next to him noticed this, as he then asked smilingly
''''Old Zhn, you seem very interested in this ck panther! Do you want to take it?''''
The old man didn''t retract his soul sense, but raising his head he looked at the long-haired man next to him as he said
''''We will see...''''
At the same time that the 2 old men were chatting with each other, Shun Long went to the registration counter and changed his badge from a D-rank mercenary to a B-rank.
Now that his cultivation had reached thete-stages of the Heaven grade, he could definitely be considered a B-rank mercenary after all.
After receiving his badge, he and Liu Mei both walked towards the gigantic mission board in the back.
There were countless missions, from D-rank all the way to S-rank mercenaries, while Shun Long even noticed a few missions that could only be epted by SS-rank mercenaries. Of course, there was none for SSS-rank ones.
The missions for the B-rank and C-rank mercenaries included, helping to protect merchants as theye and go to the Heaven''s Dome city, exterminating dens of bandits, or look for precious medicinal ingredients.
Of course, there were the even more specialized missions, that included helping people take personal revenge.
After thinking for a while, Shun Long and Liu Mei both chose 2 missions that were neither too close, nor too far from the Heaven''s Dome city.
C-rank mission: Kill the 2 middle rank 3 ''Fire-toothed hyenas'', and obtain the rank 4 ''Meridian-heating fruit'' that they are guarding inside the Dreand forest.
Reward: 50.000 low-grade spirit stones.
B-rank mission: Exterminate the den of the infamous killer Hao Jingguo, outside of the Dreand ins.
Reward: 200.000 low-grade spirit stones.
Chapter 204 - 204 Target
Chapter 204 - 204 Target
(Author''s note:?There was a problem with , so the chapter that was uploaded yesterday wasn''tplete, and a few details were missing in the end. The name of the fruit that the C-rank mission requires is the ''Meridian-heating fruit'', and the reward for each mission is also added in the chapter.''''
After taking a look at the 2 missions that he had selected, Shun Long walked to the mission counter and officially registered himself as the team captain, before he and Liu Mei epted the 2 group missions.
The young man at the mission counter looked at Shun Long with a weird look in his eyes.
Group missions were usually taken on by experienced groups of 3-5 mercenaries. So taking a mission with just 2 people, one B-rank mercenary and one C-rank, was tantamount to suicide.
But the moment that the young man noticed the ck panther behind Liu Mei, he immediately understood what was going on.
''''So they are nning to use a magic beast to pass the missions??Sigh?Young masters really have their lives all set up for them.''''
Nodding his head subconsciously, the young man behind the counter looked at Shun Long and reminded him
''''You need to bring proof for each mission, in order to sessfully im the reward.
The C-rank mission only requires for you to bring back the rank 4 ''Meridian-heating fruit'', while the B-rank mission requires for the head of Hao Jingguo.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long epted both missions, as he and Liu Mei got on the ck panther and left the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
The moment that they exited through the gates of the association, the bald old man with therge earlobes slowly sat up from his seat.
The long white-haired Hao Ping looked at him with a glimmer in his eyes as he asked
''''Old Zhn, have you decided then?''''
Nodding his head, Xue Zhn looked at Hao Ping, before he said with an expressionless tone
''''Indeed, a small brat at the Heaven grade shouldn''t be allowed to have a peak rank 5 magic beast as his mount. This is a disgrace to any rank 5 magic beast after all.
As long as these brats go to the Dreand ins, it will be their final resting ce!''''
Xue Zhn''s look then turned serious as he continued
''''However, although I am confident in killing the ''Silver-winged panther king'' if I need to, I''m not certain if I can force it to submit. Old Ping, if you help me with this, I will give you 20.000 middle-grade spirit stones, along with the ''Four seasons azure sword''.''''
Hao Ping''s eyes lit up when he heard Xue Zhn''s words, especially the final part, but after a moment of pondering, he shook his head as he said with a serious look in his eyes
''''Old Zhn, the truth is, that I have already heard about a pair of small brats who were riding on a rank 5 ck panther inside the city.
Although I don''t know their identities, I know that this brat in blue is a member of the ''Alchemists'' Guild''. Even if I help you kill them, there is no way that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' won''t notice it.
Additionally, I don''t know why, but this brat is definitely hiding his cultivation. A week ago, when he entered the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', he became a rank 3 silver grade alchemist. I am sure that you understand the consequences that we would have to face, if we kill an important member of the ''Alchemists'' Guild.''''
Xue Zhn was stunned for a second when he heard this.
He knew that Hao Ping''swork of information was much better than his own, since he was a reclusive person himself.
Gritting his teeth, the bald Xue Zhn looked at the old man in front of him and said
''''I will add 30.000 middle-grade spirit stones more, along with the ''Four seasons azure sword''. Hao Ping, don''t tell me that you are really afraid of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' finding out about this. We only have to make a move once they are outside of the city, and no one will ever know.
As for the ''Silver-winged panther king'', I can just say that we found it by ident. As long as there is no proof, the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' won''t be able to do anything in the end!''''
After staying silent for a moment Hao Ping finally nodded his head, as he and the bald Xue Zhn soon disappeared from the secret room, as if they had never existed inside it to begin with.
At the same time, Shun Long toured through the western part of the city with Liu Mei, as he visited many herb shops, purchasing any kind of useful medicinal herbs that he found.
He had spent more than 300.000 low-grade spirit stones before he finally moved towards the northern part of the Heaven''s Dome city.
The Dreand forest was located at the north of the Heaven''s Dome city, and even with the ck panther''s speed, it would take them at least 2 days to get there.
At the same time that Shun Long and Liu Mei left the Heaven''s Dome city, in arge building at the east of the city, a young man in his mid 20s was kneeling in front of a stunning woman dressed in purple robes.
The young man didn''t dare to raise his head and look at the beautiful woman in front of him, as he knelt on the ground and said
''''Elder Zhong! The target that we were monitoring seems to have epted a mission from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', and is now heading towards the Dreand forest.''''
Zhong Biya was taken aback when she heard the report. She hadn''t expected for a rank 3 silver grade alchemist, to ept a mission himself and leave the Heaven''s Dome city by himself.
With an alluring smile on her face, the purple-robed woman suddenly stood up, before she turned into a wisp of purple smoke as she instantly disappeared from the room.
Chapter 205 - 205 Ambush?!
Chapter 205 - 205 Ambush?!
The young man was in a daze as Elder Zhong disappeared from the room.
A day soon passed and the ck panther had spread his silver wings as he was flying above the clouds, heading towards the Dreand forest.
The look on Shun Long''s face however, waspletely serious, without a hint of a single smile.
Turning his head to the side, he looked at Liu Mei who still had her white veil on her face, and with a solemn tone he said
''''Mei''er, things will probably turn difficult for a while.
However, it is still under control.''''
Less than 5 minutester, a pair of old men were blocking the way ahead.
Liu Mei''s eyes constricted when she saw the golden badge on each of these old men''s chests, understanding that they were both SSS-rank mercenaries.
The aura that these 2 old men were emitting, hadpletely horrified Liu Mei, while the ''Silver-winged panther king'' immediately came to a halt.
Seeing the 2 Dao Kings in front of him, the look on Shun Long''s face had turned serious, but not a single hint of anxiousness could be seen on his expression.
Of course, these 2 old men were none other than the man with therge earlobes Xue Zhn, and the long white-haired man Hao Ping.
Xue Zhn looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei with an evil smile on his face, before his eyes were glued to the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king''.
At the same time, the long-haired Hao Ping looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei, and with a regretful tone he shook his head as he said
''''Little brats, if you had stayed in the Heaven''s Dome city, under the protection of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' we wouldn''t have touched you, but you just had toe here.
You should know in your next life, that if you aren''t strong enough to possess something, it''s better to let it go.''''
Xue Zhn shook his head when he heard this, but just as he was about to speak, a melodiousughter resounded from behind Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Out of nowhere, a wisp of purple smoke appeared in front of Shun Long, before the alluring figure of a red-haired woman started to condense itself.
Shun Long and Liu Mei saw this woman who was smiling at them. She seemed to be in her early 30s, and her red-eyes seemed as if they were looking straight at Shun Long''s soul. She had a bewitching smile on her face, while her bright red hair were flowing with the wind.
The color of her hair wasn''t dark red, like the princess'' of the dark elf race, but it was a bright crimson red that resembled the color of blood.
After smiling brightly at Shun Long, the woman turned her head to look at the 2 old men opposite to her, who were staring at her with serious looks in their eyes, before she said
''''Hahaha! It seems that I havee uninvited, but I wonder if there is a spot in your party for me as well.''''
The bald Xue Zhn had an ugly look on his face when he looked at the woman in front of him, as he then said in a threatening tone
''''Zhong Biya, what are you doing here? If you dare to mess with my ns, I can guarantee you that your Blood Moon sect won''t be able to pay the price!''''
Xue Zhn wasn''t afraid of Zhong Biya or the Blood Moon sect in the slightest. He was afraid however, that she would try to ruin his ns.
After all, if the woman in front of him decided to help Shun Long escape, Xue Zhn had no confidence in catching the ck panther, if it flew back to the Heaven''s Dome city at full speed.
By then, he would be the one who would be paying the price, for trying to touch an alchemist of the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
After all, although thebat power that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' had wasn''t superior to the ''Mercenaries'' Association''s'', it wasmon knowledge that if someone messed with the high-ranking alchemists of the guild, then they and the power behind them would be banned from purchasing pills from the guild any longer.
If that happened, Xue Zhn was certain, that the Association would hand him over to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to appease their anger.
The red-haired Elder of the Blood Moon sect, looked at Xue Zhn with a smile on her face, and shaking her head she said
''''Of course I wouldn''t want to mess with your ''Mercenaries'' Association'', Elder Xue! However, I have taken a liking to this young man, and want to take him as a personal pill ve.
Since you are going to kill them anyway, you can just allow me to take the young man with me right? You can do whatever you want to the woman behind him though.''''
Hao Ping''s eyes lit up when he heard this, but Xue Zhn shook his head without a second thought.
His eyes stared at the red-haired Zhong Biya without a hint of kindness as he responded coldly
''''Scram! There is no way that I am letting this brat alive!
Otherwise, if you decided to help him return to the city, wouldn''t I and Hao Ping both be doomed then? Even if we don''t die, the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' will certainly skin us alive!,
Zhong Biya, don''t mention this again! Just scram and I will consider it as if you were never here!''''
Hao Ping seemed to have just realized, that he was on the same boat as Xue Zhn right now. Indeed, if something happened, he would definitely be forced to lose a skin of his meat from the ''Alchemists'' Guild!
The look in his eyes instantly turned cold as he stared at Zhong Biya without saying a single word.
Zhong Biya''s face had turned red from anger but she still took a deep breath to calm herself down, before she looked at Xue Zhn and said seriously
''''Elder Xue, aren''t you afraid that I will tell everything to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' myself? I don''t care what you want to do with the ck panther or the woman behind him, all I want is the alchemist himself. I am willing to swear a Dao oath as well that I won''t reveal anything that happened here!''''
Xue Zhnughed when he heard Zhong Biya''s threat, and with a mocking look on his face he said
''''Hahahaha! Idiot!
Even if you tell everything to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', as long as this brat is killed and there is no proof, who will believe you? Will you allow someone to willingly search through your memories just to incriminate me? Don''t make meugh!
As for your Dao oath, I couldn''t care less about this bullshit!
Who doesn''t know that you have been stuck at the early rank 2 Dao King realm for the past 6 millenniums? You don''t have any hope of advancing anyway!
For thest time, SCRAM!''''
Anger had instantly clouded Zhong Biya''s mind the moment she heard these words, while the expression on her face had turned extremely ugly.
Not only had she lowered herself and said that she was willing to swear a Dao oath, but Xue Zhn actually cursed her in response, and refused to give her the slightest bit of face.
An evil smile immediately filled her face, as she suddenly turned around and looked at Shun Long before she said
''''You only have 5 seconds!''''
Then, without waiting for an answer, her voluptuous figure immediately became a cloud of purple smoke, that moved towards the 2 SSS-rank mercenaries in front of her.
Shun Long''s expression didn''t change when he saw the scene in front of him, and with the same look on his eyes, he told the ck panther to fly towards the east.
He didn''t feel any sense of gratitude towards Zhong Biya, as he understood, that this woman had heard everything about him from the rank 2 silver grade alchemist Yao Huang, while her goal just now was to take him as a pill ve.
If Xue Zhn had agreed to her request, she would have probably joined hands with him just now as she fought against him.
Xue Zhn looked at the purple smoke around him with a furious expression on his face, before he shouted in a voice that reeked with killing intent
''''Zhong Biya, you bitch! I will make you pay!''''
Seeing that the ck panther was flying towards the east, the bald man turned his head to look at Hao Ping next to him, and with a determined look he said
''''Don''t let them escape!''''
Chapter 206 - 206 Chased by a Dao King
Chapter 206 - 206 Chased by a Dao King
Looking at the purple cloud of smoke that hadpletely surrounded them, a determined expression appeared in Xue Zhn''s face, as he took out a yellow-colored talisman from his spatial ring.
Hao Ping''s eyes lit up when he saw the talisman in Xue Zhn''s hands. He knew that Xue Zhn had spent more than 20.000 middle-grade spirit stones in the past, in order to purchase this talisman from a rank 2 gold grade formation master.
The talisman itself contained a full-powered blow from a peak rank 3 Dao King realm expert, and could cut through anything in its path.
Sending his qi inside the yellow talisman, Xue Zhn turned to look at Hao Ping, as he said in amanding tone
''''Go!''''
A powerful yellow qi then erupted from the talisman, and moved towards the purple wave of smoke that had surrounded Xue Zhn and Hao Ping.
Zhong Biya had been utterly horrified when she saw the yellow-colored sh moving towards her.
Although her body had turned into smoke, as long as the Dao King who had sealed his power inside the talisman was stronger than her, she would still suffer heavy injuries.
Without a moment''s hesitation, the red-haired Elder of the Blood Moon sect instantly opened arge path inside the smoke for the attack of the talisman to pass through.
The purple smoke seemed as if it had been cut in half for a moment, while the long-haired Hao Ping immediately took advantage of it and escaped from Zhong Biya''s entrapment.
Without any hesitation, his body shot through the sky as he gave chase to the ck panther.
Xue Zhn exhaled in relief when he saw that Hao Ping had sessfully escaped and chased after the ck panther.
Although he and Hao Ping were both slightly stronger than Zhong Biya, they would have been dyed for at least a few breaths of time until they managed to break through her entrapment.
Even if they killed Zhong Biya then, they would still be unable to catch the ''Silver-winged panther king''.
In addition, although Xue Zhn was stronger than Hao Ping, he had no confidence in catching up with the ck panther''s speed by himself.
But Hao Ping was different!
Zhong Biya didn''t seem to care that the long-haired Hao Ping had escaped, while the purple smoke continued to surround Xue Zhn.
If Shun Long managed to escape, then Xue Zhn would be done for, but if he didn''t, Xue Zhn still couldn''t do anything to the Blood Moon sect by himself.
Unless he revealed to the rest of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' the reason that he wanted to take revenge, it was extremely unlikely that the higher echelons of the association would agree to help him.
Since he had refused to give her the slightest bit of face, Zhong Biya was determined to make the old man in front of her regret his words!
At the same time, Shun Long and Liu Mei were flying away on the ck panther''s back, when Liu Mei finally asked anxiously
''''Long-ge! Are we going to be okay? These people earlier were definitely Dao Kings.''''
Shun Long turned his head around, and looking at the anxious Liu Mei he said with a slight smile on his face
''''Don''t worry! Although they are indeed Dao Kings, they still won''t be able to do anything. After all, I knew that they were tailing us, even before we left the Heaven''s Dome city.''''
Liu Mei heaved out in relief when she heard this, when a booming sound was suddenly heard from the sky behind them, as a streak of lightning could be seen flying towards the ck panther at extreme speed.
When Shun Long saw that the bolt of lightning was quickly closing the distance between them, he had the ck panther to stop holding back any longer and fly at full speed.
The panther''s wings then shone with a silver light, as his speed immediately doubled.
Hao Ping who had turned into a streak of lightning smirked inwardly, while his own speed shot up as well.
No matter how fast the ck panther moved, Hao Ping was slowly closing the distance between them.
Once the distance between them was reduced to less than 3 miles, a long, thin sword had appeared in Hao Ping''s hands, and looking at the ck panther ahead of him, Hao Ping had an evil smile on his face, as he infused his qi inside his sword, before he sent a powerful sh cutting through the air.
The sh tore apart the clouds, as it flew towards the ck panther''s back.
The panther''s wings shone even brighter, as it agilely moved to the side and avoided the Dao King''s attack.
The chase continued like this for more than an hour, until the ''Silver-winged panther king'' stopped when he arrived above arge forest.
Seeing that the panther had finally stopped running away, a confident smile appeared in Hao Ping''s face, and looking at Shun Long and Liu Mei he said
''''Do you finally understand how pointless it was, to try and escape from me?
However, I have to say, that you brats really are unlucky! If you had met any other Dao King at the middle of rank 2, then you could have probably escaped. It''s too bad that you had to meet with me.''''
Seeing that Hao Ping was blowing his own horn, Shun Long had a mocking look on his face as he responded with a smile
''''Old man, the truth is, that I knew that you were tailing us even before we left the Heaven''s Dome city. And yet, I still chose to leave, even though I knew that 2 Dao Kings were chasing after us. Don''t you want to know why?''''
A shocked expression shed through Hao Ping''s face when he saw the confident look in Shun Long''s eyes, but his expression quickly turned into one of mockery, as he slowly walked towards him and said
''''Stop bluffing brat! Who are you trying to fool?
Even a middle-stage Dao King wouldn''t be able to spot mine and old Zhn''s soul sense, without us noticing him in return!''''
Hao Ping looked at the ck panther who had taken a defensive position in front of Shun Long, and with a smile on his face, he held his sword in his hand, as he slowly walked towards it.
The moment that Hao Ping was just 100 meters away from Shun Long, the ''Silver-winged panther king'' exploded with all of its strength, as it spread its wings and flew towards the long-haired man in front of it.
Seeing that the panther was flying at him with open jaws, Hao Ping took on a defensive stance, as he used his sword to parry the panther''s teeth.
Although the panther had pushed him a step back, Hao Ping easily blocked the attack.
However, just as his feet were about to kick the panther''s ribs, the SSS-rank mercenary felt a sudden pain on his back and chest.
Instinctively, he lowered his head to look at his chest, where a gigantic pitch-ck w was now protruding from it.
Chapter 207 - 207 Little Blacks power
Chapter 207 - 207 Little ck''s power
Liu Mei''s eyes were wide open, as she saw a huge ck dragon, almost 10m (33ft) tall, standing behind Hao Ping.
The dragon had plunged his huge w in Hao Ping''s back, as he tore a huge hole through it.
Blood and guts, along with Hao Ping''s internal organs were hanging from Little ck''s ws.
Little ck''s size had grown by almost 3 times, once he broke through from the peak of rank 4 to rank 5.
While Liu Mei was looking at the ck dragon with a shocked look on her face, a feeling of disbelief had filled Hao Ping''s eyes when he saw the huge w that had pierced his back and chest.
He wanted to turn his head around and look behind him, but he could feel that something had already pierced his heart, as his strength was now leaving his body.
Even for a Dao King realm expert, once their heart waspletely crushed, their body couldn''t stay alive any longer.
''''AHHHHHHHHHH''''
Hao Ping roared madly, as he tried to summon thest bits of his strength in an attempt to escape, when suddenly his vision turned ck.
Little ck had spat a wave of ck mes from his mouth, that hadpletely engulfed the Dao King''s body!
The mes were so powerful, that Hao Ping could even feel his soul being eroded, while an insufferable pain made him feel like he was better off if he died.
Sparks of lightning were coursing through his body, in an attempt to jolt little ck''s w, but the ck dragon didn''t even flinch, as if he had never felt the lightning on his body.
Gritting his teeth, Hao Ping sent his soul outside of his body,pletely abandoning what seemed to be a former shell of the Dao King''s glory, as a wisp of white smoke shot towards the sky.
However, even after leaving his body, Hao Ping was horrified to see that the ck mes were still bringing endless pain to his soul.,
Lowering his head to look at the ground, Hao Ping was stunned when he saw the 10m (33ft) long ck dragon, staring at him with his expressionless blue eyes.
Hao Ping couldn''t understand what had happened.
''''Why is there a dragon here? A real dragon? Why did he attack me all of a sudden?''''
Suddenly, a terrifying possibility shed through his mind, as the Dao King turned to look at Shun Long, when his previous words reverberated in his mind
Hao Ping looked at Shun Long with a terrified expression on his face, while the constant erosion from the ck mes, finally burned his soul into a wisp of nothingness.
Shun Long heaved out in relief once he saw that Hao Ping''s soul hadpletely dispersed.
Although Little ck had already told Shun Long that he could take care of the 2 men that were following them, it was better to take care of the 2 Dao Kings one by one, rather than both of them together.
After all, Little ck was still a peak rank 5 magic beast, and Shun Long knew, that even if he had the strength to fight against a peak rank 3 Dao King, it wouldn''t necessarily mean that he would get out unscathed from this battle.
However, with Hao Ping who was chasing after them with wild abandon, and had put hisplete focus on the ck panther in front of him, it was the perfect time for Little ck to kill the middle rank 2 Dao King realm expert.
Liu Mei looked at the ck dragon in shock, before her eyes turned to look at Shun Long.
Seeing the confusion on her face, Shun Long smiled lightly as he said
''''This is my partner, Little ck. He is an important friend to me.''''
It was a simple introduction, and yet, it was all that needed to be said.
Liu Mei looked at the ck dragon in front of her, and involuntarily nodded her head.
The ck panther was also staring at Little ck with a confused look, before he turned his head to look at Shun Long.
Shun Long patted the ck panther''s head, when Little ck let out a small roar.
After all, the ck panther''s soul wasn''t strong enough tomunicate with Shun Long the same way that Little ck did.
Due to both of them sharing a connection with Shun Long however, both the ck panther and Little ck, could feel each other''s existence, and as magic beasts, they could alsomunicate between themselves.
After Little ck returned to the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long walked over to Hao Ping''s body in order to collect his spatial ring.
After all, there was no way that he was going to ignore the wealth of a Dao King.
However, only ck ashes remained in ce of Hao Ping''s corpse, along with a spatial ring and a long and thin white sword.
Shun Long was pleasantly surprised when he noticed that the sword was a rank 1 gold grade weapon.
Although its quality wasn''t as good as his ''Purple Blossom staff'', it was still a rank 1 gold grade weapon after all.
''''Indeed, since Cui Guoliang had so many weapons, its only natural for most Dao Kings to wield gold grade weapons as well'''' Shun Long mumbled for a while before his attention was focused on the ck spatial ring.
As soon as his spiritual strength entered inside the ring, tens of thousands of middle-grade spirit stones instantly greeted Shun Long''s eyes.
There were more than 150.000 middle-grade spirit stones inside the spatial ring, along with many bottles of alchemy pills and some medicinal herbs.
In addition, a familiar-looking bronze badge was also ced in an unassuming corner of the spatial ring, along with more than a dozen scrolls around it.
However, the most unexpected thing to Shun Long, wasn''t the tens of thousands of middle-grade spirit stones, nor the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', but it was an orange-colored medicinal herb with contorted lines on its surface.
''''Rank 4 ''Spirit cleansing fruit''!''''
Chapter 208 - 208 Little Black vs Xue Zhilan
Chapter 208 - 208 Little ck vs Xue Zhn
This was one of the 3 main medicinal ingredients that Shun Long needed to refine the rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill''.
Shun Long knew that, in order to advance to the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' once he reached the peak of the third stage, he would have to refine the rank 4 ''internal destruction pill''.
After all, the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was different from the other body refinement cultivation techniques, and simply absorbing energy or eating the flesh of powerful magic beasts wasn''t enough to advance once Shun Long reached the peak of the third stage.
When he was in the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', he had already asked Jin Wenling and the other 3 gold grade alchemists about these medicinal herbs, but the response he had received was, that only one of these herbs was currently avable in a branch guild, and Jin Wenling would send someone to bring it over to the Heaven''s Dome city.
Of course, Jin Wenling had also said that she would keep an eye around for the other 2 herbs as well.
After cing everything inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long had a wide smile on his face, satisfied with the contents of Hao Ping''s spatial ring.
''''More than 150.000 middle-grade spirit stones, 2 Mystic high-grade cultivation techniques, 5 Mystic middle-grade cultivation techniques, 3 Mystic high-grade martial skills, one of which is meant for sword users, and a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion''!''''
Although Hao Ping could be considered poor in front of Cui Guoliang''s cultivation techniques collection, the spirit stones that he had equaled to 15 million low-grade ones.
This was even more than what the Guild master of the ''Dark de guild'', Tan Duyi, had in his spatial ring.
Although Tan Duyi wasn''t a Dao King realm expert, as the Guild master of one of the 2 biggest guilds in the Silver sword city, his wealth didn''t pale in front of a Dao King''s after all.
Just as Shun Long was taking a look at Hao Ping''s martial skills, Little ck''s voice suddenly resounded in his mind
''''Master, the bald old man from before is quickly approaching us!''''
The look in Shun Long''s face immediately turned serious when he heard this, as he activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
The indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from his body, while his eyes instantly turned golden.
Although Shun Long wasn''t nning to actually fight against a Dao King, he wasn''t going to take things lightly.
After all, little ck had already mentioned, that this old man was an early rank 3 Dao King realm expert.
Even though Little ck had said that he was confident in taking the bald old man down, Shun Long still prepared himself for the worst.
Indeed, a few momentster, Xue Zhn appeared in the sky.
The SSS-ranked mercenary looked around him with a confused look in his eyes, before his eyes were focused on the ck panther.
Then, turning his head to look at Shun Long and Liu Mei, the old man asked in a voice full of suspicion
''''Brats, where is Hao Ping?''''
Xue Zhn didn''t believe that Hao Ping had actually failed to keep up with the ''Silver-winged panther king'', and?there was also no way for him to lose against a peak rank 5 magic beast.
And yet, the scene in front of his eyes waspletely different from what he had expected.
Aside from a patch of scorched earth on the ground where Shun Long was standing on, there weren''t the slightest traces of a battle.
The ck panther was in perfect condition, but Hao Ping was nowhere to be seen!
Looking at the old man who was standing in the sky, Shun Long smiled lightly as he answered in a confident voice
''''He is already dead.''''
They were 4 simple words, and yet, they had left Xue Zhn speechless.
The old Dao King stared at Shun Long in disbelief, before he suddenly erupted with mockingughter
''''Hahahaha! Dead? Who killed him brat? Tell me so that I can go and pay my respects to this expert, who could kill a middle rank 2 Dao King realm expert in the time that I took toe here.''''
Seeing the mocking look in Shun Long''s face Xue Zhn couldn''t take it anymore, as his body exploded with the aura of an early rank 3 Dao King realm expert.
A piece of metal armor had suddenly appeared out of nowhere,pletely enveloping him from head to toe, as the old Dao King descended from the sky like a meteor as he headed towards Shun Long.
The ck panther roared when he saw Xue Zhn''s attack, and without any hesitation, it spread its silver wings as it rushed at the old man.
Xue Zhn looked coldly at the ck panther who was attacking him with open jaws, and clenching his fist beneath his metal armor, he sent a punch at it as he shouted angrily
''''Scram! I will deal with you in a bit!''''
The moment that the metal fist hit the ck panther, the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' was sent flying backwards for tens of meters until it stabilized itself.
At the same time however, Shun Long''s golden eyes shone with a bright blue light while his body immediately disappeared from the ground.
Although Xue Zhn had most of his attention focused on the ck panther, with his soul sense spread around him, he immediately sensed that Shun Long had somehow appeared behind him, when a sudden sense of danger filled his heart.
The early rank 3 Dao King realm expert immediately turned to escape, but a massive ck w had appeared from behind him and made contact with the metal armor on his back.
BOOM!
Xue Zhn was sent flying downwards at an even faster speed than before, as his body heavily crashed into the ground!
Arge wave of dust and smoke was kicked up, as soon as Xue Zhn''s body crashed on the ground, but Little ck''s eyes didn''t seem to contain the slightest hint of emotion as the ck dragon opened his mouth and spat a gigantic ball of ck mes towards the old Dao King.
Chapter 209 - 209 Xue Zhilans trump card
Chapter 209 - 209 Xue Zhn''s trump card
The ball of ck mesnded in the same ce where Xue Zhn had crashed on, when a scream filled with pain and anger sounded in the air.
''''AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I WILL KILL YOU!''''
Shun Long''s golden eyes were staring at the ce where Xue Zhn hadnded on, with a solemn look.
He had used ''blink'' to instantly appear behind Xue Zhn, before he summoned Little ck.
Little ck''s attack had also hit the bald old man when he couldn''t dodge, as it then sent him crashing to the ground.
The ck mes had made contact with his body as well, and yet, the bald old man was still strong enough to shout threateningly!
Little ck didn''t wait for the ck mes to dissipate as he dove downwards, his ws reaching inside the cloud of smoke.
The sound of metal shing against itself resounded in the air, while the cloud of dust started to spread thinner and thinner.
Soon, Shun Long could see the scene on the ground, where Little ck''s ws and wings attacked Xue Zhn relentlessly.
The old Dao King was shocked when he saw a living ck dragon in front of him, attacking him without any mercy.
Xue Zhn felt his brain short-circuiting for a moment, and yet his senses told him that Little ck''s attacks werepletely real.
Shun Long could clearly see arge w mark on Xue Zhn''s back, while the metal armor on his body had already started to melt.
From the side, the ck panther was watching Little ck''s fight with shining eyes, staring at Xue Zhn like a predator who was looking at a tasty piece of flesh.
Xue Zhn wanted to use his Dao of Metal and reform the destroyed parts of his armor, but the ck dragon didn''t give him a moment''s rest.
Each attack was nearing a step closer to taking his life.
Looking at the endless barrage of attacks that wereing his way, the old Dao King felt that he couldn''t keep taking them head-on any longer.
Gritting his teeth, he allowed Little ck''s attack tond on his shoulder, as he started gathering his qi in his hands.
Crack
The moment that Little ck''s gigantic w hit Xue Zhn''s shoulder, the sound of bones being crushed was heard, while an expression of pain and endless killing intent filled the old Dao King''s face.
At the same time, a metal shield appeared from Xue Zhn''s hands, before itpletely encapsted his body.
Little ck didn''t seem to stop once the metal shield appeared, as he started to attack the metal shield.
However, no matter how hard he tried, his talons could only leave small cuts on the shield in the end.
Seeing that he couldn''t break the metal shield like that, Little ck soared in the sky before he opened his mouth. A gigantic ball of ck mes, even bigger than the one that he had created before, started to condense in the ck dragon''s mouth then,
At the same time, Xue Zhn who was covered beneath the metal shield had an ugly look on his face as he looked at the injuries on his body.
Little ck''s talons had not only destroyed a big part of his armor, but some attacks had even reached the Dao King''s bones.
''''F.U.C.K! How can a real dragon be here? Where did this brat find a dragon to help him in the first ce?''''
Looking at his bone-deep injuries and hispletely crushed shoulder, Xue Zhn roared inwardly to vent his frustration.
He only wanted to get the ck panther, but he was now faced against a 10m(33ft) long dragon.
Clenching his teeth, the old man took out another yellow-colored talisman from his spatial ring as he thought to himself
''''This is myst offensive talisman. Although the attack stored insidees from a peak rank 3 Dao King, it is probablyparable to a full-out attack of an early rank 4 Dao King realm expert!''''
Without any hesitation, Xue Zhn sent his qi inside the yellow-colored talisman, while a ruthless look had appeared in his eyes.
He had already estimated that Little ck''s strength was close to a peak rank 3 Dao King realm expert''s, and he was certain that even if the dragon survived from this attack, he would still be close to death.
As soon as Xue Zhn''s qi entered the yellow-colored talisman, the talisman started to glow with a bright light, as rays of resplendent qi started to tear through the metal shield.
At the same time, Little ck looked at the metal shield with a cold look, as he then sent the enormous ball of ck fire towards it.
It seemed that even the air itself was burning under the heat of Little ck''s powerful fireball, which quickly arrived in front of Xue Zhn''s metal shield.
The SSS-rank mercenary had plenty of experience in life and death battles, and could instantly feel the deadly danger that approached from the sky.
He was certain that even his metal shield would be destroyed in an instant under the horrifying attack that was closing in at him.
He didn''t wait any longer for the yellow-colored talisman to absorb more of his qi, and without hesitation, he pointed the talisman towards the sky.
A yellow qi immediately erupted from the talisman, taking the form of a bronze sword.
Guided by Xue Zhn''s qi, the sword pierced through the metal shield as it shot towards the sky.
Xue Zhn''s metal shield was immediately cut in half under the might of the sword, when he saw a giant ck fireball flying towards him.
Terrifying power was hidden both inside the bronze sword, as well as Little ck''s fireball.
Shun Long stared at the scene in front of him with his golden eyes, before he used blink and immediately teleported himself next to Liu Mei.
BOOOM!
The moment that the bronze sword shed with the ck fireball, it pierced directly through it when a massive explosion then filled the air.
Under the erosion of the ck mes, the l.u.s.ter of the bronze sword dimmed until it was eventually extinguished.
The ck fireball however, had also lost its shape and more than half of its mass by now, leaving behind nothing but wisps of me!
Xue Zhn''s eyes were filled with terror when he saw the wisps of ck me continuing to fly towards him.,
The metal shield that had already been cut in half from the bronze sword earlier, instantly disintegrated under the heat of the ck mes, revealing Xue Zhn in his metal armor.
''''NOOOOOOOOO!''''
The early rank 3 Dao King realm expert shouted and turned to escape, as he felt the embrace of death approaching him along with the ck mes.
Little ck''s mes however hadpletely surrounded him, leaving him with no path of retreat.
Xue Zhn''s miserable shrieks resounded in the air, filled with anger, unwillingness and killing intent, but under Little ck''s mes, they slowly died down.
Chapter 210 - 210 Xue Zhilans immense wealth
Chapter 210 - 210 Xue Zhn''s immense wealth
Submerged under Little ck''s mes, Xue Zhn''s cries eventually went silent.
20 breaths of timeter, the ck mes were extinguished by themselves, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ck ash.
The ck dragon was still hovering in the sky, as he made sure that Xue Zhn''s soul had also been swept up in the mes along with his body, before he flew towards Shun Long.
Shun Long smiled when he saw the proud look in Little ck''s eyes, while Liu Mei and the ck panther stared at the huge dragon with awe in their eyes.
After all, Little ck had managed to kill a rank 3 Dao King realm expert.
After patting the ck dragon''s head, Shun Long walked towards Xue Zhn''s remains.
There was no corpse, or bones left however. There was just a pile of ck ashes along with a half-destroyed spatial ring, that seemed to have suffered severe damages.
Shun Long heaved out in relief when he saw that the spatial ring could still be used, and without any hesitation, he sent his spiritual strength inside it.
This was the spatial ring of a rank 3 Dao King, and its contents were certain to be even better than Hao Ping''s!
Indeed, as soon as Shun Long''s spiritual strength entered inside the ck ring, a stunning scene appeared in front of his eyes.
Nearly 300.000 middle-grade spirit stones along with dozens of weapons were piled up on top of each other, forming small mountains that were exuding powerful energy fluctuations.
Tens of pill bottles were lying around on the ground, and almost a dozen medicinal herbs were thrown left and right.
Additionally, on an unassuming corner, more than 100 scrolls were neatly ced on top of each other, while next to them, Xue Zhn seemed to have ced his ''Dragon Lord''s medallion.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up with a bright light, when he saw the stunning amount of wealth inside Xue Zhn''s spatial ring.
Even if he added Hao Ping''s and Tan Duyi''s wealth together, they would still pale inparison to Xue Zhn''s!
Just from the pile of weapons next to the spirit stones, Shun Long noticed more than 6 rank 1 gold grade weapons, while his attention was soon focused on a blue-colored sword.
4 words were carved on the sword''s surface, shining with a bright silver light
''Four seasons azure sword''
Shun Long immediately understood, that this sword was just like his ''Purple Blossom staff'', a pinnacle rank 1 gold grade weapon.
Since Shun Long was still using his ''Purple Blossom staff'', he decided to give the ''Four seasons azure sword'' to Liu Mei.
After all, her rank 1 silver grade sword would be unable to bring the full might of her cultivation in the future.
As for the bottles of pills that were lying around, most of them were either middle or low-grade rank 5 healing pills, anti toxin pills, or qi restoration pills.
After sorting out the medicinal ingredients that were tossed around, Shun Long''s eyes shone with disbelief when he saw a withered, almostpletely dead crimson herb.
''Rank 5 Dragonblood grass!''
Excitement filled Shun Long''s eyes once he verified that this was indeed a stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'', as he quickly ced it in his herb garden inside the ''Stone of Time''.
''''Although the rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'' is created from the blood of drakes instead of actual dragons, it is still a rank 5 medicinal herb that can help me, Little ck, and the ck panther advance to the next ranks!''''
It didn''t matter that the ''Dragonblood grass'' waspletely withered. With the ''Stone of TIme'', Shun Long could make it grow endlessly, as well as restore its vitality, by using his own qi to nourish it.
After cing the rest of the medicinal herbs inside the ''Stone of Time'' as well, Shun Long turned his attention to the pile of scrolls.
From the 100 scrolls, more than 60 of them were cultivation techniques, while the rest were martial skills.
Among them, Shun Long found a Saint low-grade cultivation technique, called the ''Metal convergence'', as well as 4 Mystic high-grade martial skills.
Since none of them caught his eye however, Shun Long ced them all inside the ''Stone of Time'', along with the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', before his spiritual strength returned back to his body.,
Liu Mei, the ck panther and Little ck, were all waiting around him, when they saw a bright smile forming on his face.
Looking at Liu Mei, Shun Long handed her the ''Four seasons azure sword''.
A shocked look shed past Liu Mei''s eyes, but since Shun Long gave her a gift she didn''t refuse.
The length and the shape of the sword were very simr to her white sword as well.
The only difference that Liu Mei felt, was that the hilt of the blue sword was noticeably thinnerpared to her white sword.
Seeing the rare excitement in Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long smiled before he patted Little ck''s head, who then returned to the ''Stone of Time''.
After all, Little ck knew, that unless he and Shun Long became strong enough, the ck dragon wouldn''t be able to stay outside of the ''Stone of Time'' for too long, otherwise his life could be at risk.
Shun Long sighed but didn''t say anything to Little ck who returned to the ''Stone of Time''. After all, he too had the same feelings and knew, that the only way for Little ck to show his face to the world, was for them to both be even stronger.
After taking a look around him, Shun Long also patted the excited ck panther''s head, before he and Liu Mei climbed on its back.
Right now, Shun Long and Liu Mei were less than a day''s travel from the Dreand forest.
Shun Long nned for him and Liu Mei to clear the C-rank mission first inside the Dreand forest.
The ck panther then spread its majestic silver wings and took to the sky, as it headed towards the north.
A day soon passed like this, when Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived in front of an endless forest, that was filled with purple trees as far as the eye could see.
Chapter 211 - 211 Change of the situation
Chapter 211 - 211 Change of the situation
Looking at the purple forest in front of him, Shun Long was taken aback for a second.
Turning his head to the side to look at Liu Mei, he noticed the astounded expression on her face as well.
It was truly a forest that resembled a dreand.
As soon as they reached the entrance of the forest, Shun Long ced the ''Silver-winged panther king'' inside the ''Stone of Time'' along with Little ck, before he and Liu Mei entered inside on foot.
After all, this was a tempering exercise for the 2 of them, and having a high-level magic beast with them like the ck panther, would make any other beast in the vicinity afraid to even get out of theirirs.
Liu Mei wasn''t surprised when she saw the ck panther disappearing.
Since she had already seen Little ck appear and disappear yesterday, she understood that the 2 beasts were always near her and Shun Long.
After looking around him, Shun Long started walking towards the south-west.
From the mission that they had epted, he knew the general location of the rank 3 ''Fire-toothed hyenas'' and the ''Meridian heating fruit''.
While they walked through the forest, Shun Long and Liu Mei encountered many magic beasts that attacked them on the way.
Thankfully, since they were still in the outskirts, even the strongest magic beast didn''t exceed the early rank 3.
Walking through this forest was akin to a refreshing stroll for Liu Mei with her early rank 6 Heaven grade cultivation, since no magic beast could pose even the slightest danger to her.
She didn''t even need to use a martial skill to deal with the magic beasts around them.
Waving around the ''Four seasons azure sword'', she easily minced through the beasts, as the 2 of them walked deeper inside the forest.
An hourter, Shun Long and Liu Mei had arrived at the foot of a small mountain.
Shun Long activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' along with his golden eyes, but he still allowed Liu Mei to take the lead.
He knew that with his cultivation that had reached the early rank 9 in Heaven grade, any magic beast below the early rank 4 couldn''t pose a threat to him.
He estimated, that with his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that was in the middle of the third stage, even if he allowed a middle rank 3 beast to freely attack him, it would still do little to no harm to his body.
Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t meet with any magic beasts as they were ascending the mountain.
When they reached near the mountain''s peak, in between the purple trees, Shun Long saw 2 brown-furred beasts guarding arge crimson-colored tree.
The crimson tree stood out among the other trees around it. Not only was it taller than the rest, but its bright red color was also extremely eye-catching.
A single red fruit was growing in one of the tree''s branches, that Shun Long recognized immediately as the rank 4 ''Meridian heating fruit''.
Once refined into a pill, the ''Meridian heating fruit'' could erge the thickness of the meridians in a cultivator, allowing their qi to flow faster inside their body.
Looking at the 2 magic beasts that were guarding the crimson tree,?Shun Long warned Liu Mei
''''Mei''er, your Dao of Ice won''t be very effective against the ''Fire-toothed hyenas''. Use your sword to fight against them, but be careful. Their teeth will also emit a fire poison in the air, and as soon as you breath it, you will feel your senses being dulled.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head at Shun Long as she understood what he wanted to say.
Waving her hand, she took out a pill bottle filled with the rank 3 anti-toxin pills that Shun Long had refined before she swallowed one of them.
That way, even if she ended up inhaling the poison in the air, the pill would still protect her body.
Shun Long nodded his head as he took a step back, allowing Liu Mei to fight against the 2 middle-rank 3 ''Fire-toothed hyenas''.
Normally, a middle rank 3 magic beast would be at least as strong, if not even stronger, than an average rank 6 Heaven grade cultivator.
However, since Liu Mei was cultivating in a Saint low-grade cultivation technique, Shun Long knew that her qi was purer than normal cultivators who were at the same level as her.
Additionally, with the ''Four seasons azure sword'' as well as her proficiency in using the sword, Shun Long was confident, that Liu Mei would be able to win against the 2 middle-rank 3 ''Fire-toothed hyenas''.
Liu Mei circted the ''Moonlight Sigil'', as a gust of wind suddenly appeared beneath her feet.
Shun Long had already taught her the Gale steps, and although Liu Mei had only reached the first rank, it still boosted her speed by quite a bit.
The 2 ''Fire-toothed hyenas'' instantly felt the aura of an early rank 6 Heaven grade cultivator, as they turned their heads to look at Liu Mei''s direction.
Looking at the white-veiled young woman who was running towards them, the 2 hyenas growled threateningly, before one of them jumped in the air towards her.
Liu Mei didn''t back off once she saw the middle rank 3 ''Fire-toothed hyena'' bearing its fangs towards her.
Instead, she shed forward with the ''Four seasons azure sword'', bringing forth a gust of wind that was filled with ice shards.
The shards of ice were immediately disintegrated under the heat that the ''Fire-toothed hyena''s'' teeth were emitting.
However, Liu Mei didn''t let up.
She had practiced the moves of her sword countless times alone in the past.
Her repeated sword shes quickly sent the ''Fire-toothed hyena'' on the defensive.
The other hyena that was watching over the ''Meridian heating fruit'' looked at Liu Mei with cold eyes, and after surveying its surroundings a few times, it also went to attack the white-veiled woman.
Fighting against 2 middle rank 3 ''Fire-toothed hyenas'', Liu Mei soon found herself in a losing position, as she was quickly suppressed by the 2 magic beasts.
And yet, even though she was suppressed, still defended herself against the attacks from the 2 magic beasts.
As the fight continued, Liu Mei started to extricate herself from her losing position.
Although she wasn''t winning, she could now hold her own against the hyenas''bined attacks.
More than an hour passed like this, as Liu Mei finally started to get the upper hand in her battle.
Beneath her white veil, there was a dazzling smile on her face, as she could feel her sword arts improving under the pressure from the hyenas.
Only under pressure could a person truly go past their limits.
Finally, 2 hourster, Liu Mei''s ''Four seasons azure sword'' stabbed through the eye of the first hyena, and continued all the way to its brain.
The middle-rank 3 magic beast instantly copsed on the ground.
Less than 10 minutes passed since then, and soon, Liu Mei took care of the second magic beast as well.
This was the second time that Liu Mei had to fight by herself since she and Shun Long hade to the Night star continent, and yet, the pressure from the 2 middle-rank 3 magic beasts, was much higher than the pressure that the low-level guild members of the ''Dark de guild'' had posed to her in the past.
This was a battle where she was truly pressured hard earlier, allowing herself to be even stronger this way.
Shun Long had a smile on his face as well, watching Liu Mei deal with the 2 middle-rank 3 magic beasts that had attacked her, all by herself.
However, just as Liu Mei started to move towards the ''Meridian heating fruit'', Shun Long''s eyes shed with a blue light, while an ugly expression suddenly appeared on his face.
Chapter 212 - 212 Rank 5 Spellsinger bird
Chapter 212 - 212 Rank 5 Spellsinger bird
Without any hesitation, Shun Long immediately used blink and appeared in front of Liu Mei, before he summoned both the ck panther as well as Little ck!
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei he then said anxiously
''''Keep your eyes focused on my back! No matter what happens, don''t stop looking at my back!''''
Liu Mei was stunned when she heard Shun Long''s words, when suddenly, a humming tone sounded from the depths of the mountain.
The small mountain started to tremble, and soon, it opened itself in 2, as a bird-like beast flew from the mountain''s depths.
It was a 3m(10ft) tall bird, with a violet-colored beak and purple eyes, while its pink feathers gave it an indescribable beauty.
The moment that Shun Long had seen this magic beast through his golden eyes however, he knew that the situation was really bad.
''''A rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird''!''''
Shun Long understood why Little ck had failed to detect the magic beast''s presence inside the mountain. Once this magic beast was sleeping, it would emit no soul fluctuations, which would make it impossible even for a peak rank 9 Dao King to discover it in its hibernation state.
It would usually choose a ce to sleep for a thousand years, and unless it was hungry, it wouldn''t wake up no matter what.
And yet, Shun Long also knew, that the moment that the rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird'' detected humans in its hungry state, it would immediately wake up and try to devour them.
Liu Mei didn''t understand why Shun Long had summoned both Little ck as well as the ck panther in order to deal with this magic beast, but seeing the serious expression on his face she understood, that there must be more to this beast than what meets the eye.
Little ck was hovering in the air in front of Shun Long, while his body was exuding the regal majesty of a dragon.
He originally had an uncaring look in his eyes, but the moment that he saw the peak rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird'', the ck dragon turned to look at Shun Long first, before his body exploded with the aura of a peak rank 5 magic beast.
The ck panther instead had already spread its silver wings that were shining with a bright light, while it waited for Shun Long''smand.
As long as Shun Long told Little ck and the ck panther to attack the magic beast in front of them, they would destroy it without any hesitation.
And yet, Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes but he didn''t give any orders.
After all, the ''Spellsinger bird'' was different than most other magic beasts.
It always attacked by singing, and once it started, everyone around it would be affected, while its singing would directly attack its target''s soul.
Shun Long didn''t think for a moment that Little ck would have a problem fighting and killing off the ''Spellsinger bird''. He had absolute confidence in the ck dragon''s power.
What he was afraid of, was the bird choosing to actually fight in its hungry state.
After all, once the singing started, Little ck had no way to protect Shun Long and Liu Mei''s souls.
''''Let''s hope that the bird gets scared off by Little ck and the ck panther. Otherwise...''''
Shun Long thought to himself as he observed the pink bird''s actions.
The rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird'' felt a hint of fear creep inside it, once it sensed the terrifying aura of the ck dragon.
After all, dragons were kings among other magic beasts, and their aura brought a certain degree of suppression as well as fear to the other beasts.
At the same time, the ck panther had also released its own aura as well, pressuring the bird even further.
The ''Spellsinger bird'' looked at the 2 peak rank 5 magic beasts in front of it, with an unconcealed sense of fear, but the moment that its eyes swept over Shun Long and Liu Mei''s bodies, its natural instincts of hunger resurfaced.
It was hunger versus fear.
The ''Spellsinger bird'' was afraid, and didn''t want to fight against the ck dragon and the ''Silver-winged panther king'', but it was also hungry.
After all, hunting and killing humans or magic beasts around it once it woke up, was something that was carved deep in its soul.
This was part of its pride as a peak rank 5 magic beast as well.
The bird also believed, that in terms of its own soul, neither the ck panther nor the terrifying dragon were its match.
As long as they were dazed for even a second, it could definitely snatch the 2 humans that were behind them and leave.
Shun Long had a serious look on his face when he saw the excitement in the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' purple eyes, and looking at Little ck as well as the ck panther he then said seriously
''''Kill it!''''
Little ck immediately pped his majestic ck wings once, quickly closing two-thirds of the distance between himself and the ''Spellsinger bird'' in a single instant.
The ck panther''s silver wings that were shining with a bright light cut through the air, as he also flew towards the pink bird.
The peak rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird''s'' eyes were filled with both fear as well as excitement, as it suddenly opened its violet-colored beak.
Before Little ck had enough time to close the distance between them, a melodious sound was heard from the ''Spellsinger bird''.
It sounded like a gentle humming tone that was soothing someone''s heart, and yet, at the same time, it also sounded like a bewitching melody that would encapture someone''s soul.
The sound instantly spread, from the ''Spellsinger bird'' to Little ck, then to the ck panther, and in the end, it reached Shun Long and Liu Mei''s souls.
For the first time in countless years, Little ck felt fear, as he turned his head to look at his master who now had an absentminded look in his eyes.
Under the ck dragon''s terrified eyes, Shun Long''s body who was hugging Liu Mei''s, instantly copsed on the ground!
Chapter 213 - 213 Shun Longs and Liu Meis situation
Chapter 213 - 213 Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s situation
The ck dragon''s body started trembling, while a horrifying aura that suppressed everything erupted from his body.
Little ck''s cold blue eyes turned to look at the peak rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird'' which immediately fell on the ground under the pressure of this terrifying aura.
The ck panther had been dazed for less than a second, before it shook off the effects of the ''Spellsinger bird''.
The panther hurriedly turned his head to look at Shun Long and Liu Mei, and as soon as it saw that they had fallen on the ground, terror and anger shed through its eyes.
The ck panther was extremely loyal to both Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Shun Long was its master, and had also helped the panther advance to the peak of rank 5, by solving its internal problem.,
Liu Mei instead was its master''s wife, and she would often practice her sword skills in the courtyard, while the ck panther kept herpany.
However, the ck panther could feel a terrifying aura from behind him, as he turned to look at the ck dragon.
The ''Spellsinger bird'' was terrified when it noticed that Little ck''s eyes were staring at it like a piece of dead meat.
Little ck''s aura started rising, and soon, it reached the absolute peak of rank 5.
And yet, it didn''t seem to stop, while Little ck''s azure eyes were still staring at the ''Spellsinger bird'' that was now quivering on the ground.
It had failed!
It had failed to affect the ck dragon''s soul, and the dragon was now furious!
The ck panther stared at Little ck with horrified eyes, as the dragon''s aura kept rising at an rming rate.
Barely 100 breaths of timeter, Little ck raised his head to the sky as he let out a furious roar!
ROAR!!
The entire Dreand forest started to tremble from the ck dragon''s roar, when a ck wave of darkness was now expanding outwards from Little ck''s body.
Both humans as well as magic beasts that were inside the forest, were terrified once they heard the furious roar.
Suddenly, be it humans or the magic beasts, everyone who was still inside the Dreand forest found their vision turningpletely ck!
Darkness!
Absolute darkness seemed to have enveloped the Dreand forest in an instant, when a horrifying aura erupted from the forest''s outskirts.
Everyone started to tremble when they sensed the strength of this aura.
Rank 6!
A rank 6 magic beast had appeared!
As a magic beast, and even more so a dragon, Little ck didn''t need to try andprehend a Dao.
He didn''t even need to absorb the qi in the air in order to cultivate.
He could simply advance, by consuming the flesh of other powerful magic beasts.
However, the moment that he saw Shun Long''s body copsing on the ground, Little ck felt disbelief, anger, and fear oveing him, all at the same time!
It was as if an invisible seal had broken inside him, as a terrifying darkness then spread from the Little ck''s body and covered the entire Dreand forest!
Invisible streams of qi from all over the forest were guided through the pitch-ck darkness, as they were all absorbed inside Little ck''s body.
The moment that the ck dragon broke through to rank 6, both the ck panther as well as the ''Spellsinger bird'' felt an innate sense of fear.
The moment that the darkness returned back inside Little ck''s body, the peak rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird'' immediately tried to suppress its fear, as it stood up on its 2 legs and pped its wings, trying to escape.
Unlike the ck panther, the bird knew that it wasn''t an ally of the ck dragon.
Instead, Little ck seemed to be feeling extreme hate towards it.
But the moment that it tried to p its wings, the ''Spellsinger bird'' saw a gigantic shadow hovering in the air above it.
Little ck pressed down with his ck w, immediately grabbing the bird by its neck!
The ck dragon had a look that was filled with anger and cruelty, and without any hesitation, he snapped the bird''s neck!
A cracking sound was heard as the bird''s body fell on the ground, before a white wisp of smoke tried to stealthily escape in the air.
Little ck looked at the white wisp of smoke with a cold look, as he then waved his w once.
The white wisp was cut into pieces, before it dissipated in the air, under the ck dragon''s and the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' eyes.
Little ck then pped his majestic ck wings, appearing in front of Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s bodies in an instant.
The ck dragon as well as the silver-winged panther king were both connected to Shun Long with their souls, and knew, that their master was still alive, but his soul was in an extremely weak state.
And yet, neither of the 2 magic beasts could do anything, but wait and hope for Shun Long and Liu Mei to ovee this obstacle.
However, this was still an attack from a peak rank 5 magic beast.
Even if it wasn''t directed towards the 2 of them, neither Shun Long''s or Liu Mei''s cultivation and souls, were strong enough to endure such an attack.
Time passed as Shun Long and Liu Mei were still unconscious.
Their eyes were closed, but both Little ck and the ck panther could feel Shun Long''s situation, through his emotions.
Inside his mind, Shun Long could feel as if his soul was being hammered repeatedly over and over again.
The pain was extremely intense, but surprisingly, after a while, Shun Long had started to get used to it and wasn''t as affected anymore.
After all, although the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' attack was akin to torture to the soul, the level and intensity of the pain didn''t evene close to what Shun Long had felt from the golden book in the past.
A little more than an incense stick of time had passed when Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
After taking a few breaths to rid himself of the residue pain, he quickly sat up and took a look around him.
He saw Little ck and the ck panther, who were staring at him with excitement in their eyes, relieved that their master had woken up.
Shun Long''s eyes however constricted, once he saw Liu Mei''s condition who was lying down next to him.
Lifting up her veil he noticed, that not only had her breathing be extremely weak, but her face had already been drained from all of its color.
Chapter 214 - 214 Liu Meis death ?
Chapter 214 - 214 Liu Mei''s death ?
Shun Long''s heart started beating erratically when he saw Liu Mei''s condition.
From her weakened breathing, he understood, that Liu Mei was most likely not going to survive.
After all, Shun Long had already experienced a soul tearing pain from the Golden Book in the past when his soul had been forcibly expanded, but what Liu Mei was suffering right now, was a direct attack to her soul.,
Additionally, unlike Shun Long, she wasn''t an alchemist, and her soul wasn''t much stronger than normal cultivators.
Shun Long gritted his teeth, before he gently propped up Liu Mei''s back, and ced her in a sitting position.
Parting her lips open with his hand, he let her swallow a top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pill''.
Although the ''Sun-healing pill'' would have no effect on her soul, the energy inside it would at least nourish her body.
Little ck and the silver-winged panther watched their anxious master, who ced Liu Mei''s body in a lying down position once again, before his eyes looked around him.
Shun Long''s attention was instantly focused on the corpse of the ''Spellsinger bird'' that was lying on the ground with its neck broken, before he had Little ck bring it in front of him.
Neither the dragon nor the ck panther made any noise, as they allowed Shun Long to ponder over what he wanted to do.
Countless thoughts shed through his mind, before Shun Long finally decided to dissect the peak rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird''.
Soon, with Little ck''s help, the peak rank 5 bird was cut into many pieces.
Shun Long then stayed silent for a moment, as he tried to think of the sequence in which he should add everything.
He nned to refine a new pill for Liu Mei, by using the medicinal herbs in the ''Stone of Time'', as well as the most important parts from the ''Spellsinger bird''.
''''First, I should add the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' heart and refine it along with its beast core as the main medicinal ingredients. After all, the heart and beast core are the 2 things in its body that are the most beneficial to a cultivator''s soul. They should be able to nourish your soul and ease your pain. Mei''er... you can''t die!''''
Shun Long then took out his medicinal cauldron, as well as more than 20 medicinal herbs from the ''Stone of Time''.
His hands conjured a qi me, as he started to warm the alchemy cauldron, but every moment felt like an eternity.
With every second passing, Shun Long could see that Liu Mei''s situation was worsening even further.
At this rate, he wouldn''t be able to make it in time.
''''Right! Time!
Although I can''t use the ''Monarch''s Domain'' on Mei''er and slow down the deterioration of her condition, I can still use the second ''Monarch''s Domain'' on myself!''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, a bright blue light covered his body, as well as his medicinal cauldron, while the flow of time around him became many times faster than the outside world.
The cauldron was quickly warmed up as Shun Long started adding inside the medicinal herbs.
He first ced the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' heart inside, along with a dozen rank 3 and rank 4 herbs, refining their essences at the same time.
The purple blood from the bird''s heart was quickly fused with the essence of the medicinal herbs, creating a deep purple liquid.
After he had added in all of the medicinal herbs, Shun Long ced the peak rank 5 beast core inside the cauldron, while at the same time, he increased the temperature of his qi mes by more than double.
However, as the magic core of a peak rank 5 magic beast, it took a lot of effort and time for Shun Long to grind it down to its purest form.
The beast core of the ''Spellsinger bird'' had finally turned into a ball of pink liquid, before it slowly started to merge with the purple liquid inside the cauldron.
Shun Long heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the 2 liquids had sessfully fused into one.
More than 60 percent of his spiritual strength had been exhausted, as he refined the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' beast core into the pink liquid.
And yet, the most important part had juste, as Shun Long used his spiritual strength and started guiding the newly formed light-purple liquid to rotate inside the cauldron.
Beads of sweat had formed on Shun Long''s forehead, but his attention waspletely focused on forming the pill.
He knew that if he failed the pill refinement this time, there would be no second chances.
A quarter of an hour had passed inside the second ''Monarch''s Domain'', when the lid of the cauldron started buzzing.
Joy filled Shun Long''s eyes when he saw the pink-colored pill inside the cauldron.
It was a pink pill that was filled with purple lines.
Regrettably, since Shun Long hadn''t broken through to the rank 3 in the Spirit realm, his spiritual strength wasn''t enough to properly refine rank 5 medicinal ingredients like the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' beast core, making the pill in front of him a middle-grade rank 5 pill instead of high-grade or top-grade one.
Shun Long didn''t feel the slightest disappointment from this though, as he hurriedly stood up and turned his head towards Liu Mei.
The scene in front of his eyes however, sent shivers down his body.
Liu Mei''s breathing had be so weak that it could be extinguished at any time, like a weak candle me in front of a powerful wind.
Shun Long''s hand started trembling, but he still parted Liu Mei''s lips open before he ced the pink-colored pill inside her mouth. Using his spiritual strength, he then guided the pill as it dissolved into a pink liquid that was easily swallowed.
Shun Long then looked at Liu Mei with a hopeful look in his eyes, but his expression as well as the 2 magic beasts'' suddenly changed.
An aura of death wasing from Liu Mei''s body, while her already weak breathing had almostpletely stopped!
Chapter 215 - 215 Hand of Death
Chapter 215 - 215 Hand of Death
Shun Long''s heart was beating rapidly as he looked at the weak Liu Mei, but he knew, that there was nothing he could do right now, but hope that Liu Mei would get through this.
However, the scene in front of his eyes wasn''t improving in the slightest, as the aura of deathing from Liu Mei''s body was getting thicker and thicker with every second that passed.
The ck dragon and the silver-winged panther both stayed silent as they watched their master''s wife, whose condition was only worsening.
At the same time, inside her mind, Liu Mei felt extreme pain, as if her soul was being hammered relentlessly.
At first, she could still endure the intense pain, but as time went on, the intensity of the attack gradually increased.
It was like an ever-rising crescendo, that would only stop once it hadpletely wiped out her soul.
The l.u.s.ter that her soul gradually dimmed under the ''Spellsinger bird''s'' unstoppable attacks, while Liu Mei could feel the rity of her mind slowly seeping away from her consciousness.
Countless scenes reyed in her mind, as death creeped ever so closer to her soul.
She once again saw her austere father, who always had a serious look on his face whenever he talked to her.
The scenes of her childhood shed through her eyes, but no matter how hard she was training, or how much effort she put in, it was never good enough for her father.
Liu Mei could always feel the look of disappointment that was etched in Liu Jian''s eyes, since his second wife didn''t give him a son as well. No matter how talented a daughter was, he would never allow her to be the sect master.
The scenes soon changed, and Liu Mei saw her beautiful mother who was dressed in white.
Even though her husband didn''t seem to care about their daughter, Liu Mei''s mother had always showered her little girl with love and attention.
This was Liu Mei''s only regret once she had chosen to leave the ''Floating cloud sect''... her mother.
She had always nned to visit her in the future once she became strong enough...
''Mother...''
The scene that depicted the white-dressed mature woman soon faded out, and was reced with a handsome young man dressed in green robes.
The greatest genius of the ''Floating cloud sect'', her cold and proud brother, Liu Changpun.
She could still remember how much she idolized her elder brother when she was younger, while everyone around her preached about this greatest genius of the ''Floating cloud sect''.
She could still remember the envy that she had felt as well, every time that she saw the proud smile on her father''s face whenever he was facing Liu Changpun.
After all, she was just a little girl. How could she not feel envy, when her own father was shunning her, but he was praising her own brother instead.
Her life kept shing through her mind, as she once again saw her only close friend in the sect, Lan Jinjing.
She was the only one who had stood by her side when she had rejected the proposal of the third young master from the ''Flying sword sect'', which had made her brother furious.
She also remembered the young master of the Meng family, Meng Shengyi, along with all the other people from the inner city who had tried to court her, until the scene changed once again.
''Long-ge..''
Scenes of a handsome, proud young man shed through her eyes.
From the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the ''Floating cloud sect'', to the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and finally, inside the ''Vermilion realm''.
From that moment, the 2 of them were always together, as they spent the next 4 months next to each other.
Ever since then, she hadpletely ced the ''Floating Cloud sect''s'' matters to the back of her mind, as her heart finally found love.
She remembered Shun Long''s gentle smile every time that he held her in his hands, as well as his sturdy back whenever she sat behind him on the ck panther''s back, and unknowingly... tears welled up in her eyes.
A bright light once again lit up inside her, giving some l.u.s.ter back to Liu Mei''s soul, but under the unceasing attacks of the ''Spellsinger bird'', the light soon dimmed, and was on the verge of being extinguished.
''''Long-ge... is this death?''''
Liu Mei could feel a ck energy surrounding her soul, trying to drag her to the depths of the abyss.
Once a soul died, it would be brought into the abyss of souls, and would either be food for other souls, or it would be sent to reincarnate.
This was death!
Liu Mei felt as if an illusionary, powerful hand, that reeked of some kind of dark energy had gripped her soul tightly, slowly dragging her downwards towards the abyss.
Arge spatial hole had opened below Liu Mei''s soul, which only people who were gripped by the hand of Death could see.
This was the Death abyss.
Liu Mei instinctively tried to struggle, but the strength of her soul had beenpletely sapped out.
She had no power to struggle as she was dragged downwards.
However, before the hand of death had managed to pull her inside the abyss, a magical thing happened.
A pink-colored vibrant energy had abruptly appeared in Liu Mei''s spiritual space, as itpletely encapsted her soul.
Liu Mei''s soul seemed like it had suddenly found a powerful tonic and started to absorb the vibrant energy around her, as her soul started to slowly regain its l.u.s.ter.
With every passing moment, Liu Mei could feel the hand of death that was tightly gripping her slowly loosening up.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up when he saw Liu Mei''s breathing that had started to stabilize itself.
Soon, her breathing started to grow stronger, while her face was slowly regaining its color.
However, what had left Shun Longpletely baffled, was that the aura of death around Liu Mei wasn''t getting weaker, but instead, it was growing stronger with every breath of time that passed!
Chapter 216 - 216 Dao of Death
Chapter 216 - 216 Dao of Death
Normally, since Liu Mei''s condition was stabilizing, the aura of death should have disappeared from her body.
But this time, not only was the color on her face regaining its past roseness, but the aura of death was also growing stronger with every second that passed.
It wasn''t just Shun Long, but Little ck and the ck panther as well were also stunned at this sight.
As high-level magic beasts, they were even more sensitive to auras than Shun Long was, and they could clearly feel the ever-growing aura of deathing from Liu Mei''s body!
At the same time, inside Liu Mei''s spiritual space, even after the vibrant energy hadpletely restored the l.u.s.ter of her soul, the pink-colored liquid continued to nourish her even further.
Unlike Shun Long''s violent soul expansion through the golden book however, Liu Mei''s soul was like a nt that was being watered by a gentle drizzle.
The vibrant energying from Shun Long''s middle rank 5 pill was being quickly absorbed by Liu Mei''s soul.
More than 4 hours passed like this until Liu Mei opened her eyes.
Feeling the death aura that wasing from her body, Shun Long was stunned, unable to understand what was going on, but the look in Liu Mei''s eyes was one of disbelief.
Waving her slender hand in the air, a wave of death aura appeared around it, before it swirled in a small ball on top of Liu Mei''s hand.
Looking at the ck ball in her hand, Liu Mei couldn''t help mumbling
''''Is this.. death?''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he heard this, while the ck dragon and the silver-winged panther looked at their master''s wife with eyes filled with astonishment.
Looking at Liu Mei, Shun Long asked her in a curious tone
''''Mei''er, how do you feel?''''
Liu Mei''s eyes once again focused around her, as she looked at Shun Long and her eyes started to mist up.
She had already experienced every event in her life for the second time, and her feelings for the young man in front of her, couldn''t be clearer in her heart.
Shaking her head she then said in a sweet voice
''''Long-ge, I am fine. I felt like I was about to die earlier, but a strange kind of energy suddenly healed my soul.
At that moment, I felt like I had connected with a mysterious Dao, and it seems that I can control a new kind of energy.''''
As Liu Mei finished speaking, the death aura immediately vanished from her body.
It was like it had never existed around her in the first ce.
Shun Long turned his head to look at Little ck, as he asked seriously
''''The Dao of Death? There is such a Dao?''''
The ck dragon nodded his head, and replied to Shun Long through a telepathic message
''''There is, master! There is a Dao for almost everything in the world, including death.
But... it is actually extremely difficult to attainprehension in the Dao of Death. It is said, that one needs to nearly die and gaze at the Abyss of Death itself in order to have a chance toprehend this Dao, and even then, it would still be up to that person''s luck.
However, this Dao is also one of the most unique and extraordinary of Daos.
There is even a certain, extremely powerful family in the Dark Sovereign''s world, who puts its descendants into hellish training in order toprehend the Dao of Death.
Less than 10 percent of them make it out alive, but nearly all of them be supreme experts among other cultivators.
Shun Long nodded his head, without asking Little ck about any other information regarding this Dark Sovereign''s world.
Instead, he turned his attention to Liu Mei who once again conjured a ck ball that was filled with death energy in her hand.
Seeing that Liu Mei had fallen in a trance, Shun Long didn''t interrupt her, as he then had Little ck sweep the small mountain with his soul sense, to see if there were any magic beast near them.
However, thanks to Little ck''s violent outburst once he broke through to rank 6, there was no magic beast in an area of 500 miles around them.
3 days passed like this while Liu Mei was still in a trance.
Shun Long understood that she seemed to beprehending the Dao of Death, as he once again sensed a death aura around her.
The aura of death around Liu Mei would sometimes grow weaker, while at other times it would grow much stronger.
Once the 3rd day was over, Liu Mei conjured a ck ball of death qi between her hands and allowed it to fall on the ground.
Seemingly out of thin air, under Shun Long''s astounded gaze, a dozen skeletons had appeared in front of him.
Each of them was 1.8m(5.9ft) tall.
Their jade white bones were shining under the night sky, while green ember wisps were glowing in their eye sockets.
Each of these skeletons was carrying a small bone sword, while the aura that they were emitting was slightly lower than Liu Mei''s cultivation, at the peak of rank 5 in Heaven grade.
Looking at the dozen skeletons that had quickly arranged themselves in front of Liu Mei in 2 lines, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''Necromancy...?''''
Nodding his head, Little ck responded with a serious look in his eyes
''''Indeed master, necromancy is a path of the Dao of Death!''''
The ck panther also stared at the 12 skeletons curiously, seeing how they had arranged themselves in front of Liu Mei, like soldiers who were protecting their general.
Liu Mei snapped out of her reverie, and looking at Shun Long she shed him a dazzling smile before she started to exin to him the experience that she had just been through.
Liu Mei told Shun Long everything, from the memories of her life that she had just experienced, all the way to the Abyss of Death that she had seen.
The 2 of them chatted for the entire night, until the sun had finally started to rise.
Shun Long heaved a sigh of relief once he confirmed that Liu Mei was alright.
Even though she hade face to face with death, this ended up being a blessing in disguise for her in the end.
Shun Long then plucked the rank 4 ''Meridian heating fruit'' from its tree, as he and Liu Mei got on the ck panther''s back, while Little ck entered inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
The ck panther spread his silver wings and shot up to the sky, as he flew towards the forest''s entrance.
Since there wasn''t anything else for them to do inside the Dreand Forest, the ck panther headed towards the Dreand ins.
It was time for Shun Long and Liu Mei to start the B-rank mission.
Chapter 217 - 217 Shun Long and Liu Meis mission
Chapter 217 - 217 Shun Long and Liu Mei''s mission
Originally, Shun Long wasn''t nning to let Liu Mei participate in the B-rank mission, since it would be far too dangerous for her.
But now that she hadprehended the Dao of Death and had practically be a necromancer, just by using the dozen skeletons that she could summon, she had more than just sufficient strength to protect herself.
A couple of hourster the ck panther had reached the end of the vast Dreand ins.
Shun Long and Liu Mei had arrived in front of a secluded mountain range that spanned for more than 7000 miles.
This was the rumored den of the infamous killer called Hao Jingguo.
From the sky, Shun Long saw many people patrolling around the mountain range, while at the depths of the mountains, there was a big, luxurious vi situated on top of a waterfall.
Looking at the vi from the ck panther''s back, Shun Long immediately understood from the people who were patrolling around it, that this was the den of the infamous killer Hao Jingguo.
However, since this was a mission that Shun Long and Liu Mei would take on by themselves, Shun Long didn''t directly barge inside the vi with the ck panther, but instead, hended 2 miles outside of the mountain range, before he ced the ck panther inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long as the 2 of them started ascending the mountain in front of them, and with a worried look on her face she asked
''''Long-ge, can we really do it by ourselves? The mission said that this Hao Jingguo is already a rank 3 Spirit realm expert!''''
It wasn''t that Liu Mei wasn''t confident in Shun Long, but Hao Jingguo seemed to be at the same level of cultivation as her father, Liu Jian.
Liu Mei had grown up thinking that her father was an extremely strong cultivator.
Even after she was exposed to arger world, when the members of the ''Floating cloud sect'' gathered outside the ''Vermilion realm'', or once she and Shun Long started touring through the Night star continent, where they had already met and killed even Dao King realm experts, personally dealing with a rank 3 Spirit realm expert was something extremely difficult to her in the end.
After all, Liu Mei knew, that neither Little ck nor the ck panther would help them this time.
It would just be her and Shun Long dealing with this person, as well as all of his subordinates.
Shun Long shook his head as he looked at Liu Mei, and with a smile on his face he said
''''Don''t worry! Even if I really can''t win, I am still confident enough to at least escape if I need to.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, while the worry in her heart slightly alleviated when she heard his words.
After all, Shun Long had even managed to survive when he was faced against a rank 2 Spirit realm expert from the ''Dark de guild'', and he was much weaker back then.,
As they were ascending the mountain, Shun Long''s group soon met a patrolling squad of 5 people dressed in warrior''s clothing.
Each of them had a sword, a saber, or a spear in their hands, while their leather attire was actually made from the hide of rank 2 magic beasts in order for them to move morefortably.
''''HALT!''''
The person in the middle of the 5 shouted at Shun Long and Liu Mei.
He was a tall young man in histe 20s, with a pointy nose and short, spiky hair.
Seeing Liu Mei who wasn''t wearing her veil this time, a greedy expression appeared on the squad captain''s face, who licked his lipssciviously as he walked towards her.
The eyes of the other 4 people around him lit up, and after throwing a tacit look at each other, they slowly encircled Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Even though the squad captain wasn''t able to sense Shun Long''s cultivation, seeing that Liu Mei was at the early rank 6 in Heaven grade, he estimated that Shun Long couldn''t be much stronger.
Even if he was at the same level as himself, at the early rank 7 in Heaven grade, he would still be able to take him down easily.
With these thoughts in mind, the squad captain puffed out his chest, and looking at the stunning young woman in front of him, he said in an imposing tone
''''This is the territory of Lord Hao! For daring to trespass here, I have enough authority to kill you on the spot. But don''t worry hehehe...
You are lucky that I have a soft spot for beautiful women.
As long as you are willing to spend a night with me, I can spare both of your lives.''''
Instead of getting angry, Shun Long had a smile on his face and didn''t choose to interfere, as he felt the aura of death around Liu Mei rapidly increasing.
The early rank 7 Heaven grade captain took a step back when he felt the deadly auraing from Liu Mei''s body, and taking a defensive stance he drew his saber from his waist.
He suddenly felt humiliated.
He didn''t understand when exactly he had taken a step back, but he understood, that his body was filled with fear as it faced the gorgeous young woman in front of him
His 4 subordinates instantly drew their weapons as well, when they saw their captain suddenly taking a step back.
At the same time arge ck ball of qi had appeared in Liu Mei''s hands, and it was filled with some kind of terrifying energy that made the early rank 7 Heaven grade captain feel even more rmed.
''''Be careful!''''
The short, spiky-haired man shouted when he saw the ck ball of qi that was falling on the ground.
The astonishing scene that followed had left the 5 patrolling guards shivering in fear.
As the ball of qi fell on the ground, more than 20 jade-white skeletons appeared from it, as they surrounded Shun Long and Liu Mei.
However, even Shun Long was stunned, as aside from the 20 skeletons, 2 undead knights dressed in ck armor had also appeared this time.
Chapter 218 - 218 Liu Meis power
Chapter 218 - 218 Liu Mei''s power
Each of these undead knights was more than 3m(9.8ft) tall, while wisps of red ember were shining in their eye sockets.
Additionally, the aura that the 2 knights were emitting was actually stronger than the white skeletons'', and was almost identical to Liu Mei''s... the early rank 6 in Heaven grade.
The spiky-haired squad captain was the first one to return to his senses when he saw the 2 dozens of undead creatures marching towards his subordinates, as he then shouted
''''Retreat! Step back!''''
Even though the 2 undead knights were only at the early rank 6 in Heaven grade, faced with so many undead creatures, the spiky-haired man could only call for a retreat.
After all, skeletons and undead knights were practically non-existent in the Night star continent, so the creepy scene in front of the spiky-haired man''s eyes didn''t allow him to think properly, as he hurriedly called for a retreat.
His 4 subordinates were instantly jolted back to their senses once they heard their captain''s voice, as they turned around and ran towards him.
Feeling a bit more confident near his squad leader, one of the young men next to him couldn''t help asking, as he looked at the undead knights that were marching towards them
''''Captain! What are these skeletons? Is this some kind of Dao as well?''''
The other 3 young men also turned their attention to their squad leader as they awaited his response.
After all, he was the most knowledgeable among them as well.
To their disappointment however, the spiky-haired man shook his head as he responded seriously
''''I don''t know but there is no reason to be afraid!
Even the giant knights are barely at your level, while the skeletons are simply rank 5 Heaven grade weaklings!
Fight together and break through their entrapment!''''
The spiky-haired man raised his head to look at Liu Mei, as he then added
''''Once I get my hands on this bitch, I will make her regret her ever being born!
I don''t believe that she can call more of these creatures!''''
Shun Long didn''t interfere with Liu Mei''s fight, as he watched the 2 undead knights, each of them leading a dozen skeletons as they marched towards the group of 5 in front of them.
The undead knights brandished their 2m(6.6ft) long greatswords, as they hacked towards the group in front of them.
The spiky-haired man snorted when he saw this, as he charged forward while holding his saber, taking on the 2 undead knights by himself.
Meanwhile, his 4 subordinates were actually besieged by the more than 20 white skeletons.
Although the 2 undead knights were strong, with their aura at the early rank 6 in Heaven grade, they immediately fell in a disadvantage fighting against a rank 7 Heaven grade cultivator.
However, even though they were at a disadvantage, the 2 undead knights were still hanging on against the squad captain''s attacks.
After all, as undead creatures, even when the first undead knight was riddled with injuries and had even lost one of his arms, he still held his greatsword with the other one as he kept fighting.
The spiky-haired man''s 4 subordinates however weren''t as lucky.
Although each of them was individually stronger than the undead creatures in front of them, against 2 dozens of these jade-white skeletons, their bodies were soon filled with injuries.
After all, there were more than 20 skeletons and only 4 of them.
Additionally, the skeletons were all at the peak of rank 5 in Heaven grade, and when they gathered together, they easily suppressed the 4 early rank 6 Heaven grade cultivators.
Shun Long was actually surprised when he saw that Liu Mei wasn''t actively controlling neither the skeletons nor the undead knights.
It seemed that the undead creatures had a certain level of intelligence by themselves, while the undead knights seemed to have plenty ofbat experience too.,
Seeing the situation that his 4 subordinates were in, the spiky-haired man''s saber lit up, as he used a Yellow high-grade martial skill and cut one of the undead knights in half.
The undead knight''s body fell on the ground, immediately turning into a pile of dust.
Liu Mei however waved her left hand in the air, instantly creating another ball of death qi.
The ball of death qi then fell on the ashes of the undead knight, and under the horrified eyes of the spiky-haired man, the knight''s body was soon reformed back to its original state.
The spiky-haired squad captain''s eyes widened in fear, once he saw the knight he had just destroyed being resurrected in front of him.
He was originally intending to quickly deal with the second undead knight as well before he moved to help his subordinates, but no matter how many times he ended up destroying the 2 knights, the woman in front of him would always bring them back to life.
Under the white skeletons'' unstoppable barrage of attacks, one of the spiky-haired man''s subordinates was soon stabbed by one of the skeletons'' bone-white sword.
The 3 young men around him had a look of terror in their eyes, as they watched the body that lifelessly copsed on the ground.
With one less person to defend against the skeletons'' attacks, the other 3 of them soon followed suit, leaving only the spiky-haired man who was still fighting against the undead knights.
Seeing his subordinates dying one after the other, an anxious look shed through the man''s eyes, and yet, it was already toote to escape as the 2 undead knights had stuck on the spiky-haired man like 2 heavy anchors.
As the white skeletons joined hands with the 2 ck-armored undead knights, the spiky-haired man found himself in a disadvantage.
It felt like he was fighting against more than 20 peak rank 5 Heaven grade cultivators, who didn''t fear pain or death, and 2 early rank 6 ones.
A quarter of an hourter, the spiky-haired man''s body had lost all signs of life as it fell on the ground next to his 4 subordinates.
Liu Mei didn''t even spare a look at the 5 dead bodies on the ground, as she then put her white veil back on her face, before she and Shun Long continued ascending the mountain.
On the way, they found more than 4 patrolling squads which Liu Mei''s small army eventually dealt with.
Only once did they find a rank 9 Heaven grade cultivator, who effortlessly destroyed more than a dozen skeletons, before Shun Long stepped in.
After dealing with thest patrolling squad, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already entered near the heart of the mountain range, just a few miles away from arge waterfall where a luxurious vi was built on.
This was the den of the rank 3 Spirit realm criminal, Hao Jingguo.
Chapter 219 - 219 Attacking the villa!
Chapter 219 - 219 Attacking the vi!
Looking at therge vi ahead of them, Shun Long saw more than 10 people stationed near the waterfall, keeping watch of their surroundings.
At the same time, inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck and the silver-winged panther were both watching Shun Long with eyes filled with interest.
Little ck didn''t use his soul sense to scan the vi, and he didn''t give Shun Long any warnings or help either.
Since this was his master''s and his master''s wife''s mission, the ck dragon quietly observed everything from the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long and Liu Mei stayed hidden on top of a tree as they observed the guards that were watching over the vi.
There were 2 squads with 5 people each, and a peak rank 9 Heaven realm cultivator was leading each squad.
Liu Mei was silent when she saw Shun Long seriously thinking over their next course of action.
After thinking for a while, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei and asked
''''Mei''er, how far from your body can your undead creatures travel to?''''
Shun Long realized that he didn''t have enough knowledge regarding Liu Mei''s necromancy.
Liu Mei thought seriously for a while before she answered,
''''As long as they are within a 3 mile radius, then their ability will not be restricted. But beyond that, their speed and their strength will start to drop.''''
Nodding his head Shun Long answered with a serious look
''''In that case, it''s better if you control your undead creatures from here. They cane with me as I enter inside the vi, and support me when I need to.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head in response after hearing Shun Long''s words.
Besides, now that she was a necromancer, her physical abilities weren''t that important.
Instead, the numbers and the strength of the creatures that she could summon was vital to her overall strength. After all, necromancers usually didn''t fight in closebat, but they summoned their undead creatures for them.
With a wave of her hand, a ck ball filled with death Qi had appeared in front of Liu Mei, before it slowly fell on the ground.
This time, 50 jade-white skeletons along with 3 undead knights rose from the ground, as they assembled themselves in 3 lines in front of Liu Mei.
This was Liu Mei''s current limit in the undead creatures that she could summon.
Looking at the 3m(10ft) tall undead knights who were each leading a row of skeletons, Shun Long smiled as he started walking towards the squad that was the closest to him and Liu Mei.
Once he arrived a few hundred meters away from the waterfall, the peak rank 9 Heaven grade expert was the first one to notice Shun Long and the small undead army behind him, as he shouted
''''HALT!''''
The rest of the squad members'' attention was immediately focused on the young man who seemed to be leading some kind of bizarre and terrifying creatures.
Shun Long ignored the peak rank 9 Heaven grade expert, and instead, he circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as his eyes suddenly turned golden.
In the dark night, with only the light of the moon and the stars illuminating the earth from the night sky, Shun Long''s golden eyes resembled a demon''s.
The squad captain''s body trembled when he saw the scene in front of him, but just as he was ready to shout ''''Enemy attack!'''' the indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from Shun Long''s body,pletely stopping time around the peak rank 9 Heaven grade expert and his squad members.
The skeletons and the undead knights however were also frozen, once they were caught inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
After all, Shun Long''s control over the Dao of Time wasn''t high enough to selectively choose the enemies that the ''Monarch''s Domain'' would freeze.
Raising his right hand, Shun Long shed the air in front of him, opening a space tear that led directly to the 5 squad members ahead of him.
Once he entered the space tear, Shun Long shortened the ''Monarch''s Domain'', allowing the army of skeletons and the 3 undead knights behind him to move again, before he took a wooden purple staff from his spatial ring.
There was no mercy orpassion in Shun Long''s eyes as he looked at the 5 people in front of him who were guarding the vi.
As subordinates of Hao Jingguo, there was no way for these people to be innocent in the first ce. Besides, in the cultivation world, there was no absolute wrong or right.
Hao Jingguo was strong enough so even though he was an infamous killer, rapist and thief, people didn''t choose to confront him for no reason.
But once a mission was set up in the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', the infamous rank 3 Spirit realm expert had already fought with more than 2 groups who had attacked his vi.
After all, it wasn''t umon for mercenaries to die during their missions, which was why the ''Mercenaries'' Association was extremely strict with their rankings.
Waving his ''Purple Blossom staff'', Shun Long''s attacks shattered the 5 squad members'' heads, including the peak rank 9 Heaven grade expert''s, killing them in an instant.
The other peak rank 9 Heaven grade expert who was leading the second squad, had his eyes wide open when he saw the scene that had unfolded in front of his eyes.
Without any hesitation, he took a deep breath, as he shouted in a heavy and loud voice that rmed the entire vi
''''ENEMY ATTACK!''''
At the same time that the squad leader''s voice sounded in the air, Shun Long raised his right hand once again, opening another space tear, as he arrived at the other side of the waterfall where the second squad was stationed in.
The second squad''s captain immediately turned to flee when he saw Shun Long appearing in front of him, not even thinking of engaging inbat against him. After all, he had just witnessed him killing the first squad all by himself in an extremely bizarre manner.
The members of the second squad were terrified when they saw their captain leaving, but Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to them, as he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain'' once again.
Time seemed to freeze around Shun Long for the second time, and without any suspense, Shun Long waved the ''Purple Blossom staff'' as he effortlessly took care of the 5 squad members in front of him.
He then turned his eyes towards the vi''s entrance.
The moment that the squad leader''s voice had sounded in the air, the vi''s entrance abruptly opened and more than 30 cultivators emerged from it.
Each of them was at least ate-stage Heaven grade cultivator, while a middle-aged man was leading the front.
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed slightly once he sensed the auraing from the middle-aged man''s body, instantly recognizing that he was a Spirit realm expert.
The middle-aged man first had a confused look as he looked at the army of undead creatures on the right bank of the river, before his eyes were focused on Shun Long.
Seeing the fresh blood that was still dripping from the ''Purple Blossom staff'', the middle-aged man''s eyes quickly turned cold as he took a step forward.
At the same time, inside a private room in the vi, 2 middle-aged men were lying on top of arge bed, as they were indulging in the pleasures of dual cultivation with a ck-haired young woman.
The woman''s expression that was filled with l.u.s.t and enjoyment quickly changed into one of fear when she heard the words ''enemy attack'', as she then lowered her head to look at the middle-aged man who was lying below her and was still thrusting his lowered body upwards, looking like he hadn''t heard anything as he continued to enjoy himself.
With a trembling expression, the young woman bit her lips as she then said fearfully
''''B-Big brother Hao! There is an enemy attack!''''
Chapter 220 - 220 Thunderbolt finger
Chapter 220 - 220 Thunderbolt finger
This middle-aged man who was lying below this young woman had a sturdy build that resembled a trained fighter, while his square jaw and his hawk-shaped nose gave an intimidating feeling to the people around him when he stared at them.
Shun Long had already seen this man''s wanted poster when he epted the B-rank mission and would quickly recognize him if he actually saw him.
This was the infamous killer Hao Jingguo.
Hao Jingguo stopped his lower body''s movements, and looking at the young woman who was lying on top of him, he started fondling her plump b.o.o.b.s as he said with a smile on his face
''''Don''t worry little girl. This isn''t the first attack this year, and it will certainly not be thest.''''
Raising his head to look at the other middle-aged man, who was still continuing his back and forth movements behind the young woman, the square-jawed Hao Jingguo then asked
''''Don''t you think so too Elder Qing?''''
The middle-aged man who heard Hao Jingguo''s voice suddenly stopped his back and forth movements, and looking at the back of the young woman in front of him, he nodded his head with a proud smile as he said
''''There is no reason to worry. My younger brother is in charge of the vi''s defense tonight, and even if he can''t take care of the people attacking us, don''t we still have brother Hao?''''
Looking at the more than 2m(6.6ft) tall middle-aged man behind her, the young woman nodded her head somewhat absentminded, as if agreeing with his words.
''''Right! If Elder Qing can''t take care of the intruders, he will definitely inform Big brother Hao along with his elder brother as well.''''
When these thoughts shed through the young woman''s mind, a sense of relief filled her, while her waist seemed to have subconsciously started moving once again.
Laughter filled the room as the 2 middle-aged men then continued with their night''s exercise.
At the same time, outside the vi, the middle-aged who was looking at Shun Long took a step forward, and with a mocking look on his face he asked
''''Don''t tell me that you are another idiot from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' who is here for Elder brother Hao''s bounty?''''
Although the middle-aged man had a mocking look on his face, he actually didn''t underestimate Shun Long because of his early rank 9 Heaven grade aura. Instead, he raised his vignce even further, certain that the young man in front of him was somehow concealing his true cultivation level.
Additionally, although his question may have seemed simple, the truth was, that the middle-aged man was actually trying to probe Shun Long''s real intentions.
After all, to be able to kill 2 squads, while each of them was being led by a peak rank 9 Heaven grade expert, unless this middle-aged man was working together with his elder brother, he wouldn''t be able to do it this quickly and stealthily just by himself.
Shun Long shook his head when he heard the man''s question, and with a calm look he said smilingly
''''There is no reason to try and probe me. You are right, I am indeed a member of the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.''''
The middle-aged man had a mocking look on his face when he heard this, and shaking his head in response he said
''''As expected, another idiot who is greedy for money! No matter whether you hide your cultivation or not, as long as you haven''t reached the middle-stages of the Spirit realm, you will die like a worm! Even if you can beat the small fries that were standing guard, brother Hao isn''t someone that idiots who barge here alone can challenge!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man stopped holding back, as his cultivation exploded outwards.
''''Peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm!''''
Shun Long just smiled lightly when he sensed the middle-aged man''s cultivation, before his own aura at the early rank 9 in Heaven grade burst out in response.
Meanwhile, the man''s subordinates who hade out from the vi along with him, immediately moved to attack Liu Mei''s undead army.
Although the skeletons and the undead knights were somewhat scary, in the end they were only at the peak of rank 5 and early rank 6 in Heaven grade.
Against 30 experts at thete stages of the Heaven grade, it was a one-sided ughter.
At the same time, seeing that the middle-aged man was flying towards him at full speed, Shun Long simply raised his right hand in the air as he pointed forward.
The qi inside his qi balls was being gathered rapidly in his forefinger, while sparks had even started forming on top of it.
The middle-aged man felt a sense of danger in his heart as he looked at Shun Long''s finger, but he didn''t choose to back down.
Instead, he used his qi to form an invisible qi barrier in front of him as he continued to fly forward, while his attention waspletely focused on Shun Long''s finger.
It took a single breath of time for Shun Long''s qi to gather in his finger, before a booming sound resounded in the sky, drawing everyone''s attention.
The middle-aged man''s subordinates who were fighting against Liu Mei''s undead army, instantly raised their heads to look at the sky, where a single bolt of lightning was moving towards ''Elder Qing'' at extreme speed.
BOOOM!
The sound of thunder booming resounded through the air, while a bolt of lightning illuminated the night sky before it collided with ''Elder Qing''s'' qi barrier.
''Elder Qing''s'' eyes widened when he saw the bolt of thunder flying towards him, but he didn''t even have enough time to move out of the way, before he felt his qi barrier shattering into pieces as an overpowering strength crashed on his body.
The moment that Shun Long''s Mystic high-grade Thunderbolt finger hit the middle-aged man''s body, ''Elder Qing'' felt as if thousands of lightning bolts had suddenly zapped his chest, all at the same time.
Under the horrified eyes of his subordinates, ''Elder Qing''s'' body flew from the sky like a cannonball, before it crashed on the ground next to them.
BOOM
The powerful peak rank 1 Spirit realm expert was now lying on the ground with a huge hole on his chest, unknown if he was still dead or alive!
The nauseating smell of charred flesh immediately brought the people around him back to reality, before some of them hurriedly rushed back inside the vi.
In the room where Hao Jingguo and the middle-aged Elder Qing were enjoying themselves, knocking sounds were frantically heard from the door, as the anxious voice of one of the subordinates outside sounded, as it said
''''Lo-Lord Hao!''''
Chapter 221 - 221 Stirring up Hao Jingguos den
Chapter 221 - 221 Stirring up Hao Jingguo''s den
Hao Jingguo and the other Elder Qing both frowned when they heard someone interrupting them.
Hao Jingguo didn''t move from his position, and looking at the door he said in a cold voice
''''Come in.''''
The young woman on top of him immediately struggled to break free and put on her clothes when she heard the door opening, but Hao Jingguo simply held her in ce with an evil smile on his face, as he watched another person entering the room.
A fl.u.s.tered young man with a terrified expression then entered inside, but as soon as he opened the door, the first thing that he saw in his eyes was Elder Qing''s bare ass.
The scene of ''Lord Hao'' and ''Elder Qing'' both sharing one girl was now etched in his brain, but neither Hao Jingguo nor Elder Qing seemed to be embarrassed being under the young man''s gaze.
However, the young woman''s face was now buried in Hao Jingguo''s chest while even her ears and neck had turned red.
Hao Jingguo looked at the young man who had entered the room, and with an imposing tone he asked
''''What''s so urgent for you to hit my door like that?''''
The young man quickly fell on his knees when he remembered the reason that he had entered the room, and looking at Elder Qing he suddenly felt his throat getting sore.
Both Hao Jingguo and Elder Qing could immediately sense that something was wrong, as Elder Qing turned around, and with a serious look he asked
''''What''s wrong? Just speak!''''
The young man nodded his head, and after recollecting his thoughts he said
''''It''s Elder Qing Chen! He... is heavily injured, and his condition is very bad!''''
''''WHAT?''''
The 2m(6.6ft) tall Elder Qing looked at the young man in front of him with a disbelieving look, while even Hao Jingguo''s face changed when he heard this.
Taking a step forward, the n.a.k.e.d Elder Qing appeared in front of the young man, and lifting him from his neck he asked angrily
''''Tell me! What happened to my brother? How many enemies are outside?''''
The young man struggled to breathe as his arms grabbed tightly on Elder Qing''s thick left arm that was choking his neck.
Elder Qing snorted, but in the end, he released his grip, allowing the young man in front of him to take a breather before he started exining what had happened outside the vi.
Hao Jingguo and Elder Qing both turned to look at each other with a dark look on their faces when they heard what had happened.
If someone defeated Qing Chen with one move, then his strength was probably not much inferior to Hao Jingguo''s own.
With a serious look, the n.a.k.e.d Hao Jingguo stood up,pletely ignoring the young woman who was lying on top of him just now, and after cing on a piece of leather pants and a shirt on him, he looked at Elder Qing and said
''''Qing Ren, let''s go together.''''
Qing Ren nodded his head, and after putting on a piece of clothing that barely covered his lower body, he flew in the air as he and Hao Jingguo quickly appeared outside of the vi.
Hao Jingguo''s subordinates started to cheer loudly once they saw their leader, but Qing Ren had a dark look on his face as he quickly arrived in front of his brother.
Seeing therge hole on his brother''s chest, as well as his charred body that was barely breathing, Qing Ren understood that his brother''s condition was much worse than the young man had described it.
Unless a miracle happened, even if Qing Chen survived, he was fated to live his life as a peak rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator from now on.
After taking a look around him, Qing Ren''s eyes were soon focused on the young man in blue robes who was standing in the air, a few hundred meters away from him.
Shun Long looked at the middle-aged man who was staring at him with a murderous look in his eyes, when the man''s aura suddenly burst out from his body
''''Middle rank 2 Spirit realm expert!''''
Seeing that there a change in Shun Long''s expression even after he had released his aura, Qing Ren soared in the air, and looking at Hao Jingguo he said in a voice full of hatred
''''Brother Hao! Qing Chen''s future is destroyed! Even if he lives, this brat has already ruined any hope Qing Chen had to reach the middle-stages of the Spirit realm in the future.''''
Hao Jingguo''s eyes narrowed as he looked at Shun Long, and nodding his head, he soared in the air as well, standing next to Qing Ren.
Facing against Shun Long, Hao Jingguo unleashed his aura at the middle of rank 3 in the Spirit realm, before he took out a pair of white daggers from his spatial ring.
Staring at Shun Long who was calmly floating in the sky, Hao Jingguo had a murderous look deep in his eyes as he thought to himself
''''It looks like I need to send a serious message to the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' this time. After all, I can''t afford to lose the Qing brothers'' help.''''
Qing Ren nodded his head when he saw Hao Jingguo ready to go all out, as he took out a silver-colored sword from his spatial ring as well.
The moment that Hao Jingguo''s subordinates saw the 2 white daggers appearing, they jeered mockingly as they looked at Shun Long who was standing in the air nonchntly
''''Ignorant brat, Boss Hao is just a step away from the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm while his daggers are a pair of rank 2 silver grade weapons. Unless you are actually a middle-stage Spirit realm cultivator, Boss Hao will make you pay for hurting Elder Qing!''''
Shun Long ignored the jeers from the crowd, as his attention was focused on the 2 middle-aged men in front of him.
Hao Jingguo and Elder Qing didn''t dy, as they both flew towards Shun Long at full speed.,
Shun Long''s eyes were instantly focused once he saw the 2 Spirit realm experts flying towards him.
After all, although he was confident in fighting against Hao Jingguo, he wouldn''t take 2 Spirit realm experts lightly.
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, as Shun Long activated the ''Monarch''s Domain'', slowing down Hao Jingguo''s and Elder Qing''s speed by almost 20 percent.
Then, with a slight smile on his face, he thought to himself
''''Ever since advancing to the Heaven grade, I didn''t have time to actually test this move.''''
Shun Long''s golden eyes then focused on the 2m(6.6ft) tall Elder Qing, as he silently mumbled 2 words
''''Time... Prison!''''
Chapter 222 - 222 Shun Longs Time Prison
Chapter 222 - 222 Shun Long''s Time Prison
Shun Long had alreadyprehended the principles behind the ''Time Prison'', during thest parts of his fight with Cui Guoliang.
The moment that he activated this move, his golden eyes shone with a bright blue light while more than 40% of his qi was drained at once.
However, the moment that Shun Long''s eyes shone with a blue light, the middle rank 2 Spirit realm Qing Ren''s movements were instantly halted.
Shun Long knew that this move which required an enormous amount of his qi, could ce even someone who was in a slightly higher realm than him, in a temporary prison that sealed timepletely.
Because of the difference in cultivation between himself and Qing Ren however, Shun Long estimated that he could barely affect the middle-aged man for 2 breaths of time at most.
However, these 2 breaths of time were more than sufficient for Shun Long.
Hao Jingguo seemed to have instantly sensed that something was wrong, as he turned his head around and saw that Qing Ren hadpletely stopped in mid-air.
The scene in front of him was extremely bizarre, since there were no qi fluctuationsing from Qing Ren''s body either. However, the most shocking thing was, that even the cirction of Qing Ren''s qi had somehow stopped.
At the same time, Shun Long shed the air in front of him with his right hand, opening a small space tear.
His finger then entered inside the space tear, and thrusting forward, it seemed to have pierced through something soft.
A warm liquid poured over Shun Long''s hand before he retracted his finger and closed the space tear in front of him.
2 breaths of time had passed as the ''Time Prison'' then stopped detaining Elder Qing Ren''s body.
The 2m(6.6ft) tall man didn''t understand why, but he could feel a sudden pain in his chest, as he hurriedly clutched his chest with his left hand.
A warm liquid welled up in his throat before he spat out a mouthful of blood.
With his heart now pierced, Qing Ren couldn''t even keep circting his qi, as his body started falling uncontrobly.
Hao Jingguo''s eyes widened before he turned around and tried to support the middle-aged man behind him, but Qing Ren''s strength seemed to be quickly leaving his body.
Hao Jingguo took a bottle of pills from his spatial ring and fed them to Qing Ren, but in the end, they didn''t seem to alleviate his pain or improve his situation in the slightest.
With every passing second, Qing Ren was losing more and more blood from his heart, while the look on his face was that of uncontroble fear as he stared at Shun Long.
After all, dying wasn''t that scary. What was scary was not even knowing how you died.
The middle rank 2 Spirit realm expert hadn''t even seen the man in front of him moving, and yet, he still felt an intense pain in his heart.
Closing his eyes, Qing Ren scanned his body with his spirit sense, only to see that there was a hole in his heart where his blood was unceasingly pouring out from.
However, an injury to his heart was almost as bad as an injury to the brain. There was practically no way to heal it with normal means.
The only ways that Qing Ren knew of, would be for a high-level body refining cultivator to use enormous amounts of energy, or for normal qi refining cultivators to use rare top-grade healing pills that could heal such injuries.
Hao Jingguo had a cold look on his face after seeing that Qing Ren''s situation was only getting worse, as he stopped supporting him with his hands, letting him fall from the sky, only to be caught by the subordinates that were waiting on the ground below him.
Killing intent was oozing from Hao Jingguo''s body as he looked at Shun Long, and with an unconcealed murderous look, he said
''''Brat, since you have crippled both of my Elders, don''t expect to leave here alive! I will personally cut off your head before I send it to the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.''''
At the same time, Liu Mei who was watching this scene from the forest a mile away from the vi had an anxious expression on her face when she saw that Shun Long was ready to fight with the middle rank 3 Spirit realm expert!
Shun Long however wasn''t the least bit afraid of Hao Jingguo. After all, the reason that he had epted this mission in the first ce, was to pressure himself and fight against stronger opponents.
Although it was dangerous to fight against a middle rank 3 Spirit realm expert as an early rank 9 Heaven grade cultivator, this was still the best way to make himself even more ustomed to his current strength.
Raising his right hand, Shun Long gathered his qi in his finger, before sparks of lightning started to appear on it.
The moment that Hao Jingguo''s subordinates so the lightning that was gathering in Shun Long''s right hand, they hurriedly shouted to warn Hao Jingguo before they all rose to the sky, surrounding Shun Long from all sides.
''''Lord Hao, be careful!''''
''''Boss, watch out! This brat used this move to take out Elder Qing Chen!''''
Since these people had already dealt with Liu Mei''s undead army, there was no reason or excuse for them to keep watching the fight from the sidelines.
Hao Jingguo could also feel a sense of dangering from Shun Long''s finger, as his qi started to gather around his body.,
BOOOM!
The sound of thunder booming resounded in the sky, as a bolt of lightning once again appeared from the tip of Shun Long''s finger, heading towards Hao Jingguo at extreme speed.
Shun Long''s eyes saw the bolt of thunder flying through the air extremely quickly, but before it could actually hit the rank 3 Spirit realm expert''s body, ayer of earth armor appeared around Hao Jingguo.
BOOOOM!
The moment that his ''Thunderbolt finger'' met with Hao Jingguo''s earth armor, a booming sound was heard through the air, while small parts of the earth armor were immediately ground to dust.
And yet, the bolt of thunder was actually dispersed in the air before it could sessfully break through Hao Jingguo''s defenses.
After taking head-on Shun Long''s attack, the middle rank 3 Spirit realm was still standing in the air, holding his 2 white daggers in his hands as he stared at Shun Long with a mocking smile on his face.
Chapter 223 - 223 Fighting Hao Jingguo
Chapter 223 - 223 Fighting Hao Jingguo
''''Hahaha! Lord Hao is invincible!''''
''''Of course! Who do you think that our boss is? Could any random brat actually pose a danger to boss?''''
''''Surround him, don''t let him leave! Who knows what kind of evil trick this brat used to harm the Elder Qing Chen and Elder Qing Ren?!''''
Seeing that Hao Jingguo was unharmed after taking on Shun Long''s Thunderbolt finger, his subordinates exploded in excitement, and with newfound confidence, they slowly approached closer to Shun Long, surrounding him and cutting off all paths of retreat.
Shun Long smiled inwardly when he saw Hao Jingguo''s subordinates entering the ''Monarch''s Domain''s'' radius, while Little ckughed mockingly inside the ''Stone of Time''
''''Idiots! Thest thing that master is afraid of, is small fries ganging up on him.''''
Indeed, the moment that they entered inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Hao Jingguo''s subordinates immediately went still.
Inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long was the absolute king!
Although he couldn''t stop time against stronger opponents like Qing Ren and Hao Jingguo who were already at the Spirit realm, against cultivators who were merely at the Heaven grade, none of them could even think of standing against him inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Hao Jingguo looked at his subordinates around him who had suddenly stopped moving all at the same time, with eyes that were filled with disbelief.
A trace of fear shed through the pupils of his eyes as he looked at Shun Long and unconsciously, he took a step backwards.
Originally, he had thought that even if that bolt of thunder wasn''t Shun Long''s strongest move, it couldn''t be too far off from that.
But now, the same bizarre thing that had happened to Elder Qing Ren was also happening to more than 30 Heaven grade cultivators at the same time.
If the same thing had happened to him, wouldn''t he be at the mercy of this brat in front of him?
''''What kind of terrifying Dao is this?''''
Hao Jingguo thought to himself before he slowly sighed in relief.
No matter what, there seemed to be some limitations to this move, otherwise Shun Long would have also trapped him along with his subordinates.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, the rank 3 Spirit realm expert lowered his head to look at his own earth armor on his chest, which was actually slightly damaged from the thunderbolt earlier, and using his qi, he quickly repaired the broken parts, as new pieces of earth seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, covering the small hole near his chest.
Then, holding his 2 white daggers, Hao Jingguo shot towards Shun Long with a serious look in his eyes.
Shun Long''s golden eyes shone brightly, as a new scene appeared in his mind.
Hao Jingguo quickly arrived in front of him, and waving his 2 daggers, he attacked Shun Long''s vital spots.
The chest near his heart, the eyes, the temple of the head... a barrage of chain attacks assaulted Shun Long without stop, but under Hao Jingguo''s horrified eyes, the young man in front of him either dodged or parried his attacks using the in-looking wooden staff in his hands.
Shun Long however, could feel a numbness in his hands as he parried Hao Jingguo''s attacks. After all, although he wasn''t a body refiner, as a middle rank 3 Spirit realm expert, Hao Jingguo''s attacks that were infused with his rank 3 Spirit realm qi easily overpowered Shun Long every time they shed with each other.
Even after using a rank 1 gold grade weapon and the Mystic high-grade ''Staff of Obliteration'', Shun Long could only fend off Hao Jingguo''s attacks, and was unable to overpower him no matter what.
However, Hao Jingguo was also shocked.
Originally, he had thought that Shun Long was hiding his real cultivation level, but after fighting with him for so long, he clearly understood that the young man in front of him was still at the early rank 9 in Heaven grade.
''''How is this possible?''''
The rank 3 Spirit realm expert''s attacks increased in intensity, but Shun Long still managed to hang on.
Although Shun Long felt difort every time he shed with Hao Jingguo, since he was making use of both his early rank 9 Heaven grade cultivation as well as the middle of the third stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', the pressure from fighting against a rank 3 Spirit realm expert was the best way for him to bring himself to his limits.
Shun Long was practically forcing his qi balls inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' to provide him with even more qi, slowly pushing his strength to its limits.
More than 2 hours passed like this, while the calm expression had long since vanished from Hao Jingguo''s face.
No matter whether he tried to overpower the blue-robed young man in front of him with his middle rank 3 Spirit realm cultivation or what martial skill he had used, Shun Long would always dodge or defend, as if he had already foreseen his moves.
Even his most prized rank 2 silver grade daggers, were unable to cut through the wooden staff in his hands.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t think for a minute that the ''Purple Blossom staff'' could be damaged by Hao Jingguo''s white daggers.
Hao Jingguo however wasn''t dumb.
As a rank 3 Spirit realm expert, even if he hadn''t recognized that Shun Long''s wooden staff was a high-level weapon earlier due to its normal appearance, after enduring so many hits from his daggers without suffering a single scratch, it was obvious that it''s quality was at least as good if not better than his own weapons, as greed quickly filled his eyes.
''''A rank 3 silver grade weapon?!''''
A confused look shed through his eyes after thinking about it a bit more, when an expression of disbelief soon colored his face as a different thought was suddenly etched in the infamous criminal''s mind.
''''That''s not right! Even a rank 3 silver grade weapon can''t endure so many attacks without getting a single scratch! Could it be a gold...?''''
The moment that this thought had filled Hao Jingguo''s mind, his attacks increased in ferocity, while his 2 white daggers started to grow with a deep brown light.
Suddenly, from the earth below them, 2rge vines more than 2m(78inches) thick had appeared, and almost as if they were being guided by the 2 white daggers, they tried to entrap Shun Long.
Seeing that Hao Jingguo was no longer holding back, Shun Long''s eyes lit up as a blue-colored light suddenly covered his body.
With the second ''Monarch''s Domain'', his speed instantly increased by more than 10 times, making even the rank 3 Spirit realm expert having trouble to keep up.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up, and after dodging the 2 vines attacks he quickly appeared in front of Hao Jingguo.
Raising the ''Purple Blossom staff'', he struck sideways at the burly middle-aged man in front of him.
This was the first move of the ''Staff of Obliteration''.
Hao Jingguo quickly raised his 2 daggers in defense when he felt the danger that the ''Purple Blossom staff'' was giving off, but he had failed to predict where the staff would actuallynd, as Shun Long''s attack connected with his earth armor.
Pieces of earth were instantly broken as soon as they felt the might of the ''Purple Blossom staff'',pletely destroying the earth armor.
Breaking through the earth armor the staff squarely hit Hao Jingguo''s lower ribs, forcing the rank 3 Spirit realm expert to take more than 6 steps back until he stabilized himself.
After the ''Purple Blossom staff'' had broken through theyers of his earth armor, it had lost more than 90 percent of its full strength in the process, otherwise, even his bones wouldn''t have been spared.
Seeing Shun Long who was raising his staff in the air once again, Hao Jingguo had a murderous look on his face as he suddenly surrounded himself with his own vines.
''''Brat, since I can''t keep up with your speed, then I won''t fight you head-on. I will simply wait until your qi runs out before I destroy you.
I don''t believe that raising your speed like that doesn''t have some kind of limitation!''''
Hao Jingguo thought to himself as he surrounded himself with the thick vines.
The vines that were created by a ''Mystic low-grade'' martial skill and were infused with his middle rank 3 Spirit realm qi were more than sufficient to protect him against a rank 9 Heaven grade cultivator''s attacks, no matter how much of a monster that person is.
And indeed, Hao Jingguo''s thoughts were correct.
Shun Long''s second ''Monarch''s Domain'' was draining his qi rmingly fast.
He wouldn''t be able to keep this up for much longer.
Shun Long didn''t speak, once he saw Hao Jingguo hiding himself behind his vines, while the look on his face was that of unprecedented seriousness.
He could feel his concentration rising to its peak, as his right hand was holding tightly on the ''Purple Blossom staff''.
Then, Shun Long muttered one single word, as he suddenly appeared in front of Hao Jingguo
''Blink''
Chapter 224 - 224 Killing a rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator
Chapter 224 - 224 Killing a rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator
His body then disappeared from the spot he was standing on, and under Hao Jingguo''s horrified eyes, Shun Long instantly appeared in front of him, behind the wall of therge vines.
Raising the ''Purple Blossom staff'' in the air, Shun Long swung it down diagonally, aiming towards the middle rank 3 Spirit realm expert''s head!
This was the second move from the ''Staff of Obliteration''!
Hao Jingguo quickly understood, that he didn''t have enough time to raise his hands and defend against Shun Long''s staff with his daggers.
He knew that Shun Long''s speed was much faster than his, and the only thing that he could do now was to bet everything on his cultivation.
Hao Jingguo''s qi was quickly gathered around his head, creating manyyers of defense and raising the power of his earth armor by many folds.
The destructive power of the staff soon met Hao Jingguo''s full-powered earth armor.
Shun Long felt the ''Purple Blossom staff'' nearly leaving his hand once it met Hao Jingguo''s earth armor whose defense had been amplified by many times, but gritting his teeth, he continued bringing it downwards, destroyingyers afteryers of the earth armor in the process.
However, even with the second move of the ''Staff of Obliteration'', once thestyer of earth armor was destroyed, the destructive power of the purple staff was also worn away, as the ''Purple Blossom staff'' barely touched Hao Jingguo''s head in the end, like a piece of wood giving him a small push.
And yet, Hao Jingguo didn''t even have enough time tough, as Shun Long gritted his teeth and drew the staff backwards, holding it like a spear!
Terror filled the middle-rank 3 Spirit realm expert''s eyes once he saw Shun Long ready to attack him again.
Hao Jingguo quickly raised his daggers in the air to defend against Shun Long''s attack, when the ''Purple Blossom staff'' suddenly shot forward.
This was the third of the six moves from the ''Staff of Obliteration'', a single thrust forward!
Shun Long''s right hand extended forward, using the staff like a spear, as it collided against the 2 white daggers.
Without having enough time to infuse his qi inside them, Hao Jingguo''s daggers couldn''t defend against the third move from the ''Staff of Obliteration'', as they were sent flying from his hands, while the ''Purple Blossom staff'' continued forward.
Thestyer of earth armor that had just been reformed on Hao Jingguo''s head was instantly crushed like a piece of dry wood, as the ''Purple Blossom staff'' hit the rank 3 Spirit realm expert''s head.
For the first time, Hao Jingguo felt fear, as the ''Purple Blossom staff'' hit his head, exploding it like a watermelon, as blood spurted through the air.
The headless corpse of the middle rank 3 Spirit realm expert then started falling towards the ground.
Shun Long panted heavily for a few breaths of time as he watched Hao Jingguo''s corpse falling from the sky, while less than 10 percent of his qi was now left in his body.
Then, looking around him, Shun Long saw Hao Jingguo''s subordinates that were stopped in mid-air still under the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', and waving the ''Purple Blossom staff'', he took care of them before his body descended on the ground.
Shun Long didn''t choose to spare Hao Jingguo''s subordinates.
After all, aste-stage Heaven grade experts, they weren''t innocent once they chose to follow Hao Jingguo.
From killing fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters, and killing entire families, to raping and piging viges and small cities, they all participated as they followed Hao Jingguo.
Although Shun Long didn''t consider himself to be a hero, he also had no reason to let these people live anyway, since they were his enemies.
Liu Mei had a disbelieving expression on her face, while her mind was still processing the scene that she just saw.
An expert practically at the same level as her father, along with his entire ''sect'', had lost when fighting against Shun Long.
It wasn''t against Little ck or the ck panther, but against Shun Long fighting by himself.
Then... did that mean that Shun Long was also strong enough to take on the entire ''Floating cloud sect'' by himself as well?
This thought seemed unbelievable to Liu Mei, and yet, it seemed to not be too far off from the truth.
After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Liu Mei left the forest and walked towards Shun Long who was sitting cross-legged on the ground to recover his qi.
When she arrived in front of Shun Long, Liu Mei lowered her head as she said in a slightly ashamed tone
''''Long-ge... It seems that my skeletons were unable to help you...''''
Once Liu Mei remembered the scene of her skeletons and her 3 undead knights, all being destroyed in the blink of an eye against Hao Jingguo''s subordinates, she couldn''t help feeling a wave of sadness filling her heart.
After all, even after bing a necromancer, she couldn''t help Shun Long in his fight.
Shun Long however shook his head in response, and with a smile on his face he stood up, as he gently patted Liu Mei''s head and said
''''There is no reason for you to feel sad. After all, it''s impossible for your peak rank 5 Heaven grade skeletons, to fight against 30te-stage Heaven grade cultivators by themselves.''''
Raising her head, Liu Mei''s beautiful eyes stared at Shun Long''s, as she nodded and mumbled
''''Mhm!''''
Shun Long smiled lightly when he saw the look in her eyes that was filled with determination, before he then summoned the ck panther from the ''Stone of Time''.
After collecting the spatial rings from Hao Jingguo''s and the rest''s dead bodies, Shun Long had gotten more than 600.000 low-grade spirit stones, before he and Liu Mei got on the ck panther''s back as they headed back to the ''Heaven''s Dome city''.
More than 1 month had passed since thepletion of Hao Jingguo''s mission, as Shun Long and Liu Mei returned back to the Heaven''s Dome city.
However,pared to the past, the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' today was even more lively, while even more people were gathered around the city gates.
Chapter 225 - 225 Zhao Lan
Chapter 225 - 225 Zhao Lan
In the past one month, Shun Long and Liu Mei had finished almost 10 missions from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' outside of the Heaven''s Dome city.
Most of them proved to be rtively easier missions, but there was one of them that was at the same level of difficulty as Hao Jingguo''s den.
During this time, Shun Long had already reached the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, and had also finished purifying all of his qi balls, while Liu Mei had also reached the peak of rank 8 in Heaven grade.
Liu Mei also noticed that as her cultivation was increasing, the cultivation of her undead creatures was rising along with her.
Her skeletons were all at the middle or rank 8 in Heaven grade, while the undead knights were at the peak of rank 8.
However, Liu Mei''s biggest surprise wasn''t the increase in her cultivation or the increase in her battle strength, but herprehension in the Dao of Death.
She noticed that the more cultivators her undead army killed, herprehension of the Dao of Death would rise ordingly.
Entering inside the Heaven''s Dome city on the ck panther''s back, Shun Long and Liu Mei noticed, that the atmosphere waspletely different.
People had crowded the southern entrance of the city, all of them eagerly staring at the city gates with eyes filled with excitement.
Although Shun Long was curious at what was going on, in the end, he ignored therge crowd, as he and Liu Mei soon appeared outside of the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
After putting on his rank 3 silver grade badge on his chest, Shun Long and Liu Mei then entered inside the majestic building.
As always, the lobby of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was filled with people who were either looking to purchase pills, or hire alchemists to refine some special pills for them.
Since non-alchemists weren''t allowed to enter the depths of the guild, Liu Mei waited with the ck panther in the guild''s lobby, while Shun Long walked deeper inside.
After walking through arge corridor, Shun Long once again saw the 6 ck-armored guards who were standing in front of the huge white door that he had passed through thest time.
The 6 Nascent Soul realm guards didn''t stop Shun Long, once they saw the 3-starred silver-colored badge on his chest, and retracting their pressure, they opened the 10m(33ft) tall white door behind them, allowing him to enter inside.
The moment that Shun Long entered inside the white door, he could feel half a dozen pairs of eyes that had suddenly focused on him, while the medicinal garden that spanned for more than 10 miles once again appeared in front of his eyes.
''''HAHAHA! Little brother Shun, wee!''''
Laughter resounded in the air, as a golden-robed middle-aged man with a square jaw quickly appeared in front of Shun Long.
Shun Long smiled and cupped his hands at the middle-aged man in front of him, as he said
''''Senior Kong Yan''''
Following Kong Yan, 5 other people in golden robes appeared around Shun Long, when the voice of an elderly man sounded in the air, as he asked
''''Wenling, is this the alchemist that you were talking about?''''
Looking at the source of the voice, Shun Long saw an old man in golden robes, with a cauldron-shaped badge that had 3 golden stars on it.
This old man who barely had any hair left on his head, stared at Shun Long with his deep brown eyes that had hints of interest and curiosity inside them.
At the same time that Shun Long''s gaze met this old man''s, Little ck''s voice sounded in his head, as the ck dragon said cautiously
''''Master, this person is strong! Just from the power of his soul sense, I can tell that it''s very likely, that he is already at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao King realm, or at least very close to reaching this level.
The elderly woman next to the old man nodded her head, and looking at Shun Long she said with a smile on her face
''''Elder brother Zhao, you are right. He is one of the young alchemists that I was talking about.
Little brother Shun, it''s been more than a month since you havee to the guild.
Let me introduce you.
This person is one of the two rank 3 gold grade alchemists of our ''Alchemists'' Guild'', senior Zhao Lan.''''
Zhao Lan nodded his head with what seemed to be a gentle smile on his face, as he stared at the young man in front of him.
But just like how Zhao Lan had heard about Shun Long, Jin Wenling and Kong Yan had also told Shun Long about the 2 strongest alchemists of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', and one of them was precisely Zhao Lan.
''''Little kid, I heard that Wenling looks very favorably upon you. Join us old men for a chat. After all, what we are discussing will certainly affect you as well.''''
Shun Long cupped his hands at the old man in front of him, as he followed him to the middle of the herb garden.
Sitting on one of the seats in front of therge wooden table, Shun Long saw Zhao Lan looking at him with a serious look on his face as he said
''''Little kid, what you are about to hear today is something that only the major powers of our Night star continent know of. You are only allowed to learn about this because Wenling said that you are a promising alchemist of our guild and that you have hopes of reaching the gold grade.
If it was another rank 3 silver grade alchemist, they wouldn''t even have the chance to sit with us, let alone learn what I am about to say.''''
Shun Long looked at the old man in front of him, who took a deep breath as he continued
''''In the past month, more and more young people from all over the Night star continent have beening to our Heaven''s Dome city, and they are alling for the same reason!
The Holy sect.''''
Chapter 226 - 226 The central region
Chapter 226 - 226 The central region
Shun Long had a confused look on his face when he heard the name ''Holy sect'', but Zhao Lan seemed as if he had already expected this, as he continued
''''It''s normal to have never heard about the Holy sect as a native of the Night star continent. That''s because the sect isn''t located in our continent to begin with.
It is actually one of the first-rate forces in the biggest region of our world, the central region!''''
Shun Long was stunned when he saw the passionate look in Zhao Lan''s eyes, that was full of yearning as he spoke about the Holy sect and the central region.
These were 2 names that he had never heard of before.
However, Shun Long also noticed that it wasn''t just Zhao Lan who had such a look in his eyes. The other gold grade alchemists around him had a simr look when they heard the old man''s words.
Seeing that Shun Long didn''t have a change in his expression when he heard about the central region, the old woman Jin Wenling smiled, and looking at Zhao Lan she said
''''Elder brother Zhao, little brother Shun probably doesn''t know anything about the world outside of our Night star continent. However, if he is lucky, then perhaps he can prove to be of help to our guild in the future as well.''''
Seeing the old man next to her nod his head, Jin Wenling had that same smile on her face, as she looked at Shun Long and said
''''Little brother Shun, right now we are in the Night star continent of the eastern region.
The eastern region covers a gigantic amount ofnd, while our Night star continent is actually only 1 of the 3 continents in it.
The other 2 are the Martial star continent and the Sun star continent, each of whom are as big as our Night star continent itself.
The 3 continents together make up more than 90 percent of the eastern region''snd.''''
After taking a deep breath, Jin Wenling continued with a serious look in her eyes
''''However, the truth is, that the eastern region is only a single part of our cultivation world in the end.
There is also the southern region that is split into 4 continents, the western region that is split into 2 continents, and the northern region that is split into 5 continents.
The western and the southern regions are said to be as big as our eastern region itself, while the northern region is evenrger.
And yet, all of the continents in the different regions, including our Night star continent, simply surround the biggest region that is standing proudly at the center of the world... the central region!
That is the ce where the strongest experts of the world gather and settle down, as well as the ce that governs all of the continents in the world, including our Night star continent!''''
Seeing the serious look on Jin Wenling''s face, Shun Long decided to ask her
''''Governs the continents?''''
Jin Wenling along with everyone else inside the room, including Zhao Lan, nodded their heads, as the elderly woman then spoke with a look that was filled with eagerness and veneration
''''Actually, it is said that even if youbined the eastern region, the southern region, the western region and the northern region together, the totalnd that they cover doesn''t even amount to 10 percent of thend that the central region upies.
This means that the central region by itself is almost 10 times bigger than the rest of the worldbined!
As for the strong powers of the central region, they indeed govern the continents around it, including our Night star continent.
Every single continent must have at least one Dao Emperor realm expert governing it and protecting it at the same time.
Otherwise, if there is no Dao Emperor realm expert governing a continent, other continents may start a war over resources ornd.
Of course, each of these Dao Emperor realm experts, usually belong to the strong powers of the central region, making the central region the true overlord of the world.
Even our ''Alchemists'' Guilds'' that have been spread throughout every single continent in the eastern region, were created and governed by the powerful Feng family of the central region.''''
After hearing Jin Wenling''s words, Shun Long seemed as if he had fallen in a trance, as he tried to sort all of the new knowledge that his mind had absorbed
''''Indeed, the stronger a power is, the more things you can learn from them!
There seem to be so many things going on behind the scenes!
Everyone considers the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to be a supreme power in the Night star continent and yet, Jin Wenling said that they were created and governed by a single family from the central region.
So the overlord of the world is the central region, where the supreme experts all gather!?''''
Shun Long seemed to have gathered his thoughts, and sending his spiritual strength inside the ''Stone of Time'', he then asked the ck dragon
''''Little ck, is the realm above the Dao King, the Dao Emperor realm?''''
The ck dragon nodded his head when he heard his master''s question, as he then sent a telepathic message to Shun Long
''''Right master. When someone exceeds the Dao King realm they be Dao Emperors!
ording to that old woman''s words, the Night star continent should have a Dao Emperor realm governing it, but the qi in this continent isn''t pure enough for Dao Emperor realm experts to be born. Aside from master who has the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', the highest realm of cultivation that someone should normally be able to reach in this continent, is the peak of rank 9 in the Dao King realm.''''
Shun Long felt shock at Little ck''s revtion, but he still nodded his head in response.
However, after thinking back to Jin Wenling''s previous words, he noticed that they still didn''t seem to have covered everything that he needed to know.
She hadn''t said anything about the Holy sect that was mentioned earlier, nor anything regarding the help that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' wanted from him.
Zhao Lan seemed to have understood what Shun Long was thinking, and with a serious look on his face he said
''''You don''t need to understand everything that Wenling said. All you need to do is know one thing.
Our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' will offer you a one in a lifetime chance to enter the Holy sect!''''
Chapter 227 - 227 Zhao Lans offer
Chapter 227 - 227 Zhao Lan''s offer
Everyone turned their eyes at Zhao Lan, who in turn, was still staring at Shun Long as he continued speaking
''''First, let me exin some things about the Holy sect. Then, whether or not you choose to grasp this chance will be up to you.
Of course, when I mentioned you entering the Holy sect, I didn''t mean you entering by yourself. After all, no matter how talented you think you are, in front of the geniuses of the Holy sect you are even less than an ant.''''
When he finished speaking, a curious expression shed through Zhao Lan''s eyes, as he noticed that he couldn''t verify Shun Long''s actual cultivation level, before his soul sense suddenly covered Shun Long''s body.
The moment that Little ck saw this happening, his eyes inside the ''Stone of Time'' were filled with fury, while a shocked expression had covered Zhao Lan''s face.
The gold grade alchemists around him turned to look at the old man in astonishment. They hadn''t seen such a shocked expression on his face for a long time, but Zhao Lan instead stared at Shun Long before he asked in a voice filled with curiosity and shock
''''Kid, why can''t I sense your cultivation?''''
The moment that the other alchemists heard this, everyone including Jin Wenling sent their soul senses to scan Shun Long''s body, but they all got the same result.
It seemed as if Shun Long was a mere mortal.
Everyone''s eyes turned to look at Shun Long, knowing that it was impossible for this to happen.
Even Jin Wenling seemed to have realized, that she had forgotten to ask Shun Long about his cultivation thest time he was here. However, unless someone was actually stronger than these people, he wouldn''t be able to hide his cultivation in front of them.
Additionally, none of these alchemists believed that Shun Long was actually stronger than Zhao Lan himself. Could Shun Long be a Dao Emperor realm expert? Impossible!
Of course, this was all thanks to the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Although it would be suspicious if Shun Long covered his cultivation, it would certainly be even more suspicious if they found out that he was simply a peak rank 9 Heaven grade cultivator.
After all, ording to what Shun Long knew, the minimum requirement for a rank 3 silver grade alchemist, was for their cultivation to have reached the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm!
Shun Long looked at the old man in front of him as he then answered
''''My cultivation technique is somewhat unique. Unless I fight or refine pills, my aura will stay retracted in my body. Otherwise, how could I hide myself, with just my rank 9 Spirit realm aura in front of so many seniors?''''
Zhao Lan had a look of realization on his face as he stared at Shun Long, but he didn''t ask anything further. Although they were rare, as a peak Dao King realm expert Zhao Lan knew that these cultivation techniques existed, and he himself had one inside his spatial ring.
His eyes then stared at Shun Long, and nodding his head he continued exining
''''Kid, this is a big opportunity for you! Even I and the other Dao Kings in the Night star continent had failed to enter the Holy sect when we went through the actual test all those years ago! Do you really think that I am slighting you when I say that you are even less than an ant in front of them?
Or do you actually believe that you are even stronger than the previous generations of the Night star continent?
It''s best for you to not waste this chance!
In the past 100.000 years, only 2 peerless geniuses from our continent have managed to pass through the Holy sect''s test.
It is actually even harder for alchemists like us, who dedicate ourselves to pill refinement, as ourbat power is barely as strong as an average cultivator''s at the same level.
Therefore, as an alchemist, you need to build strong connections, so that those who are indebted to you will help you in the future.
In the end, no one is willing to cut off their connections with a strong alchemist, since everyone needs to consume pills at some point, so having good connections with alchemists is always vital.
Thus, our guild is willing to help you.
We will teach you everything we can and will do our best to help you be a Nascent soul realm cultivator within the next 3 years, before the test of the Holy sect starts.
If you can enter the Nascent soul realm within the next 3 years, and participate in the test of the Holy sect, then if you manage to attract the attention of one of the real geniuses and be their follower, it will be beneficial to our guild as well as you.
At that moment, all you will have to do is to not be ungrateful, and remember who helped you enter the Nascent soul realm. After all, if one of our alchemists bes a follower of a genius who enters the Holy sect, the Feng family will definitely reward our branch. This way, both you and the guild will win.''''
Little ck immediately snorted when he heard this, while a condescending and angry look had filled his face at the same time
''''They want master to be someone''s follower? What a joke! In this universe, people are unqualified to be master''s followers themselves!''''
Shun Long didn''t pay attention to the angry ck dragon who was fuming inside the ''Stone of Time'', but his mind had immediately rejected the suggestion of bing someone else''s follower as well.
It was a feeling that came directly from his soul, that inherently rejected this without a second thought! Additionally, if he followed someone as an alchemist, wouldn''t that make him nothing more than a pill ve?
Besides, even if he epted the offer, what could the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' teach him in terms of actual alchemy or cultivation?
In theoretical knowledge that involved alchemy, Shun Long was confident enough to teach things to even Zhao Lan himself.
As for cultivation, even if there was something that Shun Long didn''t know, Little ck himself had more than enough knowledge to help him.
Seeing that Shun Long was staying silent, Jin Wenling took his silence as indecisiveness.
Then, with a smile on her face, she spoke in a gentle and amiable tone
''''Little brother Shun, don''t think that it is a bad thing to be someone else''s follower. I can tell you that, if a talented genius really epts you as his alchemist follower, it will open a brand new world for you!''''
Zhao Lan however snorted after seeing that Shun Long hadn''t immediately epted his offer, before he said in an angry tone,
''''Of course, our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' will not force you to do anything, and you are not the only person whom we will offer this chance to either. There are 2 other young and talented alchemists of our guild as well, and I am certain that they will not be as indecisive when the timees.
You can take some time to think about it before you give me your answer. Whether or not you choose to grasp this chance will be up to you.''''
Chapter 228 - 228 The Alchemists Guilds pressure
Chapter 228 - 228 The Alchemists'' Guild''s pressure
Nodding his head, Shun Long cupped his hands before he stood up.
Originally, he hade to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to collect the spirit stones from his pills, and see whether or not the rank 4 ''White spirit lotus'' that Jin Wenling had told him about had arrived.
Coincidentally, meeting with Zhao Lan today, he also ended up learning about the Holy sect and the ''Alchemists'' Guild''s'' offer, but in his subconscious, Shun Long wouldn''t ept to be someone else''s follower.
Besides, with the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of Time'', he didn''t think of himself as being inferior to anyone else.
Seeing Shun Long standing up, Zhao Lan nodded his head before he shot a stealthy nce at Jin Wenling.
The old woman nodded her head at Zhao Lan, before she looked at Shun Long and smiled gently as she said
''''Little brother Shun, let this old woman apany you.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t decline, as he then followed Jin Wenling out of the herb garden, back towards the main lobby where the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' sold its pills.
Just like thest time, Shun Long noticed that this ce was just as crowded as before, as people dressed in many different attires had formed long lines in front of the counters, queuing up to purchase pills.
Jin Wenling''s ignored the queuing crowd, as she directly led Shun Long towards thergest counter where three rank 3 bronze grade alchemists were in charge of.
The moment that the young rank 3 bronze grade alchemists who were sitting behind the counter saw Jin Wenling, they hurriedly stood up and bowed as they greeted her hurriedly
''''Grand Elder!''''
Jin Wenling nodded her head at the 3 young men, before her old, wrinkled hand reached at a hidden spot behind the counter, where she grabbed a ck spatial ring and sent her spirit sense into it.
A pure white lotus suddenly appeared in her hand, with white droplets of dew that were dancing on its petals.
Seeing the white lotus in Jin Wenling''s hands, Shun Long immediately recognized it as the ''White spirit lotus''!
This was one of the 2 main ingredients that he was missing to refine the rank 4 ''Internal reconstruction pill''.
Jin Wenling then handed the white lotus to Shun Long as she said with a smile on her face
''''Little brother Shun, this is the rank 4 ''White spirit lotus'' that you wanted.
With the 30 percent discount that you have by being a rank 3 silver grade alchemist, it will cost you 90.000 low-grade spirit stones.''''
Shun Long received the white lotus, and without minding the high price, he ced it inside the herb garden in the ''Stone of Time'' without any hesitation.
Although the price of most rank 4 medicinal herbs usually didn''t exceed the 50.000 low-grade spirit stones, there were some rare herbs like the ''White spirit lotus'' whose price could go much higher than expected.
Jin Wenling had that same amiable smile as she saw Shun Long taking the ''White spirit lotus'', before she waved her hand and another spatial ring appeared on it.
Handing the spatial ring at Shun Long, the old woman then said
''''Little brother Shun, here are 2 million and 160.000 low-grade spirit stones from the pills that little brother sold thest time.
Our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' sold the pills for 2 million and 500.000 low-grade spirit stones. After deducting the 10 percent fee that the guild takes from the pills'' sales along with the 90.000 low-grade spirit stones for the rank 4 ''White spirit lotus'' that you needed, this was the remaining amount.''''
Shun Long nodded his head with a calm expression on his face, as he epted the spatial ring before and sent his spiritual strength inside it.
2 million and 160.000 low-grade spirit stones were stacked on top of each other, piling up a small mountain.
''''Being an alchemist is indeed the best way to earn spirit stones.''''
Shun Long thought to himself, as he ced the 2 million spirit stones inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
After advancing to the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade and purifying his 81 qi balls inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long had already spent nearly 5 million low-grade spirit stones.
Although he had already acquired almost 45 million from Hao Ping and Xue Zhn''s spatial rings, he knew that the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' would only get more demanding in the future, and the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was the best ce to earn spirit stones right now.
The rank 3 bronze grade alchemists next to Jin Wenling, felt their feet shaking when they heard the heaven-shaking amount of spirit stones that the man in front of them had earned.
''''What kind of pills did he sell to get so many spirit stones?!''''
Of course, seeing the 3-star silver grade badge on Shun Long''s chest, they could only felt envy inside their hearts.
After all, although 2 million spirit stones wasn''t too much to the current Shun Long, even to a rank 1 silver grade alchemist it would be an enormous amount, let alone to rank 3 bronze grade alchemists.
Jin Wenling looked at Shun Long with a curious look in her eyes as she said
''''I have to say little brother Shun, that your pills really made an impact. Almost all of them were sold out on the first day, and many people have been asking for them for the past month. Are you willing to sell some more of them, or perhaps sell the alchemy recipes to our guild directly? If you are in a need of spirit stones, our guild can definitely help you cover your expenses.
You should also seriously think, over elder brother Zhao''s offer. There can only be good things for you if you choose to be nurtured by our guild. Even 10 million spirit stones wouldn''t be a problem to ask for by then.''''
Jin Wenling then lowered her voice as she whispered to Shun Long with a crafty look in her eyes
''''Additionally, there will be many geniuses who areing to our ''Heaven''s Dome city''. If you go to the House of Rankings, you can get to know some of them and build good rtionsh.i.p.s.''''
Jin Wenling looked at Shun Long with an eager look, but to her disappointment, Shun Long didn''t give her the answer she wanted.
After cing 20 more bottles of pills for sale, Shun Long then bade farewell to Jin Wenling, as he moved to the entrance lobby where Liu Mei was waiting for him, with the ck panther next to her.
Seeing the white-veiled young woman next to the ck panther, a small smile finally appeared on Shun Long''s face.
The truth was, that the pressure from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' that Shun Long felt was akin to a mountain.
Even though it was said that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was different from the other powers in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'', in the end, they still wanted to nurture their own alchemists.
Although there didn''t seem to be any problems right now, Shun Long understood, that Zhao Lan still wanted him to ept his offer.,
Little ck who seemed to have sensed his master''s emotions, had a serious look on his face as he then said
''''Master, there is no reason to worry about anything. Even if I can''t beat a peak rank 9 Dao King just yet, I am still confident in running away!
Hmph, let alone entering a so-called ''Holy sect'', even the immortal sects had trembled in front of master and me in the past!
Bing someone else''s follower? What a joke!''''
Shun Long smiled lightly when he heard Little ck''s words, while in his mind, he had already decided to enter seclusion and breakthrough to the Spirit realm after returning back to the inn.
With thebat experience that he and Liu Mei had gotten in the past month, the only things that Shun Longcked was to temper his spirit andprehend the Dao of Time.
Liu Mei stared deeply at Shun Long''s eyes as she asked in a concerned tone
''''Long-ge, are you alright?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long held Liu Mei''s hand as he replied smilingly
''''Mei''er, let''s go.''''
Liu Mei didn''t ask anything else, as she sat behind Shun Long on the ck panther''s back and ced her hands on Shun Long''s waist, before the ck panther shot towards the western part of the city.
At the same time, inside the herb garden, Zhao Lan and the other gold grade alchemists looked at Jin Wenling who had just returned.
With a light smile on his face, Zhao Lan looked at the elderly woman and asked
''''Wenling, did that kid agree?''''
Chapter 229 - 229 Entering seclusion
Chapter 229 - 229 Entering seclusion
The old woman, Jin Wenling, however, shook her head as she looked at Zhao Lan, and with a serious look she said
''''Elder brother, I think that he needs more time to think and understand what''s going on. Hehe, I also suggested that he should go and have a look at the House or Rankings and meet new people in that ce.
With all the geniuses that are entering the city, I am sure that he will understand the difference between himself and the true prodigies of the continent, and won''t object to be someone else''s follower by then.''''
Nodding his head Zhao Lan looked at Jin Wenling and smiled as he said
''''Haha, you did well Wenling!
After all, it''s normal for alchemists to be prideful, and reject to follow someone else. Once he understands the difference between himself and the real prodigies, he will have no choice but to agree in the end!''''
Seeing how happy Zhao Lan was, one of the gold grade alchemists next to him couldn''t help asking, in a voice that was filled with curiosity
''''Elder brother Zhao,?is that kid really so important, for you to be so happy? After all, don''t we still have Han Nianzu and Cai Wenqian? Don''t tell me that he is at the same level as the 2 of them!?''''
Zhao Lan shook his head when he heard this question, and with a smile on his face, he looked at the old man next to him as he said
''''Ah, Gao Changming, you don''t understand... Although Nianzu and Wenqian can be considered prodigies among rank 3 silver grade alchemists, they still aren''t on the same level as that brat yet.''''
As he finished speaking, Zhao Lan took out a bottle of pills from his spatial ring and handed it to the old man named Gao Changming.
Gao Changming saw that there were 6 pills inside the pill bottle, and the moment that he uncorked the bottle''s cap, a burst of medicinal fragrance assaulted his nose, as the old man eximed in satisfaction
''''Top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills''!''''
Gao Changming nodded his head once he actually saw the pills, and turning his head at Zhao Lan he asked
''''Elder brother Zhao, are these the pills that that kid has refined? Although I admit that it''s impressive for a rank 3 silver grade alchemist to refine top-grade rank 4 pills, Nianzu can also do the same.''''
Zhao Lan however shook his head as he looked at the old man in front of him, and taking a small dagger, the rank 3 gold grade alchemist personally shaved off a small part of the pill, before he handed it to Gao Changming.
Curious, Gao Changming took the dagger from Zhao Lan''s hands, and with his fingers, he touched the pill powder on the dagger before he ced it on his tongue.
Zhao Lan smiled as he saw Gao Changming''s expression changing, while everyone else around him aside from Jin Wenling was staring at him with wide eyes.
The middle-aged man, Kong Yan, couldn''t hold his curiosity any longer once he saw the shocked expression on Gao Changming''s face as he asked
''''Senior Gao, what is it?''''
Of course, neither Kong Yan nor anyone else in the room were worried for Gao Changming.
Since Zhao Lan had given him the pill, it was only natural that there was nothing wrong with it.
It took Gao Changming almost 10 breaths of time, until he recovered from his spaced out expression, while his eyes stared at the pill bottle in his hands with excitement.
Zhao Lan who was looking at him with a smile on his face, then asked
''''Now do you understand? This brat''s ''Sun-healing pills'' are more than 50 percent more effective than any other top-grade rank 4 healing pill. Their quality is even on par with some middle-grade rank 5 healing pills!
Do you really think that I would be that interested in him for no reason? It''s not just the pill recipe that is unique, it is the way that the essence of the medicinal herbs has blended along with the pills during the actual refinement process that is giving them such effects.''''
Nobody dared to refute Zhao Lan''s words since he was the most experienced alchemist inside the room.
Zhao Lan smiled lightly as he continued
''''Which is why I said that Nianzu and Wenqian aren''t on this brat''s level yet.
With 3 talented young alchemists, our ''Alchemists'' Guild'' is sure to prosper. Additionally, if even one of them manages to be a follower, of a genius who enters the ''Holy sect''...''''
At the same time that this discussion was taking ce in the ''Alchemists'' Guild''s'' garden, Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived back at their courtyard in the inn.
After paying the inn-keeper for 3 months in advance, Shun Long and Liu Mei entered their room while the ck panther quickly fell asleep in the courtyard outside.
After all, although sleep wasn''t necessary for cultivators or magic beasts, it could still help to alleviate stress, and rest one''s mind.
Inside their room, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei who seemed to be just a step away from reaching the rank 9 in Heaven grade, and handed her a bottle filled with rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'', before he said with a serious look on his face
''''Mei''er, once you break through to the early rank 9 in Heaven grade, make sure to consume these pills for as long as your soul allows you to.
They will help you strengthen your spirit before breaking through to the Spirit realm, ording to your current soul capacity.''''
Shun Long had already exined the importance of spirit sense to Liu Mei, and after seeing that she had epted the pills, he nodded his head as he entered the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
Little ck observed Shun Long curiously, who spent the next 8 days refining the rank 4 ''Golden Jade spirit trees'', into more than 300 top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
Less than a day had passed for Liu Mei however, when Shun Long returned to the room.
Since it was already night, Liu Mei had already started to circte the ''Moonlight Sigil'', as the moonlight was being guided towards her body.
After leaving 4 more bottles filled with top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' next to her, Shun Long closed his eyes, as he once again imagined himself entering the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
His body then disappeared from the room, as he once again appeared in the empty space surrounded by fog.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Shun Long held a pill bottle in his hand, before he consumed a top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pill''.
Chapter 230 - 230 Immense increase in spiritual strength
Chapter 230 - 230 Immense increase in spiritual strength
As soon as the ''Spirit enhancing pill'' entered Shun Long''s mouth, it instantly dissolved into a scorching gold liquid.
Shun Long could feel an enormous amount of energy filling his body, as his spiritual strength erupted from his spiritual space like a hungry beast, before it started to absorb the pill''s energy inside his body.
His spiritual strength that would usually grow slowly only when he advanced in his cultivation, was now growing at an rming speed, as Shun Long absorbed the endless amounts of energy that wasing from the top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pill''.
Drop after drop of golden liquid was filling his spiritual space, that had now turned like a vortex.
It took more than 4 hours for Shun Long topletely absorb the energy inside the ''Spirit enhancing pill'', while his spiritual strength had increased noticeably.
Now, if Shun Long had to refine ''Spirit enhancing pills'' once again, he was certain that he wouldn''t run out of spiritual strength like he did in the past, and his spiritual strength would be able to support him for even longer.
Feeling the increase in his spiritual strength, an excited expression appeared on Shun Long''s face, as he then mumbled to himself
''''Top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' are truly the best way to enhance my spiritual strength.''''
Little ck nodded his head when he heard Shun Long''s words, before he said
''''Of course, master!
Things that the cultivators in this Night star continent actually consider extravagant, like using rare pills to increase your spiritual strength before you break through to the Spirit realm, are actually a necessity in other ces.''''
While people in this continent will be considered lucky if they can consume a single pill like master''s high-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills'' before they break through to the Spirit realm, core disciples of powerful sects, have an almost unlimited supply of simr pills.
Instead, they don''t just consume 1 or 2 of these pills, but they consume as many as they can before their soul and their spiritual strength can''t grow any longer, and they eventually attempt their breakthrough to the Spirit realm!
The stronger the soul and the spiritual strength before breaking through to the Spirit realm, the stronger their spirit sense will be after their breakthrough as well.''''
Shun Long had a shocked look in his eyes when he realized the difference between the Night star continent and the ces that Little ck mentioned, but after thinking about it for a while, it made sense
''''Indeed, if there are more resources in a ce, then the strength of the cultivators in that ce will also grow.''''
Little ck nodded his head once he heard Shun Long''s words, as he continued
''''So I think it''s best for master to grow your spiritual strength and your soul as much as possible, before you break through to the Spirit realm.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response, as he once again sat down cross-legged and continued absorbing the ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
A day soon passed like this and Shun Long had finished absorbing 5 top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
Once he finished absorbing the pills, he didn''t continue consuming more of them, but instead, he closed his eyes as he tried to once againprehend the Dao of Time.
After all, not only did Shun Long need, to allow his soul to get used to the increase in his spiritual strength, but he also needed toprehend the Dao of Time even further, in order to be able to advance to the Spirit realm.
Time quickly passed like this, and soon, more than 10 days had passed inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long had already absorbed nearly 30 top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills'', while his spiritual strength had grown much stronger than before.
Days continued to pass while the ''Spirit enhancing pills'' inside Shun Long''s pill bottles were bing fewer and fewer.
Soon, 3 months had passed by, before Shun Long finally run out of ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
In these 3 months, he had absorbed more than 280 pills, while his spiritual strength had grown at an incredible rate.
By now, his spiritual strength had long since exceeded what a normal Heaven grade cultivator could achieve, and yet, Shun Long could still feel, that his spiritual strength hadn''t reached its limits.
Additionally, every time that he absorbed a ''Spirit enhancing pill'', Shun Long could feel his soul bing even stronger.
And yet, in these 3 months, he had almost no progress inprehending the Dao of Time further.
Shun Long then spent the next 5 days enhancing the flow of time in his herb garden, in order to grow his ''Golden Jade spirit trees'', before he refined them all into top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'', replenishing his supply of pills.
Both Shun Long and Little ck were shocked once they noticed how much Shun Long''s spiritual strength had actually advanced.
In the past, Shun Long would need to rest for a few hours once he finished refining a batch of ''Spirit enhancing pills'', but now, he managed to refine 3 alchemy furnaces filled with top-grade pills, and his spiritual strength still wasn''t depleted yet.
Once he finished refining the pills, Shun Long didn''t continue absorbing them.
Instead, he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
His body then appeared back in his and Liu Mei''s room.
Although more than 3 months had passed for Shun Long inside the ''Stone of Time'', barely 10 days had passed for Liu Mei inside the inn room.
Liu Mei was sitting cross-legged inside the room, as she circted the ''Moonlight Sigil''.
Although only 10 days had passed for Liu Mei, Shun Long noticed that her cultivation had already reached the early rank 9 in Heaven grade.
However, this wasn''t surprising.
After all, Liu Mei''s cultivation was already at the peak of rank 8 in Heaven grade before they entered seclusion, and after cultivating for 10 days using middle-grade spirit stones, it was natural for her to have reached the early rank 9 in Heaven grade.
After all, not everyone was a monster like Shun Long, who required immense amounts of qi in order to advance in his cultivation.
Shun Long smiled at Liu Mei who seemed to have opened her eyes the moment that he had returned back to the room.
After having a round of dual cultivation together, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long with a worried expression on her face as she asked
''''Long-ge, are you okay?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he understood Liu Mei''s worries, and patting her head gently, he said
''''Don''t worry, I''m nning to attempt by breakthrough to the Spirit realm, but I still need toprehend my Dao and enhance my spiritual strength.''''
Then, taking out 5 more bottles filled with top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' from the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long exined their importance to Liu Mei.
After all, after his discussion with Little ck, Shun Long was even more determined to advance his spiritual strength to the peak, before he broke through to the Spirit realm.
Seeing Liu Mei nod her head and ept the pills, Shun Long stayed with her for one more day, before he returned back to the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
This time, he was nning to stay in this ce until he advanced to the Spirit realm.
Chapter 231 - 231 Comprehending the Dao
Chapter 231 - 231 Comprehending the Dao
When he saw Shun Long returning back inside the foggy ce, Little ck looked at his master with a serious look as he said
''''Master, although that little girl will have no issue advancing to the Spirit realm, based on the thick aura of death around her body, you must still be prepared for her to kill many people in the future.
After all, necromancers always walk near death, in order toprehend the Dao of Death even further.
Which is why the Dao of Death is one of the most cruel, and yet, one of the most terrifying Daos at the same time.''''
Shun Long nodded his head once he heard Little ck''s words, since this was something that he had already understood by himself as well.
Although the thick aura of death around Liu Mei was only apparent when she cultivated or when she summoned her undead army, Shun Long had still noticed it growing thicker, every time that Liu Mei''s skeletons or her undead knights killed someone.
Additionally, Shun Long also knew that this was still something that Liu Mei had to do if she wanted to be a necromancer in the future.
After sitting cross-legged on the ground, Shun Long consumed another top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pill'', as he continued to increase the power of his soul and his spiritual strength.
Although the increase in his soul was the most minimal, Shun Long also knew, that the soul was something that couldn''t actually be tempered through normal means.
Medicinal ingredients and pills that could temper the soul, were much harder to find than things like the ''Golden Jade spirit tree'' after all.
Shun Long continued to consume the ''Spirit enhancing pills'' during the day, while he would try toprehend the Dao of Time every second day as well, as time continued to pass?like this.
His rate of absorption also increased, from 5 pills a day to 6, and soon, Shun Long could already refine 8 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' in one day.
1 month...
2 months...
3 months...
Soon, half a year had passed for Shun Long inside the ''Stone of Time'', when a popping sound was suddenly heard from his spiritual space.
It seemed as if a small explosion had urred, as Shun Long''s spiritual space started to slowly expand.
1 hourter, Shun Long could clearly feel that his spiritual space was now even bigger than before.
During the past half a year that he was in seclusion, both his soul and his spiritual strength had reached the absolute limits of the Heaven grade, while even his spiritual space seemed to have expanded by more than one-third of its original size.
Shun Long had already consumed more than 1000 top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' during this time.
And yet, although his spiritual strength and soul had reached their limits, and Shun Long was now just a step away from attempting his breakthrough to the Spirit realm, he still had a feeling of frustration in his heart.
After all, during this half year, no matter what he did, he was unable to furtherprehend the Dao of Time.
It was almost like the further that he tried to tread down on this path, the further away from his grasp the essence of time seemed to go.
It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he was just a step away from touching the Dao of Time, but in the end, it was still an ethereal feeling.
Sensing his master''s emotions, Little ck looked at Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, as he said
''''Master, you need to be patient. No matter what, there are certain Daos that may take hundreds if not thousands of years toprehend them. Of course, there are also ways to hasten theprehension of a Dao using some special treasures, but... I have never even heard anything about such treasures regarding the Dao of Time itself!
It will all be up to master in the end.''''
Shun Long nodded his head once he heard Little ck''s words, before he finally cleared his mind and mumbled to himself
''''Indeed, so what if I spend a few months or even a few years toprehend the Dao. In the end, it is nothing but time...''''
A few hourster, Little ck''s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Shun Long, who seemed to have fallen into a state of enlightenment.
At the same time, in the House of Rankings in the Heaven''s Dome city, a huge crowd of people seemed to have gathered inside it as they stared at arge screen of light.
This was the same screen of light that Shun Long and Liu Mei had seen the third princess of the Dark elf race, Yi Mingzhu, fight against the person who was ranked 147th in the rankings, Su Shanyuan.
In the screen of light, a handsome ck-haired young man who was holding a snow-white sword on his hands and was dressed in white robes, stood opposite to a blue-robed man with brown hair and eyes, who was holding arge crimson saber with his right hand.
The ck-haired man dressed in white had a pointy jaw and sharp eyebrows, while his deep blue eyes were staring at the brown-haired young man in front of him with a serious look.
His white robes fluttered with the wind, while the serious look on his face made the hearts of the young maidens in the House of Rankings skip a few beatings.
Instead, the brown-haired man in blue robes who was standing opposite to him had a rxed look on his face, while he was resting his huge saber on his right shoulder.
The people in the crowd exploded in discussions when they looked at the 2 young men who were about to face each other, bringing more and more people to the scene.
A young man looking less than 16 years old, looked at a young woman next to him, whose eyes were glued on the white-robed man on the screen, and with a curious tone he asked
''''Big sis, who are these 2 people? Why is there such a huge crowd here today?''''
A young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties overheard the question, and taking a step forward he patted the young man''s shoulder as he said
''''Hey little brat, do you want to know who these 2 people are? Let me tell you then!
The blue-robed man with the crimson saber on his shoulder, is the person who is ranked 5th in our House of Rankings, senior Long Hong!''''
The young man''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he heard this, before he seriously stared at the brown-haired man in the light screen in front of him.
Then, his eyes involuntarily fell on the white-robed man who was standing opposite to him, and with an ashamed expression he turned his head to look at the man next to him as he asked
''''Then, who is that person who is his opponent?''''
The man in his mid-twenties smiled when he heard this question, and looking at the white-robed young man on the screen, he answered in a serious tone
''''It''s the young master of the White City and the son of one of the most powerful Dao Kings... the young white lord!''''
Chapter 232 - 232 A peak fight in the rankings
Chapter 232 - 232 A peak fight in the rankings
The moment that the young man heard the words ''young white lord'', his eyes widened even further, as he stared at the white-robed man with a look of reverence, astonishment and awe.
Looking at the man next to him, the young man couldn''t help stammering as he asked in a disbelieving expression
''''Th-is... is the young white lord?''''
There was almost no one in the Night star continent who hadn''t heard of the name young white lord.
Not only was he the son of a peak expert in the continent, but he was also a supreme genius, as well as an extremely handsome young man.
His father, the white lord, who was respected and feared by countless Dao Kings, had admitted that his son had even more potential than himself.
Ever since his son was young, the white lord had noticed his talent for cultivation, and had offered him the best resources for cultivation.
Middle-grade spirit stones, gold-grade weapons and armor, and even Dao King level protectors to follow him when he left the White city.
People in the Night star continent didn''t have a doubt, that in the future, the young white lord would certainly be a peak level Dao King.
The man in his mid-twenties nodded his head when he heard the question of the young man next to him, while a look of respect had appeared in his eyes as he stared at the 2 men on the screen of light.
Then, with a serious tone, he said
''''Although the young white lord is a genius, he is doomed to lose against senior Long Hong today.''''
The woman next to the young man immediately turned her head from the light screen when she heard this, and looking at the man who had approached her brother, she asked in a dissatisfied tone
''''How do you know that the young white lord will lose?''''
The woman hadn''t kept her voice down, drawing the attention of the people around them, as all of them now stared at the young man in his mid-twenties.
The crowd immediately started throwing insults and mockingments at the man in his mid twenties, the moment that they heard the young woman''s words.
The man however didn''t seem to cower in front of the crowd, and with a proud voice, he stared at the light screen as he said
''''I am not saying that the young white lord will lose because I dislike him. Although many of you don''t know it, senior Long Hong has already reached the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent soul stage!
Meanwhile, I observed the young white lord''s battles yesterday, and the truth is, that although he is a supreme genius with the sword, he has only reached the early rank 1 in the Nascent soul stage.
Do you people really think that he can beat senior Long Hong? Senior Long Hong is one of the strongest saber users in our entire Heaven''s Dome city! If they were on the same level, then perhaps the young white lord could win, but now?''''
As soon as the crowd around him heard the man''s words, everyone closed their mouths, as they quickly turned their eyes to the screen of light.
Indeed, although many of them had heard that the young white lord hade to the House of Rankings yesterday, only the people who were inside the House of Rankings had seen that he had participated in some battles.
Inside the screen of light, the brown-haired Long Hong looked at the young man in front of him, and with a smile on his face he said
''''The famous young white lord, Bai Longtian... it''s good to meet you here. People are always saying how you are unrivaled with the sword within the same realm, but very few can defeat me within the same realm as well.
Although my cultivation is higher than yours, I hope that you won''t actually use it as an excuse once you lose.
After all, you are the one who initiated this challenge in the first ce.''''
The ck-haired Bai Longtian looked at Long Hong who had a confident smile on his face, and surprisingly, he nodded his head as he replied seriously
''''Don''t worry senior Long, I am definitely not a person who makes excuses like that.
As long as you can win, then of course I will ept it.''''
Long Hong''s expression turned ugly when he heard this.
Originally, he was nning to anger Bai Longtian before he defeated him, but now, he was the one who looked petty.
Without another word, the brown-haired man held his crimson saber with both hands, and infusing his qi inside it, wisps of fire started appearing in the air around him.
Suddenly, the crimson saber was set aze, as a scorching fire had appeared on its surface.
Long Hong kicked the ground, and he almost instantly disappeared from the ce he was standing on, quickly appearing in front of Bai Longtian, as he swung his saber towards his chest.
The crowd frowned when they saw Long Hong''s sneak attack, but Bai Longtian calmly swung his sword in response, meeting with the iing saber head-on.
Long Hong''s eyes were wide open when he saw that Bai Longtian was merely forced a step back, after parrying his full-powered saber sh while holding his white sword with just a single hand.
And yet, there was still a smirk on Long Hong''s face when he saw his crimson saber colliding with Bai Longtian''s white sword.
The scorching mes from the saber quickly engulfed the white saber in the blink of an eye, as they moved towards Bai Longtian''s body.
However, a shocked look soon reced Long Hong''s smirk.
The moment that his mes were about to reach Bai Longtian''s hand at the hilt of the sword, a powerful white light appeared from the young white lord''s hand, as it quickly extinguished the mes.
The mes were quickly purified as soon as they met the white light, while Bai Longtian simply smiled as he saw Long Hong stepping backwards.
Before Long Hong could even stabilize his footing, he saw Bai Longtian in front of him suddenly turning into a beam of light, before he disappeared on the spot.
The crowd watching from the main lobby of the House of Rankings immediately exploded in excitement, as people instantly understood what was going on
''''The Dao of Light!''''
''''The young white lord hasprehended the Dao of Light?!''''
At the same time, inside the screen of light, Bai Longtian appeared behind Long Hong, as he swung his white sword towards the back of his neck.
Long Hong snorted as he turned around and parried Bai Longtian''s attack, but surprisingly, Bai Longtian''s moves were much faster than Long Hong''s.
Using the Dao of Light, Bai Longtian''s hand moved at extreme speed, as his sword left a cut on the back of Long Hong''s neck. The peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert hurriedly parried the white sword near his neck with his crimson saber, as he looked at the young man in front of him with a horrified look in his eyes.
Everyone inside the House of Rankings were left speechless, while Bai Longtian looked at the brown-haired man in front of him, and with a calm smile on his face he said
''''Senior Long, I win.''''
Long Hong wanted to object, but his hand involuntarily touched the back of his neck, where fresh blood was still dripping on the ground.
Chapter 233 - 233 The Heavens Dome city heating up
Chapter 233 - 233 The Heaven''s Dome city heating up
After feeling the fresh blood on his fingers, a horrifying thought shed through Long Hong''s mind
''''If his sword had cut just a little bit deeper, then wouldn''t I...?''''
Shivers run through the peak rank 1 Nascent soul stage expert''s mind, as he looked at Bai Longtian''s calm smile, before he sighed and nodded his head.
Bai Longtian had that same smile on his face, as he slightly bowed and cupped his hands at Long Hong, before he said
''''Thank you for the fight senior Long.''''
Long Hong snorted, but he didn''t reply to the man in front of him.
After all, as a peak rank 1 Nascent soul stage expert, he had lost when fighting against an early rank 1 Nascent soul stage cultivator, who hadn''t even used a single martial skill during their fight.
The crowd inside the House of Rankings immediately exploded in excitement.
''''The young white lord won in a single move!''''
''''Of course he did! Even against the person ranked 5th in the Heaven''s Dome city, the young white lord wouldn''t lose. With all those strong people entering the city, I don''t even think that Long Hong will manage to stay in the top 20, let alone the top 10!''''
The moment that people heard these discussions, arge crowd turned to look towards the man who had said that the young white lord would lose for sure.
However, the man seemed to have already fled the scene, not waiting to find out the crowd''s reaction.
After the battle ended, Long Hong was the first one toe out from the Ranking gate.
Although no one mocked him, and people even looked at him with respect, he still had a determined look in his eyes as he walked forward.
Although he hadn''t expected to lose against Bai Longtian today, he knew, that with so many geniuses entering the Heaven''s Dome city, keeping his ce in the top 10 would be nearly a dream for him soon, but this was also the best ce for him to be stronger as well!
With so many geniuses to fight against, he was certain that his saber arts would rise, and once he was stronger, he could challenge Bai Longtian again, and perhaps... even the people who were even higher in the rankings.
Seeing the brown-robed man who was holding his crimson saber leaving the House of Rankings, nobody made a sound.,
However, the moment that Long Hong left and Bai Longtian appeared from the Ranking gate, the crowd no longer held back its excitement.
People were quickly leaving the House of Rankings at the same time in droves, as the news of the young white lord bing the 5th ranked person in the rankings started to spread throughout the Heaven''s Dome city like wildfire.
Inside a majestic golden building, at the headquarters of the ''Golden Exchange firm'', a young man with blue hair was sitting on a white couch, holding 2 enchanting women in his arms, fondling their b.r.e.a.s.ts and kissing them at the same time.
The 2 women were almost n.a.k.e.d, with only a cloth of undergarment half-covering their already exposed lower bodies, while their m.o.a.ns had filled the room.
Suddenly, knocks appeared on the door as a hurried voice sounded outside
''''Young master! I have important news!''''
The blue-haired man nodded his head, and without a change in his expression he said
''''Come in!''''
The 2 women next to him felt embarrassed with their chests exposed out in the open, but the young man didn''t seem to mind, as he continued his actions, even when he had called for the person outside toe in.
The door of the luxurious room then opened, as a young man with short hair and arge forehead entered the room.
The moment that he raised his head to look at the blue-haired young man however, the young man''s eyes were suddenly focused on the 2 pairs of pink pearls on the 2 women''s chests.
The man''s feet trembled for a second, and he even swallowed audibly, when the blue-haired man''s voice once again sounded in his ears
''''Xiao Tong, what did you interrupt me for?''''
The young man quickly came back to his senses when he heard the blue-haired man''s words, and with a serious look on his face he said
''''Right! Young master, the young white lord has defeated Long Hong in the House of Rankings. This news has started to spread throughout the Heaven''s Dome city already. The young white lord has be the 5th ranked person in the House''s rankings!''''
The blue-haired man nodded his head and smiled when he heard this. To him, it wasn''t actually surprising to hear that the young white lord had defeated Long Hong.
As for the ''Golden Exchange firm'', since they had their own intelligencework and owned arge part of the House of Rankings, he was actually among the first people to get this news.
The news continued to spread like fire throughout the Heaven''s Dome city, and less than 20 minutester, it had already reached the Shengtian dynasty and the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
Inside the ''Mercenaries'' Association''s; headquarters, Su Shanyuan was sparring with another middle rank 1 realm expert in the center of arge arena, while a young man in white robes seemed to be observing their fight without much interest in his eyes.
The young man had a chubby face and long silver hair, while the muscles on his arms and legs couldn''t be hidden by his loose white robes.
The young man was still staring at Su Shanyuan''s fight, when suddenly, an old man appeared in front of him like a gust of wind, kneeling on one knee on the floor as he greeted
''''Young master!''''
The old man had a ck-colored badge on his chest with the letters ''SS'' on it, indicating that he was an SS-rank mercenary.
Even as an SS-rank mercenary, someone who had reached thete stages of the Nascent soul stage, was actually kneeling in front of this young man.
The chubby-faced young man looked calmly at the old man in front of him, before he asked in a voice that didn''t hold the tiniest bit of interest
''''Elder Pan, what is it?''''
The old man smiled when he heard this question, as he reported the news of Bai Longtian taking the 5th rank in the House of Rankings.
A smile appeared on the silver-haired young man''s face as soon as he heard this report, before he stood up and walked towards the exit of the room,pletely ignoring the ongoing fight as he left the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
At the northern part of the Heaven''s Dome city'' inside the majestic pce of the Shengtian dynasty, a peak rank 9 Nascent soul stage expert had also appeared outside of a secluded courtyard.
The courtyard was filled with countless formations, from Qi gathering formations that increased the purity of the qi inside it, to defensive formations that could destroy any Nascent soul stage expert that tried to trespass. Even Dao Kings would be repelled if they tried to enter inside this courtyard by force.
The moment that the gates of the courtyard opened, a wave of pure qi assaulted the peak rank 9 Nascent Soul expert''s senses, who cautiously raised his head to look inside.
A half-n.a.k.e.d young man appeared from the courtyard, staring at the peak rank 9 Nascent Soul expert with a profound look in his eyes.
The young man had short, spiky ck hair and a pair of sharp emerald eyes. His looks were actually on par with the young white lord''s, while the upper part of his body, seemed as if it had been sculpted by the gods.
This young man''s body wouldn''t even be considered inferior in front of Shun Long''s, whose body had been tempered by the rank 2 ''internal destruction pill'' in the past, and who had already reached the middle of the third stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Looking at the young man in front of him, the peak rank 9 Nascent soul stage expert knelt down as he greeted hurriedly
''''Young lord!''''
The spiky-haired man nodded his head at the middle-aged man in front of him, as he then heard the report.
After hearing that the young white lord had defeated Long Hong, the young man nodded his head as he said with a deep look in his eyes
''''Uncle Qiang, this was expected. Although I haven''t fought with him yet, I have heard about Bai Longtian''s prowess long ago.
It''s not just him, but the descendants of countless experts are rushing into our ''Heaven''s Dome city'' as we speak.
The supreme geniuses of the entire continent will all gather here to fight against each other.
Only people at Bai Longtian''s level can help me challenge myself and be even stronger, before the test of the Holy sect starts!''''
The middle-aged man was silent, simply nodding his head in response to the young man''s words as if they were the most natural thing in the world.
At the same time, inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time'', time continued to pass as a bright blue light was nowing from Shun Long''s body.
Chapter 234 - 234 Comprehending the Dao
Chapter 234 - 234 Comprehending the Dao
Shun Long however waspletely oblivious to this, while his eyes were closed and his mind had entered a state of enlightenment, as he tried toprehend the Dao of Time.
More and more time passed, while the blue light around his body would sometimes be dim, while at other times it would be extremely bright.
One more year passed like this inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time'', and yet, Shun Long was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, while the blue light hadpletely covered his body.
''''What is time? Is it the unstoppable river that sweeps all things, something that no one can touch? No...''''
Time continued to pass like this as Shun Long tried to feel the passing seconds around him.
At the same time, back inside the inn''s room, Liu Mei had closed her eyes, sitting cross-legged on top of a meditative cushion, as she consumed another top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pill'', when she suddenly felt a rumbling in her spiritual space.
Although more than a year had passed inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time, 2 months had passed for Liu Mei inside the room.
During these past 2 months that she had spent in seclusion, her soul and spiritual strength had already been strengthened to their limits, while her cultivation had also reached the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade.
The only reason that she hadn''t attempted her breakthrough to the Spirit realm yet, was because Shun Long had told her to strengthen her soul and spiritual strength to the limit by consuming the ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
And today, Liu Mei finally felt her soul and spiritual strength reaching their limits, while her spiritual space had started to expand.
3 hourster, her spiritual space had expanded by almost one-third of its original size, while her soul and her spiritual strength were now many times greater than before.
Liu Mei had a joyful expression as she opened her eyes, but the moment that her gaze fell on the meditative cushion opposite to her, a worried and anxious look soon appeared on her face.
''''Long-ge... are you okay?''''
It had been almost 2 months since thest time that Shun Long had returned back. Since then, Liu Mei had already advanced from the early rank 9 all the way to the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, and she was ready to attempt her breakthrough to the Spirit realm.
And yet, Shun Long still hadn''t returned.
After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Liu Mei shook her head as she then thought
''''No, Long-ge must be alright. After all,prehending a Dao isn''t easy.
I also took 2 months toprehend the basics of the Dao of Ice, before breaking through to the Heaven grade, and that was still the first time.
If I tried to break through to the Spirit realm using the Dao of Ice as my foundation, I would surely need more than 2 months as well.''''
Once these thoughts shed through her mind, Liu Mei''s worries started to die down.
She knew that the best thing that she could do right now, was to bring herself to peak condition before attempting her breakthrough to the Spirit realm.
After all, after peering through the Abyss of Death and absorbing so much death aura in her missions with Shun Long, Liu Mei''sprehension of the Dao of Death was more than high enough to attempt her breakthrough.
She still remembered the scenes during her first mission with Shun Long, where her skeletons and her undead knights were unable to help, as a determined look appeared in her beautiful ck eyes.
Closing her eyes, Liu Mei then took more than 200 middle-grade spirit stones from her spatial ring, before she spread them on the ground around her.
Then, as she circted the ''Moonlight Sigil'', the aura of death around her had quickly started to thicken.
Time passed as Liu Mei absorbed the power of the middle-grade spirit stones, while the aura of death inside the room became stronger and stronger with every passing second.
The ck panther that was still sleeping in the courtyard, suddenly opened its eyes and looked at Liu Mei''s and Shun Long''s room.
The ck panther''s intelligence wasn''t any lower than an a.d.u.l.t human''s. Since the panther knew that this aura of death belonged to his master''s wife, it once again closed its eyes before it spread its soul sense even further beyond the courtyard, making sure that no one would dare to disturb Liu Mei during this time.
The same moment that Liu Mei attempted her breakthrough to the Spirit realm however, Shun Long''s eyes inside the foggy ce abruptly opened.
He could suddenly feel a part of the flow of time around him, and even though it was an ethereal feeling, Shun Long was certain that it was still there.
It was like an invisible membrane hugging everything.
Shun Long could also feel, that once he focused hard enough, he could actually sense this ethereal feeling.
At that moment, he also knew that he had gained even deeper insights in the Dao of Time.
Every step forward inprehending the Dao was hard, but the benefits would always be immense.
However, at the same time that Shun Long seemed to have gainedprehension in the Dao of Time, the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space started to rotate in a clockwise motion.
The rotation speed was slow at first, but soon, it quickly sped up.
Shun Long could almost hear a buzzing sound from his spiritual space, that was also akin to a calling.
A feeling of urgency quickly filled his heart, but the ''Stone of Time'' didn''t seem to stop rotating.
Little ck could sense Shun Long''s emotions that seemed to have suddenly changed, as the ck dragon immediately coiled himself around his master.
However, as the buzzing inside his spiritual space reached its peak, Shun Long could feel the ''Stone of Time'' releasing a powerful blue light that covered his entire body.
His vision then started to blur and under Little ck''s shocked eyes, Shun Long abruptly disappeared from the foggy space.
Even though his vision was blurred and he couldn''t see anything in front of him, he could feel a spatial distortion around his body, while the membrane of time around him was also being affected.
An unknown amount of timeter, Shun Long found himself appearing in front of a majestic white pce, the likes of which he had never seen before.
However, before he could check his surroundings, as soon as the spatial distortion disappeared around him, Shun Long could feel a powerful pressure crushing his body, which forced him on the ground, leaving him barely able to breathe.
Chapter 235 - 235 Terrifying pressure
Chapter 235 - 235 Terrifying pressure
Shun Long tried to raise his head, but that was the only movement that he could do.
A few hundred meters ahead of him, he could see a jade-white pce, with dark gold runes covering its walls, while its gigantic pce gates were thousands of meters tall.
In front of the pce gates there were 2 enormous statues, that were almost as tall as the pce gates themselves.
The statues looked like 2 strong warriors, covered in armor that seemed to have been made from some kind of silver.
The statues'' facial features were simr to humans'', however, the difference was, that each statue also had a pair of gigantic silver wings on their backs.
Each of them was also holding a spear, and although they were just statues, Shun Long had a feeling that he was staring at 2 enormous monsters.
Crack
Crackk
Crackk!
Cracking sounds were heard from Shun Long''s body in rapid session.
The pain of his bones being crushed under the terrifying pressure around him, had left him in a miserable position.
Even though his body had already reached the middle of rank 3 in body refinement, it still couldn''t endure the enormous pressure that was grinding his bones to dust.
The ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' then started to circte by itself, as a gentle power had started to quickly heal Shun Long''s fractured bones.
And yet, the all-epassing pressure around him continued to destroy his bones at an even faster rate than before.
Even the healing from the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that had reached the middle of the third stage, couldn''t keep up with the speed that Shun Long''s bones were being destroyed.
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as 81 bright balls of qi appeared above his head.
Circting the qi inside his qi balls, he then covered his body from head to toe, as he tried to reduce the horrifying pressure around him.
As soon as he covered himself with his qi, Shun Long could feel the surrounding pressure drastically reducing in intensity.
The healing of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' now far outstripped the destructive power of the pressure around him.
And yet, the qi inside the 81 balls of qi in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', was being drained at an rming rate.
The ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' however, was automatically circting by itself, using the pressure around Shun Long to temper his body even further.
Although Shun Long felt immense pain as his bones were being broken over and over again, he still gritted his teeth as he endured the process.
He knew that his body was automatically circting, in order to temper his strength and adapt to the environment around him.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long took out some middle rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' that he had gotten from Xue Zhn''s spatial ring, and consumed them one by one.
This was the only way that he could keep replenishing the qi inside his qi balls.
Otherwise, his balls of qi were emptied out, he would no longer be able to face this pressure by using his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' by itself.
Half a day soon passed, while Shun Long''s body had been tempered countless times during this time.
Suddenly, from the depths of his body, a terrifying power exploded, which made even the pressure in the air around him halt for a second.
''''Peak of the third stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''!''''
Under the surrounding pressure that had crushed his body countless times, Shun Long had finally broken through to the peak of the third stage in body refinement.
He could now clearly feel that his body wasn''t as strained by the surrounding pressure any longer.
Even without the help of the qi covering his body, Shun Long could now stand up.
He could finally take a look around him.
Shun Long noticed, that he was standing on a patch of golden soil, while in the distance ahead of him, was the gigantic pce that seemed to have been standing there for countless years.
On top of the pce, there were a series of words that he had never seen before. Even with the knowledge that he had absorbed from the golden book, Shun Long couldn''t seem to be able to decipher these symbols.
After memorizing them in his mind, he then turned his head around to take a look at this unfamiliar ce.
And yet, behind him, there was only a patch of red soil, while around him and around the pce, there was nothing but pitch-ck darkness.
Shun Long could feel powerful spatial fluctuations from the darkness around him.
With his understanding of the Dao of Space, Shun Long could clearly tell, that the power of these spatial fluctuations could instantly kill even Dao Kings.
He didn''t know when, but a path of golden stairs had appeared in front of him, that lead directly to the majestic white pce in front of him.
The path had more than one thousand stairs, that were shining radiantly with a bright golden color.
Shun Long noticed that he was now firmly standing on the first step of the stairs.
After deliberating for a while, Shun Long steeled his heart and once again circted the qi inside his qi balls, before he took a step forward.
The moment that his foot touched the 2nd golden step however, Shun Long could feel an unstoppable power rushing inside his body.
This power was much stronger than the pressure that he had felt earlier, and even with the help of his peak rank 9 Heaven grade cultivation, Shun Long was unable to resist this power for long.
He quickly tried to retract his foot, but the rebound of the pressure sent him flying towards the patch of red soil behind him.
At that moment, the ''Stone of Time'' inside Shun Long''s spiritual space once again started to rotate, and before Shun Long could touch the patch of red soil, a familiar sensation enveloped his body.
The membrane of time covering his body started to expand while the familiar feeling of spatial distortion once again appeared around him.
Under Little ck''s shocked eyes, Shun Long''s body once again appeared inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
Chapter 236 - 236 Golden stele
Chapter 236 - 236 Golden stele
The Stone of Time stopped rotating, while Little ck looked at his master with both a relieved, as well as a curious look.
Although Shun Long had already mentioned to Little ck in the past, that such a situation had happened once again, back when Shun Long had appeared in front of that red pce, the ck dragon still couldn''t feel any relief.
After all, the ''Stone of Time'' was still an unknown treasure, and no one knew its real capabilities.
If one day, Shun Long was sent to a dangerous ce, with enemies far beyond what he could handle, wouldn''t he then be doomed then?
''''No! Master is my only family!''''
The moment that these thoughts shed through Little ck''s mind, the ck dragon shook his head immediately rejecting them, before he turned to look at Shun Long who was still looking around him.
Seeing that he had returned back to the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long felt a sense of relief, but at the same time dissatisfaction deep in his heart.
He felt a sense of relief because he had returned back to this ce while he had also managed to breakthrough to the peak of the third stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', but he also felt dissatisfaction because he couldn''t control these outbursts when the ''Stone of Time'' would suddenly rotate.
This was already the second time that this had happened.
The first time, Shun Long had appeared outside of a red pce, while the ''Stone of Time'' seemed to have reacted to what was inside there.
A purple light had then burst from that pce, shooting high up in the sky, before booming thunderclouds had gathered in the air.
This time however, there seemed to be nothing that reacted to the ''Stone of Time''.
There was only the white pce, the 2 statues with silver wings and silver armor, the red patch of soil behind Shun Long... and of course the stairs of golden steps.
If Shun Long hadn''t actually refined the rank 2 ''internal destruction pill'' in the past, and hadn''t reached the middle of the third stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' by now, would he have managed to stay alive under that horrifying pressure?
After thinking about it for a while he then mumbled to himself
''''The second golden step seemed to have been much more terrifying than the first. Does that mean that every sessive step would be harder to climb than thest one?''''
Shun Long''s eyes lit up as this thought shed through his mind, when suddenly, the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of Time'' started to rumble.
Shun Long and Little ck both looked around them, as a small part of the white mist that surrounded this space, was now swirling in a spiral pattern.
A small part of the mist started to recede even deeper inside the foggy space, while Shun Long stared at it with shock in his eyes.
In the past, Shun Long had tried to pass through the white fog, but upon contact with it he realized, that it was practically impossible to force his way through. No matter what he did, whether he used the ''Thunderbolt finger'' or attacked with the ''Staff of Obliteration'', or even when he had simply infused his qi inside it, the white fog wouldn''t budge even a single inch.
And yet, something entirely new appeared in Shun Long''s eyes.
A golden stele less than 1m(3.2ft) tall had appeared on the ground in front of him, as it radiated a dim white light.
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he saw the white pce with 2 guards that were engraved on the golden stele.
This was clearly the same pce that he had just been to a few minutes ago.
Little ck watched Shun Long''s shocked expression, before his eyes shifted towards the golden stele as well, but only a look of confusion appeared in his eyes.
It was obvious that Little ck didn''t recognize the white pce engraved on the golden stele.
Seeing Shun Long taking a few steps forward, walking towards the golden stele, Little ck had a serious look in his eyes as he appeared behind Shun Long in an instant.
The ck dragon didn''t stop Shun Long from examining the golden stele, but had instead taken all precautions in case they faced any danger.
After all, Shun Long couldn''t leave something inside the ''Stone of Time'' without knowing what it is.
Walking in front of the golden stele, Shun Long ced his hand on top of it.
Although the stele itself looked ancient, it had a very smooth feeling on his hand.
Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes, as his finger traced the drawing of the white pce on the stele.
Seeing that nothing had happened, Shun Long activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', gathering his qi in his finger.
The moment that Shun Long''s finger that was infused with his qi came in contact with the golden stele, the stele emitted a humming sound, before it fellpletely silent.
The dim white light was still surrounding the stele however, but no matter how Shun Long tried to probe the stele, he was unable to get another reaction.
Turning his head around, Shun Long then saw Little ck who was behind him, as he stared at him curiously, before Shun Long exined everything that he had just been through.
Suddenly, Shun Long also remembered the mysterious symbols on top of the white pce, and using his qi to create a small me on his finger, he replicated the symbols as he showed them to Little ck.
To his disappointment however, Shun Long saw Little ck staring at the symbols for a while, before he shook his head and said
''''Master, I have never encountered such symbols before. At least this isn''t anguage that I know of...''''
Although Shun Long felt some disappointment, he didn''t find it too unexpected.
After all, the ''Stone of Time''s'' origins were something that neither Little ck nor anyone else knew of.
Shun Long could take his time in the future, to search for more things about the white pce in the golden stele, as well as that mysterious red pce that he had appeared outside of, thest time.
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long''s mind finally rxed.
After all, the truth was, that he had certainly benefitted today from his ''trip'' to the white pce.
Seeing the ck dragon who was staring at him with a disappointed expression, Shun Long patted Little ck''s head as he said
''''It''s okay. We can find more clues about these things together in the future.
For now, it is time for me to break through to the Spirit realm!''''
Chapter 237 - 237 Breaking through to the Spirit realm
Chapter 237 - 237 Breaking through to the Spirit realm
Little ck nodded his head, as he watched Shun Long walking towards his usual seat, before he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
After clearing his head, Shun Long summoned the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', before he took out more than 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
The vine then started to rapidly swallow the middle-grade spirit stones that Shun Long fed to it, before it turned them into pure qi that filled the air around him.
Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as 81 bright balls of qi appeared above his head.
Shun Long then started absorbing the pure qi that the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' extracted from the middle-grade spirit stones, replenishing the enormous amounts of qi that he had expended on top of the golden stairs earlier.
Once the 81 balls of qi were once again brought back to peak condition, Shun Long focused his mind as he tried topress the 81 balls of qi down to one, in order to sessfully breakthrough to the Spirit realm.
Shun Long already knew that this breakthrough would be different than thest.
Unlike the breakthrough to the Heaven grade, to breakthrough to the Spirit realm, this time, aside frompressing the balls of qi into one, he also had to condense all of his spiritual strength together, creating his spirit sense.
Only then could Shun Long truly enter the early rank 1 in the Spirit realm.
Having his own spirit sense would also drastically help Shun Long in his alchemy as well, along with many other things in the future.
After all, the difference between touching something with spiritual strength and touching it with spirit sense was simply iparable.
Touching a medicinal herb with spiritual strength gave you a feeling as if you were touching it with your own 2 hands, but touching it with spirit sense was more than that.
It gave you a feeling of examining the medicinal herb at the same time that you were touching it.
In a cauldron that had its lid closed during the final steps of alchemy, or when a formation master engraved runes on the inside of a weapon, spirit sense would allow the 2 of them to see what was happening inside, instead of just getting a rough feeling of the situation through their spiritual strength.
Endless amounts of qi were extracted from the middle-grade spirit stones, as they were converted into pure qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine'', before they filled the air around Shun Long and Little ck.
Absorbing the pure qi in the air around him, Shun Long then started topress the 81 balls of qi in the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', while at the same time, a stinging pain had filled his head as hepressed his spiritual strength, before it transformed into spirit sense.
3 hours soon passed, and 27 balls of qi, much brighter than before, were now left inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Droplets of sweat had formed on Shun Long''s forehead, but gritting his teeth he continuedpressing the qi balls.
6 hourster, a pair of blindingly bright balls of qi had appeared above Shun Long''s head, inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
The 2 balls of qi were so bright, that they actually resembled 2 miniature suns.
Shun Long''s 81 balls of qi had been nowpressed in these 2 balls.
At the same time, inside his spiritual space, his spiritual strength had also beenpressed into small wisps of green light.
Althoughpressing his spiritual strength was extremely painful to Shun Long, who had much more spiritual strength than almost any other Heaven grade cultivator so the process was even lengthier to him, Shun Long could only grit his teeth and continue with the process.
He knew that this was the only way that he could sessfullyplete his breakthrough and step into the Spirit realm.
FInally, 4 hourster, a blindingly bright ball of qi hovered above Shun Long''s head inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shun Long''s forehead was drenched in sweat, while a stinging pain was still torturing his head, but a light smile still crept its way on his face.
Not only was there a single ball of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', his spiritual strength had also beenpressed into a single green ball inside his spiritual space.
This green ball was Shun Long''s spirit sense.
It contained part of his own spirit, and was something that every cultivator who stepped into the Spirit realm needed to have.
Little ck who had coiled his 10m(33ft) long body around Shun Long''s seat, had a look of joy in his bright blue eyes, as he said in a delighted voice
''''Congrattions master!''''
Shun Long smiled as he heard the ck dragon''s joyful words, and after patting Little ck''s head an invisible green ball had appeared in his hand.
Little ck''s eyes however were wide open seeing Shun Long experiment with his spirit sense.
Soon, Shun Long found out that he could only extend his spirit sense up to 1m(3.2ft) away from his body at most.
It was simply impossible to extend it anymore than that.
An invisible green field hadpletely covered Shun Long in a radius of 1m(3.2ft) around him.
Sensing the scene around his master with his soul sense, the ck dragon could no longer hide his astonishment, as he said in a shocked voice
''''Master! Your spirit sense... shouldn''t be able to leave your body and scan the air around you directly.''''
Shun Long looked at Little ck with a shocked look, not understanding what he meant.
Nodding his head, the ck dragon understood his master''s confusion as he then continued
''''Your spirit sense should only be able to enter an object that you have direct contact with. However, this ispletely different.
Although it seems that master can only use his spirit sense in a radius of 1m(3.2ft) around your body, it is actually no different from an extremely weak soul sense!
Only soul senses can leave a cultivator''s body and scan the area around them... but master''s spirit sense seems to be able to do the same!
Shun Long nodded his head, but a shocked look also filled his eyes after hearing Little ck''s exnation.
Did that mean that he had a soul sense?
No! Only Nascent Soul stage cultivators could unlock their soul sense.
Besides, even if Shun Long''s spirit sense could be categorized partially as a soul sense, it was probably the weakest among any other soul sense out there.
Additionally, Shun Long was very clear that he was still in the Spirit realm.
The Spirit realm was the realm where a cultivator enhanced their soul sense, in preparation to enter the Nascent Soul stage after all.
But then, what was this situation?
Chapter 238 - 238 Liu Meis decision
Chapter 238 - 238 Liu Mei''s decision
WARNING: There may or may not be a small scene filled with s.e.x.u.a.l content during the chapter.
After thinking about it seriously for a while, in the end, Shun Long could onlye to the conclusion, that this had something to do with the Golden book.,
After all, ever since he had absorbed the knowledge inside the Golden Book, the book had merged with his soul, bing one with him.
Shun Long didn''t know if there would be any changes when he broke through to the Nascent soul stage, but he could only specte that his spirit sense was now like this thanks to the golden book.
Additionally, his soul had also been forcefully expanded while he was still in the Qi condensation stage, so it wasn''t unnatural to assume that this had something to do with the golden book as well.
After he sorted out his thoughts, Shun Long took a deep breath, before he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
Soon, he found himself back inside the room of the inn.
Taking a look around the room, Shun Long noticed that it waspletely empty, while a thick aura of death wasing from the courtyard.
Opening the door of the room, Shun Long saw Liu Mei who had her back turned on him, while she looked at the army of undead creatures that was standing in a line in front of her.
More than 100 skeletons were being led by 6 undead knights, as they all faced Liu Mei like they were looking at their general.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up when he noticed that the cultivation of the skeletons was at the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, while the undead knights had already reached the early rank 1 in the Spirit realm!
This meant that Liu Mei had also broken through to the Spirit realm during this time.
The moment that the door of the room open, almost as if she had sensed something, Liu Mei turned her head around, only to see Shun Long smiling at her.
''''Long-ge!''''
An excited expression appeared on her face, as Liu Mei quickly walked towards him.
Seeing the worried expression in her eyes as she hugged him, Shun Long hugged Liu Mei back with a gentle expression on his face.
For Liu Mei, it had been 2 months since thest time that she had seen Shun Long, but Shun Long had felt the passing of almost 2 years during this time.
Even if the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time'' followed differentws, and his body didn''t end up aging, his mind had definitely experienced 2 years of secluded cultivation, during the time that he increased his spiritual strength andprehended the Dao of Time!
After hugging Liu Mei, Shun Long then pushed her back slightly, as he said
''''Mei''er, I need to take a shower first.''''
Then, with a smile on his face he continued
''''Do you want to join me?''''
Liu Mei''s face immediately turned red at Shun Long''s question.
Although they would frequently dual cultivate together, and being intimate wasn''t something that was unfamiliar to the 2 of them, tantly asking her to join him in the shower was still a first for Liu Mei, and it made her heart beat faster.
She looked at Shun Long with her face flushed red, but in the end, she still nodded her head as she agreed to his request.
Shun Long then smiled as he held her hand and returned back to the room.
Every room in the ''Golden pig inn'' had arge bathtub, as well as a shower, and this one was no different.
After he took out his blue robes, Shun Long then unrobed Liu Mei, seeing her wless body once again in front of him.
Opening the shower, Shun Long allowed the cold water to ssh on his back, while his hands roved all over Liu Mei''s body.
Soft m.o.a.ns escaped her mouth as Shun Long hands lightly pinched her n.i.p.p.l.es, before he moved his hand towards her lower body.
At the same time, Liu Mei could feel Shun Long''s hard erect rod on her back.
After 2 months of not feeling each other, sounds of pleasure filled their room, as Shun Long and Liu Mei underwent more than one round of arduous dual cultivation.
3 hourster, Liu Mei''s body was entangled with Shun Long''s inside the bathtub, as sheid on top of him, while her head was rested on his chest.
Shun Long exined to Liu Mei that he had spent this timeprehending the Dao, as well as advancing his own spiritual strength.
He also exined to her his own understanding in the Dao of Time, but Shun Long didn''t mention anything regarding the ''Stone of Time'', and the crimson or the white pce.
It wasn''t because he didn''t trust Liu Mei, but instead, because he knew that this would only worry her even more.
After all, even Little ck who had lived for thousands of years, felt worried for his master and powerless to help him with this matter.
Although the ''Stone of Time'' was a peerless treasure, it was also a source of worry for Shun Long.
Liu Mei also narrated her cultivation experience of thest 2 months to Shun Long.
Shun Long also told her what he had learned from Little ck. That as long as she absorbed death aura inside her body, herprehension of the Dao of Death would rise by itself.
When he finished his words, Shun Long saw Liu Mei falling silent, almost as if she was pondering over his words.
Aside from killing people, how else could someone absorb death aura?
Liu Mei had to choose, if she wanted to stay as a necromancer, or continueprehending the Dao of Ice alone.
Shun Long didn''t interrupt her after seeing that she had fallen in deep thought, but a few momentster, he noticed that the look in her eyes had changed.
A determined glint shed inside her beautiful ck eyes, as Shun Long saw her staring back at him.
''''If I am a necromancer.. then I can help to protect Long-ge! So what if I have to kill? Cultivators kill each other every day!''''
With these words in her heart, Liu Mei suddenly shed Shun Long a dazzling smile, that left him stunned for a second.
After spending some more time with each other inside the bath, Shun Long and Liu Mei put on some fresh clothes, before they left their room.
After patting the ck panther''s head who seemed excited to see him once again, Shun Long and Liu Mei both got on the panther''s back, as they left the inn.
With her arms wrapped around Shun Long''s waist, Liu Mei then asked
''''Long-ge, where are we going this time?''''
Shun Long smiled lightly, and turning his head to the side to look at Liu Mei he said
''''To the ''Golden Exchange firm''!''''
Chapter 239 - 239 Finding the Purple wind ice fruit
Chapter 239 - 239 Finding the ''Purple wind ice fruit''
Although Liu Mei didn''t know why Shun Long wanted to go to the ''Golden Exchange firm'', she didn''t choose to ask.
Instead, her hands were still wrapped around his waist as the 2 of them toured through the western part of the Heaven''s Dome city.
As always, carriages that were dragged by powerful magic beasts would fill the vast roads of the Heaven''s Dome city at all times.
Shun Long would sometimes notice the pedestrians stealing a look at the ''Silver-winged panther king'', who was walking neither too fast nor too slow.
A few minutester, the ck panther had arrived in front of arge, luxurious building, that seemed to have been created entirely from pure gold.,
3 shining, eye-catching words, were written in ck on top of the building
''Golden Exchange firm''
This was the headquarters of one of thergest powers in the Heaven''s Dome city, and perhaps even the Night star continent''s.
Of course, the ''Golden Exchange firm''s'' building wasn''t made from pure gold. Instead, it was gold that had been processed by powerful formation masters for many years, before they engraved it with defensive runes, as well as many auxiliary runes that would make it more sturdy.
There was a rumor going around in the Heaven''s Dome city, that the walls of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' were even sturdier than the Shengtian dynasty''s pce walls.
Without any dy, the ck panther walked towards the ''Golden Exchange firm''s'' entrance.
The 10 golden-armored Nascent soul stage guards who were standing at the entrance, felt some apprehension after sensing the ck panther''s peak rank 5 strength.
After all, although they had seen peak rank 5 magic beasts enter the ''Golden Exchange firm'' before, these beasts were always extremely rare.
But of course, unless someone broke the rules by trying to steal or they started a fight, the guards wouldn''t do anything to stop them from entering inside.
A sea of people appeared in Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes as soon as they passed through the ''Golden Exchange firm''s'' gates.
The interior of the ''Golden Exchange firm''s'' was very easy to navigate through.
The counters and the private rooms each had a sign above them, indicating what was inside each room and counter respectively.
Shun Long and Liu Mei walked on foot, with the ck panther following behind them, as they searched for counters and rooms that sold medicinal herbs.
The ''Golden Exchange firm'' had 3 rooms dedicated to alchemy, that sold both medicinal herbs as well as parts of powerful magic beasts.
Soon, Shun Long and Liu Mei entered one of the 3 rooms that were selling these ingredients.
After searching through the first room however, Shun Long didn''t seem to have found what he was looking for, and just a few breaths of timeter he exited it as he continued towards the second.
The first room seemed to only contain rank 1 and rank 2 medicinal herbs, and neither of them was particrly attractive to Shun Long''s eyes.
As for the rank 1 and rank 2 magic beasts, they were even worse off in Shun Long''s eyes.
The second room instead contained rank 3, along with a few rank 4 medicinal herbs, while the corpses of magic beasts seemed to have been better than the previous room.
Although Shun Long wasn''t interested in the rank 3 herbs, he did purchase 2 rank 4 medicinal herbs for 17.000 and 17.500 low-grade spirit stones each, before he moved to thest room.
Much fewer people were inside this roompared to the previous 2, while Shun Long noticed that every single medicinal ingredient in this room was at least at the rank 4.
There was even a single rank 5 herb that Shun Long instantly recognized as the ''Dreamy ash flower''.
Although the flower was priced at 300.000 low-grade spirit stones, Shun Long didn''t hesitate to purchase it.
The use of the rank 5 ''Dreamy ash flower'', was mostly to grind it to dust and apply it to a person who is suffering from mental illnesses.
It could immediately expel the demons in a cultivator''s heart, and help them restore rity of their mind.
However, Shun Long also had another use of this flower.
After paying 300.000 low-grade spirit stones for the ''Dreamy ash flower'', Shun Long also purchased a dozen more rank 4 medicinal herbs for almost 400.000 low-grade spirit stones, when his eyes were suddenly focused on a ruby-colored case at the far left of the room.
A purple-colored medicinal herb with stripped icy-blue lines was ced inside the jade case, which made Shun Long''s heart, beat in excitement
''''Rank 4 ''Purple wind ice fruit''!''''
Seeing Shun Long''s reaction, Liu Mei turned her head towards Shun Long''s field of vision, where the purple medicinal herb was ced.
Shun Long walked in front of the counter, and despite the high price of 170.000 low-grade spirit stones, he purchased the rank 4 ''Purple wind ice fruit'' and ced it in the ''Stone of Time''.
This was thest of the 3 main medicinal herbs that Shun Long needed, to refine the rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill''.
Now that he had already reached the peak of the third stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', as soon as he refined the rank 4 ''Purple wind ice fruit'' into the ''internal reconstruction pill'', he would be able to enter the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Shun Long hadn''t expected to find the ''Purple wind ice fruit'' in the ''Golden Exchange firm'' today, since even the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' didn''t seem to have one in stock, and had thought of putting up a mission in the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' if he had been unable to find it.
Of course, this didn''t mean that the ''Golden Exchange firm'' had more medicinal herbs than the ''Alchemists'' Guild''. However, many mercenaries chose to sell the medicinal herbs that they found during their missions to the ''Golden Exchange firm'', which was the reason that there were so many medicinal herbs for sale.
Of course, in front of the ''Alchemists'' Guild''s'' herb garden, these 3 rooms were still nothing inparison.
That garden was filled with top quality rank 4, as well as rank 5 medicinal herbs.
However, Jin Wenling had told Shun Long, that only after bing a gold-grade alchemist of the guild would he be allowed to directly ess these medicinal herbs.
In a way, this was still how the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' roped in the promising silver-grade alchemists as well.
After sweeping half the room clean from medicinal herbs, Shun Long had a satisfied look on his face, even though he had spent almost a million low-grade spirit stones in these herbs.
As for the magic beasts in the room, he didn''t even take a single look at them.
Although there were 2 iplete corpses of a pair of early rank 5 beasts, their beast cores had already been extracted, while the parts of their bodies that were still intact, weren''t suitable for alchemy.
Although Shun Long had all the medicinal herbs that he needed, he didn''t choose to enter seclusion and advance to the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' right now.
Instead, he and Liu Mei got on the ck panther''s back, as they headed towards the entrance of the ''Golden Exchange firm''.
ROAR
As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the firm however, Shun Long and Liu Mei were startled for a moment, when a furious roar was heard behind them.
The people at the entrance of the ''Golden Exchange firm'', along with the 10 Nascent Soul stage guards were startled as well.
The crowd immediately scurried away from the entrance when they heard this roar, as everyone was terrified to the core.
The moment that the ck panther heard this roar, it almost unconsciously turned around, and let out a terrifying roar in response.
ROARR
Chapter 240 - 240 Hu Liu
Chapter 240 - 240 Hu Liu
Shun Long and Liu Mei were stunned as they saw the scene in front of their eyes.
A handsome blue-haired man with sharp facial features and sword-like eyebrows was sitting on top of a yellow-colored magic beast.
The magic beast looked like a leopard, and was more than 1.7m(5.6ft) tall and 4m(13,1ft) long.
It seemed that its fur was standing up while sparks of lightning were cracking all over its body and its blue-colored tail, as it stared at the ''Silver-winged panther king'' with hatred in its golden eyes, while its powerful aura hadpletely terrified the surrounding crowd.
Shun Long''s eyes immediately recognized the magic beast that the blue-haired man was riding on as the rank 5 ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'', and immediately understood what was going on.
With his knowledge, how could Shun Long not know, that the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopards'' and the ''Silver-winged panther kings'' were natural enemies.
As long as one saw the other, a fight was practically inevitable.
The young man had been startled at his ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard''s'' outrage, but the moment that he saw the ck panther who was staring at the leopard with eyes that were ready to rip it apart, a smile reced his confused expression as he mumbled
''''A peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king''? Interesting...''''
Inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s eyes narrowed as his voice suddenly sounded inside Shun Long''s head
''''Careful, master!
The blue-haired man didn''t seem to have given anymands to the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'' when the leopard''s feet blurred, as it quickly appeared in front of the ck panther.
The blue-haired young man was still sitting on the leopard''s back, staring at the scene in front of him in amus.e.m.e.nt, as the leopard tried to bite the ck panther''s neck.
Shun Long snorted as he sent a mental message to the ck panther to fight freely.
An excited look shed inside the panther''s shining yellow eyes, as hepletely released his aura at the peak of rank 5.
Bloodl.u.s.t instantly exploded from the panther''s body, as he opened his mouth, while his powerful white fangs also headed for the leopard''s neck.
The leopard didn''t seem afraid however, as its own aura burst out in response, making it obvious that it was also at the peak of rank 5.
Lightning cracked all over the leopard''s fangs, while its eyes had turnedpletely red, as its fangs entered inside the panther''s neck.
The panther however didn''t even flinch, as his powerful jaws bit the leopard''s neck in response.
Almost at the same time, blood spurted from the 2 beasts'' necks, when a sudden snort was heard from the blue-haired man.
At the same time, the 10 golden-armored Nascent soul stage guards who were watching everything from the entrance, rushed towards the ck panther and the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard''.
The guards trembled slightly as they looked at the dissatisfied look on the blue-haired man''s face, but one of them still gritted his teeth, and taking a step forward he said
''''Young master please don''t do stir up too much trouble at the entrance. You will make our job harder than it is.''''
The blue-haired man looked at the guard who had spoken just now, and the guard couldn''t help taking a step back in fear.
''''Tsk!''''
The blue-haired man then clicked his tongue, before the leopard quickly retreated.
The look in the blue-haired man''s eyes turned even more dissatisfied when he saw how much blood the leopard was losingpared to the ''Silver-winged panther king''.
Shun Long however, also had a cold look in his eyes as he stared at the blue-haired man in front of him.
Even though the leopard was losing more blood, in reality, both Shun Long and the blue-haired man understood, that the 2 peak rank 5 magic beasts were actually evenly matched.
Although the ck panther''s jaws were much stronger than the leopard''s, cracks of lightning were also attacking the panther''s neck.
The young manpletely ignored Shun Long''s look, as he headed deeper inside the ''Golden Exchange firm'' without uttering a word.
Seeing the blue-haired man going deeper inside, the 10 Nascent Soul stage guards actually heaved a sigh of relief, before the guard who had spoken before, walked in front of Shun Long and said as he cupped his hands
''''This young master, don''t take this to heart. Young master Hu Liu can be a bit entric sometimes, and we couldn''t step in earlier.''''
The guard had expected Shun Long to nod his head, agreeing with his words, but Shun Long had an expressionless, cold look on his face as he kept staring at the blue-haired man''s back.
As for the guard''s words, he couldn''t care any less about their excuses.
In the end, just for his own amus.e.m.e.nt, the blue-haired man had told his leopard to attack the ck panther.
The ck panther wasn''t just a random magic beast to Shun Long after all, nor was it a simple tool.
Under the guard''s shocked eyes, Shun Long took out a peak rank 4 ''Sun-healing pill'', and fed it to the ck panther.
Thankfully, aside from the cracks of lightning that the ck panther easily dispersed, the bite was a little more than a flesh wound, and under the effects of the top-grade ''Sun-healing pill'', the wound started closing at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.
''''He is wasting a top-grade rank 4 pill for a magic beast? Who is this person?''''
At the same time, the crowd didn''t dare to approach Shun Long and the ck panther, as everyone started discussing with each other
''''Who is this young man? His ck panther was actually fighting with young master Hu Liu''s ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard''?!''''
''''Maybe he hase from another city? There aren''t too many young people in our city with peak rank 5 magic beasts as mounts after all, so I should have been able to recognize him if he was from our Heaven''s Dome city!''''
''''Right! I heard a lot of geniuses areing to our Heaven''s Dome citytely!''''
Shun Long ignored the crowd''s discussions, as he thought to himself
''''Hu Liu? I will remember this!''''
Shun Long hadn''t expected that the person he had met today on the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'' to be Hu Liu.
He remembered that this name belonged to the person who was ranked 3rd in the House of Rankings thest time he had visited.
However, even if it was Hu Liu so what?
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long sent a mentalmand to the ck panther who spread his majestic silver wings, before he flew out of the ''Golden Exchange firm''s'' building.
Seeing Shun Long flying away, one of the guards looked at the main guard who had spoken just now, and with a worried expression he asked
''''You don''t think that young master Hu has actually invited trouble, right? After all, this man also had a peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king''.''''
The main guard looked at the guard next to him, and with a scornful expression he said
''''Idiot. Even people who are crazily powerful, with very strong backings like the young white lord, are still beneath young master Hu Liu in the rankings. Very few people have the ability to find trouble with young master.''''
Chapter 241 - 241 Entering the Survival Gate
Chapter 241 - 241 Entering the Survival Gate
Nodding his head, the second guard agreed with the main guard''s words, before they all returned back to the entrance.
Indeed, very few people in the entire Heaven''s Dome city could find trouble with their young master.
At the same time, Shun Long and Liu Mei were riding on the ck panther''s back, who continued flying towards the House of Rankings.
A few minutester, Shun Long had once again arrived outside of the huge building that seemed to have been made from wood.
Although Shun Long had only taken a brief look at the ranking board outside of the House thest time that he and Liu Mei hade here, he still remembered the names at the top 50.
And yet, he noticed that there had already been many changes in those rankings.
Many of the names that he had seen thest time, had fallen below the top 50, while other people had already reced them.
The most noticeable ones were those in the top 20.
More than 10 people had already lost their rankings, while even Long Hong, the person who was previously ranked 5th, was now in 6th ce, reced by Bai Longtian.
Shun Long had already heard from the crowd surrounding the House of Rankings, that Bai Longtian was the young white lord, the son of a peak expert in the Night star continent called the white lord.
Most people seemed to have been talking about the powerful Bai Longtian, but Shun Long also noticed that the top 4 spots had stayed untouched.
Since thest time that he had visited the House of Rankings, the names in the top 4 ces had all stayed the same.
With an apathetic look, his cold eyes were focused on Hu Liu''s name that was still in 3rd ce, before he and Liu Mei got off from the ck panther and entered inside the House of Rankings.
The moment that they stepped through the entrance, Shun Long and Liu Mei were slightly stunned seeing the amount of people that were inside the building.
There were far more peoplepared to thest time that they hade, and even with the spacious interior of the House of Rankings, it was still crowded inside.
A huge crowd had gathered around the giant screens of light in the air, that were showing the ongoing battles behind the gates.
Only a small crowd was paying attention to the battle behind the Challenge Gate, while everyone else was staring at the screens of light that showed the battles behind the Survival Gate.
Even the atmosphere inside the House was more heated, as people cheered and shouted loudly.
With all the new geniuses that wereing towards the Heaven''s Dome city, the House of Rankings was the best ce to visit.
After taking a look at the enormous screens of light in the air that were broadcasting the ongoing survival challenge, Shun Long and Liu Mei walked through the crowd, as they headed towards one of the huge gates at the back.
Shun Long had already learned of the procedure to participate in the challenges of the house from the 2 women at the information counter, and without any hesitation, he followed some other people as he and Liu Mei entered through the half-opened Survival Gate.
After entering inside the Survival Gate, Shun Long and Liu Mei walked through a long corridor that was decorated with countless rare jewels, before they arrived inside a vast hall.
Shun Long saw more than 3.000 people who were gathered inside the hall, while a giant circle that covered more than 2000 square meters, was shining with countless runes in the middle of the hall.
Around the circle were more than 12 counters, operated by employees of the House of Rankings''.
Once Shun Long and Liu Mei entered the room, quite a few people''s eyes turned to look at the peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' that was following behind them, before they turned their eyes to examine Shun Long and Liu Mei.
However, unlike Liu Mei''s early rank 1 Spirit realm aura, Shun Long''s aura waspletely hidden, and even powerful Dao Kings were unable to detect it, let alone the people inside the hall whose cultivation was much weaker.
Surprisingly, every few minutes, the circle in the middle of the hall would light up with sudden sh of lights, as people would appear on top of it one by one.
Almost everyone who appeared on the huge circle had haggard expressions on their faces, while their bodies would be filled with countless injuries.
With lowered heads, these people would usually choose to leave the Survival Gate''s hall, but there were some of them who chose to pay 3000 low-grade spirit stones to the employees of the House of Rankings, before they joined the rest of the crowd as they waited for the next survival gate challenge to start.
After taking a look around him, Shun Long noticed that the cultivation of most people here was at the rank 2 and rank 3 of the Spirit realm, while a small number of them had even reached the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm. Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long then asked seriously
''''Mei''er, are you sure that you want to enter as well?''''
Liu Mei nodded her head with a determined expression behind her white veil as she looked at Shun Long and simply said
''''Mhm!''''
Shun Long nodded, and didn''t question her decision, as he walked up to one of the counters where a young man dressed in the robes of the House of Rankings was standing behind.
Seeing Shun Long and Liu Mei approaching the counter, the young man then asked
''''Can I help you?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long took out 6000 low-grade spirit stones from the ''Stone of Time'', as well as his and Liu Mei''s golden medallions that they had received from the women at the information counter and handed them to the young man, before he exined that he wanted to join the next Survival Gate''s challenge.
The young man nodded his head, but then his eyes widened when he realized that the young woman next to Shun Long would join as well.
With Liu Mei''s early rank 1 Spirit realm cultivation, she would be the weakest person who was signed up for this challenge so far. Before her, the weakest people who had signed up were at the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm after all.
However, it wasn''t the young man''s job to stop the people who wanted to participate.
With a kind look on his face, he looked at the white-veiled Liu Mei, before his eyes turned to Shun Long and said seriously
''''In case you are entering the challenge for the first time, let me remind you that, as long as you are in a difficult situation and want to exit immediately during your challenge, all you have to do is inject your qi inside the golden medallions, and you will immediately be transported back to the hall.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, and thanked the young man for the information, before a sense of relief filled his heart.
After all, Shun Long already knew that killing wasn''t forbidden inside the Survival Gate, in order to temper the people who participate even further. But at the same time, with Liu Mei''s weak cultivation, she would be in danger if she met someone who was far stronger than her.
Of course, the ''Golden Exchange firm'' was aware of this issue as well, and as long as someone didn''t die in a single strike, they would be able to return back to the Survival hall after they injected their qi inside their medallions.
The young man also exined to Shun Long and Liu Mei, that the participants here would be called to enter the giant circle in the middle of the hall as soon as the ongoing survival challenge ends, but the ck panther behind them could not enter with them.
Seeing Shun Long nod his head, the young man then took a deep breath, as he started to exin the rules of the Survival Gate.
Chapter 242 - 242 The Survival Gates rules
Chapter 242 - 242 The Survival Gate''s rules
Looking at Shun Long and Liu Mei, the young man continued
''''As soon as the ongoing Survival challenge ends, the previous challengers will appear on top of the giant teleportation formation.
Then, everyone who has already registered themselves for the uing survival challenge will step on the teleportation formation, before they are transferred to a secluded ce outside of the Heaven''s Dome city.
The challenge grounds are owned by our ''Golden Exchange firm'', as well as the other 4 peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city, so outsiders will never intrude inside.
When you arrive at the challenge grounds, every person will be sent at a random direction, so it''s pointless to try and form teams. The most important goal will be to survive.
Additionally, you must try to incapacitate any other challengers you can, and force them to use their own medallions to escape.
Once you arrive at the challenge grounds, you will then be given 1 ranking point in your medallion. The more opponents you defeat, the more ranking points you can obtain.
Every time that you force another challenger to escape... or kill them, you will automatically obtain their own ranking points in your own medallion.
Of course, if the person that you defeat had defeated another person before, in that case, you will obtain their c.u.mtive ranking points that they have gathered during the trial.
3 dayster, the trial will end, and the contestants who haven''t been defeated will be transported back here.
In the end, the most important goal should be to survive, as the total ranking points that you will obtain, will allow your ranking inside the House to rise.''''
After a moment''s hesitation, the young man continued with a look of dread in his eyes
''''However, even more dangerous than the other contestants are the powerful magic beasts that live in the challenge grounds. Some of them have even reached the rank 5, and even powerful cultivators at the early stages of the Nascent Soul stage will have to run from them!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he and Liu Mei finally understood the rules of the House of Rankings.
Shun Long quickly understood, that this Survival Gate didn''t just test personal strength, but also how careful someone was.
After all, even the strongest of the participants around him, were at the rank 4 of the Spirit realm, and in front of a rank 5 magic beast, that was equal to a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, they wouldn''t evenst a few moments.,
Shun Long was also excited to fight against powerful Spirit realm cultivators. Although he didn''t know if he would be able to beat a rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator just yet, he knew that he would definitely be able to put up a fight against them.
After his breakthrough to the Spirit realm, Shun Long believed that if he had to fight with the middle rank 3 Spirit realm Hao Jingguo again, he would be able to crush him effortlessly this time.
Even peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators wouldn''t be able tost for too long against Shun Long if he fought with his full power.
Shun Long and Liu Mei then waited, until the ongoing Survival challenge ended.
Almost half a dayter, a batch of almost 30 people had suddenly appeared on the giant teleportation circle in the middle of the hall, all at the same time.
Among these people, only a few of them seemed to be in a bad condition.
The rest of them were brimming with energy as they looked at each other with eyes filled with fighting intent.
Aside from one middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert, the rest of these people were all at the rank 4 of the Spirit realm.
The middle rank 5 Spirit realm cultivator had an arrogant expression as he stared at the people around him, and with a look that was filled with pride, he was the first one to step out of the teleportation circle as he left the Survival Gate''s hall.
Soon, everyone else, including Shun Long and Liu Mei, walked up, as they stood on top of the gigantic teleportation circle in the middle of the hall.
Seeing that everyone was standing inside the circle, the employees of the House of Rankings covered the edges of the huge circle with more than 5000 middle-grade spirit stones, before they slowly backed away.
The runes inside the giant circle lit up and seemed to have magically connected with the middle-grade spirit stones around them.
As the runes of the circle lit up, the power inside them was actually increasing with every passing second, while the l.u.s.ter of the middle-grade spirit stones had started to dim rapidly in response.
It looked like the runes themselves were extracting the power from the middle-grade spirit stones, when suddenly, the familiar feeling of spatial teleportation covered Shun Long''s body.
And yet, this feeling was somehow different from when Shun Long opened a space tear by himself.
Looking at Liu Mei next to him who was holding his left hand, Shun Long smiled, before his vision suddenly turned dark.
A bright golden light erupted from therge circle beneath his feet, as Shun Long could feel his body traveling through space.
A few momentster Shun Long opened his eyes, as he found himself on top of a small mountain, with arge and lush forest below.
The forest spanned as far as Shun Long''s eyes could see, while the roars of angry magic beasts resounded in the distance.
After taking a look around him, Shun Long noticed that Liu Mei had disappeared from his side, but he had already expected that as well.
It was only natural that they would be split up after arriving in this ce.
Among the cries of the magic beasts however, Shun Long also heard the sounds of swords shing, just a few hundred meters away from the mountain he was standing on.
The auras of 2 rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators fighting with each other could be felt even from 5 miles away, let alone a few hundred meters.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he jumped down from the mountain as he entered inside the forest, heading towards the sound of the fight.
Chapter 243 - 243 Gathering ranking points
Chapter 243 - 243 Gathering ranking points
Shun Long was running through the forest as he headed towards the source of the fight.
Around 500 meters away from him, he could see trees being cut down one after the other, as the people who were fighting, headed towards the opposite direction of him.
Hastening his speed, Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', before he activated the ''Gale steps''.
Once the Mystic high-grade martial skill was activated, his feet turned blurry while his speed turned twice as fast as before.
Barely 30 breaths of timeter, Shun Long had climbed on top of a tree, as the scene of the fighting appeared in his eyes.
Inside the forest, trees andrge rocks were destroyed one by one, as a young man in blue robes was being chased by a young woman who seemed to be in her middle 20s.
The young man was actually at the early rank 3 in the Spirit realm, while the young woman had already reached the middle of rank 3.
Waving her green sword in the air, she repeatedly shed at the young man, chasing after him without giving him a moment to rest.
And yet, the young woman seemed to have been toying with the young man, as her sword missed him by a single hair''s breadth every time.
It seemed as if the young woman wasn''t trying to win, but was trying to y around with the blue-robed man, the same way that a cat would y with a mouse.
Shun Long watched, as a look of hatred appeared in the young man''s eyes, as he looked at the young woman in front of him, before he waved his hand and a golden medallion appeared on it.
The woman''s eyes narrowed when she saw that the blue-robed young man wanted to escape, and her feet hurriedly kicked the ground, while her sword was stabbing towards his chest.
The young man however, had enough time to inject his qi inside the golden medallion of the ''House of Rankings'', as a golden light covered his body.
His body turned illusory and disappeared on the spot, leaving the young woman staring at his disappearing silhouette with a dumbfounded expression.
A golden light had appeared from the man''s medallion before he had escaped, as it headed towards the young woman''s small chest.
The young woman had no time to dodge, as the lightnded on her body.
Her robes on her chest started to lit up, as the medallion that she was carrying in her bosom started to glow with a bright light.
Her left hand reached inside her robes, entering between her b.r.e.a.s.ts, as she took out her golden medallion from there, that was now shining with the number 2.
Shun Long smiled when he saw the 2 ranking points in the woman''s medallion, before he jumped from the tree, swiftlynding on the ground in front of the young woman.
''''Who is it?''''
The young woman asked almost reflexively, when she saw that someone had appeared in front of her, without her even noticing it.
Even more surprising to her, was that she couldn''t sense Shun Long''s cultivation.
Unless it was an early rank 4 Spirit realm expert whom she was facing, the woman should have been able to sense her opponent''s cultivation.
Of course, since Shun Long had retracted his aura earlier, the young woman and the blue-robed young man had no chance of detecting him... unless they had developed their soul sense of course.
Seeing the woman take a step back, Shun Long had a smile on his face, before he once again circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and activated the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, while at the same time, a blue-colored light had also covered him.
Since this was apetition where one could win, only as long as they defeated their opponents or sent them to retreat, Shun Long wasn''t nning on wasting any time with this woman.
A scornful look appeared on the young woman''s face when she finally sensed Shun Long''s cultivation, before she exhaled a sigh of relief
''''Just an early rank 1 Spirit realm.''''
At the same time, anger had also appeared on her face, when she realized that she had been duped by the young man in front of her
''''I was actually afraid of an early rank 1 Spirit realm kid?''''
The woman then ran towards Shun Long, hacking her green sword at him with a twisted smile on her face.
Shun Long didn''t seem to have paid any attention to the woman''s expression however, as he simply pointed forward with his right hand.
His qi started gathering in his forefinger, as sparks of lightning started to appear on it at the same time.
A mocking smile was formed on the young woman''s lips, as her sword aimed to pierce through Shun Long''s chest.
Before her sword could connect with Shun Long however, a sudden bolt of thunder exploded from Shun Long''s finger.
The sound of thunder booming sounded in the sky, while a powerful lightning bolt headed towards the young woman''s head.
Horror had filled the woman''s eyes, as she hurriedly retracted her sword to defend from Shun Long''s ''thunderbolt finger''.
She barely had enough time to retract her hand and defend her head, as her green sword lit up with a bright blue light, before it collided with Shun Long''s bolt of thunder.
BOOOM
The young woman felt a numbing pain on her hand, barely being able to hold on to her sword, as the web of her hand between her thumb and her forefinger split apart, while lightning invaded her body.
The terrifying bolt of thunder sent the woman flying backwards for more than 100 meters, destroying many tree branches in the process, until her body collided with arge tree.
The look of horror in the young woman''s eyes deepened as she stared at the handsome young man in the distance, who was now walking towards her.
She hurriedly grabbed her golden medallion from her chest, and injecting her qi inside it, her body immediately disappeared from the forest.
A golden light appeared from her medallion before the woman disappeared, as it flew towards Shun Long''s.
Holding his medallion in his hand, Shun Long saw the golden light merging in his medallion, as the number 3 appeared on it.
Seeing that there was no one else around him, Shun Long continued deeper inside the forest.
At the same time, next to a vastke near the edge of the forest, a burly young man who was holding a red saber in his hand, was walking towards the white-veiled Liu Mei with a light smile on his face.
Chapter 244 - 244 Liu Meis defeat
Chapter 244 - 244 Liu Mei''s defeat
After sensing that Liu Mei was just at the early rank 1 of the Spirit realm, the young man had no more misgivings fighting against her.
Liu Mei had a grim expression on her face, as she faced the peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert who was slowly walking towards her.
Without hesitating, a ck ball of qi was formed between her hands, while death aura exploded from her body.
The ck ball of light then fell on the ground, as jade white skeletons started to appear from it.
Dozens of skeletons who were holding bone swords, along with ck-armored undead knights had emerged from the ck ball of death qi inrge numbers.
The burly young man instantly halted his steps as he looked at the dozens of undead creatures that were emerging, seemingly out of nowhere.
Although he wasn''t afraid of fighting, the creepy appearance of the creatures in front of him, sent shivers down his spine.
Barely 5 breaths of time had passed, as more than 200 skeletons along with 12 undead knights had now appeared in front of Liu Mei, as they all faced the burly young man opposite to them.
A smirk formed on the burly young man''s face as soon as he sensed the cultivation of the creatures in front of him.
Even though their appearance was certainly scary, these skeletons were still at the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, while the ck-armored knights were barely at the early rank 1 of the Spirit realm.
Holding his red saber, the man started to inject his qi inside it, before he rushed at the skeletons standing in front of him.
The moment that they met the burly man''s attacks, the skeletons were crushed in an instant.
With every sh of his saber, the burly young man would destroy almost 10 skeletons, as he continued to run towards Liu Mei.
Even the ck-armored undead knights who were much stronger than the skeletons, could only block a single attack of the man''s saber before they were destroyed as well.
Liu Mei sighed inwardly when she understood, that the difference between this burly man and her couldn''t be breached.
She had simply been too unlucky this time, meeting with a peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert as soon as they were sent to the challenge grounds.
The skeletons and the undead knights were only able to stall the man for a few breaths of time before he appeared in front of Liu Mei, and with that same smirk on his face, he hacked his saber towards her neck.
It was obvious that he wanted to kill her in one-shot.
Liu Mei however was already holding her medallion, and injecting her qi inside it, a golden light immediately covered her body.
Before the man''s saber could approach her, her body turned into wisps of golden light before it disappeared on the spot.
''''Tsk''''
The young man clicked his tongue when he saw Liu Mei disappearing, when a golden light merged in his medallion, and the number 2 then appeared on it.
The crowd inside the House of Rankings'' main hall was stunned when they saw Liu Mei''s battle.
Although she had lost extremely quickly, the weird creatures that she had summoned had drawn everyone''s attention
''''Who is this person and what kind of monsters were these skeletons?''''
''''Not only the skeletons, but the ck-armored knights as well. I have never seen someone summoning such things before.''''
''''Hmph! So what? In the end she still lost in just a few breaths of time. These creatures are surely extremely weak.''''
As these discussions were taking ce in the main hall of the House of Rankings, the people inside the hall of the Survival Gate were even more surprised, when they saw Liu Mei appearing on top of the giant teleportation circle.
After all, as soon as she appeared, everyone understood that she was actually, just an early rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator.
''''No wonder she lost so quickly!''''
''''Right! Her opponent was Hao Yuan after all! He is already at the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm.''''
Liu Mei didn''t pay much attention to the crowd''s discussions however, as she walked towards the ''Silver-winged panther king'', who was waiting for her and Shun Long inside the hall.
Nobody had dared to go near the peak rank 5 magic beast while Shun Long and Liu Mei were inside the trial.
Although some people''s curiosity had been piqued by Liu Mei''s abilities, in the end, no one approached her, as they continued to watch the survival challenge.
Liu Mei''s eyes lit up as she saw Shun Long appearing in the giant screen of light.
Shun Long didn''t just attract Liu Mei''s attention, but many other people''s as well, as he continued to rake in points at an incredible speed.
No matter whether he met a middle rank 3 Spirit realm expert or a rank 2 one, they were all destroyed in a single move.
Soon, 2 days had gone by, as thest day of the Survival gate''s challenge arrived.
Shun Long had already gathered more than 150 ranking points in these 2 days.,
As for Little ck, he was watching his master with his eyes filled with interest from the ''Stone of Time''.
Since Little ck knew that Shun Long wanted to temper himself, he didn''t inform him of the location of the other participants around him.
By now, the people who were watching thest day of the Survival Gate''s challenge were already certain, that Shun Long was a powerful peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator, if he hadn''t already reached the early rank 4 in the Spirit realm.
Suddenly, the eyes of the crowd in the House of Rankings were filled with excitement, as they watched the scene inside the screen of light.
At the same time, in the sky a few hundred meters in front of him, Shun Long could see a red-haired young man whose body was d in crimson mes, holding a tall, bald man from his neck.
Shun Long could feel that the red-haired man''s aura was at the early rank 4 in the Spirit realm, while the tall bald man''s was only at the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm.
The bald man let out screams of agony as he felt his body getting charred by the crimson mes, while his feet tried to kick the red-haired man''s groin, in an attempt to catch him off guard and escape.
The red-haired man however had a sinister smile on his face, and just before the bald man could catch his golden medallion, the red-haired man suddenly clutched his hand, snapping the bald man''s neck.
A golden light then appeared from the tall, bald man''s medallion, as it entered the red-haired man''s chest.
The red-haired man''s medallion lit up brightly as it absorbed the golden light, and from the previous 103, the ranking points inside it shot all the way up to 139.
At the same time, the red-haired man seemed to have noticed Shun Long''s gaze on him, and with that same sinister smile on his face, he rushed towards his direction like a flying meteor.
Chapter 245 - 245 Fighting a rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator
Chapter 245 - 245 Fighting a rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator
Seeing the red-haired man flying towards Shun Long, the crowd inside the House of Rankings was excited.
People had seen Shun Long gathering many ranking points in thest 2 days, and they knew that he was probably already at the top 5 in this survival test.
As for the red-haired man, now that he had 139 ranking points, he was definitely within the top 10.
Looking at the early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator who was flying towards him, Shun Long didn''t feel any fear.
Instead, he felt excitement as he was ready to test his strength to the fullest.
Even if he wasn''t able to defeat an early rank 4 Spirit realm expert, Shun Long was still confident in fighting against one.
Activating the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', his eyes immediately turned golden, while blue wisps of light appeared inside them as well.
At the same time, he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain'', as the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body in a radius of 200 meters around him.
Although the red-haired man failed to realize it, his speed was reduced by 10 percent as soon as he entered inside Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Actually, it was more urate to say, that the flow of time around the red-haired man, was restricted, and was now flowing 10 percent slower than before.
As soon as he felt Shun Long''s aura at the early rank 1 in Spirit realm, a sneering smile appeared on the red-haired man''s face.
The moment that the red-haired man had arrived just 100 meters away from Shun Long, he clenched his fist before he punched the air in front of him.
The mes around his body seemed to have turned into an enormous me fist, that burned the air itself as it moved towards Shun Long.
Shun Long could feel the temperature around him rising rapidly as the powerful me fist approached closer and closer to his body.
Even with his peak third stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long knew, that he would sustain serious injuries if this me fist connected with his body.
Raising his right hand he then pointed forward, as the qi inside the single ball of qi?that was hovering above his head, was quickly gathered at his forefinger.
Sparks of lightning appeared on his finger, before a sudden bolt of thunder left Shun Long''s body, heading towards the fist of me in the air.
BOOOM
The sound of thunder booming sounded in the sky, before Shun Long''s thunderbolt finger collided directly with the powerful me fist.
A powerful explosion of fire and lightning filled the sky, the moment the thunderbolt finger met with the me fist.
And yet, even though the me fist was halted for a moment, it continued to fly forward, practically devouring the thunderbolt finger.
The red-haired young man was stunned for a moment, after seeing his martial skill being halted in the air by Shun Long''s thunderbolt, but shortly afterwards, a sneering smile had formed on his lips, as he saw the me fist continuing to fly forward.
Although part of the mes had been destroyed when they shed with the ''Thunderbolt finger'', the red-haired man knew, that the power of the me fist was still enough to destroy any peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator.
Shun Long sighed inwardly when he saw the thunderbolt finger being swallowed by the me fist, but he had already expected this oue.
After all, with the power of a single ball of qi while he had just reached the early rank 1 of the Spirit realm, the chances of him contending against an early rank 4 Spirit realm expert were just too slim.
Shun Long then took out the ''Purple Blossom staff'' from the ''Stone of Time'', before a blue light covered his body as he activated the second ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Holding the ''Purple Blossom staff'' from its base, a determined look had filled Shun Long''s eyes, as he allowed the iing me fist to hit his body.
The giant me fist pushed Shun Long''s body to the ground, creating arge crater in the process, while the powerful mes around it had already covered a radius of 50 meters around Shun Long.
When the red-haired young man saw the giant me fist engulfing Shun Long''s body, he exploded inughter, as he waited to hear Shun Long''s screams while he was being burned alive.
At the same time, an expression of fear had appeared in Liu Mei''s face, beneath her white veil, as she watched this scene from the Survival Gate''s hall.
Her nails had dug inside her hands, and yet, she didn''t even seem to have noticed, as she watched the scene in front of her with an anxious expression.
Liu Mei understood, that if Shun Long''s ''Thunderbolt finger'' had failed to deal with an opponent''s attack, then that attack was surely much more terrifying than it looked.
Indeed, even with his early rank 1 Spirit realm qi as a shield, and his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that had reached the peak of the third stage, the moment that the me fist hit his body, Shun Long could feel all of his defenses crumbling rapidly.
And yet, despite the pain that was burning his skin, Shun Long gritted his teeth before he gathered the energy of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' towards his upper body.
Holding the ''Purple Blossom staff'' from its base, Shun Long''s hands burst out with all of his strength, as he threw the staff upwards, towards the red-haired man in the sky.
The me fist had already turned into a mass of mes after hitting the ground, and it didn''t have the power to stop the ''Purple Blossom staff'', that was now flying towards the red-haired man like a javelin.
However, even though the ''Purple Blossom staff'' was still enshrouded by the crimson mes as it traveled through the air, the red-haired young man''s eyes narrowed, almost as if he could see through the mes at the purple-colored staff that was flying towards him.
The crowd in the House of Rankings watched with bated breaths, as crimson mes covered the red-haired young man''s left hand, while his eyes stared at the mes in front of him.
Suddenly, a purple-colored staff shot out from the mes, as it headed towards the red-haired man''s head like an arrow that had just flew out from a cloud of smoke.
The red-haired man smirked as his hand shot forward, ready to meet the ''Purple Blossom staff'' head-on.
At that moment however, Shun Long''s eyes had turned a golden blue color, and even though his body was being badly charred by the mes, he still looked towards the red-haired man''s direction, as 2 words left his mouth
''''Time Prison!''''
Chapter 246 - 246 Terrifying pressure
Chapter 246 - 246 Terrifying pressure
The moment that he muttered these words, an enormous amount of his qi was gathered in Shun Long''s eyes.
Almost two-thirds of his remaining qi were sapped almost instantly, as a bright blue light had filled his golden eyes.
Suddenly, time around the red-haired man was forcefully halted for a single instant, as Shun Long''s gaze had ced him in a time prison.
The red-haired man''s hand had also stopped in mid-air, but that onlysted for a single breath of time, before it once again continued forward.
And yet, this single breath of time was all that Shun Long needed.
In a fight between experts, the slightest mistake could make the difference between victory... and death.
The young man''s eyes were filled with horror when he noticed that his hand that punched forward, had actually been a moment toote.
The purple-colored staff brushed past the red-haired man''s left hand, before it appeared in front of his face.
It wasn''t just the red-haired man who was shocked at this scene. Everyone inside the House of Rankings watched with their mouths agape, as the Purple Blossom staff hit the man''s face directly.
Blood spurted in the air like a fountain, as the young man''s head exploded on the spot.
The discussions and noises inside the House of Rankings instantly died down, as silence permeated the Survival Gate''s hall.
''''Wh-What happened?''''
It wasn''t until a young man''s voice sounded, that everyone in the hall snapped out of their reverie.
Seeing the scene inside the screen of light, where the headless corpse of the red-haired young man was now falling from the sky, the crowd exploded in heated discussions
''''This! What happened to Shi Zhong? His hand was powered up with his mes, ready to punch the purple rod but... he hesitated?..''''
''''HA! What an idiot! Wasn''t Shi Zhong supposed to be a rank 4 Spirit realm expert? What kind of idiot makes a mistake like that?''''
A young man whose body was covered in injuries, couldn''t help mocking loudly when he saw the red-haired Shi Zhong''s death. It was obvious from the tone in his voice, that he was clearly rejoicing in the red-haired man''s death.
However, no one rebuked his statement for a while, until the voice of a young woman at the early rank 2 of the Spirit realm, sounded in everyone''s ears
''''I... I think that this person in blue robes did something to Shi Zhong before he threw his staff.''''
''''Right! He must have done something when he was covered by Shi Zhong''s mes. I''m sure I saw a blue light appearing inside the mes before the staff hit Shi Zhong!''''
''''Of course he did something! Otherwise, Shi Zhong would have never stopped his punch.''''
As the crowd in the Survival Gate''s hall tried to guess what had happened to Shi Zhong, the scene inside the screen of light changed, showing 2 peak rank 3 Spirit realm experts fighting with each other.
After all, there were only a few hours left until the Survival Gate''s challenge finished, making the remaining fights extremely scarce.
Only those who were truly confident in their strength would still roam around the challenge grounds, while the rest would hide, as they wait for the day to end.
At the same time, Shun Long was still covered by the crimson mes, with barely 20 percent of his qi left in his body.
Using the Gale steps, it was as if a gust of wind had appeared beneath his feet, as he quickly appeared a few tens of meters away from his original location.
Without the red-haired man''s support, the crimson mes had already started to die down, but the damage they had done to Shun Long''s body was already immense.
Burn marks had covered his body from head to toe, and even with his peak third stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long still felt pain with every step that he took.
He felt as if his skin was going to be peeled off if he kept walking, as he sat down cross-legged on the ground.
His blue robes had been destroyed almostpletely by now, with barely a few pieces of cloth that were stuck on his body.
Suddenly, a golden light appeared from Shi Zhong''s headless body that had just crashed on the ground, before it shot towards Shun Long.
The light entered his golden medallion and Shun Long saw his ranking points rising rapidly, from the original 158, all the way to 297.
Without paying any more attention to his golden medallion however, Shun Long circted the remaining energy inside his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' to heal his damaged body.
At the same time, he also took out a handful of top-grade rank 4 ''Sun-healing pills'', as well as a stalk of a rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'' from the ''Stone of Time'', before he consumed them directly.
The healing energy from the top-grade ''Sun-healing pills'', along with the powers of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', were restoring his horrifying injuries at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.
As for the ''Dragonblood grass'', it immediately restored the energy that the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had lost, before it brought it back to its peak.
A little more than an hour passed, and almost 90 percent of Shun Long''s injuries had already been healed by now. The burn marks on his body had already disappeared, and as for the rest of his internal injuries, Shun Long estimated that he only needed to half an hour at most, until he was back in perfect condition.
Standing up, he put on a spare blue robe on his body, before he once again sat down to heal the rest of his injuries.
4 hourster, a bright light appeared from his golden medallion,pletely covering Shun Long''s body.
Shun Long once again felt the familiar feeling of spatial teleportation, as his vision turned dark.
A few breaths of timeter, Shun Long opened his eyes, and found himself back on the giant teleportation circle inside the Survival Gate''s hall.
Liu Mei had a bright smile on her face beneath her white veil, once she saw Shun Long appearing to be fine.
Seeing that his injuries had already healed, a feeling of relief spread through Liu Mei''s heart.
After all, Liu Mei had already heard from the crowd earlier, that the red-haired man that Shun Long had fought against, was an early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator.
Shun Long smiled lightly as he walked towards Liu Mei who was waiting for him next to the ck panther, when suddenly a terrifying pressure covered his body.
Little ck''s eyes inside the ''Stone of Time'' had suddenly turned serious when he felt their pressure around Shun Long''s body.
It wasn''t just Shun Long, but everyone else inside the House of Rankings... no... everyone in the entire Heaven''s Dome city could feel a terrifying pressure looming above their heads.
Chapter 247 - 247 Hall master of the Demon Emperor palace
Chapter 247 - 247 Hall master of the Demon Emperor pce
The entire Heaven''s Dome city had fallen silent after this terrifying pressure had descended upon it.
No matter whether it was earth grade cultivators or Dao Kings, everyone could feel the suppressive aura that was now covering their bodies.
Shun Long could feel the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' that had started to circte by itself, as soon as that aura had covered his body, quickly getting rid of this suppressive feeling around him, when Little ck''s serious voice sounded in his head
''''Master! A person has arrived in the sky above the Heaven''s Dome city, and he is stronger than the average peak rank 9 Dao King. Although he hasn''t reached the Dao Emperor realm yet, he is just a step away from it!''''
At the same time that Little ck had exined to Shun Long what he had sensed, 10 people rushed out from 5 different locations of the city, like pirs of light that shot to the sky.
From the northern part of the city, inside the Shengtian dynasty''s pce, the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun, along with his wife Qiao Lifen, rushed out from the pce.
From the east, 2 stunning women of the dark elf race also took to the sky to see who had arrived to the city and dared to cover it all with his peak rank 9 Dao King realm aura.
From the western part of the city, a middle-aged man and an elderly woman flew out from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' headquarters, along with 2 old men from the ''Golden Exchange firm''.
From the south, inside the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' headquarters, the rank 3 gold grade alchemist Zhao Lan and another old man dressed in golden robes both looked at each other for a moment, with a deep look inside their eyes, before they also took to the sky.
The 10 peak experts of the Heaven''s Dome city were now standing in the sky above the Heaven''s Dome city, as they all turned their eyes to look at the person who had arrived.
It was a handsome middle-aged man who seemed to be in his middle 40s, with bright red hair that had the color of blood.
His eyes were a bright crimson color that gave him a devilish charm, while his purple robes that were fluttering in the wind, had the words ''Demon Emperor pce'' on their back.
The man had an unperturbed smile on his face, as he stared at Sheng Jun and the others who had arrived to ''greet him''.
A solemn expression had appeared on Sheng Jun''s face as soon as he saw the middle-aged man, while traces of fear were hidden in the other experts'' eyes.
Seeing that no one else was willing to speak right now, Sheng Jun took a step forward, before his aura of a peak rank 9 Dao King exploded from his body.
Cupping his hands, he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him as he said
''''Hall master Duan Zhu! Is there a reason for your sudden visit to our Heaven''s Dome city? I am sure that hall master Duan Zhu knows, that there are still 3 more years until your Demon Emperor pce is allowed to step foot to the Eastern region.''''
Although the other experts from the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city didn''t speak, they nodded their heads, indicating that they all agreed to Sheng Jun''s words.
After all, the old king of the Shentian dynasty, was definitely among the 3 strongest experts in the entire Night star continent, and he was the only one strong enough to speak to the man in front of them.
The purple-robed Duan Zhu smiled when he heard Sheng Jun''s words, before he said in a calm voice.
''''Sheng Jun, you are wrong. As you all see, it is just me who havee here, and not my Demon Emperor pce. I don''t recall there being a rule, that members of our pce are not allowed toe to the Eastern region.
As long as the Emperor realm experts don''te to your Night star continent, then this so-called rule of yours isn''t broken.
Besides... even if I had broken this so-called rule, what could you do? Which of you is strong enough to fight me?''''
Although Duan Zhu''s voice was calm, there was an unmistakable authority and arrogance in his voice, as if he didn''t even put the old king of the Shengtian dynast in his eyes.
Sheng Jun however didn''t back down after hearing Duan Zhu''s words, and with a serious look in his eyes, he looked at the red-haired man in front of him as he said
''''Hall master Duan Zhu, are you sure you are confident in fighting 10 peak rank 9 Dao Kings by yourself?
No matter what, none of us here will allow you to step foot inside the Heaven''s Dome city!''''
Sheng Jun''s wife, Qiao Lifen nodded her head, before she added
''''Of course, if hall master Duan Zhu wants to test us, we can certainly fight with you in the end. But you should be aware that during a fight, idents are bound to happen.''''
''''HAHAHAHA!''''
Uncontrobleughter left Duan Zhu''s mouth when he heard Qiao Lifen''s words, and narrowing his eyes he looked at her, as he asked in a mocking tone
''''Qiao Lifen, are you threatening me?''''
Seeing that the old queen of the Shengtian dynasty didn''t respond, but simply looked at him seriously, Duan Zhu smiled, as his eyes swept over the other experts of the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city around him, before his gazended on Zhao Lan and the other old man in golden robes from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' as he said
''''10 peak rank 9 Dao Kings? I really wonder if the vassals of the Feng family are even allowed to fight against our Demon Emperor pce. Will the Feng family let you go unpunished if they find out about this?''''
When they heard Duan Zhu''s words, everyone else around them turned their eyes to look at Zhao Lan and the other old man from the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
Zhao Lan was the first one to respond however, and under everyone''s shocked gazes, he lowered his head and took a step back, before he cupped his hands at Duan Zhu and said in a solemn tone
''''Hall master Duan Zhu must be joking. Our ''Alchemists Guild'' wouldn''t dare fight against you.''''
Chapter 248 - 248 Betrayal
Chapter 248 - 248 Betrayal
Everyone was shocked when they heard Zhao Lan''s words.
Although they knew that the Feng family hadn''t allowed the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to interfere, they had still expected Zhao Lan to fight for the Night star continent, even against the orders of the Feng family.
After all, he was a person who had been born and raised in the Night star continent as well, so how could he simply allow the Demon Emperor pce to take it over.
The golden-robed old man next to Zhao Lan didn''t speak, but he also nodded his head, showing that he agreed with Zhao Lan''s words.
When he saw this scene, Duan Zhu exploded inughter as he looked at the 2 rank 3 gold grade alchemists and said
''''Hahahaha! Of course you wouldn''t fight against me. After all, unlike them, you already know how strong the powers of the Central region really are!''''
The old woman from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' looked at Zhao Lan with a look of scorn in her eyes, before she turned her gaze towards Duan Zhu, as she spoke with a serious look
''''Hall master Duan, even without these 2 spineless worms, I can assure you that the 8 of us are more than sufficient to fight against you.
No matter how strong you are, don''t tell me that you really believe, that you can fight against 8 peak rank 9 Dao Kings by yourself.
Perhaps you can show us how strong your Demon Emperor pce''s ''Blood Palm'' really is.''''
Duan Zhu''s eyes narrowed when he heard the words of the elderly woman from the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
A mocking look had appeared on his face as he stared at her, before he turned his attention towards the 2 women of the Dark elf race. as he then smiled and asked
''''Are you going toe here or not?''''
Everyone else, including the old woman from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', as well as Sheng Jun and his wife, had suddenly turned their attention to the 2 beautiful women of the dark elf race.
Under everyone''s shocked gazes, the 2 stunning women both smiled seductively at Duan Zhu, before they flew to his side.
A look of fear, as well as shock and disbelief, had covered the old woman''s face, as she stared at the scene in front of her.
Even after opening her mouth a few times, the words that she wanted to say just wouldn''te out.
Surprisingly, the first person who spoke was Qiao Lifen, as she looked at the 2 women next to Duan Zhu and asked with an incredulous expression
''''Yi Huian, Yi Xiaosi, are you certain that you want to do this? If you betray us, not only will you be enemies with the entire Heaven''s Dome city, but your dark elf race won''t be spared either.''''
The red-haired Yi Huian looked at Qiao Lifen with a derisive look in her eyes, as she then asked
''''Enemies with the entire Heaven''s Dome city? Do you think that your Shengtian dynasty is strong enough to dere something like that? And even if you were strong enough in the past, can you say the same now that lord Duan Zhu is here?''''
Qiao Lifen wanted to rebuke the beautiful red-haired dark elf, when she felt Sheng Jun''s hand holding her back.
It seemed as if Sheng Jun''s old eyes had just been enlightened, as he looked at the 2 women next to Duan Zhu, before he said in a calm voice
''''It seems that your dark elf race has been nning this for a long time.
This is probably the reason why you wanted us all to go to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' together and advance to its core region... since you were traitors all along.
I suppose that this also why you were against having the younger generation of our continent gather in the ''Heaven''s Dome city''. After all, as long as one of them enters the Holy sect, then the Demon Emperor pce will not be able to act wildly here right?''''
Everyone was stunned when they heard Sheng Jun''s deduction.
DIdn''t this mean that the Demon Emperor pce knew of all their ns from the start?
At the same time, cold sweat had formed on the other experts'' heads, when they thought of what would have happened if they had agreed to explore the core regions of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' together with the 2 women of the dark elf race.
With 2 traitors guarding their backs, who knew how many of them would have survived in that case.
As everyone turned their eyes to Yi Huian, the second beautiful dark elf, Yi Xiaosi, looked at the people around her with contempt, before her eyes were focused on Sheng Jun.
Looking at the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, she then said in a calm tone
''''Sheng Jun, you are the only one who is somewhat smart among these people.
However, the reason that we wanted you to go to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' wasn''t to kill you. It was so you could scout the path ahead for lord Duan Zhu.
After all, even for lord Duan Zhu, traveling to the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' will still hold some dangers. It''s indeed unfortunate that you refused in the end.
As for your second ''deduction'' however, you arepletely mistaken.
The reason that Huian was against gathering every strong, talented person in the Heaven''s Dome city, is because it was a pointless thing to do.
No matter how many people gather, none of them will pass the Holy sect''s test.
After all, in all these years, how many people from the Night star continent have survived and passed through the fourth test to be official disciples of the sect?''''
Ignoring the shocked looks on the Dao Kings faces, Duan Zhu looked at the elderly woman from the ''Mercenaries Association'', and in a voice that oozed with confidence and arrogance he said
''''Your name is Shao Wenqian or something isn''t it? Do you still want to fight with me? Come then!''''
Chapter 249 - 249 Duan Zhus recruitment
Chapter 249 - 249 Duan Zhu''s recruitment
After seeing Duan Zhu''s overbearing attitude, the elderly woman, Shao Wenqian gritted her teeth before she turned to look at Sheng Jun, as she waited for his answer.,
As long as he agreed, she would be the first to fight against the hall master of the Demon Emperor pce.
Sheng Jun seemed to have fallen silent for a moment as he looked at the hall master of the Demon Emperor pce, but in the end, he shook his head in response.
It was indeed too risky to fight against Duan Zhu right now.
If they were 8 against 1, then Sheng Jun wouldn''t have hesitated in the slightest, but the betrayal of the 2 women from the dark elf race hadpletely tipped the scales of the battle.
After all, as a hall master of the Demon Emperor pce, Duan Zhu had ess to much stronger cultivation techniques and martial skills than the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city.
There were rumors that the most famous technique of the Demon Emperor pce, the Blood palm, was even a Saint high-grade martial skill.
Even though Sheng Jun was one of the 3 strongest Dao Kings in the entire Night star continent, even he couldn''t say with certainty that he could hold down Duan Zhu by himself.
Shao Wenqian and the rest shook their heads when they saw Shen Jun''s reaction, but they all understood what this meant.
In a fight where the winner and the loser weren''t clearly certain, Sheng Jun wouldn''t risk fighting with Duan Zhu to death.
Besides, even if they somehow managed to kill Duan Zhu, or just repel him from the ''Heaven''s Dome city'', wouldn''t the Demon Emperor pce send other peak rank 9 Dao Kings to the Night star continent?
Seemingly as if he had guessed Sheng Jun''s thoughts, Duan Zhu smiled as he nodded his head at him.
Then, after taking a deep breath, under Sheng Jun''s and the other peak Dao Kings astounded eyes, Duan Zhu suddenly opened his mouth, as his loud, deep voice sounded in every corner of the Heaven''s Dome city
''''People of the Heaven''s Dome city!
My name is Duan Zhu and I am a hall master of an Emperor realm force, the Demon Emperor pce!
My Demon Emperor pce is a power much stronger than any other in your Night star continent, and I havee here today, to offer you all a chance.
For the next 5 days, I will be staying in the dark elf race''s pce. Those of you who are below 800 years old and have reached thete stages of the Spirit realm, cane to the dark elf race and apply to be outer disciples of my Demon Emperor pce.
This is your chance toe to the central region, the strongest ce in the world!
This is the ce where all the peak experts of the world gather after all.
If you don''t want to stay as pathetic worms of the Night star continent for the rest of your lives, this is your chance.''''
Duan Zhu''s words didn''t just shock the entire Heaven''s Dome city. Even the 10 peak rank 9 Dao Kings around him were stunned when they heard this.
Was he trying to steal away the younger generation of the Night star continent?
Duan Zhu however, didn''t seem to care at all about the furious expressions of the people around him, and cing his hands around Yi Huian''s and Yi Xiaosi''s waists, heughed loudly before he headed towards the eastern part of the Heaven''s Dome city, where the pce of the dark elf race was situated.
At the same time, inside the House of Rankings,plete silence had filled the ce, after everyone had heard Duan Zhu''s voice that had resounded throughout the entire city.
Even after the horrifying aura that was suppressing them earlier had disappeared, no one seemed to be moving, looking like they had been rooted in ce.
Even Shun Long was stunned for a moment after he had heard Duan Zhu''s voice. However, it only took a moment for him to regain his rity, as his eyes were once again focused on Liu Mei and the ck panther.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long was the first person to break the silence in the Survival Gate''s hall, as he started walking towards Liu Mei.
Seeing someone else move, the people inside the hall instantly returned to their senses, as shocked discussions of what had just happened immediately filled the room.
It wasn''t just the crowd inside the House of Rankings, but everyone in the entire Heaven''s Dome city, were now discussing about that terrifying aura that had covered them a few seconds ago, as well as the voice of the hall master of the Demon Emperor pce.
After all, this was something that had never happened before, and could change people''s lives.
Young people from all over the Heaven''s Dome city who had reached thete stages of the Spirit realm, could be seen running towards the eastern part of the city.
Ignoring the heated discussions of the crowd around them, Shun Long and Liu Mei sat on the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' back, as they left the House of Rankings. Since he wasn''t nning on participating in another Survival challenge right away, Shun Long had no reason to keep staying in the House of Rankings any longer.
As they were heading back to the inn, Liu Mei''s eyes stared at Shun Long''s back, as her sweet voice that was filled with curiosity sounded in his ears
''''Long-ge, will there be many people who will try to enter that Demon Emperor pce? After all, the voice of that hall master even said, that they are more powerful that any other power in the Night star continent.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long turned his head to the side to look at Liu Mei, and with a serious voice he said
''''You are right, Mei''er. There will certainly be a lot of people who will try to enter that Demon Emperor pce. However, it looks like there is even more to this situation than what meets the eye!''''
Chapter 250 - 250 Refining the rank 4 internal reconstruction pill
Chapter 250 - 250 Refining the rank 4 internal reconstruction pill
Seeing the confused expression on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long then continued
''''It looks like the things happening in the Heaven''s Dome city right now, are much moreplex than they originally seemed to be.
First, the geniuses from all over the Night star continent started gathering in the city in droves. This was certainly connected to the Holy sect''s test that Zhao Lan and Jin Wenling mentioned in the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.
In addition, considering the scale of this recruitment, there is no way that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' could pull this off without help. The other powers of the Heaven''s Dome city are definitely involved in this as well.
There must have been a very important reason that would make the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city gather the geniuses from all over the continent to the city, and have thempete with each other.
However, this hall master from the Demon Emperor pce, now came from the central region and is practically ruining their ns.
After all, if the peak powers from the Heaven''s Dome city have agreed to send their disciples to participate in the Holy sect''s test 3 years from now, and considering the aggressive behavior which this Duan Zhu person came with, there is practically no chance that they have suddenly agreed to send everyone to the Demon Emperor pce instead.
The most usible chance is, that the Demon Emperor pce isn''t on good terms with the powers from the Night star continent, and by offering to take the strong people of the younger generation in their sect, they are both weakening the Night star continent, as well as strengthening their own sect at the same time.''''
After hearing Shun Long''s deduction, both Liu Mei, as well as Little ck inside the ''Stone of Time'', nodded their heads simultaneously.
Indeed, as long as one knew about the Holy sect''s test that was taking ce 3 years from now, then Shun Long''s deduction could very well be true.
A few minutester, Shun Long and Liu Mei had arrived in their courtyard.
Looking at the ck panther, Shun Long smiled as he took out more than 10 stalks of rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'' from the ''Stone of Time''.
After smelling the ''Dragonblood grass'', the ''Silver-winged panther king'' started to salivate, like a kid that had seen its favorite food.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long gave the 10 stalks of grass to the panther, who started munching them in excitement, before he and Liu Mei entered their room.
After entering inside the room, Shun Long and Liu Mei both took a shower together, before they spent the next 3 hours in arduous dual cultivation.
On the bed, Liu Mei''s exhausted, n.a.k.e.d body was lying on top of Shun Long''s, and with a gentle smile on her face, she said
''''Long-ge, I think that I am too weak to participate in the survival challenge just yet.''''
With a curious expression on his face, Shun Long then asked
''''What happened? Did you get eliminated early in the survival challenge?''''
Liu Mei pouted as she narrated to Shun Long, how she had been unlucky enough to meet with a peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator, as soon as she had arrived in the trial grounds.
Seeing that Shun Long startedughing when she finished recounting her experience, Liu Mei pouted even further.
Shun Long smiled instead, when he saw Liu Mei''s reaction. This was an expression on her face that he hadn''t seen before.
However, he also knew that Liu Mei''s words made sense. Although she probably had a chance if she were to fight against an early rank 2 Spirit realm cultivator, against a peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert, it was only natural for her to lose.
After handing a few bottles of pills that were filled with top-grade rank 4 ''Spirit enhancing pills'' to Liu Mei, Shun Long closed his eyes, as he once again returned to the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time''.
Now that he had entered the Spirit realm, Shun Long already knew that he could no longer blindly advance his cultivation, by simply absorbing the pure qi from the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
His spirit sense had to advance along with his cultivation as well, all in preparation for the Nascent Soul stage.
Little ck had already exined to Shun Long, that the stronger one''s spirit sense was before their breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, the bigger the benefits they would obtain after breaking through.
There were countless things that Nascent Soul experts could do, that Spirit realm cultivators were unable to.
This included taking over someone''s body after they were killed, using their powerful soul to search the soul of other cultivators and many more.
Entering the Nascent Soul stage was practically the same thing as having a second life.
However, the most pressing matter to Shun Long right now, was to first refine the rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill'', and enter the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
After sitting down cross-legged, Shun Long took out the 3 main medicinal ingredients from the herb garden, along with more than a dozen rank 3 herbs, and his rank 2 silver grade cauldron.
After warming up the cauldron, he added in the rank 4 ''Spirit cleansing fruit'', the ''White spirit lotus'' and the ''Purple wind ice fruit'' inside, all at the same time.
Even with his powerful spirit sense that had reached the same level as a weak soul sense, Shun Long still found it hard to refine these 3 rank 4 medicinal herbs together.
Seeing the 3 rare rank 4 medicinal herbs being slowly refined inside the cauldron, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''Although this is harder than normal, it is the only way to merge perfectly the ''Spirit cleansing fruit'' and the ''Purple wind ice fruit'' with the ''White spirit lotus''!
Half an hourter, the ''White spirit lotus'' had turned into a pure white liquid, before Shun Long started adding in the rank 3 medicinal herbs inside the cauldron.
More than an hour passed like this, when the ''Spirit cleansing fruit'' had finally started to turn into a pure liquid of orange essence as well.
Seeing that the orange essence of the ''Spirit cleansing fruit'' was about to merge with the pure white liquid of the ''White spirit lotus'', Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
The moment that the indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from his body, time inside the cauldron was immediately halted.
Seeing the swirling liquids inside the cauldron that were stopped in ce, Shun Long didn''t hesitate, as he started to increase the temperature of his qi me, in order to refine the ''Purple wind ice fruit'', as well as the rank 3 medicinal herbs at the same time.
An incense stick of timeter, the rank 4 ''Purple wind ice fruit'' had turned into a sparkling purple liquid, that merged together with the green-colored essence of the rank 3 herbs.
Retracting the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long allowed the time inside the cauldron to flow normally once again.
The moment that the invisible hourss figure had returned inside Shun Long''s body, the 3 liquids reacted together as they tried to merge with each other at the same time.
Beads of sweat had appeared on Shun Long''s forehead, as he used his spirit sense to control the situation inside the cauldron.
The 3 medicinal essences were being grinded against the cauldron itself, while they were being slowly merged into one at the same time.
Finally, a full hour passed like this, as Shun Long''s qi mes were extinguished while a strong medicinal scent erupted from the cauldron.
Little ck''s eyes lit up when he smelled the medicinal fragrance in the air.
Even for the early rank 6 ck dragon, the medicinal fragrance had a calming effect on his mind.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long opened the lid of the cauldron, where a single purple-colored pill could be seen inside.
Chapter 251 - 251 Consuming the internal reconstruction pill
Chapter 251 - 251 Consuming the ''internal reconstruction pill''
It was a single purple-colored pill with white and orange lines on it.
''''Top-grade rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill''.''''
Holding the pill in his hand, Shun Long could clearly feel the powerful energy hidden inside it.
The energy inside the pill was not only potent, but it even gave Shun Long a sense of fatal danger at the same time.
And yet, Shun Long knew, that he had to consume this ''internal reconstruction pill'' in order to breakthrough to the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
After all, the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was different than most other body refinement techniques.
After sitting cross-legged on the ground, Shun Long calmed his mind, before he looked at the top-grade rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill'' in his hand.
He barely hesitated for a single moment, before his eyes turned serious, as he consumed the purple-colored pill.
The moment that the pill entered Shun Long''s mouth, it turned into a puddle of scorching purple liquid.
After circting the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long felt endless amounts of pain filling his mind.
Almost as if guided by the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', the purple-colored energy from the ''internal reconstruction pill started to seep through every nook and cranny of Shun Long''s body.
''''AHHHHHHHHHHHHH''''
Shun Long roared in pain once he felt his organs being destroyed one by one.
The ''internal reconstruction pill''s'' energy, was akin to hotva that was destroying his insides, and once this process had started, it couldn''t be stopped.
Little ck watched Shun Long from the side with pain inside his blue eyes, but he knew that this was something that his master had to go through.
Having his blood slowly burned and purified, again and again, was a kind of pain that would make most people wish that they were already dead.
Although Shun Long had felt pain countless times in the past, only the pain from the ''Golden book''s'' soul expansion coulde close to the pain that he was feeling right now.
After his blood, Shun Long could feel his meridians and his internal organs soon following suit, as they were destroyed almost instantly from the ''internal reconstruction pill''s'' violent energy.
His heart, his liver, and even his brain followed, along with his bones, and in the end his skin.
Having the heart or the brain destroyed would have meant absolute death for any cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage, but the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' still kept Shun Long alive under all this painful torture.
Little ck''s had originally a nonchnt look in his eyes, but when he saw Shun Long''s body turning into a pool of blood, without even his bones staying intact, the ck dragon''s heart started beating erratically.
The only reason that Little ck could still stay somewhat calm, was because he could sense that Shun Long hadn''t died yet.
Time passed like this, and soon, more than a month had gone by.
In this past month, Little ck had watched Shun Long''s body being reformed and destroyed time after time.
However, what Little ck didn''t know, was that Shun Long wasn''t just feeling physical pain.
Instead, countless scenes had shed through his mind one by one.
The first, was when he was an orphan back on earth.
Countless other orphans had surrounded him, as they called out ''brother Rock''! Come y with us!
Shun Long could clearly remember that these children had all died of malnutrition. These were the children who couldn''t even feed themselves, and couldn''t do any physicalbor either.
And yet, seeing the pitiful look in the children''s eyes, Shun Long simply closed his eyes in response, as the illusion in front of him was shattered.
The scene in front of Shun Long changed once again, but this time, it was even more real than before.,
He found himself back inside the Shun estate, in the ''Blue Forest city'' of the ''Sky Fortune kingdom''.
He could feel that he wasn''t a Spirit realm cultivator this time, but just an earth grade one.
Shun Fang and Shun An were both standing in front of him, with Liu Mei next to them.
Shun Long watched his father, who still had that gentle smile on his face as he looked at his son.
Shun Long could also feel Shun An''s warm hands when she hugged him, as she looked at him with tears in her eyes and said
''''Long''er, stay with us! Why do you have to go and risk your life?''''
He could practically feel his mother''s worry as she looked at him.
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long saw the loving look in her eyes, as she looked back at him.
And yet, after closing his eyes, Shun Long could also remember Shun Fang''s look that was filled with pride, when he had entered the imperial pce to participate in the ''floating cloud sect''s'' test.
After all, in this world which father didn''t want his son to be a supreme expert?
Shun Long remembered the look in his mother''s eyes, when she had said that Shun Fang had be a Duke in the ''Sky Fortune kingdom''.
Shun Long also knew about Liu Mei''s regret, and her goal of taking her mother from the ''floating cloud sect''.
Besides, how could he let Little ck down like that?
He still had to be strong enough in order to search for Little ck''s true origins, as well as find out more things about the ''Stone of Time''.
The illusion in front of him once again shattered, as Shun Fang''s, Shun An''s, and Liu Mei''s figures started to be blurry until they disappeared from his sight.
However, after opening his eyes, Shun Long hadn''t returned to the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time'', but instead, he found himself in an entirely unfamiliar ce.
More than 10.000 golden armored warriors were standing in front of him, all of them kneeling down on one knee.
Shun Long was wearing a golden armor and was holding a ck spear in his right hand, as he stared at the 10.000 warriors below him, while he was riding on Little ck''s back.
Chapter 252 - 252 Breaking through to the fourth stage
Chapter 252 - 252 Breaking through to the fourth stage
As he stared at the 10.000 warriors who were kneeling on one knee, a single name had suddenly appeared in Shun Long''s mind
''Heaven Trampling legion!''
However, this scene in front of him onlysted for a single moment, before Shun Long felt a sharp pain piercing his mind.
The golden-armored warriors, Shun Long''s ck spear, and the hundred meters tall Little ck all shattered in front of his eyes, as they disappeared in an instant.
Shun Long could feel his vision turning dark, before he found himself back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
However, Shun Long didn''t have any time to ponder over the scene he had just witnessed, as he suddenly felt his mind entering a special state.
Under Little ck''s shocked eyes, Shun Long''s body that had turned into a pool of blood, and hadn''t healed once in thest 7 days, was now being reformed at an incredible speed.
Shun Long''s blood, his meridians, his internal organs, his bones, and finally, his skin were once again recreated, but this time, something was different.
Little ck could clearly feel, that Shun Long''s blood was much more powerful than before, his meridians were thicker than thest time, while his bones were now emitting a bright light.
It took less than 10 breaths of time, for Shun Long''s body to bepletely reformed.
Although Shun Long''s appearance was the same as before, Little ck could feel that something had changed.
After closing his eyes, the ck dragon finally understood what it was.
It was a form of natural aura that wasing from Shun Long''s body.
Although it was somewhat faint, after being with Shun Long for so long, Little ck could instantly sense the difference in his aura.
At the same time, as his body was reformed, Shun Long closed his eyes before he sat cross-legged on the ground.
He could feel that the space around him was different this time.
It felt as if an invisible fabric was hugging his body, and that if he stretched his hand outwards, he would be able to touch it.
Shun Long had unknowingly entered a state of enlightenment, and he could sense the Dao of Space around him, even more clearly than before.
Although his body had already been reformed with the ''internal reconstruction pill'', withoutprehending the Dao of Space even further, it was impossible to enter the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
With his eyes closed, Shun Long raised his right hand in front of him as he mumbled to himself
''''Space... isn''t something truly ethereal. If I close my eyes, I can feel it around me.
If I stretch my hand, I can even touch it.
....If I sh at it, I can tear it apart!''''
Little ck''s eyes widened when he sensed the violent space ripples around Shun Long''s body.
Multiple space tears had appeared around Shun Long, as they constantly distorted the space around him.
And yet, Shun Long simply sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, as if he hadn''t noticed anything.
With every passing moment, Shun Long''sprehension of the Dao of Space deepened even further.
More than a month passed like this, before the space tears around Shun Long finally started to disappear one by one.
And yet, the energy inside his body was now rising without showing any signs of stopping.
Shun Long could feel that the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was circting inside him, as it absorbed the potent energy from the top-grade rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill'', pushing the energy of his body to the limits.
A few momentster, Shun Long had reached the absolute peak of the third stage in body refinement, when his body suddenly exploded with a powerful burst of energy.
''''Fourth stage of body refinement!''''
Shun Long knew that he had finally entered the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
And yet, the energy inside his body didn''t seem to diminish in the slightest.
Instead, Shun Long could feel a burning pain in his internal organs, as the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' continued to absorb the almost endless energy from the ''internal reconstruction pill''.
2 months had passed for Shun Long inside the ''Stone of Time'', but barely a week had gone by in the Heaven''s Dome city.
During this time, Duan Zhu''s recruitment had shaken the entire Heaven''s Dome city.
More than 2000te-stage Spirit realm cultivators had already gone to the east of the city, to the dark elf race''s pce, in order to register themselves to be disciples of the Demon Emperor pce.
The name of the Demon Emperor pce had now spread throughout the Night star continent like wildfire, and even more people were now heading towards the Heaven''s Dome city from all over the continent.
Inside the majestic pce of the Shentian dynasty at the northern part of the city, aside from the 2 stunning dark elf women, Yi Huian and Yi Xiaosi, 2 representatives from every other peak power of the city, were now sitting inside a secret room, in front of arge table.
Even Zhao Lan and the other rank 3 gold grade alchemist from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' were present, but they stayedpletely silent, not even daring to raise their heads.
Sitting at the head of the table, Sheng Jun opened his eyes, and looking at the people around him, he said, in his sonorous, old voice
''''You all know why we have gathered here today so let''s not waste any time. There is also no reason to me Zhao Lan and Kang Daiyu either.
Since they were groomed by the Feng family, it was within expectations that they wouldn''t dare to fight against the Demon Emperor pce.
What we need to do right now, is to find a way to stop the Demon Emperor pce''s recruitment.
More than 2000te-stage Spirit realm cultivators from our Night star continent, have already gathered in the dark elf race''s pce during the past week in order to enter the Demon Emperor pce.''''
Surprisingly, the first person to speak was the middle-aged man from the ''Mercenaries'' Association.
His eyes had been focused on the 2 alchemists of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', before he turned his attention to Sheng Jun.
Then, with a serious look on his face, he said
''''Old man Sheng, I heard that Duan Zhu left the dark elf pce yesterday, and headed towards the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' by himself! Now that he has left the Heaven''s Dome city, who can stop us from destroying the dark elf race?''''
Chapter 253 - 253 Handling the situation
Chapter 253 - 253 Handling the situation
Seeing that he had attracted everyone''s attention, the middle-aged man from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' then continued
''''Think about it, the only reason that Duan Zhu could recruit people so openly, was because he was using the dark elf pce as his base. With one of the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city under hismand, it was only natural for people to follow him.
Now that he has left to enter the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' however... we can take this chance to destroy the traitors of the dark elf race!
Not only will that deter people and stop them from entering the Demon Emperor pce, but we can also take care of the traitors at the same time!''''
Silence permeated the room as soon as the middle-aged man''s words ended.
A few momentster, one of the 2 old men from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' stood up, and with his deep ck eyes, he looked at the middle-aged man from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', before he shook his head and said
''''Teng Hanying, your suggestion will not work.''''
Sigh
''''I suppose that in the end, you are simply too youngpared to the rest of us here.''''
After taking a deep breath, the old man from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' straightened his hunched back, and with a deep look in his eyes that had failed to conceal his fear, he continued
''''Do you think that Duan Zhu would have entered the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', without considering that we may take revenge while he is gone?
He is not afraid of us attacking the dark elves... instead, he actually hopes that we willpletely destroy them!
This will provide him with the perfect excuse to attack each of us directly.''''
Seeing that the middle-aged Teng Hanying was still confused, the old man from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' shook his head once again as he continued
''''Since everyone in the continent already knows that the dark elf race has surrendered to the Demon Emperor pce, if we destroy them, we will provide the Demon Emperor pce with the perfect setting to take revenge.
Not only will they have an excuse to destroy each of us here, but they will also be avenging their subordinates at the same time, raising their prestige in the continent even further, and attracting even more people to join them.
If the Demon Emperor pce sends all of their hall masters to the Night star continent, then forget about our Heaven''s Dome city, our entire Night star continent may be unable to gather enough peak Dao Kings to fight them head-on.''''
Teng Hanying''s eyes bulged out when he heard the old man''s words.
Although he knew that the Demon Emperor pce was a terrifying behemoth that had even powerful Dao Emperor realm experts residing inside it, hearing that just its hall masters by themselves, were enough to fight against all of the peak experts in the continent, made him swallow down his next words while a look of horror had filled his eyes.
He had originally thought, that as long as no Emperor realm expert arrived, then if enough peak Dao Kings gathered in the Heaven''s Dome city, they could fight against the peak Dao Kings from the Demon Emperor pce with ease.
At most, they would have to send some supremely powerful experts like Sheng Jun to tie down the strongest of the enemy Dao Kings.
But the old man''s words hadpletely shattered his hopes.
With a dejected look on his face, Teng Hanying sat down on his seat before he lowered his head.
Silence filled the room once again, before the elderly woman, Shao Wenqian cleared her throat, attracting everyone''s attention.
After taking a deep breath, she looked at the people around her before she said in a solemn tone
''''Although Hanying''s idea wasn''t the best, in reality, it was still a step in the right direction.
After all, if we don''t find a way to stop this situation from worsening any further, all of you know what will happen.
I would rather die fighting than allowing that bunch of vampires to pollute our Night star continent in the first ce!
After all, the more people they take, the more monsters they create!''''
Sheng Jun sighed when he heard Shao Wenqian''s words, but in the end, he didn''t say anything in the end.
After all, he knew that Shao Wenqian''s words weren''t wrong.
At the same time that this discussion was taking ce inside the Shengtian dynasty''s pce, Shun Long kept absorbing the energy from the ''internal reconstruction pill'' in his body.
Even though he had already reached the early fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', the limitless energy from the top-grade rank 4 pill was like a giant river.
Shun Long could feel his muscles and bones growing tougher and stronger, as the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' kept absorbing the pill''s energy.
2 more months passed like this inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', when Shun Long felt himself reaching the peak of the early fourth stage in body refinement.
He could feel that he was just a step away from entering the middle of the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', but the energy from the ''internal reconstruction pill'' had finally been depleted.
Shun Long wasn''t dissatisfied that he hadn''t entered the middle of the fourth stage in body refinement this time.
Instead, he could feel that his body was filled with endless amounts of energy, while hisprehension of the Dao of Space was simply iparable to before.
After putting on his blue-colored robes, Shun Long stood up, and without any hesitation, he clenched his right fist before he sent a powerful punch forward.
Space around Shun Long''s body trembled, while arge space tear more than 2m(6.6ft) long had appeared in front of him.
Little ck''s azure eyes lit up when he saw Shun Long''s punch, but suddenly, his expression changed.
Shun Long''s expression had also turned serious at the same time as Little ck''s, and without a moment''s hesitation, he immediately closed his eyes as he appeared back inside the room of the inn.
Chapter 254 - 254 The black panthers breakthrough
Chapter 254 - 254 The ck panther''s breakthrough
The moment that he appeared in the room, Shun Long didn''t hesitate, as he opened the door and rushed out in an instant.
In the courtyard outside the room, Liu Mei was looking at the ck panther from a distance, as powerful waves of energy were being emitted from the panther''s body.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up when he noticed that Liu Mei''s cultivation had advanced to the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm.
Although 4 months had passed for Shun Long inside the foggy ce in the ''Stone of Time'', barely 12 days had passed for Liu Mei.
Additionally, in these 12 days, the 2 of them hadn''t dual cultivated once, and yet Liu Mei had already reached the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm.
Liu Mei felt a sense of joy in her heart when she saw Shun Long appearing out of nowhere, as she hurriedly said
''''Long-ge... this...''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Liu Mei, before his eyes were once again focused on the ''Silver-winged panther king''.
The panther''s eyes were closed while his aura was rising non-stop, and it had already destroyed half the courtyard in the process.,
Shun Long immediately understood, that the ck panther was trying to breakthrough to the 6th rank.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long tried to take a step forward and approach closer to the ck panther, but once he reached within 100 meters distance, the energy fluctuationsing from the panther''s body grew so powerful, that they sent him flying backwards instead.
Themotion that the ck panther had caused, had not only been noticed by the rest of the people in the ''Golden Pig inn'', but some Dao King realm experts from the western part of the city had also been rmed as well, including experts from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' and the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long''s eyes turned serious, as he then summoned Little ck from the ''Stone of Time''.
The ck dragon''s 10m(33ft) tall body appeared in the courtyard, as Little ck stared at the ck panther in front of him.
After sending out his soul sense to scan the area around the courtyard as far as he could, Little ck looked at Shun Long before he said with a telepathic message
''''Master, more than 10 Dao Kings have already noticed themotion, and they are alling to the inn.
2 of them have actually reached the middle stages of the Dao King realm as well.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes as he heard Little ck''s voice.
Although a peak rank 5 magic beast like the ''Silver-winged panther king'' may not have been enough to incite the greed of strong Dao Kings, a rank 6 magic beast waspletely different.
A rank 6 beast was at the same level as a Dao King himself.
Even an early rank 6 magic beast could fight against a rank 3 Dao King head-on without any problem.
Onlyte-stage Dao King realm experts were allowed to have such beasts as their mounts, and no one would allow Shun Long to keep the ck panther in that case.
With his eyes focused on the ck panther, Shun Long then said
''''Little ck, block off the energy waves for me!''''
Little ck immediately understood what Shun Long wanted to do.
Without any hesitation, the ck dragon nodded his head, as his powerful aura of an early rank 6 magic beast exploded from his body.
The ck dragon''s aura covered Shun Long from head to toe, shielding himpletely from the ck panther''s powerful energy waves.
Activating the Gale steps, Shun Long quickly arrived in front of the ''Silver-winged panther king'', before he forcefully ced him in the ''Stone of Time''.
At the same time, the Dao Kings who were flying towards Shun Long''s courtyard had all noticed that the aura of an early rank 6 magic beast had also appeared for a moment, before the ck panther''s aura had suddenly disappeared.
However, instead of lowering their speed, they hurried towards the ''Golden pig inn'' even faster than before.
''''Master, there is one peak rank 5 Dao Kinging from the east, and he is the fastest one so far. His soul sense will soon cover the ''Golden pig inn''pletely.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long used blink once, as he appeared in front of Little ck and Liu Mei.
As soon as Little ck returned to the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long clenched his right fist and punched the air the front of him.
His fist exploded with the full power of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', as a 3m(10ft) long space tear was opened in front of him and Liu Mei.
Without waiting for Liu Mei''s reaction, Shun Long grabbed her hand as he shot inside the space tear.
The moment that Shun Long and Liu Mei entered inside it, the space tear instantly disappeared.
A few breaths of timeter, a middle-aged man who was dressed in ck robes appeared above Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s courtyard.
The man was covered by ayer of wind, while a cold expression had filled his face as he looked at the half-destroyed courtyard in front of him.
He had clearly sensed 2 people at the rank 1 of the Spirit realm in this courtyard earlier, along with an early rank 6 magic beast, before they had instantly disappeared.
Even though his soul sense had covered the entire ''Golden pig inn'', the middle-aged man failed to locate the 2 of them.
After closing his eyes, the man started to expand his soul sense even further than the ''Golden pig inn''.
At the same time, an old man who was holding a wooden cane in his left hand and had almost no hair left on his head, had also arrived above Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s courtyard.
The old man barely threw a nce at the middle-aged man in ck robes, before his eyes were focused on the spot where Shun Long had opened his space tear just a few moments ago.
Chapter 255 - 255 Shun Longs decision
Chapter 255 - 255 Shun Long''s decision
The old man''s eyes widened as he stared intently at the spot where the space tear had appeared a few moments ago.
With a shocked expression on his face, he mumbled to himself in disbelief
''''The Dao of Space?!''''
The middle-aged man didn''t seem to have heard the old man''s words however, as he kept scanning the area around the ''Golden pig inn'' with his soul sense.
A radius of 50 miles around the inn waspletely covered by his soul sense, but surprisingly, the man didn''t seem to have found what he was looking for.
Although he detected plenty of rank 1 Spirit realm cultivators, none of them seemed to have an early rank 6 magic beast with them.
Gritting his teeth, the middle-aged man didn''t give up, and ignoring the old man in ck robes that was standing a few hundred meters away from him, he shot to the sky before he flew towards a certain direction.
At the same time, Shun Long and Liu Mei had appeared more than a mile away, in an empty courtyard of the ''Golden pig inn''.
As soon as they appeared in the courtyard, the 2 of them could feel numerous powerful auras approaching the inn, all of them heading in the same direction... their own courtyard where the ck panther''s aura had originated from.
The 10 Dao Kings had not only rmed the residents of the ''Golden pig inn'', but the entire western part of the Heaven''s Dome city as well.
Feeling the powerful auras that hadpletely surrounded the inn, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long as she then said in an anxious tone
''''Long-ge, maybe we should leave this inn! There are many other inns in the city as well.''''
Shaking his head Shun Long looked at Liu Mei before he said with a serious look in his eyes
''''Not just the inn, we will leave the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' for now!''''
Looking at the shocked expression on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long continued
''''Right now, our cultivation is too low to participate in the battles of the House of Rankings, and staying in seclusion won''t help.
Additionally, we have no idea how things will end up between that Demon Emperor pce and the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city.
If they really are enemies, then the entire city may be a battlefield.
We have neither the power, nor any reason to participate in this struggle.
What we should do, is be stronger by ourselves.''''
Liu Mei was stunned for a moment, before she fell silent, as she started to ponder over Shun Long''s words.
Indeed, the 2 of them had no real reason to stay in the Heaven''s Dome city right now. Although Shun Long was being ''backed'' by the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', the disadvantages far exceeded the advantages.
The situation of the city itself was uncertain, and their own cultivation was too low topete with the peak geniuses of the continent just yet.
In addition, Shun Long already had enough middle-grade spirit stones tost them for quite a while, and Liu Mei needed to absorb death aura in order to advance herprehension in the Dao of Death.
If she stayed in the Heaven''s Dome city, it was impossible for her to advance her Dao, unless she killed an immeasurable amount of people.
And putting aside whether or not the current Liu Mei could do that, she would definitely end up attracting the attention of countless experts and bebeled as a mass murderer in that case.
Seeing that Liu Mei had understood his words, Shun Long smiled as he held her hand and walked outside of the ''Golden pig inn''.
Shun Long could feel more than 10 soul senses covering the entire inn, like a spiderweb that wouldn''t allow even a fly to go unnoticed.
With 10 Dao Kings near his courtyard, Shun Long also knew, that if he opened another space tear, he would definitely be spotted by one of them.
By then, he wouldn''t even have a chance to escape, unless he summoned Little ck.
Additionally, since everyone''s attention was on his and Liu Mei''s previous courtyard, this was the best chance for the 2 of them to leave the inn unnoticed.
Indeed, everyone in the ''Golden pig inn'' right now, including the inn manager, had their attention focused on the 10 Dao Kings in the sky above Shun Long''s courtyard.
Their powerful auras had terrified every single resident of the inn, who started to slowly exit their rooms one by one.
At the same time that the inn manager, an early rank 8 Nascent Soul stage expert shot to the sky to meet the Dao Kings with his hands sped, Shun Long and Liu Mei walked out of the inn, along with many other residents who didn''t want to stay close to the terrifying Dao Kings any longer.,
Heaving a sigh of relief, Shun Long held Liu Mei''s hand as they headed towards the east of the city.
Since Liu Mei wasn''t wearing her white veil, her stunning face attracted quite a lot of attention.
Shun Long however ignored the people around them, and 2 hourster, the 2 of them arrived inside a shop at the eastern part of the city.
With the fervor caused by Duan Zhu''s recruitment, countless cultivators had flocked towards the dark elf race''s pce, making the east of the Heaven''s Dome city, a ce even more bustling than the western part, where both the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' and the ''Golden Exchange firm'' were located in.
After spending 6000 low-grade spirit stones to purchase a more detailed map of the Night star continent than the one that Xie Rong had given to him, Shun Long and Liu Mei walked through the eastern city gates, as they left the Heaven''s Dome city.
Half an hourter, the 2 of them had arrived more than 50 miles away from the Heaven''s Dome city, as Liu Mei turned her head to look at Shun Long, and asked curiously
''''Long-ge, where should we go now?''''
Shun Long had a smile on his face as he looked at Liu Mei and said
''''Since we are so close to it... let''s have a look at this ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!''''
Chapter 256 - 256 Arriving at the Netherspirit forest
Chapter 256 - 256 Arriving at the Netherspirit forest
Liu Mei''s eyes widened when she heard Shun Long''s words.
Since Shun Long had already told her a few things about the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Liu Mei already knew, that that was probably the most dangerous ce in the entire ''Night star continent''.
Seeing the shocked look on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long smiled lightly as he continued
''''We are only going to have a look. I don''t n to enter in there just yet.''''
Indeed, with all the rumors going around about how scary of a ce the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' was, and considering that Cui Guoliang and his wife who were both Dao Kings are also trapped in there, Shun Long entering inside would be suicide.
Liu Mei heaved a sigh of relief when she heard Shun Long''s words.
Although she knew that he wasn''t too reckless, she was still afraid that his curiosity would cause him to wish to explore the vi in the end.
Shun Long didn''t head to the vi right away though, and closing his eyes, he sent his spirit sense in the ''Stone of Time''.
Inside the foggy ce, the ck panther still had his eyes closed, while powerful energy fluctuations wereing from his body.
Little ck''s blue eyes observed the panther whose aura was rising with every passing moment, and soon, it had already reached the absolute peak of rank 5.
More and more energy was being gathered in the panther''s body, while its silver wings were now shining with a bright silver l.u.s.ter.
Even though the increase was rtively slow, Shun Long estimated that it would only take half a day at most for the panther to .u.mte sufficient energy in order to break through to the rank 6.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long''s spirit sense returned back in his body, before he waved his hand and a beast skin along with a white scroll appeared in his hands.
The beast skin was Cui Guoliang''s map that showed the location of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', while the white scroll was the map that Shun Long had purchased from the shop at the eastern part of the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' an hour ago.
After putting Cui Guoliang''s beast skin on top of the map he had purchased, Shun Long could see the route that he had to take in order to arrive at the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
His finger traced through the route as he mumbled
''''As long as we pass through the Netherspirit forest, we should reach the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' within a few hours.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head as she observed the 2 maps.
Indeed, if they didn''t follow the route through the Netherspirit forest, they would have to take a huge detour in order to arrive at the vi.
After cing the 2 maps back inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long and Liu Mei started to travel towards the Netherspirit forest.
Since the ck panther was still undergoing his breakthrough, and they were still close to the Heaven''s Dome city, Shun Long could only choose to fly there by themselves.
Shun Long and Liu Mei shot to the sky, as they flew towards the Netherspirit forest''s direction.
The forest itself was close to the Heaven''s Dome city to begin with, and just 8 hourster, the 2 of them had arrived at its entrance.
As soon as they arrived outside of the forest, Shun Long saw Liu Mei''s eyes that had lit up in excitement.
Shun Long immediately understood the reason, as he could also sense the boundless death qi inside the Netherspirit forest, that reached all the way to the forest''s entrance.
It was said that the Netherspirit forest was a ce where countless cultivators had died here in the past, and their souls had turned into powerful spirits that would roam inside the forest.
Although the spirits didn''t have sentience and they couldn''t see or hear, they would instinctively attack any cultivator that approached close to them.
It was said that a few powerful magic beasts also lived inside the forest, and some of them were strong enough to threaten even Dao Kings.
However, these magic beasts would only appear if someone intruded in their territory, and would otherwise stay dormant inside the forest.
Since it was already night, Shun Long and Liu Mei chose to set up camp 3 miles away from the forest''s entrance, and enter the forest in the morning.
Since they were out in the open and in an unfamiliar ce, Shun Long didn''t choose to enter the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', but instead, he cultivated normally inside the tent along with Liu Mei.
This was the first time in a while that he cultivated outside of the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Waving his hand, more than 1000 middle-grade spirit stones appeared around him and Liu Mei.
Shun Long smiled lightly as he looked at Liu Mei, before he summoned the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' from the ''Stone of Time''.
Under Liu Mei''s shocked eyes, the vine started to absorb the middle-grade spirit stones at an incredible speed, before it filled the tent with pure qi that Liu Mei had never seen before.
Understanding that Shun Long had done this for her, Liu Mei felt a warm feeling coursing through her heart.
Circting the ''Moonlight Sigil'', she started to absorb the moonlight that was entering inside the tent, along with the boundless pure qi that had filled the air around her.
Shun Long had a smile on his face, as he circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and started to absorb the qi inside the tent as well.
Even though he was cultivating together with Liu Mei, Shun Long noticed, that the qi that Liu Mei could absorb was minimal whenpared to him.
Not only was the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' absorbing almost 90 percent of the qi in the air, but that was with Shun Long holding back.
5 hours passed like this, and as the sun started to rise, Shun Long heard a powerful roar in his mind, that was filled with joy and excitement.
Chapter 257 - 257 The Netherspirit forest
Chapter 257 - 257 The Netherspirit forest
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', the ck panther let out a deafening roar, as the aura of a rank 6 magic beast exploded from its body.
A rank 6 magic beast!
This meant that the panther was now equivalent to a Dao King in strength!
As soon as the ck panther sensed Shun Long''s spirit sense that had appeared next to it, it let out another roar that was filled with both gratitude and excitement.
After all, without the stalks of rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'', it would have been unable to advance to the rank 6 just yet.
Once he confirmed that the ck panther had sessfullypleted its breakthrough, Shun Long heaved out in relief, before his spirit sense returned back to his body.
An hour soon passed and seeing that the sun had already started to rise, Liu Mei also opened her eyes as she stopped circting the ''Moonlight Sigil''.
Since it was already morning, it was time for the 2 of them to enter the Netherspirit forest.
After returning the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long didn''t bring out the ck panther, but instead, he and Liu Mei walked on foot towards the Netherspirit forest''s entrance.
Once again, Shun Long could feel the boundless death qiing from the forest, as he and Liu Mei arrived at the forest''s entrance.
He could see the countless ck-colored trees inside, while even the sunlight itself seemed to have problems prating through the thick death qi that covered the forest.
He and Liu Mei had barely walked for half a mile through the forest''s entrance, when Shun Long felt the death qi around him trying to invade his body.
With the strength from the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' however, Shun Long didn''t even need to circte his own qi in order to block the death qi around him.
Liu Mei however didn''t reject the death qi around her, and instead, she chose to absorb some of it, as she tried to refine its energy inside her body.
The result though, waspletely different from what she had expected.
The moment that the death qi entered her body, Liu Mei immediately coughed out a mouthful of ck blood, as a heavy pain hammered her chest.
The ''Moonlight Sigil'' was unable to refine the death qi around her, causing Liu Mei to feel her senses being dulled as she almost passed out!
Shun Long was stunned when he saw the ck blood that Liu Mei had coughed, that instantly corroded the ck soil on the ground.
Sizzling sounds could be heard, almost as if the ck blood had turned into some kind of deadly poison.
Seeing that Liu Mei was about to faint and fall to the ground, Shun Long quickly caught her with his right hand to check her condition.
An aura of death,pletely different from Liu Mei''s own wasing from inside her body, while Liu Mei felt weakness oveing her as she barely held on her senses.
She could feel a stifling feeling pressing on her chest, while her heart was about to explode!
After Shun Long fed her a top-grade ''Sun healing pill'', she then sat on the ground as she circted the ''Moonlight Sigil'' once again, this time to expel the new death aura from her body.
At the same time that Liu Mei was expelling the death aura from her body, Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s head, as the ck dragon said
''''Master, that was too reckless! A death aura that is created by the death of countless cultivators will certainly be impure, and is almost impossible to be refined through normal means.
Unless one is cultivating in a certain cultivation technique that allows them to absorb any death aura, then trying to do something like this is suicide!''''
Shun Long nodded his head in understanding when he heard Little ck''s words.
As an alchemist, he already knew that even medicinal herbs that were of simr nature wouldn''t necessarily mesh together, let alone something as dangerous as death qi.
After all, Liu Mei''s death aura was created from her own qi, afterprehending the Dao of Death even further and absorbing the death aura of cultivators who died around her.
However, the aura inside the Netherspirit forest was different.
It was the culmination of death from countless dead creatures, including other cultivators, and thest thing it could be called was pure.
In other words, if Liu Mei''s death aura was like a ss of water, then the death qi inside the Netherspirit forest was like the poisonous fluid of a swamp.
Seeing that the color was returning on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long nodded his head, as he then asked in a serious tone
''''Mei''er, are you okay?''''
Liu Mei was still sitting on the ground, and raising her head to look at Shun Long she replied
''''Long-ge... I am sorry. I thought that I could absorb the death aura andprehend the Dao of Death further, but I couldn''t!''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long exined to her the same thing that he had heard from Little ck.
Liu Mei''s eyes widened slightly when she heard Shun Long''s words, as she finally understood the reason she couldn''t refine the Netherspirit forest''s death qi.
Half an hour passed until Liu Mei couldpletely expel the death qi from her body.
At the same time, Shun Long took out the map that he had purchased from the Heaven''s Dome city, and traced out a path through the Netherspirit forest.
He was nning to take a small detour instead of passing entering inside the forest''s central region.
Even though this detour could cause them to travel for half a day longer, the danger that they would have to face this way would be much lower.
After all, the central region was very likely to hold Dao King level magic beasts inside it, and even with Little ck and the ck panther, Shun Long didn''t n to take any needless risks this time.
Looking at the map in his hands, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''ording to the map, there should be a bigke a few miles away from the Netherspirit forest''s central region. After passing through it, we should be very close to the forest''s exit.''''
Seeing that Liu Mei could stand up and that she hadpletely expelled the death aura from her body, Shun Long started walking towards the west of the Netherspirit forest.
At the same time that Shun Long and Liu Mei were entering deeper inside the Netherspirit forest, back inside the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the Heaven''s Dome city, a man was kneeling in front of Zhao Lan who had just returned from the Shengtian dynasty''s pce, and with a solemn tone, he exined everything that had transpired inside Shun Long''s courtyard a few hours ago.
From the fact that the aura of a rank 6 magic beast had appeared in Shun Long''s courtyard, to the Dao Kings who hadpletely surrounded the ''Golden pig inn'', practically no details of the previous incident were omitted.
Zhao Lan had a serious look on his face as he heard the middle-aged man''s report, before he asked in a curious tone
''''Was the aura of the rank 6 magic beast really rted to that brat?
Also, where is he right now?''''
Chapter 258 - 258 Netherspirit corpses
Chapter 258 - 258 Netherspirit corpses
Seeing that the look on the middle-aged man''s face had started to turn ugly, a furious expression appeared on Zhao Lan''s face as he then asked
''''Don''t tell me that he got captured by one of those idiots who surrounded the inn! Who was it?''''
Feeling the berserk aura around Zhao Lan growing stronger, the middle-aged man''s face paled, before he hurriedly shook his head and responded with an awkward tone
''''Lord Zhao, you are mistaken. That kid wasn''t captured!
It is just that... he seemed to have disappeared!''''
Zhao Lan was dumbfounded when he heard the middle-aged man''s answer, while the berserk aura around him immediately dispersed.
''''Disappeared?''''
When he had heard about what happened in Shun Long''s courtyard from the middle-aged man, Zhao Lan had expected for Shun Long toe to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' begging for help.
Perhaps, if Zhao Lan was lucky, he could have convinced Shun Long to ept being groomed by the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' as well.
But he somehow seems to have disappeared?
''''How?''''
Zhao Lan asked the middle-aged man, in a voice that didn''t hide his confusion.
Shaking his head the middle-aged man responded seriously
''''Lord Zhao, nobody knows what happened, but old man Yuhan from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' and Huang Bao from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', only found an empty courtyard when they arrived at the inn.
Even the rank 6 magic beast seemed to have disappeared into thin air!''''
This time, Zhao Lan''s confusion turned into visible shock.
How could an early rank 6 magic beast disappear under the soul sensing of 2 middle-stage Dao Kings?
At the same time that Zhao Lan was interrogating the middle-aged man in front of him, an hour had already passed since Shun Long and Liu Mei had entered the Netherspirit forest.
Liu Mei had already summoned her skeletons, which seemed to have formed a defensive line around her and Shun Long, while they fought off the creatures that attacked them from time to time.
These creatures were called Netherspirit corpses, and had bony limbs with little to no flesh on them, and woulde in various shapes and sizes.
Some of them seemed humanoid and were at most 1.9m(6.2ft) tall, while others had the shape of different magic beasts, and their height was more than 4m(13ft) tall.
The Netherspirit corpses were the corpses of cultivators or magic beasts that had died inside the Netherspirit forest.
So far, the strongest Netherspirit corpse that had attacked Shun Long and Liu Mei was only at the rank 5 of Heaven grade.
As for Liu Mei''s jade-white skeletons, since Liu Mei had broken through to the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm, their strength had also advanced to the middle of rank 1 in the Spirit realm as well.
Forget about a rank 5 Heaven grade Netherspirit corpse, even a middle rank 2 Spirit realm cultivator would be doomed, facing off against 100 middle rank 1 Spirit realm opponents.
As they headed deeper inside the forest however, the strength of the Netherspirit corpses continued to rise.
2 hourster, the average strength of the corpses had already reached thete-stages of the Heaven grade, and even peak rank 9 Heaven grade corpses weren''t umon.
One more hour soon passed, when Spirit realm corpses had finally started to appear.
Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s speed had started to slow down as they advanced further inside, but Shun Long didn''t move to help the skeletons.
Instead, Liu Mei''s 6 undead knights whose strength was also at the peak rank 1 of the Spirit realm, started to fight against the Netherspirit corpses as well.
Half an hourter, Liu Mei no longer held back, as she summoned 100 more of her jade-white skeletons, along with 6 more undead knights.
This was the current limit of the undead creatures that Liu Mei could summon, and although she didn''t need to actively use spiritual strength in order to control them, keeping so many creatures active at the same time, drained both her spiritual strength as well as her qi.
After all, for each skeleton and undead knight that she had summoned, Liu Mei had to expend a small portion of her spiritual strength and qi in order for them to fight.
Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s speed once again increased with the added manpower of the new skeletons and the undead knights.
Even the rank 2 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpses were taken care of extremely quickly, under Liu Mei''s undead creatures''bined strength.
Half an hourter however, the first rank 3 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpse had appeared.
Seeing that Liu Mei''s skeletons couldn''t hold up any longer, and were getting destroyed under the early rank 3 Spirit realm corpse''s attacks, Shun Long pointed at the Netherspirit corpse with his left hand and activated the ''Thunderbolt finger''.
The humanoid Netherspirit corpse screamed once it felt the power of the lightning hitting its body, before it turned into a wisp of ck smoke that dispersed in the air.
1 more hour passed, and Shun Long and Liu Mei had already traveled halfway through the forest, when suddenly, a huge roar was heard from the distance ahead of them.
Roarr
Trees were mowed down one after the other while even the earth below Shun Long''s feet had started to shake, as the Netherspirit corpse of a magic beast that was almost 5m(16ft) tall appeared in front of him and Liu Mei.
The magic beast looked like a giant two-headed dog, with rotting flesh on both of its heads, while even the bones on its 2 front legs were a ck color.
Liu Mei''s body instinctively tensed up when she sensed the powerful death auraing from the two-headed dog''s body.
The look in Shun Long''s eyes had also turned serious as he looked at the Netherspirit corpse in front of him, before he turned his head to look at Liu Mei and said
''''Mei''er, step back. You can''t help here!''''
Indeed, Liu Mei knew that her skeletons and even the undead knights would be useless here.
After all, the death qiing from the two-headed dog had already reached the peak of rank 5 in the Spirit realm!
Chapter 259 - 259 Rank 5 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpse
Chapter 259 - 259 Rank 5 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpse
Nodding her head, Liu Mei took a few steps back, allowing Shun Long to face off against the Netherspirit corpse of the two-headed dog.
Circting the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', as a blue-colored light covered his body.
At the same time, his eyes had once again turned golden as he stared at the Netherspirit corpse of the magic beast in front of him.
Roarr
The two-headed dog roared loudly and destroyed everything in its way as it headed towards Shun Long.
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he stared at the magic beast in front of him, as he mumbled to himself
''''Time Prison!''''
A blue light appeared in his golden eyes, and Shun Long could feel more than 40 percent of his qi being sapped almost instantly, as time around the two-headed dog forcibly came to a halt.
However, the effect of the ''Time Prison'' didn''t evenst for a single breath of time, before the peak rank 5 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpse broke free from the time constraints.
''''It looks like the difference in cultivation is too big even for my ''Time Prison''!'''' Shun Long thought to himself as he looked at the beast in front of him.
However, he didn''t feel dejected after seeing that the ''Time Prison'' had failed, since he had already expected for his early rank 1 Spirit realm cultivation to be ineffective against the peak rank 5 Spirit realm two-headed dog.
After all, the Netherspirit corpse of the two-headed dog was only slightly weaker than a middle rank 4 magic beast.
Activating the Gale steps, Shun Long''s body turned into a gust of wind as he shot towards the two-headed dog.
Surprisingly, although its body was huge, the two-headed dog was extremely agile, as it seemed to have predicted Shun Long''s trajectory and waved its bony w towards him.
Seeing that the dog had raised its bony w and was sending it towards him, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up, as another scene shed through his eyes.
The bony ck w tore through the air and was about to collide with Shun Long''s chest, when Shun Long suddenly mumbled to himself
''Blink''
A bright purple light had appeared around Shun Long''s body, as it abruptly disappeared and reappeared above the dog''s left head.
The two-headed dog''s ck w hit nothing but thin air, but a powerful shockwave traveled towards Liu Mei''s direction.
The 12 undead knights immediately moved forward, taking a defensive stance as they all tried to block the powerful shockwave.
At the same time, Liu Mei took out the ''Four seasons azure sword'' from her spatial ring, and sent a flying sh forward.
This was just the aftershock from a swipe of the two-headed dog, and yet, 10 undead knights were obliterated in an instant, before the shockwave met with Liu Mei''s sh and the other 2 undead knights who were standing in front of her.
The 2st undead knights barely managed to remain standing, as their greatswords managed to disperse the remaining power of the two-headed dog''s shockwave.
At the same time, Shun Long had taken out the ''Purple Blossom staff'' from the ''Stone of Time'', and holding it with both hands, he swung it down at full-force, towards the back of the two-headed dog''s left head.
The ''Monarch''s Eternal body''s'' full force was gathered in Shun Long''s hands, as the ''Purple Blossom staff''nded on the dog''s head.
BOOM
As soon as it met the ''Purple Blossom staff''s attack, the remaining flesh on the dog''s?head exploded, along with a bunch of its ck bones.
Surprisingly, its defense couldn''t hold out against Shun Long''s full-powered blow, as almost half of its left head exploded on the spot.
The two-headed dog didn''t seem to feel any pain however, and as its right head looked at Shun Long, the dog opened its mouth as it tried to bite Shun Long''s body with its jaws.
Even with the early fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long knew that he would probably suffer serious injuries if he took the dog''s attack head-on.
Although its defense wasn''t great, judging from the aftershock of the bony w, the dog''s offense was nothing to scoff at.
Looking at the dog''s right head that wasing towards him, Shun Long didn''t dodge this time, and instead. he gripped the ''Purple Blossom staff'' tightly with both hands. as he also shot forward.
With the increased speed from the second ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long''s speed was actually slightly faster than the two-headed dog''s.
Looking at the half-rotten head of the Netherspirit corpse that was charging towards him, Shun Long waved the ''Purple Blossom staff'' as it collided with the dog''s jaws.
BOOM
As soon as the ''Purple Blossom staff'' met the dog''s jaws, both Shun Long and the two-headed dog were sent flying backwards.
Shun Long''s body was sent flying for more than 30 meters, until it collided with arge tree and it finally stopped.
There were no visible injuries on his body, but the force from the two-headed dog''s attack had actually brought pain to his internal organs.
The two-headed dog however was in an even more miserable condition.
Shun Long''s attack had sent it flying for more than 100 meters until it finally crashed on the ground.
Its lower jaw had been sent flying from its mouth, leaving its rotten insidespletely exposed.
Without hesitating, Shun Long charged at the two-headed dog once again.
Gathering the power of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' in his arms, Shun Long brought down the ''Purple Blossom staff'' at full-force, as he aimed at the Netherspirit corpse''s head once again.
The two-headed dog raised its right head as it tried to bite Shun Long for the second time, but it didn''t seem to have realized that its lower jaw was missing.
BOOM
A horrifying explosion sounded for the second time, as the ''Purple Blossom staff'' hit the two-headed dog''s right head directly.
The head immediately exploded into a pile of rotten flesh and bones that fell on the ground.
Without its second head as support, the rest of the two-headed dog copsed on the ground as well, before it started to turn into a pile of ck smoke.
Although Liu Mei wasn''t a soft person, the moment that she saw the gruesome sight of rotten flesh piling on the ground, she couldn''t help taking a step back in disgust.
This sight waspletely different from her undead creatures after all.
Looking at the beast in front of him that was finally defeated, Shun Long nodded his head before he flew next to Liu Mei.
After Liu Mei used her qi to resurrect 4 of her 10 destroyed undead knights, the 2 of them continued to walk deeper inside the Netherspirit forest.
However, the deeper inside the forest that they went, the stronger the Netherspirit corpses became.
Looking at a Netherspirit corpse that was at thete stage of the Spirit realm and was approaching Shun Long and Liu Mei threateningly, Shun Long shook his head and looked at Liu Mei who barely had 30 percent of her qi left, before he said
''''I suppose that this is our limit. With so many Netherspirit corpses, forget about us, even ate stage Spirit realm cultivator would be in trouble.''''
Liu Mei watched Shun Long who then waved his right hand, as a 6m(20ft) tall ck panther with shining silver wings and yellow eyes appeared in front of them.
Chapter 260 - 260 Storming through the Netherspirit forest
Chapter 260 - 260 Storming through the Netherspirit forest
Liu Mei was stunned when she saw that the ck panther had grown to almost 3 times its previous size, while the terrifying auraing from its body was many times stronger than before.
After sensing the panther''s aura, Liu Mei''s eyes widened slightly, before she turned her head to look at Shun Long and asked in a shocked tone
''''Long-ge, did it really breakthrough to the rank 6?''''
It wasn''t that Liu Mei was unwilling to believe that the ck panther had broken through to the rank 6 this time, but this was just too shocking to her.
Inparison to Little ck''s breakthrough 2 months ago, who had just broken through from the peak of rank 5 to the early rank 6, Liu Mei knew the ck panther ever since she and Shun Long had left Cui Guoliang''s pce half a year ago.
When they had left the pce, the ck panther was just an early rank 5 magic beast, but just half a yearter, it had already broken through to the early rank 6.
Even for Liu Mei who had seen Shun Long do countless impossible things, this was still something unbelievable.
In the past, back when she was still an inner disciple of the ''floating cloud sect'', Liu Mei had also felt confident that she could reach the Spirit realm by herself as well. But in the past half a year, her view of the world had expanded, and she had seen things and ces that she had never even heard of before.
When she thought back to her father who was just a rank 3 Spirit realm expert for so many years,plicated emotions filled Liu Mei''s heart.
When she thought of her mother however, who was still stuck inside the ''floating cloud sect'', married to a person who doesn''t seem to have any feelings for her, a feeling of sadness suddenly overcame her.
Shun Long seemed to have sensed Liu Mei''s agitated emotions, but he simply smiled at her in response.
Seeing the hazy look in her ck eyes, Shun Long understood that Liu Mei was in a state of reminiscence.
He had also seen this look in Little ck''s eyes every time that he spoke about the past.
The difference was, that the gaze inside Little ck''s eyes was always filled with pride and excitement, for his and Shun Long''s past experiences, as well as a feeling of familial love when the ck dragon looked at Shun Long.
After all, Little ck truly regarded Shun Long as his only family and the most important person in his life.
Inparison, a feeling of sadness had filled Liu Mei''s eyes right now as she thought of her past.
It was sadness that she felt for her mother, and it was also something that she wanted to change.
She had vowed to take her mother from the ''floating cloud sect'' and give her a better life once she became stronger.
However, the feeling of sadness had only appeared in Liu Mei''s eyes for a brief while, before she quickly shook her head and looked back at Shun Long.
Although her life had been bleak in the past, thest half a year had been the best part of her entire life.
After a horrible past, where her brother tried to marry her off to anyone who fancied her and had a high status, while her father didn''t care for anyone else but her own brother, Liu Mei had not only finally felt love in her life, but she also felt a feeling of protection every time that she was standing next to Shun Long.
Deep in her heart, Shun Long''s figure was standing proudly above everyone else.
Seeing that Liu Mei had returned to her senses, Shun Long wrapped his arm around her waist, before he jumped on top of the ck panther''s back.
The panther roared in excitement, while the powerful aura of an early rank 6 magic beast exploded from its body.
Its stunning silver wings lit up, as it charged forward in excitement.
The Netherspirit corpses in front of the ''Silver-winged panther king'' were like a group of mantises trying to stop a chariot as they stood in its path.
The ck panther easily destroyed every single Netherspirit corpse that appeared in front of it, including thete-stage Spirit realm corpse in the distance, before it continued flying forward.
More and more Netherspirit corpses appeared on the way, and an hourter, the ck panther had traveled so deep inside the forest that even some powerful Nascent Soul stage corpses appeared, but in front of the ck panther''s rank 6 strength, none of themsted for a single breath of time before they were cut down by its bright silver wings or they were destroyed by its powerful jaws.
One more hour passed, and the ck panther had just torn to shreds a pair of peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage Netherspirit corpses, before it appeared in front of argeke.
Shun Long was stunned when he saw theke in front of him, while an eerie feeling had appeared in his heart.
Theke seemed to span for more than 2000 miles, while its dark waters were cker than ink.
Powerful death qi swirled around theke, and even if one tried, they wouldn''t be able to see anything past the water''s surface.
The ck panther however didn''t stop, and its bright silver wings tore through the air as it flew above theke.
It only took a few minutes for the silver-winged panther to cross the distance of 1000 miles and appear close to theke''s center, when suddenly, a purple-colored Netherspirit corpse that looked like a 3m(10ft) long fish without eyes shot out from theke''s depths, as it headed for the panther''s tail.
A mocking look appeared in the panther''s yellow eyes when it saw that the fish''s strength was still at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
The panther''s speed almost doubled as its silver wings shone with a bright silver light, and in practically an instant, the purple-colored fish had already been beheaded.
Shun Long had already expected the scene in front of him, as Little ck had already scanned theke, and had already confirmed that from the presences lurking inside, even the strongest one was only at the peak rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
After beheading the purple-colored Netherspirit corpse the panther continued to fly forward, and a few minutester, like a bolt of silver lightning, it had already reached the end of the Netherspirit forest.
Chapter 261 - 261 The Dragon Lords villa
Chapter 261 - 261 The Dragon Lord''s vi
As soon as the ck panther passed through the exit of the Netherspirit forest, a new scene appeared in front of Shun Long and Liu Mei''s eyes.
As the toxic death qi around them disappeared, in the distance a few hundred miles ahead of them, a majestic vi could be seen standing tall.
The word vi wasn''t correct to describe this building that seemed to be evenrger than an entire city.
Even from a few hundred miles away, Shun Long could estimate, that the colossal building in front of him was probably almost asrge as the ''Heaven''s Dome city''.
As he looked at the enormous building in the distance, a name instantly appeared in Shun Long''s mind... the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
This was the most dangerous ce in the entire Night star continent where even Dao Kings could die inside, as well as the ce where Cui Guoliang and his wife were trapped in.
Since he didn''t know if there would be any people outside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Shun Long had the ck panther return inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he and Liu Mei continued flying towards the vi by themselves.
A little more than an hourter, a massive crowd had appeared in front of Shun Long and Liu Mei, as they arrived at the vi''s entrance.
The crowd had not only spread themselves around the entrance, but they had even set up tents everywhere around the vi.
Shun Long was shocked to find out that even the person with the weakest cultivation in the crowd, was at thete stages of the Spirit realm.
As for the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' itself, Shun Long noticed, that everything outside of its gigantic gates was enshrouded by a golden barrier of light that prevented anyone from approaching any closer.
A few people snorted when they saw Shun Long and the white-veiled Liu Mei approaching the vi, but none of them took any further actions.
Although some of them were stunned when they saw the direction that Shun Long and Liu Mei wereing from, nobody believed that a pair of rank 1 Spirit realm experts had managed to pass through the Netherspirit forest to intentionallye to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Even if they wanted toe here, the vi''s location wasn''t something that wasmonly known to any random Spirit realm cultivator.
They had probably stumbled here randomly from one other path leading to the vi.
After all, although passing through the Netherspirit forest was the fastest way for someone toe to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', there were also other paths that people could take to arrive here, if they didn''te from the Heaven''s Dome city.
Just as he was heading towards the vi, Little ck''s excited voice sounded in Shun Long''s mind
''''Master! There is definitely a dragonstone inside this ce!''''
Shun Long slowed down his speed when he heard Little ck''s words, as he then asked curiously
''''Dragonstone?''''
Nodding his head, Little ck then exined
''''Indeed master! We are actually very lucky!
The dragonstone is a stone that can only be found in the immortal dimension and the dragon realm! It''s not something that should appear in this tiny mortal ne!
Although dragonstones are nothing too rare in the immortal dimension, they can still be considered a priceless treasure to dragons.
Even the energy inside the mostmon dragonstone is enough to help me advance directly to rank 7!''''
Shun Long was stunned when he heard Little ck''s words while his speed involuntarily came down to a halt.
Didn''t this mean that Little ck could be an existence that surpassed the Dao King realm as long as he could absorb the energy inside this dragonstone?
After all, a rank 7 magic beast should be as strong as a so-called Dao Emperor!
Seeing that Shun Long had suddenly stopped, Liu Mei also lowered her speed as she looked at him curiously.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck closed his eyes, and ignoring the Spirit realm and the Nascent Souls stage cultivators that were stationed around the vi, he tried to send his soul sense directly inside the vi.
However, the moment that his soul sense met with the golden sphere of light that hadpletely enshrouded the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', the sphere of light barely rippled once before it repelled back the ck dragon''s powerful soul sense.
Little ck wasn''t surprised that he had failed, and instead, he continued to attack the golden sphere of light with his soul sense for a few more minutes,?but in the end, he was unable to seed.
However, with a tone that was still filled with eagerness, Little ck''s then said to Shun Long
''''Master, although my soul sense is unable to prate the barrier of light, I can still sense the dragonstone inside it.
Even if it''s just for this dragonstone, it is definitely worth making the trip to enter inside.
Besides, there have to be other useful things in there as well, otherwise, this ce wouldn''t be regarded so highly by the Dao Kings of this continent!''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he pondered over Little ck''s words.
Indeed, there was no way that all the Dao Kings in the ''Night star continent'' would try to enter the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' for nothing. Even Cui Guoliang had said to Shun Long, that the vi was filled with both danger and fortune, and that this was the reason why Dao Kings chose to enter inside.
Additionally, Shun Long also knew, that dragons could naturally sense things that are rted to the dragon dimension or other dragons, and that this was the reason why Little ck could still sense the dragonstone inside the vi, even when his soul sense couldn''t prate through the sphere of light.,
Shun Long''s eyes once again grew clear, and looking at the vi in front of him he then thought to himself
''''If Little ck''s soul sense is unable to pass through the barrier of light, then even peak rank 9 Dao Kings are probably unable to do it as well.
And yet, despite the unknown dangers, Dao Kings still choose to venture inside and explore this ce, even though it is called the most dangerous ce in the ''Night star continent''!''''
However, even though Shun Long had heard of how dangerous the ''Dragon Lord''s vi was'', since there was something inside the vi that could help Little ck advance his strength to rank 7, Shun Long would definitely enter without hesitation.
Seeing that Shun Long had fallen silent for a few minutes, as he absentmindedly stared at the giant vi in the distance, Liu Mei couldn''t help asking him
''''Long-ge, are you alright?''''
Chapter 262 - 262 Shun Longs plan
Chapter 262 - 262 Shun Long''s n
After hearing Liu Mei''s question, Shun Long returned back to his senses before he nodded his head at her in response.
Although he wanted to enter the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', he knew that doing so right now was akin to suicide.
Entering the most dangerous ce in the entire continent with a cultivation at the early rank 1 in the Spirit realm was probably a bad choice, even with Little ck and the ck panther by his side.
As for Cui Guoliang? He could probably wait until Shun Long advanced to the Dao King realm.
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long wrapped his arm around her waist before he said
''''Mei''er let''s go.''''
''''Ah?''''
Liu Mei was stunned at Shun Long''s sudden decision, who didn''t hesitate in the slightest as?he started flying further away from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Although this trip seemed to be uneventful to Liu Mei, it was still important for Shun Long to confirm the location of the vi, and have a look at it before he returned here in the future.
Additionally, he now had a personal reason to enter the vi aside from helping Cui Guoliang and his wife.
As for the Spirit realm and the Nascent Soul stage experts who were still sitting in front of the vi, none of them paid any attention to Shun Long and Liu Mei.
They had all guessed that the 2 of them had identally stumbled on this ce, and had no idea of its significance.
Besides, even if one knew of the location of the vi, unless they owned a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' they were unable to enter inside.
After Shun Long and Liu Mei flew for a few hundred miles and hadpletely left the ''Dragon Lord vi''s'' vicinity, Shun Long once again took out the map that he had purchased from the Heaven''s Dome city, before he started to sort out the path that he was nning to take.
Aside from the Heaven''s Dome city that had gathered every peak Spirit realm cultivator, there were 2 other ces in the Night star continent that Shun Long wanted to visit in order to advance his strength, before he returned back to the Heaven''s Dome city in the future.
The first, was the ''City of Sin'' at the north, while the second one was the ''Ten-thousand beasts mountain range'' at the west of the ''Night star continent''.
Shun Long had already heard about these 2 ces while he and Liu Mei were still inside the Silver sword city.
The ''City of Sin'' was the most infamous city in the entire continent.
The most ruthless criminals had filled this city, and the words ''morals'' and ''kindness'' didn''t exist in that ce.
Randomly murdering someone on the streets was extremelymon in this city, while strength was the only rule that was respected.
As for the ''Ten-thousand beasts mountain range'', it was said to be thergest mountain range in the continent.
Shun Long could not only hone his skills and hunt magic beasts there, but he could also find precious alchemy materials that didn''t exist anywhere else in the continent.
Let alone rank 4 medicinal herbs, even rank 5 and some rank 6 ones could be found deep inside the ''Ten-thousand beasts mountain range''.
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long then said in a voice that was filled with confidence
''''Mei''er, let''s go to the ''City of Sin''!''''
A shocked look appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she heard that ce that Shun Long wanted to go to.,
However, after thinking about it for a while, in the end, she nodded her head in response.
Indeed, the ''City of Sin'' was definitely the best ce for the current her right now.
In a ce full ofwless killing, she couldprehend the Dao of Death even further, while Shun Long and her could both use the cruel environment in that city to temper themselves.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long waved his right hand, as the ''Silver-winged panther king'' appeared from the ''Stone of Time''.
After Shun Long and Liu Mei sat on the panther''s back, the ck panther spread its silver wings and shot off like a bolt of silver lightning, as it flew towards the north of the Night star continent.
Now that it had advanced to the early rank 6, the panther''s speed was simply iparable to before.
Shun Long and Liu Mei passed through forests, mountains and rivers at an incredible speed, and 2 dayster, they had arrived in front of a 3000m(9800ft) tall mountain.
The huge mountain in front of them was a mixture of brown and red, while the smell of blood had filled the air.
This was the Blood Mountain, where the infamous ''City of Sin'' was situated.
It was said that the reddish color of the mountain, was because of the blood that it had absorbed every time someone was killed in the ''City of Sin''.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Shun Long raised his head to look at the mountain''s peak, where a huge city was built.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long had the ck panther return back to the ''Stone of Time'', before he and Liu Mei flew towards the ''City of Sin'' by themselves.
A few minutester, they had already ascended to the mountain''s peak, where apletely new scene greeted their eyes.
Buildings spanned as far as the eye could see, while a bustling atmosphere permeated the city in front of them.
People were roaming in the streets, while the sounds of fighting could be heard from everywhere around them.
Unlike what Shun Long had expected, the city in front of him wasn''t a ghost city at all.
Raising his head, his eyes then stared at the half-ruined andpletely unattended city gates, where the words ''City of Sin'' were written in a dark red color.
With a light smile on his face, Shun Long took a step forward, as he and Liu Mei entered the ''City of Sin''.
Chapter 263 - 263 The City of Sin
Chapter 263 - 263 The City of Sin
Unlike the Heaven''s Dome city, Shun Long had no knowledge of whether there were any exceptionally strong powers in the ''City of Sin'', but he was certain that there was no one at the level of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' and the rest of the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city.
With Liu Mei next to him, Shun Long casually strolled through the crowded streets of the ''City of Sin''.
Without Little ck or the ck panther in tow, a pair of rank 1 Spirit realm cultivators like Shun Long and Liu Mei werepletely inconspicuous as they strolled through the busy streets.
Shun Long''s handsome face did asionally attract the attention of some young women, but he didn''t seem to be interested in any of them, as he and Liu Mei continued with what seemed to be an aimless stroll.
Three hourster, the 2 of them had already left the southern part of the city, as they appeared at the east of the city.
Half a day passed until Shun Long and Liu Mei had strolled through the eastern, the western, the southern, and the northern parts of the ''City of Sin''.
During this time, Shun Long had found out, that aside from the so-called center of the ''City of Sin'' where the strongest powers of the city gathered, the other 4 parts of the city were filled withwless chaos.
Unlike the Heaven''s Dome city, the 4 parts of the ''City of Sin'' weren''t controlled by any major power, and instead, only cultivators who were strong enough could thrive and prosper, while the weak would struggle to even survive in this city.
Turning her head to look at Shun Long, Liu Mei then asked curiously
''''Long-ge, should we find a ce to stay?''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei with a smile on his face as he said
''''This time, things will be slightly different.''''
Liu Mei didn''t understand what Shun Long meant, but she still followed him as he casually walked to the northern part of the ''City of Sin''.
An hourter, they had arrived in a rtively busy street, in front of a two-story shop that was riddled with holes on its walls.
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long with eyes filled with curiosity.
She remembered that they had passed through this shop earlier, but Shun Long didn''t seem to have paid any attention to it then.
After all, in the busy street, the shop really stood out.
The wooden door on its entrance looked as if it had been beaten down repeatedly and it was barely hanging on, while a single sign that was filled with dust was posted on the shop''s front, with the words ''FOR SALE'' on it.
As for the pedestrians however, although they visited many of the other shops on this street, no one chose to enter this run-down shop.
Shun Long had that same smile on his face, as he led Liu Mei inside the shop.
Although Liu Mei was stunned by Shun Long''s actions and she didn''t know what he was nning to do, she still followed him inside the shop.
''''Does Long-ge want to buy this shop?''''
As this thought shed through her mind, Liu Mei followed Shun Long inside the shop, where she saw an old man sitting on a chair with his eyes closed.
The old man however, didn''t seem to have noticed Shun Long entering inside the shop with Liu Mei, as he continued to sit there with his eyes closed.
Shun Long looked at the old man who was sitting leisurely on the rocking chair and easily discerned, that the old man''s cultivation was at the peak of rank 2 in the Spirit realm.
Looking at the rest of the shop, Shun Long was stunned when he noticed that it waspletely empty.
There was absolutely nothing inside the shop aside from some empty ss cases, which from their outer appearance, Shun Long guessed that they were probably used to sell weapons.
The old man''s eyes twitched for a moment, and as he cautiously opened them, a shocked expression had appeared on his face as he looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Shun Long was stunned as well when he saw the exaggerated expression on the old man''s face.
He didn''t believe for a moment that a rank 2 Spirit realm cultivator had failed to notice him and Liu Mei when they had entered the shop, since they hadn''t retracted their auras in the first ce.
The shocked look in the old man''s eyes however soon turned into that of cautiousness, and looking at the 2 young people who had just entered the shop, he asked in a wary tone
''''Can I help you? Let me tell you in advance, that if you are here to ask for protection money, there is nothing left in my shop for you to take.''''
A look of realization dawned in Shun Long''s eyes when he heard the old man''s words.
''''So he was feigning that he hadn''t noticed us entering the shop earlier because he didn''t want to pay for protection?
Hmm, I suppose that this also exins the reason why this shop is so run-down, and why people don''t approach it in the first ce.''''
Liu Mei smiled beneath her white veil, and looking at Shun Long, she imagined him acting as a thug and going around the ''City of Sin'' asking for protection money.
Shun Long however shook his head, and looking at the old man in front of him he said
''''Old man, are you the owner of this shop? Is it still for sale?''''
The old man''s eyes widened when he heard Shun Long''s question, before a bright smile suddenly appeared on his face.
The old man stared at Shun Long like he was looking at a treasure, and nodding his head repeatedly, his tone became extremely friendly as he said hurriedly
''''Younger broth-, no... young master! Of course it is still for sale!
I can assure you that the price is also very reasonable.
It''s only 2 million low-grade spirit stones!''''
Chapter 264 - 264 Buying the shop
Chapter 264 - 264 Buying the shop
This time, it was Shun Long''s turn to get shocked.
Although 2 million low-grade spirit stones wasn''t too high a price for him, it was obvious that the shop in front of him wasn''t worth even half of that.
Even the door was destroyed while the walls were filled with holes.
The floor itself was creaking when someone stepped on it, and even the windows near the entrance were already broken.
Looking at the old man in front of him, Shun Long shook his head before he said with a serious look on his face
''''Old man, there is no way that I will pay 2 million low-grade spirit stones for this run-down shop. At most I can give you 200.000.''''
The old man''s eyes bulged instantly when he heard Shun Long''s words, and looking like a cat that had its tail stepped, he hurriedly responded
''''Are you crazy? The store is in one of the 5 best streets of the northern part of the ''City of Sin''! Don''t tell me that you haven''t noticed how bustling this street is! Although 2 million may have been a lot, it is certainly worth it!''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long pointed at the half-destroyed door and the broken windows at the entrance of the shop as he said
''''It is worth it? Not only are the walls filled with holes, but the door is about to fall off as well, while the windows are also destroyed.
Although the street is indeed busy, there is no one who will choose toe to this shop unless everything is fixed.''''
The old man''s eyes suddenly looked at the walls of the shop, before he gulped his saliva audibly.
He couldn''t argue that the shop was in a half-destroyed state.
Nodding his head, the old man looked at Shun Long and raised his forefinger as he responded
''''One million! Although you will have to pay some spirit stones to repair the shop, it is still a beneficial deal for you! Besides, the shop has a second floor where you can soundly rest as well!''''
Shun Long looked at the old man and shook his head before he added
''''A beneficial deal? Old man, don''t forget that you are a peak rank 2 Spirit realm cultivator, and yet you were still forced to pay protection money weren''t you?
Otherwise, your shop wouldn''t have ended like this in the ''City of Sin''!
If someone had a grudge with you they would havee and kill you directly instead of simply breaking down your shop.
Doesn''t that mean that I will have to deal with those people once I buy the shop?''''
Although Shun Long wasn''t afraid of dealing with people who would ask for protection money, he wasn''t willing to purchase this shop for an exorbitant price.
Even though he had enough money to spare, spending 1 million low-grade spirit stones for a single run-down shop and having to deal with the aftermath of the troubles that would follow, simply wasn''t worth it.
The old man gritted his teeth and raised 5 fingers as he said determinedly
''''500.000 low-grade spirit stones! This is my bottom line!
I am not willing to sell if it''s any lower than this!''''
Shun Long thought seriously for a bit before he eventually nodded his head.
The old man smiled brightly when he saw Shun Long''s response, and taking out a small white scroll, he passed it over to him in a hurry, as he eagerly waited to get his money.
This scroll was the title deed that proved that the old man was the owner of this shop.
Despite knowing that someone could kill you and steal your title deed at any time in this city, most of the shops in the ''City of Sin'' still owned thend that they upied as this was a matter of pride for them.
Shun Long didn''t pay much attention to the title deed itself, and waving his hand, he took out 500.000 low-grade spirit stones from the ''Stone of Time''.
Seeing the mountain of spirit stones that had filled the shop, the old man quickly gathered them all inside his spatial ring, before he stormed out of the shop, almost as if someone was chasing him out.
Although he had hoped that he could sell the shop for a higher price, 500.000 low-grade spirit stones wasn''t a small amount to a rank 2 Spirit realm cultivator.
But the most important thing was... that he could finally get rid of that cursed shop.
He had been trying to sell it to someone for so many years, but aside from the thugs who came over to gather protection money and asionally destroyed it as well, no one else would ever set foot inside it.
Even the weapons that he had created in the past had all been stolen away by those thugs, in order for him to ''pay back'' the protection money that he ''owed'' them.
For the past 2 years, even those thugs had stoppeding to the shop, since there was nothing left for them to take.
When Liu Mei saw the old man running away from the shop with so much fervor, she turned her head to look at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Long-ge, wasn''t it a bad deal to pay so many spirit stones for this shop? ''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long stared at Liu Mei with a smile on his face, before he then said
''''If it was just for the shop itself, then it could be considered a slightly bad deal for us. But that''s not why we came to this city in the first ce.
Besides, I am certain that we will make back those spirit stones very soon.''''
After checking the first floor of the shop, Shun Long and Liu Mei walked deeper inside, before they walked up the stairs and entered the second floor.
The second floor waspletely empty, without a single piece of furniture in sight, looking like it had been abandoned since the shop itself was built.
In fact, it was so dusty, that Liu Mei summoned 10 of her skeletons topletely clean this ce up.
In the next few days, Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t leave the shop, but news had already spread that ownership of the building had already changed.
After all, as the only ''abandoned'' shop in the Silver-cross street, it was only natural that the other shop owners would pay attention to it.
And yet, no one moved to wee Shun Long and Liu Mei, but instead, they rejoiced in the misfortune that would befall them in the next few days.
In thest few days, Liu Mei had already summoned her skeletons in order topletely repair the shop.
Using a rare wood that Shun Long had given to her, Liu Mei''s skeletons fixed almost everything in the blink of an eye.
The walls that were riddled with holes had beenpletely repaired along with the broken windows, while a brand new wooden door had appeared in the ce of the old one.
Looking at the proud smile on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long also smiled at her in response before he lightly patted her head.
Then, walking towards the back of the shop, he took out a huge sign that could barely fit through the new door that Liu Mei''s skeletons had created, and hung it at the shop''s entrance.
The eye-catching words on Shun Long''s new sign, instantly drew the attention of all the pedestrians who were walking on this street.
Chapter 265 - 265 Shun Longs shop
Chapter 265 - 265 Shun Long''s shop
''DIVINE ALCHEMIST SHUN''
These 3 bold and arrogant words drew everyone''s attention.
''''Divine alchemist?''''
''''Haha! Someone dares to call themselves a divine alchemist? How interesting!''''
Although Shun Long''s sign had captured the audience''s attention, no one walked towards Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s shop right away.
Shun Long however didn''t mind, and as he entered back in the shop, he proceeded to fill the empty ss cases that were used to disy goods, with bottles filled with medicinal pills.
All of them were top-grade rank 4 pills that Shun Long had refined in the past, including the ''Sun-healing pill'', ''anti-toxin'' pills, rank 4 ''Qi replenishing pills'', or even the rank 4 ''Blood ignition pill'', that allowed even a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator to increase their strength for a short amount of time, and even fight off against a rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert.
Shun Long had already refined this pill in thest few days, using some of the medicinal herbs that he had purchased while he and Liu Mei were still in the ''Heaven''s Dome city''.
Of course, consuming this ''Blood ignition pill'' had very severe consequences to a cultivator''s body and would only be used as ast resort, but it was still something incredibly valuable to any Spirit realm cultivator.
A little more than an hourter, there was finally a young man who entered the shop.
The man seemed to be around 20 years old, with short brown hair and a hooked nose, while from head to toe he was dressed in ck robes.
His cultivation was at the peak of rank 8 in Heaven grade, and he was the first person to enter the shop.
However, the moment that he passed through the wooden gate, an astonishing scene filled his eyes.
A handsome young man was sitting on a rocking chair with his eyes closed, while 4 jade-white skeletons with green wisps of ember in their eyes seemed to be managing the shop.
A white-veiled woman was also sitting next to the young man, but her gaze seemed to be staring at the 4 skeletons instead.
The young man who entered the shop turned his eyes to the 4 skeletons as well, and was shocked when he noticed that their auras were surprisingly at the Spirit realm!
What kind of monsters were these?
The 4 skeletons however didn''t move from their position behind the counters even after the young man had entered the shop, making him not know whether he should step forward or not.
Just as he was contemting over whether he should leave the shop, the young man''s gaze was suddenly focused on one of the pill bottles behind the ss cases.
''''Sun-healing pills?''''
The young man spoke out loud in an uncertain voice, and almost as if he had forgotten the fear that the eerie white skeletons had induced to him, he hurried in front of the ss case as he stared at the pill bottles one by one.
''''So many... ''Sun-healing pills'', ''Qi replenishing pills'', ''anti-toxin pills''...
Wait! A-A-All of them are t-top grade pills?''''
When the young man read the descriptions below each pill bottle, as well as their prices, his heart had almost burst from the shock.
Turning his head to look at Shun Long, the young man couldn''t help asking loudly in a shocked voice
''''Owner, are you sure that they are all top-grade rank 4 pills? How is this possible for so many top-grade pills to appear?
But still... aren''t the prices a bit too expensive?''''
How could the young man not be shocked?
Each top-grade ''Sun-healing pill'' was priced at 16.000 low-grade spirit stones each, while the entire pill bottle would cost 160.000 low-grade spirit stones or 1600 middle-grade ones.
A pill bottle filled ''anti-toxin pills'' was priced at 30.000 low-grade spirit stones, while the ''Qi replenishing pills'' were the cheapest ones at 20.000 spirit stones per bottle.
However, these prices were probably among the highest in the entire ''City of Sin''.
The young man had never heard of another pill shop setting their prices so high.
Raising his head to look at the young man, Shun Long nodded in response before he said
''''All of these pills are top-grade pills, and their prices are set ording to the ''Alchemists'' Guild''.''''
The young man gulped but didn''t respond.
He wanted to take a look at the rest of the pills, but he was afraid that he would get a heart attack by the exorbitant prices that the boss had set.
The ''Alchemists'' Guild''? Although the young man had heard about it, there is no such ce in the ''City of Sin''.
The young man had a shocked expression on his face as he left the shop, but Shun Long didn''t seem to mind as he continued to sit on the chair with his eyes closed.
As soon as the young man left, a giggle escaped Liu Mei''s mouth as she looked at Shun Long and said
''''That person left without even checking Long-ge''s ''Spirit enhancing pills'' and the ''Blood ignition pills'', or he may have died from shock after seeing the prices.''''
Shun Long smiled as he looked at Liu Mei and said
''''I am sure that there are very few pill shops in the ''City of Sin'' that have such high prices for their pills.
But this is also good. After all, there will only be a limited supply of ''Spirit enhancing pills'' that we will sell, so it will be up to those whoe first.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head as she understood Shun Long''s reasoning.
Indeed, the rarer a pill is, the more attention it would attract. As for the high prices, they were aimed at those people who were willing to be stronger even faster than the rest.,
After all, a normal Spirit realm cultivator would have to spend a long time in meditation in order to enhance their spirit sense, but a ''Spirit enhancing pill'' could definitely save him a long time of meditation.
2 hours had passed since that peak rank 8 Heaven grade young man had left the shop, and word had already started to spread throughout the street, of the extremely expensive prices that the boss of the pill shop had set.
He imed that every single pill of his was a top-grade rank 4 pill, and the prices were much higher than almost any other shop in the ''City of Sin''.
Half an hour more passed, when a dignified middle-aged man with ck robes stood outside Shun Long''s shop with his hands sped behind his back.
The man snorted as he looked at the words ''DIVINE ALCHEMIST SHUN'', before he said in a mocking voice
''''Divine alchemist? Let''s see who has the guts to call himself a divine alchemist in the northern part of the ''City of Sin''!''''
Without any hesitation, the middle-aged man took a step forward and pushed open the door of the shop as he entered inside.
Chapter 266 - 266 Blood Pill pavilion
Chapter 266 - 266 Blood Pill pavilion
Warning: At the end of the chapter, there may (or may not) be some R-18 scenes.
As soon as the people on the street noticed who the middle-aged man was, fervent discussions filled the crowd
''''That''s alchemist Zhou, isn''t it?''''
''''Yes, that''s surely Zhou Ning from the ''Blood pill pavilion''!''''
''''Why is he entering that new shop then?''''
''''Maybe he heard of the arrogant name of the shop and came here on purpose?''''
As the crowd spected the reason why Zhou Ning hade to Shun Long''s shop, Shun Long opened his eyes and saw the neer that had just arrived.
It was a middle-aged man with short ck hair, brown eyes and a square jaw.
Zhou Ning didn''t make an attempt to mask his aura, immediately exposing that he was a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator.
''''Eh?''''
A surprised exmation escaped the middle-aged man''s mouth when he saw the 4 skeletons that were standing behind the shop''s counters.
At the same time, the young man and the veiled woman who were sitting inside the shop, didn''t even stand up to wee him.
Zhou Ning had an angry look on his face as he stared at the 2 people who seemed to be sitting leisurely,pletely unaware of his arrival.
His prative eyes first stared at Liu Mei for a moment, but the moment he realized that she was just at the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm, he soon turned his eyes to look at Shun Long.
Shun Long however hadpletely retracted his aura, looking like apletely ordinary mortal.
No matter how much he tried, the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert was unable to sense the slightest qi fluctuationing from Shun Long''s body.
And yet, Zhou Ning would never believe that Shun Long was a mortal.
After all, mortals were practically nonexistent in the ''City of Sin'', while the way that this young man was seated, oozed with confidence about himself.
The angry look somewhat softened on Zhou Ning''s face, but an expression of dissatisfaction was still there as he looked at Shun Long, and asked in an authoritative tone
''''Are you the person who ims to be a Divine alchemist?''''
Shun Long opened his eyes, and as he stared at the middle-aged man, he nodded his head expressionlessly as he said
''''I am, but what does it have to do with you?''''
The crowd who was watching from the shop''s entrance gasped when they heard Shun Long''s answer.
Wasn''t he purposely trying to find trouble with the ''Blood pill pavilion''?
After all, who in the northern part of the city didn''t know, that the territory of the Silver cross street belonged to the ''Blood pill pavilion''?''''
Indeed, when he heard Shun Long''s answer Zhou Ningughed loudly as he said
''''HAHAHA! To dare call yourself a Divine alchemist within our pavilion''s territory is like asking for death.
This is a territory which our pavilion strictly controls. No other pill shop is allowed to open without our permission!
Unless you are nning to offend our ''Blood pill pavilion'', you better close down your shop before it''s toote!''''
Without waiting for Shun Long''s response, Zhou Ning cast out his threat before he turned to leave.
Although he had wanted to raze this shop to the ground by himself, the fact that he was unable to sense Shun Long''s aura made him a little apprehensive.
He was nning to return to the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' first, before he spoke with the other high echelons of the pavilion and choose their course of action, when suddenly, his gaze was focused on the ss cases where the rank 4 pills were ced for sale.
The middle-aged man''s eyes suddenly widened when he saw the top-grade ''Sun-healing pills''.
As a pinnacle rank 3 silver grade alchemist, how could he not recognize a top-grade pill when he saw it?!
Although he couldn''t smell the pills directly, or cut off a small part to verify their effects, he could see through the case that the pills'' shapes and colors were absolutely perfect.
''''Unless the person who created these pills had simply tried to replicate the color and shape, it is very likely that these are really top-grade rank 4 healing pills.
However, I still have to smell and test them to be certain!''''
Just as these thoughts shed through Zhou Ning''s mind, Shun Long finally stood up from his chair, and looking at the middle-aged man who was staring at his pills he said
''''''Blood Pill pavilion''? I have never heard of you.
Be sensible and don''t interrupt my business, otherwise I don''t mind ttening your pavilionpletely!''''
When Shun Long finished his words, it wasn''t just Zhou Ning, but even the crowd outside the shop sucked in a breath of cold air.
Did this guy really just pin himself against the ''Blood Pill pavilion''?
Sigh
''''He could simply apologize and close down his shop, and the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' was very likely to not chase this issue any further!''''
As the voice of a spectator sounded from the entrance, Zhou Ning who was still staring at the pills in the ss case had his eyes turn red from anger after hearing Shun Long''s words.
He was nning to inspect the pills a little longer, but after hearing Shun Long''s answer, his gaze turned venomous, before he nodded his head and said
''''Very well! I will inform our pavilion of your choice! Let''s hope that you won''te to regret your words in the future.''''
Some of the people from the crowd shook their heads in pity, while others rejoiced in Shun Long''s misfortune.
The ''Blood Pill pavilion'' wasn''t some kind of charitable organization. They had been one of the 3 strongest pill shops in the northern part of the ''City of Sin'', precisely because they weed out the opposition before they mature. They would never allow a new shop to take part of their profits in their own territory!
Seeing Zhou Ning angrily storming out of the shop, the crowd opened a wide path for him to pass through, before they slowly dispersed as well.
A few curious people still entered inside the shop, but the moment that they saw the prices of the pills, they mocked the boss for being crazy before they hurriedly left as well.
Shun Long didn''t seem to mind their reactions, and as night fell he started to close the shop for the day.
Although they didn''t have any real customers today, Shun Long was certain that the name of his shop would start to spread very quickly.
Once he and Liu Mei arrived on the second floor, Shun Long noticed, that Liu Mei had already furnished the second floor with a bed, arge wooden table, 2 chairs and a couple of meditative cushions that she had purchased from the Heaven''s Dome city before they left.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long held Liu Mei from behind, and cing his arms around her waist, he brought his mouth next to her ear as he said in a suggestive voice
''''Mei''er, let me help you remove your clothes and allow you to rx.''''
Sensing Shun Long''s hot breath in her ear, Liu Mei could feel her face heating up, while Shun Long''s hands were now roaming all over her body.
Shun Long slowly removed her white robes, revealing her perfectly shaped body.
Liu Mei could feel a bulge hitting her butting from Shun Long''s robes, while Shun Long''s fingers had already started to touch and lightly pinch her pink n.i.p.p.l.es.
Soft m.o.a.ns escaped Liu Mei''s mouth as Shun Long''s right hand slowly moved downwards, while his left hand continued to y with Liu Mei''s b.o.o.b.s.
Once he ced his right hand between Liu Mei''s legs, Shun Long could feel a wetness filling his fingers.
And yet, his actions didn''t stop, as he pushed his fingers inside.
Liu Mei''s m.o.a.ned once before she turned around and helped Shun Long unrobe himself.
Shun Long smiled, and after Liu Mei helped him remove his own robes as well, he lifted her up before he ced her on top of the bed.
Without any hesitation, his already erect dragon entered inside Liu Mei, filling the rooms with m.o.a.ns of pleasure and excitement.
Shun Long''s hands hadn''t left Liu Mei''s b.r.e.a.s.ts during this time as he continued to touch and pinch her n.i.p.p.l.es, and every time that the 2 of them engaged in their ''dual cultivation'', they seemed to be even closer to each other.
2 hours passed when the m.o.a.ns of pleasure and ecstasy finally stopped.
Although Shun Long was a body refiner as well, Liu Mei''s body couldn''t handle any longer than this, and in the end, she had almost fallen unconscious.
There was still a gentle smile on her face however as she looked at Shun Long, while a warm feeling had filled her heart.
Shun Long''s right hand gently brushed Liu Mei''s left cheek as he lied next to her on the bed, and an hourter, once Liu Mei circted the ''Moonlight Sigil'' and started cultivating, Shun Long entered back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Looking at Little ck whose gigantic 10m(33ft) long body was coiled around himself, Shun Long''s eyes lit up, looking like he had just remembered something, before he asked with a serious look in his eyes
''''Little ck, is there any cultivation technique you have, that''s suitable for Mei''er?''''
Chapter 267 - 267 A new choice
Chapter 267 - 267 A new choice
Looking at Little ck who had a confused look on his face, Shun Long continued
''''No matter what, in the future, Mei''er is doomed to fall far behind me in cultivation, if things continue like this.
Even though the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' required seems to need more qi than other people in order for me to advance, with the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' and the ''Heavenly swallowing vine'', the gap will only grow between us in the future.
Even the dual cultivation technique that I got from Cui Guoliang won''t be enough by then!''''
Little ck however shook his head in response, and with a serious look in his deep azure eyes he said
''''Master, no matter what, you are destined to leave everyone else behind as you cultivate.
There are very few people who will be able to keep up with your cultivation speed in the future. and the price they will have to pay won''t be small.
Even I can only keep up with master''s cultivation speed because I have started my cultivation from scratch.''''
Shun Long had expected Little ck''s answer but he still felt some disappointment deep inside him.
Wouldn''t that mean that in the future Liu Mei wouldn''t be able to follow him.
Shun Long guessed that with Liu Mei''s character, even if he forcibly got her to travel with him in the future, if she felt that she was bing a burden then she would definitely refuse to stay by his side.
Little ck had a serious look in his eyes as he looked at Shun Long, and after a moment of deliberation he continued
''''Actually... there is a cultivation technique that could probably allow her to keep up with master''s pace and it is also suitable with her Dao of Death... but the side effects are too serious.''''
Shun Long looked at Little ck, who had a deep look in his eyes as he continued
''''It''s a cultivation technique that master found long ago, and it can also be considered an evil technique, but it is the only way for that little girl to continue following master in the future.''''
''''An evil technique?''''
Shun Long had already heard about evil practitioners.
Although they could be considered normal cultivators as well, and some of them were usually more powerful than other cultivators, the price that they had to pay in exchange for power was enormous.
Evil cultivators were always walking into a thin line, where their mind could fall into depravity at any time, and that could also lead into qi deviation.
If an ''evil cultivator'' started to get pleasure from their cultivation technique, then that could lead them to start mindless killing, and once their mental state was disrupted, their entire cultivation could backfire.
Of course, this was in exchange for the evil cultivators'' extraordinarily fast breakthrough speed.
From the small pieces of information that he knew, Shun Long assumed that the Demon Emperor pce could also be considered an ''evil sect''.
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long asked
''''What are the side effects of this cultivation technique then?''''
Little ck nodded his head, as he exined
''''First of all, master needs to know how this technique works.
Someone who cultivates in this technique can absorb part of the qi of the cultivators that they personally kill, to advance their own cultivation.
At first nce, this technique seems perfect for that little girl, as the qi from the cultivators that her undead creatures kill will be absorbed by her as well, however... there are 2 major issues.
The first is that it is very easy to fall into depravity by cultivating this technique.
The rapid advancement in cultivation may not even be inferior to master depending on how many people she kills, but that can also lead her to be a crazy murderer.
The second problem is, that every time that she advances a realm in cultivation, she will feel indescribable pain during the breakthrough.
The higher the realm, the bigger the amount of pain that one will have to face.
Shun Long was speechless for a moment.
Indeed, everything in life required a corresponding price to pay.
Shun Long required more qi in order to advance, but thankfully he had the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' and the middle-grade spirit stones.
Liu Mei right now wasn''t advancing too quickly, but her advancement was stable without any fears of losing control of her self and entering a qi deviation state in the future.
After thinking for a while, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''I will let Mei''er choose for herself.''''
Little ck nodded his head when he heard Shun Long''s words.
Indeed, it was better to let her choose for herself what path she wanted to follow.
Each path had its own dangers and risks after all.
After setting this matter aside for now, Shun Long took out his medicinal cauldron and started to warm it with his qi mes, in preparation of the new pill that he was about to create.
Taking out a rank 4 medicinal herb that looked like a green-colored fruit from the herb garden, along with almost a dozen more rank 3 herbs, Shun Long started adding everything inside the cauldron one by one.
The rank 4 green-colored fruit was saved forst, and after tearing it in half and pouring its emerald-colored juice inside the cauldron, Shun Long closed the cauldron''s lid as he thought to himself
''''By adding the essence extract of the ''Wind Sea jade fruit''st, none of its essence will be lost in the early stages of the refinement due to the high temperature. This should offset the fact that I didn''t have the ws or the heart of a ''Five-wed darkness wolf'' to use during the pill creation.''''
An hourter, a burst of medicinal fragrance exploded from the cauldron as Shun Long lifted up the cauldron''s lid, where 5 light green pills were lying inside.
The pills were shining with a green light, while a refreshing scent had filled the air around Shun Long.
Sigh
Shun Long sighed lightly but he had still expected the scene in front of him, and without too much disappointment in his eyes, he gathered the 5 pills and ced them all inside a pill bottle.
''''It''s too bad that there were no ''Five-wed darkness wolves'' for sale in the Heaven''s Dome city, otherwise, these ''Spiritual wind jade pills'' would have all reached the top-grade.''''
No matter how good Shun Long''s skills in alchemy may have been, or whether he had perfect knowledge of the medicinal herbs that he was using or not, if he didn''t have enough alchemy ingredients, then he would be unable to create top-grade pills every time.
Some specific pills, required the corpses or parts of certain magic beasts, and it was the same for these rank 4 ''Spiritual wind jade pills''.
Shun Long didn''t need to recover his spiritual strength, and after taking out another batch of ingredients, he started refining another batch of pills.
A little more than 3 days had passed inside the foggy space while almost 7 hours had gone by in the outside world.
Shun Long had refined almost 60 high-grade rank 4 ''Spiritual wind jade pills'', while 3 of them had managed to reach the top-grade.
After sorting everything else, Shun Long closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the ''foggy space'', before he once again appeared inside the room, on the second floor of the shop.
Chapter 268 - 268 Blood Absorption art
Chapter 268 - 268 Blood Absorption art
Looking at Liu Mei who still had her eyes closed as she absorbed the moonlight inside her body, Shun Long watched her silently with a serious expression on his face.
An incense stick of timeter, Liu Mei stopped circting the ''Moonlight Sigil'' and opened her eyes.
She was stunned for a moment when she saw Shun Long sitting on the meditative cushion opposite to her, but a mesmerizing smile soon appeared on her face.
Seeing that Shun Long still had that serious expression on his face, Liu Mei couldn''t help taking a deep breath as she asked curiously
''''Long-ge, is everything alright?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long gazed at Liu Mei''s beautiful ck eyes before he finally spoke
''''Mei''er, I''ve thought seriously over this matter, and in the end, I have decided to tell you everything and let you make the final decision.
Little ck has a cultivation technique that is much stronger than your ''Moonlight Sigil'', but it is also considered an evil technique.
It will help you get stronger much faster in the future, but there are also many dangers involved.
Honestly... I think it''s better if you continue to cultivate the ''Moonlight SIgil'', but I know that in the future it may not be enough for you.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes widened when she heard Shun Long''s words, before she nodded her head in response.
Just as Shun Long was about to speak, Little ck''s voice suddenly sounded inside his head
''''Master, let mee out as well. I can also exin better the advantages and disadvantages of the ''Blood Absorption'', before she makes her decision!''''
Since Little ck knew that Shun Long had decided to tackle this matter from the very beginning, he decided to exin everything personally.
As for what decision Liu Mei chose, Little ck didn''t particrly care.
Although Liu Mei was important to Shun Long, Little ck didn''t care much about anyone else other than Shun Long himself.
After thinking about it for a while, Shun Long agreed.
It was indeed better for Little ck to breakdown the pros and cons of the technique since Shun Long himself only knew a rough description of how it worked.
As Shun Long waved his hand, Little ck''s gigantic body appeared behind him, as the entire building trembled for a moment. It was like a small earthquake had suddenly hit the second floor of the shop.
The room was spacious enough however for the ck dragon to fit inside.
Looking at Liu Mei, Little ck had a serious deep look in his blue eyes as he said
''''There is a cultivation technique that is suitable for you, and would also not leave you far behind master in the future. As long as you cultivate in this technique, you will probably be able to stay next to master as well.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes lit up when she heard Little ck''s words.
She had already thought of this matter as well in thest 2 months.
Even though she had absorbed so many middle-grade spirit stones that had helped her enhance her cultivation speed, she was still at the same rank as Shun Long, and this was only after Shun Long had spent so many months in seclusion in order to advance from the peak of rank 9 to the Spirit realm.
Seeing the look deep inside Liu Mei''s eyes that had instantly turned determined, the stern expression in the ck dragon''s face softened somewhat, before his voice continued resounding throughout the room
''''However, this technique is not only considered an evil cultivation technique, but it can also have some serious side effects in the future. Whether or not you wish to ept it, is up to you.
Its name is the ''Blood Absorption art'', and it allows you to absorb part of the qi from the cultivators that your undead creatures or you by yourself directly kill, before advancing your own cultivation.
Of course this cultivation technique has an increased chance of causing you to fall into qi deviation and die, and even if you manage to avoid this in the future, every time that you breakthrough to a major realm, you will feel indescribable pain coursing through your body.
Think carefully before you decide.''''
Little ck''s blue eyes stared at Liu Mei who only hesitated for a single breath of time before she determinedly said
''''I will do it.''''
Shun Long didn''t interfere with Liu Mei''s decision. This was something that she had to decide for herself, since Shun Long already understood the consequences that each choice could lead to.
epting to cultivate this technique, would be like walking on a tight rope, but not cultivating it was the same, as Liu Mei epting that she would be unable to help Shun Long in the future.
Even if she followed him, she would only be tagging along.
Little ck nodded when he saw the serious expression on Liu Mei''s face, before his azure eyes suddenly turned a darker shade of blue.
All of a sudden, a stream of information filled Liu Mei''s mind, as the details of a cultivation technique appeared in her head.
''Blood Absorption art''
Shun Long watched Liu Mei who closed her eyes as she continued to stand on the meditative cushion, before Little ck returned back inside the foggy space.
He had already transmitted the cultivation technique to Liu Mei, and all she needed to do was spend a few minutes to absorb the knowledge and figure out the cirction method.
Shun Long then walked down to the first floor, and after he had the ck panthere out from the foggy space of the ''Stone of Time'' and stay at the inner part of the shop, he then ced the ''Spiritual wind jade pills'' behind the ss cases, before he set their price along with the effects of the pills.
Seeing that the skeletons were still standing guard behind the ss cases, Shun Long had a light smile on his face as he walked towards the entrance of the shop before he mumbled to himself
''''Let the second day officially begin then!''''
Chapter 269 - 269 First sale!
Chapter 269 - 269 First sale!
As he pushed open the door''s entrance, an unexpected scene appeared in Shun Long''s eyes.
More than 6 people had already queued up and waited for the shop to open.
Seeing the curious looks in these people''s faces, Shun Long immediately understood that the name of the shop had already started to spread.
The people who were queueing up also scrutinized Shun Long with their eyes, trying to see if there was anything special about him.
Shun Long didn''t seem to mind the crowd''s inquiring gazes, as he walked back inside and sat on his chair.
Seeing that the owner hadpletely disregarded them instead of inviting them inside the shop, a middle-aged man with ck hair, brown eyes and sharp facial features, angrily took a step forward and entered inside, before he looked at Shun Long and shouted loudly
''''Brat, is this how you wee your customers? We have been queueing up for almost an hour and you don''t evene to personally wee us inside?''''
Shun Long narrowed his eyes as he looked at the middle-aged man who seemed to havee to cause trouble.
The middle-aged man''s aura was also the strongest among the crowd, at the early rank 3 of the Spirit realm.
Without waiting for an answer, the man''s left hand lit up with a crimson light, before he punched the air forward, as sparks of red mes appeared in his hand.
The sparks of mes left the man''s hand, as they transformed into a huge fireball that flew directly towards Shun Long.
A chilling look shed through Shun Long''s eyes when he saw the man''s ruthless attack.
Even if Shun Long defended himself from the attack, it was certain that the ss cases that hadn''t been infused with any kind of defensive formations would crumble under the heat, destroying all of the pills inside the pill bottles in the process.
Seeing the faint smile on the middle-aged man''s face, Shun Long''s eyes turned golden as he instantly circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
As the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, the ''Monarch''s Domain'' slowed down the flow of time around the middle-aged man, as the fireball continued to fly towards Shun Long.
Shun Long stared at the bright-red fireball with his eyespletely focused, as he mumbled silently
''''Disappear..''''
He could now feel his qi being sapped at an rming rate, even faster than when he used the ''Time Prison'' in the past, as a blue lightpletely covered his body.
More than 60 percent of his qi was sapped in an instant, while under the middle-aged man''s terrified eyes, the fireball suddenly vanished into thin air.
The middle-aged man was horrified!
He, as an early rank 3 Spirit realm expert, didn''t even understand what had happened to his own attack.
It had suddenly vanished before it managed to hit that brat.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up brightly when he saw the fireball disappearing in front of his eyes.
He knew that this was all thanks to his understanding of the Dao of Time that had increased even further after he had broken through to the Spirit realm, allowing him to create this move.
And yet, this was the first time that he was actually using it inbat.
''''Since this move banishes someone from the world, I will call it ''Eternal Banishment''!''''
However, just to ''banish'' the early rank 3 Spirit realm expert''s attack, Shun Long had to use more than half of his qi at once.
Seeing that the middle-aged man still had a confused expression on his face, Shun Long activated the ''Gale steps'' before he kicked the ground once, appearing in front of the man almost instantly.
The middle-aged man quickly realized that things were turning bad, and a pair of me wings suddenly appeared on his back as he turned around and shot to the sky.
However, the man''s speed couldn''t bepared to even half of Shun Long''s, especially when he was still inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''s'' effect.
After all, although Shun Long couldn''tpletely stop someone who was 2 ranks higher than him with the ''Monarch''s Domain'', he could still slow down the flow of time around him.
As Shun Long appeared in the air above the man, he clenched his right fist tightly, before he sent a full-powered punch at the man''s back.
The early rank 3 Spirit realm expert had barely managed to leave the shop''s entrance, before Shun Long''s punch connected soundly with his back, in the space between his me wings.
BOOM
The early rank 3 Spirit realm was sent flying from the sky like a meteor, before hended next to the shop''s entrance.
A huge cloud of dust rose outside the shop, as the crowd hurriedly stepped back, before they turned their head to the sky and looked at the young man in blue robes with terror in their eyes.
Shun Long hadn''t held back in the slightest when he punched the middle-aged man.
Since he had intended to ruin his shop, it would only be foolish for Shun Long to let him leave.
As the cloud of dust slowly dispersed, the middle-aged man''s figure appeared in everyone''s eyes.
He was buried deep into the ground, but not a single sound wasing from his body.
Silence permeated the crowd when they noticed that the man was no longer breathing.
People weren''t astonished that the man was killed, after all this was the ''City of Sin''.
They were shocked however that Shun Long had managed to kill him with one punch.
Once Shun Long''s aura had exploded from his body, the crowd had noticed that his cultivation was only at the early rank 1 of the Spirit realm.
''''How?''''
This was the single question that had appeared in everyone''s head, when someone in the crowd eximed in a silent voice
''''He is also a body refiner! He has already reached the early fourth stage, that''s how he killed Yang Quidao in one punch!''''
Although the man''s voice was quiet, it was clearly heard by everyone amidst the silent crowd.
Shun Long didn''t seem to mind the man''s words, and after removing Yang Quidao''s spatial ring, he walked back inside the shop before sat on his chair once again.
Surprisingly, people started entering the shop one after the other after they saw Shun Long sitting down.
Once people saw the exorbitant prices of the pills, they were left dumbfounded, but since Yang Quidao''s cultivation was the highest in the crowd outside the shop previously, no one dared to raise a fuss as they continued to silently observe Shun Long''s pills.
''''This!''''
A young woman was the first one to spot the ''Spirit enhancing pills'' that were up for sale, when her voice was a mixture of shock and excitement.
''''Pills that can help increase your spirit sense? Is this real?''''
Shun Long didn''t pay much attention to the crowd''s discussions.
Of course, which Spirit realm cultivator wouldn''t be excited after seeing his ''Spirit enhancing pills'' and reading their description?
''''But... it costs 400.000 low-grade spirit stones for a single pill! Owner, are you crazy? Why don''t you go rob someone instead?'''',
The young woman who had first spotted the pills, felt like someone had suddenly prickled her heart with a needle when she saw the pills'' prices.
She was ready to purchase the top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills'' at any price, but as an early rank 1 Spirit realm expert, she only had a little more than half a million low-grade spirit stones.
Seeing that everyone else had fallen silent, a young man at the peak of rank 2 in the Spirit realm gritted his teeth and said
''''I- I will buy one of them!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he collected the payment from the young man, before one of Liu Mei''s skeletons handed him a single top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pill''.
This was Shun Long''s first pill sale from his shop.
Everyone around the young man had their eyes wide open when they smelled the fragranceing from the pill.
''''It is real!'''' The young man eximed in joy, and under the hungry gazes of the crowd, he turned around and left the shop in a hurry, almost afraid that someone would rob him.
At the same time, in another street at the north of the ''City of Sin'', a blood-red colored building with the sign of a pill cauldron was standing tall, with tens of people entering and leaving at the same time.
Although its scale couldn''t bepared to the ''Golden Exchange inn'' of the Heaven''s Dome city, it was still many timesrger than Xie Rong''s ''Pale Moon guild'' back in the Silver sword city.
This was the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', one of the 3rgest pill shops at the north of the ''City of Sin''.
Inside a room at the depths of the pavilion, the alchemist who had visited Shun Long''s shop yesterday, Zhou Ning, was sitting on a table with 10 other peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts as he finished narrating yesterday''s incident.
Suddenly, the door of the room swung open before a young man in white robes rushed inside.
Chapter 270 - 270 Attacking the shop
Chapter 270 - 270 Attacking the shop
The young man hurriedly bowed as soon as his eyes met Zhou Ning, before he greeted in a respectful tone
''''Master!''''
Zhou Ning''s face darkened, and mming his hand on therge table in front of him, he looked at the young man who was now kneeling on one knee and asked in a furious tone
''''Liang Rong, what are you doing here? Is this a ce you can barge in whenever you want?''''
The other peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts were about to berate the young man as well, but seeing that Zhou Ning had spoken first, they reigned in their dissatisfaction and simply stared at him with cold looks in their eyes
Liang Rong raised his head slightly, and looking at Zhou Ning, he answered in a respectful tone
''''Master, I kept observing that new shop just like you ordered me, and there are some unexpected news.
Apparently, the boss of that shop is only an early rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator, but he is also an early fourth stage body refiner.
I paid a rank 3 Spirit realm expert to cause trouble to that shop, which was how I found out about this.
That boss however is very strong! He killed that man in one punch!''''
Shocked looks appeared on the 10 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts faces, who all turned her head to look at Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning however had an equally astonished expression on his own face as he mumbled to himself
''''I was fooled?''''
Finally, a short old man with a white beard and few hair on his head who was sitting opposite to Zhou Ning, looked at him and mocked loudly without restraint
''''Zhou Ning, not only did you summon all of us here in order to take care of a rank 1 Spirit realm brat, but you even wanted to summon the pavilion master himself?
Fool! You are lucky that the pavilion master is in seclusion and didn''t respond to you, otherwise you would definitely be punished for wasting his time.
As for that rank 1 Spirit realm brat, don''t worry.
It''s understandable that you were too afraid to take care of him yesterday.
I will send a few rank 5 Spirit realm cultivators to help you with this issue.''''
''''HAHAHAHA!''''
The other peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts all exploded inughter when they heard the old man''s mocking words.
Indeed, it sounded like a peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert like Zhou Ning actually needed help from a few middle-stage Spirit realm cultivators.
Even Zhou Ning himself felt his face turning hot, and with nowhere else to vent his anger, he angrily kicked Liang Rong before he shouted in a furious voice
''''Call He Zhenkang!''''
The other peak rank 9 Spirit realm expertsughed even louder, while Liang Rong hurriedly scurried away from the room.
On the second floor of Shun Long''s pill shop, Liu Mei finally opened her eyes.
It took her 2 hours topletely understand the cirction technique after absorbing the knowledge that Little ck had sent into her mind.
At the same time, on the first floor of the shop, Shun Long was still sitting on the chair and watched as more and more people entered the shop.
Although less than 1 out of 10 people would end up purchasing a pill, Shun Long was still satisfied.
In the past one hour, Liu Mei''s hard-working skeletons had already made more than a million low-grade spirit stones, from selling a single top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pill'' for 400.000 low-grade spirit stones, a top-grade ''Blood ignition pill'' for 90.000 low-grade spirit stones, and a high-grade ''Spiritual wind jade pill'' for 500.000 low-grade spirit stones, along with a few top-grade rank 4 ''Qi replenishing pills''.
Just the high-grade ''Spiritual wind jade pill'' itself, was worth half a million low-grade spirit stones.
Of course, that was because of the pill''s extraordinary effects.
This was the most valuable pill that Shun Long had created so far, aside from the rank 4 ''internal reconstruction pill''.
After all, Shun Long knew, that if an early-stage Spirit realm cultivator consumed a high-grade ''Spiritual wind jade pill'', they would be able to instantly breakthrough to the next rank without any issues.
If a middle-stage Spirit realm cultivator consumed it, they had an 80 percent chance of breaking through to the next rank, whilete-stage Spirit realm experts consumed it, they had a 50 percent chance of breaking through to the next rank.
Since every person could only consume this pill once, the value of the ''Spirit wind jade pill'' exceeded even that of the ''Spirit enhancing pill''s''.
Although people were skeptical of the effects of the pill at first, but once they got a whiff of its fragrance more than half of their doubts were instantly dispelled.
As for the busty woman who had purchased the pill, as soon as she got her hands on it she hurriedly left the shop.
Liu Mei had a bewitching smile behind her white veil as she sat in her chair next to Shun Long.
Time soon passed, and as night finally fell, Shun Long decided to close the shop for today.
Liu Mei''s skeletons had already gathered more than 1.500.000 low-grade spirit stones from the pills'' sales.
At the same time, the shop''s name had already spread throughout the Silver cross street.
By now, people had already heard of the greedy boss with the amazing pills, and the 4 creepy skeletons that managed the shop.
Since some of Shun Long''s pills didn''t exist anywhere else in the ''City of Sin'', the shop had started to attract even more attention.
Just as he was about to close the shop''s entrance, Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s head, as the ck dragon said
''''Master, be careful.
There are more than 10 peopleing from the south, and all of them are filled with killing intent!
As for their cultivation, some of them may actually pose quite some trouble to master.''''
Of course, the moment that anyone exhibited killing intent while they were close to the shop, they would be unable to hide from Little ck.
Shun Long nodded his head inwardly at Little ck, while he did his best to control his facial expression from changing as he closed the door of the shop.
After all, he had already expected for this to happen, so it wasn''t that surprising. It was just faster than he had estimated.
''''This is still good'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself, before he turned his eyes to look at Liu Mei.
''''If Little ck said that these people will pose trouble to me, then they are certainly rank 5 Spirit realm cultivators at least. Mei''er''s skeletons won''t be able to dy them for more than a few breaths of time.''''
At the same time that this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, a dozen men dressed in blood-red robes were stealthily approaching the shop from the south.
Their auras werepletely retracted as they stepped on the roofs of the nearby shops, while their eyes were focused on the two-story wooden shop in the distance.
As for the bald man in the lead of the group, he was the expert who was entrusted by Zhou Ning to lead the team, andpletely raze Shun Long''s shop to the ground.
An early rank 6 Spirit realm expert, He Zhenkang!
Chapter 271 - 271 Purple-colored blade
Chapter 271 - 271 Purple-colored de
It only took a couple of minutes for the group of Spirit realm experts to arrive at the Silver cross street.
Looking at the wooden pill shop in the distance He Zhenkang made a hushing motion at the people behind him indicating for them to be quiet.
He wasn''t afraid of his ambush failing, but he wanted to be certain that the person inside the shop had no hope of escaping.
Even though it was night and Shun Long had already closed the shop, the Silver cross street was far from being deste.
For the next 2 hours, the rest of the shops continued working almost as if it was daytime.
Some of the shops even had more people visiting them during the night than they had in the day.
He Zhenkang and his group waited until fewer people were left on the street, before he ordered the rest of the experts in his group to surround the pill shop.
Aside from him, there were 2 middle rank 5 Spirit realm experts, a peak rank 4 and an early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivators, while the rest were at the rank 2 and rank 3.
Although He Zhenkang knew that the rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators would probably be useless against an early fourth stage body refiner, the reason that he brought them on this mission was to allow them to gain more experience.
As soon as the pedestrians had disappeared around the shop, He Zhenkang and the 2 middle rank 5 experts jumped in front of the pill shop''s entrance.
One of the 2 middle rank 5 Spirit realm experts looked at He Zhenkang and raised his ck saber in the air, ready to chop through the door before they barged inside.
He Zhenkang was about to nod his head in confirmation, when suddenly, a snapping sound was heard from behind him, attracting his attention.
The sound wasn''t too loud, but in the dead-silent night, it was more than enough to attract the attention of the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert.
Turning his head around, He Zhenkang stared with wide eyes at the scene in front of him.
The peak rank 4 expert from his group had his head severed, before he had the chance to utter a single word.
A blue-robed young man was standing behind the peak rank 4 Spirit realm expert with a smile on his face, while his right hand was dripping with his teammate''s blood.
An illusionary purple de was extending from his hand, but surprisingly, not a single drop of blood touched the de itself, as they all fell on the ground.
Under the moonlight, this scene looked especially creepy, but an experienced Spirit realm expert like He Zhenkang quickly came back to his senses.
Looking at the blue-robed young man, He Zhenkang had a serious look on his face as he asked in a solemn tone
''''Who are you?''''
Shun Long smiled lightly when he heard this question, while the illusionary purple de on his right hand trembled for a moment, and after throwing the severed head that he was holding in his left hand towards He Zhenkang''s feet, he answered in a voice that waspletely devoid of emotion
''''Since you came to ambush mete at night, shouldn''t you know who I am?''''
He Zhenkang''s eyes, as well as his group members'' immediately widened in response.
''''You- You are the boss of this shop?'''' He Zhenkang asked incredulously.
He couldn''t understand how a rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator who was just an early fourth stage body refiner at the same time, could detect the ambush from his group and manage to assassinate one of them instead.
''''How could I have failed to notice him?''''
As this thought shed through He Zhenkang''s mind, Shun Long''s eyes stared at the early rank 4 Spirit realm expert who was just a few tens of meters away from him and was trying to stealthily escape.
Kicking the ground once, Shun Long activated the gale steps and covered the distance of 40 meters almost instantly, as he appeared next to the rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator.
The man was horrified, and didn''t even attempt to fight against Shun Long, as he tried to escape towards He ZhenKang''s direction.
''''STOP RIGHT NOW!''''
He Zhenkang shouted loudly when he saw the apathetic look on Shun Long''s face as he shed the illusionary purple de downwards, towards the early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator''s head.
At the same time, the 2 middle rank 5 Spirit realm experts rushed to nk Shun Long from the sides.
One of them was holding a small blue dagger, while the other one was still holding his ck saber as they both shouted at the same time
''''Die!''''
Without any hesitation, Shun Long shed down with his right hand, causing the purple de in his hand to immediately beheaded the early rank 4 Spirit realm expert.
The purple de cut the man''s head without any obstruction, causing a fountain of blood to spurt through the air under He Zhenkang''s and his group''s shocked gazes.
Furious looks appeared in the 2 middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert''s faces, but they didn''t stop their attacks.
Instead, ayer of ice had appeared on the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert''s saber, while a gust of wind had appeared on the other man''s feet.
Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up, but surprisingly, the 2 middle rank 5 Spirit realm experts seemed to have covered every possible path of escape.
No matter which way he tried to dodge, he would definitely be hit by one of their attacks... unless he used blink of course.
However, blink would consume too much of his qi, and it would probably leave himpletely helpless against the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert who was still standing in front of the shop.
Taking 2 steps to the side, Shun Longpletely dodged the ck saber''s attack, falling right into the blue dagger''s range of attack.
The middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert felt joy as he shed the dagger towards Shun Long''s chest.
Twisting his waist slightly, Shun Long dodged as the dagger embedded itself on his shoulder, reaching all the way to his bone.
A wave of pain assaulted Shun Long''s senses, but thankfully, he had avoided the fatal attack.
However, the rank 2 silver grade dagger had still managed to pierce through his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', creating arge wound on his left shoulder.
At the same time that the man with the ck saber raised it in the air and prepared for his second attack, Shun Long looked at the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert in front of him who tried to take the blue-colored dagger from his shoulder.
However, a wave of blue light instantly covered Shun Long''s body as he activated both of the ''Monarch''s Domains'', before he swung his right arm sideways towards the man''s head.
The middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert immediately understood what was happening and decisively abandoned his dagger as he stepped back, but surprisingly, Shun Long had already seen through his path of retreat.
The illusionary purple-colored de cut through the man''s throat in an instant, causing another fountain of blood to spurt through the air under He Zhenkang''s shocked eyes.
Chapter 272 - 272 Poison
Chapter 272 - 272 Poison
''''Xiao Yu!!!''''
He Zhenkang and the other middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert shouted at the same time, while their eyes instantly turned red as they saw the headless corpse fall to the ground.
Meanwhile, the other rank 2 and rank 3 Spirit realm experts started to slowly back away towards the shop, as they widened the distance between themselves and Shun Long.
Taking a deep breath, He Zhenkang took out a pair of silver-colored gloves from his spatial ring, and looking at Shun Long he said in a tone oozing with killing intent
''''Trading your left shoulder to kill Xiao Yu? This was the biggest mistake of your life kid!
Let''s see how long you canst with Xiao Yu''s poison in your body.''''
As he finished his words, He Zhenkang slowly walked towards Shun Long one step at a time. He was in no hurry to attack him, and was actually waiting for the poison to take effect.
It looks like the mission that Zhou Ning had given them this time was far from easy.
Although He Zhenkang didn''t know why, but he could feel a sense of lethal danger as he stared at the purple-colored de on Shun Long''s hand.
Nodding his head, the other middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert quickly circled around Shun Long, not giving him a single chance to escape.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he noticed He Zhenkang''s slow steps.
It was obvious that He Zhenkang was simply waiting until the poison started to take effect inside his body.
Indeed, after sending his spirit sense in his body, Shun Long noticed a blue-colored fluid that had entered from the wound on his shoulder, and was slowly expanding towards the rest of his body.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long waved his hand and took out a bottle filled with top-grade rank 4 ''anti-toxin'' pills, before he consumed one of them on the spot.
He Zhenkang however, didn''t seem to have any inclination to stop Shun Long, and instead he startedughing in a mocking tone as he said
''''Hahaha! Fool, that poison was concocted by senior Zhou himself. Do you really think that your own pills will have any effect against the poison of a pinnacle rank 3 silver grade alchemist?''''
Shun Long however didn''t respond to He Zhenkang, as his spirit sense kept observing the poison inside his body.
The moment that the poison had started to spread towards his heart, the ''anti-toxin pill'' didn''t even have time to take effect as the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' instantly started to circte by itself,pletely suppressing the blue-colored poison.
The poison inside the dagger was actually much more potent than Shun Long had originally estimated it to be.
It was actually strong enough to knock out even an early rank 7 Spirit realm expert if it was injected inside their body, let alone an early fourth stage body refiner.
If the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' hadn''t advanced to the fourth stage, Shun Long guessed that it would have been unable to suppress the lethal poison by itself.
Of course, if Shun Long wanted to consume an ''anti-toxin pill'' during a fight, even He Zhenkang wouldn''t be able to stop him with the huge distance between them.
Looking at the purple-colored de in his hand, Shun Long frowned slightly.
This was the move that he had managed to create after breaking through to the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', as his understanding of the Dao of Space had also deepened at the same time.
''''Although its power is astonishing, it is indeed too taxing for me to keep it active for so long.''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, he didn''t waste any more time, before he turned around and attacked the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert behind him.
Shun Long covered the distance between them and arrived in front of the man in practically an instant, as he shed his purple-colored de towards the man''s head.
The rank 5 Spirit realm expert quickly raised his ck saber and hurriedly defended against Shun Long''s sh.
However, even with his rank 3 silver grade saber, the man quickly found himself on the backfoot, as the moment that his ck saber met the illusionary purple de, the man was pushed backwards for a few tens of meters while the saber had almost left his hand.
Shun Long''s barrage of attacks was simply too strong, while the purple de itself was extremely weird.
Its strength didn''t seem to lose out in the slightest against his saber.
Turning to look at He Zhenkang in the distance, the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert couldn''t help shouting
''''Brother, quickly help me!''''
Nodding his head, He Zhenkang quickly put on his silver-colored gloves before he ced his 2 palms together.
The aura of an early rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator exploded from his body, while arge water wave more than 8m(26ft) tall appeared behind him.
The water wave quickly took the shape of arge tiger that had a water-like blue-colored fur and lifelike dark blue eyes.
The tiger''s eyes were immediately locked on Shun Long who was still fighting with the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert with the ck saber, before it jumped in the air and flew towards them.
Even He Zhenkang had been shocked when he noticed the situation that the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert had ended up in.
Barely a few moments had passed since the man''s fight with Shun Long had started, but shing wounds had already filled his body.
An expression of joy appeared on the man''s face when he saw the water tiger flying towards him, as he took an even more defensive posture than before.
The middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert had no reason to try and kill Shun Long by himself any longer.
He was certain that as soon as He Zhenkang''s water tiger joined hands with him, Shun Long would be unable to deal with theirbined power.
At the same time, Shun Long seemed to havepletely ignored the water tiger that wasing from behind him, and as his focus reached its peak, his golden eyes shone with a bright blue light as he shed the illusionary purple de horizontally aiming for the man''s throat.
The middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert raised his ck saber in reflex, but a scene that made his heart constrict in horror unfolded in front of his eyes.
Shun Long watched as his illusionary purple de passed through the man''s ck saber almost as if it didn''t exist, before it continued to sh at his throat.
Blood immediately started to spurt from the man''s throat, while a horrified expression had filled his eyes.
''''NOOO!''''
At the same time, He Zhenkang shouted loudly in a voice filled with unwillingness and killing intent, when he saw the purple-colored de piercing through the man''s throat.
As if that wasn''t enough however, He Zhenkang didn''t even have enough time to digest the scene that had just happened, when the sounds of swords shing through the air were suddenly heard from behind him,ing from the direction of the pill shop.
Turning around, He Zhenkang felt dizzy for a moment when he saw 4 heads rolling on the ground until they stopped in front of his feet.
Chapter 273 - 273 Fighting He Zhenkang
Chapter 273 - 273 Fighting He Zhenkang
A look of disbelief appeared in He Zhenkang''s eyes when he saw the faces on the 4 heads that had rolled all the way to his feet.
They were his rank 2 Spirit realm subordinates!
Raising his head to look at the entrance of the shop, He Zhenkang then saw a dozen giant ck-armored knights who had beheaded his subordinates from behind.
The ck-armored knights were more than 3m(10ft) tall each, with red wisps of ember shining in their eye sockets, while each of them was also holding a 2m(l6.6ft) long greatsword in their hands.
A pair of undead knights had each attacked one of the 4 rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators who were standing in front of the shop, while the remaining 4 undead knights had tried to ambush the remaining rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators.
The rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators seemed to have sensed the ambush and had managed to fend off the 4 undead knights that attacked them, and subsequently destroy them with ease, but the rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators had already been killed in a single instant.
Looking at the 4 headless corpses in front of the shop, each of them having their head severed by thebined attack from 2 undead knights, He Zhenkang immediately understood what had happened, while an ugly expression had appeared on his face as he shouted loudly
''''YOU F.U.C.K.I.N.G BRAT!''''
The rank 3 Spirit realm experts looked at each other and without any hesitation, they attacked the other 8 undead knights in front of the shop.
At the same time, He Zhenkang tried to calm his emotions as he looked at the overall situation
''''These ck-armored knights surely belong to that brat! They must have stayed hidden inside the shop all this time just to find the perfect moment to ambush us!''''
Indeed, as an experienced fighter, how could He Zhenkang not have recognized that the undead knights had taken advantage of the chaos during the fight, when everyone''s attention was on Shun Long and the middle rank 5 Spirit realm expert, in order to attack them when they werepletely unaware.
Thankfully, the undead knights were only at the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm... otherwise, even his rank 3 Spirit realm subordinates may have died today.
Staring at Shun Long, He Zhenkang''s eyes were filled with killing intent as he manipted his water tiger that had already arrived behind Shun Long to bite off his neck!
His losses could already be considered catastrophic today, and even Shun Long''s death wasn''t enough to make up for them!
He had not only lost 8 Spirit realm experts, but among them, 2 of them were at the rank 4 while the other 2 were at the middle of rank 5!
The water tiger was full of ferocity as it opened its giant jaws and tried to bite off Shun Long''s neck.
A feeling of danger had filled Shun Long''s heart, as his golden eyes lit up with a blue light.
Without even turning around, Shun Long activated the Gale steps and hurriedly dodged sideways, avoiding the tiger''s deadly attack.
He Zhenkang however had a smile filled with fury and killing intent as he looked at Shun Long, before he said in a mocking tone
''''Brat, I wonder how long you can keep this up for!
Your movements have already started to slow down!''''
Shun Long gritted his teeth but he didn''t respond to He Zhenkang''s taunts as he thought to himself
''''Indeed, I can''t keep going like this. The spatial de is consuming too much energy from my ''Monarch''s Eternal body''. Although it''s not really slowing down my movements, I won''t be able to hold out for too long.''''
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long allowed the illusionary purple-colored de topletely disperse, before he took out the ''Purple Blossom staff'' from the ''Stone of Time''.
''''A staff?'''' He Zhenkang asked in astonishment.
The movements of the tiger however didn''t stop, as it continuously assaulted Shun Long.
Seeing the water tiger''s ws sweep towards his face and chest, Shun Long used the ''Purple Blossom staff'' as he parried the water tiger''s attacks without much of a problem.
Although the tiger was strong, it was barely at the same level, as the peak rank 5 Spirit realm corpse that Shun Long had defeated in the Netherspirit forest.
As he fought against the tiger, Shun Long slowly approached closer to He Zhenkang.
He Zhenkang however immediately noticed his movements, and after seeing that Shun Long could fight the tiger on even grounds, he gathered more of his qi in his hands as he punched the air in front of him.
A fist-sized ball of water came out from He Zhenkang''s silver gloves, shooting towards Shun Long like a cannonball!
Shun Long''s golden eyes shed with a blue light, and after predicting the trajectory of the water cannonball that was going to urately hit his right foot, he took 3 steps to the side, avoiding the tiger''s ws at the same time.
Even though He Zhenkang was stunned for a moment, his movements didn''t stop, as he punched the air in front of him again and again, shooting countless water cannonballs at Shun Long.
Activating the second ''Monarch''s Domain'' as well as the Gale steps, Shun Long''s speed sky-rocketed, as he instantly broke free from the water tiger and headed towards He Zhenkang.
He didn''t even have to pay any attention to the water cannonballs, seemingly as if he knew exactly where they were going tond.
He Zhenkang however didn''t seem fl.u.s.tered when he saw Shun Long rushing towards him, as he then joined his palms together.
He had already seen Shun Long''s speed a while ago and was already prepared.
Running towards He Zhenkang, Shun Long saw a gigantic water wall appearing from the ground,pletely enshrouding the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert.
Shun Long however didn''t stop, and as he approached closer to He Zhenkang he mumbled to himself
''Blink''
He Zhenkang''s eyes widened as he saw Shun Long''s figure instantly vanishing.
Appearing right above the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert, Shun Long held the ''Purple Blossom staff'' with both hands, as he swung it downwards at full force.
A shocked expression appeared on He Zhenkang''s face, while the scent of death had filled his heart.
He knew that if he allowed the staff to hit him, he would certainly die without question.
Gritting his teeth, the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert hurriedly raised his hands as his silver-colored gloves met the descending staff.
BOOM
Crack
Shun Long could feel the staff almost slipping away from his hands as soon as it collided with the silver-colored gloves.
At the same time, he saw He Zhenkang whose feet had sunk on the ground, leaving behind deep imprints, while some of his bones seemed to have been broken.
Shun Long however didn''t stop, as he swung the staff horizontally once again, using all of his might to activate the second move of the ''Staff of Obliteration''!
He knew that if he didn''t finish off the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert now, he wouldn''t be able to do itter on.
He Zhenkang raised his arms, creating a water wall between himself and Shun Long, while at the same time he tried to escape as far as he could.
He was ready to escape back to the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' before asking for help.
The purple staff however easily tore through the water wall, destroying it in an instant.
Shun Long''s eyes were fully focused, and without any hesitation, he chained the third attack of the ''Staff of Obliteration''.
He Zhenkang had no time to dodge, as the ''Purple Blossom staff'' hit his chest with overpowering force.
Having used his full strength in this attack, Shun Long tore a huge hole in the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert''s chest, as he sent him flying through the air before He Zhenkang copsed in front of the shop''s entrance.
The rank 3 Spirit realm subordinates were just a few tens of meters away from the shop, but none of them dared to approach He Zhenkang.
Just as He Zhenkang''s fingers twitched however, a terrifying 3m(10ft) tall undead knight appeared right above his head.
Under the stunned gazes of the 3 rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators, the undead knight swung his greatsword, beheading He Zhenkang in an instant!
Chapter 274 - 274 Exterminating the Blood Pill pavilions assassins
Chapter 274 - 274 Exterminating the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' assassins
Blood immediately spurt like a fountain from He Zhenkang''s body, dying the ck armor of the undead knight a crimson red color, as the early rank 6 Spirit realm expert''s head rolled on the dead-silent ''Silver cross street''.
Ashen expressions had appeared on the faces of the rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators who stood rooted on the spot as they watched He Zhenkang''s headless corpse, while a single question had appeared in their minds
''''How is this possible?''''
How could He Zhenkang lose?
He was the leader of this assassination mission personally appointed by alchemist Zhou himself!
They already knew that they were dealing with a rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator who was just an early fourth stage body refiner, and yet... He Zhenkang and the others still died.
When realization finally struck their minds, the trio of rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators started to slowly step back, as they backed away from the shop.
As for the undead knight who had beheaded He Zhenkang... the 3 of them didn''t care one bit about it.
They had already seen the hole on He Zhenkang''s chest the moment that he hadnded in front of the shop, and understood, that even without the ck-armored knight''s help, He Zhenkang would have died no matter what, unless he had a miraculous pill in his spatial ring that could heal such injuries.
Inside the shop, at the depths of the first floor, Liu Mei was sitting next to the ck panther with her eyes closed, while massive amounts of qi traveled through the air to enter her body.
An expression of pain appeared on her face, but Liu Mei bit her red lips, withstanding the pain, as she circted the ''Blood Absorption art'' ording to Little ck''s method.
At the same time, Shun Long watched the rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators who were trying to escape with narrowed eyes.
As for the water tiger that he was fighting with earlier, without the support from He Zhenkang''s qi, it had already turned into a pool of water.
Seeing that Shun Long had noticed them as they tried to stealthily back away, the 3 of them didn''t choose to beg for mercy, but instead, they made a frenzied run towards the edge of the Silver cross street.
All 3 of them knew very clearly that this was the ''City of Sin''... there was no room for mercy here.
Since they had followed He Zhenkang, they knew that there was no way for them to be spared.
They could only try and escape now, and return back to the ''Blood Pill pavilion''!
Raising his right hand, sparks of thunder appeared on Shun Long''s forefinger, before the sound of thunder booming resounded through the air.
BOOM
A bolt of lightning left Shun Long''s finger, and headed towards the back of the rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator who was in the lead.
Terror had filled the man''s eyes when he felt the bolt of lightning approaching him, as he knew that there was no way for him to defend against it. Without any suspense, as the ''thunderbolt finger'' hit him, a hole was pierced through the early rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator''s back, before his body copsed on the ground.
Without any dy, more sparks of lightning appeared once again on Shun Long''s finger, as a second and a third bolt of lightning left his hand one after the other.
The 2 remaining middle rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators soon met the same fate, as their charred bodies copsed lifelessly in the middle of the Silver cross street.
After removing their spatial rings, Shun Long conjured his qi me in his hand and burned He Zhenkang''s and his subordinates'' bodies, before he walked back inside the shop.
In the depths of the first floor, after noticing that Liu Mei had her eyes closed and was cultivating next to the ck panther, Shun Long didn''t disturb her, before he closed his eyes and entered inside the ''Stone of Time'', in the ce surrounded by fog.
''''Since Mei''er''s undead knight beheaded the early rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator, her cultivation will definitely advance by a lot now that she has the ''Blood Absorption art''.''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long slightly rxed his body, as he sat cross-legged on the ground with Little ck next to him.
He could feel his body being extremely tired after the battle with He Zhenkang and his subordinates.
It was only after consuming a single rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'' that Shun Long could feel his body being rapidly filled with energy once again.
Opening his eyes, Shun Long then took a look at the spatial rings of He Zhenkang and his subordinates.
However, aside from 5 million low-grade spirit stones, as well as their silver grade weapons, he didn''t find anything else of value inside them.
Although 5 million low-grade spirit stones wasn''t a lot to Shun Long, it still wasn''t a small amount.
After cing everything inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long then took out arge amount of middle-grade spirit stones and fed them to the ''Heaven swallowing vine''.
The vine once again started to fill the air around him withrge amounts of pure qi as it consumed the middle-grade spirit stones.
Shun Long could feel the endless qi in the air around him, and without any hesitation, he closed his eyes and circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as he started to absorb it inside his body.
3 days soon passed inside the foggy space, while 12 balls of qi had now appeared in the space above Shun Long''s head.
Knowing that his cultivation had reached the early rank 2 in the Spirit realm, Shun Long opened his eyes with a satisfied smile on his face.,
At the same time, back inside the red-colored building where the headquarters of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' were located at, Zhou Ning had a furious expression on his face as he stared at his disciple Liang Rong, who was kneeling in front of him.
His tone was filled with disbelief and killing intent, while the aura of a peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert exploded from his body, as he asked
''''Liang Rong, are you sure about this?''''
Chapter 275 - 275 Deduction
Chapter 275 - 275 Deduction
The expression of the surrounding alchemists of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' had also changed as they stared at the kneeling young man.
Taking a deep breath, Liang Rong looked at his master Zhou Ning and nodded his head, before he continued
''''I am sure master! I personally checked the shop just now, and not only is it not damaged in the slightest, but He Zhenkang and the others are nowhere to be found!''''
The room immediately descended into silence as soon as Liang Ron''s words ended.
It wasn''t just Zhou Ning who was shocked, but the other peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts as well.
They clearly remembered that less than 8 hours ago, He Zhenkang had already taken his squad from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', before he headed towards the unknown pill shop.
Then where was he now?
A middle-aged man who stood right next to Zhou Ning, who had a shaved head and big distinct eyebrows, looked at the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts around him and asked in a voice filled with disbelief
''''Do you think that He Zhenkang has actually died?''''
His words were like a bomb that exploded inside the secret room, instantly attracting everyone''s attention, including the kneeling Liang Rong''s who looked at him with eyes filled with shock.
The old man who had mocked Zhou Ning thest time, was once again the first to speak, as he looked at the middle-aged man and asked in a mocking but also furious voice
''''Guan Hong, are you an idiot?
Let''s say that He Zhenkang did indeed fail his mission, how would he die against a target who is just an early fourth stage body refiner?
Putting aside He Zhenkang''s own cultivation level, he also had 4 middle andte-stage rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators with him, three early and middle stage rank 3, an early and a peak rank 4 Spirit realm cultivators, as well as 2 middle rank 5 ones.
Is it even possible for them to fail an assassination against a mere early fourth stage body refiner?
And even if we assume that they failed, and even if the worst thing happened and He Zhenkang has really died, what happened to the rest of his squad?
Don''t tell me that you believe that they have died as well!''''
The bald middle-aged man, Guan Hong wanted to retort, but his words were stuck in his throat.
Indeed, it had only been a wild guess by him that He Zhenkang had died, and that was only because He Zhenkang hadn''t returned to the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' just yet.
No matter whether a mission was a sess or a failure, everyone had to report about the results once it was over.
Looking at the dead silent room, Zhou Ning took a deep breath, before he was actually the first one to break the silence, as he looked at the people around him and said in a stern voice
''''No... Guan Hong may actually be right...''''
Everyone turned to look at Zhou Ning with shocked gazes, but he didn''t seem to mind as he continued
''''When I berated that brat and told him to close down his shop, there wasn''t an ounce of fear on his face.
The look in his eyes when he stared at me, was like he was looking at a fool.
Since I didn''t know his cultivation realm back then, I didn''t act rashly, since I assumed that he was also ate-stage Spirit realm cultivator.
But since his cultivation was proven to be at the early stages of the Spirit realm He Zhenkang alone should have been sufficient in order to tten his shop.
However, seeing that our entire team of 12 people has disappeared tonight, there can only be one conclusion...''''
The old man''s eyes shone as he stared at Zhou Ning, before he asked in a low voice
''''Zhou Ning, do you mean...?''''
Nodding his head, Zhou Ning continued
''''There is certainly another person inside that shop, and it''s one who is at least at thete-stages of the Spirit realm!
Additionally, I doubt that he is just a normalte-stage Spirit realm cultivator.
He is probably an expert at the peak of rank 9, who is exceptionally suited in stealth. Otherwise, I shouldn''t have been unable to detect his presence when I was inside their shop!''''
For once, the old man didn''t berate Zhou Ning, while the look in his eyes was abnormally serious as he slowly nodded his head.
Although Zhou Ning''s words sounded a bit far-fetched, they were actually very logical.
This also exined how there were top-grade rank 4 pills for sale, when the boss of the shop was what an early rank 1 Spirit realm brat.
After taking a deep breath, the old man looked at the people around him, before he said in a solemn voice
''''In that case, it is actually for the best that you didn''t fight with them, Zhou Ning. For this matter, we will have to inform the pavilion master!
Although a peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert is someone that we can take care of by ourselves as well, the situation has already exceeded our control.
After all, we don''t truly know the depths of the enemies'' forces, and in case that the person in that shop is actually a Nascent Soul stage expert...''''
Shivers suddenly passed through the old man''s and the rest spines, as they all agreed to inform the pavilion master!
This wasn''t something that they should risk, taking on by themselves.
At the same time, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long closed his eyes before he simted himself leaving the foggy space, as he once again returned back inside the first floor of the shop.
Looking at Liu Mei who still hadn''t woken up and was cultivating next to the ck panther, Shun Long smiled lightly before he walked towards the entrance of the shop.
Just as he put his hand on the wooden door and was about to open it however, the door was suddenly sent flying inside the shop by a powerful kick, before it crashed on the ground next to Shun Long, breaking into smithereens.
Chapter 276 - 276 Violent guardian gang
Chapter 276 - 276 Violent guardian gang
Turning his head to look at the entrance, Shun Long saw 3 young men in ck robes, arrogantly swaggering inside the shop.
The man in the lead stared at the pills behind the ss cases with a smile on his face, while his eyes lit up when he noticed their high prices.
And yet, a shocked look had suddenly appeared on his face when he saw the 4 skeletons whose eyes were shining with green ember wisps.
However, ignoring the skeletons'' creepy appearances, his eyes were once again focused on the countless pills around him while the greed inside them deepened even further.
The 2 men who were following behind him traded nces with each other, whilerge smiles could be seen on their faces before they turned their attention at Shun Long.
The young man in the lead seemed to be in his mid-twenties, with long ck hair that was tied up in a ponytail and a pointy jaw.
His gaze looked around the shop as if he was the owner, before he finally turned his eyes towards Shun Long as well.
Shun Long saw that the man in front of him had an evil smile on his face, before his condescending voice sounded in Shun Long''s ears
''''Brat, I heard that someone purchased old Bu''s shop and turned it into a pill shop.
The pill shop supposedly has crazy prices as well, while their owner made a lot of money yesterday.
Judging by the prices of your pills, it seems that the rumors are true. I am sure that you made a killing.
However, you should already know that you are not allowed to operate a shop in the ''Silver cross street'' without the permission of our ''Violent guardian gang''!
After all, every shop here needs to be under our gang''s protection for their own good!''''
Nodding their heads, the 2 young men behind him also agreed, before the short-haired, ck-robed man on the left added
''''Don''t worry kid, as long as you pay the price, our gang will make sure to protect your shop properly!''''
The man in the middle nodded his head, while his eyes stared at the pills around him once again, before he raised 5 fingers in the air and said in amanding tone
''''5 million! As long as you pay 5 million low-grade spirit stones every month, we will allow your shop to operate normally.
Otherwise, I am sure that you understand the consequences.
Old Bu was a person who paid for protection as well, until his shop stopped making money anymore.
Actually, I should charge you more considering how you sold pills yesterday without our permission, but 5 million can be considered the start of a good deal!''''
Shaking his head Shun Long actually wondered for a moment, where did an early rank 3 and a pair of peak rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators find the courage to extort the entire Silver cross street for protection money?
Although he hadn''t paid much attention to the shops around him before he had purchased his shop, Shun Long clearly remembered that some of the bosses from the nearby shops had even reached the middle stages of the Spirit realm.
''''To be able to extort protection money from every shop in the Silver cross street, there is no way that their gang is limited to these 3 fools in front of me. They should probably have at least a fewte-stage Spirit realm cultivators as well!''''
And yet, even as this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, there was no way for him to agree to pay 5 million low-grade spirit stones as protection money.
After all, this was just an extortion fee so that this gang wouldn''t mess with his shop.
As for protecting it? What a joke! With the ck panther staying inside the first floor of the shop, and Little ck who was residing in the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', why would Shun Long need more helpers from this ''Violent guardian gang''?
Looking at the 3 ck-robed people in front of him, Shun Long didn''t even bother wasting words with them.
All he said was a single word, before he pointed forward with his finger
''''Scram.''''
Shun Long''s qi was then gathered in his finger, while sparks of lightning appeared around his hand before a lightning bolt shot out from it towards the 3 men in front of him.
The man in the middle smirked when he saw Shun Long''s attack before he punched forward with his right arm in response.
mes had appeared around the man''s hand, as he met Shun Long''s thunderbolt finger head-on.
The scene that followed however waspletely different from his expectations.
The man''s mes werepletely unable to stop the lightning bolt that pierced a hole through his finger.
The terrifying force behind the thunderbolt finger sent the man flying, outside of the shop, into the crowd that was waiting at the shop''s entrance.
Hearing the blood-curdling screams that left the man''s mouth, the pair of peak rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators who were behind him, now stared at Shun Long with eyes full of anger, as well as concealed fear.
It was obvious that they hadn''t expected for Shun Long to attack them first.
The crowd was also shocked when they saw the young man in their midst, whose right hand was now charred and in a horrible condition.
There was practically no one in the Silver cross street who would dare fight against the ''Violent guardian gang''s'' members.
Even if they asked you for 5 million low-grade spirit stones, at most they would beat you and break down your shop if you didn''t pay. But if you dared to fight against them, they would definitely kill you without exception!
The pair of peak rank 2 Spirit realm cultivators rushed out of the shop and supported the pony-tailed young man who seemed to have barely held on to his senses.
The man looked at Shun Long who was inside the shop with unconcealed hatred as well as fear in his eyes.
After taking a look at his arm, his eyes turned cold, as he said in a murderous tone that was filled with killing intent
''''You are dead!''''
Without waiting for an answer, the 3 men from the ''Violent guardian gang'' passed through the crowd who had opened a path for them, as they left the ''Silver cross street''.
At the same time, in the depths of the first floor, Liu Mei who was still sitting cross-legged next to the ck panther, absorbing the residual qi inside her body, finally opened her eyes!
Chapter 277 - 277 Amassing wealth!
Chapter 277 - 277 Amassing wealth!
A powerful aura erupted from Liu Mei''s body as soon as she opened her eyes.
Her cultivation which was at the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm a few hours ago, had already sky-rocketed, advancing all the way to the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm in one single night.
This was the result of absorbing part of the qi from an early rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator, as well as 4 rank 2 Spirit realm ones.
Liu Mei had not only reached the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm, but she was just a step away from breaking through to the early rank 4.
However, even though her cultivation had advanced extremely quickly in just one night, her spiritual strength wasn''t up to par, and this was something that Liu Mei already knew.
The Spirit realm was the realm in preparation before the Nascent Soul stage.
Increasing the spiritual strength and spirit sense were the most important parts alongside the cultivation increase.
Almost as if he had sensed something, Shun Long turned his head to look towards the depths of the shop.
Of course, neither Liu Mei nor the ck panther were visible, unless someone headed deeper inside the shop.
Suppressing his curiosity, Shun Long decided to check Liu Mei''s conditionter, when Little ck''s voice sounded in his head, saying
''''Master, that little girl is very lucky!
After absorbing the qi from the early rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator, her cultivation actually managed to rise all the way to the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm!
As long as she can absorb enough blood qi in the future, she will probably not fall too far behind master''s cultivation.
At the very least, she will be able to protect herself!''''
Shun Long felt shocked for a moment when he heard Little ck''s words.
Peak rank 3 in the Spirit realm?
But after thinking about it for a moment, it made sense.
''''Of course! How many rank 1 Spirit realm cultivators will have the chance to kill an early rank 6 Spirit realm expert, while they cultivate in a technique like the ''Blood Absorption art'' at the same time?''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long realized how amazing a technique the ''Blood Absorption art'' really was.
Of course, it also came with its own disadvantages as well.
The day continued, and although the crowd was shocked when they saw Shun Long fighting with the members of the ''Violent guardian gang'', the interest that people had in these new pills of his didn''t diminish in the slightest.
Soon, night fell, before Shun Long decided to close the shop for today.
By the end of the day, Liu Mei''s skeletons had gathered almost 3 million low-grade spirit stones.
Even for Shun Long who wasn''tcking in spirit stones at the moment, getting 5 million low-grade in 2 days was an enormous amount.
Wouldn''t that mean that within a month the shop would make approximately 75 million low-grade spirit stones?
This was more than the current amount of spirit stones that Shun Long had inside the ''Stone of Time'' at this point.
If this was converted into middle-grade spirit stones, it would be 750.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Of course, Shun Long also understood that this was a slightly unrealistic amount to expect.
The reason was, because this matter involved more factors than just the price of his pills.
It also involved the current poption of the ''City of Sin'', as well as the amount of spirit stones that were being circted in the pill market at the northern part of the city.
After all, Shun Long''s shop wasn''t the only shop that sold pills, while special pills like the ''Spiritual wind jade pill'' would only be purchased once by each person.
Thinking about it for a bit, Shun Long estimated that he should be able to make well over 600.000 middle-grade spirit stones by the end of the month however.
This was equivalent to 60 million low-grade spirit stones.
After the 4 skeletons reced the destroyed door, Shun Long walked at the depths of the first floor, where Liu Mei was still sitting cross-legged next to the ck panther.
Although her cultivation had already advanced, she still had to consume the ''Spirit enhancing pills'' in order to bring her spiritual strength and spirit sense at the same level as her cultivation.
Seeing Liu Mei opening her eyes as soon as he approached her, Shun Long looked at her shining ck eyes that were full of vigor and asked curiously
''''Mei''er, how are you feeling?''''
Even though Shun Long knew that there shouldn''t be any issues nor any extreme pain before Liu Mei attempted to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, at the end of the day, the ''Blood Absorption art'' wasn''t amon cultivation technique.
If Liu Mei had started to feel that something was wrong, then it was better for her to give up on it while it was still early.
Liu Mei however, had an enchanting smile on her face as she stared at Shun Long, before she answered gently
''''Long-ge, don''t worry! Everything is okay! Although there was some pain at first, I am sure that it was due to the concentrated amount of qi that I absorbed.''''
At the same time, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck nodded his head as his voice then sounded in Shun Long''s mind
''''Master, there is nothing to worry about regarding that little girl. It is normal to have felt pain in that situation. Absorbing the qi from an early rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator when she is only at the peak of rank 1 is normal to bring pain after all.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response after hearing Little ck''s words, before he and Liu Mei went up to the second floor and dual cultivated for the next 3 hours.
Looking at Liu Mei''s n.a.k.e.d body that was lying on top of him, Shun Long caressed her long ck hair before he said
''''Mei''er, can you take care of the shop? ,
I am nning to enter seclusion for the next few days, and advance my strength. Of course, if something truly happens, Little ck will let me know so I can return.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes lit up, and without any hesitation she nodded her head as she agreed.
This was one of the few times that Shun Long had asked her for something.
Seeing the excited expression on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long smiled as his hands continued to caress her ck hair.
A few momentster, after putting on his robes, Shun Long closed his eyes as he once again returned back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
After sitting cross-legged on the ground, he waved his hand, taking out more than 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones as well as 10 bottles filled with top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills''.
This time, Shun Long was nning to advance all the way to the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm.
This was also the requirement that he needed to reach, to be able to refine rank 5 pills.
Chapter 278 - 278 Breakthrough
Chapter 278 - 278 Breakthrough
Dense amounts of pure qi filled the air around Shun Long and Little ck, as the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' consumed more and more middle-grade spirit stones.
The ck dragon sighed inwardly as he thought to himself
''''How good would it have been if master had this vine in his previous life?
Sigh I suppose that some treasures can only be chanced upon, regardless of cultivation level. This is fate after all.''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Little ck had already coiled himself around Shun Long, and started to munch on a stalk of ''dragonblood grass'', as he watched Shun Long absorb the pure qi around them inside his body.
As Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', the indistinct figure of an hourss expanded from his body, as 12 balls of qi were now floating above his head.
Soon, a 13th ball of qi had appeared on his right hand, it''s figure blurry at first, but as time passed, it started to turn more and more corporeal.
A few hours passed until the newly created ball of qi was shining with a bright white light, not inferior to the light that the 12 balls of qi were emitting inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Raising his right hand in the air, Shun Long used all of his strength, as he pushed the ball of qi inside the hole of the hourss.
Sweat had formed on Shun Long''s forehead, and half an hourter, 13 bright balls of qi were floating above his head.
Every new ball of qi that Shun Long created was even harder to condense than thest one, as it required even more qi to be formed.
As Shun Long was cultivating inside the foggy space, on the first floor of the shop, Liu Mei was staring at the shop''s entrance.
After taking a deep breath, a ck ball of qi appeared in her hands, before she allowed it to fall on the floor.
2 undead knights dressed in ck armor appeared in front of Liu Mei, each of their cultivation having reached the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm.
After sitting on the chair next to Shun Long''s, Liu Mei allowed the undead knights to open the door, before they proceeded to stand guard at the shop''s entrance.
The crowd that was waiting for the shop''s door to open, was stunned for a moment when they saw the 3m(10ft) tall undead knights inside the shop.
The knights'' terrifying appearance, as well as the 2m(6.6ft) long greatswords on their backs, gave off a dangerous feeling to everyone who was about to pass through the shop''s entrance.
However, after noticing that the ck-armored knights were only standing guard and weren''t proactively moving, people stopped paying too much attention to them as they slowly entered the shop.
''''Eh?''''
Surprised exmations sounded, once people saw that Shun Long wasn''t present, and instead, it was just Liu Mei on the first floor.
Liu Mei however didn''t seem to mind the crowd''s reactions, as she continued to stay seated and observe the people around her.
The first day quickly passed, and it was unknown whether it was thanks to the deterrence of the undead knights or for some other reason, but no one tried to create any trouble inside the shop.
At the end of the day, Liu Mei closed the shop''s entrance, having collected a total of 3 million low-grade spirit stones.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, as he consumed top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills'' without stop.
Although one day had passed for Liu Mei, 10 days had already passed for him inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Above his head, Shun Long could see 21 bright balls of qi if he opened his eyes, as his cultivation had already reached the early rank 3 in the Spirit realm.
After consuming the ''Spirit enhancing pills'', Shun Long could clearly feel his spiritual strength and his spirit sense bing stronger with every passing second.
Time continued to pass like this, and soon, 6 more days had gone by for Liu Mei who had already started to get used to the role of a shopkeeper.
During these 6 days, Liu Mei had been surprised to see that nothing unnatural had happened, and the shop''s business continued normally.
In thest week alone, she had already made 20 million low-grade spirit stones.
This was an enormous amount of spirit stones, that would make even Dao Kings grow envious, let alone Nascent Soul stage experts or Spirit realm cultivators.
In the worst-case scenario, that Nascent Soul stage experts woulde to find trouble in the shop while Shun Long was still cultivating, Liu Mei had also been prepared to have the ck panther deal with them.
However, to her surprise, not only were there no Nascent Soul stage experts who came to find trouble, but even the ''Violent guardian gang'' and the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' had also stayed silent during this time.
Although Liu Mei couldn''t guess the reason behind theirck of actions, she was certain that at least the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', wouldn''t want to suddenly be friends with Shun Long.
At the same time that Liu Mei was pondering over this issue while she was closing the shop for the day, in the foggy ce inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
A powerful aura exploded from his body, while 30 bright balls of qi were now floating above his head, as his cultivation had now reached the early rank 4 in the Spirit realm!
A little more than 2 months had passed since he had entered seclusion, and even with his own standards, his rate of advancement this time was far too fast.
Shun Long had expected to spend at least a month more before he managed to breakthrough from the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm to the early rank 4, but surprisingly, his advancement was extremely smooth.
''''This is probably thanks to all the fights I have been throughtely, allowing me to get fully used to my strength before breaking through.'''' Shun Long thought to himself, as he stared at Little ck who was still eating a stalk of ''Dragonblood grass''.
Now that his cultivation had advanced to the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm, Shun Long was confident in refining even rank 5 medicinal herbs like the ''Dragonblood grass'' into pills.
This would make him equal to a gold grade alchemist!
Closing his eyes, he once again simted himself leaving the ''Stone of Time'', as he returned back inside the room on the second floor of the shop.
Chapter 279 - 279 Hiding the news?
Chapter 279 - 279 Hiding the news?
Liu Mei had just entered the room on the second floor, when she saw Shun Long suddenly appearing on top of the meditative cushion in the middle of the room.
''''Long-ge!''''
Liu Mei''s excited voice entered Shun Long''s ears as soon as he appeared back in the room.
Turning his head to look at his stunning young wife who was dressed in white robes, Shun Long had a smile on his face as he asked
''''Mei''er, are you alright?''''
Shun Long had no idea how thesest 7 days were for Liu Mei who had to act as the shopkeeper by herself.
He had originally expected to be able to cultivate in seclusion for 3 days at most before someone came to cause trouble in the shop.
After all, this was the ''City of Sin'', and Shun Long already had a bad rtionship with the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' and the ''Violent guardian gang''.
However, since Little ck hadn''t mentioned anything, Shun Long decided to continue cultivating in seclusion this time, spending a month and a half more inside the ''Stone of Time'', in order to breakthrough to the early rank 4 in the Spirit realm.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei had a smile on her face as she then answered
''''Long-ge, I am alright. Surprisingly, nothing happened in the past week.
As for the store itself... we made more than 20 million low-grade spirit stones during this time!''''
Shun Long had a surprised expression on his face when he heard Liu Mei''s words.
Additionally, he also noticed that there was an unconcealed hint of pride and joy in Liu Mei''s tone when she mentioned the 20 million low-grade spirit stones.
The look in Shun Long face however soon turned serious, as he thought to himself
''''Then, this is even more suspicious! There is no way that anyone wouldn''t be tempted to rob a shop that makes 20 million low-grade spirit stones within a week, especially inside the ''City of Sin''.''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, his mind quickly spun as he started to think of the possible reasons that had allowed the shop to keep its peace for the past week.
Seeing the serious look on Shun Long''s face, Liu Mei seemed to have understood what he was thinking about. After all, she too had the same concerns when she saw how many spirit stones the shop earned within the week without any issues.
Just as Shun Long had fallen into deep thought, Little ck''s voice once again sounded in his mind,pletely waking him up from his reverie
''''Master, for the past week, there have been 2 different groups that have been keeping an eye on the shop at all times. It seems that they are just waiting for master to leave the shop before they make any moves.''''
The moment that Shun Long heard Little ck''s words, it was like the final piece of the puzzle had finally found its ce, leaving aplete image in his mind.
''''Of course!
The reason that no Nascent Soul stage expert hase to find trouble just yet, is because they probably don''t know about the shop, since it is still new and unknown in the ''City of Sin''!
Additionally, it''s in the northern part of the city, and more precisely, in the area where the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' and the ''Violent guardian gang'' seem to be in charge of. As long as those 2 powers suppress the news of the shop appearing, other powers would have a hard time finding out about our shop''s existence in just a week, let alone make any moves.
Sooner orter however, the shop''s name will spread throughout the city.
After all, no matter how hard the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' and the ''Violent guardian gang'' try to suppress the news, they cannot control every single person who enters the Silver cross street.
Based on the power and influence that the ''Violent guardian gang'' and the ''Blood pill pavilion'' have over the Silver cross street, there is also a very high chance that there are Nascent Souls stage experts behind them.
But then, why haven''t they attacked the shop just yet, and simply sent a few Spirit realm cultivators from the ''Blood pill pavilion''?
Could it be that they are actually waiting for something, which is why they have each sent a group to keep track of us?
Right! After all, as long as we don''t leave, the spirit stones won''t leave either!''''
Sorting out his thoughts and deductions, Shun Long guessed that he had probably understood almost everything by now. There were a few small pieces of information that he still couldn''t wrap his head around, like the reason why they hadn''t attacked the shop just yet.
Of course, it was also possible that there was no Nascent Soul stage expert behind these 2 powers, but then that wouldn''t justify the control and influence that the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' and the ''Violent guardian gang'' had in the northern part of the ''City of Sin''. After all, Shun Long had already heard that the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' was one of the 3 biggest pill shops in the northern part of the city as well.
Once these thoughts shed through Shun Long''s mind, and after noticing that it was still the start of the night and there were more than 8 hours until the sun rose, Shun Long suddenly put on a bright smile on his face as he looked at Liu Mei, before he said in a seemingly casual tone
''''Mei''er, let''s go!''''
Liu Mei was stunned for a moment, but she still nodded her head as she followed Shun Long who walked to the first floor, passed through the ck panther who opened his eyes as soon as he saw its master, before he stopped in front of the shop''s entrance.
Without opening the door of the shop, Shun Long asked Little ck for the exact location, as well as the strength of the 2 groups who were keeping an eye on the shop.
With a somewhat evil smile on his face, Little ck seemed to have guessed Shun Long''s intentions, as the ck dragon then said in an excited voice
''''Master, one group only has an early rank 4, as well as a pair of peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivators, while the other one has an early and a middle rank 4 Spirit realm cultivators, as well as one who is at the peak of rank 3.''''
With that same smile on his face, Shun Long raised his left hand, before he shed the air in front of him, opening a nearly 2m(6.6ft) long space tear. Holding Liu Mei''s hand, Shun Long then entered the space tear, as he and Liu Mei instantly disappeared from the shop.
Chapter 280 - 280 Disguise
Chapter 280 - 280 Disguise
Almost a mile away from the shop, in an isted small alley of the Silver cross street, Shun Long and Liu Mei suddenly appeared as the space tear behind them closed.
Liu Mei wasn''t wearing her white veil this time, and as her beautiful ck eyes were staring at Shun Long she couldn''t hold herself from asking
''''Long-ge, where are we going?''''
Shun Long smiled even wider when he heard Liu Mei''s question, before he answered in a seemingly joking tone
''''To have some fun.''''
With a confused expression on her face, Liu Mei still followed Shun Long who stealthily ran through the alleys of the Silver cross street, until he arrived behind arge building less than a mile away from the shop.
On top of the building, 3 people dressed in ck were silently staring towards the pill shop''s entrance,pletely unaware of Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s arrival behind them.
Liu Mei''s eyes widened when she saw that these people seemed to be staring at their shop, when Shun Long suddenly mumbled
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from Shun Long''s body andpletely covered Liu Mei as well as the 3 people on the rooftop, forcing time around him toe to a halt.
However, unlike the 3 ck-robed people on the rooftop, Liu Mei''s actions didn''t seem to be affected by the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
In the past, Shun Long was unable to fully control the ''Monarch''s Domain'', but as hisprehension of the Dao of Time advanced, he could now stop the flow of time around the 3 ck-robed people, while allowing Liu Mei to staypletely unaffected.
Seeing that the 3 people on the rooftop were suddenly ced in a half-dead state, Liu Mei stared at them with shining eyes, before she turned her gaze towards Shun Long and asked in a hesitant tone
''''Long-ge, should we... ?''''
Shun Long immediately understood what Liu Mei was asking, and with a serious look on his face, he nodded his head, before he pointed at the 3 ck-robed people and said
''''Of course! If they didn''t intend to harm us, then we could have let them live, but this is definitely not the case.
If we had tried to leave the city, the first thing these people would have done would be to call whoever sent them here, who would in turn attack us to rob us of everything we have.
It looks like the only reason that they haven''t attacked us yet, is because they still have some misgivings or they are waiting for something, but as soon as we try to leave they will definitely do everything they can to kill us!
Judging from the robes they are wearing, they also seem to be members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''...
This is perfect!''''
Liu Mei didn''t understand why Shun Long seemed to be excited when he noticed that these people are members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', but she still nodded her head, agreeing with his words.
Indeed, it was very likely for Shun Long''s words to be true!
After all, regardless of whether it was the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' or some other power in the ''City of Sin'', it was impossible for them to have any good intentions towards them.
Especially after considering how many spirit stones their shop had made in thest week, Liu Mei stopped hesitating, while a single thought shed through her mind
''''Long-ge is right. Since you wanted to harm us, then you should pay the price!''''
The look inside Liu Mei''s eyes quickly turned cold as she stared at the 3 people on the rooftop, while a ball of ck qi appeared in her hands before she let it fall on the ground.
3 ck-armored undead knights appeared from the ground, kneeling in front of Liu Mei on one knee.
After receiving Liu Mei''s order, the 3 undead knights quickly shot to the rooftop, towards the 3 people from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' who were still in a frozen-like state.
Whether it was the peak rank 3, the early rank 4, or even the peak rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator, under the effects of Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'' they werepletely immobilized.
The 3 undead knights easily cut their necks, beheading the 3 cultivators of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' in an instant, before they returned back to Liu Mei.
At the same time, Shun Long saw Liu Mei closing her eyes, as almost invisible threads of blood qi started to flow towards her.
It only took half an hour for Liu Mei to fully absorb the energy from the 3 cultivators of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', while her cultivation now was just a step away from reaching the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm.
With a light smile on his face, Shun Long floated towards the rooftop where the 3 bodies were lying on.
After removing their robes as well as their spatial rings, Shun Long burned the 3 bodies with his qi mes, before he jumped down from the rooftop, and handed one of the ck robes to Liu Mei.
Then, under Liu Mei''s stunned eyes, Shun Long covered himself with a ck robe,pletely hiding his azure robes underneath it.
Seeing Liu Mei staring at him with a speechless look, Shun Long said with that same smile on his face
''''Mei''er, quickly put on the ck robes as well, otherwise, we will definitely be found out!''''
Liu Mei''s eyes suddenly widened as she understood what Shun Long intended to do.
Seeing Liu Mei covering her white robes with the ck ones from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' fully concealing her face as well at the same time, Shun Long almostughed, and after wrapping his right arm around Liu Mei''s waist, he shot to the sky as the 2 of them ''toured'' through the northern part of the ''City of Sin''!
Less than an hourter, Shun Long''s eyes lit up, as he saw a red-colored building in the distance.
It was a huge building, more than 4 stories high, and even during the night,rge numbers of people could be seen entering and leaving at the same time.
Seeing the sign of the crimson pill cauldron above the building, Shun Long immediately understood that this was the headquarters of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''!
Chapter 281 - 281 Entering the Blood Pill pavilion
Chapter 281 - 281 Entering the Blood Pill pavilion
Seeing the red-colored building in the distance, Shun Long didn''t choose to fly towards it right away, but instead, hended a little more than a mile away from it, inside a secluded alley, before he and Liu Mei continued towards it on foot.
After a few minutes of walking, he and Liu Mei had already arrived in front of therge pill shop, with the sign of the crimson cauldron above it.
With their ck robes that indicated that they were members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', nobody stopped the 2 of them from entering inside.
Of course, even without these robes, Shun Long and Liu Mei could still casually walk inside it they wanted to, since this was a pill shop after all.
As soon as they entered inside, Shun Long noticed that the interior of the shop was muchrger than his own shop, with the first floor of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' covering more than 4 times the space that the first floor of his own shop upied.
Additionally, this was a 3-story pill shop, while the 4th floor was exclusively reserved for the high-ranking members of the pavilion.
ss cases that sold pills could be seen as far as the eye could see, making the first floor an extremely bustling ce.
And yet, Shun Long noticed that most pills here were low-level pills, even the highest of which was just a low-grade rank 3 pill.
Of course, as one of the 3rgest pill shops in the north of the ''City of Sin'', the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' couldn''t just sell rank 4 pills alone.
After all, unlike Shun Long''s shop, there were many alchemists who were working for the pavilion, including bronze grade level alchemists, who could only refine rank 1 or rank 2 level pills.
At the same time, the ''City of Sin'' didn''t only have Spirit realm or Nascent Soul stage cultivators, but earth grade and Heaven grade cultivators as well.
Although these people would usually live a harsh life in the cruel ''City of Sin'', they still wanted to purchase pills and advance their own cultivation as well, andrge pill shops like the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' would be more than happy to receive their spirit stones.
The moment that they stepped through the building, Little ck''s voice sounded in Shun Long''s head, with obvious hints of surprise inside it
''''Master, there is actually not a single Nascent Soul stage cultivator inside this building! Aside from 11 peak rank 9 Spirit realm brats who are staying on the fourth floor, the next strongest person is an early rank 8 Spirit realm.''''
Just as he and Liu Mei were walking through the first floor, Shun Long suddenly paused for a moment when he heard Little ck''s words.
''''There are no Nascent Soul stage experts? Could it be that the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' doesn''t actually have any Nascent Soul stage experts behind it?
No this is unlikely! Then, does that mean that the person behind the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' isn''t present right now?''''
Seeing that Shun Long had stopped walking, as he fell into contemtion, Liu Mei hesitated for a moment before she asked curiously
''''Long-ge, where should we go now?''''
After hearing Liu Mei''s voice, a smile was formed on Shun Long''s face as he looked at her and asked in response
''''Mei''er, did the floating cloud sect have a treasury?''''
Liu Mei was confused for a moment, not knowing why Shun Long had asked this question, but she still nodded her head in response as she answered seriously
''''It did. All the martial skills and the cultivation techniques that were used in the sect, as well as the spirit stones that were mined from the spirit stone mines, would all enter the treasury for safekeeping.
Of course, the wealth of the big families or the personal wealth of the Elders of the Sect master would never be deposited into the treasury.''''
As soon as she finished her words, Liu Mei''s eyes widened as she seemed to have understood Shun Long''s aim.
''''Long-ge wants to rob the Blood Pill pavilion''s treasury?!''''
Without confirming or denying Liu Mei''s guesses, Shun Long didn''t continue to stay on the first floor, and instead, he and Liu Mei walked towards the second floor of the pavilion.
However, even the highest grade pill on the second floor left Shun Long disappointed, since it was just a top-grade rank 3 ''Qi replenishing pill''.
Without lingering on the second floor any longer, Shun Long and Liu Mei headed up to the third floor.
Unlike the previous 2 floors, the third floor wasn''t as crowded, while only Spirit realm experts were present here.
Surprisingly, even the lowest grade pill on this floor was at the low-grade rank 4, while even some top-grade rank 4 ones were for sale.
Of course, the prices of the top-grade rank 4 pills weren''t much lower than the prices of Shun Long''s pills.
A single top-grade rank 4 ''Qi replenishing pill'' was priced at 20.000 low-grade spirit stones, while a single top-grade rank 4 ''anti-toxin pill'' was actually priced at 10.000 low-grade spirit stones!
As for extremely rare pills like Shun Long''s ''Spiritual Wind Jade pill'' or the ''Blood Ignition pill'', there weren''t even any low-grade ones, let alone high-grade or top-grade pills.
Of course, even if the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' had the recipe and the medicinal herbs to concoct this pill, it wasn''t certain that they would have been able to seed.
After all, the requirements to concoct these pills, involved more than just following a simple recipe. Knowledge of the medicinal herbs that were being used during the pill refinement was also necessary, and even then it was still very likely for the pill concoction to fail.
Besides, with how rare the medicinal herbs that were needed to concoct these pills were, even if the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' had managed to seed in the pills'' refinement, it was unknown whether they would put them up for sale or not.
After taking a good look at the pills on the third floor, Shun Long led Liu Mei towards the stairs of the fourth floor, where 2 ck-robed guards at the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm were standing guard!
Chapter 282 - 282 Peak rank 6 Spirit realm guards
Chapter 282 - 282 Peak rank 6 Spirit realm guards
One of the guards seemed to have noticed Shun Long and Liu Mei walking towards the stairs, and a surprised expression appeared on his face.
Seeing that the guard on the left was about to speak, Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned golden, while the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body and covered the 2 middle rank 4 Spirit realm guards.
ced under the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long had forcibly halted the flow of time around the 2 guards, before he and Liu Mei continued to walk towards the fourth floor without any obstruction.
As soon as the 2 of them arrived on the fourth floor, Shun Long retracted the ''Monarch''s Domain'', allowing time around the 2 guards to continue to flow once again.
''''Halt!''''
The guard suddenly shouted, attracting everyone''s attention!
People on the third floor turned their eyes towards the guard who was standing in front of the stairs of the fourth floor, including the other guard next to him.
However, there didn''t seem to be anyone in front of the guard, making him look like he was shouting at an empty patch of air.
The guard hurriedly turned his head to the left to look at his friend, who seemed to be looking at him with a confused expression as well.
''''Was it just an illusion?''''
The guard mumbled before he lowered his head in shame, too embarrassed to make contact with the crowd any longer.
At the same time, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already arrived on the fourth floor.
In contrast to the previous floors however, the fourth floor wasn''t one vast room that sold pills.
Instead, it seemed to be split into many rooms and corridors, all of them belonging to the high-ranking members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
As soon as they arrived on the fourth floor, Shun Long had Little ck confirm the location of the treasury, as well as that of the 11 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts.
''''Master, the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators are all gathered inside a room at the center of the floor!
As for their treasury, it is filled with protective formations, and it is also guarded by 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivators. I think that even with master''s current cultivation level, it will still be hard to take care of 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivators at the same time!''''
After hearing Little ck''s words, Shun Long thought seriously for a good while.
Indeed, even with Shun Long''s breakthrough to the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm, it wouldn''t be easy for him to take care of 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm experts at the same time, without alerting anyone in the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
A few momentster however, he nodded his head, as he and Liu Mei headed deeper inside the fourth floor.
With Little ck''s directions, Shun Long knew exactly where the members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' were and easily avoided meeting them.
Without a Nascent Soul stage expert using their soul sense to scan the fourth floor, it was practically impossible for anyone to find Shun Long, with Little ck scanning the way forward.
After walking through more than half of the fourth floor, Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived at the end of the corridor.
Based on Little ck soul sense, Shun Long already knew, that the 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivators were right beyond this corridor, standing guard in front of the treasury.
WIth a serious look on his face, Shun Long turned to look at Liu Mei as he said
''''Mei''er, I will take down one guard, and will also immobilize the other. You will only have a single breath of time to take care of him!''''
Seeing the serious look on Shun Long''s face, Liu Mei nodded her head.
She had already heard about the 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm guards from Shun Long.
Although Liu Mei didn''t have any confidence in fighting against a peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator head-on, if Shun Long could immobilize them for a single moment, then there was a chance.
Seeing that Liu Mei had nodded her head, Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned golden as he circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
After activating the ''Monarch''s Domain'', he and Liu Mei both appeared from the edge of the corridor in front of the 2 guards.
The 2 peak rank 6 guards took less than a moment to react, while confused looks had appeared on their faces when they saw the 2 hooded members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' in front of them.
Shun Long''s eyes however were fully focused on the guard on the left while Liu Mei immediately headed for the guard on the right.
Raising his left hand in the air, Shun Long shed the void in front of him, opening up a space tear, before his right fist immediately followed suit.
As soon as his clenched right fist entered inside the space tear, Shun Long punched forward at full-force, when a booming sound came from the guard''s chest.
Crack
The peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert was sent flying through the air, before he collided with the wall behind him, coughingrge amounts of blood in the process.
And yet, Shun Long knew that he had failed to hit the guard''s heart with his punch!
It seemed that the guard had noticed that something was amiss when Shun Long had tore space open, and causing Shun Long''s punch to miss.
Shun Long clearly knew that his punch had actually hit the guard''s bones instead of his heart, and even though he was injured, the guard was still alive.
Although his injury was serious, it wasn''t lethal, and it wasn''t enough to prevent him from shouting for help!
Shun Long however also knew, that he had to ignore this guard now, and turn his attention to the guard on the right, since Liu Mei had already arrived in front of him.
Waving his long yellow-colored sword that had a tinge of ck in it, the peak rank 6 Spirit realm guard had an evil smile on his face, as he shed it towards Liu Mei''s waist.
He had already noticed that Liu Mei was just a peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator, and knew that she stood no chance against him.
He hadn''t even noticed that the other guard had already fallen on the floor and was in a bad condition, while the bloodl.u.s.t in his eyes intensified as his sword approached closer to Liu Mei.
Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up with a powerful blue light as he stared at the guard in front of Liu Mei, before he mumbled to himself
''''Time Prison.''''
Chapter 283 - 283 Alerting the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts
Chapter 283 - 283 Alerting the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts
Suddenly, the peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert''s actions were halted, as Shun Long forcefully ced him in a temporary time prison.
Shun Long could feel his qi being sapped at an rming rate, and nearly half of it was gone in a single instant.
However, the peak rank 6 Spirit realm guard''s sword that was just a hair''s breadth away from Liu Mei''s waist, ready to cleave her in half, was instantly stopped in ce.
Holding the pinnacle rank 1 gold grade ''Four seasons azure sword'' in her hand, Liu Mei stared at the guard in front of her who still had that evil smile on his face, before she shed her sword horizontally towards the guard''s neck.
Shun Long could maintain his ''Time Prison'' for a single breath of time before it was broken, but a single breath of time was actually enough.
Blood immediately spurted from the guard''s neck at the same time that Shun Long''s time prison was broken, as the guard''s throat was instantly shed open.
At the same time, stepping slightly to the left, Liu Mei barely had enough time to dodge the yellow-colored sword that was aiming to split her body in two.
The peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert, stared at the woman in front of him with his eyes wide-open, not understanding what had just happened.
He was clearly faster than her, so how could his sword have missed, while Liu Mei''s attacknded first?!
The other guard was staring at the scene with eyes filled with horror and incredulity.
He clearly saw that the woman was about to die, but the guard suddenly stopped almost as if he was intentionally allowing her to sh his throat.
At the same time that the guard''s throat was shed open, and his body had started to slump on the ground, an illusionary purple de appeared on Shun Long''s right hand.
''''Blink''''
Shun Long mumbled to himself as his body suddenly vanished, before it reappeared in front of the guard on the left.
As Shun Long shed the illusionary purple de towards the guard''s chest however, the peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert took a deep breath, before he shouted in a loud voice that shook the entire ''Blood Pill pavilion''
''''ENEMY ATTACK!''''
Shun Long''s spatial de instantly pierced through the peak rank 6 Spirit realm guard''s heart, destroying it in an instant.
And yet, a solemn expression had now appeared on Shun Long''s face as he stared at the guard in front of him.
He was certain that everyone inside the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', including the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts, had already heard the guard''s shout, and wouldn''t take long until they arrived at the treasury.
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long saw that she seemed to have already absorbed the energy from the peak rank 6 Spirit realm guard in front of her, but she didn''t try to refine it right away.
Instead, she forcibly kept it inside her body, until she and Shun Long had left the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
Shun Long then turned his eyes towards therge ck door of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury.
The door was filled with countless runes, that merged themselves together to create a powerful protective formation.
Although Shun Long wasn''t a formation master, just from the energy that wasing from the formation that was protecting the treasury in front of him, he understood that this was certainly a pinnacle rank 3 silver grade formation.
Even if a few peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts tried to break through it, they would definitely be unable to do so.
In fact, even an early-stage Nascent Soul expert may be unable to break through it in a short amount of time.
Seeing the serious look on Shun Long''s face, Liu Mei asked in a somewhat nervous tone
''''Long-ge, perhaps we should just leave for now?''''
Although Liu Mei knew that Little ck was always somewhere around Shun Long and could actually destroy the entire ''Blood Pill pavilion'' if he wanted to, she also knew that unless absolutely necessary, Shun Long wasn''t willing to reveal Little ck''s existence, and if he did, he would certainly make sure that anyone who knew about the ck dragon would die!
Shaking his head, Shun Long''s lips curved up into a small smile, as he looked at Liu Mei and said
''''Although I can''t break through their protective formation, that doesn''t mean that we can''t enter inside.''''
Raising his right hand in the air, Shun Long then shed the space in front of him open, creating arge space tear more than 2m(6.6ft) long.
Without waiting for Liu Mei''s reaction, Shun Long wrapped his right arm around her waist, before he entered inside the space tear.
At the same time, in the room at the center of the fourth floor, Zhou Ning and the other 10 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts who were chatting with each other, abruptly stood up when they heard the guard''s shout about an enemy attack.
The bald middle-aged man who stood next to Zhou Ning, Guan Hong looked at the direction of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury before he asked in a voice that was filled with disbelief
''''Don''t tell me that someone has infiltrated our pavilion and is actually attacking our treasury!''''
The other peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts, including the old man who seemed to be the one in charge, as well as Zhou Ning, all looked at each other with ugly expressions on their faces, before they headed towards the treasury without another word.
If someone had really dared to attack the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury, they had to die no matter what!
After all, to arge pill shop or a sect, their treasury was their lifeline. All of their important items, as well as the spirit stones they used to pay their alchemists every month, were all stored inside the treasury!
Chapter 284 - 284 Gift
Chapter 284 - 284 Gift
After entering inside the space tear, Shun Long hadpletely avoided the protective formations around the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury, as he stared at the scene in front of him with eyes filled with shock.
Mountains of spirit stones filled the room in front of him, as well as countless medicinal herbs and medicinal ingredients, including the beast cores of magic beasts, or other parts that were useful in alchemy.
The most shocking thing to Shun Long however, was the amount of spirit stones gathered inside the treasury!
Shun Long had originally expected that the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury would at most have 10 million low-grade spirit stones! After all, even a middle rank 2 Dao King like Hao Ping from the ''Heaven''s Dome city''s'' ''Mercenaries'' Association'', only had 15 million low-grade spirit stones in his spatial ring, while Xue Zhn, an early rank 3 Dao King realm expert had 30 million low-grade spirit stones.
However, the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury seemed to have more than 40 million low-grade spirit stones!
This was almost as much, as the wealth of the 2 Dao Kingsbined!
Of course, that was only if Shun Long ignored the value of their gold grade weapons, as well as the countless martial skills and cultivation techniques that he had found inside their spatial rings.
As for the 2 ''Dragon Lord''s medallions''... they couldn''t be purchased no matter how many spirit stones one had.
After staring at the scene in front of him for a few moments, Shun Long seemed to have just realized how it was possible for the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' wealth to match that of the 2 Dao Kings.
''''Indeed, this is an alchemy shop!
Although they make huge amounts of spirit stones every day, they also have to spend a lot to pay their alchemists, as well as when they purchase medicinal herbs or the parts of powerful magic beasts that are used in pill refinement!
After all, the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' doesn''t have a herb garden where they can elerate the flow of time in order for their medicinal herbs to mature faster, so they have to purchase them from outside sources, or send their own people to look for them.''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long seemed to have just understood where the powerful Nascent Soul stage experts and the powerful Dao Kings found the spirit stones that they needed in order to cultivate.
''''If one doesn''t have their own profitable organization or another huge power behind them like the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' or the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', then sooner orter, they would certainly find themselvescking spirit stones, even if they are powerful Nascent Soul stage experts!''''
Just as Shun Long seemed to have fallen into a reverie once again, Little ck''s voice sounded in his mind, waking him up as it said
''''Master, the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators are all heading towards this ce right now. They will only take a few breaths of time before they arrive here as well.''''
Shun Long immediately woke up as soon as he heard Little ck''s words, and without wasting a moment he looked at Liu Mei as he said
''''Mei''er focus on gathering the spirit stones.''''
The moment that he finished his words, a bright blue light erupted from his body, covering himpletely, as he activated the second ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Shun Long could feel his speed sky-rocketing, as time around him was now flowing nearly 10 times faster than before.
His body left afterimages behind, as Shun Long disappeared from his original spot, heading towards the mountains of spirit stones in front of him at full speed.
He was going to gather as many spirit stones as he could before the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts that were in charge of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' arrived!
Liu Mei nodded her head, while a beautiful smile was formed beneath her ck robes as she followed Shun Long in gathering the spirit stones.
Barely a few breaths of time had passed, when booming sounds were heard outside of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury.
The old man who barely had a few hairs left on his head was the first to arrive, before Zhou Ning and the others followed suit.
As soon as they saw the corpses of the 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm experts outside the treasury, ugly expressions appeared on the Zhou Ning''s and the rest''s faces.
One guard was lying in a pool of blood with his neck shed open, while the other one had his heart pierced through.
How could the old man and the others not understand, that there were no apparent signs of fighting? It seemed that the 2 peak rank 6 Spirit realm experts had only managed to shout once before they had died.
After taking a deep breath, the old man looked at the 10 people behind him before he said in a cold voice
''''Lock down the pavilion! Don''t let anyone escape, no matter their reasons!''''
An old man with a small white dagger on his waist and a fat middle-aged woman with a big protrusion on her forehead, both nodded their heads at the same time as they left the treasury.
The old man''s eyes then focused on therge ck door of the treasury, but after seeing that the protective formations were still untouched, he let out a sigh of relief.
As a careful person however, the old man still took out a red jade with various runes on it, and ced it on an opening at the center of the ck door.
Although the door of the pavilion''s treasury was still untouched, the old man still had a bad feeling in his heart, one that made him feel anxious and slightly afraid.
As soon as his red jade touched the ck door, the old man and the 8 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts behind him saw the door slowly open.
The moment that he saw the scene inside the treasury however, the bald old man felt his heart stopping.
His mouth opened and closed as he slowly walked towards the treasury''s interior, but no sounds were heard.
Zhou Ning, Guan Hong and the other experts of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', all had shocked looks on their faces as they saw the scene inside the treasury.
The medicinal herbs and the magic beasts parts were all still there and had obviously stayed untouched.
The same went for the cultivation techniques, and the few martial skills!
However... the mountains of spirit stones had disappeared!
The old man walked to the center of the treasury, and bent down before he reached out with his hand, and picked up the single spirit stone that was left inside the treasury.
With a look filled with incredulity and disbelief, the old man couldn''t help asking himself
''''1 low-grade spirit stone?''''
Chapter 285 - 285 The Blood Pill pavilions Pavilion master
Chapter 285 - 285 The ''Blood Pill pavilion''s Pavilion master''
The old man felt his blood gathering in his head, and his face soon turned red, unknown if it was due to anger or embarrassment.
Someone had dared to rob their ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury under their nose, and chose to leave behind 1 low-grade spirit stone?
''''SEAL THE PAVILION!''''
The furious voice of the old man reverberated throughout the entire ''Blood Pill pavilion'', and every single guest inside could feel their ears buzzing while pale expressions had appeared on their faces.
Some people nearly passed out after hearing the old man''s loud and furious voice.
At the same time, Shun Long and Liu Mei had just appeared, almost a mile away from the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
Shun Long knew that he had barely managed to leave, without being noticed by the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts of the pavilion.
The moment that the ck door of the treasury was opening, he punched the air in front of him, creating a space tear, before he and Liu Mei jumped inside.
Looking at the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' from a distance that seemed to have entered a state of unrest, Shun Long didn''t seem to mind the chaos that he had just caused, and after he and Liu Mei discarded the ck robes that they were wearing, he headed back towards the Silver cross street.
A few minutester, Shun Long arrived back at the spot where he had gotten rid of the 3 members of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', and opening another space tear, he and Liu Mei arrived back inside the shop.
This was done to avoid alerting the second group that was watching the shop.
Shun Long remembered that Little ck had mentioned that there were 2 groups that were watching the shop earlier.
Since the first group belonged to the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', Shun Long was certain that the second group definitely belonged to the ''Violent guardian gang''.
Of course, Shun Long who had Little ck and the ''Silver-winged panther king'', wasn''t afraid of the gang in the slightest.
After all, ording to Little ck''s soul sense when they had arrived in the city, even the strongest Dao King in the ''City of Sin'' was just a middle-stage Dao King.
Even if that person could subdue the ''Silver-winged panther king'' head-on, Shun Long was still confident that Little ck could take care of him quickly.
However, unless absolutely necessary, Shun Long wasn''t nning to expose the ck panther just yet, let alone Little ck.
Besides, he had no reason to go and fight against the strongest Dao King in the ''City of Sin''.
As soon as they entered back in the shop, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long with a look of pain in her stunningly beautiful ck eyes, before she said in a weak voice
''''Long-ge, I... need to breakthrough.''''
Seeing the look of pain inside Liu Mei''s eyes, Shun Long immediately understood what was going on, before he nodded his head and carried her to their room on the second floor.,
Since Liu Mei hadn''t refined the energy that she had absorbed from the peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert, her body was under immense pain.
After cing Liu Mei on top of the bed, Shun Long watched her as she closed her eyes and circted the ''Blood Absorption art''.
Her energy quickly started to rise, as the stored energy of a peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert was being refined extremely quickly.
Half an hourter, only after seeing that the expression on Liu Mei''s face had started to ease, did Shun Long decide to enter inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' in order to cultivate.
There were still 6 hours left until the time to open the shop for today, which was equivalent to more than 2 days inside the ''Stone of Time''.
After sitting cross-legged on his usual seat inside the foggy space, Shun Long stared at Little ck who was munching another stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'', as he thought of what he was going to do in the next few days.
Now that he was already an early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator, Shun Long was confident enough to refine the ''Dragonblood grass'' into pills.
''''Of course, they will only be high-grade rank 5 pills, since I still don''t have the beast cores and hearts of rank 4 and rank 5 beasts, in order to make them into top-grade pills.
After I reach the peak of rank 6 in the Spirit realm, I will consume a top-grade rank 4 ''Spiritual Wind jade pill'' and breakthrough to the rank 7 in one go!
Me and Mei''er can temporarily leave the ''City of Sin'' then, and have a look at the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
Of course, the ''City of Sin'' is a decent ce to stay in as well, for me and Mei''er to advance our strength, but there are certain medicinal ingredients that even the Heaven''s Dome city didn''t have and I can only find them after taking a trip to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.''''
As these thoughts shed through Shun Long''s mind, he quickly organized the ns he had for the future, before he waved his hand, as more than 50.000 middle-grade spirit stones appeared around him.
The ''Heaven swallowing vine'' quickly absorbed the spirit stones around it almost as if it was having a tasty meal, before it started to convert the energy inside them into pure qi that filled the air around Shun Long and Little ck.
Shun Long took a look at Little ck who was happily munching on the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' around him, before he once again closed his eyes and started to absorb the pure qi around him, as he tried to condense the 31st ball of qi.
At the same time, in a luxurious mansion in the northern part of the ''City of Sin'', the peak rank 9 Spirit realm old man from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', Zhou Ning, and the fat middle-aged woman who had a big protrusion on her forehead, were all kneeling in front of a middle-aged man, who was sitting on a luxurious throne.
Chapter 286 - 286 The Pavilion masters decision
Chapter 286 - 286 The Pavilion master''s decision
A middle-aged man was sitting on the luxurious throne, his brown eyes staring at the 3 kneeling people in front of him with a murderous look inside them.
The man seemed to be around 1.70m(5.6ft) tall, with short ck hair and a high nose bridge.
He was dressed in dark red robes that failed topletely cover his broad chest.
The murderous aura that wasing from his body however, made the 3 people who were kneeling in front of him shiver in horror.
It was the aura of a furious Nascent Soul stage expert who was barely restraining himself from killing the 3 of them with a single p.
His right hand that was touching the armrest of his throne was suddenly clenched tightly, crumbling the armrest into countless pieces that turned into dust before they fell on the wooden floor.
The middle-aged man''s eyes then swept over the 3 people kneeling in front of him as if he was looking at 3 corpses, before they finally stopped on the old man in the middle, as he then asked in an infuriated tone
''''Xue Qiu, give me one reason to spare your pathetic life!
Not only did you allow someone to infiltrate the pavilion while I was away, but he also took all of the spirit stones inside the treasury under all of your noses! What do I need you for if you can''t even protect the treasury when I am not present? ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STOLEN SPIRIT STONES?''''
The old man named Xue Qiu shivered when he heard these words, before he turned his eyes towards his left and right, to look at Zhou Ning and the middle-aged woman who were also responsible for this.
The 3 of them were the ones who were in charge of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' when the pavilion master was away, so there was no way for either of them to escape the me.
Xue Qiu could see the fear in Zhou Ning''s and the fat woman''s eyes, their emotions almost identical to his own.
After all, all of them knew the pavilion master''s temper, and how he rose to power in the ''City of Sin''. This was a ce where one could kill without rhyme or reason, and if they didn''t have a good excuse this time, they would certainly have to shoulder the me for this matter.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Xue Qiu''s eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at Zhou Ning, and raising his head slightly to look at the middle-aged man in front of him, he then spoke in a regretful tone
''''I have no excuses. It indeed happened under our noses. If the pavilion master intends to punish us because we were unable to stop a Nascent Soul stage expert, there is nothing we can do. I just hope that the pavilion master will also punish those responsible as well.''''
The fat woman''s eyes held hints of confusion inside them, but Zhou Ning quickly understood the underlying meaning of the old man''s words, and hurriedly raised his head as he nodded without any hesitation, clearly agreeing with Xue Qiu''s words.
The middle-aged man who was sitting on the throne, stared at the 2 men below him with a cid look in his eyes, as a petrifying silence instantly descended in the hall. ,
Xue Qiu and Zhou Ning could feel their foreheads dripping with cold sweat, while the stifling silence around them only made the situation even worse. The ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master had a cold look in his eyes as he stared at them, before he finally spoke in an imposing tone
''''Which Nascent Soul stage expert did you offend?''''
Feeling the terrifying aura that wasing from the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master''s body, Xue Qiu, Zhou Ning, and the fat middle-aged woman trembled, before Xue Qiu took the initiative to speak
''''It is all because of a new pill shop that appeared in the Silver cross street 2 weeks ago! They are certainly the cause of all this!''''
Seeing that he had captured the pavilion master''s attention by mentioning that a new pill shop had appeared in their own area, Xue Qiu gloated inwardly as he continued exining with an aggrieved tone
''''It is a very weird pill shop, that sells only high-grade and top-grade rank 4 pills, some of which even I have never even seen before. However, although the prices of the shop are sky-high, they have made millions of spirit stones in the past 10 days!
Some of their pills actually sell for as much as 500.000 low-grade spirit stones as well!
I estimate that by the end of the month, that shop will have made more than 65 million low-grade spirit stones!''''
As soon as he finished his words, Xue Qiu saw the dignified pavilion master standing up from his throne with a serious look in his eyes.
65 million low-grade spirit stones!
Even his ''Blood Pill pavilion'' only had 40 million low-grade spirit stones inside its treasury, and that was the .u.mtion of many years in the ''City of Sin''!
Seeing that the pavilion master was waiting for him to continue speaking, Xue Qiu gulped down dryly before he continued
''''The most surprising thing is, that a brat whose cultivation is only at the early fourth stage in body refinement is actually responsible for running the shop, so it is impossible for him to create these pills!''''
The pavilion master nodded his head as he heard Xue Qiu''s report, inwardly agreeing that someone who hasn''t reached the peak of the Spirit realm was obviously unable to create top-grade rank 4 pills.
After all, even he, the pavilion master of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' and a Nascent Soul stage expert who was also an aplished alchemist could only concoct middle-grade rank 5 pills at most.
Almost as if he hadn''t noticed the pavilion master''s nod, the old man Xue Qiu didn''t stop, as he then continued exining what had transpired in the past week
''''As soon as we heard that this shop opened, Zhou Ning personally went there and ordered them to close it down, but the brat responsible for that shop gave him a mocking look.
Although Zhou Ning was angry, since he was unable to ascertain that person''s cultivation, he didn''t make a move right away. Instead, he came back to the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' in order to discuss this with the rest of us before we decide what to do.''''
Xue Qiu continued exining everything without missing a detail, from Zhou Ning sending the early rank 6 Spirit realm He Zhenkang to take care of the shop and suddenly disappearing instead, to the members of the ''Violent Guardian gang'' threatening Shun Long and being sent flying without being given any face.
As soon as he finished speaking, Xue Qiu immediately fell silent when he saw that the pavilion master was actually pondering this issue with a serious look on his face.
Indeed, based on what Xue Qiu had said, it was very likely that a Nascent Soul stage expert was also responsible for the shop.
This not only exined the arrogance of the kid who was responsible for it, but also the sudden disappearance of He Zhenkang, as well as the theft of the spirit stones from their pavilion.
After all, not many people in the ''City of Sin'' would dare to mess with their ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
Of course, even if Shun Long wasn''t responsible for the theft of his treasury, after hearing of the 65 million low-grade spirit stones he still wouldn''t allow them to keep operating the shop in his own territory.
After taking a few moments to think, the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master''s brown eyes were suddenly focused on the 3 people in front of him, as he said with a smile on his face
''''I will go and have a talk with Shi Ru and Shi Hui in the ''Violent Guardian gang''s'' ce. I am sure that they have also set their eyes on that shop, and the only reason that they haven''t made a move?just yet, is because they aren''t certain of the enemy''s strength!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, an evil smile appeared on the middle-aged man''s face as he saw a relieved expression appearing on Xue Qiu''s, Zhou Ning''s, and the fat woman''s faces, before he then continued
''''However... no matter what you are responsible for having the treasury robbed, and you will have to pay the price for this!
I don''t care how you do it, but you will personally confirm the cultivation level of the Nascent Soul stage expert inside that shop!''''
The 3 peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s instantly paled when they heard thest sentence!
Wasn''t this equivalent to order them to die?
Indeed, the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master was an old fox who wouldn''t personally risk his life until he knew of the underlying dangers. He was nning to first learn of Shun Long''s real strength before he personally made a move to kill the Nascent Soul stage expert behind the shop.
..
At the same time, back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long finally stood up.
Although he hadn''t managed topletely condense the 31st ball of qi, he knew that he wasn''t too far away from it. After spending a few more days cultivating inside the foggy space, he was certain that he would be able to breakthrough to the middle of rank 4 of the Spirit realm.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long once again simted himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', as he once again returned inside the room at the second floor of the shop!
Although he knew that he hadn''t left any clues behind when he and Liu Mei had robbed the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury, the pavilion would still set them as the first suspects.
Besides, without any spirit stones left inside their treasury, it was only a matter of time until they were unable to continue their business, so they would definitely set their sights on his own shop this time.
Shun Long was certain that sooner rather thanter, the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' would be desperate enough to send evente-stage Spirit realm experts knocking on his door.
Chapter 287 - 287 Alchemists Heaven
Chapter 287 - 287 Alchemists'' Heaven
After returning back inside the room, Shun Long looked at therge bed where Liu Mei was still sitting there with her eyes closed.
It was obvious that she hadn''t finished absorbing the energy from the peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert just yet, but her aura was rising with every passing moment.
Shun Long was certain that in a few hours at most, Liu Mei would be able to breakthrough to the rank 4 of the Spirit realm.
And yet, Shun Long also felt somewhat regretful after seeing that she hadn''t broken through just yet.
He had hoped that Liu Mei would have finished her breakthrough by now, and would have been able to take care of the shop today, so that Shun Long would be able to have a look around the ''City of Sin''.,
In the end, a smile appeared on Shun Long''s face as he looked at the beautiful woman on the bed, and without disturbing her, he went down the stairs and arrived on the first floor.
After petting the ck panther''s head and giving him a few stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' to eat, Shun Long opened the door of the shop and weed the new customers for today.
Just like the previous days, the fervor that people had for the new pills on the shop wasn''t any lesser this time.
Despite the pills'' high prices, Liu Mei''s skeletons still made almost 2 million low-grade spirit stones within the first 5 hours.
Although Shun Long should have kept the shop open for 5 more hours, in the end, he decided to close it early for today, ignoring the crowd''s protesting.
After all, this was important for his future ns too, and wasn''t something he could dy.
After closing the shop, Shun Long took a shower and changed into a set of clean robes, before he decided to take a stroll around the northern part of the ''City of Sin'', searching for shops that sold medicinal ingredients.
Although Shun Long had a pill shop, he didn''t know anyone in the ''City of Sin'' who could provide him with medicinal herbs, so he could only search by himself.
As soon as he left the shop however, Little ck''s voice sounded in his head, as the ck dragon said with hints of anger in his voice
''''Master, there are 2 small fries following master in the dark, ever since we left the shop!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long had already expected that the people from the group that he suspected to belong to the ''Violent Guardian gang'', would be keeping an eye on him once he left the shop.
Of course, he didn''t turn his head around to verify their locations, since Little ck''s soul sense had already done that for him, and instead, he continued strolling forward.
Although he already had a rough idea of the city''syout, even after searching for 3 hours, he only found 3rge shops that sold medicinal ingredients in the northern part of the city.
Unfortunately, none of them seemed to have what Shun Long was looking for, as he then continued towards the western part of the ''City of Sin''.
As he walked around, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly lit up as he mumbled to himself
''''I remember that there was a big shop near the northwestern part of the ''City of Sin'' named the ''Alchemists'' Heaven'' or something.''''
Without any detours, Shun Long headed directly towards the northwest of the city.
After walking for almost an incense stick of time, he arrived in front of a huge 3-story building, with the words ''Alchemists'' Heaven'' ted in gold at the very top.
2 guards in crimson armor with hints of gold in it were each holding a long halberd in their hands as they stood guard in front of the building.
Surprisingly, there were waves of people heading entering inside this ce, making this the busiest building that Shun Long had seen in the ''City of Sin'' so far.
After taking a brief look at the first floor, Shun Long noticed that this ce really was a heaven for the alchemists in the ''City of Sin''.
Not only were there medicinal herbs and medicinal pills for sale, but the precious parts of magic beasts, such as their bones, their hearts, their beast cores, or other important parts were also sold in this ce.
Of course, the quality of the pills, the magic beasts, and the medicinal herbs on the first floor, didn''t exceed that of rank 2 medicinal ingredients.
The items for sale on the second floor were of a higher quality than the first floor, but aside from a single rank 4 medicinal herb, none of them caught Shun Long''s eye who directly moved up to the third floor.
As soon as he stepped foot on the third floor, Shun Long''s eyes finally lit up.
''''Although the items here can''t bepared to the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the Heaven''s Dome city, this is probably one of the best shops in the ''City of Sin'', for alchemists to find medicinal ingredients.''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, his eyes looked around, at the medicinal herbs for sale, as well as the corpses of the various magic beasts.
Although there were no rank 5 magic beasts, Shun Long still looked around to see if any of the rank 4 ones could be used for his alchemy.
The corpse of a single middle rank 4 magic beast was priced at 100.000 low-grade spirit stones, which was almost double the pricepared to the Heaven''s Dome city.
Unfortunately, there were less than 10 rank 4 magic beasts for sale, and despite their high prices, Shun Long noticed that none of their remaining parts could be used for alchemy aside from their beast cores.
As he walked around the third floor, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly lit up, as his gaze suddenly focused on a single purple-colored medicinal herb with ck lines all over it that was ced inside a transparent jade case.
Shun Long lips curved up into a smile that sent chills to everyone around him, as he mumbled to himself
''''''Soul poisoning hell grass''!''''
Chapter 288 - 288 Soul poisoning hell grass
Chapter 288 - 288 Soul poisoning hell grass
After taking a few steps closer to the jade case, Shun Long''s evil smile became even wider as he thought to himself
''''Hehe, it is really a stalk of ''Soul poisoning hell grass''!''''
This was one of the most lethal rank 5 medicinal herbs that a poison master could use to concoct poison or an alchemist could use to create rank 5 ''anti-toxin pills'', the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''.
Of course, not only was this grass rare to find, but it was extremely difficult to use as well both for poison masters as well as alchemists, in order to refine it into deadly poison or ''anti-toxin pills''.
Shun Long knew that the more ck lines a ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' had on it, the higher the potency of the poison inside it would be.
At the same time however, the level of difficulty and the danger that one would face during the refinement process would be even higher.
Even experienced gold grade alchemists didn''t have absolute certainty into refining the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' into anti-toxin pills, let alone the poison masters who had to directly extract the poison inside it, before they refined it over and over again.
Additionally, the conditions for a stalk of ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' to appear were extremely strict.
The body of a rank 5 magic beast or a Nascent Soul stage cultivator had to be used as natural fertilizer for more than 200 years in order for this grass to mature.
Only after the blood of the rank 5 beast or the Nascent Soul stage cultivator''s had seeped into the grass, was there a chance for a stalk of this ''Soul poisoning hell grass''?to appear.
After taking a look at the price of the rank 5 ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' however, Shun Long frowned for a moment.
350.000 low-grade spirit stones!
For a stalk of grass that can only be used to refine poison or ''anti-toxin pills'', while it had an extremely high chance of killing the alchemist who refined it, paying 350.000 low-grade spirit stones was indeed an unreasonable price.
''''So this is the reason why this hasn''t been purchased yet.?After all, a single middle-grade or high-grade rank 5 ''anti-toxin pill'', couldn''t be sold for more than 30.000 low-grade spirit stones, so it''s obvious that only poison masters would be willing to spend so many spirit stones on a single rank 5 medicinal herb.''''
After thinking seriously for a while, in the end, Shun Long nodded his head before he walked in front of the jade case that held the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''.
The moment that the attendant heard that someone was willing to purchase this grass, his eyes nearly bulged out from their sockets.
After all, there were very few people in the ''City of Sin'', who could afford to spend 350.000 low-grade spirit stones for such a medicinal herb that had no direct effect on their cultivation.
Even rank 1 gold grade alchemists would feel the pinch of spending 350.000 low-grade spirit stones in such a situation.
After handing the 350.000 low-grade spirit stones to the attendant and receiving the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', Shun Long first ced it in an isted patch of grass inside the herb garden in the ''Stone of Time'', before he took a look at the rest of the medicinal ingredients on the third floor of the ''Alchemists'' Heaven''.
However, aside from a single rank 4 medicinal herb that could be used as a supplementary ingredient when he refined the rank 5 ''Dreamy ash flower'', there was nothing else that was useful to Shun Long.
Without any reason to stay here any longer, Shun Long left the ''Alchemists'' Heaven'' and headed back towards the northern part of the city. Barely an incense stick of timeter, he arrived back in the ''Silver cross street'', andpletely ignoring the group from the ''Violent guardian gang'' that was following him, he entered inside the first floor of the shop.
Although Shun Long could quickly take care of the 2 people who were following behind him all day, in the end, he nned to allow them a few more days to live and let them report his actions today.
He was certain that after exposing his aura at the early fourth stage in body refinement a week ago, both the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' as well as the ''Violent guardian gang'' would think that there was a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator hidden inside the shop, and that he was also the one who took care of He Zhenkang and his team.
''''Perhaps they will even think that it''s a Nascent Soul stage expert.
As long as they keep observing and focus their attention on the expert inside the shop for the next few days... then even if a Nascent Soul stage expertes by then, they will get a nice surprise!''''
As these thoughts shed through his mind, Shun Long had already arrived on the second floor where Liu Mei was still sitting on the bed with her eyes closed.
Shun Long noticed that her cultivation had already broken through to the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm, and it was actually still rising.
Of course, after absorbing the energy of a peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert, it was natural for Liu Mei to breakthrough to the early rank 4 and still have energy to spare.
After sitting on the bed as well, opposite to Liu Mei, Shun Long closed his eyes, as he simted himself entering the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
At the same time, in a busy street at the north of the ''City of Sin'', inside arge building that was shaped like a castle, the pavilion master of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' was sitting on afortable brown couch, and was facing 2 middle-aged men in ck robes with a serious expression on his face.
The 2 men in front of him were the bosses of the ''Violent guardian gang'', as well as two powerful middle-stage Nascent Soul experts in the ''City of Sin'', Shi Ru and Shi Hui!
Chapter 289 - 289 Chao Xierens negotiations
Chapter 289 - 289 Chao Xieren''s negotiations
The ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master looked at the 2 men in front of him who were leisurely drinking their wine with an ugly expression on his face.
One of them was about 1.8m(5.10ft) tall, with long blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and a face that resembled that of a woman''s. This was one of the 2 bosses of the Violent guardian gang, Shi Ru.
The other one however was more than 2m(6.6ft) tall, with short ck hair and a body that resembled that of a titan.
He had a chiseled jawline and deep ck eyes, making someone feel that they were staring at a magic beast in human''s clothing.
The muscles in his arms bulged visibly, as he held the bowl of wine in his hands.
This was the other terrifying boss of the ''Violent guardian gang'', Shi Hui.
Seeing the expression in the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master''s face turning even uglier, a burst of feminineughter escaped from the blonde-haired Shi Ru''s mouth, as he looked at the man in front of him and said
''''Hahaha! Chao Xieren, you are so pitiful. This elder brother really pities you. Losing all the spirit stones inside your ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury is probably going to make your life really hard.
Tell me, do you need this elder brother to lend you some spirit stones? All you have to do is ask~''''
Seeing Shi Ru winking at him, the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master, Chao Xieren, felt shivers running down his spine, before he furiously mmed his left hand on the table in front of him and shouted
''''Shut up! Will you fools join hands with me or not? You should know that I may not necessarily need you this time, and I am only allowing you to help me because that shop is also in your own area. Don''t waste my time any longer!''''
The muscr Shi Hui frowned as he stared at Chao Xieren, but the long blonde-haired Shi Ruughed instead as he continued
''''Chao Xieren, you are not cute when you are angry. Do you think that you can fool this elder brother?
Would you really be here today if you didn''t care about our help?
Besides... do you even know how strong the person inside it really is? What if he is ate-stage Nascent Soul cultivator?
Can you even swallow that small shop on your own then? Be careful not to choke~''''
Cough
Cough!
Both Shi Hui and Chao Xieren coughed violently when they heard Shi Ru''s words.
As for the shop that they were talking about... it was of course Shun Long''s pill shop. It was obvious that the reason why Chao Xieren had visited the ''Violent guardian gang''s'' bosses today, was to partner up and destroy Shun Long''s shop together.
Before Chao Xieren could speak, the 2m(6.6ft) tall Shi Hui looked at the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master, before he spoke for the first time
''''Chao Xieren, we can actually partner with you this time. However, our ''Violent guardian gang'' will take two-thirds of that shop''s spirit stones as well as their pills! You can take the rest.''''
Chao Xieren''s expression immediately turned even uglier than before, and turning his attention to the bulky Shi Hui, he instantly stood up as he shouted loudly
''''Shi Hui are you f.u.c.kin crazy? Are you trying to swallow the spirit stones that that person stole from my treasury?
Stop dreaming!
I will get 40 million low-grade spirit stones first, then we will split everything in half. If you don''t agree, I will do this by myself!''''
The burly Shi Hui smiled, and looking at Chao Xieren with a mocking look in his eyes, he erupted in boomingughter as he said
''''HAHAHA! You want to get 40 million low-grade spirit stones before splitting everything in half?
HALF??
Idiot!
What does the robbery in your ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' treasury have to do with us brothers? Besides, how are you even qualified to ask our ''Violent Guardian gang'' to split everything in half with you?
Are you by yourself strong enough to contend against Shi Ru and me?
Besides, you dare threaten us that you will leave us out? Who told you that that shop suddenly belongs to you?''''
Under Shi Hui''s unceasing and furious barrage of questions, Chao Xieren found himself at a loss.,
Indeed, he wasn''t as strong as the 2 brothers together.
He was slightly stronger than Shi Ru if they were to fight head-on, but Shi Hui was definitely stronger than him!
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Chao Xieren said with a deep and serious look in his eyes
''''I want half, and I also want the 40 million low-grade spirit stones! This isn''t something I am willing to negotiate, otherwise there will be no profits for me!''''
Seeing that Shi Hui frowned, and even Shi Ru narrowed his eyes, Chao Xieren smiled evily as he continued
''''In return, my ''Blood Pill pavilion'' will scout out that shop, and will probe the strength of the person hidden inside.
No matter whether he is an early-stage, a middle-stage, or ate-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, we will know before we decide to take action!
I will take all of the risks, so it''s only fair to split things this way.''''
As soon as he finished his words, Chao Xieren smiled inwardly as well.
This was precisely the reason that he ordered Zhou Ning, Xue Qiu and the plump woman, to personally confirm the strength of the expert inside Shun Long''s shop.
Even if they died, it didn''t matter to him.
This was the ''City of Sin'', and he was willing to sacrifice as many peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators as he needed to.
Besides, by having Zhou Ning and the rest risk their lives, he would also have an extra chip to bargain with Shi Hui and Shi Ru this time.
He had already expected Shi Hui and Shi Ru to have an enormous appetite, and ask for things that he wouldn''t be willing to agree to.
After staring at each other for a few moments, Shi Hui shook his head before he answered
''''You can take the 40 million low-grade spirit stones, and we can split the rest of the spirit stones in half, but me and Shi Ru will take two-thirds of the pills from that shop!''''
Knowing that this was probably Shi Hui''s bottom line, the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master, Chao Xieren gritted his teeth beforeing to a conclusion.
..
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', 3 days quickly passed as Shun Long was sitting cross-legged in his usual ce.
This time, he didn''t choose to cultivate, but instead, he had used his qi to enhance the flow of time inside his herb garden, hastening the growth of his medicinal herbs.
His single stalk of rank 5 ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' had now turned into four.
With a serious look in his eyes, Shun Long prepared himself to start refining the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''!
Chapter 290 - 290 Poison master Shun Long
Chapter 290 - 290 Poison master Shun Long
After closing his eyes for a few moments to bring himself back in peak condition, Shun Long waved his hand, as his alchemy cauldron appeared in front of him.
Shun Long sighed slightly the moment that he noticed the cauldron''s condition.
Although it was a good rank 2 silver grade cauldron, since Shun Long wasn''t a formation master, he was unable to repair the damages in the formations and the core runes inside the cauldron, causing it to slowly deteriorate over time.
Additionally, now that he was nning to refine a rank 5 medicinal herb like the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', doing so with a rank 2 silver grade cauldron that wasn''t in its optimal condition was going to be even tougher.
And yet, even though Shun Long knew that he needed a rank 1 gold grade cauldron, he would only get a chance to purchase something like that in the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' or in another one of the huge cities in the ''Night star continent''.
As for the so-called ''Alchemists'' Heaven'', the highest grade cauldron that they seemed to be selling, was just a rank 3 silver grade cauldron.
It wasn''t even a pinnacle rank 3 cauldron, and yet its price was at 550.000 low-grade spirit stones.
Even Shun Long who was willing to spend spirit stones if something was worth it, wasn''t interested in paying more than half a million spirit stones for such a cauldron, that would be useless to him as soon as he found a gold grade one.
However, the issue with his current cauldron still existed.
This was the same cauldron that he had gotten a few months ago from the Pale Moon guild in the Silver sword city. It was very likely that it would slow down the process of his pill refinement from now on every time that Shun Long tried to refine rank 5 medicinal ingredients, until he managed to buy a gold grade one.
After warming up the cauldron with his qi me for half an incense stick of time, Shun Long then took out 3 stalks of ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', 8 different rank 4 medicinal herbs, as well as a few more rank 3 herbs and ced them all in front of him.
The rank 3 and the rank 4 herbs were the supplementary ingredients that he was going to use in the refinement of the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''. However, this time, Shun Long wasn''t nning on concocting pills, but poison!
This was the first time that he was going to create poison, and it was an extremely strong one at that.
After all, Shun Long knew, that the effects of the rank 5 ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' were so potent, that even rank 1 gold grade alchemists had the chance to die if it was not handled correctly.
Additionally, even with his early fourth stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', he didn''t have absolute confidence in blocking the poison if something really went wrong.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and his eyes instantly turned golden.
Looking at the medicinal herbs in front of him, he first ced the rank 4 medicinal herbs that had the ice element inside the cauldron, following with the rank 3 ones, before he turned them all into a pool of medicinal essence.
After adding in the rest of the rank 4 herbs as well, Shun Long closed his eyes for a few moments, before his hands touched a stalk of the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' in front of him.
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long held the stalk of the purple-colored grass with both hands as he tore it in half. Surprisingly, as soon as the grass was torn in half, a white-colored liquid trickled through it, all the way to Shun Long''s fingers.
Hiss
Shun Long sucked in a cold breath, as a wave of immense pain suddenly attacked his soul the moment that the white-colored fluid touched his fingers.
It was like a corrosive liquid that was trying to pierce through his mental defenses and destroy his mind.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long ced both of his hands, as well as the stalk of the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' inside the pool of medicinal essence in the alchemy cauldron.
The pain that he was feeling quickly eased up as soon as his hands touched the green-colored liquid inside the cauldron, while a warm feeling appeared in his heart.
However, the moment that the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' touched the liquid inside the cauldron, from the original vibrant green color, the medicinal essence in the cauldron started to turn a dark shade of purple.
''''''Monarch''s Domain''!''''
As soon as he saw the dark purple liquid inside the cauldron, Shun Long didn''t dare to touch it with his hand as he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain'', instantly freezing the flow of time around him.
Taking his hands out of the cauldron, Shun Long then closed the cauldron''s lid before he exhaled a sigh of relief.
''''Thankfully I was prepared and didn''t touch the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' essence after it entered the cauldron, otherwise, I''m not sure if I could survive.''''
Little ck who was munching on a stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'', had a serious look in his eyes as he nodded his head and said affirmingly
''''Master, you are right! That poison can probably kill any Nascent Soul stage cultivator who has yet to advance to the rank 9!''''
Shun Long nodded his head at Little ck''s words, while his attention was still focused on his alchemy cauldron as he mumbled to himself
''''Even though there is a high chance for the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master to be a gold grade alchemist as well, the chances of him having an antidote for the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' are practically zero. After all, outside of rank 6 ''anti-toxin pills'', only the white-colored liquid inside the grass can act as an antidote and expel this poison!
Although the path of a poison master is dangerous, each of their creations can definitely kill people above their own level. Hehe, after losing all of the spirit stones inside their treasury, I wonder how long it will take for the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' to make their move!''''
Little ck had a big smile on his face when he saw the excited expression on Shun Long''s face.
Although Shun Long would usually choose to avoid trouble, this time he had obviously nned on eradicating the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' with this new poison. If it wasn''t for the attention that he would attract, Little ck would have already flown over and razed that building to the ground.
Almost 2 hourster, Shun Long opened the lid of the cauldron, where a dark purple liquid that had almost turnedpletely ck by now, was inside it.
Taking out 3 small bottles where he usually stored his pills, Shun Long then poured carefully the ckish purple liquid inside them.
After spending 5 more hours creating another 6 bottles of this poison, Shun Long ced 2 of the pill bottles inside his robes and left the rest inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long then closed his eyes, and with a smile on his face, he simted himself leaving the ''Stone of Time'', as he appeared back inside the room.
At the same time, the 11 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts inside the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', had serious looks on their faces, as they all stared at the old man, Xue Qiu.
Chapter 291 - 291 Liu Meis request
Chapter 291 - 291 Liu Mei''s request
Looking at the people around him Xue Qiu slowly stood up from his chair as he said in a solemn tone
''''All of you know what the pavilion master has said. We will either find a way to probe the person inside that shop without getting directly involved, or we will risk our lives in the process.''''
Zhou Ning nodded his head, and after sweeping at everyone with his brown eyes, he looked at Xue Qiu as he said
''''Going by ourselves is simply too risky.
Since we don''t know the strength of the person inside the shop, it would be foolish to charge in blindly. If the person inside is just a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, then we won''t have any problem, but if it''s a Nascent Soul stage expert, whoever takes the lead will probably die...
Thus, I suggest sending Liu Shuren and Xiao Shu to take the risk this time.''''
The plump middle-aged woman instantly stood up when she heard this, and mming her fat hand on the table she said in an angry tone
''''Zhou Ning! You really want to sacrifice 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators? How manyte-stage Spirit realm experts does our pavilion have? Can we really afford to send them to that shop, like sheep waiting to be ughtered?''''
The old man''s Xue Qiu''s eyes narrowed when he heard the woman''s words, and with a serious look in his eyes he spoke in an austere tone
''''Xiao Guiying keep quiet! Unless you want to personally lead a team and head over to that shop by yourself, shut up! Zhou Ning''s suggestion is the best option we have!
Sacrificing a few rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators is better than having someone among us take the risk.''''
After being berated by Xue Qiu, the plump woman Xiao Guiying lowered her head without daring to retort against him.
..
At the same time that this conversation was taking ce in the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', Shun Long opened his eyes, as he appeared on top of the bed inside his room.
Surprisingly, Liu Mei wasn''t in the room however.
Shun Long knew that there were still a couple more hours until it was time to open the shop, and after sitting up from the bed, he descended the stairs and arrived back on the first floor.
With a smile on her face, Liu Mei was petting the ck panther who was still joyously eating the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' in front of it.
Both Liu Mei and the ck panther, turned their heads to look at Shun Long who had a smile on his face as he walked towards them.
After sensing the auraing from Liu Mei''s body, although Shun Long had expected this, he was still surprised in the end.
''''Middle rank 4 in the Spirit realm''''
Of course, after absorbing part of the aura from a peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator, Liu Mei had not only managed to step into the middle of rank 4 in the Spirit realm, but she was now just a step away from reaching the peak of rank 4.
Liu Mei had an enchanting smile on her face as she then called out
''''Long-ge!''''
Walking up to Liu Mei, Shun Long nodded his head, and after cing his arms around Liu Mei''s waist he said with a smile on his face
''''Mei''er, you are now even more powerful than your father.''''
Liu Mei froze for a moment, before her eyes started to turn red. Emotions welled up inside her the moment that she remembered her cruel father in the ''Floating cloud sect'', and her mother whom she had yet to go and take away.
Turning her head around, Liu Mei had a pleading look in her eyes as she looked at Shun Long and said
''''Long-ge... I... I know that Long-ge wants to stay in this city and cultivate.
Is it okay if I take Little Silver and return back to the Deste east for a few days?''''
Not wanting for Shun Long to misunderstand, Liu Mei then added in
''''I will only take a few days at most!''''
Shun Long had a surprised expression on his face when he heard the name ''Little Silver'', before his eyes involuntarily fell on the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' bright silver wings.
His lips twitched for a moment after hearing Liu Mei''s amazing naming sense, before his eyes fell on her beautiful ck eyes.
This was the first ''selfish'' request that Liu Mei had asked of him.
Of course, Shun Long already knew the reason why Liu Mei wanted to return back to the Deste East.
She had already told Shun Long long ago, that her mother was still in the ''Floating cloud sect'' all by herself.
Of course, even if Liu Mei hadn''t left the ''Floating cloud sect'' to go to the ''Night star continent'', she would still be married off to someone under her brother''s, Liu Changpun''s pressure and wouldn''t be able to change her mother''s life anyway.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at the kingdom-toppling young woman in front of him, before he smiled and said
''''Let''s return together then. You can also meet my mother and father once we return back to the Deste East.?,
In a few days from now, no matter whether the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' or the ''Violent guardian gang'' chooses to attack us or not, we can take a short trip back to the Deste East for a few days, before we return back to deal with them.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei''s eyes turned even redder than before, while glistening teardrops started to involuntarily flow from her eyes.
Shun Long wrapped his arms around her without saying a word, allowing Liu Mei to ce her head on his chest.
3 hours soon passed, and it was now time for Shun Long to open the shop.
The 4 jade-white skeletons were still behind the ss cases, but their cultivation had risen to the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm, while the 2 undead knights at the shop''s entrance were at the middle of rank 4.
At the same time that Shun Long opened the wooden door of the shop and let the crowd that had already formed a huge line outside to enter inside, a squad of 4te-stage Spirit realm cultivators dressed in ck robes had already surrounded Shun Long''s shop.
Chapter 292 - 292 Using the Soul poisoning hell grass poison
Chapter 292 - 292 Using the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'''' poison
The 4 ck-robed Spirit realm cultivators circled around the shop once, before they gathered half a mile away from it, opposite from the shop''s entrance.
Looking at the waves of people who were entering the shop, while even more people were waiting for their turn to enter, one of the ck-robed people whose cultivation seemed to be at the early rank 8 of the Spirit realm, turned his eyes at the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators in front of him before he spoke in a hoarse voice
''''Xiao Shu, Liu Shuren, as soon as you enter inside try to kill the early rank 1 Spirit realm brat and make as much damage as possible in the shop! Then, without staying for another moment, make sure to flee back to the pavilion!''''
The 2 ck-robed people both nodded their heads, and after changing their ck-robes into inconspicuous white-colored ones that no longer had the emblem of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' on them, they both queued up in line as they waited to enter Shun Long''s shop.
They knew that if there was a peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert inside the shop, they would be detected before they could enter inside, and at least one of them would surely die in the process.
At the same time, inside the shop, a cold look shed through Shun Long''s eyes when he heard Little ck''s voice inside his mind, informing him that there were 4te-stage Spirit realm cultivators who were looking around the shop.
Little ck had already noticed that 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators had already queued up to enter the shop after changing their robes, while a peak rank 7 Spirit realm and an early rank 8 were watching from the distance.
A cold smile appeared on Shun Long''s face as he stood up, and after thinking seriously for a while, he looked at Liu Mei with a smile on his face before he then whispered in her ear
''''Mei''er, there are 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators that have hidden themselves in the crowd and are waiting to enter the shop.,
Once they enter, don''t give them a chance to escape.''''
As soon as Shun Long finished his words, a shocked expression had appeared on Liu Mei''s face who barely managed to restrain herself from looking around the crowd in an attempt to find the rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators.
Staring at him with her bright ck eyes, Liu Mei nodded her head without another word.
If Shun Long wanted to attack these people, then there was surely a reason for it.
Although Shun Long didn''t know whether these 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators belonged to the ''Violent guardian gang'' or the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', he guessed that it was more likely for them to belong to thetter instead.
As for them being normal cultivators in the ''City of Sin''? That thought didn''t even sh through his mind.
He was certain that if word of his shop had already spread, to the point wherete-stage Spirit realm cultivators had to disguise themselves toe and purchase his pills, then Nascent Soul stage experts would definitely be the first ones toe.
Although there was a chance for these people to be normal Spirit realm cultivators who had nothing to do with the ''Violent guardian gang'' or the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', they would have definitely not changed their robes in that case, and neither would they have 2 morete-stage Spirit realm cultivators keeping watch from the distance.
Sitting back on his chair, Shun Long ''nonchntly'' watched the crowd entering and leaving the shop.
Due to how small the interior of the shop was, there could only be up to 30 people inside at the same time before it started to get too crowded.
Less than half an hourter, the next 2 people that walked inside the shop, were a thin but extremely tall middle-aged man, along with an old man with a broad forehead and a small sword attached on his waist.
Although the 2 men tried to act extremely naturally, Shun Long''s eyes instantly narrowed when he saw them walking inside the shop.
At the same time, the 2 men''s eyes were also focused on Shun Long as soon as they entered inside, before they quickly turned their attention to the ss cases that stored the pills.
The moment that the 2 men passed through the shop''s entrance however, for the first time in thest 9 days, Liu Mei''s 2 undead knights that were standing guard next to the door finally moved, and waving their 2m(6.6ft) long pitch-ck greatswords, they shed them towards the 2 white-robed men without any hesitation.
It wasn''t just the 2 men who were shocked, but everyone in the crowd was taken aback by this sudden change!
''''What''s going on?''''
A young man in the crowd outside of the shop hurriedly shouted, as he looked at the scene in front of him before he stepped back.
Before the crowd had the chance to realize what had happened, a cold look shed past the 2 men''s eyes, before one of them unsheathed the sword on his waist while the other one instantly took out arge saber from his spatial ring and countered the 2 undead knights.
The aura of 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators exploded from the 2 men''s bodies, immediately repelling the 2 undead knights that had sneak attacked them, before they shed at them with their weapons, shing the 2 ck-armored knights in half.
Without wasting a moment, the 2 white-robed men knew that they had been exposed and without even trading a nce with each other, they instantly flew towards Shun Long who had now stood up from his chair, as they brandished their weapons, ready to kill him in a single strike.
And yet, what shocked the 2te-stage Spirit realm experts, was that there wasn''t the slightest trace of fear on Shun Long''s face.
Instead, a pair of pill bottles filled with a dark purple liquid had already flown out of his hand and arrived in front of the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm experts faces.
Not knowing what was inside the pill bottle, the 2 experts from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' instinctively wanted to dodge, but Shun Long had already thrown the pill bottles when their attention was focused on Liu Mei''s undead knights, giving them no room to escape.
Gritting their teeth, Liu Shuren and Xiao Shu both tried to sweep the pill bottles to the side, but the moment that Liu Shuren''s hand and Xiao Shu''s saber came in contact with the pill bottles, the bottles exploded as the terrifying poison from the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' sshed on the 2 middle-stage Spirit realm experts bodies!
Chapter 293 - 293 The poisons potency
Chapter 293 - 293 The poison''s potency
''''AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH''''
The moment that the purple-colored poison touched the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm experts'' bodies, cries filled with pain, fear and terror resounded throughout the entire pill shop.
The 2te-stage Spirit realm experts from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' instantly fell on the ground, clutching their heads as their cries turned even louder.
The rest of the customers couldn''t help taking a few steps back in horror, all of them moving away from the 2 experts who were now wreathing in pain.
After all, even those people inside the shop who had no knowledge about alchemy, could see, that what Shun Long had thrown earlier was 2 pill bottles filled with some kind of extremely powerful poison.
Of course, Shun Long had already expected the scene in front of him to unfold like this, since he knew, that the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' wasn''t a slow-acting poison, but one that would directly corrode a person''s soul as soon as it came in contact with them.,
Everyone, including Shun Long and Liu Mei, kept their distance from the 2 white-robed cultivators who seemed to be in immense pain.
It took less than 10 breaths of time however, for the middle rank 7 Spirit realm experts'' screams to die down and their bodies that were convulsing to finally stop moving.
Dead.
Twote-stage Spirit realm experts had died in just 10 breaths of time!
The crowd was terrified before people started to slowly move away from Shun Long.
They didn''t know why the boss of the pill shop had suddenly gone mad, but they didn''t want to be the next people who would die like that.
Shun Long however didn''t seem to mind these reactions, andpletely ignoring the crowd around him, he waved his hand and collected the spatial rings from the 2 rank 7 Spirit realm experts bodies before he sent them flying outside the shop.
Thump!
The 2 bodiesnded outside the shop, raising a cloud of dust in the process.
However, once the crowd outside the shop saw the 2 bodies, a young man couldn''t help eximing
''''Th-This... Isn''t this Liu Shuren from the ''Blood Pill pavilion''?''''
''''The old man next to him is Xiao Shu! He is surely Xiao Shu!''''
''''Eh? Who is Liu Shuren and Xiao Shu?''''
Although most people in the crowd didn''t recognize the 2te-stage Spirit realm experts, those that did immediately spread the word, identifying that these 2 really belonged to the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
''''Then... did theye to find trouble? Could it be that the owner already knew about this?''''
''''This... maybe they didn''te to find trouble! Maybe the owner is just crazy!''''
Shun Long''s eyes also lit up when he heard that Liu Shuren and Xiao Shu hade from the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
As hushed discussions were taking ce both inside and outside the shop, in the distance just a few hundred meters away, the 2 men in ck robes from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' who had led Liu Shuren and Xiao Shu here were now shivering when they saw the 2 bodies that were lying outside the shop.
It was unknown whether they were shivering from anger, or from fear for the terrifying poison that had killed the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm experts in just a few breaths of time.
A few momentster, the man whose cultivation was at the early rank 8 of the Spirit realm was the first to rpose himself. Turning his head to look at the ck-robed person next to him, he said in a hoarse voice that was reeking with killing intent
''''Let''s go! We need to immediately report back to the pavilion.''''
The peak rank 7 Spirit realm expert also nodded his head, before both of them disappeared on the spot.
At the same time, Shun Long had a nonchnt look on his face as he watched the people outside the shop who were unsure whether they should enter inside or not.
After asking Liu Mei to take care of the shop and seeing her nod her head, Shun Long returned back to the room on second floor of the shop, before he closed his eyes and entered the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
After all, he knew that there was no chance for the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' to attack again in such a short amount of time, and even the ''Violent guardian gang''s'' members should now be apprehensive after seeing the deaths of the 2te-stage Spirit realm experts from the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
Shun Long also knew, that he already had the means to protect himself against even Nascent Soul stage experts if he relied on his poison, but if he wanted to contend against them head-on, then he had to be even stronger.
Looking at the ''Heaven swallowing vine'' in front of him, Shun Long fed it with middle-grade spirit stones, while the air around him and Little ck once again started to get filled with pure qi.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long then closed his eyes, as he absorbed the dense qi around him, while he tried to condense the 31st ball of qi in his right hand.
..
Barely a few minutes had passed ever since the incident on Shun Long''s pill shop was finished, when the 2 men in dark robes had arrived back on the fourth floor of the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
Standing outside the door where the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts were gathered, the 2 ck-robed men traded nces and hesitated for a moment.
They knew that things had gonepletely different to Xue Qiu''s n, and they couldn''t guess the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s reaction.
Finally, gritting his teeth, the early rank 8 Spirit realm cultivator pushed open the door as the 2 of them entered inside.
However, the moment that they entered inside, the 2 ck-robed men''s feet had started to tremble.
At the head of the table wasn''t Xue Qiu who was usually sitting there, but a 1.7m(5.6ft) tall middle-aged man with short ck hair and brown eyes.
The 2 ck-robed men immediately fell to their knees, as they greeted out in fear
''''P-Pavilion master!''''
Chapter 294 - 294 Chao Xierens order
Chapter 294 - 294 Chao Xieren''s order
Looking at the 2 ck-robed men who had just entered the room, the ''Blood Pill pavilion''s'' pavilion master, Chao Xieren nodded his head, before he asked in a serious voice
''''Did you discover the person behind that shop?''''
There was an unmistakable excitement behind Chao Xieren''s question as he looked at the 2 ck-robed men in front of him.,
Seeing Chao Xieren''s brown eyes that were gleaming with a sharp light, the 2 men immediately lowered their heads in fear, before the old man with the hoarse voice who was at the early rank 8 of the Spirit realm spoke nervously
''''Reporting to the pavilion master, we... didn''t.''''
..
''''Eh?''''
Surprised exmations sounded from Xue Qiu, Zhou Ning and the other peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts who were seated on the table, as they all turned their heads to look at the old man who just spoke.
Feeling the gazes of all the rank 3 silver grade alchemists from the pavilion on his body, the old man suddenly tensed up, when Chao Xieren''s voice once again sounded in the old man''s ears
''''Immediately exin what happened!''''
The pavilion master''s authoritative voice immediately silenced the entire room.
Everyone in the room knew, that the pavilion master didn''t care about Liu Shuren and Xiao Shu who had probably been sacrificed, but he was waiting for the results of this probing attempt with great interest.
After taking a deep breath, the old man narrated what had just taken ce a few minutes ago.
From the moment that the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm experts had entered the pill shop, to the undead knights sudden attack, and finally, to Shun Long throwing the 2 pill bottles filled with the dark purple liquid and Liu Shuren''s and Xiao Shu''s deaths.
As soon as the old man finished his words, a chill suddenly ran through his body as his eyes met with Chao Xieren''s frosty gaze.
It wasn''t just the old man, but even the peak rank 7 Spirit realm cultivator who was kneeling next to him, as well as the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts, everyone immediately felt the temperature inside the room lowering, as a frosty wave of killing intent that was emitted from the pavilion master''s body suddenly filled the room.
''''HAHAHAHA!''''
Chao Xieren startedughing abruptly, while the killing intenting from his body was bing even more intense!
Turning his gaze towards the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts around him, he finally mmed his hand on the gigantic table in front of him, breaking it in half as he said in a furious voice
''''Not only did you lose 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators this time, but you also failed to find out anything about the person behind that shop!''''
Seeing everyone around him lower their heads in shame, Chao Xieren''s gaze was focused on the bald old man, Xue Qiu, before he spoke in a voice so cold, that it almost chilled the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s soul
''''Xue Qiu, you will personally lead a team this time and attack that shop. If you seed, I will certainly reward you handsomely.''''
Although Chao Xieren''s tried to make his words sound like an invitation, in reality, it was actually an order that gave Xue Qiu no room for refusal.
The old man trembled as soon as he heard Chao Xieren''s words, and with a pleading look in his eyes, he fell on his knees as he said in a voice that was almost begging
''''Pavilion master, please reconsider. If it''s a poison that could kill a middle stage rank 7 Spirit realm cultivator like Liu Shuren in just a few breaths of time, then how long will I be able tost?
Even as a peak rank 3 silver grade alchemist, I have no confidence in creating an antidote that could stop a poison of that level!
Additionally, based on this poison alone, the person behind that shop is also an experienced poison master aside from being an alchemist, and he is certainly to be at least at the gold grade. Wouldn''t I instantly die as soon as I expose him then?''''
Chao Xieren''s eyes turned even colder as he looked at Xue Qiu.
Of course, if Xue Qiu had thought of these points, then how was it possible for him to not have thought of them as well?
This was already the worst-case scenario that he had thought of.
The person behind the shop was a gold grade alchemist, making him at the same level as Chao Xieren himself... a middle-stage Nascent Soul stage expert.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, Chao Xieren wouldn''t have tried to provoke such a person who was certainly as strong as he himself, especially one who was just staying hidden and only had a small shop in the Silver cross street.
However, he knew, that it was only a matter of time before that shop grew and attracted even more attention, taking away even more of his customers.
In addition, the spirit stones that this shop was making in a month, had already exceeded the spirit stones that his treasury had amassed for thousands of years!
At the same time, since he was going to have the assistance of the 2 bosses of the ''Violent guardian gang'', Shi Ru and Shi Hui, Chao Xieren felt confident in taking down, even a gold grade poison master.
After all, Shi Hui by himself was rumored to be strong enough to take care of almost any middle-stage Nascent Soul stage expert in the ''City of Sin'' by himself!
Of course, even despite all of this knowledge and power, Chao Xieren still wasn''t confident enough to attack Shun Long''s shop just yet, and decided to make ast reconnaissance attempt by sending a peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert like Xue Qiu.
In case that the expert inside that shop was really ate-stage Nascent Soul expert, then Chao Xieren would definitely abandon any notion of attacking again, even with the help of Shi Ru and Shi Hui.
However, if it was just a middle-stage Nascent Soul expert, he was willing to risk his life, even against a gold grade poison master.
After all, for pills that could possibly make over 60 million spirit stones, even the eyes of Dao Kings would turn red with greed, let alone a Nascent Soul stage expert like himself!
Shaking his head, Chao Xieren looked at the rest of the people around him and said
''''If Xue Qiu needs help, you will all follow his orders this time!''''
The rest of the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts around Xue Qiu trembled when they heard this, before they turned their gazes towards the pavilion master at the head of the now-destroyed table, in a desperate attempt to make him change his mind.
Standing up from his seat however, Chao Xieren''s cold eyes didn''t even nce at the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators around him, and without another word he waved his sleeve, as his body then turned into a wisp of red mes that disappeared from the room.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the happenings at the ''Blood Pill pavilion'', as the outline of an illusionary 31st ball of qi was slowly being formed in his right hand.
Chapter 295 - 295 Sudden changes and a familiar scene
Chapter 295 - 295 Sudden changes and a familiar scene
Shun Long absorbed the pure qi around him, while the newly created qi ball in his hand was bing more and more corporeal.
Time continued to pass like this, and soon, a week had gone by until Shun Long opened his eyes.
Raising his head, Shun Long saw the 31 balls of qi that were floating above his head, inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', indicating that he had now reached the middle rank 4 of the Spirit realm.
Shun Long didn''t continue to cultivate, and instead, he once again closed his eyes before he started to infuse his qi inside the storage space in the ''Stone of Time'' where the herb garden was located, hastening the growth of his medicinal herbs.
2 more days passed until Shun Long finally stopped, while the single stalk of rank 5 ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' inside the herb garden had now turned into 3.
Little ck who was still eating the stalks of neverending ''Dragonblood grass'' in front of him, watched Shun Long who was holding a stalk of a ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' with confusion in his bright azure eyes.
Shun Long however seemed to not have noticed Little ck''s gaze, as he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
As the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, time around Shun Long was forced to freeze, as Shun Long who was holding the stalk of ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' instantly tore it in half!
The white liquid inside it however didn''t start to flow immediately, as it waspletely suppressed inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Taking out 2 empty pill bottles, Shun Long then stopped the ''Monarch''s Domain'', as he allowed the white-colored liquid to fall on the pill bottles, filling them up, before Shun Long sealed them tightly.
With a smile on his face, he turned his eyes to look at Little ck who was cheerfully munching his food before he said
''''Little ck, once we return to the Deste East, you will not have to stay in here all the time.''''
Shaking his head, the ck dragon looked at Shun Long as he said
''''Master, dragons can sleep for hundreds, and even thousands of years. Staying in this ce for a few years wouldn''t even qualify as a nap. Besides, this way, I can spend even more time with master when you are cultivating.''''
Shun Long smiled lightly, and after patting Little ck''s head, he closed his eyes as he once again appeared inside the room on the second floor of the shop.
Almost 9 days had passed while Shun Long was cultivating inside the ''Stone of Time'', but less than a day had gone by in the outside world, and it was almost time for Liu Mei to open the shop.
Despite being a necromancer, Liu Mei was still training her sword skills using the ''Four-seasons azure sword''.
At the same time that she put away her sword and was about to go down to the first floor, her eyes lit up, as she saw Shun Long suddenly appearing on the meditative cushion next to her.
Seeing the beautiful young woman next to him Shun Long smiled lightly, but just as he was about to speak, an extremely painful sensation suddenly filled his mind, as his hands suddenly clutched his head and screamed in pain.
This wasn''t the first time that Shun Long felt pain in his soul, but this time, the sensation was extremely intense.
It was much stronger than the attack that he and Liu Mei had suffered from the rank 5 ''Soulsinger bird'' inside the ''Dreand Forest''. This pain was only second to the soul expansion that he had suffered from the golden book, the first time that he had absorbed all the knowledge inside it.
Liu Mei was stunned from this sudden change, while her ck eyes looked at Shun Long with worry inside them, before she hurriedly took out a ''Sun-healing pill'' and tried to feed it to Shun Long to alleviate the sudden pain that he felt.
Inside Shun Long''s spiritual space, the ''Stone of Time'' had started to rotate all of a sudden without any prior warnings, as it emitted a mesmerizing, blinding blue light, that could capture the soul of any living being that looked at it.
At the same time, Little ck''s blue eyes narrowed, and without any hesitation, he shot out from the ''Stone of Time'', as he appeared inside the room.
The room felt cramped with the 10m(33ft) long ck dragon inside it, but Little ck didn''t seem to care, as he coiled his gigantic body around Shun Long, only allowing Liu Mei''s hands to pass through the opening of his wings and touch Shun Long''s face.
Shun Long tried to speak, but the pain in his soul was extremely intense.
As the ''Stone of Time'' continued to rotate, an otherworldly blue-colored light was emitted from Shun Long''s body, and under Little ck''s and Liu Mei''s stunned eyes, Shun Long suddenly disappeared from the room.
Shun Long''s vision immediately blurred, while the familiar feeling of spatial teleportation hadpletely covered his body.
This feelingsted for more than a few minutes, before Shun Long''s vision once again returned to normal.
And yet, the pain in his mind was bing even more intense while the ''Stone of Time'' started to rotate even faster.
However, the moment that he saw the scene in front of him, despite the endless amounts of pain that he was feeling, Shun Long also felt a jolt in his heart.
In front of him was a majestic red pce thousands of meters tall, while sculptures of countless different creatures decorated its surroundings.
Seeing the thousands of meters tall dragons, phoenixes, tigers, vermilion birds, kilins... along with giants who were holding clubs, as well as the Nine-tailed foxes, and even the small goblins, the elves and the dwarfs, Shun Long immediately understood where he was.
This was the same red pce that he had arrived to, back when he had first broken through to the Heaven grade.
Chapter 296 - 296 Soul search
Chapter 296 - 296 Soul search
Shun Long could feel the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space that had started to buzz incessantly, when suddenly, 2 middle-aged men in silver armor and long swords in their hands appeared a few hundred meters in the distance in front of him.
As the 2 men carefully approached Shun Long, one of them shouted, in a voice so powerful that seemed as if it was about to rupture Shun Long''s eardrums
''''WHO DARES TO TRESPASS HERE?''''
The silver-armored man''s voice seemed like it was an attack directly aimed towards Shun Long''s soul, and no matter how much Shun Long tried to stay awake, he could feel his mind buzzing while his eyelids gradually dropped.
Alongside the ever-rising pressureing from the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space that hadn''t stopped rotating, the man''s shout was thest thing that Shun Long heard before he finally passed out.
''''Eh?''''
The 2 silver-robed men approached Shun Long carefully, but they didn''t dare to get too close to him.
Instead, they turned their eyes towards the majestic red pce behind them, where more than 100 silver armored guards like them were standing guard.
At the same time, at the depths of this majectic pce, was a long-white-haired old man dressed in golden robe,s with 2 middle-aged men standing behind him, as well as an extremely handsome young man and a gorgeous young woman who were staring at the old man respectfully.
The old man''s eyes however, were focused on the gigantic purple-colored sphere in front of him.
No matter what the old man tried to, he was unable to enter inside the sphere in front of him.
Whether he tried to attack it, or just infuse his qi inside the sphere, it was useless.
The only thing that the old man''s qi managed to do, was to get a reaction from the purple sphere in front of him, as a purple-colored pir of light had pierced through the pce''s dome as it shot to the sky!
Suddenly, a surprised expression appeared on the old man''s face, who quickly turned his head around, and looked almost as if he could see through the red pce''s walls as his gaze was focused towards the red pce''s entrance.
The 2 middle-aged men behind him also had the same reaction, as they turned to look at each other in shock.
''''Someone has arrived here?''''
The young man and the young woman behind the middle-aged man were shocked when they heard this, before everyone turned their gazes towards the old man who still had his hand on top of the purple sphere.
The old man seemed as if he had fallen into deep thought for a while, but after a few moments of deliberation, he looked at one of the 2 middle-aged men and said in a serious voice
''''I shouldn''t move from here yet, otherwise all of my efforts so far will be meaningless!
Zhong Qiu, go and search the soul of this person and see what you find. Once you are done, you know what to do!''''
The middle-aged man, Zhong Qiu nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes.
He clearly understood the meaning behind those words.
It didn''t matter how someone had managed to arrive at this ce, any outsiders who infiltrated the 5th pce had to die!
Curious, the handsome young man and the stunning young woman behind the 2 middle-aged men, also wanted to go and have a look at this person, but they didn''t dare to raise such a request in front of the golden-robed old man.
Although Zhong Qiu was a middle-aged man with in facial features, the aura that wasing from his body could at least be described as terrifying.
After bowing towards the golden-robed old man, his body disappeared on the spot.
A few momentster, he arrived in front of the 2 silver-armored guards who were standing in front of Shun Long, before his eyes fell on the handsome, blue-robed young man on the ground.
The 2 silver-armored guards instantly fell on their knees as soon as they saw the person who had arrived, before they greeted out in a voice filled with respect and reverence
''''Greetings Elder Zhong!''''
Zhong Qiu ignored the 2 guards greetings while his eyes were still examining the young man on the ground.
His clothes were obviously of inferior quality, while the spatial ring on his right hand couldn''t even be considered trash.
Even the spatial rings that beggars on the streets had were of higher quality than this man.
And yet, this person had somehow appeared here.
Turning his eyes to look at the 2 guards who were still kneeling in front of him, Zhong Qiu had a cold look in his eyes as he asked in a serious voice
''''How did this person arrive here?''''
The 2 guards shook their heads in fear before one of them answered respectfully
''''Responding to Elder Zhong, we don''t know! We were just standing guard when this person suddenly appeared within our soul sense.''''
Zhong Qiu had a thoughtful expression on his face, before he dismissed the 2 guards.
In the end, he was going to find out everything after soul-searching Shun Long, so even if the guards didn''t notice something, it didn''t matter.
After closing his eyes, a terrifying aura erupted from Zhong Qiu''s body, one that had the 2 silver-armored guards in front of him shiver in terror.
If Shun Long was awake at this moment, he would have realized that this aura far exceeded anyone that he had met so far.
Even the peak rank 9 Dao King from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' of the Heaven''s Dome city, Zhao Lan, and even Duan Zhu, the powerful hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'' who had covered the entire Heaven''s Dome city with his aura, couldn''t even be described in the same breath with the middle-aged man who was staring at him right now.
Raising his right hand, a suction force had appeared from Zhong Qiu''s hand as it sucked in Shun Long''s body, before a bright white light appeared in Zhong Qiu''s eyes, as he was ready to search inside Shun Long''s soul.
Chapter 297 - 297 Imprisoned
Chapter 297 - 297 Imprisoned
A special type of energy that was simr to soul sense exploded from Zhong Qiu''s eyes, as it entered inside Shun Long''s body.
The moment that white light tried to approach Shun Long''s spiritual space, the ''Stone of Time'' emitted a bright blue light in response, that went after Zhong Qiu''s ''soul sense'' like an angry magic beast whose den was under attack.
Zhong Qiu hadn''t even managed to enter inside Shun Long''s spiritual space when a sudden sense of lethal danger filled his heart.
As an extremely high-level expert, the thing that he trusted the most was his own instincts!
Without any hesitation, he hurriedly retracted his ''soul sense'' back to his own body.
However, he was still half a step toote, as the bright blue light managed to touch a small part of his ''soul sense'', before he had enough time to retract it in his body.
Under the 2 silver-armored guards'' horrified eyes, Zhong Qiu clutched his chest and fell on his knees, before he spat out a mouthful of blood.
The guards had never seen Zhong Qiu getting injured before, but this time he got hurt when he tried to soul search an unconscious person?
Was this even possible?
Of course, the 2 of them only raised their heads for a moment before they hurriedly lowered them back on the ground.
Zhong Qiu however didn''t even pay attention to the 2 guards, as he looked at his own blood on the ground with eyes filled with disbelief.
''''How is this possible?''''
The silver-robed middle-aged man muttered under his breath, while his gaze darted from his blood that had stained the ground to the unconscious Shun Long.
He instinctively wanted to try and soul search the young man in front of him one more time, but the injury he had received wasn''t a light one.
Although it wasn''t lethal, Zhong Qiu knew that his soul was currently injured.
Additionally, not only had he failed to invade the young man''s spiritual space, but he had also felt a sense of lethal danger in the process, and in the end, his soul had also been wounded by a terrifying power in the process.
If he hadn''t retracted his ''soul sense'' in time, Zhong Qiu didn''t know what extents his injuries would have reached.
A trace of confusion as well as fear shed through his eyes as he stared at Shun Long.
Raising his hand instinctively, Zhong Qiu wanted to end Shun Long''s life in a single punch, but he suddenly remembered that he had yet to find out how he had arrived here.
The silver-armored guards in front of him had no idea about what had happened either.
After a moment of serious thinking, the silver-robed Zhong Qiu grabbed Shun Long''s body, and in front of the 2 kneeling guards, he disappeared in a sh.
A few minutester, Zhong Qiu had reappeared at the depths of the majestic red pce, where the pir of light wasing from.
The golden-robed old man''s half-closed slightly widened as he looked at Zhong Qiu who had just arrived, and with a voice that barely concealed his astonishment, the old man then asked
''''Your soul is injured?''''
Nodding his head, Zhong Qiu answered respectfully
''''Replying to Grand Elder, it''s nothing serious. As long as I consume a ''Golden Soul healing pellet'', I should be able to heal in less than a year.
The surprising thing was... that I got injured during the soul search!
No... I hadn''t even started the soul search before a scary power exploded from that person''s spiritual sea!
I''m afraid that if I hadn''t retreated in time, I would have really suffered.''''
As soon as the golden-robed old man heard this, his eyes turned extremely profound, while a bright light shed inside them.
As for the other middle-aged man, the handsome young man and the young woman behind him, they were all shocked speechless.
''''Who could hurt ''Elder Zhong'' while they were still unconscious?''''
Everyone turned their attention to the golden-robed old man, who still had his hands on the purple sphere of light in front of him.
From the emotionless look in his deep ck eyes, they couldn''t even guess anything about his thoughts.
Looking at Zhong Qiu, the old man then asked in a curious tone
''''What did you do with this person?''''
Cupping his hands, Zhong Qiu had a serious look in his eyes as he answered respectfully
''''I personally ced him in the 7thyer of the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''.''''
Nodding his head, the old man''s eyes once again turned at the purple sphere in front of him, before he said in an emotionless expression
''''Good! Just leave him there for the time being then.''''
Zhong Qiu bowed at the old man in front of him without saying another word.
...
It was unknown how much time had passed, until Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
Raising his head, Shun Long found himself inside a dark, unfamiliar ce. In the sky, there were no stars, no sun and no moon, and yet, a light still allowed Shun Long to see his surroundings.
He was inside a small cell, while his body was bound by some sort of ck chains that were hanging from the wall behind him.
Countless lifelike runes were engraved on the chains, while some sort of unfamiliar power seemed to be lying inside them.
Shun Long also noticed other cells aside from his own, but they were all separated by some kind of invisible formations, making him unable to see the inside of the cells.
After taking a look at his surroundings, Shun Long frowned, before he tried to remember what had just happened to him.
''''Right. It was the ''Stone of Time'' that had started to rotate, before I arrived again in front of the red pce. Then someone seemed to have attacked my soul, andbined with the pain from the ''Stone of Time'', I finally passed out.''''
As soon as he remembered what had happened to him, another question appeared in Shun Long''s mind
''''Then, where am I now?''''
Looking at the ck chains that had bound his arms and legs, Shun Long frowned.
He could feel a special type of energying from them, that was restricting even his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Even after pulling these chains with his full strength, it was useless. The chains wouldn''t even budge.
''''Hehehe!''''
Suddenly, an old and ear-grating voice sounded in Shun Long''s ears, as an old man seemed to have spoken from the cell right opposite to Shun Long''s
''''Brat, there is no point in trying to escape! You should just preserve your strength and try to live for a few more years. After all, it is simply impossible to escape from the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''!''''
Chapter 298 - 298 A powerful reaction
Chapter 298 - 298 A powerful reaction
Shun Long was stunned for a second, before he turned his eyes to the cell opposite to him, where the figure of an emaciated old man appeared.
The old man''s face was blurry due to the formations covering his cell, but Shun Long could still make out the outline of his skinny hands and bony legs, as well as his long hair and beard.
Looking at the old man''s figure, Shun Long asked curiously
''''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison?''''
Nodding his head, the old manughed as he then said
''''Hehe, exactly kid! Don''t tell me that you don''t even know where those old men took you to. This is the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''. There is no chance for you or me to escape from here.''''
After a moment of silence, the old man continued, while his tone had turned somewhat delighted, with a hint of schadenfreude inside it, almost as if he wasughing at Shun Long''s bad luck
''''Hehe! With you here kid, I will at least have someone to chat with.
The other old men here in the 7th level are all so stubborn that they barely talk to me anymore.''''
Shun Long didn''t respond to the old man right away, but instead, he tried to sort out what he had just learned.
''''So this ce is a prison named the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'', and I am inside the 7th level? What does each level correspond to however? Was the silver-armored guard who shouted at me, the one who brought me here? No... who brought me here doesn''t matter, what matters the most is their intentions.''''
At the same time that he finished his conjectures, Shun Long also noticed that the spatial ring in his hand was now missing.
Thankfully, aside from a few ''Sun-healing pills'' and a little more than 200.000 low-grade spirit stones, there was nothing else of value inside it.
The most surprising thing however wasn''t that his spatial ring that was missing, but that he was unable to sense any qi in the air around him.
''''Eh? How can there be no qi?''''
After recollecting himself, Shun Long realized, that this was the second time that he had found himself at a ce without any qi.
The first time was back when he had arrived at the bottom of the white pce with the golden steps and the 2 angel statues in front of it, while today was the second.
After verifying that he was unable to shake off the chains around him using brute force, Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', before 31 bright balls of qi appeared above his head.
Seeing that the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' was circting normally, he heaved out a sigh of relief, before he thought to himself
''Blink''
However, as soon as the spatial fluctuations from ''blink'' appeared around his body, the runes on the ck chains that had bound Shun Long lit up with a pitch-ck light, before theypletely suppressed the spatial fluctuations around him.
This was the first time that Shun Long''s blink had actually failed.
And yet, after being stunned for a second, Shun Long wasn''t too afraid.
After all, he could still sense the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space that hadn''t stopped rotating yet.
This was the second time that the ''Stone of Time'' had sent him to this ce, so unless something was different this time, Shun Long guessed that it should also send him back to his pill shop soon.
Seeing that his life wasn''t in immediate danger just yet, Shun Long thought that the best thing he could do, was to try and find out where exactly this ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' was.
After a moment of serious thinking, he raised his head, and looking at the cell that was opposite to his, he asked in a seemingly curious voice
''''Senior, actually I have never heard about this ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' before. Can you tell me more about this ce?''''
The old man who was stillughing at Shun Long seemed to have suddenly choked on his saliva.
Cough, cough
After coughing for a few moments he looked at the cell opposite to his before he asked angrily
''''Brat, which hole did youe out from? How can you not know about the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' when they have already sent you here?''''
The old man seemed to have vented for a while, before he then answered in a serious voice
''''The ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' is the worst prison that the 10 Immortal Pces send their convicts to. We are right now in the 7th lev-''''
Before the old man could finish his words, Shun Long could feel the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space that had started to buzz. It seemed as if something had suddenly triggered this reaction, as a deep blue light suddenly covered Shun Long''s body.
The blue light shot out from Shun Long''s body and headed towards the sky, effortlessly passing through the walls of the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' as if they didn''t exist in the first ce.
In the depths of the majestic red-colored pce, the golden robed old man''s eyes had lit up, as he seemed to have finally gotten a reaction from the purple sphere of light in front of him.
The gigantic pir of light that wasing from the purple sphere had started to shrink, looking like it was returning back inside the purple sphere, when suddenly, a deep blue beam of light shot towards the purple sphere.
The old man snorted when he saw the blue light in the sky that wasing towards his direction, before he sent a powerful palm strike forward.
A gigantic golden palm thousands of meters tall had appeared in the sky, as it headed towards the blue light, causing the entire red pce to tremble in the process.
The 2 middle-aged men, the young man and the beautiful young woman behind the old man, all had ashen expressions on their faces as they felt the power inside the terrifying palm strike that was about to collide with the blue beam of light.
And yet, despite their expectations, the blue light seemed to havepletely ignored the giant palm in the sky, as it passed through it and continued to fly towards the red pce.
BOOOOM!
Under the golden-robed old man''s stunned eyes, the moment that the blue light touched the purple sphere, the entire red pce started to shake.
The giant purple pir of light that had already started to shrink, immediately retreated inside the purple sphere as soon as the blue beam of light touched it, before a powerful force erupted from the depths of the purple sphere.
The golden-robed old man, along with the silver-robed Zhong Qiu and the other middle-aged man next to him, as well as the young man and the young woman behind them, were all sent flying outside the pce in an instant by the powerful force from the purple sphere.
Despite the power behind the force that had managed to send him flying, the old man didn''t suffer any injuries, as he safelynded at the majestic red pce''s entrance.
The look in his deep ck eyes however had turned extremely profound, as he now stared at the direction where the blue beam of light hade from... the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''!
Chapter 299 - 299 A huge hole
Chapter 299 - 299 A huge hole
Whoosh
The golden-robed old man didn''t hesitate for a moment, as he waved his sleeve and his body instantly disappeared, leaving behind the 2 silver-robed middle-aged men, the young man and the beautiful young woman, who were all buried into the ground outside the majestic red pce''s entrance.
Although none of them were dead, unlike the old man in golden robes, each of them had suffered various degrees of injuries once they were sent flying outside of the pce.
..
Back inside his cell, at the 7th level of the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'', a soul tearing pain had once again filled Shun Long''s mind, as the same deep blue light that had shot out from the ''Stone of Time'' a moment ago, had nowpletely covered his body.
As Shun Long felt the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations around his body, the runes on the ck chains that had shackled his hands and feet suddenly lit up, as they looked to suppress the space distortions around him the same way that they had done when Shun Long had tried to use ''Blink'' earlier.
At the same time, the golden-robed old man had also appeared on the 7th level of the ''Eternal Confinement Immortap Prison'', while the formations around the cells seemed to have temporarily stopped, revealing the prisoners inside the cells.
From the cell opposite to Shun Long, a skinny old man with long white hair and beard was now staring at Shun Long with wide-open eyes filled with shock and excitement.
Now that the formations had already stopped working, despite still being shackled, the old man could clearly sense the spatial fluctuationsing from Shun Long''s body.
''''Eh?? What is going on?''''
It wasn''t just the old man opposite to Shun Long, but the other prisoners in the cells around him as well that seemed to have sensed the spatial fluctuations inside his cell.
At the same time, the golden-robed old man from the red pce had instantly arrived outside of Shun Long''s cell, as he looked at the young man inside with eyes filled with disbelief.
Seeing that the runes on the ck chains were unable to restrict the blue lighting from Shun Long''s body, the old man snorted, before a golden palm thousands of meters tall lit up the pitch ck sky of the 7th level in the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''.
''''Isn''t that the 6th pce''s Immortal Buddha palm?''''
''''It''s Jin Zhn!''''
The prisoners in the cells around the old man shouted in fear, once they saw the golden palm that had covered the sky and was now descending towards Shun Long''s cell.
The ck iron bars around the cell were disintegrated into ash as soon as they came in contact with the giant golden palm, that continued towards Shun Long without stop.
Shun Long could feel as if an entire world was descending upon him from the sky, as the terrifying pressure from the golden palm hadpletely covered his cell, leaving no room for retreat.
And yet, Shun Long tried to suppress the soul tearing pain that he was feeling from the ''Stone of Time'', and used all of his strength to try and open his eyes, only to see that his vision had already started to blur.
The only colors in his vision, was the bright blue light that wasing from the ''Stone of Time'' in his spiritual space that hadpletely covered his body, along with the blinding golden light from the giant golden palm in the sky.
At the same time that the palm descended and was about to touch Shun Long''s head, the blue light around him suddenly exploded, before his body disappeared in an instant.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The thousands of meters long golden palmnded on the wall of the cell, where the ck chains that were previously shackling Shun Long wereing from, causing the entire ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' to shake!
And yet, under the golden-robed old man''s gaze, Shun Long had already disappeared!
Shun Long''s forehead was drenched in cold sweat until he felt the pressure from the golden palm abruptly vanishing.
Just a moment ago, he could practically sense the feeling of death approaching him and knew, that if the golden palm had actually managed to touch him, he would have probably died instantly!
Time continued to pass, and a few minutester, Shun Long felt the spatial fluctuations around him disappearing, while his blurry surroundings started to slowly turn clear.
The ''Stone of Time'' that was rotating without stop previously finally fell silent, while the blue light that hadpletely covered his body started to disappear as well inside his head.
A familiar looking bed, a wooden floor and a couple of meditative cushions appeared in Shun Long''s eyes before he lost consciousness.
From the moment that he had arrived to the majestic red pce, to when he was sent inside the cell in the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'', the ''Stone of Time'' hadn''t stopped rotating inside his head, bringing him unbearable pain to his spiritual space.
Shun Long could feel that the ''Stone of Time'' wanted something from the depths of the red pce, but Shun Long had no way to get in there.
Perhaps if there was no one else guarding that ce, he could withstand the pain from the unceasing buzzing and enter the pce by himself, but with the powerful silver-armored guards who were standing there, there was no hope for him to enter inside.
Finally, now that the ''Stone of Time'' had stopped rotating and had fallen silent, Shun Long lost consciousness as soon as he noticed that he had returned back to his room inside the shop.
At the same time, inside the depths at the first floor of the shop, Little ck and the ck panther, Little Silver, both had their eyes lit up as they shot towards the second floor like lightning, with Liu Mei following behind them.
..
Shun Long didn''t know how much time had passed until he finally opened his eyes, when Little ck''s and Liu Mei''s worried voices sounded in his mind and ears
''''Master!''''
''''Long-ge!!''''
Slowly standing up from the floor, Shun Long looked at Little ck, Liu Mei and Little Silver around him who had worried expressions on their faces, before his gaze fell on the gigantic hole at the wall of the room.
Chapter 300 - 300 Little Black making a move?
Chapter 300 - 300 Little ck making a move?
It was a gigantic hole filled with burn marks of charred wood around it, while 10 of Liu Mei''s jade-white skeletons were standing in line, blocking anyone in the Silver cross street from having a clear look of the interior of the room.
Soon, Shun Long turned his eyes towards Little ck, Liu Mei and Little Silver, before he nodded his head and said in an affirming tone
''''Don''t worry, I am okay!''''
''''... aside from being mentally exhausted of course.'''' He silently added in his heart, before his eyes examined the rest of the room. Aside from therge hole on the wall however that Liu Mei''s skeletons were now covering, Shun Long didn''t find anything else amiss.
Liu Mei and Little ck both heaved out in relief, while the ck panther, Little Silver happily nudged its head on Shun Long''s arm for a moment.
With a curious look in his eyes, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei before he asked
''''Mei''er, how long was I gone for?'''' His eyes also fell on therge hole on the wall of the room, curious to find out what happened while he was inside the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''.
Liu Mei lowered her head slightly as she looked at Shun Long and said
''''Long-ge, you were gone for almost 2 days. In these 2 days I also didn''t open the shop.''''
''''2 days?''''
Shun Long was stunned when he heard Liu Mei''s reply. He didn''t think that he was gone for even half a day, let alone 2 whole days.
Before he could ask any more questions, Little ck''s voice then sounded in his mind, as Little ck then asked
''''Master, is everything really alright? I can sense that your soul is really exhausted right now.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t hide anything neither from Little ck, nor Liu Mei or Little Silver, as he said in a serious voice
''''I am indeed tired, but I should recover fully after consuming a few ''Spirit enhancing pills'' and get my spirit sense and spiritual strength back to peak condition.''''
Looking at Little ck, Shun Long then asked curiously
''''Little ck, is there a power called the 10 Immortal Pces?''''
Little ck thought seriously for a while, before he eventually shook his head and said
''''Master, there is no such force as far as I remember!''''
After a brief pause the ck dragon then added
''''Of course, it''s also possible that they are an extremely secluded power who don''t show themselves easily, but I have never heard of this name before.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long wasn''t too surprised by Little ck''s answer. He didn''t know how this red pce was connected to the ''Stone of Time'', but it was certainly something that he had to find out about in the end.
After all, if it wasn''t for the silver-armored guards that had decided to imprison him in the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison'' instead of killing him, Shun Long didn''t know whether the ''Stone of Time'' would have saved him, if there was really some kind of lethal danger while he was unconscious.
Additionally, even without fighting the silver-armored guards, and despite being unable to sense their cultivation at the time, Shun Long was certain that he wasn''t a match for either one of them at this point.
He also wasn''t certain what would happen to him in case the ''Stone of Time'' forcefully sent him to that red pce again.
Shun Long knew that no matter what, he had to uncover the secrets behind that red pce, otherwise, if these silver-armored guards are present again the next time that the ''Stone of Time'' transfers him to that ce, he wasn''t certain if he would be lucky enough to once again end up to the so-called 7th level of the ''Eternal Confinement Immortal Prison''.
This was also the first time that Shun Long had a feeling of urgency in his heart to get stronger.
This time, it wasn''t for Little ck or to uncover more clues about his past, but to stay alive.
Taking a few moments to reorganize his thoughts and calm down his emotions, Shun Long then looked at Liu Mei as he asked
''''Did the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' attack the shop during the past 2 days?''''
Liu Mei nodded her head with a regretful look on her face, but just as she was about to answer, Little ck spoke first, as his voice once again sounded in Shun Long''s mind
''''Master is right! Just a few hours after master disappeared, I sensed a group of 3 rank 9 Spirit realms leading more than 10te-stage Spirit realm cultivators, all of theming towards the shop.
They were all very cautious, but they were filled with determination and killing intent!
I know that master had your own ns about how to deal with these peoples, but once they entered the shop, there was no way that that little girl could stop them all by herself. At least not until her cultivation reaches at least the rank 9 of the Spirit realm.''''
Shun Long was dumbfounded when he heard Little ck''s words.
He instantly understood that these people must have belonged to the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
However, although he knew that the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' would be anxious after losing all of the spirit stones in their treasury, he also knew that they would be able to operate normally for a while, considering how many pills and medicinal herbs they still had in stock.
In other words, although Shun Long robbing their treasury clean was arge hit to the pavilion, it wasn''t to the extent that they would throw caution to the wind and send more than a dozente-stage Spirit realm experts to blindly attack the shop.
''''Was someone pressuring them? This is the only answer that makes sense! Otherwise, considering that they only have 11 peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators, it wouldn''t make sense to send 3 of them at once, when they know that there is a poison that can most likely threaten even Nascent Soul stage experts!''''
Seeing that Shun Long was still reorganizing his thoughts, Little ck stayed silent for a moment, letting his master figure out what was going on.
At the same time, Liu Mei seemed to have understood that Little ck was exining what happened, so she decided to let him exin everything.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Little ck before he asked
''''What happened then? Did you wipe them out?''''
Little ck nodded in confirmation without any hints of embarrassment, and looking at the hole on the wall of the room he said matter-of-factly
''''Master is right! As soon as they approached close to the shop, I spat out a huge ball of ck fire that wiped them all in an instant!''''
Shun Long couldn''t see it earlier, but after standing up and taking a look at the hole on the wall of the room, he noticed that even the ground on the Silver cross street had now turned ck.
He could only imagine themotion that Little ck''s fireball had caused this time.
At the same time, looking at Little ck who had certainly attracted a lot of attention after revealing his aura of an early rank 6 magic beast, a single question suddenly appeared in Shun Long''s mind
''''Didn''t the Dao Kings at the center of the ''City of Sin'' notice your presence then?''''
Chapter 301 - 301 Senior Huang
Chapter 301 - 301 Senior Huang
Shun Long was certain that once Little ck revealed his aura of an early rank 6 magic beast, there was no way for the Dao Kings at the center of the ''City of Sin'' to fail to notice him.
Indeed, the ck dragon nodded his head as he said
''''Master is right! As soon as I exposed my aura, 5 soul senses, including the middle-stage Dao King''s appeared from the center of the city and quickly covered the shop.
However, before they could actually enter inside, Ipletely crushed them before they hurriedly retreated back to the center of the city.''''
As soon as Little ck finished his words, Shun Long could practically imagine the scene that had taken ce.
After a terrifying ck fireball destroyed the group ofte-stage Spirit realm experts, the soul senses of 5 Dao Kings emerged from the center of the ''City of Sin'', but as soon as they came in contact with Little ck''s terrifying soul sense, they retreated back in fear.
After all, Shun Long knew that dragons weren''t your average magic beasts.
Indeed, with a proud look on his face, Little ck continued exining
''''Master, there is no need to worry. Forget about a few early-stage Dao Kings and a middle-stage one, unless it''s ate-stage Dao King, I can still crush thempletely!
Although fighting with ate-stage Dao King head-on would be somewhat difficult for now, but as soon as I breakthrough to the middle of rank 6, no one will be able to stand in front of master''s way then!''''
An aura of absolute majesty and pride emerged from Little ck''s body, making even the ''Silver-winged panther king'' want to bow in front of the ck dragon. This was the aura of a king of magic beasts who was certain that he would crush everything in his path in the future.
Nodding his head, Shun Long patted Little ck''s head before he fell silent for a while.
Although he knew that there was no immediate danger in the ''City of Sin'', he was still unwilling to expose Little ck''s and Little Silver''s existence unless absolutely necessary.
However, it seemed like there was no other way this time.
Even if the Dao Kings at the center of the ''City of Sin'' didn''t know yet that a ck dragon was residing inside the shop, they still knew that it had to be at least an extremely powerful early rank 6 magic beast, otherwise, it wouldn''t be able to defeat the soul sense of so many powerful Dao Kings.
''''Although the early-stage Dao Kings will most likely not choose to make a move since they should know that it''s practically impossible to force a rank 6 magic beast to submit by themselves, it''s still possible that there will be crazy people like that Hao Ping and that bald Elder Xue from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' who will try to make a probing attempt.
Additionally, the one who is the most dangerous is probably going to be that middle-stage Dao King. Although Little ck can certainly crush any middle-stage Dao King, revealing his existence isn''t an option just yet, otherwise the troubles that would follow would certainly contain at least peak rank 9 Dao Kings.
Hmm... the chances of that middle-stage Dao King attacking the shop are also very low. After all, as long as he understands that there is an early rank 6 magic beast here, he should also assume that there has to be at least a middle-stage, if not ate-stage Dao King as well.
Unless that person is stupid, this should be enough to deter them from making a move right now!''''
Shun Long quickly organized his thoughts, before his lips slowly curved up into a smile.
..
At the same time, at the center of the ''City of Sin'' was arge luxurious mansion that was covered by numerous protective formations, that could probably stop even middle-stage Dao Kings from forcefully entering inside.
Inside arge hall that was even more luxurious than Cui Guoliang''s pce in the ''Vermilion realm'', was a half-n.a.k.e.d old man who was sitting on a golden throne.
The old man had short white hair and obvious wrinkled around his eyes, but a powerful aura that was filled with killing intent wasing from his body.
This aura wasn''t something that the old man was intentionally emitting, but instead, it was the killing intent that was .u.mted in his body after having killed countless amounts of people.
In front of the old man was a middle-aged woman with short brown hair and blue eyes.
She was wearing a red dress that entuated her figure, while her eyes resembled those of a hungry snake.
The woman hadn''t restrained her aura, making it obvious that she was one of the powerful Dao Kings in the ''City of Sin'', a peak rank 3 Dao King realm expert.
And yet, the woman had a respectful look in her eyes as she looked at the old man in front of her, before she cupped her hands and bowed as she said
''''Senior Huang, I have already looked into what you told me.
That ce is just a small pill shop, but they have made huge amounts of spirit stones in the past 2 weeks, and yet they haven''t offered to pay anything to you as tribute!
From my current estimations, they have probably made more than 30 million low-grade spirit stones already, and they will probably make even more by the end of this month!''''
The old man narrowed his eyes as he looked at the middle-aged woman in front of him.
He was indeed tempted when he heard that a new shop had already made 30 million low-grade spirit stones while he somehow hadn''t heard anything about it.
After all, allrge shops in the ''City of Sin'' had to pay tribute to him every month, and this shop seems to be making even more than the top 3 pill shops at the north of the city.
However, how could he also not understand that the middle-aged woman in front of him was trying to instigate him into fighting with the owner of that shop.
With a sinister look in his eyes, the old man raised his right hand, and endless amount of blood threads appeared from his body, before they formed a huge crimson hand that choked the middle-aged woman''s neck.
The middle-aged woman had a look of fear in her eyes, when the old man''s merciless voice sounded in her ears
''''Who is responsible for that area? Who is it that hid the news about this shop?''''
The middle-aged woman''s eyes constricted, and despite being choked by the huge blood arm, she said with great difficulty
''''Senior, i-it''s the ''Violent Guardian gang''!''''
Chapter 302 - 302 Even if the monk leaves, the temple would stay
Chapter 302 - 302 Even if the monk leaves, the temple would stay
How could the old man not understand, that someone was purposefully suppressing the news of that shop so that they could swallow it all by themselves?
Of course, 30 million low-grade spirit stones was an amount that would make evente-stage Dao Kings interested, let alone a middle-stage Dao King like him.
As soon as he heard the middle-aged woman''s words, a wave of suffocating killing intent erupted from the ck-robed old man''s body.
And yet, despite having received an answer, the grip from the huge crimson hand didn''t seem to have loosened yet, as it kept choking the woman in the red dress whose face had turnedpletely pale by now.
It took more than a full minute until the old man finally snorted in anger, before therge crimson hand that was connected to his body suddenly disappeared, allowing the woman to breathe again.
The red-dressed woman that was prepared to risk her life and go all out finally heaved a sigh of relief, while traces of hate as well as fear had now appeared deep inside her blue eyes.
Standing up from his throne, the old man closed his eyes, as a powerful soul sense erupted from his body, heading towards a certain street at the northern part of the ''City of Sin''.
Inside the castle-shaped headquarters of the ''Violent Guardian gang'', the members of the ''Violent guardian gang'' were terrified when they felt the pressure from the powerful soul sense of a Dao King enveloping their bodies, but the old man didn''t seem to care about them, as he headed towards the depths of the castle.
He was about to personally kill the 2 bosses of the ''Violent Guardian Gang'' for their actions.
After all, the ''City of Sin'' could be considered his domain.
However, an ugly expression soon appeared on the old man''s face when he noticed that the interior of the ''Violent guardian gang''s'' headquarters was now empty and even their treasury had been emptied out.
The middle-stage Dao King realm expert, ''senior Huang'' instantly understood that Shi Ru and Shi Hui had probably already fled from the northern part of the ''City of Sin''.
Perhaps they had already left the ''City of Sin'' altogether, or perhaps they were hidden somewhere, but that didn''t matter.
Even for a middle-stage Dao King like ''senior Huang'', it was impossible to scan every single person in the entire city with his soul sense.
With a cold look in his eyes, the short white-haired old man seemed to ponder seriously for a while, before he finally waved his hand and his body turned into countless blood threads that disappeared from the throne room.
..
At the same time, back inside his pill shop, Shun Long noticed that despite opening the entrance of the shop today, there were practically no customers willing to enter inside.
This was most likely the result of Little ck destroying the squad of 13te-stage Spirit realm experts, as well as the trouble that the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' had caused during the past 2 weeks by sending the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm experts to attack in broad daylight.
Even in the ''City of Sin'' that was a chaotic ce and people were used to murder taking ce randomly on the streets, Shun Long''s shop was already turning into a den of death.
Although not many people would end up dying, all of them seemed to bete-stage Spirit realm experts without exception.
Additionally, Shun Long''s opponent was one of the 3rgest pill shops in the ''City of Sin'', while inside the shop itself, there were rumors that there was some kind of powerful magic beast.
If another huge fight really happened, wouldn''t the people inside the shop be the ones who were implicated first?
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long with her enchanting ck eyes, before she said in a clearly uncertain voice
''''Long-ge... perhaps people are afraid and want to wait for things to calm down before theye to the shop again?!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long agreed with Liu Mei, and with a smile on his face he then said seriously
''''I was nning to wait until the end of the month before taking a small trip to the Deste East, as well as the ''Ten-thousand beasts mountain range'', but it seems that going now is also a good time.''''
Liu Mei was stunned, before a joyous expression appeared on her face, but after a moment of deliberation she then asked
''''But.. Long-ge, what about the ''Blood Pill pavilion''?''''
Although Liu Mei wanted to visit the Deste East, she didn''t seem to be willing to let the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' off the hook after all the problems that they had caused.
She also hadn''t forgotten the assassination attempt from 2 weeks ago, where they had sent an early rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator and his team to ruin their shop and take everything.
Shaking his head, Shun Long''s gaze had turned deep as he said seriously
''''I don''t think that their Pavilion master will just stay and wait for us to go and kill him!
After Little ck exposed his strength, their pavilion master will definitely choose toy low for a while, if he doesn''t choose topletely abandon the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
Although he will find it weird when they notice that we are gone, I don''t think that he will stay away from the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' for too long.
If he takes everything from their treasury and leaves, he knows that it will be akin to shooting himself in the foot!
Unless he ns topletely abandon the ''City of Sin'', he doesn''t have any other choice than to return back to his pavilion.''''
Liu Mei instantly understood what Shun Long was trying to say.
Even if the monk left, the temple would stay.
Nodding his head, a cold look shed through Shun Long''s eyes as he said
''''Unless hepletely abandons his pavilion, I will personally end his life once we return back!''''
The serious look soon disappeared from Shun Long''s face, and waving his hand, he gathered all of the pill bottles in the shop and ced them inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Since Little ck had already returned back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long didn''t waste any more time, and wrapping his arm around Liu Mei''s slender waist he then sat on the ck panther''s back.
Without waiting for Liu Mei to put a veil on her face, the ck panther shot out from the shop like a bolt of silver lightning, as it flew in the sky above the ''City of Sin''.
Chapter 303 - 303 A bad premonition
Chapter 303 - 303 A bad premonition
The rank 6 ''Silver-winged panther king'' shot to the sky as it flew above the northern part of the ''City of Sin'', shocking the people around Shun Long''s shop.
At the same time, inside the ''Violent guardian gang''s'' castle, the short white-haired middle-stage Dao King, ''senior Huang'', turned his eyes towards the sky as he mumbled to himself
''''Indeed, it is an early rank 6 magic beast...''''
It only took a few minutes for the ck panther to fly from the northern part of the ''City of Sin'' to the east, until it slowly left the tall ''Mountain of Blood''!
The ''City of Sin'' and the ''Mountain of Blood'' were situated at the north of the Night star continent, but the Deste East was very far away.
ording to the map that he had purchased in the Heaven''s Dome city, Shun Long knew, that he would have to travel all the way to the east of the continent, and pass from the SIlver sword city before returning back to the Deste East.
Looking at the map in his hands, his eyes were focused on a ce called ''Silver Mountain''.
Liu Mei also saw that ce on the map and chuckled lightly.
This was the ce where the previous guild master of the ''Pale Moon guild'', the beautiful blonde woman Xie Rong lived.
She had even given Shun Long a small white token with a ''Xie'' character on it, and had asked him to visit when he had time.
Shun Long however wasn''t nning on stopping by the ''Silver Mountain''.
Although he was somewhat curious to find out whether everything had worked out for Xie Rong after obtaining the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', this was just a small bout of curiosity.
Seeing the ''Mountain of Blood'' behind him turn even smaller in his eyes, Shun Long also wasn''t afraid of someone taking over his shop while he was away, as his eyes stared in the distance ahead of him.
Although he and Liu Mei hadn''t been in the ''City of Sin'' for a long time, he was certain that very few people would dare to upy his shop after his sh with the ''Blood Pill pavilion''.
As he observed the map in front of him, Shun Long mapped out a route to return to the Deste East.
After returning back to the Silver sword city, he would continue towards the east of the continent, until he arrived at a big country called ''Snowcloud country''.
''''Snowcloud country?''''
Shun Long could feel that this name sounded somewhat familiar, but he couldn''t remember when he had heard it before.
''''Eh? ''Snowcloud country''? That ''prince'' in the ''Vermilion realm'' said that he was from the ''Snowcloud country''.''''
Liu Mei''s voice sounded in Shun Long''s ears when she saw the ce that Shun Long was pointing at.
Although Shun Long didn''t care about ''unimportant'' ces that had nothing to do with him, as the daughter of the ''Floating Cloud sect''s'' sect master, Liu Mei had learned to pay attention to the name of the ces that she had heard of in the past.
Nodding his head, Shun Long seemed to have remembered that ''sixth prince'' who had arrived with his attendant in the ''Vermilion realm'' and had arrogantly asked for a spot that he then got from Liu Mei''s father, Liu Jian.
Shun Long''s gaze then focused on the seemingly vast sea that he would have to cross in order to arrive to the Deste East.
The ''Snowcloud country'' was at the far east of the ''Night star continent'' and only a vast sea separated it from the Deste East.
As he continued to stare at the map, Liu Mei''s curious voice then sounded in his ears, as she then said in a somewhat uncertain tone
''''Long-ge, I also heard from my father, that the waters around the ''Snowcloud country'' are filled with powerful magic beasts, some of which are even stronger than Spirit realm experts.
Even the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha Temple'' in the Deste East isn''t strong enough to fight against these magic beasts by himself.''''
Shun Long''s eyes lit up, and he quickly assumed that those must probably be rank 5 magic beasts.
Whether it was for himself, for Little ck or Little Silver, refining the ''Dragonblood grass'' into pills was a top priority for Shun Long.
However, parts of certain rank 5 magic beasts, including their beast cores were absolutely necessary during the pill refinement, otherwise, the pills wouldn''t bepletely pure, and would have powerful pill toxins inside them.
One or two pills wouldn''t make a difference, as Shun Long''s body would expel them by itself after a few days, but consumingrge amounts of pills that were filled with pill toxins would have a negative effect on his cultivation in the future.
That was why, although he had already advanced to the level of a gold grade alchemist, Shun Long hadn''t refined the rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'' into pills just yet.
Although it was more likely that he would find all the magic beasts and the medicinal herbs that he required in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' Mountain range'', if there were really suitable rank 5 magic beasts on the way to the ''Deste East'', then he could start concocting some pills before he even arrived in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' Mountain range''!
..
Flying on the ck panther''s back, it only took a single day for Shun Long and Liu Mei to arrive at the familiar-looking city that was shaped like a sword.
Without stopping by the ''Silver sword city'' however, Shun Long and Liu Mei continued their journey, and a few hourster, a new scene appeared in their eyes.
A snowyndscape appeared in the distance and covered everything as far as the eye could see.
In the distance ahead was a huge city covered with pure-white snow, and city walls that weren''t inferior to the ''Silver sword city''s''.
A few momentster, Shun Long and Liu Mei who were sitting on the ck panther''s back, had already arrived outside of the snow-covered city.
And yet, ignoring the snowy scenery in front of him, Shun Long''s expression immediately changed.
A bad premonition had suddenly appeared in his heart as he approached closer to the Deste East, while for some inexplicable reason, Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s smiling faces had abruptly appeared in his mind.
Chapter 304 - 304 Return to the Floating Cloud sect
Chapter 304 - 304 Return to the ''Floating Cloud sect''
Shun Long didn''t know why, but he could feel his heart clench when he saw the faces of his parents, while his heartbeat had started to rise.
Both Little ck and Little Silver whose souls were connected to Shun Long''s, could feel his feelings that had turned into turmoil, while Liu Mei who had her hands around Shun Long''s chest could also feel his heart that was now beating wildly.
''''Master, what happened?''''
''''Long-ge?''''
Both Little ck''s, as well as Liu Mei''s voice, sounded in Shun Long''s head and ears respectively, as soon as they detected this anomaly.
Little ck spread his soul sense but he didn''t detect anything untoward around them, which puzzled the ck dragon even more.
With a serious look on his face, Shun Long then said
''''Something has happened to my parents!''''
This wasn''t something rted to any Dao, but a feeling that stemmed directly from Shun Long''s heart.
It was said that once a tragedy befell one of your loved ones, you would start feeling restless and be unable to stand still.
For cultivators, this feeling was even more intense and clear.
Liu Mei didn''t question Shun Long''s words. and simply nodded her head in response.
Little ck nodded his head as well, while a cold look shed through his eyes.
He had already met Shun Fang and Shun An in the past, and in the ck dragon''s head, he had already epted them as Shun Long''s parents. Although it was only one-third of Shun Long''s soul that was given birth to and raised by them, for Little ck that was already enough.
Without wasting any more time, Shun Long didn''t choose to stop at the ''Snowcloud country'' for the night, and instead continued forward.
The ck panther flew like a bolt of silver lightning, as it soared in the sky above the royal city of the ''Snowcloud country''.
The guards at the city walls were stunned for a moment and quickly sounded the rm, alerting the people in the royal pce in the process.
The auras of Spirit realm and even Nascent Soul stage experts exploded from the depths of the pce, along with a middle-rank 1 Dao King realm expert, and an early rank 2 Dao King.
Shun Long however didn''t seem to care about the people from the royal pce, and without wasting any time to take a detour he had the ck panther continued forward.
''''HALT!''''
A grey-armoredte-stage Nascent Soul expert who was wearing a matching helmet shouted at the ck panther, but when he felt the panther''s aura his body noticeably trembled before he hurriedly fell back.
The 2 Dao Kings inside the royal pce also paled when they felt the aura of the early rank 6 magic beast flying towards the pce, as they hurriedly activated the pce''s formations and braced themselves to fight.
The ck panther howeverpletely ignored the royal pce, as he continued flying towards the snowy sea in the distance.
Spreading its bright silver wings that shone brightly under the illumination of the bright stars in the sky, the people in the royal capital of the ''Snowcloud country'' saw the silver streak of light flying above their heads as it continued off into the distance.
Flying above the snow-covered sea, Shun Long was originally nning to hide Little Silver and slowly hunt out some rank 5 magic beasts, but this time, his attention was fully focused on getting to the Deste East as fast as possible.
Half a dayter, the sun had already risen in the sky, but aside from a handful of rank 4 magic beasts, no one else attacked them as they traveled above the snowy sea.
In the distance, Shun Long and Liu Mei could see arge mass ofnd slowly emerging from the horizon, as the ck panther quickly approached closer to it.
The Deste East.
Shun Long had finally returned.
Less than a year had passed since Cui Guoliang''s test in the ''Vermilion realm'' had ended and he had sent Shun Long and the rest to the ''Night star continent'', and yet, Shun Long and Liu Mei had been through so many things that it seemed as if it had already been much longer than this.
Seeing that there was a medium-sized city in the distance, Shun Long had the ck panther fly directly towards it, as he intended to purchase a map about the Deste East.
After all, thest time, he had been directly teleported from Cui Guoliang''s pce all the way to the ''Night star continent'', and hadn''t traveled by himself.
Despite the Deste East being much smaller than the ''Night star continent'', Shun Long knew that without a map, it would be like searching for a needle in the haystacks.
The city was controlled by a small sect, whose sect master was only at the middle rank 1 of the Spirit realm.
The moment that he felt Little Silver''s and Liu Mei''s auras, the sect master along with the Elders personally came out and weed Shun Long and Liu Mei to the city with excited expressions.
Shun Long however was extremely anxious, while the bad premonition in his heart had be even more noticeable as soon as he arrived in the Deste East, and immediately exined to the sect master the reason that he had stopped in their city.
Despite the sect master''s fervent wishes to have Shun Long and Liu Mei be their guests and stay in the city for the night, the sect master still had an Elder fetch a map before handing it to Shun Long.
Although the map wasn''t an extremely detailed one, it still pointed directly towards the ''Lightning Wastnd'' where the ''Vermilion realm'' had opened thest time.
After thanking the sect master, the ck panther immediately shot towards the ''Lightning Wastnd''s'' direction, under the sect master and the Elders envious gazes.
Looking at the ck panther''s back, one of the Elders of the sect couldn''t help mumbling
''''Sect master, which powerful sect do you think this persones from?''''
Shaking his head, the sect master''s eyes glimmered as he answered
''''I don''t know, but it''s definitely not a sect from our Deste East!''''
Seeing the stunned expressions of the Elders of his sect, the sect master continued with an envious tone
''''Didn''t you see how young that young woman was? Her cultivation however is even stronger than mine, and has already reached the middle-stages of the Spirit realm!
At the same time, the pressure I got from that ck panther is even more terrifying than the pressure I felt from an Elder of the ''Golden Buddha temple''!
No, it can''t even bepared! This is certainly a rank 5 magic beast!''''
''''WHAT?''''
The Elders around the sect master were all stunned when they heard his words!
After all, even the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' was rumored to be just an early-stage Nascent Soul expert.
This magic beast was at the same level as him?
Nodding his head, the sect master continued with a serious look in his eyes
''''As for that young man, even I couldn''t see through him...''''
The sect Elders were all speechless, none of them adding another word in the process.,
Of course, by the time they had finished their words, the ck panther had already disappeared from the sky.
An hourter, Shun Long had already passed through the Lightning Wastnd, and finally, after 3 more hours, the outline of a familiar city appeared in the distance.
The ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Chapter 305 - 305 A miserable situation
Chapter 305 - 305 A miserable situation
A stifling feeling appeared in Liu Mei''s heart when she saw the medium-sized city in the distance.
This was the ce where she was born, and yet it was also the ce where she had to run away from as well.
As the city in front of her was slowly being erged in her eyes as the ck panther approached closer and closer to it, the feeling inside Shun Long''s heart was bing even more tangible.
It was like someone had hit his heart with a hammer, making him feel pain from the powerful impact.
Less than 2 minutester, the ck panther pped its silver wings as it hovered in the sky above the ''Floating cloud city''.
Although Shun Long was anxious to return back, he still stopped for a moment, and looking at Liu Mei he asked
''''Mei''er, do you want to go and see your mother first?''''
Shun Long didn''t have a single doubt, that with Liu Mei''s current cultivation at the middle of rank 4 of the Spirit realm, her undead army couldpletely tten the whole ''Floating Cloud city''.
No, even without her undead army, the only one who would be able to fight against her head-on, would be the ''Floating Cloud sect''s'' sect master, Liu Mei''s father, Liu Jian.
After thinking seriously for a moment, Liu Mei shook her head in the end.
Although seeing her mother as early as possible was important, she knew that the chances of her mother''s life being in danger while she was still inside the ''Floating Cloud city'' were practically zero.
However, the situation of Shun Long''s parents was apletely different story.
Nodding his head, a warm feeling filled Shun Long''s heart, and without another word, the ''SIlver-winged panther king'' continued to fly forward, without waiting for Liu Jian and the other Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' toe and wee them.
The barrier that separated the ''Cultivation world'' from the ''Mortal world'' soon appeared in Shun Long''s eyes, before the ''Silver-winged panther king'' effortlessly shed it open with its silver wings and passed through it.
The thin qi from the ''Mortal world'' gave Shun Long a nostalgic feeling... that of a person who had returned home after a long time.
After lowering his gaze to stare at the sea below him, Shun Long locked his eyes on a certain ind, before he had the ck panther fly towards it at full speed.
The panther descended from the sky like a silver-colored meteor, as it tore through the clouds and appeared on that ind in less than a minute.
One after another, Shun Long saw the mortal kingdoms around him sh through his eyes, while the feeling of anxiousness in his heart deepened with every passing second.
A few momentster, Shun Long had already arrived at the outskirts of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', when a shocking scene appeared in his eyes.
In the cities surrounding the imperial city of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', the roads, the houses of people, everything, was bathed with blood.
Soldiers wearing bronze armor seemed to have taken over the cities around the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', piging everything in sight.
Shun Long could see kids crying, while the headless corpses of men and women were lying on the streets.
''''How could this happen?''''
Shun Long''s feeling were getting agitated with every passing moment, and without stopping, the ''Silver-winged panther king'' flew like a blur, and soon it arrived in the ''Blue Forest city''.
The sight that greeted Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s however, was that of utter devastation!
The 10m(33ft) tall walls were more than halfway destroyed, while the corpses of countless soldiers that were wearing the insignia of the ''Blue Forest city''s'' army, as well as the city lord''s personal army were lying on the fields outside the city.
However, almost no cries could be heard from the city, as if everything had fallen dead silent.
Shun Long''s gaze quickly fell on a single head without a body, that was now hanging outside the ''Blue Forest city''s'' gates.
Shun Long felt shock filling his heart, when he recognized the man that was hanged outside the city.
This was the ''Blue Forest city''s'' city lord, Zhen Wang!
Although Shun Long''s family didn''t have an extremely good rtionship with this man, Shun Long had already heard from Shun An how the city lord had tried to curry favor with his father, once Shun Fang became a Duke of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''!
Even if Shun Fang didn''t like this man, there was no way that he would allow him to get hanged outside the city, unless something really terrible had happened.
On top of the ''Blue Forest city''s'' city walls, Shun Long saw the bronze-armored guards that he had seen before in cities that he had passed through earlier, and an inexplicable chill filled his heart.
''''Has the city really fallen?''''
Liu Mei seemed to have also understood what had happened to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', and quickly fell silent.
Indeed, after seeing the blood that had dyed the soil red, the countless corpses with the insignia of a ''Blue Forest'' in their armor as well as the bronze-armored people who had upied the city walls, a single word appeared in her mind
''''War!''''
Of course, if Liu Mei could understand this, how could Shun Long not see what was going on.
Deep in his heart however, he refused to ept this.
After all, Shun Fang was already a Heaven grade expert, and in the kingdoms that were in direct proximity to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', there weren''t any Heaven grade experts aside from him.
Even if a new one had appeared, there is no way for them to destroy the ''Blue Forest city'' like this.
Besides, Shun Long had been gone for less than a year, so how could a war really erupt in such a small amount of time?
What was the trigger behind it?
As these questions shed through Shun Long''s mind, he got off the ''Silver-winged panther king'' and shot towards the ''Blue Forest city'', with Liu Mei and the ck panther following behind him.
Chapter 306 - 306 Lord Wei
Chapter 306 - 306 Lord Wei
''''HALT!''''
''''STATE YOUR NAME!''''
The guards on top of the city walls shouted once they saw Shun Long approaching the city, but in just a few moments, Shun Long had already flew past the 2 people who had just spoken.
The 2 guards'' cultivation was at the early rank 3 of the earth grade, and were the strongest people stationed in the city walls right now.
Originally, they were going to order for an attack against Shun Long, but when they realized that he was actually hovering above the ground, terror appeared in their hearts.
A few guards hurriedly backed away as they shouted
''''Hea-Heaven grade experts!!''''
It wasn''t just Shun Long who was flying, but Liu Mei who was behind him as well as Little Silver.
Ignoring the guards and the city that was slowly falling into a state of unrest once the words ''Heaven grade experts'' sounded in the air, Shun Long headed directly towards the location of the Shun estate.
He didn''t pay any attention to the guards who were hurriedly scurrying away from him, and in just a few moments, he had already arrived outside the Shun estate.
The scene that Shun Long saw however made his blood boil!
The gate of the estate waspletely destroyed, while corpses of the previous guards were sprawled on the ground everywhere around the estate.
Aside from the main hall, Shun Long saw every building inside the estate, including Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s courtyard, as well as his own, that werepletely destroyed, and finally, his blood was all gathered in his head.
Shun Long felt himself reaching the breaking point, and thest hope that nothing bad had actually happened to his parents was finally extinguished!
From the main hall, a group of earth grade cultivators dressed in bronze armor appeared, after hearing the shouts of the guards at the city walls who were shouting ''Heaven grade experts''.
These people looked at Shun Long who was now standing in front of the estate gates in a trance, with a dumbfounded look in their eyes.
The moment that Shun Long turned his eyes towards them, the bronze-armored earth grade cultivators felt a chill in their hearts, as if they had locked eyes with a terrifying magic beast.
They saw a pair of ck eyes staring at them, filled with anger and killing intent that weren''t suppressed in the slightest!
A middle-aged man with a cultivation at the peak of rank in 8 earth grade walked out from their midst, and looking at Shun Long, he spoke in a haughty tone
''''Brat, who are you? Which group are you from? Don''t you know that this area is the-''''
Before the peak rank 8 cultivator could finish his words, Shun Long''s powerful aura at the middle of rank 4 of the Spirit realm exploded from his body, bringing absolute suffocation and terror to the bronze-armored man.
At the same time, Liu Mei and the ck panther had just arrived at the scene, and looked at Shun Long with shock in their eyes.
This was the first time that Shun Long had exhibited so much anger and unrestrained killing intent.
Unlike his usual self, Liu Mei instantly realized, that Shun Long was barely suppressing himself from murdering the people in front of him.
Shun Long''s ck eyes had now turned golden, and looking at the horrified eyes of the bronze-armored middle rank 8 earth grade cultivator in front of him who was now kneeling on the ground, he asked in a voice so cold that was about to chill the man''s soul to death
''''Who are you?
...Where are Shun Fang and Shun An?''''
The middle-aged man''s eyes widened when he heard Shun Long''s words, and suppressing his fear, he raised his head to look at Shun Long and asked in a haughty tone
''''Who am I? Don''t you know that the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' is now the territory of Lord Wei Tai? As for the Heaven grade expert named Shun of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''? His fate was long since dictated by Lord Wei and the 2 Lords Zhu!''''
The moment that he heard these words, Shun Long felt his mind short-circuiting for a moment?
The territory of Lord Wei? 2 Lords Zhu?
The bronze-armored man looked at Shun Long with traces of apprehension in his eyes, but the arrogance in his voice when he mentioned the name Lord Wei was unmistakable.
Seeing that Shun Long was speechless, the man was certain that he was afraid after hearing the name of Lord Wei and thought inwardly
''''Hehe, as expected! Lord Wei is a true powerhouse that makes even other experts afraid!''''
Looking at Shun Long, the confidence in the man''s eyes dramatically increased, and despite the fact that he was still kneeling on the ground, his voice was filled with pride as he continued
''''As for this mansion, it was given to me by Lord W-''''
Before the man could finish his words, his eyes suddenly widened, while a powerful hand that was akin to the hand of death itself was now clutching his throat, as it lifted the bronze-armored man in the air.
The killing intenting from Shun Long''s body could practically be felt by the bronze-armored man, making the hair in his body stand up in fear.
Staring at the man''s eyes, Shun Long then asked in a voice so cold that it made the man''s heart feel like he was plunged in the deepest part of hell
''''Where is Shun Fang, Shun An, as well as this Lord Wei?''''
The man seemed to have realized that he would die as soon as he answered this question, and with a mocking look in his eyes he spoke through gritted teeth
''''Ha! Won''t you kill me as soon as I tell you? But if you swear to let me go, then I -''''
Before the man could finish his words, Shun Long clenched his right hand with all his strength, instantly destroying the man''s neck.
Droplets of blood were flowing down from his hand, dying the outer edge of his sleeve with a light reddish hue.
With a seemingly absent-minded look on his face, Shun Long then mumbled to himself
''''Little ck, where is my father and mother?''''
At first, Shun Long hadn''t asked Little ck if his parents were in the ''Blue Forest city'', because this was the most natural thing to him.
Only after seeing the destruction of the Shun estate did he realize that his parents were no longer here.
Nodding his head, the ck dragon spread out his soul sense and covered the entire ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' in an instant.
With a serious look in his eyes, Little ck then said in a somewhat reluctant voice
''''Master, there are 3 Heaven grade cultivators in the imperial city''s pce... but none of them seem to have Shun Fang''s aura!''''
Chapter 307 - 307 The bloodbath of the Sky Fortune Kingdom
Chapter 307 - 307 The bloodbath of the Sky Fortune Kingdom
Shun Long was stunned after hearing Little ck''s words, while his body even trembled for a moment.
No matter what had happened, he would definitely find out after going to the pce in the imperial city of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
At the same time, the rest of the bronze-armored cultivators inside the Shun estate were all shocked when they saw Shun Long killing the middle-aged man.
Finally, one of them could no longer suppress his fear, and hurriedly stood up, as he tried to escape back inside the main hall.
He knew that the formations inside the main hall could probably defend even against a Heaven grade expert for a while.
The rest of the men who were kneeling on the ground followed the bronze-armored man, as they all headed back inside the main hall as well.
If the blue-robed young man in front of them had already killed their leader who was ate-stage earth grade expert, then he had no reason to spare the rest of them!
Shun Long''s eyes chilled when he saw this, and without any hesitation, he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, covering both himself and the bronze-armored earth grade cultivators who were running deeper inside the Shun estate.
The flow of time inside the Shun estate had been forcefully frozen! It was a stark differencepared to the outside world.
Perhaps a gust of wind or the sounds of crickets chirping on the trees may sound in the streets, but inside the estate itself,plete silence reigned supreme.
It was almost as if the Shun estate had now turned into an entirely different world.
Only the footsteps of a young man echoed, before even sound itself was suppressed inside this world.
An illusionary purple-colored de had appeared in the blue-robed young man''s right hand, as he stepped closer to the frozen bronze-armored men.
Without the slightest shred of hesitation, Shun Long waved his illusionary purple-colored de a round, as blood spurted in the air.
To Liu Mei who was watching this scene from the distance, the purple de in Shun Long''s hand was like the scythe of death himself.
A hole had appeared on each of these men''s chest, as their hearts were crushed before they died one by one inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The invisible figure of an hourss retracted itself back inside his body, as Shun Long stopped the ''Monarch''s Domain'' and turned his gaze towards the bodies inside his house.
Using his qi mes, he burned the men''s bodies as well as their bronze armors until nothing remained, before he turned his eyes towards Liu Mei and Little Silver in the sky.
Shun Long didn''t have the slightest sense of guilt when he killed these people.
Not only was it normal for cultivators who didn''t have grudges to kill each other if there was a reason, but these people had attacked the ''Blue Forest city'' probably killing thousands if not tens of thousands of people in the process, before they upied the Shun estate.
Although Shun Long didn''t know if they had anything to do with his father and mother as well, he wasn''t nning on letting any one of them live.
The ck panther instantly appeared in front of Shun Long, before Shun Long and Liu Mei both sat on its back.
Spreading its silver wings, the panther shot towards the imperial city like a bolt of silver-colored lightning that was tearing through the sky.
It took less than 20 breaths of time until Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived outside the imperial city of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
Standing the sky for a moment, Shun Long was stunned.
The situation outside the city was even worse than he had expected.
Just like the ''Blue Forest city'', the corpses of soldiers had littered the imperial city''s surroundings, but the situation was even worse than the ''Blue Forest city''s''.
The corpses in the imperial city seemed to have numbered in the hundreds of thousands, while blood had dyed the previously brown soil into a reddish-brown color.
The scent of copper filled the air, while the nauseating smell of some rotting corpses had already attracted animals and magic beasts alike.
The citizens inside the imperial city seemed to have been huddled inside their homes, unwilling toe out no matter what they heard, while corpses of the imperial soldiers had also filled the city''s streets.
It was a bloodbath filled with the fresh blood from the army of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
Shun Long however calmly walked towards the imperial pce''s direction, despite the corpses around him that had filled the streets.
A few momentster, the outline of the imperial pce had already appeared in the distance, until Shun Long finally heard shouts from the pce walls
''''STOP!''''
''''WHO GOES THERE?''''
Turning his eyes, Shun Long was surprised to see a pair of guards wearing the armor of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
He had already assumed that the imperial pce had already been conquered by the people in the bronze-armors, but it seemed that this wasn''t the case.
Despite being surprised, Shun Long didn''t stop to question the guards.
He knew that they wouldn''t be able to exin anything anyway, and activating the ''Monarch''s Domain'' once again, hepletely froze time around him as he kept walking towards the pce''s entrance.
As soon as he arrived in front of the pce gates however, Shun Long finally stopped walking and raised his head.
Right above the pce gates, 2 n.a.k.e.d bodies were hanging, obviously having struggled before they were humiliated.
It was the corpse of a middle-aged woman with a good body figure who seemed to have died only recently, as well as a handsome young man''s with long ck hair who had a terrified expression on his face.
Although Shun Long had never seen the middle-aged woman before, he had seen the young man once in the past, during the ''Floating Cloud sect''s'' test in the imperial pce 2 years ago, and immediately recognized him.
He was the crown prince of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', Dong Lingxin.
Chapter 308 - 308 Father-in-law
Chapter 308 - 308 Father-inw
At the same time that Shun Long appeared outside the pce gates with his aurapletely retracted, deep inside the pce, a banquet was taking ce in the main hall.
In front of arge table that was filled with all kinds of delicacies, including various different types of meat from rank 1 and rank 2 magic beasts, as well as plenty of wine, 7 people were seated and watched the beautiful young girls who were dancing in front of them.
Surprisingly, in the seat of honor at the head of the table wasn''t the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' king, but an old man seemingly around 70 years old, who was dressed in green robes.
The old man was 1.7m(5.6ft) tall, with long white hair and a thick beard. His ck eyes were filled with unconceble desire as he looked at the young girls who were dancing in front of him, while his hands were filled with the meat of the rank 2 magic beasts in front of him.
On the old man''s right were 2 middle-aged men seemingly in their early 50s, who looked very much alike each other.
Despite their simr appearances however, the 2 men hadpletely different temperaments.
One of them seemed interested in the banquet in front of him, and was happily chatting andughing with the old man next to him, while his eyes looked at the young girls who were dancing in front of him, and his hands were asionally rubbing their b.r.e.a.s.ts and butts.
In sharp contrast, the man next to him seemedpletely indifferent to the women around him, and was only interested in the food on his te.
If one paid close attention however, they would see his gaze stealing nces at the guards inside the hall, like a hungry beast that was staring at its prey and was licking its lips.
On the old man''s left was a young woman seemingly not a day older than 20 years old.
Her appearance could probably be considered in if it wasn''t for herrgely disproportional-ced eyes.
Her bright red dress that was decorated with golden roses was obviously trying to make the young woman the center of attention in the hall.
The woman however, didn''t seem to care about the old man who was sitting on her right, and was instead staring gently at the young man who was sitting next to her, while affectionately holding his arm.
The young man who seemed to be around 26 years old, had a bright smile on his face as he looked at the young woman next to him,pletely ignoring the enchanting dancers around him.
If one observed carefully, they would see that this young man''s sharp nose and high cheekbones greatly resembled the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' king''s, Dong Weifeng''s.
His bright blonde hair and spirited brown eyes, made the young man''s identity obvious to anyone who was familiar with the royal family of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
This was the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' third prince, as well as Dong Weifeng''s third son, Dong Lingyuan.
Next to Dong Lingyuan was another woman who seemed to be in her early 40s.
She was wearing a bright yellow dress with the crest of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' royal family on it, and was looking at the red-dressed young woman next to Dong Lingyuan in a fawning manner.
This woman was the king''s, Dong Weifeng''s second concubine, as well as Dong Lingyuan''s mother.
As for the middle-aged man next to her who seemed to have a spirited look in his eyes despite sitting at the very edge of the table... it was Dong Weifeng, the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' king.
As the third prince, Dong Lingyuan looked at the young woman next to him, he had a bright smile on his face as he asked
''''Xiao Yi, are you enjoying this feast? I made sure to personally choose the meat of the best rank 2 magic beasts around the kingdom, including the meat from a rank 2 ''Earth-trampling boar''!''''
The young woman, Xiao Yi nodded her head happily as soon as she heard Dong Lingyuan''s words, before she turned her head to the old man next to her, and with a joyous look on her face she said
''''Daddy, big brother Lingyuan really tried hard for this banquet. Shouldn''t you praise him a little as well?''''
The old man who was sitting in the seat of honor nodded his head, and with a smile on his aged face that made him seem more evil than amiable, he answered
''''Indeed brat, you really tried hard to find good women today. I am satisfied.''''
Dong Lingyuan had a fawning smile, as he nodded his head repeatedly and said
''''As long as senior Wei Tai is satisfied, then this all that matters to this humble junior.''''
The young woman Xiao Yi pouted as soon as she heard this, and with a look of anger she then interjected
''''What ''senior Wei''? Big brother Lingyuan, shouldn''t you call daddy your father-inw?''''
The middle-aged man who was sitting next to Wei Tai nodded his head and saidughingly
''''Hahaha! Right brat! Now that you are the only one left in this kingdom, are you perhaps trying to go back to your word?
Hehe, perhaps you never cared about little Wei Yi to begin with, and you only wanted Wei Tai and us to help you be the king huh? HAHAHA!''''
The middle-aged man erupted inughter, but both Wei Tai''s and the young woman''s Wei Yi''s faces instantly darkened as they looked at him.
Cold sweat started to drip from Dong Lingyuan''s head, and shaking his head without any hesitation, he hurriedly held Wei Yi''s hand with both hands before he answered
''''Senior Zhu Zan, your words are mistaken. How could I not care about Xiao Yi? I was just reluctant to call senior Wei Tai ''father-inw'', since me and Xiao Yi aren''t married yet.
However, if Xiao Yi is so insistent and doesn''t want to wait for our marriage, then of course I willply with her wishes.''''
Wei Tai nodded his head, and looking at Dong Lingyuan with a smiling face he then spoke in a seemingly casual tone
''''Of course you care about Xiao Yi brat! After all, there was no way that you would have simply seduced her, just to have me help you acquire this small kingdom, right? I am sure that you would clearly understand the consequences in such that case...''''
Seeing the cold look deep inside Wei Tai''s eyes despite his smiling face, Dong Lingyuan felt like he had fallen into the deepest depths of hell, before he hurriedly nodded his head in acknowledgment.
At the same time, Dong Weifeng took a deep breath, and looking at the old man, Wei Tai, he couldn''t help saying in a weak voice
''''However... senior Wei... you shouldn''t have dealt with Shun Fang and Shun An like that...
After all, I even told you that their son was a member of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', and that he even has a ck dragon...''''
Everyone in the hall turned their attention to the king, Dong Weifeng, but contrary to the king''s expectations, both Wei Tai, Zhu Zan, and the other middle-aged man next to him had mocking looks on their faces when they heard his words.
With a smile on his face, Wei Tai rubbed the butt of the young woman who was dancing in front of him, and looking at Dong Weifeng he said in a casual tone
''''A member of the ''Floating Cloud sect''? Hehehe... Dong Weifeng, you don''t seem to understand, so let me exin this to you.
Even if one is a member of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', unless they are an inner disciple or an Elder, they wouldn''t have reached the Heaven grade just yet.
From all the disciples that enter the sect, how many people actually reach the earth grade?''''
Seeing the look in Dong Weifeng''s eyes that was still filled with worry, the old man Wei Tai continued
''''Additionally, even if he manages to reach the Heaven grade eventually, aren''t there 3 Heaven grade experts here today? How do you think a 3 against 1 fight with a newly advanced Heaven grade cultivator would go in the future?
Hehehe, didn''t we already handle his father as well?
If you are worried about the ''Floating Cloud sect'' sending reinforcements, I can assure you that as long as someone chooses to meddle in the matters of the ''Mortal world'', they will have no assistance from a huge sect.
As for that so-called ck dragon... hehe, don''t make meugh-''''
BOOOM!
The door of the pce''s main hall was suddenly sent flying from the outside by a powerful punch, attracting everyone''s attention.
The music in the hall had suddenly stopped, and the young women stopped dancing, as everyone''s eyes were suddenly focused on the hall''s entrance.
A handsome young man dressed in blue robes slowly walked inside the hall, one step at a time, as his eyes finally fell on the people who were sitting on the table.
In his right hand, there was an illusionary purple-colored de, and despite the fresh blood that had stained his robes'' sleeves with a reddish hue, not a single drop of blood seemed to have tainted the purple de itself.
Behind the handsome young man was a peerlessly beautiful young woman, who slowly followed him inside the hall. The cold look on her face didn''t diminish her beauty in the slightest, while her bright white robes that were in sharp contrast with her bewitching ck eyes, only served to entuate her beauty even further.
Her face that seemed to havee out of a picture itself only stared at the people inside the hall for a moment, before it once again focused on the young man in front of her. The coldness in her look finally melted, giving rise to an even more beautiful scene for the people inside the hall, who were all stunned for a moment.
The king''s, Dong Weifeng''s eyes, only stared at the gorgeous young woman for a single moment, before his eyes were once again focused on the blue-robed young man.
An aura of majesty wasing from the young man''s body, like a king who was looking at a group of unimportantmoners, whose life and death had no meaning to him.
And yet, at the same time, inside the young man''s ck eyes was a cold look that could freeze anyone''s soul in an instant.
Dong Weifeng''s mind seemed to have frozen when his eyesnded on the young man''s face.
His voice, despite being lower than a whisper, resounded in everyone''s ears as he stuttered and spoke fearfully
''''Shu- Shun Long!''''
Chapter 309 - 309 Spatial ring
Chapter 309 - 309 Spatial ring
Shun Long''s eyesnded on the trembling king of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', who had now stood up and was slowly backing away, before Shun Long suddenly disappeared on the spot.
Wei Tai, Zhu Zan and the other middle-aged man next to him, all hurriedly stood up, before they turned their eyes towards their left, where Shun Long was now standing in front of the trembling Weifeng with an ice-cold look in his eyes.
Looking at the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' king in front of him, Shun Long then spoke in a voice that barely suppressed his killing intent from exploding out of his body
''''Where is my father and mother?''''
Dong Weifeng''s face visibly paled, but when he tried to take a step back, he suddenly felt that his neck was being grabbed by an iron grip.
Shun Long''s left hand that was still fresh with the blood of the bronze-armored guards that he had killed on the way to the main hall, was now holding the king''s neck and was just a step away from snapping it.
Looking at Shun Long''s ice-cold eyes, Dong Weifeng felt like he was looking at the abyss of death itself, as a feeling of terror had already permeated his heart.
Shun Long saw that Dong Weifeng wanted to speak, but Dong Lingyuan''s voice from his left sounded first, a voice filled with endless fury and indignation
''''HOW DARE YOU??''''
Seeing that Shun Long didn''t even turn his head to the side to look at him, but was instead still staring at his father with his left hand still on the king''s neck, anger, as well as the feeling of being ignored made the third prince, Dong Lingyuan take a step forward, and as he pointed Shun Long at his face the young man said arrogantly
''''Your name is Shun Long right? Shun Fang''s previously crippled son... hehe!
I have already heard about you. You think that being a member of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' allows you to treat my father with such disrespect? Who do you think you are?''''
Shun Long tried to suppress the annoyance he was feeling, and turned his head to the side to look at the young man with blonde hair who had a mocking look in his eyes as he looked at him.
Seeing that he had finally attracted Shun Long''s attention, Dong Lingyuan turned around to look at the old man behind him, before he said in a proud tone
''''This is senior Wei Tai, a powerful Heaven grade expert! Even in your ''Floating Cloud sect'', Heaven grade experts are inner disciples or Elders, aren''t they? Quickly pay your respects to senior and apologize!''''
The third prince, Dong Lingyuan who was already an early earth grade expert had already noticed that Shun Long was much stronger than him by how easily he held the king, Dong Weifeng in the air by his neck.
By introducing both Wei Tai, as well as asking Shun Long to pay his respects to him, he was trying to have the old man deal with Shun Long personally.
After all, this was the ''Way of the King''. If you can''t do something by yourself, have others do it for you!
Shun Long barely spared an indifferent nce at Wei Tai and the 2 middle-aged men next to him, before his eyes were once again focused on Dong Weifeng in front of him.
With a look that was about to kill him if he didn''t answer truthfully, Shun Long tightened the grip on the king''s neck before he spoke in a voice that no longer suppressed his anger and impatience
''''DONG WEIFENG, WHERE ARE MY PARENTS?''''
Shun Long''s voice boomed throughout the main hall of the pce, causing everyone inside to immediately step away from him.
Even Wei Tai, Zhu Zan and the other middle-aged man next to him were shocked to realize that they were forced to step back as well!
This wasn''t caused by Shun Long''s cultivation, but by the natural aura that wasing from his body.
Blood slowly trickled from Dong Weifeng''s nose, and with a look of fear on his face, he trembled a few times, but he didn''t dare to answer Shun Long''s question.
Instead, his eyes fell on the old man Wei Tai behind Shun Long.
Dong Weifeng knew, that as long as he answered Shun Long''s question, Shun Long wouldn''t hesitate to clench his hand and snap his neck in an instant, robbing him of his life.
Seeing Dong Weifeng''s line of sight, Shun Long''s eyes finally fell on the old man Wei Tai who was looking at him with a smile on his face.
Wei Tai didn''t seem angry that Shun Long hadn''t let go of Dong Weifeng yet, as if the king''s life had nothing to do with him.
Instead, Wei Tai looked back at the blue-robed young man who seemed to be anxious to know what had happened to his parents, and with a light-hearted tone he then spoke in a seemingly amiable tone
''''Young man, it''s always good to be humble when you talk to your seniors.
Hmm... as for that Heaven grade expert called Shun Fang and his wife, although they were my enemies, I can stillpensate you personally for what has happened.''''
As soon as Wei Tai finished speaking, his daughter, the red-dressed young woman named Wei Yi, Dong Weifeng, Dong Lingyuan, as well as Dong Lingyuan''s mother, were all stunned when they heard his words.
Wei Tai was looking topromise with Shun Long instead of killing him? The arrogant tyrant who had over 6 kingdoms under his rule was trying topromise?
However, Zhu Zan and the other middle-aged man who were next to Wei Tai both had serious looks on their faces as they stared at Shun Long.
Although they didn''t know how strong the young man in front of them was, since they couldn''t feel the slightest bit of auraing from his body, since they had already seen Shun Long''s speed when he entered inside the hall and lifted up Dong Weifeng, solemn looks had appeared inside their eyes.
They knew that if they had to fight, even with Wei Tai and themselves teaming up against Shun Long, it was certainly going to be a difficult fight.
Additionally, there was also a gorgeous young woman at the entrance of the hall, whose aura was unfathomable as well.
Indeed, Wei Tai''s decision topensate Shun Long was the best choice.
As soon as he finished his words, Wei Tai didn''t wait for Shun Long''s answer, and waving his right hand, 1000 low-grade spirit stones appeared from the spatial ring in his hand before theynded on the floor in front of him.
Wei Tai looked at Shun Long and with a serious look he said
''''1000 spirit stones! This is mypensation to let bygones be bygones!''''
Shun Long''s eyes however didn''t even look at the 1000 low-grade spirit stones on the floor in front of the old man.
Instead, his eyes were staring intently at the brown spatial ring on Wei Tai''s hand while an explosion seemed to have sounded inside his head.
Little ck and Little Silver inside the ''Stone of Time'' could all feel Shun Long''s emotions turning turbulent, before a powerful aura erupted from his body.
Shun Long''s aura was so dense and powerful, and yet filled with so much killing intent, that it suffocated everyone inside the main hall of the pce.
Even Liu Mei felt the pressure inside the hall, and she was a powerful middle rank 4 Spirit realm necromancer.
Shun Long''s eyes had now turned golden, while his cultivation at the middle of rank 4 of the Spirit realm exploded from his body.
His left hand allowed Dong Weifeng to fall on the floor, before he immediately disappeared on the spot.
Not even a moment had passed, when everyone''s eyes inside the hall were filled with incredulity and shock.
In Shun Long''s left hand was now an old, wrinkled hand that was dripping with fresh blood, while a brown spatial ring adorned its ring finger.
Shun Long destroyed the old hand, before his aura that was filled with killing intent, made everyone inside the hall tremble.
This was the spatial ring that Shun Long had filled with top-grade rank 2 ''minor advancement pills'', with his own barrels of wine, as well as a few low-grade spirit stones, before he had personally given to Shun Fang when he had returned home.
Chapter 310 - 310 Realization
Chapter 310 - 310 Realization
Everyone inside the hall turned their eyes towards Wei Tai''s right arm, and noticed that his hand from the wrist and below was now missing.
''''Daddy!!''''
A scream suddenly filled the main hall of the pce, but surprisingly, it didn''te from Wei Tai, but from the red-dressed young woman next to Dong Lingyuan, Wei Yi.
Wei Tai himself was still staring at his own hand, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
It seemed like the pain hadn''t registered just yet, since it took him 3 breaths of time to finally react and scream in pain, while he tightly held his bleeding right hand.
Zhu Zan and the other middle-aged man next to Wei Tai, wanted to slowly back away from Shun Long, with fear obvious in their eyes, but Shun Long''s terrifying aura of a middle-stage Spirit realm expert, was like a boulder that was heavily pressuring their hearts, filling them with boundless terror.
Wei Tai''s screams were suddenly cut short, as under everyone''s terrified gazes, Shun Long lifted the Heaven grade expert up from his neck and stared at his eyes that were filled with fear.
Cracking sounds resounded in the pce''s main hall, as Shun Long slowly pressured the old man''s neck.
Crack
Hearing the cracking sounds, the young woman in the red dress, Wei Yi hurriedly turned her gaze towards Zhu Zan and the middle-aged Heaven grade expert next to him and shouted anxiously
''''Uncle Zhu Zan, uncle Zhu Heng, you have to help father!''''
Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng both took a look at the young woman who had shouted in fear, before they turned their heads to look at each other.
Although their rtionship with Wei Tai wasn''t too good, they knew that if the old man died in Shun Long''s hands, it was very likely that they would follow right after.
And yet, the terrifying auraing from Shun Long''s body made it obvious that he was far stronger than the 2 of them together.
The 2 Heaven grade experts knew, that even if they joined hands with Wei Tai, it was unlikely that they would be able to injure the young man in front of them before they died by his hands.
Nodding his head, Zhu Zan looked around the main hall, before his eyesnded on the window next to him.
Suddenly, both he and Zhu Heng exploded with their auras at the same time, as they turned to fly towards the window on the wall of the pce hall, in an attempt to leave the pce.
Since they couldn''t win, it was pointless for them to risk their lives for Wei Tai!
The best thing they could do was to turn and flee as far away as possible.
And yet, the moment that they tried to escape, Shun Long merely turned his eyes to nce towards them, before the 2 peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivators felt like a terrifying mountain had suddenly fallen on their backs, mming them both into the pce floor at the same time.
The aura of a Spirit realm expert wasn''t something that peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivators could fight against. Even Shun Long would bepletely unable to fight against a Spirit realm cultivator when he was still at the peak rank 1 of the Heaven grade, let alone Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng.
Shun Long snorted before his golden eyes were once again focused on the old man in front of him.
Seeing that Wei Tai had no intention to speak, Shun Long was about topletely crush his neck and kill him before he turned to ask the others inside the hall, when suddenly, a woman''s voice sounded in his ears as she said
''''Wait! I know where your parents are!''''
Shun Long, Liu Mei, as well as everyone else in the hall, including the king, Dong Weifeng, and Wei Tai, turned their heads to look at the woman in the yellow dress who seemed to be in her early 40s.
It was Dong Lingyuan''s mother, as well as Dong Weifeng''s second concubine, Zeng Cui.
Before Zeng Fen could speak however, Dong Lingyuan''s berating voice sounded in the hall, as he looked at her and said fearfully
''''Mother, stop!''''
Zeng Cui shook her head, and without looking at her son she said
''''Your parents are locked in the dungeon of the pce. Everything that happened to them was my choice! If you have to kill someone, kill me, but let Yuan''er go!'''' (Author''s note: This is an endearing tone to call Dong Lingyuan)
Shun Long had a cold look on his face as he looked at the woman in the yellow dress who didn''t seem to have any special facial features, aside from her spirited eyes.
Shaking his head, he then released his grip from Wei Tai and allowed him to slump on the floor gasping for breath violently, before he grabbed Zeng Cui''s neck.
Shun Long wasn''t surprised that Zeng Cui was the first one toe out and ''reveal'' what had happened to his parents. After all, he was certain, that either Dong Weifeng or someone else would eventually reveal the truth once their life was threatened.
Instead, he was relieved inwardly when he heard that his parents were held in the dungeon.
This meant that Shun Fang and Shun An should most likely still be alive.
Judging from the solemn expression of everyone inside the pce hall however, things didn''t seem to be that simple.
Looking at the woman in front of him, Shun Long shook his head before he spoke in a voice that seemed to havee from the deepest depths of hell
''''You are not in a position to negotiate with me. Lead the way or die!''''
Zeng Cui felt as if she had suddenly led herself into a trap.
Originally, she wanted to ckmail Shun Long, by revealing his parents'' location in exchange for her son''s safety, but it was only now that she seemed to have realized, that the young man in front of her seemed to be a cold-hearted devil.
She clearly felt that if she didn''t lead the way, it was very likely that Shun Long would kill her before he forced Dong Lingyuan to personally lead him in the dungeon instead.
Once Shun Long saw his parents then... wouldn''t her son die?
Nodding her head, Zeng Cui threw a meaningful nce at Dong Lingyuan, before she looked at Shun Long and said
''''Then let''s go to the dungeon together! Unless you want to wait for me to bring your parents here, hehe...''''
Zeng Cui had already prepared herself to die, but when she saw the cold look in Shun Long''s eyes, she felt her soul freezing in fear.
Holding the yellow-dressed woman from her neck, Shun Long first looked at Liu Mei and said seriously
''''Mei''er, don''t let any one of them escape. If anyone tries to leave, kill them without mercy!''''
As soon as she heard Shun Long''s words, Liu Mei nodded her head, before a ck ball appeared between her hands before it fell on the ground. More than a dozen jade-white skeletons with green mes glowing in their eyes appeared in the pce hall, under Zeng Cui''s and everyone else''s terrified eyes.
Skeletons! Moving skeletons!
This was the first thought that shed through everyone''s mind, as they stared at the gorgeous young woman in white robes who stood at the entrance of the main hall.
Without paying any attention to anyone''s reaction, Shun Long looked at Zeng Cui before he said in amanding tone
''''Lead the way!''''
Zeng Cui''s eyes were filled with fear, but remembering the strength of Wei Tai, Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng, she was confident that they would be able to escape as long as the devil-like young man was drawn away from the pce hall.
Without any more hesitation, the woman in the yellow dress led the way, as she and Shun Long headed towards the pce dungeons.
At the same time, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s eyes constricted as he once again spread out his soul sense and covered the entire pce.
Before they had arrived at the imperial city, Little ck had already told Shun Long that there were only 3 Heaven grade cultivators inside the pce.
And all 3 of them seemed to have been gathered in the pce hall.
The look in Little ck''s bright blue eyes turned cold as he stared at the woman in front of Shun Long who slowly led the way.
After walking through a fewplicated corridors, Shun Long arrived in front of 2 guards who were stunned when they saw the king''s second concubine being held hostage.
Before they could move, Shun Long immobilized them with the ''Monarch''s Domain'', before he finally entered the pce dungeons.
Chapter 311 - 311 Shun Fangs and Shun Ans situation
Chapter 311 - 311 Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s situation
Surprisingly, inside the royal dungeons, there were no guards.
Instead, it looked more like a big prison, that seemed to have no end, expanding infinitely into the darkness.
Unlike other prisons however, this one was without any cells.
Instead, there were iron chains on the walls, that were restraining the most heinous criminals of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
Although Shun Long wasn''t too interested in the criminals of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', he still knew that there were people that wouldn''t be executed right away, and would instead be kept as prisoners in the royal dungeons until they died.
This was either because some criminals had powerful identities that even the royal family didn''t want to sh with directly, or for other private reasons that the king, Dong Weifeng didn''t want exposed.
As he and Zeng Cui headed deeper inside the dungeon, Shun Long noticed that most chains were only restraining skeletons instead of living humans.
Of course, Shun Long also noticed men, women, and even children trapped as he walked deeper inside.
All of them seemed malnourished, as if they weren''t even being fed once every 3 days, and yet, despite their bony limbs, they were still alive and suffering in this inhuman prison.
The smell of feces attacked Shun Long''s senses as he headed in deeper inside, while some people even opened their eyes and begged for help.
Shun Long however didn''t stop to help any of them, and instead, he kept walking deeper inside the dungeons, while the bad premonition in his heart was slowly bing even more intense.
Finally, after 10 more minutes of walking, Shun Long arrived at the end of a corridor and stood in front of arge metallic door.
Looking at the door in front of her Zeng Cui had an expressionless look on her face before she spoke in an uncaring tone
''''Enter inside if you want to see your parents.''''
Shun Long didn''t hesitate in the slightest, and despite the ufortable feeling in his heart that was bing even more intense as he approached the metallic door in front of him, under Zeng Cui''s shocked eyes, Shun Long forcefully tore the door open with his left hand before he entered inside.
The 3m(10ft) metallic door had turned into an unrecognizable lump of metal that fell on the ground with a thump, instantly waking up the people behind it.
It was a small room around 50 square meters, but more than 20 people were chained on the wall.
Shun Long''s body had suddenly started to tremble as his eyes fell on a middle-aged man and a woman who were shackled by the ck chains, while his grip on Zeng Cui''s neck involuntarily loosened up.
Little ck''s eyes inside the ''Stone of Time'' also chilled, and understood that his conjecture before they entered this ce was actually right.
The middle-aged man had a haggard expression on his face, and yet his body was still standing tall with his back straight, despite the countless wounds on his body.
Whip marks filled his body and even his face seemed to have been hurt, but the most serious one was a wound that hadn''t stop bleeding even until now.
It was a wound on his abdomen that seemed to havee from a punch or kick,pletely dying his clothes red with his blood.
Next to this man was a beautiful middle-aged woman, whose body was also filled with blood from head to toe.
Although her body wasn''t as badly hurt as the middle-aged man''s next to her, she was also filled with whip marks as well, while in her abdomen was a simr wound that was still flowing with blood.
Shun Long''s eyes had already turned red when he saw his parents'' conditions before he hurriedly stepped forward.
The grip he had on Zeng Cui''s neck instantly hardened, as he violently crushed her throat before he angrily threw her body to the side.
Destroying the chains that were binding Shun Fang and Shun An, he grabbed both of their bodies and supported them from falling on the ground.
At the same time that the chains that were shackling his body disappeared, Shun Fang seemed to have opened his eyes while an expression of disbelief filled his face when he saw his son supporting him.
''''Father... don''t worry, it will be alright!''''
For the first time in his life, Shun Fang actually cried when he heard these words.
The emotions that had been suppressed in his heart for the past few days finally burst out when he heard his son''sforting words, as warm tears flowed through his eyes without stop, wetting Shun Long''s robes.
The dignified formation master, a man who had cultivated all the way to the Heaven grade after so many years... had his cultivation destroyed and suffered endless torture and humiliation in thest few days.
Despite having his cultivation destroyed and essentially being crippled, the only sound that he made during the time of his imprisonment was only when Shun An was about to be tortured.
He would taunt the guards and ept most of the torture in her stead, losing his flesh and blood in the process.
And yet, during this time, Shun Fang didn''t make a single sound of protest, neither did he plead nor beg.
''''AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!''''
At the same time, Shun Long let out a powerful roar filled with limitless anger, indignation and killing intent, when he saw his parents'' condition.
Shun An was still unconscious and just like Shun Fang''s her cultivation was also destroyed.
The rest of the prisoners inside the room were shocked when they heard Shun Long''s angry roar and felt his terrifying aura, but seeing him rescue Shun Fang and Shun An, their eyes lit up with the mes of hope.
Shun Long''s roar was so powerful, that it didn''t just shake the royal dungeon, but the entire royal pce itself had started to tremble.
Endless killing intent wasing from his body, and he even regretted killing Zeng Cui that quickly.
Ignoring the begging gazes of the prisoners around him, Shun Long shed the air in front of him with his right hand, opening a space tear, before his body, as well as Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s disappeared in a sh, as they appeared back at the entrance of the royal dungeons.
Looking at the 2 guards that he had previously trapped inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'' to enter the dungeon, this time, Shun Long didn''t hesitate to destroy them, exploding their heads with a single punch each, causing their now lifeless bodies to slump on the ground.
Looking around him, Shun Long soon found an empty room inside the pce and entered inside.
He gently ced Shun An on therge bed, before he fed his father and mother with a high-grade rank 1 healing pill each.,
Originally, Shun Long was nning to give them a top-grade ''Sun-healing pill'', but with their cultivations destroyed, neither Shun Fang''s body nor Shun An''s would be able to handle the energy inside the rank 4 pill.
The external wounds on Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s body started to slowly disappear at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.
Despite his body still being full of injuries, Shun Fang had a gratified smile on his face as he looked at his son in front of him.
Looking at the wounds on Shun Fang''s body, Shun Long tried to calm himself down, before he said a momentter
''''Father, tell me who did this to you!''''
Chapter 312 - 312 Dong Weifengs betrayal
Chapter 312 - 312 Dong Weifeng''s betrayal
Although Shun Long''s voice wasn''t loud, it was filled with so much anger and killing intent, that Shun Fang didn''t doubt that if the people responsible were in front of him right now, they wouldn''t even die with their corpses intact.
With a serious look in his eyes, Shun Fang nodded his head, and after adjusting his seating posture with some difficulty, he looked at Shun Long''s eyes before he said seriously
''''It all started a week ago.
Dong Weifeng came to our house and exined to me that he was facing a serious problem.
His third son, Dong Lingyuan that disgusting brat, seduced the daughter of a rank 2 Heaven grade expert from one of the nearby kingdoms.
Even I don''t know how he managed toe in contact with her and how he ended up seducing her, but it was said that that woman fell head over heels for him.
Dong Lingyuan exined to her how hard his life was in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', with his elder brother, Dong Lingxin as the crown prince suppressing him and ''destroying his life''.
As soon as that woman heard this, she replied to Dong Lingyuan that she would personally ask her father toe to the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' and kill his elder brother Dong Lingxin, before forcing the king to make Dong Lingyuan the new crown prince.''''
Shun Long''s eyes chilled as he seemed to have understood the gist of the matter, while Dong Lingyuan''s face soon appeared in his mind.
Just because he wanted to be the crown prince, he had somehow caused the whole of ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' to fall into chaos.
However, this didn''t exin Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s condition.
After all, although Shun Fang was a man who upheld justice, Shun Long knew that he wouldn''t choose to fight someone like Wei Tai for no reason, especially since this had nothing to do with him.
Looking like he had understood what Shun Long was thinking, Shun Fang had a mocking smile on his face as he continued
''''Although Dong Weifeng had announced that he would let his children fight for the throne by themselves and allow the most resourceful one to be the next king, in the end, he wasn''t willing to see his eldest son fall into despair and die when he got the news of Dong Lingyuan getting a Heaven grade expert as his backer.
After all, the backer that Dong Lingyuan had found, had also exceeded the sphere of influence and control that Dong Weifeng had.
No matter what, it was impossible for him to control a Heaven grade cultivator who had no rtions with the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''!
A day after the news spread, both Dong Weifeng and the crown prince, Dong Lingxin came to our house and begged me to intervene and fight off Wei Tai.
After all, although Wei Tai was an early rank 2 Heaven grade expert, in the past few months, your father had already advanced to the peak of rank 1 in Heaven grade!
However, I refused without so much as even thinking about it.
What did it have to do with our family whether Dong Lingxin lives or dies, or whether Dong Lingyuan bes the crown prince and the next king?
Should I risk my life, just because they personally beg me to fight? This isn''t giving them face, this would be me bing Dong Weifeng''s personalpdog every time someone that he couldn''t handle appeared.
No matter what, I always do what I like, and no one can force me to do what I don''t want to!
This is how I, Shun Fang live my life!
As for my rtionship with Dong Weifeng, although it couldn''t be considered a bad one, it wasn''t to the level of me risking my life for him!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as Shun Fang seemed to have confirmed his guess.
Indeed, his father wouldn''t risk his own and his mother''s lives, just to fight for Dong Lingxin.
However, with a self-deprecating smile on his face, Shun Fang''s eyes seemed to have been filled with anger and undisguised mockery as he continued
''''Hehe, however, who would expect that Dong Weifeng would be such a poisonous snake?!
He helped his son, Dong Lingxin spread the rumors, that I am a powerful formation master who is extremely rich!
Of course, the reason that he spread this word, was to make Wei Tai take note of this issue and force him toe to the ''Blue Forest city'' and fight with me.
Who would expect that Wei Tai would cause a whole war instead, just to help Dong Lingyuan.
He sent a huge army of soldiers from his own kingdoms to attack and conquer the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', while he himself personally came to the ''Blue Forest city''.
The entire city turned into a battlefield, and soon, even the city lord''s, Zhen Wang''s army was destroyed and he himself was killed.
As for Wei Tai... hahaha!
That old shit came to our house and ''ordered'' me to give up all my wealth if I wanted to live!
Of course, despite not wanting to fight him, I would never allow anyone toe to my house and trample over mine and your mother''s head.
It doesn''t matter whether that person is stronger than me or not, this is my own pride as a man and father, as well as a cultivator and a formation master.,
Besides, our house was filled with more than just a few rank 3 bronze grade formations, so even with my cultivation being a minor realm lower than Wei Tai''s, I was confident in fighting him off if we were inside our house.
Hehe, that old bastard indeed attacked us in the end, but not only was he unable to beat me, but he was the one to suffer instead.
Hehe, your old man was really strong kid!''''
Shun Long didn''t speak and just silently listened to Shun Fang''s narration, who seemed to have wanted to say everything without holding back his emotions.
They were like a river that was bottled up the past few days, and upon seeing his son, they suddenly exploded like a broken dam.
Shun Long felt a stifling feeling in his heart when he saw the tears in his father''s eyes, but he still let him finish his exnation
''''Despite beating that old bastard, I was unable to kill him or even cause him any serious injuries. I just forced him to retreat!
2 dayster however, that old fart returned and attacked our house again, but this time, he wasn''t alone, but he brought with him 2 peak rank 1 Heaven grade cultivators as well!
After 6 hours, in the end, they managed to break through the formations around the estate, and captured both me and your mother.''''
When he mentioned Shun An''s situation, Shun Fang''s emotions seemed to have reached their peak of anger and helplessness.
With a mocking look in his eyes, he then continued
''''Originally, Wei Tai wanted to kill both me and your mother, but after hearing that our son is a cultivator in the ''Floating Cloud sect'', he chose to cripple our cultivation instead before he ordered Dong Lingyuan to imprison us in the dungeon of the pce!
No matter what he said, it was obvious that he was actually afraid of a huge sect, as a cultivator without any backing.
As soon as they threw us in the dungeon, they tortured us along with the rest of the prisoners inside.
The people you saw imprisoned along with us, were all the supporters of the previous crown prince.
As for Dong Lingxin and his mother, the previous queen, hehe, they had a fate even worse than us!
When the guards tried to break everyone''s spirit in the dungeons, they revealed everything.
They were hanged n.a.k.e.d in front of the pce gates, for everyone who entered to see.''''
As soon as he finished his words, Shun Fang turned his gaze towards Shun An, whose injuries were slowly healing while she was still unconscious.
And yet, an expression of pain appeared on his face when he looked at the wound in her abdomen, as well as his own.
Shun Long didn''t say a word, but Little ck could clearly feel his anger and thirst for revenge.
The usually emotionless ck dragon was also angry, but he didn''t choose to speak either.
Under Shun Fang''s stunned eyes, Shun Long first ced his hand on Shun An''s back, injecting a gentle stream of qi inside her body that helped her wake up, before he raised his right hand in the air and shed the void in front of him, opening a space tear more than 2m(6.6ft) long.
Without another word, Shun Long held both Shun Fang and Shun An, as he entered inside, once again appearing in the main hall of the pce!
Chapter 313 - 313 Shameless Dong Lingyuan
Chapter 313 - 313 Shameless Dong Lingyuan
Shun An who had just woken up and saw Shun Long supporting her and Shun Fang felt that she was dreaming again.
As she lowered her head to look at herself she noticed, that most of the injuries and whip marks seemed to have disappeared from her body, but her clothes were still tattered and the wound on her abdomen still hadn''t closed.
The pain that she was feeling still hadn''t disappeared, but Shun An''s expression instantly turned into one of joy, as she looked at Shun Long and said in a voice filled with joy
''''Long''er!''''
However, as soon as she finished her words, Shun An felt her surroundings turning blurry, while the look in her eyes quickly turned into one of disbelief.
The moment that Shun Long who was carrying her and Shun Fang stepped inside the space tear in front of him, Shun Fang and Shun An found themselves in the main hall of the pce, where an even more shocking scene than what they had just experienced appeared in their eyes.
6 people were surrounded by a group of jade-white skeletons, while 3 of them were on the ground bleeding and crying out in pain, as the skeletons'' bony white-swords had pierced their thighs.
Both Shun Fang and Shun An didn''t know how to react when they saw the moving skeletons that moved like they were actually alive, before their eyes turned to look at the people inside the hall.
Seeing the terrified expression on Wei Tai''s as well as the 2 middle-aged men''s, Zhu Zan''s and Zhu Heng''s faces, who were all bleeding on the ground while surrounded by the jade-white skeletons, Shun Fang could feel his body trembling.
It was these 3 people who had crippled his and his wife''s cultivation.
Unknowingly, Shun Fang''s eyes looked past these 3 people, and saw Dong Weifeng, his son, the third prince of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', Dong Lingyuan, as well as a young woman in a red dress who was hugging Dong Lingyuan''s left arm, all trembling in fear as they stared at the terrifying white skeletons in front of them.
At the same time, Shun Fang and Shun An both also saw a gorgeous young woman with long ck hair and white robes, whose face seemed to havee directly out of a portrait walking towards them.
Liu Mei walked next to Shun Long, and without saying a word, she simply stared at Zhu Zan, Zhu Heng and Wei Tai who were wreathing in pain with a cold look in her eyes.
As soon as Shun Long and Zeng Cui had left the pce hall to go to the dungeons, these 3 had ignored Liu Mei, and did their best to escape from the hall at the same time.
After all, they knew, that if they waited for Shun Long to return, their chances of leaving alive were practically zero.
Seeing the 3 ''Heaven grade experts'' who were flying towards her, Liu Mei hadn''t even moved, and she simply ordered 3 of her skeletons to capture each of them.
Who could expect the skeletons in front of that woman to be so strong that they had effortlessly subdued 3 Heaven grade experts in the blink of an eye?!
Seeing Shun Long appear inside the hall out of nowhere, with Shun Fang and Shun An by his side, and that terrifying white-robed young woman now standing next to him, Wei Tai''s, Zhu Zan''s and Zhu Heng''s expressions had instantly turned pale.
They could feel the terrifying auraing from Shun Long''s body. that was like an angry magic beast that was no longer holding back.
Shun Long''s cold eyes surveyed everyone inside the hall, before his gaze soonnded on Wei Tai, as he then walked towards him without any hesitation.
The early rank 2 Heaven grade expert felt fear gripping his heart, and ignoring the pain from the bony white sword that was stabbed in his thigh, he hurriedly stepped backwards.
Looking at Shun Long who was still walking towards him, Wei Tai then shouted in a voice filled with fear
''''Wait.''''
''''Wait!''''
''''WAIT!!''''
Looking around the hall for someone to help him, Wei Tai''s gaze was quickly focused on the blonde young man behind him while his eyes finally lit up.
Looking at Dong Lingyuan whose expression had instantly turned ashen as soon as he met his eyes, Wei Tai pointed at the blonde-haired man and said
''''Everything happened because of him! He is the one who seduced my daughter and told me about your parents'' wealth!
Even if you want to take revenge, he is the true mastermind!''''
''''Daddy...'''' The red-dressed young woman next to Dong Lingyuan had aplicated expression on her face, when suddenly, she felt her body losing her bnce and flying forward, almost as if she had been pushed by someone.
Turning her head around in disbelief, Wei Yi saw Dong Lingyuan''s resolute face, as the third prince of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' pointed towards Wei Tai and shouted in an angry voice
''''LIAR! It''s because your daughter seduced me that I was unable to understand what was going on until now! She is a witch! A subus! You killed my elder brother and even the queen of our kingdom was humiliated and died by your hands!
Shameless old man, you deserve death!''''
Turning his gaze to look at Shun Long, Dong Lingyuan instantly knelt on the floor and spoke with tears in his eyes
''''Elder brother Shun, please punish these people for the harm that they have caused to our kingdom and your family! I must have been blind to not notice this until now!''''
Everyone inside the hall, including Dong Weifeng, Wei Tai, the red-dressed young woman called Wei Yi, the 2 rank 1 Heaven grade experts, Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng, Shun Fang and Shun An, and even Liu Mei, were all speechless when they heard Dong Lingyuan.
How shameless did this person have to be to suddenly try and change sides at this moment?
Tears had appeared in Wei Yi''s eyes as she shouted
''''Big brother Lingyuan!''''
Even Shun Long was stunned for a moment, but his footsteps didn''t slow down as he arrived in front of the stunned Wei Tai.
Looking at Dong Lingyuan, Wei Tai had the urge to vomit blood from anger, and pointing at him with his finger, the early rank 2 Heaven grade expert shouted angrily
''''YOU LIA-''''
Before he could properly finish his words however, Wei Tai''s voice was cut short, as he felt his throat being grabbed by an iron-like grip that raised his entire body in the air.
Shun Long''s eyes didn''t hold the slightest bit of mercy inside them as he looked at the old man who had crippled his parents.
Without wasting any words, under Wei Tai''s terrified eyes, Shun Long clenched his right hand with all of his strength, instantly snapping the early rank 2 Heaven grade expert''s neck.
Crackk!
The sounds of bones breaking resounded in the pce hall, and under everyone''s terrified eyes, the early rank 2 Heaven grade expert slumped on the ground as he lost his life.
''''NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!''''
Chapter 314 - 314 Wiping them out
Chapter 314 - 314 Wiping them out
The red-dressed woman, Wei Yi shouted when she saw her father falling on the ground, while her eyes were filled with tears when she realized what had happened.
She first turned to look at Dong Lingyuan with a look of hate in her eyes, before she turned her attention to Shun Long.
Taking out a small bronze dagger from her waist, she rushed towards him and shouted
''''DIEE!''''
Shun Long had a cold look in his eyes as he looked at Wei Yi who had the aura of an early-stage earth grade cultivator and was running towards him.
The fact that she was a woman or that she was in love with Dong Lingyuan and most likely was being used, didn''t change the fact that she was also the prime reason that had caused everything in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' to be ruined.
An entire kingdom was destroyed, viges and cities were piged, and even the ''Blue Forest city'' had turned into a city of death, where only Wei Tai''s soldiers were present, all because of this woman in front of him.
Only the imperial city still had some survivors hiding inside their houses, but the number of dead people inside the kingdom had already exceeded half the kingdom''s original poption.
Seeing Wei Yi running at Shun Long so angrily, anger had also appeared in Liu Mei''s face, while an azure sword had also appeared in her hands.
Shun Long however simply shook his head in response.
This was something that he was going to take care of by himself.
This was justice for his parents that only he could personally enact in front of them, to soothe the aggrieved feeling in their hearts.
Taking a step forward, Shun Long clenched his right fist tightly, before he sent a full-powered punch towards the iing Wei Yi.
Air crackled and even the space around Shun Long''s fist was distorted, as his fist met with Wei Yi''s dagger head-on.
Under Wei Yi''s, Zhu Zan''s and Zhu Heng''s horrified eyes, the peak rank 3 bronze grade dagger shattered into pieces after meeting that terrifying punch, before Shun Long''s full-powered fist continued to fly towards Wei Yi''s head.
A shower of blood covered the 4 people who were standing behind Wei Yi, as her head exploded in an instant, dying Dong Lingyuan''s and the rest''s robes red.
Without the slightest hint of mercy or pity in his eyes, Shun Long had killed Wei Yi, before he turned his eyes towards Dong Lingyuan.
The fear in Dong Lingyuan''s eyes couldn''t be concealed when he saw Shun Long walking towards him, and stepping back hurriedly he said in an anxious tone
''''Brother Shun, what are you trying to do?''''
Taking a look around him, Dong Lingyuan''s eyes soonnded on Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng who were slowly backing away before he said hurriedly
''''Right! Brother Shun, those people also helped Wei Tai when he crippled your fathe-''''
Before he could finish his words, Dong Lingyuan''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets while a feeling of despair suddenly overcame him.
Shun Long''s hand had instantly pierced through his chest, tightly holding Dong Lingyuan''s beating heart with his right hand.
Ignoring the terrified expression that had appeared on the third prince''s face, Shun Long clenched his hand tightly, and a loud popping sound resounded throughout the entire pce hall, bringing endless terror to everyone who heard it.
Retracting his arm, Shun Long wiped the dripping blood on Dong Lingyuan''s robes, before he allowed him to fall on the ground.
An expression of horror had appeared on the third prince''s face, as his body slowly fell backwards.
Shun Long was a monster! A heartless monster without any emotions!
Turning his eyes towards Dong Weifeng, Shun Long was surprised to see that the so-called dignified king of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' didn''t care about his son''s death in the slightest.
Instead, he seemed to be somewhat relieved after seeing Dong Lingyuan dying. However, the moment he felt Shun Long''s gazending on him, fear that his turn was about toe instantly overcame him.
And yet, Shun Long seemed to have ignored Dong Weifeng, as he slowly walked towards Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng.
Despair filled the 2 Heaven grade experts'' hearts when they saw this monster in blue robes walking towards them with a serious expression on his face.
It seemed as if the deaths of Wei Yi, Dong Lingyuan and Wei Tai hadn''t pacified him in the least.
Zhu Zan was the first one to go down on his knees, hoping that he could still change this situation as he said seriously
''''Let me live! I will give you everything you want!
I have 3 kingdoms!
You can be king!
No, I can help you be the king of this ind! Women, gold, fame, power, everything will be yours!''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long then spoke in a voice that wouldn''tpromise no matter what Zhu Zan was willing to offer
''''You should have helped yourself by not getting involved in this. If it wasn''t for you two helping Wei Tai, how could my father and mother be crippled today?
As for women, gold, fame and power? Do I need someone like you to help me get them?''''
Zhu Zan felt anger and despair rising in his heart.
He wanted to argue that since they were stronger than Shun Fang, then it was only natural for him to suffer under their hands, but he knew that this argument was useless.
Zhu Heng looked at Zhu Zan, and nodding his head, they both lunged towards Shun Long at the same time.
If they were going to die, they were at least going to make sure that Shun Long would suffer as well.
With a cold look in his eyes, Shun Long first turned his head around to look at his parents and make sure that they were watching, before he punched forward with each arm.
The 2 peak rank 1 Heaven grade experts, Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng were both sent flying at the same time, until they crashed at the wall of the pce hall and fell on the ground.
Shun Long''s terrifying punch hadpletely crushed the 2 Heaven grade experts'' chests, who lifelessly slid down on the ground, arriving in front of Dong Weifeng.
The 2 Heaven grade experts who were simr to Wei Tai in strength and influence, the kings who ruled 3 kingdoms each in the mortal world, existences that Dong Weifeng could only look up to, ended upnded in front of his feet as they died.
Involuntarily raising his head, Dong Weifeng shivered when his gaze met with Shun Long''s cold eyes that were staring back at him.
Chapter 315 - 315 Aftermath
Chapter 315 - 315 Aftermath
Dong Weifeng''s pupils contracted while his body shivered as soon as his eyes met Shun Long''s cold gaze.
Shun Long''s ck eyes were still emitting killing intent, even when Dong Weifeng was the only ''enemy'' left inside the main hall.
Understanding that he was about to die, the king of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' abandoned any notion of pride left, and hurriedly fell on his knees.
However, he wasn''t dumb enough to beg Shun Long, and instead, his gaze fell on Shun Fang, as he spoke with tears in his eyes
''''Brother Shun, please forgive me! I know what I have done wrong.
I shouldn''t have let my son, no, that unfilial bastard to spread the word about you!
I know that I don''t deserve any forgiveness, but I have already lost 2 sons and 2 wives, please don''t kill me!''''
Shun Long frowned when he heard Dong Weifeng''s words, while his eyes narrowed.
No matter what excuse Dong Weifeng used, the truth was, that not only did he allow Dong Lingxin to spread Shun Fang''s name, but he did everything he could to force him to fight against Wei Tai even when it meant risking his life.
And now he was asking for forgiveness?
Shun Fang also shook his head, and without the slightest hint of pity in his eyes, he looked at the kneeling Dong Weifeng and spoke coldly
''''Hehe, if it was just me that you had hurt, I could allow you to leave today after crippling your cultivation!
After all, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!
However, not only did you choose to torture us after sending us in your dungeon, but you were also the cause that my wife''s cultivation was crippled as well!
Don''t bother to ask for forgiveness, since you are the one who deserves to die the most out of everyone else!''''
Horror filled Dong Weifeng''s heart when he heard Shun Fang''s words.
After all, this was no different than sentencing him to death!
Shun Long seemed to have hated him to begin with, and now Shun Fang''s words seemed to have extinguished his final hope.
Dong Weifeng''s expression quickly changed into one of madness, but before he could utter another word, Shun Long had already disappeared from his original spot after using the ''Gale Steps'' and instantly appeared in front of Dong Weifeng.
An illusionary purple-colored de had appeared on his right hand, and looking at the anxious king of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' in front of him, Shun Long shed his de horizontally towards Dong Weifeng''s neck!
If the dancer girls hadn''t already passed out from fear in a corner of the room, they would have witnessed a once in a lifetime scene.
The ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' king''s head was separated from his body as it flew through the air, leaving behind a fountain of blood that dyed the main hall of the pce red!
As soon as Shun Fang saw the scene in front of his eyes, a sense of gratification and a feeling of relief overcame his heart, as well as a feeling of weakness!
He felt relief that his son had saved him and Shun An, and he also felt gratified that Shun Long was strong enough to take revenge for his parents by himself, but he also felt weak after having his cultivation crippled!
He had trained since he was 13 years old like every other kid in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', and he had slowly risen above everyone else and stood at the top of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' as a peak rank 3 bronze grade formation master and a peak rank 9 earth grade expert.
And yet, he seemed to have lost all of his power overnight due to Dong Weifeng''s schemes and the inner fights of the royal family.
However, seeing his son being strong enough to take revenge for him was enough to put a smile on Shun Fang''s face.
Shun An seemed to have felt Shun Fang''s turbulent emotions, and holding Shun Fang''s hand she said
''''It''s not too bad! At least we are still alive! If Long''er didn''te in time, perhaps we would have already turned into a pile of corpses by now!''''
Shun Fang nodded his head, and held his wife''s hand without saying a word, before their eyes both fell on Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Shun Long''s expression was still serious, as he summoned Little Silver from the ''Stone of Time'', and allowed Shun Fang and Shun An to sit on its back.
Without paying any more attention to the royal pce, he and Liu Mei sat on Little Silver''s back as well, as he left the imperial city.
Shun Long had already heard that Dong Weifeng also had a daughter, but he wouldn''t personally go and look for her in order to kill her.
With Wei Tai inside the pce, he didn''t even know whether Dong Weifeng would have kept his daughter there or sent her somewhere far away.
As for the wealth of the royal pce and the situation of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', these were also things that Shun Long didn''t care about either.
As a mortal kingdom, it was impossible for the royal family to have anything else other than low-quality gold and silver in their treasury.
After all, low-grade spirit stones were a raremodity that only Heaven grade experts used in the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
As for the situation of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', this had already taken an unrecoverable turn for the worse even before Shun Long had killed Dong Weifeng and Dong Lingyuan.
On the way to the ''Blue Forest city'', Shun Long had already seen Wei Tai''s army piging viges and cities of the kingdom, practically destroying everything in their paths.
The ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' army was already destroyed, and the kingdom''s sovereignty lied in Wei Tai''s hands.
Aside from the imperial city where the citizens were all holed up inside their homes, every other city in the kingdom waspletely destroyed.
Shun Long was certain that it wouldn''t take long for the rest of the citizens of the imperial city to start moving towards one of the nearby kingdoms, since the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' would soon be the territory for another war to start, as the kingdoms around it would start fighting over itsnd.
Leaving the imperial city, Shun Long also expected the dancer girls and everyone else inside the pce to start spreading the news of Wei Tai''s and the Zhu brothers'' deaths very soon.
This would make the kingdoms that were previously under Wei Tai''s, Zhu Zan''s and Zhu Heng''s control, to be fought over by the other Heaven grade cultivators around them.
After all, Shun Long knew, that Wei Tai, Zhu Zan and Zhu Heng weren''t the only Heaven grade experts in this ind of the ''Mortal world''. Now that they were dead, their territories will certainly be split up, and even their own families and their confidantes would have to escape.
...
It only took a few moments for the ck panther to cross the distance from the imperial capital and arrive in the sky of the ''Blue Forest city''.
In the time that Shun Long took to go to the imperial pce and kill Wei Tai and the rest, Zhu Zan''s and Zhu Heng''s army had already escaped from the city when the rumors of the ''Heaven grade expert'', Shun Long had started to spread.
However, almost all of the original inhabitants of the city had already been massacred, making the ''Blue Forest city'' a city of death.
Arriving in the sky above the already destroyed Shun estate, Shun Long saw the disheartened Shun Fang and Shun An holding his hand, as they looked at the rubble of what was left of their original home.
With a serious expression in his eyes, Shun Long looked at his parents who were still staring at the wreckage below them before he said
''''Father, mother, do you want toe with me and Mei''er to the ''Cultivation world''?''''
Chapter 316 - 316 Shun Fangs decision
Chapter 316 - 316 Shun Fang''s decision
''''Father, mother, do you want toe with me to the ''Cultivation world''? You don''t have any more reason to stay here. Our house is destroyed and the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' itself will be abandoned before another war starts over its territory.''''
Turning his head to look at Liu Mei, Shun Long finally smiled lightly for the first time since he arrived in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', and holding her hand he looked at his parents and said
''''This is my wife, Mei''er. She and I have been together for almost a year. If youe with us, we can travel the world together!''''
There was a gleam in Shun Long''s eyes as he looked at Shun Fang and Shun An.
Originally, he wouldn''t have minded letting his parents in the ''Mortal world''.
After all, Shun Fang was certainly strong enough to protect himself and Shun An against almost any threat in this ce.
Who could expect that things would really take such a turn for the worst due to Dong Weifeng and his son?
However, this was also a chance in itself.
If Shun Long could have his parents travel with him, he could ensure their safety in the future.
Additionally, Shun Long knew that right now, it was impossible for him to help his parents with their cultivation now that their dantians had been destroyed, but it wasn''t impossible in the future.
If he had his parents with him, he would be able to help them recover their cultivation as soon as he found the necessary medicinal ingredients that he needed.
As Shun Long waited for their answer, he saw Shun Fang and Shun An watching Liu Mei with bright eyes.
If one judged her simply based on her outer appearance, there was indeed nothing to criticize about her.
She was a gorgeous and yet reserved young woman, who didn''t let many of her feelings show to her face. This was most likely part of her character and not Liu Mei intentionally suppressing herself in front of them... Shun Fang thought as he kept examining his daughter-inw!
Liu Mei''s face turned somewhat red as she wasn''t used to this, and looking at Shun Fang and Shun An who were staring at her with zeal in their eyes, she bowed and greeted them politely
''''Father-inw, mother-inw!''''
''''HAHAHA! Long''er! Your father is proud of you! You finally have a wife!''''
Although Shun Fang''s words were few, they expressed exactly what he wanted to say. He was very satisfied with his daughter''s-inw manners, appearance and strength.
After all, both he and Shun An had seen Liu Mei summon her white skeletons that hadpletely suppressed Wei Tai and the rest to the point that they were just one step away from death.
''''And it''s one who''s much gentler and polite than that Lin girl.''''
As she finished speaking, Shun An held Liu Mei''s hands and looked at her daughter-inw with a gentle smile on her face and a satisfied look in her eyes.
At the same time, Shun Long smiled before his eyes fell on Shun Fang as he waited for his answer.
Turning his head to look at his son, Shun Fang however shook his head before he declined Shun Long''s prior offer without any hesitation
''''Long''er, your mother and I will both stay in the ''Mortal world''!''''
Shun Fang''s answer was actuallypletely different to what Shun Long had expected.
Since their Shun estate was destroyed and his father''s and mother''s cultivation was crippled, wouldn''t that mean that they were even weaker than normal people?
After all, even most children in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' started to train their qi at the age of 13, and Shun Long knew that the other kingdoms weren''t any different.
Looking like he had guessed Shun Long''s thoughts, Shun Fang had a bright smile on his face as he patted Shun Long''s shoulder and said
''''Long''er, if I wanted to enter the ''Cultivation world'', I would have long since joined the ''Floating Cloud sect''. Even if I didn''t be an inner disciple, I would have at least be a normal Elder by now.
However, entering the ''Cultivation world'' was neither mine nor your mother''s goal.
Choosing to live a simple life, without any worries, away from the strifes of cultivators in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', was what we were originally nning.
However, even without the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'', there are other kingdoms where we can go and meet new people.
We can also have a fresh start and won''t have people to rely on me being a Heaven grade expert to help them.
Going with you to the ''Cultivation world''? Aside from being a burden to our son, what else would we do there?''''
Seeing that Shun Long wasn''t entirely convinced, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck nodded his head as he said to Shun Long
''''Master, Shun Fang is right. Although their cultivation was destroyed, they can still live their lives.
However, if they followed master in the ''Cultivation world'', they would then feel hopeless and weak.
Although master''s parents suffered, they can certainly start a new life, away from the war of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' now and travel to a new ce.''''
Shun Long shook his head when he heard Little ck''s words.
How could he have not thought about these things by himself already?
However, leaving his parents without any protection was still an unpleasant feeling.
For a moment Shun Long even thought of taming a rank 4 magic beast to protect Shun Fang and Shun An, but that would still go against Shun Fang''s wishes of living a simple life.
After all, no matter what, a rank 4 magic beast would certainly make every single Heaven grade expert in this mortal ind afraid.
Even the sect master of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', Liu Jian, wasn''t certain if he could fight an early rank 4 magic beast head-on.
Without another word, Shun Fang walked through the Shun estate and gathered some of his personal belongings in a small chest, along with some gold and silver, before he once again sat on Little Silver''s back.,
Understanding that there was no more reason for them to stay here, Shun Long, Shun Fang and Shun An, all threw one more look at the destroyed ''Blue Forest city'' from the sky, before the ck panther''s body flew forward like a bolt of silver lightning, as it tore through the sky, as Shun Long searched for a new ce for his parents to settle down.
Less than a minuteter, the ck panther had stealthily arrived in the sky above a city located near the vast sea that surrounded this ''mortal ind''.
It was arge city, more than 3 times bigger than the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''s'' imperial capital itself, while its harbor waspletely filled with big and small sh.i.p.s, that ranged from fishermen sh.i.p.s, all the way to big warsh.i.p.s.
It was the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom''.
Chapter 317 - 317 Returning to the Floating Cloud sect
Chapter 317 - 317 Returning to the ''Floating Cloud sect''
Afternding a few miles away from the capital of the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'', Shun Long had Little Silver return back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he and Liu Mei walked along with his parents towards the city gates.
After paying a fee of 2 gold coins per person for a total of 8 gold coins, Shun Long and his family walked past through the city gates and entered the city.
Although the royal city of the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'' couldn''t bepared to the cities of the cultivation world, it was still many times more bustling than the imperial city of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''.
The smell of fish had already filled the air of the royal capital, as many fishermen disyed their catch for the day, trying to attract the customers around them.
Looking at the scene around him, Shun Fang had a smile on his face as he said
''''Although it''s my first time in this city, it is exactly how I thought it would be!''''
The reason that Shun Fang wanted toe to the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'', was because he had once heard, that this was one of the most bustling kingdoms in this ''world'' and at the same time one of the most peaceful ones.
Of course, the reason behind this was that a powerful middle rank 2 Heaven grade expert was the king of this kingdom, so very few people would dare to cause trouble to this ce.
Walking past the street merchants, Shun Long and his group soon arrived at the residential district of the city.
Originally, Shun Fang was nning to purchase a simple, small house, but in the end, he chose to buy a rtively big home with arge garden.
The 3.000 gold coins that Shun Fang spent for it, was like a drop in the bucket for a rich peak rank 3 bronze grade formation master.
Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s new house was rtively close to the center of the city, and although it wasn''t nearly as big as their previous Shun estate, it was perfect to live a simple life.
The city guards'' headquarters was just a few miles away from it, make its safe location the main reason that it was so expensive.
After entering inside the newly purchased home, Shun Fang looked at Shun Long who didn''t seem to have any ns to leave just yet, and said with a gentle smile on his face
''''Long''er, you don''t have to worry about us. Although we are no longer cultivators, we will still live our lives happily.
This is also a new start for me and your mother.
If you just stay here to watch over us, you will only cause me to feel guilt.''''
Shun An nodded her head and smiled, as she held Liu Mei''s hands, before she whispered in her ears
''''Little Mei, take good care of my Long''er!''''
Liu Mei had a serious expression on her face as she nodded her head in response.
Although Shun Long knew that Shun Fang was just trying to make him leave, in the end, Shun Long still nodded his head before he stepped forward and hugged his father and mother.
There was no reason to keep thinking too much about this issue.
In his heart, Shun Long had already decided to do what he could in order to find the medicinal ingredients that he needed, to restore Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s dantians.
It didn''t matter if they wanted to live their lives as mortals, Shun Long still wanted to let his parents live longer, even if Shun Fang and Shun An wanted to spend their entire lives in the ''Mortal world''.
Before he and Liu Mei left the house, Shun Long also left quite a few rank 1 healing pills behind, in case Shun Fang and Shun An needed them in the future.
Then, without another word, he and Liu Mei stealthily left the royal capital of the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom''.
In the sky, sitting on Little Silver''s back, Shun Long and Liu Mei took one more look at his parents'' new home, before they soared high above the clouds.,
...
After taking a deep breath to change his mood, Shun Long turned around to look at Liu Mei who was hugging his back, and staring at her deep ck eyes he then asked
''''Mei''er, are you ready?''''
Liu Mei''s body trembled for a moment when she heard Shun Long''s words, but her eyes quickly became focused once again, and looking at Shun Long, she nodded her head and said seriously
''''Long-ge, don''t worry! I have been waiting for this for so long.''''
Liu Mei had immediately understood what Shun Long meant with his question.
It was easy to say that you are ready to personally fight with your father, but once the time came, perhaps you wouldn''t be ready mentally to face him head-on.
After all, this was the most powerful person that Liu Mei had met until she left the ''Floating Cloud sect'' to go to the ''Vermilion realm'', and although she and Shun Long had seen countless powerful experts, including even powerful Dao Kings like the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', Duan Zhu, Liu Jian''s shadow inside Liu Mei''s heart hadn''t dissipated yet.
Shun Long''s question was akin to him asking Liu Mei, whether she wanted Shun Long to personally take care of this or not.
Seeing that Liu Mei was determined to face Liu Jian head-on, Shun Long didn''t say anything else, and simply nodded his head, when he once again felt Liu Mei resting her head on his back.
The ''mortal ind'' soon became a ck dot in the endless sea below them, and a few momentster, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already arrived in front of the barrier that divided the ''Cultivation world'' from the ''Mortal world''.
Little Silver tore through the barrier in front of it and effortlessly passed through it once again, before it spread its majestic silver wings and continued to fly forward.
The ck panther''s speed was extremely quick as it flew through the sky, and a few minutester the outline of a familiar city appeared in the distance.
Little Silver however didn''t directly barge inside the city in front of it, and instead, it hid itself in the clouds above the city,pletely hiding its aura in the process.
Looking at the ''Floating Cloud city'' below them, Shun Long continued to sit on Little Silver''s back high above the clouds, and watched Liu Mei who had a determined look in her eyes as she looked at the city below her.
After taking a few moments to calm down her emotions and gather her strength and courage, she slowly took a step forward and descended from the sky, like an otherworldly fairy appearing in the mortal world.
And yet, at the same time, the aura of death that wasing from her body, brought a terrifying sensation to anyone whoid their eyes on her.
It was as if the thick ck threads of qiing from Liu Mei''s body would instantly kill anyone who came in contact with them, emanating an extreme sense of danger and death.
Liu Mei''s eyes were now staring at the ''Floating Cloud city'' below her, and after taking a deep breath, she finally allowed her aura at the middle rank 4 of the Spirit realm to spread and cover the entire city.
Chapter 318 - 318 The excited Liu Jian
Chapter 318 - 318 The excited Liu Jian
As the powerful aura of a middle rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator covered the ''Floating Cloud sect'', both the bustling outer and the inner city instantly fell silent.
The disciples of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' all turned their heads to the sky when they felt the terrifying aura that had fallen upon the city, where a stunning scene greeted their eyes.
An otherworldly fairy in white robes descended from the sky, as she looked at the city in front of her with cold eyes.
There were no traces of warmth, love orpassion as she slowly flew towards the inner city, but only a cold indifference in her enchanting ck eyes.
''''Se-Senior sister Liu?''''
''''Senior sister Liu Mei? The sect master''s daughter? Didn''t she die in the ''Vermilion realm''?''''
''''I heard that rumor too... but it seems like senior sister is alive.''''
''''But... isn''t her temperament somewhat different from the past? She seems so cold...''''
Although Liu Mei was a reclusive character in the ''Floating Cloud sect'' who didn''t show her face very often, some outer disciples immediately recognized her when they saw her face.
After all, as the daughter of the sect master and the idol of most young men in the sect, it was natural for people to remember Liu Mei after having seen her even once.
At the same time, in the inner city, Liu Jian who was chatting with Liu Changpun, suddenly shot to his feet when he felt the aura of a rank 4 Spirit realm expert covering the ''inner city''.
Despite not knowing ''which expert'' had arrived, there was a grim expression on his face when he felt the powerful aura looming above his head.
Looking at his son next to him, he deliberated for a while before he said
''''Changpun,e with me. This will also help you learn how to deal with such situations when you be the sect master in the future.''''
Liu Changpun nodded his head, before he followed behind his father, as they walked out from the house and flew towards the sky.
It wasn''t just Liu Jian and Liu Changpun that were rmed by this matter however, but all of the high-ranking Elders of the sect, including the Grand Elder Lan Hong who was at the rank 1 of the Spirit realm.
All of the Elders from the sect had serious expressions on their faces, as they soared in the sky to see who hade to their ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Under the Grand Elder''s, Lan Hong''s lead, everyone met with the sect master before they turned their eyes towards the white-robed figure to the sky.
Suddenly, the Elders all had various expressions on their faces as they saw the young woman who was leisurely flying towards them.
Liu Jian himself was stunned, while Liu Changpun mumbled
''''Am I hallucinating today?''''
A few momentster, Liu Mei flew past the gates of the inner city, and arrived in front of Liu Jian, Liu Changpun, and Lan Hong, as well as the rest of the Elders of the sect.
Staring at his daughter, Liu Jian had a marvelous expression on his face that changed from shock and disbelief, to anger and finally joy.
Stepping forward, he took a deep breath, before he asked in the gentlest voice that he could muster
''''Little Mei? Is it really you?''''
Liu Mei''s body trembled when she heard the way that Liu Jian addressed her.
He, her strict father, the sect master of the sect, would always call her by her full name, Liu Mei.
He would never called her ''Little Mei'', or ''Meimei'' that her mother usually called her.
This was to remind her that although he was her father, he was also a strict figure who always had the sect''s interest above everything else.
And yet, just now he had used the gentlest voice he could use when he spoke to her.
Even Liu Changpun would have been stunned by his father''s behavior, if he wasn''t already looking at his sister with his mouth hanging open.
The aura of a powerful Spirit realm expert wasing from her body.
Her aura... was actually even more powerful than their father''s!
What did this mean?
It meant that Liu Mei wasn''t just a Spirit realm expert, but she was also a middle-stage one at that!
''''How is this possible?''''
Liu Changpun meant to say this inwardly, but because of the shock that had filled his heart, he couldn''t control his voice that ended up escaping his mouth.
Looking at Liu Mei, the so-called ''strongest genius of the sect'' asked loudly, in a tone filled with shock and denial
''''How can you be a Spirit realm expert? It has been less than a year since the ''Vermilion realm'' closed!''''
Suddenly, Liu Changpun''s eyes widened as he thought of a terrifying possibility, and looking at his sister, he pointed his finger forward before he asked in a shrieking voice
''''YOU! Don''t tell me that you actually got the inheritance of the ''Vermilion realm''! NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!
Even I, the greatest genius of the sect didn''t manage to get the inheritance so how could YOU seed?''''
Liu Jian''s eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at Liu Mei, and even Lan Hong and the Elders around him were looking at the daughter of the sect master with eyes filled with shock!
The inheritance of the ''Vermilion realm''?
Right! Only this could exin Liu Mei''s rapid advancement!
Liu Mei didn''t answer Liu Changpun''s question!
She didn''t even bother ncing at her ''brother'', and instead, she looked at Liu Jian who was staring at her as if he was looking at a rare piece of treasure.
Looking at her father''s change in behavior, who hadn''t even asked her what had happened to her for the past one year, countless thoughts shed through Liu Mei''s mind
The inheritance of the Vermilion realm? If it wasn''t for Long-ge saving me, I would have already be a corpse under the hands of the the disciples of the ''Poison Hall''.
The look in Liu Mei''s eyes soon turned cold, and looking at her father who was staring at her joyously, and was expecting her to nod her head and admit that she had indeed received the inheritance of the ''Vermilion realm'', Liu Mei took a deep breath, and without responding to Liu Changpun''s question, she said in a cold voice
''''I am here to take my mother away!''''
Chapter 319 - 319 Liu Meis suppressed emotions
Chapter 319 - 319 Liu Mei''s suppressed emotions
It was a simple sentence, and yet it had left Liu Jian staring at Liu Mei in shock.
''''Take her mother away? What mother? My wife?''''
Even Liu Changpun, the Grand Elder Lan Hong and the Elders around him, were all staring at Liu Mei, not understanding what she meant.
And yet, despite being confused, Liu Jian wasn''t angry.
Instead, he looked at his daughter with a big smile on his face, and like a father who was trying to coax his angry child he said
''''Meimei, don''t be angry. Daddy will do whatever you want.
Come with me and let''s go chat inside. Your mother is certainly very worried about you as well.''''
This time, it wasn''t just Liu Mei and Liu Changpun, but all of the Elders around him as well who were stunned by his behavior.
How was this their dignified sect master? This was more like a patient and doting father speaking to his child.
''''Fathe-''''
''''Shut up! Quickly lead the way for me and your sister you unfilial son!''''
Liu Changpun was ready to interrupt Liu Jian, and ask him if he had a fever, or perhaps he had caught some kind of rare disease that could infect the entire sect, but instead, he was met by a fierce rebuttal by his father.
Liu Jian who had always pampered his son had now berated him in front of all the Elders of the sect!
No matter what the reason was, this was certainly going to hurt his prestige in the future, when he seeded his father for the position of the sect master.
And yet, after seeing the angry expression in his father''s face, Liu Changpun didn''t dare to re up, and after shooting a look of anger at Liu Mei, he hurriedly went deeper inside the sect, as he ''led the way'' for his father and his sister.
Before he could go too far however, Liu Changpun heard Liu Mei''s cold voice as she looked at Liu Jian and said coldly
''''There is no need! I didn''te here to chat with you like family. I am here to take my mother back, and settle everything with you and your son.''''
Hearing Liu Mei''s cold voice, Liu Jian''s expression slowly turned angry, and looking at his daughter he finally asked furiously
''''Liu Mei, are you sure that you want to talk to me like this? I am already being amodating with you, but don''t forget that you are still my daughter!''''
''''Hahahaha!'''' Liu Mei''s melodiousughter resounded in everyone''s ears, but Liu Jian and the rest felt shivers in their bodies when they heard this.
To them, it sounded as if Liu Mei''sughter was filled with traces of death.
Even some of the inner disciples who had gathered near the entrance of the ''inner city'' and hade to ''spectate'' what was going on, soon felt themselves gasping for breath, as if death itself had appeared next to them, and was ready to take their lives with his scythe.
Looking at the shocked Liu Jian and the horrified Liu Changpun who took a few steps back to get even further away from her, Liu Meiughed again before she continued
''''Your daughter? NOW you remember that I am your daughter?
In all these years, have I not been a prisoner inside the sect?
Were you not cruel to me, treating me like an object rather than your own child?
Did you not only have eyes for your own son, the one who you were going to make the next sect master?,
Even when Liu Changpun brought the third son of the ''Flying sword sect''s'' sect master, did you not berate me when I refused to marry him myself?
Did you not lock me up in the sect for 4 months until my mother begged you with tears in her eyes to let me go?
When Meng Shengyi came to you a year ago and said that he wanted to marry me no matter what, did you not say that as long as the ''Meng family'' followed Liu Changpun faithfully and helped him reach the third trial of the ''Vermilion realm'', that I would have to marry Meng Shengyi in return regardless if I agreed or not?
And now, you want me to forget everything and act as your obedient daughter?
Hahahaha! Isn''t it because of the inheritance of the ''Vermilion realm''?''''
As soon as Liu Mei finished her words, Liu Jian''s own words were stuck in his throat!
Indeed, he hadn''t cared about his daughter in the past.
It wasn''t that he hated Liu Mei, but in the end, she was simply a tool to help her brother on his way to rise in the world.
After all, Liu Jian already had dreams of his son bing the next sect master, and expanding the ''Floating Cloud sect'' even further.
As for Liu Mei, even if her talent was at the same level as her brother''s, she was still a woman in the end.
Although there were some sects that had women as their sect masters, Liu Jian didn''t think that Liu Mei could ever lead the sect the way that Liu Changpun could.
After all, he had instructed his son since young, and had always taught him what a sect master needed to know.
Liu Mei could simply serve as a bridge, to connect Liu Changpun with his own helpers.
However, Liu Mei was also wrong.
Liu Jian didn''t care about the ''Vermilion realm''s'' treasure that much.
Instead, after seeing that his daughter had already reached the middle-stages of the Spirit realm, a new n had formted in his mind.
He could now have Liu Mei lead the sect, and have her relocate to the center of the ''Deste East'', near the ''Golden Buddha temple''s'' location.
That was the location with the most dense qi in the entire ''Deste East''.
Even the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' had once admitted to Liu Jian, that the qi at the center of the ''Deste East'' wasn''t too inferior to some of the cities of the ''Night star continent'' like the Silver sword city!
This way, with Liu Mei''s current speed of advancement, even if she advanced extremely slowly in the future, she still had chances to reach thete-stages of the Spirit realm, and perhaps... even the Nascent Soul stage.
Liu Jian trembled as this possibility shed through his mind.
However, Liu Mei''s next wordspletely crushed his illusions
''''Liu Jian, today I am here to take my mother back and take revenge!''''
After she finished speaking, Liu Mei waved her hand and a bright blue sword appeared in it.
It was her ''Four seasons azure sword''.
Chapter 320 - 320 Fighting Liu Jian
Chapter 320 - 320 Fighting Liu Jian
Liu Jian and the Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' around him were all taken aback when they saw this.
Was Liu Mei intending to fight Liu Jian head-on?
Liu Jian was also stunned when he noticed the quality of the azure sword in Liu Mei''s hands.
With a nce, he could clearly tell that this azure sword was even better than his own sword!
As for Liu Changpun, he didn''t seem to have noticed this detail, and instead, he pointed at his sister andughed in a mocking manner as he said
''''Hahaha, take revenge? Revenge for what? For being treated unfairly?
This is the cultivation world idiotic woman! Perhaps you were lucky enough to obtain the inheritance of the ''Vermilion realm'', but if you think that your sudden rise in cultivation will instantly ce you at the level of a sect master, you really are dumb!
Just based on how quickly you have advanced, your foundation is surely unstable and you may never even reach thete-stages of the Spirit realm!''''
Liu Jian frowned when he heard his son''s words, but he didn''t berate him this time.
It was obvious that Liu Mei really wanted to fight him, and wouldn''t rest until one of them won.
Besides, in Liu Jian''s heart, Liu Changpun was also right.
Despite the fact that Liu Mei''s cultivation had somehow surpassed his, and her sword looked to be at least a rank 3 silver grade weapon, Liu Jian didn''t think that he would lose when fighting his own daughter.
Even in the worst-case scenario, they would be evenly matched!
After all, Liu Jian''s fighting experience was honed through many years of fighting against the best of the best in the ''Deste East''.
Although his cultivation was only at the early stages of the Spirit realm, he was still a peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert who was just a step away from reaching the middle-stages.
Despite the qualitative difference between the early and the middle-stages of the Spirit realm, Liu Jian always had the confidence to fight against, and even defeat normal early rank 4 Spirit realm cultivators, let alone Liu Mei who most likely had her cultivation boosted in an abnormal way.
Looking at Liu Mei, Liu Jian shook his head, before he said with a serious look in his eyes
''''Very well!
If you win, you can take your mother and do whatever else you want to do...
But if you lose, you will have to listen to me from now on.''''
With a gentle smile on his face, Liu Jian took out a long white sword from his spatial ring, and looking at Liu Mei he continued
''''Meimei don''t worry. I will no longer force you to marry someone you don''t want to! In fact, as long as you agree, I will make you the sect master today!
After all, my blood still flows through your veins, and even if I failed to realize your worth in the past, we can still fix everything.''''
''''Hahaha!''''
At the same time, right above the clouds of the ''Floating Cloud city'', Shun Long couldn''t helpughing when he heard Liu Jian''s words.
Thankfully he had already suppressed his voice so no one had managed to hear him.
Seeing Liu Jian''s attempt to persuade Liu Mei to return back to the sect, was akin to watching a monkey perform.
If everything in this world, including years of parental neglection that had practically pushed Liu Mei to the brink of death, forcing her to pass through the second trial of the ''Vermilion realm'' by herself and almost die in the process, all of them simply to escape from the ''Floating Cloud sect'', could be mended through a bunch of sweet words, then Liu Mei would have really suffered for nothing.
Indeed, this was a pragmatic world, and now that Liu Mei''s ''worth'' had exceeded that of Liu Changpun''s in their father''s eyes, Liu Jian was willing to do anything to get Liu Mei back to his side.
However, although Lan Hong''s and the rest of the Elders nodded their heads, Liu Changpun''s expression had instantly turned ugly when he heard his father''s words.
He was like a chicken being held from its neck.
Make Liu Mei the sect master? Then what about him?
However, despite Liu Jian''s sweet words, Liu Mei wasn''t that naive and sheltered woman any longer.
Although she was a person who seldomly spoke, she had experienced a lot of things with Shun Long in thest year, and wouldn''t be willing to forgive Liu Jian just because of a few words.
Holding the peak rank 2 silver grade sword in his hand, Liu Jian looked at Liu Mei and said in a gentle tone
''''Come then! Show me how much you have improved while you were away!''''
With a cold look in her eyes, ayer of frost appeared on Liu Mei''s ''four seasons azure sword'', before she flew forward towards Liu Jian.
Although Shun Long had already taught her the ''Gale steps'', Liu Mei''s affinity with this martial skill wasn''t high, and she had only reached the first out of the 7 levels.
However, just the first stage of this ''Mystic high-grade martial skill'' was enough to boost Liu Mei''s speed by at least two-fold, making it impossible for any early-stage Spirit realm cultivator to catch up with her.
Even other rank 4 and rank 5 Spirit realm cultivators wouldn''t be able to match her speed if they hadn''tprehended a Dao like the ''Dao of Wind'' or if they didn''t have a simr ''Mystic high-grade martial skill''!
A gust of wind appeared around Liu Mei''s feet while her body left behind ayer of frost in tha air as she flew towards Liu Jian.
Using both of her hands, Liu Mei gathered her qi into the ''four seasons azure sword'', creating a huge ice sword that she shed down towards Liu Jian.
Liu Jian smiled when he saw this while ayer of frost covered his own sword as well, turning into a huge sword that met Liu Mei''s sh head-on.
The Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', including the Grand Elder Lang Hong, as well as Liu Changpun, all hurriedly flew away, not daring to stay within the radius of Liu Mei''s and Liu Jian''s fight.
As soon as the ''four seasons azure sword'' met Liu Jian''s sword however, the sound of ice crashing resounded above the ''Floating Cloud sect'', and Liu Mei''s huge ice sword started to crumble.
Theyer of ice that was covering the ''four seasons azure sword''s'' surface was quickly destroyed, revealing the blue sword''s original appearance, while pushing Liu Mei back in the process.
At the same time, although the ice on Liu Jian''s sword was cracked as well, it wasn''t destroyed, and was quickly reformed a few momentster.
In the first exchange, Liu Mei was actually at a disadvantage!
''''Hahahahaha!''''
Liu Changpun startedughing when he saw this scene, and without missing the chance to mock his sister he said seriously
''''Hahaha! Despite your cultivation being higher than father''s, it seems that yourprehension of the Dao of Ice isn''t even close to his own!''''
It wasn''t just Liu Changpun who had noticed this, but Lan Hong as well as the other Elders, who looked at the scene in front of them without any shock in their eyes.
No matter what, it was impossible for Liu Mei''sprehension of the Dao of Ice to reach the same level as Liu Jian''s within a year.
Even though her cultivation was higher, in a direct exchange she was put on the back foot.
Liu Jian didn''t miss this chance, and continued to counterattack, as he relentlessly shed his white sword at Liu Mei again and again, forcing her to defend and take a passive position.
The ice on top of the ''four seasons azure sword'' didn''t even have enough time to reform itself, before it was quickly destroyed by Liu Jian''s powerful attacks.
Indeed, when the difference in cultivation wasn''t big, theprehension of the Dao, the martial skills, as well as the type of the Dao itself, were the things that proved to be critical during a fight.
As Liu Jian pushed Liu Mei further and further, he said in a low voice
''''This is the result of advancing hastily in your cultivation. No matter what, yourprehension of the Dao must always be at the same level as your cultivation base.
Otherwise, even after reaching the middle stages of the Spirit realm, you will lose even when you fight against average early-stage Spirit realm cultivators.''''
Narrowing her eyes, Liu Mei didn''t reply to Liu Jian, and instead, she raised the ''four seasons azure sword'' as she took Liu Jian''s hit head-on.
Despite being a peak rank 2 silver grade sword fighting against a rank 1 gold grade weapon, Liu Jian''s huge ice sword sent Liu Mei flying in the sky, making her hands feel pain in the process after blocking the hit.
However, Liu Mei still suppressed the pain she was feeling, and with a cold look in her eyes, she gathered her qi in her right hand, where a ck ball of qi slowly took form.
Chapter 321 - 321 Liu Meis power
Chapter 321 - 321 Liu Mei''s power
Liu Jian suddenly halted his movements, as a terrifying aura started to gather around Liu Mei''s body.
It was the aura of death.
Although Liu Jian hadn''t encountered the aura of death a lot of times in the past, except for when he saw the remnant qi that hadn''t dispersed on the desated corpses of some strong cultivators, he could still identify it at first nce.
The moment that his eyes had fallen on the ck ball of qi in Liu Mei''s hand, Liu Jian had the feeling that if he approached a few steps closer to it, he would put himself at risk of losing his life.
This was the feeling that he had as a powerful expert at the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm, as well as a veteran cultivator with ample experience.
Liu Mei however didn''t look at her father, and instead, she turned her eyes on the ck ball of qi in her hand, before she allowed it to fall on the ground.
The ck ball left Liu Mei''s body, as it started falling towards the ''Floating Cloud city'' below her.
It had only fallen halfway through the air however, before the ck ball of qi turned into a ck hole that suspended itself in mid-air.
Suddenly, under Liu Jian''s and the ''Floating Cloud sect''s'' Elders stunned gazes, a pair of 3m(10ft) tall undead knights covered in ck armor appeared from the ck hole in rapid session.
Each of the knights was holding a 2m(6.6ft) long ck greatsword, while wisps of bright red mes were shining in their eye sockets.
The most shocking thing however was the undead knights'' aura.
They were at the middle rank 4 of the Spirit realm!
It was really a pair of middle-stage Spirit realm summoned creatures!
Even Liu Jian who had roamed throughout the entire ''Deste East'' and had a lot of experience was stunned in front of this scene.
Let alone seeing something like this, he had never even heard of anything like this before!
Normally, shamans who could summon powerful creatures, could only summon those whose strength was at least a minor realm below them.
Liu Jian had seen in the past an expert at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm from the ''Night star continent'' who hadprehended the Dao of Earth, and had summoned a golem at the peak of rank 8.
Although this golem wasn''t unrivaled in their ''Deste East'', but aside from the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' and its 2 rank 9 Spirit realm level monks, as well as the master of the ''Poison Hall'', there was no one else who was able to contend against it.,
Although the golem was inferior to its master in terms of directbat prowess, its vitality and its defensive prowess was much stronger than his.
It could take hits without feeling any pain, and even if it was destroyed, as long as its master infused enough qi inside it, it would be quickly regenerated.
Looking at Liu Mei''s undead knights, Liu Jian could tell that they were simr to that terrifying golem.
He could feel that the ck armor around their chests was so sturdy, that it would be almost impossible for him to break it by attacking them head-on.
And yet, despite feeling fear, a surge of excitement had also appeared in Liu Jian''s heart.
Didn''t that mean that once Liu Mei reached the rank 9 of the Spirit realm, she would practically be invincible in the ''Deste East'' if she fought with anyone else aside from the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple''?
Even the master of the ''Poison Hall'' would probably not be her match in a one on one fight.
Looking at Liu Mei with gleaming eyes, Liu Jian didn''t wait for her to make a move, and instead, his body erupted with his full power as he flew towards her at full speed.
He knew that if he waited for the ck-armored knights to entrap him, he would probably be done for.
Liu Jian pointed his white sword towards the undead knights'' feet, covering them with ayer of solid white ice before he continued towards Liu Mei.
However, contrary to his expectations, Liu Mei didn''t seem to move and try to avoid him, and neither did she cover her sword with her Dao of Ice.
Instead, she simply stared at her 2 undead knights, who forcefully destroyed the ice around their feet in an instant, before they moved to encircle the ''Floating Cloud sect''s'' sect master.
Liu Jian''s ''yellow high-grade martial skill'' was actually useless in front of the middle rank 4 Spirit realm knights who quickly entrapped him from both sides.
One of the undead knights raised its huge greatsword and shed forward at full strength, while the other one attacked Liu Jian from the side, sweeping its greatsword horizontally.
Despite avoiding the first attack from the undead knight who seemed as if he was ready to take his life, Liu Jian was unable to avoid the second attack, and had to raise his white sword to meet it head-on.
However, Liu Jian soon found out, that the undead knight''s attack was actually much stronger than Liu Mei''s direct sword attack from earlier.
It was actually so strong that he was unable to resist it by himself.
After all, this was the power of a necromancer.
It lied in the creatures that they summoned rather than them fighting head-on.
Under Liu Changpun''s, Lan Hong''s, and the rest of the Elders stunned eyes, Liu Jian was sent flying from the sky like a cannonball, as he crashed in front of the main hall at the center of the ''inner city''.
Liu Mei watched Liu Jian who was sent flying, without the slightest hints of pity in her heart.
This was her father who didn''t care about her once in all these years, and had only changed his mind once he saw the increase in her strength.
She didn''t even try to check Liu Jian''s condition, and instead, with her undead knights guarding her from the side, she flew towards the inner city, as she headed directly for her mother''s location.
Liu Changpun and Lan Hong wanted to stop her, but in the end, they didn''t dare to, and could only watch her as she headed deeper inside the ''inner city'', before they turned their gazes towards the main hall. Without any more hesitation, they hurriedly flew towards it, to check Liu Jian''s condition and make sure that he was still alive.
Chapter 322 - 322 Fatty Fu
Chapter 322 - 322 Fatty Fu
Although Liu Jian didn''t seem to be moving, Liu Mei knew that he wasn''t dead, and at most he had just lost consciousness.
After all, Liu Mei didn''t want to kill him in the first ce, otherwise, forget about Liu Jian, the entire ''Floating Cloud sect'' would be unable to stand up to her undead army.
However, despite not killing him, this didn''t mean that Liu Mei had any positive feelings towards her father.
Instead, she directly ignored him, as she continued to fly towards the ''inner city''.
A few moments barely passed before Liu Mei''s eyes were locked on a small house near the main hall where Liu Jian hadnded.
It was a rtively simple house, but it made Liu Mei suddenly halt in mid-air, as emotions suddenly overflowed her heart.
This was her home for so many years.
This was the ce where she and her mother lived.
As Liu Jian''s second wife, her mother didn''t live in Liu Jian''s pce at the center of the city, but she had her own house allocated to her.
After taking a deep breath, Liu Mei didn''t step inside the house but instead, she circled around it and walked straight to its backyard, while leaving the 2 undead knights to stand guard near the house''s entrance, not allowing anyone toe close.
A beautiful middle-aged woman dressed in silver-white robes was sitting on a chair, and was petting a huge bird that was lying next to her.
It was a huge bird more than 20m(66ft) long, with a yellow beak and bright red wings.
This was the mostmon use of transportation used by the high-ranking members of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', the rank 3 ''red-winged condor''.
This ''red-winged condor'' however, didn''t belong to the sect, but was the personal magic beast of Liu Mei''s mother.
Almost as if sensing someoneing, the condor raised its head and looked at the entrance of the backyard, where a white-robed young woman was standing quietly.
Liu Mei smiled gently once she saw the condor, but tears started to flow from her eyes once she saw the middle-aged woman who was still petting the condor''s head.
Her facial features were very simr to Liu Mei''s, aside from the wrinkles around her eyes, and her ck hair that were actually at a shoulder''s length.
The beautiful middle-aged woman followed the condor''s gaze, and was stunned when she saw Liu Mei staring at her.
Liu Mei opened her mouth a few times, but only a single word came out, one that was filled with all of her emotions
''''Mother!''''
As this sentence left Liu Mei''s mouth, the beautiful middle-aged woman hurriedly stood up from her chair, while her eyes stared at Liu Mei in disbelief.
Soon, her expression was reced with one of joy, as she flew forward and ced her arms around Liu Mei, hugging her tightly as she said
''''Mei''er!''''
Hearing her mother''s voice, the tears from Liu Mei''s eyes didn''t stop flowing as she stretched her arms to hug her back.
Although it had only been a year, Liu Mei knew that her mother must have been worried to death for her.
After all, before she had left to enter the ''Vermilion realm'', Liu Mei hadn''t dared to tell her that she would try to pass through the second test by herself in order to enter the ''Night star continent''.
Liu Mei clearly knew that aside from Liu Changpun who had the entire strength of the entire sect in his palm, any other disciple who wanted to try and pass through the second level would definitely face extreme danger.
Her mother had also participated in the ''Vermilion realm''s'' opening in the past and knew how dangerous it was.
No matter what, to a mother, it was better to do everything she could and even argue with her husband over Liu Mei''s marriage, than having her child risk her life.
Liu Mei however also knew that she wouldn''t have been allowed to go, no matter what, if she had revealed her intentions to her mother, so she could only hide this matter in the bottom of her heart.
She had already tried everything she could to change Liu Jian''s mind, and had even begged him countless times, but in the end, Liu Jian had simply refused.
Since Liu Mei''s marriage could be helpful to unite the sect, making the Meng family even further connected to their Liu family, Liu Jian wouldn''t care about his daughter''s feelings.
This was the difference in importance between Liu Mei and Liu Changpun.
After hugging Liu Mei, a serious expression soon appeared in Lin Huefeng''s eyes, as she looked at her and she asked in a worried tone
''''Mei''er, where have you been for the past year?''''
Looking at the worried look in her mother''s eyes, Liu Mei took a deep breath, before she started to exin everything, starting from the moment she had left the ''Floating Cloud city'' to enter the ''Vermilion realm''.
At the same time, Shun Long had a smile on his face as he sat on Little Silver''s back in the sky and watched Liu Mei who was exining her experiences to her mother, before his eyes were quickly drawn to the main hall.
The Elders of the sect had all gathered around the unconscious Liu Jian, while many inner disciples were watching from the distance.
Those who hadn''t seen Liu Jian''s fight with the ck-armored knights had shocked and fearful looks on their faces when they saw the sect master''s condition.
They had already heard that something had happened, but none of them knew who could possibly send their sect master into such a miserable state.
As for the Elders of the sect and the few inner disciples who had actually witnessed the scene, none of them dared to talk about it behind Liu Jian''s back.
It was only after Grand Elder Lan Hong gave him a healing pill, that Liu Jian finally opened his eyes.
Shun Long however didn''t seem to care about Liu Mei''s father, as his eyes spotted the familiar silhouette of a chubby young man in green robes.
After thinking for a while, Shun Long''s lips curved up, before he left Little Silver''s back and disappeared on the spot.
Fatty Fu who had a few other inner disciples of the sect around him, was suddenly stunned when he saw a figure appearing in front of him out of thin air.
The other inner disciples hurriedly stepped back as well, almost unable to realize what was going on.
Seeing the handsome young man in blue-robes who was now standing in front of him, looking slightly different than he did in the past, Fu Li only took a few moments to recognize him, before his eyes widened in disbelief as he blurted out
''''Brother Shun?''''
Shun Long smiled at Fu Li who was still staring at him in shock, before he nodded his head and said smilingly
''''Fatty, long time no see!''''
Chapter 323 - 323 Shun Longs question
Chapter 323 - 323 Shun Long''s question
The shock from Fu Li''s face didn''t disappear after Shun Long''s greeting.
Hearing the familiar voice, the young master of the Fu family felt himself getting dizzy.
At the same time, the inner disciples around him looked at Shun Long with apprehension in their eyes.
Appearing in front of them without a warning or any of them realizing until it''s toote... his strength must be at least at thete-stages of the Heaven grade! Isn''t that as powerful as the strongest Elders of the sect?
Despite having heard Fu Li calling the young man in front of him ''brother Shun'', one of the inner disciples next to Fu Li still took a step forward, and pointing at Shun Long''s blue robes, he shouted loudly with an angry expression on his face, in an attempt to attract everyone''s attention
''''Who are you? Don''t you know that this is the inner part of our ''Floating Cloud city''? No matter what''s your connection with the Fu family, you must abide by the sect rules!''''
Since Fu Li''s group wasn''t far from the ''main hall'', the young man''s voice instantly attracted the nearby Elder''s attention, including the Grand Elder''s. Looking at the Elders around him, the look in Lan Hong''s eyes turned serious, as he ordered them to check what was going on.
Without any hesitation, a group of 6 Elders hurriedly flew towards the scene.
It seemed that one bad thing after the other were happening in their sect.
First, their young miss had beaten down their sect master, and now an outsider had even infiltrated the sect?
Liu Mei''s matter could still be ignored since she was the sect master''s daughter... and she was also strong enough to the point that every one of the Elders were terrified to even speak to her, let alone admonish her... but an outsider entering their ''inner city'' was apletely different matter!
Of course, no one of the Elders even thought to associate Shun Long''s entry to the sect with Liu Mei''s.
After all, Liu Mei was a cold person by nature who didn''t speak a lot, let alone have allies who would infiltrate the sect.
Besides, with her current strength, she could probably beat every high-ranking Elder of the sect just by using her 2 ck-armored knights, so why would she need any helpers?
With this train of thought, the Elders quickly flew towards the green-robed young man''s location.
Fatty Fu instantly snapped out from his daydreaming once he heard these words, and looking at the green-robed young man next to him, his hand flew at a quick speed, heading towards the young man''s face.
The young man however seemed to have been prepared for fatty Fu''s attack, and he quickly stepped to the side, avoiding Fu Li''s p.
Of course, fatty Fu already knew, that this inner disciple was part of the Meng family. The Fu and the Meng families had a very bad rtionship between themselves so a friend of Fu Li''s was an enemy of the Meng family.
Shun Long however didn''t respond to the green-robed inner disciple of the Meng family as his eyes continued to stare at Fu Li.
Seeing that the Elders had almost arrived at the scene, Fu Li looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''''Brother, run! Come and meet me at the Fu family''s mansionter! If you get caught here, you will be in huge trouble!''''
Even though Fu Li was the young master of the Fu family, in reality, even he didn''t have the authority to bring an outsider inside the ''inner city''.
Although he hadn''t brought Shun Long here by himself, Fu Li knew, that both he and Shun Long would be put in a bad spot if Shun Long was caught by the Elders.
After all, despite being an outer disciple of the sect, Shun Long had disappeared for the past year, ever since they had entered the ''Vermilion realm''.,
No matter what his excuse was, he would be unable to escape the sect''s punishment for disappearing.
Shun Long however didn''t seem to have put the Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' that were approaching them in his eyes, and looking at his friend, his expression turned serious as he said in a solemn tone
''''Fatty, let''s talk for a bit.''''
''''Eh?''''
This was thest exmation that left Fu Li''s mouth, before the huge, invisible figure of an hourss expanded from Shun Long''s body, covering the area around him, forcefully halting the flow of time.
The middle-stage Heaven grade Elders who were just a few tens of meters away from Shun Long seemed to have suddenly frozen in mid-air.
It wasn''t just the 6 Elders... even the group of inner disciples around him, including Fu Li, and the green-robed young man from the Meng family were all frozen under the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain''!
Soon, Shun Long turned his eyes on the green-robed inner disciple of the Meng family, and with a cold expression on his face, he punched the man''s chest without any hesitation.
Under Shun Long''s cold gaze, the early-stage Heaven grade inner disciple of the Meng family still had that venomous smile on his face as he waited for the Elders to arrive, before his body suddenly exploded, turning into droplets of blood that dyed the ground of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' a bright crimson color.
It didn''t matter if this person was an enemy of Fu Li''s or not, since he had intentionally tried to find trouble with him by calling the Elders, Shun Long had no reason to spare him.
Although Shun Long didn''t feel that he was a person who killed indiscriminately and would usually not choose to ughter people without a reason, he was still unwilling to allow this person to go.
Grabbing Fu Li''s frozen-like body that was still under the effects of his ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long raised his right hand and opened a space tear before he stepped inside it.
Standing in the air high above the ''Floating Cloud city'', Shun Long stopped circting the ''Monarch''s Domain'', allowing Fu Li to get back to his senses.
Fatty Fu''s eyes instantly widened as he suddenly found himself having disappeared from the ''inner city'', and standing high above the clouds!
Lowering his head, Fu Li then saw the outline of a familiar big city, bringing even more shock to his heart.
Shun Long however was still holding his body, not allowing him to fall until he got back to his senses.
Seeing that Fu Li was circting his qi in order to stay afloat, afraid that he would fall on the ground otherwise, Shun Long didn''t continue to support him, and looking at his friend with a serious expression on his face he said in a solemn tone
''''Fu Li, there is something I need to know.''''
..
Fatty Fu was stunned for a second.
He knew Shun Long for more than a year, but this was the first time that he had called him Fu Li, as far as he could remember.
He would always call him brother or fatty.
Calling him by his full name meant that there was a serious issue at hand.
Suppressing himself from asking any questions, such as where Shun Long was for the past year, what he had experienced, how did he appear in front of him in the city today, or how they had disappeared from the ''inner city'' in an instant and had arrived above the clouds, Fu Li looked at Shun Long and his look turned serious as he nodded his head without saying a word.
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long looked at Fu Li''s eyes before he asked the question that he had wanted to ask him for the past year
''''Fu Li, 2 years ago, when you told me to be an inner disciple, did you know that every inner disciple was forced to join one of the 5 families regardless of whether they agreed or not?''''
Chapter 324 - 324 Fu Lis answer
Chapter 324 - 324 Fu Li''s answer
Ever since he had heard about this issue from Liu Mei, back inside the ''Vermilion realm'', Shun Long had always kept this question in his mind.
If Fu Li and Lu Wen really knew about this matter and didn''t tell him, then they could no longer be called brother. It would simply mean that they had only approached him in order to rope him into their families.
As for lying to him? Shun Long was confident that even without Little ck''s help of sensing the soul fluctuations of someone, he could determine by himself whether fatty Fu was saying the truth or not.
Fu Li''s eyes instantly widened when he heard Shun Long''s question, and for a moment, absolute silence filled the air around the 2 of them.
Looking at Shun Long''s serious eyes, Fu Li took a deep breath before he shook his head and responded in a solemn tone
''''Brother, I know about this matter now, but believe me, I had no idea about this when I first met you.
I only found out about it the day before we set off for the ''Vermilion realm''.
... Once a disciple advanced to the Heaven grade and startsprehending their Dao, the sect would make them swear a Dao oath that they would listen to the orders of the family they have joined.
Back then, I even argued with my grandfather when I learned about it, but in the end, he refused to discuss this matter any further.
He told me that this was how the sect worked, and that it was impossible for me to change it.
After all, this wasn''t a matter that involved just our Fu family, but every single one of the 5 strong families of the sect, including the Liu family of the sect master.
Even if my grandfather who is the head of our family wanted to change this, he said that he would also be powerless.
Only the Grand Elder could possibly bring up such a topic to the sect master... but the sect has already been working like this for many years, that my grandfather said that there was no chance for this to change...
Of course, many inner disciples would be dissatisfied. Some would surely think that they are peerless talents that would manage to make their name known throughout the entire continent in the future, so why should they be ''trapped'' in one sect for their entire lives?
However, this is the secret rule of the sect.
Once you enter the sect, then you are practically a bird within a cage...''''
After a brief moment of pause, a mocking look also appeared in fatty Fu''s eyes as he continued
''''Hehe, perhaps this is why our sect will never be stronger than it already is.
This is also why the sect master is staking everything in nurturing his own son, hoping that he will lead the sect to a new era in the future.
Hahaha! Originally, I had thought that our sect was really powerful, but it was only until we arrived at the ''Lightning Wastnd'' that I understood the real strength of the other sects in the ''Deste East''.
As for the reason why I didn''t tell you about this once we left the sect brother... it was because I had no chance to do so.
That day, when we arrived in the ''Lightning Wastnd'', I had nned to silently let you know about this matter once I finished exining everything about Liu Changpun and his n regarding the ''Vermilion realm'', but after the head priest of the ''Golden Buddha temple'' arrived, the Elders of my family watched me tightly so that I wouldn''t identally cause any issues...''''
Shun Long stayed silent for a while, but he seemed to have understood what fatty Fu was trying to tell him.
Since there wasn''t a chance for him to inform Shun Long discreetly about the inner matters of the sect that he had learned from his grandfather, fatty Fu couldn''t exin it unless it was just the 2 of them left.
After all, even he, as the heir of the Fu family, would be punished heavily if he dared to openly disclose this secret of the sect.
If this became known, the consequences of this matter would throw the entire ''Floating Cloud sect'' in a turmoil.,
Although this wouldn''t affect the inner disciples who had already sworn their allegiance to the big families of the sect, the outer disciples however, would definitely go crazy in the process.
Even though one stone can''t cause ripples if it''s thrown into ake by itself, but millions of stones can definitely empty theke of its water.
After all, the entire sect itself had to count on the outer disciples to continue operating.
The outer disciples were the ones who were working in the mines to bring spirit stones to the sect, and they were also the ones who were working in the shops like the ''Treasure Pavilion'' and the ''Mystifying Fragrance pavilion''.
Although a single outer disciple couldn''t do anything if he fought against the sect, but if every single outer disciple learned of this issue, their dreams about the future would crumble.
After all, they were only working in the mines and the shops of the sect to get enough sect points to be stronger in the future.
How could they ept the fact that even as inner disciples or Elders, they would have no freedom?!
Of course, even without fatty Fu''s exnation, Shun Long had already guessed that this was how the sect was forcing its inner disciples to constantly obey the families that they belonged to;
A Dao oath was the only way for the big families of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' topletely control everyone.
A serious look shed through Shun Long''s eyes for a moment, before he turned his eyes back to fatty Fu.
At the same time, Little ck''s voice sounded in Shun Long''s head, as the ck dragon nodded his head and said seriously
''''Master, ording to his soul fluctuations, he isn''t lying to master.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long felt a feeling of relief inwardly.
Even without Little ck confirming it, he could feel that Fatty Fu was sincere to him.
This was also the person that he had the closest rtions with, in the ''Cultivation world'', so knowing that Fu Li was sincere towards him also made Shun Long feel joy as well as relief.
In the ''Cultivation world'' where everyone would try to backstab others, Fatty Fu was a real friend.
Seeing that Shun Long''s expression had somewhat eased up, Fatty Fu also let out a sigh of relief.
He didn''t have many friends in the sect, but Shun Long was definitely an important one.
Just like Shun Long, Fu Li had also kept this matter in his heart since he had no way to inform Shun Long about it, bringing him endless pressure in the process.
As he looked at Fu Li, the look in Shun Long''s eyes however once again turned serious as he then continued
''''Fatty, did Lu Wen know about this?''''
Fu Li''s expression changed when he heard Shun Long''s question, and after a moment of deliberation, he nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes.
Chapter 325 - 325 Lu Wens huge scheme
Chapter 325 - 325 Lu Wen''s huge scheme
Looking at Shun Long, Fu Li sighed as he answered
''''Brother, Lu Wen really surprised me this time.
As soon as he returned back to the sect, he calmly sat to the side and watched his eldest brother and his younger brother fight for the position of the family head.
Of course, his brothers also ignored him as well after he returned, and focused on fighting covertly between themselves.
Since Lu Wen had just returned from the ''Mortal world'', it was extremely unlikely that he would try to fight for the position of the family head with his brothers, using his own meager connections.
After all, to be the head of one of the 5 families, you need other people to support you as well, both inside your family, and outside.
Since I am the only sessor of the Fu family, I actually never had to face such an issue, but Lu Wen was different.
The Elders of the Lu family had mainly split themselves into 2 battlefronts, one of them supporting Lu Wen''s older brother, and the other supporting his younger brother.
Only a small amount of the Elders of the Lu family were actually willing to support Lu Wen.
This is why I always thought that Lu Wen was actually a real friend of mine. Because he still wanted to get close to me, without having to gain anything in the process.
However, Lu Wen acted as if he didn''t care about his family''s situation, and was only interested to bing a powerful alchemist, but in reality, he was rearing a secret army in the process.
Just when everyone thought that Lu Wen hadpletely given up on the position of the family head of the Lu family, more than 20 Heaven grade inner disciples suddenly joined his camp.
The most surprising thing was, that from those inner disciples, one-third of them originally belonged to the Meng family, but they actually switched their allegiance to the Lu family.
As for the other two-thirds. They seemed to have been loyal to Lu Wen even before he left the ''Floating Cloud city'' to go to the ''Mortal world'' in the past!''''
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed when he heard this.
He already knew that once someone advanced to the Heaven grade and became an inner disciple, they had to swear a Dao oath to follow the orders of the family that they had joined.
Even if these members had been originally ''supported'' by Lu Wen behind the scenes in the past, after bing inner disciples and joining the Meng family, they would have been unable to follow anyone''s but the Meng family''s orders!
Since 6-7 inner disciples from the Meng family had suddenly switched sides and became members of the Lu family, this could only mean one thing.
The Meng family had allowed this!
Why would the Meng family ever give up on their own inner disciples?
As Shun Long''s train of thought continued, he instantly understood that Lu Wen seemed to have joined hands with the Meng family.
Suddenly, Shun Long''s eyes widened as he stared at Fu Li.
He seemed to have understood what Fu Li wanted to say afterwards.
If Lu Wen had really joined hands with the Meng family and became the Lu family''s head in the future, then things in the ''Floating Cloud sect'' would drastically change.
After all, the Lu family was originally an ally to fatty Fu''s, Fu family, and Lan Jinjing''s Lan family.
But with the Lu family switching sides, wouldn''t that mean that the bnce of power in the ''Floating Cloud city'' would instantly switch as well?
Lu Wen was also someone who was involved in his family''s strife, and unlike Fu Li, it was impossible for him to not know about the matter of the Dao oath.
Slowly, Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he thought of different possibilities.
In the past, he had thought that Lu Wen had started to get close to him in order to repay his father''s favor of giving him a pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade cauldron.
After all, to any rank 2 bronze grade alchemist, such a cauldron was a treasure.
Even in the ''Floating Cloud city'', pinnacle rank 3 bronze grade cauldrons were rare to find as well.
However, everything seemed to have changed after hearing Fu Li''s words.
''''Lu Wen really hid himself well.''''
Once he heard Shun Long''s words, Fu Li nodded his head seriously.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t say anything else, but instead, he fell into deep contemtion.
Shun Long had always thought that he was good at judging people, but Lu Wen had really managed to fool him.
Although this scheme was much bigger, and Shun Long didn''t seem to be an important part in Lu Wen''s ns, he was still used in the end.
Raising his head to look at Fu Li, Shun Long suddenly asked curiously
''''What''s the current situation of the Lu family?''''
Nodding his head, Fu Li didn''t hesitate to reveal the inner situation of the Lu family
''''In the past 2 years that Lu Wen returned to the sect, he consumed countless pills of the Lu family and is now already an early rank 2 Heaven grade expert... the same level as his older brother!''''
As he said the words ''rank 2 Heaven grade expert'', the jealousy in the fatty''s eyes wasn''t hidden in the slightest.
After taking a deep breath, Fu Li''s voice instantly turned solemn as he continued with his next words
''''With the sudden support of the Meng''s family''s inner disciples, many of the Elders of the Lu family that were supporting Lu Wen''s brothers quickly joined his side instead, making the gap of power between himself and his brothers evenrger than before.
Now, even thebined forces of Lu Ming and Lu Chen can''t evenpare to Lu Wen''s own.
Lu Wen''s brothers were about to explode from anger when they saw the Elders of their camp quickly abandoning them one after the other, and in the end, they even temporarily stopped fighting with each other, as they both reported Lu Wen''s actions to their grandfather.
They said that the meddling of the Meng family in their family''s internal issues and the session of the family head, would surely cause them some serious problems to them in the future.
Of course, if Lu Wen''s brothers knew about this, then how could Lu Wen''s own grandfather, the previous family head of the Lu family not notice the intervening of the Meng family?!,
However, the most surprising thing was, that Lu Wen''s grandfather actually didn''t do anything about this, and instead, he even aided Lu Wen''s actions behind the scenes.''''
As soon as Fu Li finished speaking, Shun Long immediately understood what was going on.
''''The Meng family has already joined hands with the Lu family to a certain extent.''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, his eyes instantly chilled.
Sending his gaze towards the ''Floating Cloud sect'' that was right below him, Shun Long then mumbled in a cold voice
''''Lu Wen... since you already tried to fool me, you can''t me me for what''s about to happen!''''
Chapter 326 - 326 Liu Meis revenge
Chapter 326 - 326 Liu Mei''s revenge
Fatty Fu shivered the moment that he heard Shun Long''s cold voice.
The cold expression however, quickly disappeared from Shun Long''s face, and a few momentster, Fu Li could no longer suppress the curiosity inside him, as he looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Brother, where have you been for the past 1 year?
Were you really trapped somewhere inside the ''Vermilion realm''?
The sect waited for a long time after the ''Vermilion realm''s'' closing, but you never returned.
Actually, it wasn''t just you, but quite a lot of people disappeared inside the ''Vermilion realm'' this time, including Wen Zihao!''''
When he mentioned Wen Zihao''s disappearance, it was obvious that fatty Fu was shocked almost as much as with Shun Long''s disappearance.
After all, Wen Zihao wasn''t just the person ranked first in the arena rankings of the sect, but he was also someone who had a unique physique!
The upper echelons of the sect, including the sect master as well as the Elders of the big families, had ced quite a lot of importance to him.
Shun Long smiled when he heard fatty Fu mentioning Wen Zihao, and without hiding anything about this matter, he started to exin how the Dao King of the ''Vermilion realm'', Cui Guoliang, had sent everyone who had passed through the second test to the ''Night star continent''.
Fu Li''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and with a fervent expression that was filled with eagerness as well as disbelief, he looked at Shun Long and asked incredulously
''''You- really went to the ''Night star continent''?''''
As the heir of one of the 5 big families, it was only natural for Fu Li to have heard rumors about the closest continent next to their ''Deste East''.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long continued narrating to Fu Li what had happened in the past 1 year, only hiding important things like Cui Guoliang being trapped in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', or secrets about Little ck and the ''Stone of Time''.,
As the 2 of them started chatting, fatty Fu was bing even more shocked.
Not only had Shun Long managed to get together with the goddess of their sect, but he had also traveled with her to various ces in the ''Night star continent'' and even had a powerful magic beast that could fight even Nascent Soul stage experts!
Although Shun Long didn''t go into detail about Little Silver''s strength, Fu Li immediately understood that with this magic beast as his mount, Shun Long was probably already unrivaled in the Deste East.
Suddenly, Fu Li remembered Liu Jian''s miserable condition in front of the main hall, and looking at Shun Long, he pointed at him with his finger as he asked incredulously
''''Brother... were you the one who attacked the sect master earlier?''''
In Fu Li''s eyes, even Shun Long shouldn''t have been at the level of fighting against the sect master, Liu Jian yet.
He had must have probably asked for Little Silver''s help, in order to take care of the peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert so easily.
After all, it had been less than a year since the ''Vermilion realm''s'' closing, and before they entered, Fu Li clearly remembered that both he and Shun Long hadn''t even reached the Heaven grade by then.
No matter what, Fu Li couldn''t ept that Shun Long had already reached a level that could threaten the sect master already.
At most, he should have reached thete-stages of the Heaven grade by now.
Fu Li was about to exhale a sigh of relief as he reached this conclusion, when he saw Shun Long shaking his head at him as he answered
''''It wasn''t me, but Mei''er. She wanted to fight against her father by herself.''''
The moment that Fu Li heard these words, he could feel his heartbeat that had started to rise.
''''By herself?
Senior sister Liu is at the same level as the sect master?''''
Shun Long nodded his head without exining anything else.
Instead, he extended his right hand, and handed a green-colored spatial ring to the incredulous Fu Li.
Without waiting for him to ept or decline, Shun Long smiled as he started to exin
''''Fatty, aside from 2 million low-grade spirit stones in this spatial ring, there are also some top-grade rank 3 pills called the ''Bloodbustion pills''.
They can allow a Heaven grade cultivator to quickly advance to the following ranks without any issues.
As top-grade pills, they will not leave any pill toxins inside your body and you can consume them freely.
Of course, the more pills of the same kind that you consume, the lesser the effects of those pills be, but these pills in here should still be enough to help you reach the rank 9 of the Heaven grade and still have some left to spare.''''
Suddenly, the spatial ring in fatty Fu''s hand felt as if it was weighting a mountain.
''''Tw-two million spirit stones?''''
2 million?
Even if the 5 big families of the sect pooled all of their spirit stones together, they wouldn''t have 2 million!
Fu Li couldn''t believe this, and could no longer resist the urge to send his spiritual strength inside the spatial ring and examine the contents.
Indeed, mountains after mountains of spirit stones were piled inside, making his eyes lit up in the process.
Without any inclination to decline, fatty hurriedly ced the spatial ring in his finger and startedughing loudly in joy, while the corners of his mouth had turned into a huge grin that couldn''t be suppressed no matter how hard he tried.
He couldn''t believe that Shun Long would give him 2 million spirit stones.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t be stingy with Fu Li.
He still remembered how Fu Li hade to find him and was willing to share the pills that he had received from his father a few months before the opening of the ''Vermilion realm''.
Suddenly, Shun Long''s gaze was focused on the small house at the center of the inner city.
Liu Jian who had just regained his senses, had gathered the Elders of the sect and was standing a fair distance away from Lin Huefeng house.
Due to the 2 undead knights who were standing guard at the house''s entrance however, neither Liu Jian nor any of the Elders dared to get too close, lest they suffer the same way that their sect master did a while ago.
Liu Jianpletely ignored his second wife, and looking at Liu Mei who was standing right next to her and was holding her mother''s hands, he had a serious look in his eyes as he asked in a solemn tone
''''Little Mei, are you certain that you want to leave like this? You will surely regret this in the future!''''
Shun Long''s eyes chilled when he heard Liu Jian''s words.
Although he didn''t dare to directly say it, but his words were meant to threaten Liu Mei, one way or another.
However, since he had promised Liu Mei not to interfere with this matter, Shun Long simply watched Liu Mei as he waited for her answer.
As expected, Liu Mei''s eyes narrowed, while Lin Huefeng trembled when she heard the veiled threat behind Liu Jian''s words.
Although she was a strong woman, Liu Jian''s image in her mind was second to no one.
Looking at her father who was staring at her with a serious look in his eyes, Liu Mei shook her head before she answered with an ice-cold look in her eyes
''''No, I won''t leave like this.
''Father'', I told you that I came here for two things.
The first was to take my mother back... while the second one is to make you pay!''''
Liu Jian felt terror gripping his heart for some reason.
It was an instinctive fear that something bad was going to happen.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Mei''s eyes first swept through the Elders around Liu Jian, before she sat down on the ''red-winged condor''s'' back along with her mother, and under Liu Jian''s stunned gaze, she flew towards the northern part of the ''Floating Cloud city''.
Suddenly, Liu Jian''s eyes widened in disbelief, before he turned his head to look at some of the Elders around him.
It seemed that he suddenly understood what Liu Mei was nning to do, and it was something that left him pale with fear.
Chapter 327 - 327 Meng Shao
Chapter 327 - 327 Meng Shao
There was only one thing in the northern part of the ''Floating Cloud city'' that was important to Liu Jian and his ns for the future of the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
The headquarters of the Meng family!
The Elders around Liu Jian who belonged to the Meng family had extremely ugly expressions on their faces as they looked at the young woman on the ''red-winged condor''s'' back.
Fear slowly overwhelmed them when they realized what Liu Mei was intending to do.
At the same time, Liu Changpun who was standing behind Liu Jian, stared at Liu Mei with his mouth wide open.
''''She can''t be nning to destroy the Meng family!?''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Liu Changpun found himself feeling uncertain.
The Liu Mei that was on top of the ''red-winged condor''s'' back didn''t seem to be the same Liu Mei that he remembered before they left for the ''Vermilion realm''.
Shun Long''s lips curved up as he stared at Liu Mei from the sky. He could see the luxurious manor in the distance with the word ''Meng'' written on it, and quickly understood what Liu Mei''s intentions were.
At the same time however, Lin Huefeng''s expression waspletely different from Shun Long''s.
There was no pride or joy on her face as she looked at her daughter, but only worry and fear of what was going to happen.
Although she had already heard the most important parts from Liu Mei regarding what she had experienced in the past year, and although Lin Huefeng knew, that the young man named Shun Long whom she had yet to meet was actually somewhere close to the ''Floating Cloud sect'', in her mind, Liu Mei was still her weak little girl.
How could she fight with the powerful Meng family?
It was, after all, one of the 5 strongest families in the entire sect.
Even if it was the weakest one among the 5, even Liu Jian had to take their overall strength seriously.
Liu Mei however didn''t show the slightest ripples of anxiousness or uncertainty in her eyes.
Instead, her gaze was focused on the luxurious manor in the distance which clearly belonged to the Meng family.
Liu Mei knew, that the Meng family was Liu Jian''s biggest supporter inside the sect.
Although she wasn''t willing to kill her father or her brother directly, Liu Mei was more than willing topletely wipe out the Meng family from the ''Floating Cloud city''.
This didn''t just stem from the fact that they supported Liu Jian or that the young master of the Meng family, Meng Shengyi wanted to marry her despite her refusing time after time, but because the Meng family was also the dirtiest one out of all the families in the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
They were the only family who would often not givepensation to the outer disciples who sessfully passed their test in the ''Demonic Mountain Region'' after joining the sect, and they were also the only family who was willing to secretly enve mortals from the countless inds in the ''Mortal world'' and have them work in the spirit stone mines of the sect.
Of course, their ideals were closely connected to Liu Jian''s own, but as the sect master, Liu Jian couldn''t bring up such topics or urge people to blemish their own image by doing that.
However, the patriarch of the Meng family didn''t seem to have such moral restrains.
As long as there were benefits that could be exploited, he didn''t mind sacrificing countless mortals or cultivators alike.
Although cultivators were often cruel and would kill others without batting an eye, enving mortals was a taboo in the ''Cultivation world''.
Usually, even the most heinous criminals would despise enving mortals for their own benefits or enjoyment.
Besides, if they were strong enough, they would much rather enve other cultivators who also had longer lifespans and stronger bodies than mortals as well.
Of course, this could also be considered an excuse in itself by Liu Mei.
Even if the Meng family wasn''t an evil family, Liu Mei would have still chosen to attack them.
After all, as the most loyal supporter of Liu Jian, eradicating them was simr to cutting off Liu Jian''s left and right arms!
The manor of the Meng family quickly appeared in front of Liu Mei and Lin Huefeng, as well as Liu Jian and the Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' who were following behind the ''red-winged condor''.
Although Liu Jian didn''t dare to fight against Liu Mei''s undead knights again head-on, he couldn''t just stay and watch as Liu Mei attacked the headquarters of the Meng family in the inner city.
Some of the Elders around Liu Jian had already been sent inside the manor to secretly inform the old patriarch of the Meng family of the iing danger.
After all, the ''red-winged condor'' wasn''t flying at full speed, and Liu Mei didn''t seem to be afraid that the Meng family would suddenly turn to flee.
Even if they did, she still believed that she would be able to catch at least the most important of their higher echelons and destroy them by herself.
...
In the main hall of the Meng family''s manor, as soon as the old patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Shao heard of what was going on, his face instantly turned angry as well as pale from fear.
Originally, he had never ced any importance on Liu Jian''s daughter.
If it wasn''t because of his own grandson being so adamant on marrying her, he wouldn''t have paid any attention to anything other than her name.
However, the moment that he heard that Liu Jian himself was injured by her, things had drastically changed.
With a serious look, he calmed down his emotions, and sitting back down on his chair at the head of therge table inside the main room, he looked at the 2 Elders who were still bowing in front of him, before he ordered them to gather everyone in this room.
A few minutester, all of the high-ranking Elders of the Meng family had gathered inside the room, including the current patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Yang, as well as his son, Meng Shengyi.
As soon as Meng Shao exined what was going on, everyone turned their gazes towards the green-robed Meng Shengyi who had a stunned expression on his face.
He wanted to speak and curse Liu Mei, but he knew that the current situation was extremely grave, and his Meng family had a high chance of suffering a disaster!
Indeed, the old patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Shao had a solemn look on his face as he looked at the Elders around him, before he said in a serious voice
''''Activate the protective formations!
No matter what that girl''s reason is, we will not allow anyone toe to attack our Meng family, not even Liu Jian himself! Even if that girl really is stronger than Liu Jian, I don''t believe that she can attack us through all the defensive formations carved by a rank 2 silver grade formation master and leave alive!
Even Liu Jian himself would die if he attacked our Meng family by himself!''''
The Elders all nodded their heads with serious looks in their eyes, before they activated the protective formations around the Meng family''s mansion.
The moment that Liu Mei arrived outside of the Meng''s family''s headquarters, both she and her mother, as well as Liu Jian and the Elders who were following behind him, saw countlessyers of lightpletely covering the Meng family''s mansion.
Liu Jian could feel the powerful energy fluctuationsing from theseyers of light, and immediately understood that the Meng family had activated all of their protective formations.
At the same time, the doors of the Meng family''s main entrance opened, and an old man with short white hair dressed in ck robes appeared from it.
This was the Meng''s family''s old patriarch as well as their most powerful Heaven grade expert.
Chapter 328 - 328 Taking sides
Chapter 328 - 328 Taking sides
Walking out from the main doors of the Meng family''s mansion, Meng Shao raised his head to look at the 2 women who were sitting on the back of the ''red-winged condor'', before his eyesnded on the white-robed Liu Mei.
Liu Mei''s expression however hadn''t changed by a lot after seeing the protective formations sprouting from the Meng family''s estate.
After all, as the headquarters of one of the 5 big families in the ''Floating Cloud city'', how could the Meng family not have their own protective formations?
It was said that they had once recruited a rank 2 silver grade formation master whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm, and had him create powerful defensive formations all around the Meng family''s headquarters.
However, a rank 2 silver grade formation master wasn''t someone whom the Meng family could interact with at will, and they could only ask him to create 5yers of protective formations in the end.
Of course, even though it was just 5 differentyers of protective formations, they could even block out someone like Liu Jian without much effort.
If the sect master of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' insisted on attacking the Meng family''s headquarters by himself despite seeing theyers of protective formations around it, then he would certainly die in the process, unless... he actually chose to mobilize the entire strength of his Liu family.
It was too bad that the one who was attacking the Meng family today wasn''t Liu Jian but Liu Mei.
After staring at the gorgeous young woman in white robes with his cold eyes, Meng Shao soon turned his gaze towards Liu Jian and the Elders of the sect who were hovering in the air a few hundred meters away from her.
It was obvious that Liu Jian was afraid of the 2 undead knights who were flying next to the ''red-winged condor'' and didn''t dare to get too close.
However, since Liu Mei had decided to attack his family, Meng Shao wouldn''t try to reason with her.
Instead, he would try to get Liu Jian to protect his family no matter the cost.
Cupping his hands at Liu Jian, Meng Shao didn''t bow, but instead, he simply stared at the sect master of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' with a serious look in his eyes before he asked
''''Sect master, may I know why you have sent your daughter to attack my Meng family? Could it be that you are somehow dissatisfied with us? In that case, please allow me to express my apologies beforehand. I will punish whoever was responsible for angering the sect master!
My Meng family has always been loyal to the ''Floating Cloud sect'' and considers your Liu family our ally, so please exin to me what''s going on.''''
Shun Long who was still hovering in the sky with Fu Li, and was concealed behind the thick white clouds, almostughed loudly when he heard Meng Shao''s words.
With a mocking look in his eyes, he then said smilingly
''''Indeed, that guy is really a shameless old fox.''''
Of course, how could Meng Shao not know what was going on since Liu Jian had personally allowed the Meng family''s Elders to return and report the situation to him?
He had already heard that Liu Mei hade to take revenge, and for some reason she had decided to target his Meng family!
However, as an ally of the Liu family, how could he not mention their rtionship when his family was in trouble?
Either Liu Jian would have to help him, or he would be considered an ipetent father as well as a traitor.
After all, it was his own daughter who was attacking the Meng family today!
Fu Li nodded his head absentmindedly, but he didn''t say anything after hearing Shun Long mumbling to himself.
His eyes were still staring at the scene that was taking ce in the ''Floating Cloud sect'' with a shocked but also fervent look in his eyes.
This was one of the 5 big families! Was ''senior sister Liu'' really going to eradicate them by herself?
As the heir of one of the 5 big families himself, Fu Li clearly knew the power behind each family. Although the Meng family was the weakest one, they were certainly not a pushover. Although he had not seen Liu Mei''s fight with Liu Jian and had only heard a brief mention of it from Shun Long earlier, he still didn''t believe that Liu Mei was actually capable of destroying one of the big families by herself.
An ugly look had appeared on Liu Jian''s face as he looked at Meng Shao with cold eyes, but he didn''t directly answer his question.
Instead, he looked at Liu Mei who was still staring at the old patriarch of the Meng family before he said seriously
''''Liu Mei, if you dare to attack the Meng family, my Liu family will not let this go!''''
The moment that she heard these words, a mocking smile was formed in Liu Mei''s lips, while Meng Shao''s expression had instantly darkened!
Not let this go? Didn''t it mean that Liu Jian would choose to take revenge in the future and would not interfere today?
Of course, how could Liu Jian not understand that Meng Shao was trying to put him in a difficult position earlier? However, between his own safety or the Meng family''s, Liu Jian clearly knew which one to choose. Although he couldn''t bear to allow Liu Mei to attack them, he couldn''t do anything about this matter directly!
Although Meng Shao had not seen Liu Mei''s strength, Liu Jian knew clearly how strong the 2 undead knights next to Liu Mei really were. Just the 2 of them by themselves were probably strong enough to break through the Meng''s family''s defenses!
At the same time, Liu Chanpun stared at his sister and her mother on the rank 3 ''red-winged condor'' with cold eyes, before he silently flew towards his father.
He then lowered his voice to the volume of a whisper before he said in a tone that was filled with killing intent
''''Father, if Liu Mei once Liu Mei sends the ck-armored knights to attack the Meng family, isn''t that the perfect opportunity to capture her? Without those monsters to protect her, she is definitely weaker than father, let alone thebined strength of all the Elders present here!''''
Of course, Liu Changpun''s n wasn''t to capture Liu Mei but to secretly kill her.
He had clearly heard his father offering her the position of the sect master earlier!
What was Liu Changpun going to do if he wasn''t going to be the sect master? How could he allow the little sister that he had never cared for destroy his ns?
A deep look shed through Liu Jian''s eyes when he heard this, and looking at Liu Mei''s back, he seemed to be seriously considering this option, when suddenly, he saw a familiar looking ck ball appearing between Liu Mei''s hands.
This seemed to be the same ck ball that Liu Mei had conjured earlier when she had summoned the 2 ck-armored knights!
''''Don''t tell me that she can summon another one!''''
As this thought shed through Liu Jian''s mind, the powerful sect master of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' shivered in fear!
However, an even more astonishing scene than what he had previously expected clearly happened.
The ck ball filled with Liu Mei''s death qi, turned bigger and bigger with every passing second, before Liu Mei finally allowed it to fall on the ground.
Just like thest time however, before the ck ball actually touched the ground, it seemed to have turned into a ck hole, that resembled a portal.
The Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' behind Liu Jian hurriedly took a few steps backwards in shock when they saw the scene that was unfolding in front of their eyes!
One after another, the 3m(10ft) tall, horrifying ck-armored knights who were holding the ck greatswords, had started to appear from the ck hole, until 12 of them had actually arranged themselves in front of Liu Mei in an orderly manner, all of them kneeling in the air on one knee!
But this wasn''t the end!
Following the undead knights were dozens and dozens of the jade-white skeletons who were holding their silvery-white bone swords in their hands. Each skeleton was 1.8m(5.11ft) tall with green wisps of ember shining in their eye sockets, giving off a terrifying appearance.
The most scary thing to Liu Jian and the Elders of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' however, wasn''t the outer appearance of the white skeletons, but their terrifying aura that had reached the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm!
200 skeletons at the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm led by 12 ck-armored knights who were at the middle of rank 4!
Even if the skeletons were much weaker than average early rank 4 Spirit realm experts, there were still 200 of them! Just this number was enough to frighten any sect in the Deste East, aside from the ''Golden Buddha temple and the ''Poison Hall''.
Liu Jian''s face had turned pale, and yet there was still a fire of excitement deep in his eyes, hoping that Liu Mei would change her mind!
Liu Chanpun''s face however had turnedpletely pale!
He was nning to secretly kill Liu Mei?
Forget about the Meng family, if this undead army attacked any family in the ''Floating Cloud sect'', none of them would be able to resist!
Meng Shao could feel his knees trembling incessantly as he looked at the jade-white skeletons in the air, but when he heard the next wordsing from Liu Mei''s mouth, he almost passed out in the process.
Standing on the ''red-winged condor''s'' back, Liu Mei looked at the Meng family''s mansion that was covered inyers of protective formations, before she turned her gaze towards Meng Shao and the Elders who were standing behind him, as she said in a cold voice
''''Kill them!''''
Chapter 329 - 329 Meng Shaos decision
Chapter 329 - 329 Meng Shao''s decision
The green mes inside the skeletons'' eye sockets flickered when they received Liu Mei''smand, but the undead knights were the first ones to respond.
Without any hesitation, they flew towards theyers of protective formation that surrounded the Meng family''s mansion, like moths that were attracted to mes.
And yet, the undead knights were quite different from insects, especially when faced against the formations made by a peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert formation master! Under Lin Huefeng''s shocked eyes, the ck-armored knights effortlessly passed through the first of the 5 protectiveyers,pletely shattering it in the process.
The bright silver-colored runes inscribed by the formation master that the Meng family had hired, had only managed to light up for a single moment, before they instantly turned dim and shattered into countless motes of light that dispersed in the air.
Meng Shao wanted to scream when he saw the formation that he had paid tens of thousands of spirit stones being destroyed just like that, but despite opening his mouth, he was too afraid to make a sound.
Instead, he silently retreated back inside the Meng family''s manor with a pale look on his face, as his feet continued to tremble.
Of course, even when they were augmented by the runes of a rank 2 silver grade formation master, how could the formations around the Meng''s family''s mansion stop Liu Mei''s undead army?!,
The secondyer, the third, the fourth... the fifth!
Theyers of protective formations were shattered one after the other, and in less than 10 breaths of time, Liu Mei''s white skeletons and her ck-armored undead knights hadpletely surrounded the mansion.
The 3m(10ft) tall undead knights, were the first to enter inside the Meng family''s headquarters. The door that covered the headquarters was like a thin piece of paper in front of Liu Mei''s powerful undead knights, as an army of more than 200 undead creatures then entered inside.
Without waiting for her mother''s response, Liu Mei also had the ''red-winged condor'' follow after the skeletons and enter inside.
The Elders situated near the entrance were the first ones to shout out in rm, but their screams were immediately suppressed as their heads were immediately separated from their necks, while the undead knights led the white skeletons and continued deeper inside.
Although this was just the headquarters that the Meng family had inside the ''Floating Cloud city'' and not the ce where everyone from the Meng family lived, all of the Elders of the Meng family were situated here.
As for the rest of their family members, they upied an ind in the mortal world by themselves.
All of the Meng family descendants would alwayse and join the ''Floating Cloud sect'' once they reached the middle stages of the Qi condensation stage, but they couldn''t obviously all be inner disciples.
Instead, they would still have the status of an outer disciple, but their lives would be much easier and morefortable than normal outer disciples.
After all, not only would they receive benefits from their family as well, but as members of one of the 5 biggest families, they also enjoyed a certain degree of authority as well.
Of course, some of the early-stage Heaven grade experts of the Meng family would stay back in the ''Mortal world'', but overall, they amounted to an even lower number than the number of Heaven grade experts on the mortal ind where Shun Long''s parents lived.
The blood from the 2 early-stage Heaven grade Elders of the Meng family who were situated next to the entrance, had dyed the greatswords of Liu Mei''s undead knights into a dark red color, as the scent of blood slowly filled the corridors of the Meng family''s mansion.
Of course, since the formations that were covering the mansion were already broken, the imposing Meng family''s Elders were now trapped inside, like a group of sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves.
Despite the fact that the Meng family wouldn''t bepletely eradicated, even if everyone inside their headquarters died, since they would still have some descendants as outer disciples, as well as an entire mortal ind filled with the rest of them, destroying the Meng family mansion wasn''t different thanpletely destroying the Meng family itself.
After all, all of their high-ranking Elders stayed inside the headquarters at all times, leaving very few of them outside the sect.
Every single Elder that died by Liu Mei''s undead knights was a powerhouse that the Meng family had used countless resources to nurture!
However, the undead knights and the white skeletons had only found 2 more Elders on their way inside the Meng family''s headquarters, before they arrived in front of the main room.
Liu Mei was originally stunned for a moment, seeing that her skeletons and her undead knights had only encountered 4 Elders, all of them at the early stages of the Heaven grade, but after thinking about it for a moment, it made sense.
All of them were probably gathered inside the room in front of her, instead of thinning out their manpower by splitting up.
Without any suspense, the door of the room was broken down by one of the 12 undead knights, revealing the scene inside the main room.
The old patriarch of the Meng family, Meng Shao, their current patriarch, Meng Yang, as well as the young master of the Meng family Meng Shengyi, were surrounded by 8 Elders of the Meng family, all of them at thete-stages of the Heaven grade.
Of course, the strongest among these people was still the old patriarch, Meng Shao, whose cultivation was at the middle rank 9 in the Heaven grade, followed by Meng Yang who was an early rank 9 Heaven grade expert.
In front of the 8 ck-robed Elders were 35 Elders and inner disciples of the Meng family, all of them at the early and middle stages of the Heaven grade!
This was the most powerful force of one of the 5 biggest families of the sect, the Meng family!
Although she had already expected this, Lin Huefeng couldn''t believe the scene in front of her. The powerful experts of the Meng family were all scared of her own daughter.
Seeing Liu Mei''s undead army finally arrive at the main room, Meng Shao''s pale expression turned even paler.
He knew that he had no chance to survive or escape against this lineup, even with all of the Elders of the Meng familybined.
In fact, just one of these undead knights was probably strong enough to destroy the Meng family all by itself.
Seeing Liu Mei''s skeletons that flooded the room andpletely surrounded the Elders of the Meng family, Meng Shao stared at Liu Mei with a cold look in his eyes, before he said with a tone filled with anger and killing intent
''''At least tell me the reason why you attacked my Meng family! I do not ept dying without even knowing the reason why!''''
Liu Mei''s eyes narrowed as she stared at the furious old patriarch of the Meng family, and with a serious look in her eyes she nodded her head before she asked him instead
''''How many innocent mortals has your Meng family killed during the years? How many have you forced into very in the spirit stone mines, just so your family would get a bigger profit in the end?
When these people whose lifespan doesn''t even reach 100 years died, did you answer their questions when they asked why?''''
Seeing the look in Meng Shao''s eyes turn into a mocking one, Liu Mei smiled coldly, before she continued
''''Of course, this is just an excuse.
After all, I am not a hero of justice.
The real reason I am here is simply because I don''t want your family to exist any longer.
You are Liu Jian''s biggest support in the sect, so eradicating you is the same as cutting off his arms and legs.
Hehe, it''s going to be even worse for Liu Changpun!
Helping the people you have killed all these years take revenge this way is actually just a bonus.''''
Meng Shao narrowed his eyes when he heard this, before he turned his eyes towards the Elders around him.
Surprisingly, the old patriarch of the Meng family started tough, and nodding his head, he pointed at Liu Mei before he said coldly
''''Hahaha! Do you think I will allow you to kill me? Come! Let''s experience hell together!''''
The moment that Meng Shao finished his words, serious looks had appeared deep inside the eyes of the Elders of the Meng family, as they all nodded their heads at the same time.
Meng Shengyi''s face however had already turned pale, as he stared at Liu Mei with a gaze filled with killing intent.
He was the young master of one of the 5 biggest families in the sect. Even Liu Mei''s status in the sect could be considered lower than his own!
How could he ept that he was going to die?
''''N-''''
Before he could say a single word however, the old patriarch, Meng Shao suddenly shouted coldly, in a voice that reverberated throughout the entire mansion!
''''NOW!''''
A terrifying aura erupted from the Elders of the Meng family around him, while a powerful white light had appeared from their bodies,pletely drowning everything in sight.
Liu Mei''s eyes instantly narrowed, while the 12 undead knights all raised their 2m(6.6ft) ck greatswords at the same time.
Outside of the Meng family''s headquarters, a serious look had appeared in Liu Jian''s eyes, before he hurriedly gathered his qi in his hands, creating arge qi shield.
The Elders around him all did the same, putting their qi inside Liu Jian''s qi shield that hadpletely enveloped their bodies.
...
In the sky above the ''Floating Cloud city'', Shun Long stared at the scene in the ''Floating Cloud city'' without saying a word.
He and Liu Mei had already felt something simr in the past, but in a muchrger scale, so Shun Long could instantly understand what the auraing from the Meng''s family''s mansion really was.
This was the aura of 10te-stage Heaven grade experts, as well as 35 middle and early stage ones detonating their cultivation at the same time!
Indeed, Meng Shao would never allow Liu Mei to kill him! He would rather die by himself and take all of her skeletons down with him!
BOOOM!!
A powerful explosion erupted from the Meng family''s mansion, as it spread outwards, towards the rest of the ''Floating Cloud city''!
Chapter 330 - 330 Destruction
Chapter 330 - 330 Destruction
The entire ''Floating Cloud city'' started to tremble as the powerful explosioning from the Meng family''s mansion started to spread outwards.
Liu Mei''s skeletons who were scattered inside the main room and were about to attack the Meng family''s Elders, were instantly drowned in the white light, that continued to expand outwards.
Liu Jian had a solemn look on his face when he saw the white light spreading towards him, and without any hesitation, he and the Elders around him all braced for impact.
Although 1 or 2te-stage Heaven grade cultivators detonating their dantians couldn''t threaten Liu Jian who was a peak rank 3 Spirit realm expert, it was different when it involved almost 40 Heaven grade experts doing the same thing simultaneously and at such a small distance.
Liu Jian even suspected that Liu Mei''s skeletons and perhaps even her undead knights would most likely suffer some serious injuries this time.
BOOM
Liu Jian''s qi barrier started to tremble, while the color from the faces of the Elders around him had instantly vanished.
The terrifying powering from the Meng family''s headquarters was much more powerful than what any Elder from the sect could handle by themselves.
If it wasn''t for Liu Jian''s qi shield, any Elder caught inside this white light would most likely die in an instant!
Evente-stage Heaven grade Elders weren''t an exception to this.
Everyone else aside from Liu Jian and the Grand Elder Lan Hong, who was at the peak rank 1 of the Spirit realm, could feel their qi being drained extremely rapidly, as they used all of their strength to resist the horrifying powering from the mansion in front of them.
''''What''s going on?''''
''''Eart-Earthquake? How can there be an earthquake?''''
At the outer part of the ''Floating Cloud city'', the outer disciples could feel the earth beneath their feet that was violently shaking, before they all turned their gazes towards the inner city at the same time.
A white ball of light had started to expand from the northern part of the city,pletely submerging everything in its path. Luckily, the white light itself had only managed to cover a few buildings in the outer city before it finally stopped expanding.
A few momentster, the white light slowly started to decrease in intensity, almost as if it was dispersing itself in the air around the city.
At the headquarters of the Meng family, in front of the ce where the main room previously existed, Liu Mei and her mother, Lin Huefeng, who were both covered by Liu Mei''s powerful undead knights, as they watched the scene inside the main room of the mansion with different expressions in their eyes.
Liu Mei hadn''t expected Meng Shao to be so decisive and detonate himself along with all of his Elders of his Meng family.
He was really determined to take Liu Mei and her skeletons down with him!
Liu Mei''s gaze then slowly fell to 3 of her jade-white skeletons that were the closest to the explosion just now.
Surprisingly, their bones had actually started to crack... but that was all there was to it.
Not a single skeleton was destroyed by Meng Shao''s attack.
Aside from 3 of them having their bones broken, there wasn''t any other form of injury in Liu Mei''s undead army!
Of course, even if the skeletons were obliterated into a pile of dust, Liu Mei could still summon them again by using her death qi.
Healing the broken bones of 3 of her 200 skeletons was barely a drop in the bucket for Liu Mei''s qi reserves.
As for the undead knights, there wasn''t even a single scratch in their armors.
It was as if the terrifying explosion that had razed the entire Meng family mansion to the ground, couldn''t harm the powerful middle rank 4 Spirit realm undead knights in the slightest.
Lin Huefeng observed the scene in front of her with eyes filled with shock.
One of the 5 strongest families of the sect, the Meng family that had a history of almost 1000 years, was actually destroyed in front of her eyes just like that!
Even the bodies of Meng Shao and Meng Yang, the 2te-stage Heaven grade experts were obliterated in the process, along with the rest of the Meng family mansion.
The only thing that Liu Mei''s mother could barely make out in the ruins in front of her, now that the white light was receding, was a few half-destroyed spatial rings.
As soon as the white light disappeared, Liu Jian and the Elders around him who were still standing in the sky, revealed their disheveled appearances after resisting the terrifying explosion that hade from the Meng family mansion.
The Meng family mansion hadpletely disappeared, leaving behind a pile of debris and dust.
Lowering their gazes to look down below, both Liu Jian and Liu Changpun, as well as the Grand Elder Lan Hong felt the blood from their faces being drained.
Seeing Liu Mei and Lin Huefeng stand in front of the door where the Meng family''s main room previously existed, without so much as a single scratch on their bodies, was shocking. But seeing Liu Mei''s skeletons being in practically perfect condition was horrifying!
Liu Jian and Lan Hong had expected that Liu Mei''s skeletons would have suffered grave injuries if they weren''t obliterated to dust, and only the terrifying, huge ck-armored knights would be able to resist this explosion!
After all, even an expert like Liu Jian would have, at the very least, suffered serious injuries if he had to face this explosion by himself!
Although Liu Jian knew that he wasn''t a match for the powerful undead knights, he had originally estimated that he was much stronger than the jade-white skeletons.
After all, even though he was still at the peak of rank 3 in the Spirit realm, Liu Jian was also confident in defeating an early rank 4 Spirit realm expert by fighting head-on, and despite the jade-white skeletons being at the early rank 4 of the Spirit realm, Liu Jian didn''t believe that they were actually strong enough to fight against an early rank 4 Spirit realm expert!
However, aside from a few broken bones in the skeletons'' bodies that were the closest to the explosion, the rest of them had practically suffered no injuries!
Liu Jian and Lan Hong both shivered when they noticed this detail!
Didn''t that mean that Liu Mei by herself, had at least 200 skeletons at the same level as Liu Jian, and 12 undead knights who were even stronger than him?
As for Liu Changpun, his face had already turned white, while his feet had already started losing their strength.
He had originally prayed that both Liu Mei and Lin Huefeng would be buried along with the Meng family. Although the Meng family was important to him, eradicating Liu Mei was even more important in his heart!
And yet, the scene in front of him waspletely different from what he had expected!
Liu Mei was sitting on the ''red-winged condor''s backpletely unharmed, as she was surrounded by her army of undead.
How could Liu Chanpun ept this? How much stronger had Liu Mei turnedpared to him in just a year?
Liu Chanpun had knelt and begged the Dao King of the ''Vermilion realm'' to take him on as a disciple, and yet he chose his untalented sister? As these thoughts shed through his mind, Liu Changpun''s face slowly turned warped, filled with both killing intent as well as fear.
After having her skeletons sweep through everything that valuable that still remained in the Meng family''s mansion, including Meng Shao''s and Meng Yang''s spatial rings, Liu Mei had the rank 3 condor who was still shaking in fear to slowly soar in the sky, as she headed towards the outer city.
At the same time, Liu Jian who was about to follow Liu Mei, received a report of the damages that the sect had suffered during this time, causing his face to instantly turn pale.
Despite the fact that no inner disciples had actually died aside from the members of the Meng family... the entire northern part of the inner city had beenpletely destroyed.
Almost one-fourth of the inner city had actually been razed to the ground, while the damages had also expanded to the outer city as well.
At the same time, at the center of the ''Floating Cloud city'', inside Liu Jian''s pce, Liu Changpun''s mother had also received the report of what had just taken ce minutes ago in the Meng family''s manor.
After all, this wasn''t a matter that could be hidden or suppressed for any reason, as it involved one of the 5 strongest families of the city.
A simr report arrived at the mansion of the Lan family in the southern part of the inner city, as well as at fatty Fu''s Fu family, as well as the Lu family.
The destruction of the Meng family only took a few minutes to spread throughout the 4 families of the ''Floating Cloud city'', bringing different reactions to the people who learned about this.
The patriarchs of the Lan and the Fu families were actually overjoyed! Despite this weakening the overall strength of the sect somewhat, the Meng family was actually destroyed!
This implicated more things than just the temporary weakening of the sect itself.
Inside the Lu family''s mansion, Lu Wen who had already suppressed his brothers and would be the family head in the next 2 years, couldn''t believe the report that he had just received.
The Meng family was destroyed by Liu Jian''s daughter?
Looking at the ck-robed Elder who was standing in front of him, he then asked with his eyes wide open and in a voice that couldn''t hide his shock and disbelief
''''Liu Mei? Didn''t she die in the ''Vermilion realm''?''''
The ck-robed Elder shook his head, but his expression had also turned ugly. He clearly understood what this matter meant for Lu Wen''s own ns!
Different thoughts shed through Lu Wen''s mind one by one.
He suddenly remembered Fu Liing to visit him a couple of months before the ''Vermilion realm''s'' opening, and telling him that ''their brother'' was actually interested in the sect master''s daughter.
He had also mentioned how he and Shun Long had met Liu Mei, Lan Jinjing and Meng Shengyi in the ''Treasure Pavilion'', as well as everything else that had ured.
Lu Wen had of course agreed to keep an eye on Liu Mei after fatty Fu''s urging, but in his mind he had scoffed at this idea.
Since Meng Shengyi was interested in Liu Mei, who was Shun Long to go against him?
Like Fu Li, Meng Shenyi was in a different situation than Lu Wen.
He didn''t have brothers either, and he was the only heir to the Meng family!
Even if Lu Wen had to give up on Shun Long due to this matter, it wouldn''t really affect his ns by too much.
After all, ever since he had returned back to the sect, Lu Wen had already limited his contact with Shun Long, not caring too much about him.
Aside from drinking wine 3 times with him and Fu Li, Lu Wen couldn''t care too much about this ''brother'' of his.
Although Shun Long was talented, it would certainly take a while until he matured. By then, the position of the family head of the Lu family would already be his.
At best, Shun Long would be able to provide him with the assistance of a high-ranking Elder in the future.
After all, once he entered the inner city and became an inner disciple, Shun Long would have to choose between which family he wanted to join.
Lu Wen was certain that his only options by then would be either his Lu family or fatty Fu''s Fu family.
As these thoughts shed through Lu Wen''s mind, he suddenly remembered an important detail.
Didn''t Shun Long die in the ''Vermilion realm'' along with Liu Mei and the rest?
Chapter 331 - 331 Betrayed?
Chapter 331 - 331 Betrayed?
Lu Wen remembered that certain high profile inner disciples, as well as the person who would soon be an important inner disciple himself, Wen Zihao, the person ranked first in the arena, had disappeared in the ''Vermilion realm'' this time well.
He clearly remembered fatty Fu''s expression when he had mentioned that Shun Long was among these people too, but Lu Wen had been the most shocked by Wen Zihao''s disappearance at that time.
That was the person who only had 2 defeats in the outer arena, and would certainly be an outstanding Elder of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' in the future.
He even had a chance of bing a figure simr to the Grand Elder Lan Hong!
Lu Wen wouldn''t wait until Wen Zihao became too strong in order to curry favor with him.
Instead, he had nned on investing in him as soon as they returned from the ''Vermilion realm''.
This was why he was so disappointed once he heard that Wen Zihao had disappeared this time.
Although there was also a small chance that he had passed the second trial as well, to Lu Wen, it didn''t make a difference.
At the same time, among the people who had disappeared, was also the sect master''s daughter.
Lu Wen suddenly remembered, that fatty Fu had also mentioned back then, that Liu Mei might have been interested in Shun Long.
At the time, Lu Wen had scoffed at Fu Li inwardly.
Lu Wen considered himself more handsome than Shun Long, richer, as well as stronger.
Even in terms of talent, he didn''t think that he was inferior to Shun Long.
Despite Shun Long rising in cultivation too fast, Lu Wen didn''t believe that he was any slower than him.
Additionally, Lu Wen had also been fortifying his cultivation in preparation for his breakthrough to the Spirit realm in the future.
He already knew from his grandfather how tough the breakthrough to the Spirit realm would be, and yet, Lu Wen wasn''t daunted in the slightest.
After all, despite taking his time fortifying his cultivation in preparation for his breakthrough, in thest 2 years, thanks to all the pills that he had consumed from the Lu family as well as the Meng family, Lu Wen had already be an early rank 2 Heaven grade cultivator, reaching the same level as his older brother!
It was impossible for Shun Long to be any faster than him!
However, without knowing why, as he thought of Shun Long, an astonishing thought was suddenly formed on Lu Wen''s mind without any rhyme or reason.
''''What if Shun Long actually managed to get together with Liu Jian''s daughter?''''
Lu Wen didn''t know why this thought had suddenly sprouted in his mind and he immediately tried to suppress it, but the more he thought about it, the more this idea had started to take root in his thoughts.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, his eyes shed with a bright light, as he moved towards the door of his room.
Although it didn''t make any logical sense, and he had no reason to believe that this was true, Lu Wen intended to personally check whether Shun Long and Liu Mei had reallye to the ''Floating Cloud city'' together or not.
Besides, Liu Mei''s destruction of the Meng family had already destroyed his ns.
Lu Wen knew that it was only a matter of time before his brothers got wind of this issue as well and came to restrain him.
After all, without the Meng family as his ally and support, Lu Wen also knew that his grandfather would no longer support him either.
The Lu family''s old patriarch only cared for results.
Since Lu Wen had managed to fool his brothers for so long in order to take the position of the family head, his grandfather had secretly given his approval and even gave him pills and spirit stones to rear his own army.
However, if Lu Wen''s ns were foiled, then even if he lost everything to his brothers his grandfather still wouldn''t care.
After all, the old patriarch of the Lu family had 3 descendants to choose from, not just Lu Wen.
At the same time that Lu Wen was about to leave his room however, he suddenly felt his vision getting blurry while a painful sensation had suddenly appeared at the back of his neck.
Lu Wen felt like his body had suddenly been robbed of all its strength, as the second young master of the Lu family copsed to the floor of his room.
He did his utmost not to lose consciousness and slowly turned his head around, only to see that the ck-robed Elder who had just reported the news of the Meng family to him was the one to send a chop at his neck, aiming to render him unconscious.
''''Why?''''
Lu Wen mumbled while he felt his eyelids dropping ever so slowly.
Shaking his head, the ck-robed Elder of the Lu family, Lu Chen, shook his head before he answered
''''Young master, I am sorry, but it''s already over. The Meng family has already been defeated! You no longer have a chance to be the family head! The next family head will surely be young master Lu Gong!''''
Before he lost consciousness, these words resounded in Lu Wen''s ears over and over, bringing him endless anger and killing intent!
So Lu Chen, one of his most trusted Elders, was actually nted by his elder brother? Or was it that he chose to betray him after learning of the Meng family''s betrayal?
Without any more time to contemte over this issue, Lu Wen could feel his consciousness drifting away, unable to hold on any longer as he finally passed out.
At the same time, in the sky above the ''Administration Building'' of the outer city, Liu Mei was sitting on the ''red-winged condor''s'' back, and stared at her mother next to her before she said in a serious tone
''''Mother, this will be thest thing before we leave!''''
Lin Huefeng nodded her head with a solemn look in her eyes as she tightly held her daughter''s hands.
She knew that what Liu Mei wanted to do now, was probably going to change the ''Floating Cloud sect'' forever.
Chapter 332 - 332 The sects secret
Chapter 332 - 332 The sect''s secret
Liu Jian and Liu Changpun, as well as the Grand Elder, Lan Hong, had just read the report of the damages that the inner sect had suffered when Liu Jian suddenly realized that Liu Mei was missing.
An ufortable feeling appeared in his heart as he remembered Liu Mei heading towards the outer city of the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Without wasting any more time, Liu Jian flew directly towards the outer city by himself.
Seeing their sect master suddenly getting fl.u.s.tered for no reason, the Elders around him looked at each other confused before they chose to follow behind him.
At the same time, on the ''red-winged condor''s'' back, Liu Mei looked at the crowd of outer disciples who had already gathered curiously in the ground below her, and after taking a deep breath, her eyes shone with a bright light as her voice suddenly resounded throughout the entire ''Floating Cloud city'' as she said seriously
''''Outer disciples of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', quickly gather here!
My name is Liu Mei, and I am your sect master''s daughter. Today I have something very important to announce to all of you!''''
The moment that he heard these words, Liu Jian increased his speed with an angry look in his eyes.
For a moment, he had even forgotten the terror of the ck-armored knights.
Liu Mei had an announcement to make? There was no way that Liu Jian was going to allow this!
More and more outer disciples had gathered in the ground below the ''red-winged condor'' that Liu Mei and Lin Huefeng were riding on.
Seeing the dozen 3m(12ft) tall undead knights leading an army of 200 skeletons, all of them floating in the air around Liu Mei, a feeling of terror as well as curiosity had welled up in the outer disciples'' hearts.
''''Senior sister Liu?''''
A thin and bald young man dressed in yellow robes, who seemed to be around 1.8m(5.10ft) tall, was the first one to break the silence between the outer disciples as he looked at Liu Mei in the sky.
Lowering her head, Liu Mei seemed to have recognized this young man, as she nodded her head at him.
''''Senior brother Kang Sun?''''
''''It''s really senior brother Kang! Does that mean that that young woman is really our sect master''s daughter?''''
''''Of course! Since senior brother Kang has already recognized her identity there is no question about it. Senior brother Kang wouldn''t lie!''''
In the past 1 year, since Wen Zihao had left the sect along with Shun Long and the rest of the people who wanted to travel to the ''Night star continent'', Kang Sun had already be the person ranked first in the arena.
Despite not being allowed to enter the ''Vermilion realm'' since he had refused to follow after Liu Changpun, he should have originally been left behind by the people who had met with fortuitous encounters in there.
However, after Wen Zihao was gone, no one in the outer city was actually strong enough to defeat him and take first ce from him, including the young woman who was previously ranked 3rd, Tong Yueying.
This had caused Kang Sun''s prestige to rise even further, and be practically at the same level as Wen Zihao''s in the past.
Shun Long who was still standing in the sky high above the clouds with Fu Li, nodded his head once he saw Kang Sun, before he turned his gaze towards the fatty next to him and said seriously
''''Fatty, that guy has a good character. It''s not a bad idea to take him in your family. If he declines, it''s fine, but if he agrees, you know that he will be honest and follow you faithfully.''''
Although Shun Long hadn''t interacted with Kang Sun personally, he had still managed to grasp the most basic traits of his character, which was why he suggested to Fatty Fu to take care of him.
As for whether Kang Sun really wanted to follow fatty or not, that would be up to him.
After all, Shun Long understood what Liu Mei was intending to do and knew, that this was probably going to change the structure of the entire sect after today.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Mei nodded her head as she continued
''''It''s time for you to learn the true face of the sect. Otherwise, you will only realize that this is a prison once it''s toote.''''
Before Liu Mei could finish her words, Liu Jian had quickly appeared a few tens of meters away from her, only stopping when he caught sight of the familiar army of skeletons surrounding his daughter.
With an angry look on his face, he pointed at Liu Mei and said in a furious tone
''''Liu Mei! You have no right to reveal the secrets of the sect! If you want to take revenge on me you have long since overstepped your bounds!''''
The moment that the crowd saw the angry sect master arriving, they all fell silent like a group of cicadas in the winter.
Most outer disciples had never even seen the sect master before, let alone know that he had fought with Liu Mei earlier.
Only the Elders and the inner disciples of the inner city knew about this matter, and of course, they wouldn''t spread it to the outer disciples no matter what.
Liu Mei shook her head as she looked back at Liu Jian, and with a serious look in her eyes she answered solemnly
''''This is not about revenge.
''Father'', don''t act as if you really are blind.
You know the true reason why the sect isn''t growing as you wanted it to. It''s because the 5 families have made the outer and inner disciples act like ves.
The outer disciples have to forcefully sell their spoils from the ''Demonic Mountain range'' once they join the sect and simply exchange them for sect points without having a choice to refuse, but there are even those greedy Elders who don''t even give outpensation.
Of course, this is how the sect works, and this is why outer disciples cannotin, since they had agreed to follow the sect rules no matter what.
However, is this really helping the sect?
Everything is done, only to benefit your 5 families in the end.
You are looking for ves to mine the spirit stone mine, while everything goes in the pockets of the 5 families, asionally rewarding a few spirit stones to the top 100 of the arena rankings to motivate them to be inner disciples.
But what really happens when they be inner disciples?''''
At the same time, shock had filled Fatty Fu''s face up in the sky, as he looked at Shun Long next to him and asked fearfully
''''Brother, is senior sister Liu going to reveal everything? It will really destroy the sect if she does!''''
Although Fatty Fu didn''t agree with the way that the sect treated inner disciples, having to swear a Dao oath that they will forever follow the family that they join, he also understood the way that the big families viewed this matter.
After all, if a family groomed someone to a high level, then it was only natural to them to have that person forever tied to them as a ve.
This was the only way to ensure that these people wouldn''t leave them in the future to join some other bigger sect or some other powerful family.
Of course, the sect could also be more amiable, and not force such harsh Dao oaths to its inner disciples or its Elders, but since it has been working like that for so many years, nobody was willing to try and change that, including the sect master Liu Jian!
After all, although the sect said that it allowed its outer disciples to leave once they reached thete-stages of the earth grade if they wanted to, Fatty Fu had also heard from his grandfather that it was actually a lie.
Even if you didn''t ept bing an inner disciple, you will have to stay inside the ''outer city'' for your entire life.
This was why Liu Mei called the sect a prison!
Once you enter, there is no way out, unless you have steeled yourself to never advance in your Dao any further!
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Fatty Fu with a serious look.
This was something that had to be done, both for the disciples of the sect, as well as the sect itself.
No one from the big families was willing to try and change the way the sect really worked, but this would only cause further problems in the future.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t care about any of this. Whether the ''Floating Cloud sect'' was destroyed or not in the future or whether it copsed on its own was none of his concerns.
However, Liu Mei seemed to have wanted to change this, without caring if this ended up hurting the 4 big families in the end.
The outer disciples all nodded their heads when they heard Liu Mei''s words.
It was true that their only choice if they weren''t already versed in alchemy, was to work in the mines of the sect, or take on some dangerous missions from the ''Administration Building'' in order to earn sect points.
After all, aside from the 30 sect points that an outer disciple would get once they join the sect, the sect wouldn''t even give them a te of food or a ce to stay.
It wasn''t really a ce that promoted cultivation, but clearly worked more like a prison-city rather than a sect.
Those who were unfortunate enough to have be rank 1 bronze grade formation masters were equally as useless to the sect.
Since no disciples had their own freedom to explore the ces beyond the sect, or their own homes to inscribe formations to, formation masters below the rank 3 bronze grade were essentially useless to the sect itself and couldn''t make a living.
Among the outer disciples in the crowd were certainly those who hadn''t receivedpensation in the past, once some Elders had forcefully snatched their spoils aftering out from the ''Demonic Mountain region''.
After taking a deep breath, Liu Mei looked at the crowd and asked in a solemn tone
''''Do you want to know what happens when you be inner disciples?'''',
''''STOP!''''
Liu Changpun shouted from the distance, as he had only now arrived at the scene along with the rest of the Elders of the sect.
Everyone, including the Grand Elder Lan Hong, had serious looks on their faces as they looked at Liu Mei.
Liu Mei however, didn''t even turn her head to nce at Liu Chanpun, and with a serious look on her face she continued
''''The sect will force you to swear a Dao oath, that you will forever be ves of the family that you choose to join!
You are not given another chance aside from this!
The powerful and lofty inner disciples that you all admire, are in reality ves tied to the sect without the slightest hint of freedom!''''
The moment that Liu Mei finished her words, the sect descended into silence!
Chapter 333 - 333 Lu Wen and Lu Gong
Chapter 333 - 333 Lu Wen and Lu Gong
The outer disciples stared at the sect master, the Grand Elder and all the Elders in the sky with obvious shock in their eyes.
Liu Mei''s words were like a bolt of thunder resounding in the air, immediately silencing the entire sect.
After a few more moments of silence, an outer disciple was the first one to speak in a low voice that couldn''t hide his fear
''''So we are actually prisoners in the sect?''''
This disciple''s words weren''t loud, but they were clearly heard by everyone else around him, waking them up from their stupor!
''''I will leave the sect!!''''
It was unknown which disciple was the first one to say this, but countless disciples had started running simultaneously towards the city''s gates!
Of course, in the poption of a few millions, the 50.000 disciples that had heard Liu Mei''s words weren''t many.
However, once the rest of the outer disciples from the sect noticed nearly 50.000 outer disciples running towards the ''Floating Cloud city''s'' gates at the same time, they immediately understood that something was wrong!
One of the Elders from the Liu family was the first one to return back to his senses, and looking at these outer disciples with eyes filled with anger and killing intent, he shouted loudly in a booming voice
''''STOP!''''
Some disciples immediately stopped running, obviously intimidated by the Elder''s anger, but more than half of them continued towards the city gates despite their fear!
The Elder from the Liu family immediately flew towards the city gates, and before the outer disciples could get there, he instantly closed the city gates, preventing anyone from leaving the sect.
After shooting an angry look at Liu Mei, he turned his eyes towards the dazed sect master who didn''t seem to have recovered from his shock yet.
The most furious out of everyone however, was Liu Changpun.
He knew that even if they prevented the disciples from leaving, Liu Mei''s words would surely spread throughout the ''outer city'' like wildfire, and every outer disciple would know of this matter by tomorrow morning.
How was he going to be the sect master in the future if the sect was in a chaotic condition?
Liu Changpun wanted to curse Liu Mei until he was satisfied, but after seeing the ck-armored knights and the skeletons who were floating next to her, he quickly gulped down his words.
Liu Mei however didn''t seem to care about Liu Changpun''s or anyone else''s reaction.
After throwing one more look towards Liu Jian, she could finally leave the sect without any more burdens in her heart.
As for how Liu Jian chose to resolve this issue, this was something that he had to decide on.
After all, Liu Mei knew that the outer disciples would be unable to leave the sect right away, even if they wanted to.
In the forest around the sect, there were countless rank 1, rank 2 and even some rank 3 magic beasts lying in wait.
Aside from the most powerful disciples at the top 100 of the arena rankings, no one else could safely leave the sect by themselves.
As for whether Liu Jian was willing to give fewer benefits to the 4 remaining big families in order to help the outer disciples grow instead, this was up to him to decide.
Lin Huefeng sighed as she saw the sect bing smaller and smaller in her eyes.
...
At the same time that Liu Mei''s ''red-winged condor'' was soaring in the sky, in the Lu family''s mansion, the white-robed Lu Wen was tied up in the family dungeon with his hands and feet both cuffed on the wall behind him.
Lu Wen still hadn''t regained his consciousness just yet, but the ck-robed Elder named Lu Chen emptied a few buckets of cold water on his previous young master''s head without any hesitation.
Feeling the cold water being sshed on his body made Lu Wen clear-minded once again, as he finally regained his consciousness.
As he opened his eyes however, Lu Wen found himself chained tightly, while in front of him was his ''loyal servant'' Lu Chen standing next to a man who seemed to be in his early 30s.
The man''s facial features were extremely simr to Lu Wen''s, but his hair was a lot longer than his, and his eyes were actually a dark shade of brown.
The young man was wearing bright green robes, and was staring at Lu Wen with a smile on his face, not hiding the air of arrogance and superiority in his eyes in the slightest.
Lu Wen''s face warped when he saw his older brother standing in front of him while his body was chained on the wall of the dungeon. After taking a deep breath to regain his bearings, Lu Wen looked at his elder brother coldly before he spoke in amanding tone
''''Lu Gong, untie me! How dare you imprison your own brother?''''
It wasn''t that Lu Wen and his brothers had a good rtionship with each other which was why Lu Wen demanded to be uncuffed, but imprisoning a direct descendant was actually a grave crime in the Lu family!
Surprisingly, Lu Gong started tough, and looking at Lu Wen with a mocking look in his eyes, the eldest young master of the Lu family said coldly
''''Little brother, this is the ce where you will die. There is no reason to try and scream or shout, no one will hear you!
However, if you have anyst words or unfulfilled wishes, you can tell your elder brother, hehe.''''
Lu Wen''s eyes widened incredulously when he heard Lu Gong''s words.
He didn''t believe that his brother had the guts to kill him, otherwise he would have done so long ago.
And yet, the look, the aura, as well as Lu Gong''s bodynguage, made Lu Wen believe that his brother wasn''t actually bluffing.
Suppressing his fear, Lu Wen looked at his elder brother with a mocking look that didn''t hide his amus.e.m.e.nt, before he asked with a smile on his face
''''Lu Gong, you say that you dare to kill me? Why don''t you try and see if you will live to see the sun rise tomorrow? Will grandfather or father let you go after you have killed your own brother?''''
Instead of getting angry, Lu Gong smiled, and patting Lu Wen''s cheek with his hand he said
''''You traitorous snake, do you think that I could have imprisoned you without grandfather and father finding out about this?''''
Seeing Lu Wen''s eyes suddenly widen, Lu Gong smiled even wider as he continued
''''Indeed, little brother, it''s just as you have guessed! Father and grandfather must surely know about this.
Since you betrayed our family, you have to face punishment!''''
Lu Wen could no longer keep his calm face, and looking at his older brother who had taken out a dagger from his waist and was now holding it in his hand, he asked angrily
''''Lu Gong, stop spouting lies! When did I ever betray our family?''''
Shaking his head, Lu Gong looked at his brother while still fiddling with the dagger in his hands and said mockingly
''''Didn''t you ept more than 20 early Heaven grade cultivators from the Meng family? Don''t tell me that you didn''t give them any promises in return, such as that you will cooperate with them in the future once you became the family head?''''
Looking at his brother with disbelief in his eyes, Lu Wen seemed to have just realized where this matter was heading towards.
His grandfather already knew about the issue with the Meng family, and Lu Wen was certain that he had also tacitly agreed to this.
What had happened between then and now?
Lu Wen immediately got the answer to his question. The destruction of the Meng family!
Seeing that his younger brother had immediately understood what he meant without exining everything, Lu Gong smiled and nodded his head, as he confirmed Lu Wen''s thoughts.
''''Indeed, since the Meng family is destroyed, you can no longer be the family head. After all, it is already known throughout the city that you epted 23 inner disciples from the Meng family.
What will happen if the sect master''s daughter learns about this issue andes to destroy our Lu family as well?
After all, although our Lu family is certainly stronger than the Meng, we would certainly suffer in her hands because of you!
As you understand younger brother, we can only sacrifice you for the good of the family!''''
''''BULLSHIT!''''
Lu Wen couldn''t hold himself from ring up!
Looking at his elder brother, he wanted to point at him with his finger, but he realized that he was still cuffed, so he could only shout angrily to vent his furious emotions!
''''Lu Gong, this is obviously just an excuse that you fabricated!
You know that there is no way that Liu Mei would attack our family! Unlike the Meng family, we have never meddled with her or her Liu family! At most, she would only give us a few warnings to stay clear from the Liu''s!''''
With a smile on his face, Lu Gong nodded his head as he agreed with his brother''s words.
Under Lu Wen''s shocked gaze, Lu Gong then smiled before he answered
''''You are right little brother, this is indeed just an excuse. However, it is still the truth that you have failed to be the family head. By betting on the Meng family, you have lost this time. Whether it is I or our little brother who bes the family head, none of us would leave you alive.
After all, you are like a snake who wille to bite us once you are stronger.
Since you have lost your chance to be the family head, your own worth to the family and to grandfather''s eyes has already plummeted!
After all, even princes in the mortal kingdoms kill each other in order to be kings, let alone us when we fight for the position of the Lu family head!''''
Despair appeared in Lu Wen''s eyes, while inwardly he cursed Liu Mei''s nine generations countless times!
He knew that what Lu Gong said was true.
Even in the mortal kingdoms, princes wouldn''t let each other alive, to let them gather their strength in secret and usurp the position of the king in the future!
Of course, if Lu Wen really hadn''t cared for the position of the Lu family head, whichever brother of his eventually obtained that position, wouldn''t do anything to harm Lu Wen.
Without saying another word, Lu Gong had a smile on his face, as he shot forward and plunged the dagger in his hand at Lu Wen''s neck.
Blood gargled up in Lu Wen''s throat while a look of hate had appeared in his eyes as he stared at his elder brother.
He opened his mouth with difficulty and tried to speak, but the only sound that came was the blood that was dripping down from his lips.
...
At the same time, Shun Long smiled lightly when he saw Liu Mei flying towards him with her mother sitting next to her, before he suddenly turned his eyes towards the Lu family''s mansion.
Chapter 334 - 334 Leaving the Floating Cloud sect
Chapter 334 - 334 Leaving the ''Floating Cloud sect''
It was an instinctual feeling that had made Shun Long look towards the Lu family''s mansion.
Shun Long had already guessed, that once the Meng family fell, there was no way that Lu Wen would be allowed to leave the Lu family peacefully.
After all, the big families of the sect weren''t that much different than the royalty of the mortal world.
The only reason that fatty Fu and the previous young master of the Meng family, Meng Shengyi didn''t have to face such issues, was because they were the only heirs of their families, with no one being able to threaten their positions.
At the same time however, even if Liu Mei hadn''t chosen to destroy the Meng family herself, Shun Long had decided to do it personally.
This was both in order to destroy the Meng family, as well as personally take revenge on Lu Wen.
However, since Liu Mei had taken care of it, Shun Long decided not to meddle with the issues of the ''Floating Cloud sect'' this time.
As for Lu Wen, although Shun Long wanted to personally settle matters with him, he clearly understood that his 2 brothers wouldn''t allow him to escape once they got the chance of getting the upper hand and turn the tables on him either.
At the same time, fatty Fu had started to get anxious in his heart when he saw Liu Mei and her army of skeletons approaching towards his direction.
Although he knew that Liu Mei was onlying to meet Shun Long, after having witnessed the destruction of the Meng family personally, Fu Li felt some kind of instinctive fear towards the ck-armored undead knights and the jade-white skeletons with the bony swords who were flying towards him.
Liu Mei was stunned for a moment when she saw Fu Li standing next to Shun Long, but remembering that Shun Long was good friends with fatty, it wasn''t actually shocking.
Seeing Liu Mei and her mother approaching them, Fu Li shed an ingratiating smile towards Liu Mei as he said tteringly
''''Senior sister Liu it''s good to see you again! You have definitely inherited your beauty from your mother!''''
Shun Long was stunned as he stared at fatty Fu with his mouth agape. Fatty was actually a sweet talker.
With just one sentence he had praised both Liu Mei and her mother at the same time.
Liu Mei smiled lightly at fatty Fu while Lin Huefeng looked at him with a smile on her face as she asked
''''Fu Li, kiddo, what are you doing here?''''
As Liu Jian''s second wife, how could Liu Mei''s mother not be familiar with Fu Li and the other heirs of the big families of the sect?
However, Liu Mei was the first one to speak, before fatty Fu could answer, as she moved next to Shun Long and affectionately held his arm, as she replied in a gentle voice
''''Mother, this is Long-ge!''''
Lin Huefeng''s eyes lit up when she heard Liu Mei''s joyous voice when she introduced Shun Long to her, before she nodded her head in response.
Of course, she had already noticed Shun Long who was standing next to Fu Li earlier, but she still asked in order to allow Liu Mei to introduce Shun Long by herself.
Getting off the ''red-winged condor''s'' back, Lin Huefeng stepped forward, and holding Shun Long''s hands she smiled brightly as she said in a warm voice
''''Meimei has already told me everything about you. Thank you for taking care of my little girl!''''
Lin Huefeng had indeed heard everything about Shun Long from Liu Mei earlier, including the fact that the 2 of them were already Dao partners.
As Lin Huefeng''s eyes stared at Shun Long, there was a radiant smile on her face, akin to that of a mother-inw meeting her son-inw for the first time.
Fatty Fu however was stunned when he heard Liu Mei''s gentle way of introducing Shun Long.
How was this simr to the death queen who had just destroyed the Meng family a few minutes ago? This sounded more like a joyous wife introducing her own man to her mother!
Shun Long smiled as well when he heard Lin Huefeng''s words, before he nodded his head and answered seriously
''''Don''t worry! Since Mei''er is my woman, then of course I will take care of her''''
Seeing Shun Long and her mother getting along made Liu Mei heave out a sigh of relief, before she turned her eyes to look at Fu Li.
There was a bright smile on Liu Mei''s face as she looked at the fatty, before she asked in a curious voice
''''Fu Li, how are you and Jinjing getting along?''''
Fatty Fu''s eyes lit up when he heard the name of his fiance, and looking at Liu Mei, he patted his chest and puffed it proudly as he said
''''Senior sister, don''t worry! Me and Jinjing are doing great!''''
Suddenly, Fatty Fu paused his words, seemingly as if he had remembered something, and after a brief moment of hesitation he stared at Liu Mei before he continued
''''Senior sister Liu... actually, Jinjing has been missing you ever since you left. After all, you disappeared so suddenly...''''
Nodding her head, Liu Mei turned her eyes towards the Lan family''s mansion below her at the ''Floating Cloud city'' with a saddened look in her eyes.
Lan Jinjing''s face appeared in Liu Mei''s mind, and a feeling of sadness overcame her.
After all, Lan Jinjing and Liu Mei were childhood best friends, but they were split up so suddenly.
Lan Jinjing was also the only one who knew, that Liu Mei wasn''t nning to return to the ''Floating Cloud city'' after entering the ''Vermilion realm'', which made the young woman of the Lan family even more dejected for missing her friend.
After casting a deep look at the Lan family mansion, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long before she asked in a sweet voice
''''Long-ge, can you wait for me for a bit more?''''
Shun Long nodded his head without minding too much that he had to wait until Liu Mei finished her business.
He already knew that Lan Jinjing was Liu Mei''s best friend, so how could she leave without even seeing her once?
Almost an hourter, Liu Mei came out from the Lan family''s mansion with mixed emotions in her eyes.
She was happy that she had managed to see Lan Jinjing again and chat with her, but Liu Mei also knew that she and Shun Long probably wouldn''t have the chance to return to the Deste East for quite a while.
It would probably be at least a few years until Lan Jinjing and Liu Mei saw each other again.
Seeing that Liu Mei didn''t have any more issues to take care of, Shun Long looked at fatty Fu''s reluctant face, before he bid him farewell.
Shun Long felt somewhat emotional after saying farewell to his friend since he knew that he would probably be unable to see him for a long time, before he turned his eyes to the horizon ahead of him.,
Under fatty Fu''s shocked eyes, at the same time that Liu Mei dispersed her skeletons and undead knights, letting them turn into dust before they suddenly disappeared, a panther with glowing silver wings flew towards them from the distance.
Shun Long had let Little Silver to take a look around the territories near the sect.
As long as it didn''t go too far, he could always summon the ck panther back thanks to their soul link.
Seeing Little Silver''s majestic body and feeling its terrifying aura, a feeling of awe appeared in Fu Li''s heart, as well as excitement.
This panther''s aura was indeed much stronger than the peak rank 4 ''Flying Blue whale''s'' from the ''Golden Buddha temple''.
Seeing Little Silver flying towards them, Liu Mei also knew that it was time to leave the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Chapter 335 - 335 Lin Huefengs choice
Chapter 335 - 335 Lin Huefeng''s choice
Liu Mei''s mother was also shocked when she saw the ck panther that quickly appeared in front of them.
Although this magic beast was actually smaller in sizepared to her ''red-winged condor'', but the oppressive auraing from its body, was actually countless times more powerful than the condor itself.
After all, as an early rank 7 Heaven grade cultivator, Lin Huefeng could vaguely sense the terror hidden inside the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' body!
Although Liu Mei hadn''t exined to her exactly how powerful this panther named Little Silver was, with her experience, how could Lin Huefeng not realize that it was even more powerful than the personal magic beast of the head priest from the ''Golden Buddha temple''?
Seeing that the ''red-winged condor'' had already started to tremble and was nearing the brink of copse, Shun Long had Little Silver restrain its aura. ,
Only then did the early rank 3 condor finally stop shivering, but it still kept its distance of a few hundred meters away from the ''Silver-winged panther king'' itself.
This was the instinctive suppression and reverence, caused bying in contact with a more powerful magic beast.
For a moment, Shun Long wondered whether the ''red-winged condor'' would lose its senses and copse on the spot if it met with Little ck instead.
Shun Long and Liu Mei got on Little Silver''s back, while Liu Mei''s mother sat on the ''red-winged condor'' and tried to cate the terrified bird, before the 2 magic beasts both took flight at the same time.
Liu Mei and Lin Huefeng had mixed emotions in their hearts, as they saw the ''Floating Cloud sect'' bing smaller and smaller in the distance behind them.
Shun Long then turned his head to look at Liu Mei, before he asked curiously
''''Mei''er, what are your mother''s ns?''''
Now that she had left the ''Floating Cloud sect'', Shun Long knew that it was very likely that Lin Huefeng didn''t have a ce to stay.
Of course, as ate-stage Heaven grade expert, many of the sects around the ''Floating Cloud sect'', including the ''Roaring Wind pavilion'' or the ''Flying sword sect'', would be more than willing to ept her in their ranks as an Elder.
However, that was still a risky move for Lin Huefeng.
After all, if Liu Jian happened to get wind of this matter, with Shun Long and Liu Mei having left the ''Deste East'', it was unknown whether he would move to take back his wife or not by force. No matter how willing these sects would be to keep ate-stage Heaven grade Elder in their ranks, it was unknown if they would be willing to offend Liu Jian.
Shaking her head, Lin Huefeng didn''t wait for Liu Mei to answer for her, and looking at Shun Long she said with a gentle smile on her face
''''I''m nning to leave the ''Cultivation world'' and go to the ''mortal world'' instead. After all, even if Meimei wanted to stay with me, I wouldn''t allow her to leave your side to apany me instead.''''
After a brief moment of pause, she then continued
''''Although the ''Cultivation world'' is interesting, the dangers that are hidden in every corner are much more serious than you can imagine.''''
This was Lin Huefeng''s way of warning Shun Long and Liu Mei to be careful in the future.
Liu Mei nodded her head in response to her mother''s words.
She knew that before her mother had met Liu Jian in the past, she had traveled to many ces of the Deste East, and had nearly lost her life twice.
Looking at his ''mother-inw'', Shun Long smiled in response, before he asked her in a serious tone
''''In that case, miss Lin, do you want to stay in the ce that my parents are? They are now living in a mortal kingdom, in one of the inds of the mortal world. Even if Liu Jian knows that you are in the ''mortal world'', it will be almost impossible for him to find you between so many inds, kingdoms and cities.''''
Lin Huefeng was stunned for a moment, while her eyes lit up after hearing Shun Long''s suggestion.
This was indeed not a bad choice.
After all, instead of wandering around the ''mortal world'' alone, this way, she would be able to meet Shun Long''s parents as well.
Shun Long smiled when he saw Lin Huefeng nodding her head, while thest feeling of uncertainty disappeared from his heart.
Although he knew that his parents would be safe by themselves in the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'' without any issue, having Lin Huefeng along with them reassured him even further.
This way, both Shun Fang, Shun An and Lin Huefeng would be able to be in the same ce, and in case that something really ended up happening, Lin Huefeng would surely be able to help them.
After all, in the ''mortal ind'' that Shun Long''s parents lived, even the strongest experts were at the early stages of the Heaven grade.
Ate-stage Heaven grade expert would certainly have no equal.
Almost as if she had just remembered Shun Long''s words, a look of mock anger appeared in Lin Huefeng''s face, as she looked at Shun Long and said in a serious tone
''''What ''miss Lin''? Call me mother-inw in the future.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response without saying a word, while at the same time, a sweet feeling had appeared in Liu Mei''s heart.
Knowing that her mother would also have a ce to stay next to Shun Long''s parents made her feel at peace.
Turning around, Little Silver and the ''red-winged condor'' then started to fly towards the ''mortal world''.
With the ''red-winged condor''s'' speed, it took almost 3 hours until it arrived at the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom''.
After Shun Long introduced Lin Huefeng to his parents, both Shun Fang and Shun An epted Liu Mei''s mother with great zeal.
The 2 of them looked very happy to have met their ''daughter-inw''s'' family.
Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t leave the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'' right away, and after Liu Mei helped her mother purchase a mid-sized house right next to Shun Long''s parents, Shun Long decided to stay in the ''mortal world'' for a few more hours before they left.
...
Deep into the night, sitting on Little Silver''s back, Shun Long watched the capital city of the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'' below him with a glint in his eyes.
He knew that it would most likely be a very long time until the next time he returned here.
Without another word, Shun Long took a final nce at the city below him, before Little Silver soared to the sky like a bolt of silver lightning tearing through the night''s veil.
It was time to return back to the ''Night star continent'' and visit the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''!
Chapter 336 - 336 Arriving at the Ten thousand beasts mountain range
Chapter 336 - 336 Arriving at the Ten thousand beasts mountain range
Sitting on Little Silver''s back, Shun Long watched as the mortal ind below him quickly turned into a small, ck speck in the ocean, and just a few momentster, he and Liu Mei had already arrived back in the ''Cultivation world''.
Without stopping anywhere this time, it only took a little more than an hour for Little Silver to arrive at the ''Lightning Wastnd''.
Passing through the city which he had gotten a map of the ''Deste East'' when he and Liu Mei first arrived a few days ago, Shun Long soon saw the sea that separated the ''Deste East'' from the ''Night star continent'' ahead of him.
Since they weren''t flying at full speed however, Little Silver took a little more than a day to pass through the sea and arrive at the shore of the ''Snowcloud country''.
Shun Long had originally hoped that he would be able to hunt some rank 5 magic beasts on the way, but reality proved to bepletely different from his expectations.
Aside from a few rank 4 magic beasts that weren''t fast enough to swim away from Little Silver, Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t notice even a single rank 5 magic beast in the sea.
As soon as they sensed the ck panther''s powerful aura, all of the rank 5 magic beasts immediately fled deeper inside the sea, almost as if they werepeting on which of them could dive deeper inside.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t willing to give up on these moving beast cores like that, but even if he had Little Silver dive inside the sea, he knew that it would be pointless.
Although the ''Silver-winged panther king'' was almost unmatched in the air by magic beasts at the same level, its speed would be slowed by many times in the water.
That, and in addition to the fact that peak rank 5 magic beasts inside the water were almost as fast as the ck panther was in the sky, when it was still a rank 5 beast, made Shun Long reluctantly give up.
Of course, the idea of summoning Little ck and hunt these magic beasts also shed through his mind, but considering that he was heading towards the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' where rank 5 and even rank 6 magic beast were abundant in numbers, made Shun Long give up on this idea of his.
After stopping at a random restaurant in the royal capital of the ''Snowcloud country'' for a little more than an hour, Shun Long and Liu Mei continued forward, as they flew towards the west of the ''Night Star continent''.
The reappearance of the aura of a powerful rank 6 magic beast had quickly ced the capital of the ''Snowcloud country'' into extreme unrest, as the head guard who was at thete-stages of the Nascent Soul stage was immediately dispatched by the Dao Kings of the royal pce to investigate this matter.
Of course, since the head guard wasn''t willing to court death by directly investigating where the aura of a rank 6 magic beast wasing from, by the time that he had finished ''his search'', Shun Long and Liu Mei had already left the city.
A full dayter, the ck panther was hovering in the sky, a few tens of miles away from the ''Heaven''s Dome city''.
As he opened the map in his hands, Shun Long noticed, that they had already covered half the distance.
There were no dangerous ces to pass through this time, like the ''Netherspirit forest'' that directly blocked the way from the Heaven''s Dome city to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi, and a little more than a dayter, Shun Long saw a gigantic mountain range emerging in the distance.
The mountain range spanned further than Shun Long''s eyes could see, and was filled with enormous trees that were even taller than the ones inside the ''Vermilion Realm'', where the members of the half-fiend race lived.
''''It seems that Cui Guoliang used the trees from this ce in order to create his ''Forest of Giants'' in the ''Vermilion realm''. However, his own rank 3 ''heavy bark earth trees'' haven''t matured enough, and they can''t bepared with the ones in this ce.''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, he immediately understood that the forest in front of him was filled with a rtivelymon kind of tree called the rank 3 ''heavy bark earth tree'', which was the same kind that Cui Guoliang''s clone had used when he created his ''Forest of Giants''.
Although Shun Long knew that this tree couldn''t be used in any kind of alchemy or pill concoction, it was one of the most favourite ces for rank 4 and rank 5 magic beasts to live in.
As the ck panther approached closer and closer to this ce, the roars of magic beasts could be heard even from the huge distance that separated them, bringing Little Silver a sense of excitement, as if it was going to eat its fill this time.
At the same time, Shun Long only needed a nce to recognize that this ce was the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''!
Right before the mountain range itself, a small city was actually erected.
Although this city was small whenpared to big cities like the Heaven''s Dome city, it was actually only half the size of the Silver sword city itself.
Shun Long didn''t choose to head to the city right away, but instead, he first had Little Silver return back to the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long wasn''t afraid of anyone coveting Little Silver and try to take it as a magic beast. Instead, he was afraid that the aura of a rank 6 magic beast would scare the rank 4 and rank 5 beasts away, leaving no prey to him and Liu Mei.
After all, Shun Long had 2 main reasons foring to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
The first was to find rare rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs that could only be found in this ce, while the second one was to hunt rank 4 and even rank 5 magic beasts as he and Liu Mei trained to both be stronger.
Although Liu Mei only had to summon her skeletons or her undead knights during a fight and they could simply fight by themselves, there were still different ways that she could guide them when they fought, instead of allowing them to rush forward blindly.
Liu Mei had also noticed this during her fight with Liu Jian, where she had intentionally guided her 2 undead knights to attack him at the same time, one from the front and the other one from the side, leaving Liu Jian with no room to dodge.
Additionally, it was also rumored that the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' even had rank 6 magic beasts deeper inside. Even with Little ck''s strength, Shun Long wasn''t willing to stir up this ho''s nest just yet, unless he had absolute certainty that he could sessfully hunt a rank 6 beast and escape without revealing Little ck''s existence.
After Little Silver had returned back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long and Liu Mei flew towards the city in the distance by themselves.
Barely 15 minutester, Shun Long and Liu Mei who had already put her white veil back on her face, arrived in front of the empty city gates.
Shun Long was surprised that not a single guard was actually guarding the city gates, or the city walls, or that there wasn''t anyone asking for an entrance fee to enter the city.
After all, there were hundreds of people entering and leaving the city at the same time, and most of them were eithering from the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' or they were heading there, making it clearly obvious that this was a bustling city!
After thinking about it for a few moments, in the end, Shun Long took a step forward, as he led himself and Liu Mei in the nameless city in front of him.
Chapter 337 - 337 Ten thousand beasts city
Chapter 337 - 337 Ten thousand beasts'' city
Walking past through the city gates, Shun Long and Liu Mei both entered the bustling city in front of them without any obstruction.
Surprisingly, although this city wasn''t too big in size, it seemed to have even more people than medium-sized cities like the ''Silver sword city'' and the ''City of Sin''.
People had crowded the streets, while the amount of street stalls that were erected as people showed off their merchandise exceeded anything that Shun Long or Liu Mei had ever seen before.
After a brief nce, Shun Long noticed that most of these people were selling rank 3 and rank 4 magic beast corpses, or beast cores, while their cultivation mostly ranged at the middle andte-stages of the Spirit realm.
It only took a moment for Shun Long to realize what was going on.
It was obvious that once these people had a sessful hunt in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', they would bring their loot in this city that was located right at the edge of the mountain range itself.
The prices for the rank 4 magic beasts varied greatly, depending on the magic beast''s level, whether or not the beast''s parts were useful in alchemy of in the creation of formations, as well as the condition of the beast.
A single early rank 4 magic beast was priced at 600 middle-grade spirit stones, a middle rank 4 beast was priced at 1000 middle-grade spirit stones, while a peak rank 4 magic beast''s price varied from 2000 to 4000 middle-stage spirit stones!
Of course, Shun Long guessed that for people to hunt a single peak rank 4 magic beast, they needed to have at least a single Nascent Soul stage expert in their group, or at the very least, 3 or 4 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts.
The person who was responsible for selling the beast corpse was most likely just a member of one big group.
After all, people usually fought in numbers when they hunted magic beasts, and this was even more true for mercenaries from the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
Shun Long noticed quite a few people with the badges of the Association on their chests, most of them being A-rank mercenaries.
However, Shun Long spotted even a few S-rank mercenaries either watching the sales of the street stalls, or wandering around in the streets of this city.
Liu Mei also remembered that S-rank mercenaries corresponded to powerful early and middle-stage Nascent Soul experts.
No matter how strong she and Shun Long were right now, Liu Mei knew that they were unable to fight against an S-rank mercenary by themselves head-on.
Shun Long however didn''t seem too bothered by the Nascent Soul stage experts on the streets.
Instead, he and Liu Mei continued to walk around the city, seeing whether he could gather any useful information.
Aside from the countless street stalls that seemed to have taken up every corner of the city, Shun Long saw many different shops, including alchemy shops that sold pills, or the corpses and cores of magic beasts, as well as many formation masters'' workshops.
Of course, these alchemy shops charged a huge premium in order to sell the magic beasts'' parts that the mercenaries usually found, taking more than 40 percent of the profit.
This was the reason why many mercenaries preferred to set up their own street stalls and patiently wait until they sold their loot.
And yet, the alchemy shops continued to thrive in this city no matter what.,
Since people would enter the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' to hunt magic beasts, they needed pills to ensure their own survival.
Pills that healed these mercenaries'' injuries, as well as ''anti-toxin pills'' in case they met with an ident were the most popr ones that were purchased.
However, the formation masters also made a huge amount of spirit stones that wasn''t inferior to the alchemy shops.
Repairing the weapons and the armors of these mercenaries'' was extremely important as well.
After all, even if the mercenaries had pills to heal themselves, if their weapons were unable to pierce through the bodies of the powerful magic beasts, their pills would be unable to save them in the end.
Keeping their weapons and armor in top condition was vital to every mercenary who wanted to enter the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', including even the S-ranked mercenaries.
Shun Long also got to know that the name of this city was the ''Ten thousand beasts'' city''.
He also heard that ate-stage Dao King was actually responsible for keeping order in this city, but because he was a solitary figure, he didn''t care about cing any guards in the city entrance to collect fees.
Instead, the pill shops and the formation masters'' workshops would proactively offer this powerful figure a cut of their own profits every year, and in return, that person would make sure to keep order in the city.
Hearing that there was ate-stage Dao King inside the city, Shun Long avoided from having Little ck scan the city with his soul search.
Since he wasn''t nning on actually staying in the city, there was no reason to try and verify whether there really was ate-stage Dao King in this ce.
Instead, after understanding the general situation, he and Liu Mei didn''t stay in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' city'' any longer, as they headed towards the gigantic mountain range in the distance.
This was the most famous mountain range in the entire ''Night star continent'', as well as one of the most dangerous ces as well.
Even Dao Kings were said to have lost their lives in this ce, which gave the rumor that there were powerful peak rank 6 magic beasts hidden inside.
As they neared closer to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', Shun Long noticed countless groups that had set up camp outside the mountain range''s boundaries.
Even though there were many inns inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' city'' for the mercenaries to rest, Shun Long could easily guess, that these people who were waiting here, were either trying to find more powerful groups to join, or they were waiting for their own partners or guild members toe out from the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
After all, it wasn''t umon to get separated from your group inside this ce, especially if you chanced upon the den of a powerful magic beast.
Seeing Shun Long and Liu Mei walk forward by themselves, some groups tried to probe them out of curiosity, since they could easily see that Liu Mei''s strength was only at the middle rank 4 of the Spirit realm. However, after seeing that they were actually unable to discern the strength of the young man next to her, they avoided doing anything in broad daylight.
Liu Mei frowned when she noticed that some people seemed to have set their sights on Shun Long and her.
Shun Long however understood, that aside from the powerful magic beasts in this ce, there was an equally as dangerous enemy... other mercenaries.
An incense stick of timeter, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already arrived at the huge green forest that covered the entrance of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
The roars of magic beasts resounded in the air, bringing an aura of solemnity, as well as excitement to those who were entering this ce for the first time.
Liu Mei turned her head to the side, to look at Shun Long who was standing in front of the entrance of the forest for a moment without saying anything.
After taking a deep breath, a smile soon appeared on his face, and looking at Liu Mei''s bright eyes, Shun Long held her hand before he stepped forward, entering inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
Chapter 338 - 338 Sneak attack
Chapter 338 - 338 Sneak attack
As soon as he entered inside the forest, Shun Long could smell the scent of blood assaulting his senses, as well as the thick amounts of pure qi that had filled the air around him.
Without being hasty, Shun Long first examined his surroundings before he chose which way he and Liu Mei were going to head towards.
Although the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' was said to be heaven for the lucky adventurers of the ''Night star continent'', since they could both hunt magic beasts or chance upon rare medicinal herbs that would grow in this environment, it was actually the same for the powerful magic beasts inside.
More often than not, these mercenaries that came to this ce either to hunt magic beasts or find rare medicinal herbs, would end up in the belly of one of the magic beasts living here.
Although magic beasts would grow when they consumed the flesh of other magic beasts, the flesh of powerful cultivators was still a good supplement for them, even if it couldn''t bepared to that of other magic beasts.
It was also the instinctual feeling of these beasts to hunt humans who invaded their territories.
Knowing that Shun Long intended to train himself this time, Little ck didn''t spread his soul sense too far to sense the magic beasts around him.
Instead, the ck dragon kept eating the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' as he happily observed his master from the ''Stone of Time''.
Although Little Silver had now be more ustomed to Little ck, the ck panther still felt an instinctive fear towards the huge ck dragon.
Oblivious to the feelings of his 2 magic beasts however, Shun Long had just finished examining his surroundings before he chose to head towards the north.
ording to the footsteps that were still left on the ground, most mercenaries who chose to enter the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' seemed to head towards the north and the east.
This meant that there was a high chance, that the danger would increase significantly if someone chose to head towards the west, which was why most mercenaries seemed to avoid that route.
As Shun Long and Liu Mei walked deeper inside, Shun Long''s eyes noticed that the 40m(130ft) tall trees around him didn''tpletely cover him and Liu Mei from the flying magic beasts that were traveling in the sky.
Although the trees'' branches were long and thick, their leaves were much smaller inparison, allowing the flying magic beasts in the sky to get a clear view of the people below.
However, since there were mostly rank 3 magic beasts near the entrance of the forest, none of them actually dared to attack them after feeling Liu Mei''s aura at the middle of rank 4 in the Spirit realm.
Of course, Shun Long and the rest of the mercenaries who entered this ce could fly in the sky as well if they wanted to, but if they attracted the attention of a powerful flying magic beast, they would definitely be put in a bad spot.
After all, although cultivators at the Heaven grade could fly, their speed was simply iparable to flying magic beasts.
Even Shun Long himself guesses, that even with his second ''Monarch''s Domain created by his ''Dao of Time'', his speed wouldn''t be much faster than an early rank 4 flying magic beast in the sky.
Suddenly, Shun Long felt a clear feeling of danger in his heart, while the ground beneath his feet had started to tremble.
He hurriedly jumped backwards almost by instinct, and Liu Mei did the same barely a momentter than him, when a magic beast had suddenly drilled itself from the ground, its sharp ws aiming to sh Shun Long''s body in half.
This beast''s sharp ws were a bright silver color, while its dark brown body had ck-colored marks on it that resembled burn marks.
Its pitch-ck eyes were staring at Shun Long with hints of malice inside them, almost as if the beast had gone crazy.
It only took a moment for Shun Long to remember the name of this magic beast based on his memories.
''''A rank 4 ''silver-wed earth burrower''!''''
Liu Mei had never heard of this magic beast before, and was staring at it with hints of puzzlement in her eyes, but between her hands, a ck ball filled with her death qi had already been condensed.
She could sense that although the magic beast in front of her was only a middle rank 4 magic beast, even her undead knights would find it hard fighting against it head-on.
It was because the aura that wasing from this magic beast wasn''t inferior to a peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert''s.
Shun Long didn''t find it weird that Liu Mei was unfamiliar with the ''silver-wed earth burrower''.
It was because, this was a rtively rare and very cunning magic beast that lived beneath the ground, and would onlye up when it sensed that there was prey that it could hunt.
Additionally, this magic beast had a preference for human meat, making humans its primary source of food.
Unfortunately for Shun Long, although this beast''s ws could be used to create powerful silver-grade weapons, none of the parts on its body was actually suitable to be used in alchemy aside from its beast core.
And yet, Shun Long still smiled when he saw the middle rank 4 ''silver-wed earth burrower'' in front of him.
He was certain that with his current strength, it wouldn''t be too hard for him to take care of this magic beast.
Seeing the illusionary purple de that had appeared in Shun Long''s right hand, the ''silver-wed earth burrower'' felt a sudden feeling of danger.
Magic beasts always relied on their instincts rather than their eyes.
Although the illusionary purple de looked extremely attractive, the feeling of lethal danger that it was emitting made the middle rank 4 magic beast shiver.
After shooting a wary look at Liu Mei and seeing that she wasn''t actually attacking it, the ''silver-wed earth burrower'' dove into the ground without hesitation.
Silence immediately descended around Shun Long and Liu Mei as the middle rank 4 magic beast had suddenly disappeared.
And yet, neither Shun Long nor Liu Mei moved from their original spots.
That was because they knew, that the ''silver-wed earth burrower'' could attack at any time.
This was indeed the perfect environment for such a magic beast to hunt.
In a situation where the mercenaries couldn''t fly in the air as they would attract the attention of the powerful flying magic beasts, using its ability to hide on the ground and mount sneak attacks to ambush its prey was extremely efficient.
Liu Mei had a worried look on her face, but seeing the confident look in Shun Long''s eyes, she didn''t hurriedly summon her undead knights to help him.
After all, she clearly knew that Shun Long intended to use this chance to train himself.
Standing still, Shun Long closed his eyes, as an invisible powerpletely covered his body before it started to slowly spread outwards.
Now that he had already reached the middle rank 4 of the Spirit realm and had consumed thousands of top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills'', Shun Long''s spirit sense was already many times stronger than before.
He could now use his spirit sense to cover almost 2m(6.6ft) around his body and sense the space around him even with his eyes closed.
He knew that this was a power simr to Little ck''s soul sense.
Although Shun Long''s spirit sense hadn''t evolved into a soul sense just yet, it was very simr in this regard.
The silence continued for a few more moments, until Shun Long felt something entering the range of his spirit sense, while the ground beneath his feet started to tremble.
This time, the ''silver-wed earth burrower'' was clearly faster than before and didn''t intend to give Shun Long even a moment to dodge.
As it tore through the ground beneath Shun Long''s feet, a sharp, silver-colored w was pointed towards Shun Long''s chest, ready to rip it in half.
Seeing the silver-colored w that was about to collide with his chest, Shun Long''s eyes that had already turned golden suddenly lit up with a bright blue light, as he then mumbled to himself
''Time Prison''
The rank 4 ''silver-wed earth burrower'' was suddenly frozen in mid-air, as the terrifying power of the ''Time Prison'' had forcefully stopped the flow of time around it.
Shun Long didn''t hesitate, and waving his right hand horizontally, he swung the purple de in his hand towards the ''Silver-wed earth burrower''s'' neck.
Blood instantly spurted in the air as the middle rank 4 magic beast''s head was separated from its body as soon as it met with Shun Long''s spatial de, dying the patch of grass beneath it with a bright red color.
At the same time, a golden-colored magic beast core appeared from its body, rolling itself until it stopped in front of Shun Long.
Chapter 339 - 339 Prey
Chapter 339 - 339 Prey
Seeing the shiny golden-colored beast core that had rolled its way in front of his feet, Shun Long didn''t hesitate to pick it up and ce it inside the herb garden in his ''Stone of?Time''.
At the same time, only when she saw the corpse of the middle rank 4 magic beast fall on the ground did Liu Mei allow the ck ball of death qi from her hand to disappear.
Although she and Shun Long were both many times stronger than before, Liu Mei guessed that if the ''Silver-wed earth burrower'' had reached the peak of rank 4, they may not have been able to kill this beast even with all of her skeletons and undead knightsbined.
After all, even Shun Long wouldn''t have been able to affect a peak rank 4 magic beast with his ''Dao of Time'' just yet, while his cultivation was still at the middle of rank 4.
Despite having almost half of his qi being drained at once after using his ''Time Prison'', Shun Long didn''t sit down to recover just yet, and instead, after removing the ''Silver-wed earth burrower''s'' silver ws as well, he abandoned the useless parts of its body, as he and Liu Mei continued further inside.
Staying in that ce to recover his qi would only bring more trouble.
Shun Long knew that the scent of blooding from the middle rank 4 magic beast would certainly attract other predators in this area.
If a powerful peak rank 4 or even a rank 5 magic beast showed up, then it would surely cause amotion and attract even more people and magic beasts in this area.
Additionally, although Shun Long had a certain degree of certainty in dealing with an early or even a middle stage rank 5 magic beast using the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' poison, he also knew that some magic beasts were naturally immune to poisons as well.
He wouldn''t bet things on luck to see if the magic beasts that were attracted here, were actually affected by the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' poison or not.
As he and Liu Mei continued walking deeper inside time continued to pass, but Shun Long was disappointed that even after 4 hours of walking, they didn''t seem to find any other rank 4 magic beast.
Even early rank 4 magic beasts seemed to have been scarce in this area, which waspletely different from the rumors about this ce.
Shun Long suddenly understood that the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' seemed to have certainyers that it wasprised of, which also indicated the different territories of the magic beasts here.
The firstyer that he was at now, seemed to still be the very outskirts.
The magic beasts in this ce seemed to be at the early rank 3 to the peak of rank 3.
Of course, among the rank 3 magic beasts, there probably existed some powerful rank 4 magic beasts that were usually hidden as well like the ''Silver-wed earth burrower'', but these beasts were extremely rare and wouldn''t easily show themselves.
If it wasn''t because the ''Silver-wed earth burrower'' had sensed that Liu Mei''s aura was at the middle of rank 4 of the Spirit realm, this beast would have certainly avoided attacking them.
As he and Liu Mei continued to walk deeper inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' night soon fell, before the sounds of fighting as well as miserable cries of men and women sounded from the distance.
Liu Mei turned her head to look at Shun Long who was staring in the distance ahead before she asked curiously
''''Long-ge, should we...?''''
After thinking about it for a moment, Shun Long nodded his head at Liu Mei, before the 2 of them both climbed on top of a tree, and started moving forward, under the cover of the tree branches ahead of them.
Usually, flying, or even hovering above the ground was avoided in this ce, since it would easily attract the attention of the magic beasts hidden in the surroundings as they sensed the qi fluctuationsing from Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s bodies, but since there was a huge fight going on in the distance, Shun Long knew that he and Liu Mei wouldn''t be spotted as everyone''s attention would be ced in the fight ahead of them.
Shun Long could feel that the energy fluctuations from the fight ahead had definitely reached thete-stages of the Spirit realm.
Of course, taking a look at the situation and getting directly involved were 2 different things.
If there was really something precious, he didn''t mind getting involved in this fight.
Less than a minuteter, covered behind the shade of the rank 3 ''Heavy bark earth trees'' around them, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already arrived at the scene of the fight.
Surprisingly, the fight was even more intense than what Shun Long had originally estimated.
In front of argeke close to the edge of the forest, a group of 6 mercenariesprised from 4 men and 2 women had gathered together, as they fought against a 10m(33ft) long blue-colored turtle that was constantly bombarding them with its attacks.
The blue turtle had spiky thorns on its shell, but instead of feet, pairs of purple-colored tentacles expanded from its body.
The turtle''s mouth spat out water without stop, not letting the mercenaries rest for a moment, while its powerful purple tentacles unceasingly bombarded them with attacks from the sides.
Although the mercenaries could sense that this magic beast was just a peak rank 4 magic beast, even the 2 peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts from their group as well as the early rank 9 Spirit realm middle-aged man were helpless against this beast that didn''t seem to leave any openings to attack them.
As for the peak rank 7 Spirit realm young man and the 2 rank 6 Spirit realm cultivators, they were in an even more miserable condition.
Every p from the turtle''s tentacles brought with it immense power that shook these cultivators to their core.
If it wasn''t for the peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts helping them, then these 3 would have already turned into a pile of flesh sttered on the ground.
No matter how this group of mercenaries tried to resist however, under the terrifying turtle''s attack they were only .u.mting more and more injuries as time went on.
Shun Long however didn''t seem to care too much about the miserable condition of this group of mercenaries, while his eyes stared at the huge 10m(33ft) blue-colored turtle with a bright look in his eyes as he mumbled to himself
''''A ''Purple tentacled poison turtle''!''''
Chapter 340 - 340 Purple tentacled poison turtle
Chapter 340 - 340 Purple tentacled poison turtle
Shun Long''s eyes lit up as he stared at the powerful peak rank 4 magic beast that was attacking the mercenaries.
He knew that if this turtle was used as a supplemental ingredient while he refined the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'', the poison would be so potent that it could affect even peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage experts, as well as some peak rank 5 magic beasts to a certain extent.
Although it would most likely be unable to kill them, however, just the ability to incapacitate a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage expert or a peak rank 5 magic beast was already more than extraordinary.
Seeing that Shun Long had actually gotten excited after seeing the huge turtle, Liu Mei couldn''t help asking him in a low voice
''''Long-ge, is this magic beast suitable to be used for alchemy?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long stared at the rank 4 ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' that was still bombarding the group of 6 mercenaries with its attacks, as it was slowly breaking through their defenses, before he seriously exined
''''Not only is its beast core extremely useful to alchemists, but every single part of its body can be considered valuable. Although neither its beast core nor its tentacles can be used as the main materials to refine poison or ''anti toxin pills'', if they are used as supplementary materials, they can amplify the might of a poison by severalfold.''''
Shun Long didn''t need to exin anything else, as Liu Mei instantly understood why he was so interested in this matter.
Liu Mei clearly remembered the poison that Shun Long had concocted when he dealt with the 2 middle rank 7 Spirit realm cultivators of the ''Blood Pill pavilion'' back in the ''City of Sin'', and understood why Shun Long was so interested in this magic beast.
Although alchemists may not be too interested in creating normal ''anti-toxin pills'', something that could enhance the potency of a poison would be valuable to both alchemists as well as poison masters alike.
Inwardly, Shun Longmented how unfortunate it was that the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' hadn''t reached the early rank 5 just yet.
Otherwise, there was a good chance that his poison could even partially affect an early rank 1 Dao King realm expert.
Of course, if other poison masters knew about his thoughts, they would probably spit on his face in anger and exasperation.
A middle rank 4 Spirit realm expert creating a poison that could affect a rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert was already unbelievable.
But affecting a rank 9 Nascent Soul stage expert and even a rank 1 Dao King? This was purely boasting!
Of course, the reason behind this was the extreme potency of the rank 5 ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' as well as the premise that Shun Long could enhance the potency of the poison even further.
Otherwise, the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' would at most be able to kill middle-stage Nascent Soul stage experts orte-stage ones who didn''t have high-grade or top-grade ''anti-toxin pills'' to enhance the poison''s effects.
However, there were still other issues behind the fact that a poison master could use poison.
Although the usage of poison was often frowned upon in the ''Cultivation world'', Shun Long wasn''t worried about that.
However, not letting people know that he was a poison expert and exposing his secrets was another matter altogether.
A few more minutester, the group of 6 mercenaries had already reached a desperate situation.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before they all died, one of the 2 peak of rank 9 Spirit realm experts turned his head around, and shot a meaningful look at the peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator behind him, before he continued the fight.
The young man who was at the peak of rank 6 of the Spirit realm nodded his head indiscernibly, and a few momentster, a bright gleam shed through his eyes as he stared at a purple-colored tentacle that wasing his way.
Just as the poison turtle''s tentacle was about to hit him, the young man suddenly ducked andpletely avoided its attack, allowing it to hit the middle-aged woman who was about to help him withstand the turtle''s attack.
Under everyone''s shocked eyes, miserable cries left the peak rank 7 Spirit realm middle-aged woman''s mouth as soon as the purple-colored tentacle hit her, while her body had also started to turn purple.
At the same time, the middle-aged man at the early rank 9 of the Spirit realm hurriedly turned his head around with a shocked expression on his face as soon as he heard the woman''s scream, when he abruptly felt himself losing his bnce as a powerful force violently pushed him from behind, sending him flying towards the tentacle in front of him.
Without a chance to dodge, the middle-aged man''s body collided with the purple tentacle, as miserable shrieks of pain and fear left his mouth.
This sudden turn of events had caught the remaining young man who was at the peak rank 9 of the Spirit realm and was still parrying off the turtle''s attacks, as well as the young woman at the peak of rank 6 of the Spirit realm both off-guard.
Even Shun Long and Liu Mei were stunned for a moment after seeing this traitorous move.
These 2 men had cooperated, to send the middle-aged man who was at the early rank 9 of the Spirit realm, as well as the middle-aged woman at the peak of rank 7, both towards the turtle''s tentacles at the same time.
Seeing that two of the turtle''s tentacles were now upied, both the middle-aged man who was at the peak of rank 9, as well as the young man at the peak of rank 6 took this chance to escape from the turtle''s range of attacks.
A furious roar filled with anger and disbelief erupted from the young man who was left fighting off the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'', as he turned his head to look at the peak rank 9 Spirit realm middle-aged man and asked in a disbelieving tone
''''Hao Chin have you gone crazy? Weren''t you the one who wanted to explore thiske? How dare you betray Old Han?!''''
Shun Long and Liu Mei could both hear the anger hidden inside the young man''s disbelieving tone as he furiously roared at the middle-aged man who was named Hao Chin.
Hao Chin however shook his head, and without any hints of anger or regret on his face, he looked at the angry young man who was still fighting off the 2 tentacles of the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' before he said in a relieved tone
''''Chen Yan, you can''t me me! We have been fighting this beast for more than 1 hour and it still had the upper hand. Instead of waiting for it to kill us off one by one why shouldn''t we just push you forward so we can escape?''''
Chen Yan''s face seemed to have turned red from anger, but no matter how much he wanted to, he could no longer divert his attention to speak to Hao Chin as he had to ce his entire focus on fighting off the peak rank 4 ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' in front of him whose attacks had started to be even more ferocious.
Now that the turtle only had 2 opponents, the pressure on the young man named Chen Yan had more than doubled!
Without another word, Hao Chin and the young man behind him both shook their heads, before they instantly turned to fly away with relieved expressions on their faces.
Although flying in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain region'' was dangerous, there was nothing more dangerous to Hao Chin and the young man behind him than the gigantic blue-colored turtle in this ce!
Shun Long and Liu Mei both understood, that the 2 men were trying to escape before the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' finished off the young man named Chen Yan and the young woman behind him, and turned its attention back to them.
As for Hao Chin, the only thing that he felt regretful for, was that he wouldn''t obtain Chen Yan''s and the rest''s spatial rings and instead they would end up in the turtle''s belly. However, as long as he could escape from the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' then it didn''t matter too much.
Neither Chen Yan nor the young woman behind him seemed to have been willing to ept this oue, but their condition was only turning worse with every passing moment.
Finally, a few momentster, the young woman could no longer withstand the tentacles'' attacks, as she was sent flying towards a tree in the distance.
The moment that her body hit the gigantic ''heavy bark earth tree'', the young woman vomited blood without stop, before she ended up losing consciousness.
Seeing the desperate expression on the young man''s face, as he turned his head around to look at the young woman who had copsed on the ground, Shun Long shook his head before he mumbled to himself
''''I really shouldn''t meddle with other people''s business.''''
Chapter 341 - 341 Powerful poison
Chapter 341 - 341 Powerful poison
At the same time that he finished his words, a pill bottle had appeared in Shun Long''s right hand, filled with a dark purple-colored liquid.
Liu Mei was stunned for a moment, but a smile soon appeared on her face when she saw Shun Long''s actions.
She knew that Shun Long wasn''t a person who would usually meddle in other people''s business, unless there was a reason.
Of course, Liu Mei didn''t dislike this trait of his.
She had already learned that, in the cultivation world, even if you lend a hand to help others, your hand may end up being bitten in the end.
This didn''t mean that all cultivators were ungrateful, but that taking a risk to help others, may end up not only giving you nothing in return, but it could also harm your own life.
The same rule applied for this young man and young woman in front of them.
However, just like Shun Long, Liu Mei could also feel the strong emotions that the young man who was still fighting with the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' had for the young woman who had fallen on the ground.
Despite the injuries that were .u.mted in his body, the young man named Chen Yan still didn''t try to run and abandon the young woman who had already lost her consciousness.
Of course, part of that could have been because Chen Yan already knew, that it was pointless to try and run in front of the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' by himself.
Even the middle-aged man named Hao Chin had to sacrifice the early rank 9 middle-aged man in order to find a chance to escape.
As he slowly walked forward, Shun Long then mumbled to himself with a serious look in his eyes
''''If these people really end up being ungrateful, Little Silver can have them as a meal tonight.''''
As he finished his words, Shun Long jumped down from the 40m(130ft) tall tree, before hended on the shore near theke where the young man was still fighting with the 10m(33ft) tall poison turtle.
When he noticed Shun Long approaching him while he was still fighting with the peak rank 4 magic beast in front of him, a shocked look appeared in Chen Yan''s eyes, while faint glimmers of hope had also appeared in his heart.
He knew that he would definitely be doomed if he had to fight the peak rank 4 ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' by himself, but perhaps if this young man helped, then there would be a chance for them to escape!
Of course, this also required this young man''s strength to be at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm as well, or even better, a Nascent Soul stage expert, otherwise both of them would end up in the turtle''s belly.
Despite seeing the curious expression on Chen Yan''s face, Shun Long didn''t proactively try to make small talk with the man in front of him during the fight.
Instead, his right hand threw the alchemy bottle filled with the dark purple-colored poison towards the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' without any hesitation.
The turtle instantly turned its eyes towards Shun Long, and despite the fact that the poison was actually encased inside the pill bottle and didn''t give off any aura, the peak rank 4 magic beast could still sense a feeling of dangering from it.
However, Shun Long''s actions had already caught the powerful peak rank 4 magic beastpletely unprepared.
Without any time to dodge, before the pill bottle filled with the purple liquid could approach its giant head, the poison turtle used its own tentacles to p the pill bottle away from its body.
However, a scene thatpletely shocked the young man named Chen Yan suddenly unfolded in front of his eyes.
Shun Long''s pill bottle immediately exploded into fragmented pieces as soon as it came in contact with the 3m(10ft) long tentacle, spraying the liquid inside it all over the tentacle''s surface.
Miserable screams escaped the poison turtle''s mouth, while its tentacles started mming the ground around it with even more intensity than before.
The paining from the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' poison which directly attacked the soul, was extremely painful to the peak rank 4 magic beast.
Its cries reverberated throughout the forest, making the magic beasts that were hidden in their nests feel its limitless anger, destion and pain.
And yet, in the end, these cries onlysted for less than 30 breaths of time, before the turtle''s gigantic body lifelessly copsed on the ground.
''''This...''''
Chen Yan was speechless as he stared at the unmoving huge body of the poison turtle, before he slowly backed away from it.
Shun Long didn''t seem to mind Chen Yan''s reaction, and instead, he walked forward.
Although the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' was a powerful rank 4 magic beast, Shun Long was certain that it waspletely dead by now.
The fact that it had actuallysted for almost 30 breaths of time under the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' poison had already exceeded his expectations.
However, once he remembered that this was a magic beast whose tentacles were filled with powerful poison that could even affect an early rank 5 magic beast, it made sense.
cing his hand on top of the turtle''s head, the 10m(33ft) long body of the peak rank 4 magic beast suddenly disappeared from the shore of theke, as it appeared inside the space of the Stone of Time'', right next to the herb garden.
Chen Yan looked at Shun Long and the empty patch of grass where the turtle''s huge body had copsed just a moment ago with shocked eyes that were filled with disbelief.
He couldn''t believe that the powerful peak rank 4 magic beast had just copsed from a single bottle that was most likely filled with poison.
Instantly, wariness filled the young man''s eyes.
''''How powerful did the poison inside that pill bottle have to be in order to kill a peak rank 4 magic beast in 30 breaths of time?
It had to be created from at least a rank 5 medicinal herb right?''''
As he slowly stepped backwards, Chen Yan''s attention was suddenly focused on the young woman behind him, who had just lost consciousness after being hit by the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle''.
Seeing that the woman''s breathing had suddenly started to get weaker, anxiousness welled up in the young man''s heart, and suppressing his fear of the unknown blue-robed young man in front of him, who was most likely a poison master, Chen Yan cupped his fists at Shun Long before he hurriedly ran towards the injured young woman.
The moment that he saw her condition however, the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator felt as if the blood had suddenly been drained from his face.
Without any dy, he took out a pill bottle from his spatial ring, and parted the young woman''s lips before he ced a single pill inside her mouth, as he watched her condition with anxiousness and fear in his heart.
At the same time, from the same tree that Shun Long had appeared a few moments ago, Chen Yan saw a white-robed young woman who had a white veil on her face, as she slowly flew next to the blue-robed young man who had thrown the poison bottle at the gigantic turtle.
Chapter 342 - 342 Chen Yan
Chapter 342 - 342 Chen Yan
Looking at the young man named Chen Yan, who was waiting for the young woman in his arms to recover, Shun Long didn''t say anything and instead just watched them quietly.
Liu Mei however was stunned when she saw the purple mark in the woman''s belly.
She had already seen that the peak rank 4 magic beast''s tentacles had alreadynded on the young woman''s stomach with their attack, instantly disintegrating the part of her robes in that area while her face had already turned pale.
Of course, Shun Long had also witnessed that scene, but he didn''t choose to interfere now.
Seeing Chen Yan had already fed her with a middle rank 5 ''anti toxin pill'', Shun Long knew that the young woman''s situation would slowly turn for the better.
Of course, even with a middle rank 5 ''anti toxin pill'', it would still take 2 days until the poison waspletely expelled from the young woman''s body.
After all, even ''anti toxin pills'' weren''t so magical that they would instantly expel the poison from someone''s body if it had already started to affect them.
Seeing that the young woman''s expression on his face was slowly easing up, the young man named Chen Yan finally heaved a sigh of relief.
At the same time, Shun Long had already turned around, as he and Liu Mei started to walk deeper towards theke in front of them.
Of course, no matter how many adventurers and mercenaries hade to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', it was impossible for them to explore every single ce of this vast mountain range.
Although it was likely that there was nothing important beneath theke that the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' was guarding, Shun Long was still going to check
''''Wait!''''
Just as Shun Long and Liu Mei were about to enter inside theke, the young man''s voice from behind them sounded in their ears.
Turning his head around, without a change in his expression, Shun Long stared at the young man who was still holding the young woman in his arms, before he asked seriously
''''What is it?''''
Shaking his head, the young man looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei, before he cupped his hands and said in a serious tone
''''Brother, thank you for saving us!''''
After a brief pause he then continued
''''My name is Chen Yan, and this is my sister, Chen Wuying. If it wasn''t for your help, we would have definitely died today!
If there is a way that I can repay you, you can ask for my help anytime! You can find me at the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' in the Heaven''s Dome city in the future.
Shun Long was stunned for a moment when he heard the familiar name of Heaven''s Dome city, before his eyes sized up Chen Yan seriously.
He suddenly remembered that there was the test for the so-called Holy sect that was going to take ce in the next 2 years and a few months, so it was natural for every peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert who fulfilled the requirements to gather in the Heaven''s Dome city in participation for the test.
After all, who didn''t want to expand their horizons and go to the ''Central region'', where their chances to be stronger and fulfill their dreams were endless?!
Of course, Shun Long didn''t rule out the fact that Chen Yan may not have been willing to join the Holy sect, and would instead try to join the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'', Duan Zhu.
However, if that was the case, Shun Long guessed that Chen Yan wouldn''t have told him that he could find him in the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', so this possibility was very low.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t think that there was anything that he was going to ask Chen Yan to help him with, when he suddenly remembered that he didn''t know enough things about this ce called the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
Remembering that Chen Yan was in a group with 4 other mercenaries, it was very likely that they have been in this ce for quite a while, even if they were still close to the outskirts.
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long nodded his head, and holding Liu Mei''s hand he walked towards Chen Yan who was still holding his sister in his arms.
With a serious look in his eyes, Shun Long didn''t intend to hide that this was his and Liu Mei''s first timeing into the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', as he said in a calm tone
''''My name is Shun Long, and this is my wife, Liu Mei.
This is the first time that wee to this ce, and we don''t know much about the magic beasts or the regions here.''''
Chen Yan''s eyes instantly lit up when he heard Shun Long''s words, as it wasn''t hard to read between the lines of his sentence.
Since Chen Yan wasn''t new to this ce, he would probably not know which ces are too dangerous and which aren''t.
With a smile on his face, the young man named Chen Yan nodded his head before he answered seriously
''''So it''s brother Shun and sister Liu!
Since it''s your first timeing to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', let me exin the most important points.
As you very likely may know, the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' is split into 3 main different regions, namely the northern region, the eastern region, and the western region. As for the south, that is mainly the outskirts, as well as the entrance of the mountain range itself.
I have no idea how many miles the mountain range covers since it is said that no one has fully explored it just yet, but it is definitely one of the vastest and most dangerous ces in our entire ''Night star continent''!
However, brother Shun, you are lucky that you didn''t choose to head towards the west and instead chose toe towards the north.
Although we can still be considered to be mostly in the outskirts now and haven''t really entered the northern region, both the north and the east are the only areas that should be explored.
If you had chosen to go towards the west, then as soon as you left the outskirts, it is very likely that you would be attacked by a powerful rank 5 magic beast or even... a rank 6 one!''''
Seeing the expression of fear in Chen Yan''s face, Shun Long verified that his previous guess was correct.
Indeed, the western region of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' is definitely more dangerous than the northern or the eastern regions!
Without interrupting the young man in front of him, Shun Long continued to hear what Chen Yan knew about this ce.
With a mocking look on his face, Chen Yan looked at theke ahead as he said with a rueful smile
''''Of course, even if you don''t go to the western region, if you are unlucky enough, then you can definitely end up as me and my sister.
There are many hidden powerful magic beasts even in the outskirts of the northern region, and thiske proved to be one of them.
However, it''s also true that the deeper you go into the eastern, the northern, or the western region, the more likely it is to face powerful magic beasts.
After all, the more powerful some magic beasts are, the bigger their territory would be.''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as he already knew about this even without Chen Yan mentioning it.
This wasn''t something specific to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', but a characteristic of powerful magic beasts as a whole.
After a brief moment of pause, Shun Long looked at Chen Yan''s sister, Chen Wuying, whose face was still pale but her breathing had started to ease before he said seriously
''''Don''t worry about the poison inside her. Although the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle''s'' tentacles are poisonous, as long as you consume a high-grade rank 4 ''anti toxin pill'' within half an hour, there is no danger of dying. As long as you protect your sister for the next 2 days, her condition should be back to normal.''''
Chen Yan''s eyes lit up, before he cupped his fists once again as thanks.
He didn''t even know the name of the magic beast that had attacked their group, let alone the effects of its poison.
The only thing that he could do after seeing his sister''s condition, was feed her with a middle-grade rank 5 ''anti toxin pill'' and hope that it would be enough to resolve the issue.
At the same time, his eyes fell on the 2 corpses of the middle-aged man and the woman who had already died to the poison turtle earlier, and a heavy feeling had appeared in his heart.
Although his sister was able to parry the turtle''s attacks to a certain extent, Chen Yan knew, that the old man that he had called old Han earlier, as well as that middle-aged woman, had both fallen headfirst into the turtle''s tentacles, dying almost instantly from the impact of its attacks rather than the poison seeping inside their bodies.
After chatting for a few more minutes with Chen Yan and having verified the most important issues that he and Liu Mei should take note of in this ce, Shun Long cupped his hands at the young man in front of him before he and Liu Mei stood up and walked towards theke behind him.
Shun Long knew that it was very likely for some treasures to exist in the bottom of theke itself.
Chapter 343 - 343 Chen Yans request
Chapter 343 - 343 Chen Yan''s request
Shun Long looked at the clear and cold waters in front of his feet, and after deliberating for a moment, he and Liu Mei both consumed a top-grade rank 4 ''anti toxin pill'' each, before Shun Long held her hand as he dove inside theke.
After all, as the den of a powerful peak rank 4 magic beast like the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'', Shun Long knew that despite the waters of theke appearing crystal clear, there was a very high chance that they had been actually filled with the turtle''s poison after such a long time.
As he felt the clear waters around him, Shun Long entered deeper inside theke with Liu Mei following right next to him.
Of course, since this was still the outskirts of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain region'', no other magic beast would be allowed to survive in the sameke as the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'', as it would have already turned into food for the giant turtle.
Barely 10 breaths of time had passed, until Shun Long and Liu Mei quickly reached the bottom of the smallke.
A cave more than 20m(66ft) in height and almost 10m(33ft) in width could be seen at the depths of theke, without any lighting from it.
Standing in front of the cave''s entrance, Shun Long thought seriously for a moment, before he used his spirit sense to cover his body.
Although he had guessed that there shouldn''t be any dangers inside the cave, he still prepared himself, before he and Liu Mei slowly entered inside.
Shun Long couldn''t use his spirit sense to cover the area around his body for a long time since it was extremely taxing to his spiritual strength, but luckily, the cave itself wasn''t deep.
Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t encounter any dangers, and half a minuteter, they had already arrived at the end of the cave itself.
Surprisingly, the cave wasn''t empty, as more than 30 human skeletons were piled inside on top of each other.
The moonlighting from the sky could barely illuminate the cave itself, but it was bright enough for Shun Long to realize, that most of these skeletons had most likely been buried in this ce for a long time.
Although there was nothing else inside the cave, more than 30 spatial rings found their way into Shun Long''s hands.
Despite the spatial rings being corroded due to the passage of time, as well as the amount of time that they had stayed underwater, they were still usable, as Shun Long found more than 140.000 middle grade spirit stones inside them, as well as countless bottles of middle-grade rank 4 ''Qi replenishing pills'' and ''anti toxin pills''.
Since there wasn''t anything else inside the cave, Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''t continue to stay in here, as they quickly swam back to the surface of theke.
After taking a look at his surroundings and seeing that there were still a few hours until morning, Shun Long decided to head deeper inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' before he found a ce to rest.
Although thiske seemed to be rtively peaceful right now, however, once the magic beasts in the surrounding region realized that the peak rank 4 ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' was already dead, they wouldn''t hesitate to invade this area.
At the same time, Chen Yan''s eyes lit up when he saw Shun Long and Liu Meiing out from theke so quickly.
Of course, as a mercenary himself, he wouldn''t ask if Shun Long had found anything inside theke.
However, seeing that Shun Long and Liu Mei were about to leave the area of theke and head deeper inside the forest, Chen Yan took a deep breath before he shouted in a somewhat hesitant voice
''''Brother Shun!''''
Shun Long who hadn''t expected for Chen Yan to call for him, turned his head around to look at the young man who had now stood up and was cupping his hands at him.
Shun Long noticed that there was a serious look in Chen Yan''s eyes as he continued
''''Brother Shun... I wonder if you are interested in cooperating with me!''''
''''Cooperate?''''
A look of curiosity shed through Shun Long''s eyes as he looked at the ck-robed Chen Yan, while different possibilities shed through his mind.
''''He wants to cooperate? Is it because he saw the effectiveness of the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' poison and wants to deal with a powerful magic beast, or is this actually a trap and he intends to rob me and Mei''er instead?''''
As these thoughts shed through Shun Long''s mind, he didn''t choose to ask what Chen Yan needed help with, and instead, he stayed silent, as he waited to hear the man''s reason before deciding.
''''Right!'''' Chen Yan nodded his head when he saw that both Shun Long and Liu Mei were both silent after hearing his offer, before he continued
''''The truth is... a month ago, our group discovered 2 stalks of a rank 5 ''icicle soul grass'' as we adventured in a mountain.''''
Without waiting for Shun Long to respond, Chen Yan then continued
''''Of course, as brother Shun can guess, our group was extremely happy when we found the grass. After all, a single stalk of ''icicle soul grass'' is extremely valuable to any peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, let alone 2 of them.''''
Shun Long was extremely shocked inwardly when he heard that there were 2 stalks of rank 5 ''icicle soul grass'', and he almost failed to keep his expression in check.
After all, the value of the ''icicle soul grass'' even exceeded that of the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' itself.
Shun Long also knew, that Chen Yan was saying the truth when he said that this grass is extremely valuable to any peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator.
It was because, in order for a cultivator to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, they need to condense their soul in their spiritual space. And the ''icicle soul grass'' could actually help a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator during that process!
However, at the same time, Shun Long considered the fact whether Chen Yan was actually lying.
If they had really found 2 stalks of ''icicle soul grass'', then it was extremely unlikely for Chen Yan to share this information with Shun Long.,
After all, a single stalk of ''icicle soul grass'' could be sold for more than 650.000 low-grade spirit stones, or 6500 middle grade ones.
However, even if one had the spirit stones, they wouldn''t necessarily be able to purchase a stalk of this grass.
Shun Long was also aware, that even the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' of the Heaven''s Dome city, would at most have a single stalk of ''icicle soul grass'' as well.
Chen Yan had a wary smile on his face as he looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei, before he continued his exnation
''''However, as brother Shun can guess, we were actually unable to obtain the stalks of ''icicle soul grass''.
It was because, at the peak of that mountain, there were a pair of gigantic ''snow apes'' who lived there!''''
Chapter 344 - 344 Cooperating
Chapter 344 - 344 Cooperating
Shun Long was stunned when he heard Chen Yan''sst sentence, as he seemed to have understood why their group had failed.
A pair of ''snow apes''?
Shun Long knew that the snow apes were at least rank 5 magic beasts in their a.d.u.l.thood.
Almost as if he had guessed Shun Long''s thoughts, Chen Yan continued with a mocking expression on his face
''''As brother Shun can guess, the ''snow apes'' had reached the rank 5, and their strength was equivalent to powerful Nascent Soul stage experts''.
Not only were we unable to get close to the ''icicle soul grass'', but we almost died in the process.
We were lucky that the ''snow apes'' weren''t willing to chase us too far from the mountain, in case that someone else tried to steal the stalks of the grass from them during that time!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, before he fell silent for a few moments, as different possibilities shed through his mind
Although it was rare, it wasn''t impossible for a stalk of ''icicle soul grass'' to appear in this ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
As for the ''snow apes'', it was natural for Chen Yan and his group to be unable to face off against them.
After all, ''snow apes'' were indeed rank 5 magic beasts and they weren''t among the weakest ones.
Even an early Nascent Soul stage expert wouldn''t necessarily be able to stay alive, if they had to fight against 2 early rank 5 ''snow apes'' head-on.
If these apes had reached the middle or thete-stages, then the situation would be even worse.
Even Shun Long and Liu Mei couldn''t ensure their safety facing off against 2 powerful rank 5 ''snow apes'', even with the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''.
However, even with these thoughts in mind, there could only be one reason why Chen Yan was willing to share this information with Shun Long and Liu Mei, instead of keeping it to himself and searching for another group to explore that area in the future.
Looking at Chen Yan in front of him, Shun Long stared at the man''s eyes before he asked seriously
''''Was that man named Hao Chin part of your group when you found the ''icicle soul grass''?''''
A wary smile once again appeared in Chen Yan''s face, and nodding his head he said with a pained look on his face
''''Brother Shun is right...''''
Shun Long nodded his head without saying anything else in response, as he thought seriously for a few moments.
''''Indeed, if Hao Chin and that peak rank 6 Spirit realm cultivator who was along with him also knew about this matter, then it makes sense for Chen Yan to share this information with me and Mei''er instead of trying to keep it to himself.
After all, for 2 stalks of ''icicle soul grass'', it''s very likely that, that Hao Chin will also try to recruit a stronger group and try to steal them, before Chen Yan even has a chance to do so.
Of course, I can''t rule out the fact that this may actually be a trap... but in the end, there is no reason to refuse.''''
As these thoughts shed through Shun Long''s mind, he finally turned his eyes to look at the anxious Chen Yan who was waiting for his answer, as well as Liu Mei who knew that Shun Long was analyzing the situation and had stayed silent.
Staring at the man in front of him, Shun Long eventually nodded his head before he said seriously
''''We can split the stalks of ''icicle soul grass'' evenly.
However, I need both of the beast cores of the ''snow apes''. Of course, if there is any part of their body that you need, then you can take it as well.''''
Chen Yan stared at Shun Long with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
2 breaths of timeter, he hurriedly shook his head, before he waved his hands and said in a tone that didn''t conceal his fear in the slightest
''''No, brother Shun, a stalk of ''icicle soul grass'' is actually more than enough!''''
Chen Yan couldn''t believe how crazy Shun Long actually was, and stared at him and the young woman next to him with hints of fear in his eyes.
He was nning to hunt the rank 5 ''snow apes''?
Chen Yan''s own n had been to attract the ''snow apes'''' attention, before Shun Long or himself moved to steal the stalks of ''icicle soul grass'' under their noses.
As for the matter of hunting the ''snow apes'', this possibility didn''t even sh through the ck-robed man''s mind.
After all, the ''snow apes'' were powerful rank 5 magic beasts.
Even if he used all of his tricks, Chen Yan wouldn''t be able tost more than a couple breaths of time against them!
Chen Yan''s eyesnded on the crazy young man and young woman in front of him, before he shook his head while an ugly smile was now stered on his face.
No matter what, this was his only hope of obtaining the ''icicle soul grass''.
If he waited until he left the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain region'' and gathered his own team, in case that Hao Chin had already found a way to steal the ''icicle soul grass'' by then, Chen Yan would most likely regret this for the rest of his life.
Since he had no other option, he could only hope that Shun Long''s poison would be effective enough to deal with the ''snow apes''.
Seeing that Chen Yan had agreed, Shun Long nodded his head as this was within his expectations.
With Chen Yan''s strength, he was probably just a step away from entering the Nascent Soul stage. If he really obtained the ''icicle soul grass'', then he would most likely be able to breakthrough the moment that he consumed it.
Even within the Heaven''s Dome city'', Shun Long assumed that Chen Yan wouldn''t be too weak among the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators.
After taking a look at Chen Yan''s sister, Chen Wuying and saw that she was still unconscious, Shun Long had a calm look on his face as he turned his eyes towards the ck-robed Chen Yan and said calmly
''''Let''s head towards that mountain right now!''''
Chapter 345 - 345 Chen Wuyings poison
Chapter 345 - 345 Chen Wuying''s poison
''''Ah?''''
Chen Yan was caught off-guard by Shun Long''s suggestion.
Understanding what the young man was thinking, Shun Long pointed at their surroundings before he continued
''''Once the magic beasts around this ce notice that the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' is dead, they will certainly storm this ce to im this area as their own.''''
A look of realization shed through Chen Yan''s eyes, looking like he had neglected this matter.
Indeed, since they were still closer to the outskirts of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', he had forgotten that there may be other powerful early and middle rank 4 magic beasts in the surrounding area.
Although Chen Yan was confident that he could deal with almost any middle rank 4 magic beast by himself, even as a peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert, he would be unable to fight against a dozen of early and middle rank 4 magic beasts without risking his sister''s life.
Seeing that Chen Yan understood his meaning, Shun Long turned his head to look at Liu Mei and smiled at her, before they headed deeper inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.
Chen Yan grabbed his sister who was still unconscious, and carrying her on his back, he followed after Shun Long and Liu Mei as they left theke of the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' behind them.
A little more than an hourter, the roars of angry magic beasts resounded throughout the forest.
Turning his head around to look behind them, Chen Yan exhaled a sigh of relief once he made sure that there were no magic beasts chasing after them, before he turned his eyes towards Shun Long and Liu Mei.
After thinking seriously for a moment and realizing that he didn''t know when Hao Chin would gather a team to try and get the ''icicle soul grass'', he looked at Shun Long before he said in a serious voice
''''Brother Shun, the mountain that I mentioned is towards the northeast of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range''.,
Do you want to head there right away?''''
After thinking seriously for a moment, Shun Long looked at Chen Yan who was still holding his sister, before he shook his head and said after a moment of deliberation
''''Let''s find a ce to rest for a couple of days. I don''t think that that Hao Chin can find a team and get there faster than us.''''
A look of gratitude appeared in Chen Yan''s face when he understood the meaning behind Shun Long''s words.
They could wait until his sister expelled the poison from her body before they continued moving forward.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t think of himself as a good person for doing this.
It was simply better to wait 2 days for Chen Wuying to expel the poison of the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' rather than carrying a person who was dead weight along with them.
After all, Chen Yan wouldn''t be able to fight while holding his sister in case that any magic beast attacked them, and Shun Long couldn''t casually just enter the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' and make endless amounts of the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' poison.
If they were to casually take their time and move forward, it wouldn''t matter, but this time it was a race against Hao Chin and his own team.
Once the news of the rank 5 ''icicle soul grass'' started to spread, then it was unknown how many peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts would flock to this ce.
Half an hourter, after traveling through the forest, Shun Long''s group found an isted cave, not too far from their current location.
After cing Chen Wuying on the ground, Chen Yan smiled politely at Shun Long and Liu Mei, before he closed his eyes to recover.
After all, although Chen Yan wasn''t poisoned like Chen Wuying, Shun Long acutely noticed that the injuries in his body were actually much worse than his sister''s.
Shun Long nodded his head at Chen Yan, before he and Liu Mei sat down to cultivate.
Since Chen Yan and Chen Wuying were in the cave along with him and Liu Mei, Shun Long couldn''t enter the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', so he simply sat cross-legged on the ground and tried to further hisprehension in the Dao of Time''.
...
The night soon passed, and as the sun rays started to peer through the cave''s entrance as they illuminated the interior of the cave, Shun Long heard a groaning from the young woman next to Chen Yan before he opened his eyes.
He then saw the ck-dressed Chen Wuying who had already opened her eyes, but her body was still extremely weak.
Her groan had also alerted Liu Mei and Chen Yan, making thetter have a joyous expression on his face as he looked at his sister who had finally opened her eyes.
Chen Wuying looked around the cave in confusion, before she spotted Shun Long and Liu Mei, immediately cing herself on guard.
Chen Yan smiled before he introduced Shun Long and Liu Mei to his sister, exining how they had survived against the peak rank 4 ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'' after she had lost consciousness.
With a grateful expression on her face, Chen Wuying bowed her head towards the handsome young man and the white-veiled young woman in front of her, before she said happily
''''Thank you for saving us, elder brother Shun, big sister Liu.''''
Shun Long simply smiled lightly in response while Liu Mei did the same beneath her white veil.
Once she heard that Shun Long and Liu Mei were going to help them take the ''icicle soul grass'', a shocked expression had appeared in Chen Wuying''s eyes after understanding that her older brother had spoken about this already, but after thinking about it for a moment, she eventually gritted her teeth before she nodded her head.
Indeed, there was no way for her and Chen Yan to im the stalks of the ''icicle soul grass'' by themselves.
At the same time, she remembered Hao Chin''s and the young man''s betrayalst night and the hatred in her heart was bing even more intense.
Shun Long nodded his head when he noticed that a few minutester, the young woman had already calmed down her emotions and closed her eyes, as she focused on expeling the poison from her body.
Half a day soon passed, as the smell of sulfur assaulted Shun Long''s nose, before it slowly filled the entire cave, forcing Liu Mei and Chen Yan to open their eyes as well.
As Shun Long turned his eyes towards Chen Wuying, he saw a ck-colored liquid dripping from her ck robes, before it was slowly absorbed into the ground.
Shun Long clearly understood that this was the poison from the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle.
Seeing that Chen Wuying hadpletely expelled the poison from her body, Chen Yan had a bright smile on his face, before he turned his eyes towards Shun Long and Liu Mei, and said with great eagerness
''''Brother Shun, since Wuying is fine, let''s not waste any more time here! Let me personally lead the way for us!''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he saw that Chen Yan offered to lead the way to the mountain of the ''snow apes''.
It seemed that his anxiousness to obtain the ''icicle soul grass'' was in no way fake.
Nodding his head, Shun Long and Liu Mei both left the cave along with Chen Yan and Chen Wuying.
Chen Yan had a serious look in his eyes as he surveyed their surroundings for a few moments, before he turned his eyes towards Shun Long and said seriously
''''Brother Shun, ording to my estimations, it will take us less than 2 days until we reach the ''snow apes'' mountain!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, and without saying another word, his group headed towards the northeast.
Two days quickly passed in the blink of an eye, before an eye-catching, snow-white mountain appeared in the distance.
Chapter 346 - 346 Rank 5 Snow Ape
Chapter 346 - 346 Rank 5 Snow Ape
Chen Yan excitedly turned his head to look at Shun Long, before he said in a voice that couldn''t hide his joy
''''Brother Shun! That''s the mountain of the ''snow apes''!''''
Shun Long nodded his head, as his eyes stared at the gigantic mountain in the distance that was covered in snow.
Indeed, it had only taken 2 days for them to arrive here.
In these 2 days, their journey had also been rtively smooth, as less than a handful of middle rank 4 magic beasts ended up attacking them.
Of course, with Chen Yan as the scout leading the way, none of these magic beasts couldst for more than 10 hits against the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator.
Although Chen Yan was curious about Shun Long''s actual strength, he knew that since they were going to count on Shun Long''s poison to fight against the ''snow apes'', it would be his job to deal with the magic beasts that attacked them on the way until they arrived.
Staring at the white mountain in the distance, Shun Long thought seriously for a moment, before he took out 3 bottles filled with the poison from the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'', and handed 2 of them to Liu Mei, and one of them to Chen Yan.
As for Chen Wuying, despite her cultivation being at the peak of rank 6,? she was most likely be unable to help against a pair of rank 5 ''snow apes''.
Shun Long had already taken the time during the past 2 days, to formte a n in his mind in order to deal with the 2 powerful ''snow apes''.
He couldn''t just use brute strength to fight against 2 rank 5 magic beasts, who may have even reached the middle or even the peak of rank 5, unless he summoned Little Silver.
As for Little ck, he had no intentions of exposing the ck dragon, and was content into leaving him to munch on the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Chen Wuying looked at Shun Long with an aggrieved expression on her face, when she noticed that he had handed 2 bottles filled with poison to Liu Mei and one to her brother, whilepletely ignoring her.
In her mind, it waspletely normal to hand a bottle of poison to her brother since he was a powerful peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert, but giving 2 bottles to a middle rank 4 Spirit realm cultivator like Liu Mei and ignore her who was a powerful peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert didn''t make sense.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t going to personally exin anything to Chen Wuying.
Instead, it was Chen Yan who shot her a look indicating for her to stay silent.
Shun Long barely threw a nce at the young woman in ck robes, before he turned his eyes towards Liu Mei with a calm look on his face.
Liu Mei smiled gently behind her white veil, since Shun Long had already exined his n to her yesterday.
Seeing that Liu Mei had understood his intentions, Shun Long smiled at her lightly before he turned his eyes towards Chen Yan.
Then, with a serious look on his face, he looked at the ck-robed young man in front of him before he said
''''Let''s go and confirm the situation first.''''
Chen Yan had a solemn expression on his face now that they were ready to face 2 powerful rank 5 magic beasts.
After turning his head around and indicating to his sister to stay silent, he and Shun Long headed towards the white mountain in the distance.
Snow had filled the mountain, from its peak, all the way past the foot of the mountain, extending towards the forest where Shun Long''s group were at.
Shun Long and Chen Yan cautiously walked forward, their feet leaving deep footprints in the snow as they slowly climbed the mountain.
At the same time, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the distance ahead of Shun Long for a moment, before he closed them once again with a bored look on his face, as he continued munching on the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' in front of him.
Half an hour quickly passed by, until Shun Long and Chen Yan arrived just a few hundred meters away from the mountain''s peak.
With an excited expression on his face, Chen Yan turned his head to the side to look at Shun Long, before he pointed towards the peak of the mountain, at 2 light-blue colored stalks of grass that were protruding from the mountain''s peak and said in a low voice
''''Brother Shun, these are the stalks of the ''icicle soul grass''!''''
Shun Long nodded his head while a bright light shed through his eyes as he instantly recognized the 2 stalks of ''icicle soul grass'' as well!
At the same time that Shun Long and Chen Yan had arrived at this ce and were looking at the 2 crystal-like stalks of grass, a loud roar that shook the entire mountain came from the snow-white peak.
Roar!
The moment that he heard the loud roar, Shun Long immediately circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body.
The color of his eyes instantly turned golden, as a new scene appeared in Shun Long''s mind.
Arge silhouette appeared from the mountain''s peak, as it ran towards Shun Long''s and Chen Yan''s location, shaking the mountain beneath its feet in the process.
It was arge ape more than 7m(22.9ft) tall, with long limbs and a snow-white fur covering its body.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned serious, and without any hesitation, a gust of wind appeared around his feet as he activated the ''Gale steps'', before he jumped backwards and headed towards the foot of the snow mountain.
Chen Yan''s face paled when he saw the powerful rank 5 ''snow ape'' running towards his and Shun Long''s direction, but the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator didn''tg behind Shun Long in the slightest, as he ran towards the foot of the mountain as well.
Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes as he turned his head around, and noticed that the gigantic ''snow ape'' was still chasing after him.
At the same time, Shun Long instantly realized, that the auraing from this ''snow ape'' wasn''t at the early rank 5, but at the middle of rank 5 instead!
Chapter 347 - 347 Fighting the Snow Ape
Chapter 347 - 347 Fighting the Snow Ape
Chen Yan had already told Shun Long, that the ''snow ape'' that had chased after their groupst time was at the early rank 5, but the other one that had only appeared at the mountain''s peak and hadn''t chased after them, was unknown whether it was at the same level as the first.
Since their group was too far away thest time, they couldn''t confirm the strength of the second ''snow ape'' and could only specte that it was at the early rank 5 as well.
However, seeing that the powerful middle rank 5 magic beast that was now chasing after them was actually at the middle of rank 5 instead, made Chen Yan''s heart constrict in fear.
At the same time, shock had filled the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s face when he noticed that Shun Long''s cultivation was actually at the middle of rank 4 of the Spirit realm!
The person whom he had guessed that he was most likely a gold grade poison master was actually just a middle-stage Spirit realm cultivator.
And yet, once he remembered the poison that Shun Long was carrying with him, Chen Yan didn''t dare to belittle Shun Long in his heart.
At the same time that these thoughts shed through the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s mind, another rank 5 ''snow ape'' had appeared at the top of the mountain, watching Shun Long and Chen Yan with a cold look in its eyes.
This ''snow ape'' seemed hesitant to give chase, and in the end, it decided to just keep watch from the mountain peak instead.
Shun Long who turned his head around to check the situation, had already expected this oue.
After all, he already knew that the ''snow apes'' were magic beasts whose intelligence wasn''t low.
Since the ''snow apes'' knew that humans would most likelye here to take the ''icicle soul grass'', there was no way that they would leave the 2 stalks of grass unattended.
As Shun Long and Chen Yan were descending from the mountain, Chen Yan looked at Shun Long and was about to speak, when a shocking scene suddenly appeared in his eyes.
An army of jade-white skeletons holding crystal-like bone swords, were lead by 12 huge knights dressed in ck armor, as they all ascended the mountain like an unstoppable army, as they headed towards their direction.
Fear appeared in Chen Yan''s heart when he saw the shocking scene in front of him.
Although the aura of the skeletons and the ck-armored knights was extremely weak in front of him, if he really wasted time fighting these creatures, Chen Yan was certain that the middle rank 5 ''snow ape'' would definitely catch up to him.
After all, the powerful middle rank 5 magic beast had already been closing the gap between them extremely quickly during this time.
As for Shun Long, although Chen Yan knew that his poison was indeed terrifying, even if it could affect the ghastly creatures in front of them, in the end he probably only had just a few more bottles left.
Seeing the despair that had appeared in Chen Yan''s eyes, Shun Long turned his eyes to look at him before he said in a calm voice
''''Don''t fight against them.''''
Confusion filled the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert''s eyes, but seeing the calm look that the blue-robed young man next to him had, he gritted his teeth before he nodded his head in response.
As Shun Long and Chen Yan dove head-on in the midst of the undead army, Liu Mei''s undead knights and skeletons looked like they couldn''t even see the 2 young men around them, as they continued forward towards the gigantic ''snow ape''.
ROARR
The snow ape roared angrily as it jumped forward,nding in the middle of Liu Mei''s undead army.
Without any suspense, the powerful middle rank 5 magic beast tore through the army that blocked its way without any obstruction, like a giant that was swinging its arms, crushing tens of enemies with every swing.
It didn''t matter whether it was the 3m(10ft) tall undead knights, or the jade-white skeletons that stood in the ''snow ape''s'' path, they were all crushed under the terrifying magic beast''s arms and feet one after another.
The 7m(22.9ft) tall ape, swung its long limbs and destroyed everything that dared to stand in front of it, as it continued to chase after Shun Long and Chen Yan.
It was clear that the ''snow ape'' had already recognized Chen Yan, and wouldn''t let him leave a second time.
However, just as the snow-furred ape swung its left arm and destroyed a ck-armored undead knight, the knight who was actually holding a bottle filled with a dark purple threw it towards the ape''s chest, before his body was destroyed by the ape''s attack.
The ''snow ape'' felt a sudden sense of danger when it saw the dark purple liquid flying towards it, as its instincts of a middle rank 5 magic beast screamed at it to avoid the pill bottle.
The powerful rank 5 magic beast jumped to the side, as it hurriedly avoided the bottle filled with the purple liquid, thatnded a few tens of meters away from it and fell to the ground.
Before the ape had a chance to move however, another undead knight had appeared behind it and threw a second identical pill bottle towards the ape''s head.
The ''snow ape'' had no room to dodge this time, as it had justnded on its feet when it saw the second pill bottle flying towards it, and using its long right arm, it pped the pill bottle back towards the ck-armored knight.
As soon as it came in contact with the ape''s arm however, the pill bottle exploded into countless fragments, before the dark purple liquid inside itnded on the ape''s snow-white fur.
GROAAAAR
Under Shun Long''s and Chen Yan''s gazes, the snow-ape let out painful screams, as the terrifying poison started to affect it almost instantly.
The ''snow ape'' suddenly started to rampage around due to the pain, moving its arms and legs wildly, destroying tens of skeletons around it in the process.
Chen Yan who was standing a few meters next to Shun Long unconsciously opened the distance between them, as he stared at the powerful middle rank 5 ''snow ape'' that was wreathing in pain with disbelief in his eyes.
At the same time, the ''snow ape'' on top of the mountain''s peak heard itspanion''s roars, and after hesitating for a moment, it headed towards the foot of the mountain as well.
Barely 2 minutes however had passed, when the powerful middle rank 5 ''snow ape''s'' cries slowly came to a halt, before its gigantic body copsed on the ground.
Chapter 348 - 348 Enraged snow ape
Chapter 348 - 348 Enraged snow ape
A shocked expression appeared on Chen Yan''s face when he saw the middle rank 5 magic beast that had suddenly stopped breathing.
In less than 2 minutes, a powerful middle rank 5 ''snow ape'' had lost its life.
ROAR!
A powerful roar filled with anger and fury reverberated throughout the forest, shaking the entire snow-white mountain in front of Shun Long, as the second ''snow ape''s'' aura was now filled with killing intent and was about to go berserk.
Its eyes that were originally a yellow color had already turned red now, as the ''snow ape'' descended the mountain at an extremely rapid pace heading towards Shun Long and Chen Yan.
The look in Shun Long''s eyes had turned serious while Chen Yan also had a solemn expression on his face.
It was obvious that Shun Long''s n had certainly involved taking care of the first ''snow ape'', but the second one was up to him and Shun Long to take care of.
Chen Yan only needed a few moments to understand that the bizarre undead army of skeletons and undead knights in front of him had something to do with the white-veiled Liu Mei.
Seeing that the ck-armored knights had already expended the 2 bottles of poison that Shun Long had handed to Liu Mei, Chen Yan knew that the second ''snow ape'' wouldn''t be as easy to take care of.
At the same time, a few meters away from Liu Mei, Chen Wuying had a shocked expression on her face as she stared at the white-robed young woman next to her.
She still didn''t understand how Liu Mei could summon an army of skeletons out of nowhere.
At the same time, her eyes scrutinized Liu Mei with confusion as well as curiosity inside them, trying to understand what Dao this white-veiled young woman next to her hadprehended.
Liu Mei however didn''t seem to pay any attention to the ck-robed Chen Wuying, as her eyes stared at the second ''snow ape'' that was moving towards Shun Long with apprehension inside her gaze.
Although Liu Mei had absolute confidence in Shun Long, she knew that handling an early rank 5 magic beast was extremely dangerous.
The enraged ''snow ape'' furiously stomped on the ground, and in just a few moments it had already arrived in the midst of Liu Mei''s undead army.
The ''snow ape'' stared at the remaining undead knights around it with hatred in its eyes, before it violently swung its long arms like 2 long hammers that were flying towards them.
The middle rank 4 Spirit realm undead knights as well as the jade-white skeletons around them, couldn''t evenst for a second against the ''snow ape''s'' enraged attacks.
The moment that the ''snow ape''s'' fistsnded on the undead knights, the ck armor around them broke into countless pieces, before their bodies slowly turned into dust.
The fate of the jade-white skeletons wasn''t any different either, as their bones were pulverized after meeting with the powerful ''snow ape''s'' attacks.
Seeing that Liu Mei''s army was quickly getting destroyed, Shun Long first nced at the frozen-like Chen Yan, before a gust of wind appeared around his feet, as he moved towards the early rank 5 magic beast by himself.
Chen Yan hesitated for a moment when he saw the angry ''snow ape'' easily destroying the undead army in front of it without any obstruction, but seeing Shun Long moving forward, he gritted his teeth before he also did the same.
He knew that he wouldn''t have any face to im even a single stalk of the ''icicle soul grass'' if he just stayed behind and watched without lifting a finger.
Besides, Chen Yan also knew that, if they didn''t make their move now that the ''snow ape'' was still destroying the skeletons and the undead knights around it, he and Shun Long may not even survive against it just by themselves.
Seeing that Chen Yan had decided to attack as well, Shun Long nodded his head, before a pill bottle filled with a dark purple liquid appeared in his hand.
Shun Long knew that the ''snow ape'' would definitely be prepared for any attacks that used the poison of the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' after having witnessed it once.
At the same time, turning his eyes towards Chen Yan, Shun Long didn''t seem to be in a hurry to make his own move, as he allowed the young man behind him to first attract the early rank 5 ''snow ape''s'' attention.
Nodding his head, an armor of ice appeared around Chen Yan''s body as he rushed forward, towards the ''snow ape''.
The ''snow ape''s'' red eyes instantly noticed the ck-robed young man d in ice armor who was flying towards it, before it swung its tail at him using its full strength.
The moment that he appeared in the ''snow ape''s'' range of attack, Chen Yan threw the pill bottle in his hands towards the ape''s chest, before the ape''s white tail met with his ice armor.
The moment that the early rank 5 ''snow ape''s'' tailnded on Chen Yan''s armor cracks resounded through the air before Chen Yan was sent flying backwards like a cannonball, at an even faster speed than the one he was flying towards the ''snow ape''!
BOOM
Chen Yan''s body crashed through some of the snow-covered trees behind him, before he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His ice-armor was only able to withstand a single hit of the early rank 5 magic beast before it copsed, and yet Chen Yan had also been injured.
Chen Yan couldn''t believe this as he felt his internal injuries that weren''t light at all.
The ice-armor was a martial skill that he could use every 6 hours, and it was also his most powerful defensive martial skill.
2 days ago, when their group had fought with the ''Purple tentacled poison turtle'', Chen Yan''s ice armor had been able to withstand more than 10 of the peak rank 4 ''poison turtle''s'' attacks before it copsed, and yet the early rank 5 ''snow ape'' had managed to destroy it in a single move.
Was this the true power of an enraged early rank 5 magic beast, that was equal to a Nascent Soul stage expert?
Shun Long was also stunned when he saw the might of the early rank 5 ''snow ape'', but he didn''t stop his actions when he noticed that the ''snow ape''s'' attention was still focused on Chen Yan.
Raising his right hand, he shed the air in front of him opening a space tear, before he tossed the bottle filled with the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' poison inside.
Chapter 349 - 349 Grabbing the spoils
Chapter 349 - 349 Grabbing the spoils
The ''snow ape'' seemed to have noticed that something was wrong, as it hurriedly moved to the side almost out of instinct, but since its attention had already been focused on Chen Yan who had copsed on the ground this whole time, the early rank 5 magic beast''s was a step toote.
The pill bottle filled with the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' appeared inside the ''snow ape''s'' body, before the space tear closed.
As the small bottlended on the powerful rank 5 magic beast''s body, it broke into many small pieces before the dark purple liquid inside it started to seep inside the ''snow ape''s'' body.
Groaarr
Cries filled with pain and endless killing intent erupted from the powerful magic beast''s body, as the ''snow ape'' started to roll on the ground in pain.
The potency of the poison from the ''Soul Poisoning soul grass'' however, was strong enough to kill even a middle rank 5 ''snow ape'', let alone an early rank 5 one.
The ''snow ape''s'' criessted for less than 20 breaths of time, before the powerful rank 5 magic beast lifelessly copsed on the ground.
Chen Yan who had just stood up, couldn''t believe the scene in front of his eyes, but the injuries on his chest told him that everything he saw was real.
The 2 powerful rank 5 magic beasts that had almost killed him and his sister thest time that they were in this ce, were now lying motionless on the ground.
No, it was only one of these magic beasts that had chased after their group thest time, otherwise, there was no way that they would have escaped alive.
Of course, the ck-robed peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert didn''t feel any sense of pity for the 2 powerful rank 5 magic beasts in front of him.
The nature of magic beasts was to devour other humans and magic beasts alike.
Even if Chen Yan didn''t invade their mountain, the ''snow apes'' would asionally roam around the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and hunt humans and other magic beasts by themselves.
At the same time, his eyes were instead focused at the top of the mountain, where the 2 stalks of ''icicle soul grass'' were waiting for them.
However, due to his injuries, Chen Yan could only suppress his desire to get the stalk of grass as soon as possible, and instead, he sat on the snowy ground and consumed a high-grade rank 4 healing pill.
Liu Mei and Chen Wuying who were still inside the forest, quickly approached the snow mountain in front of them, as they both went close to Shun Long and Chen Yan ordingly.
Shun Long smiled at Liu Mei who had executed the n in the best way possible.
He clearly knew that Liu Mei had personally controlled the 2 undead knights that had thrown the 2 bottles of the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' poison to the first ''snow ape'' using her own spiritual strength.
From the start, Shun Long''s n had been to have Liu Mei send her undead army up to follow after them, a few minutes after he and Chen Yan had started to climb the mountain, and intercept the ''snow ape'' that would soon chase them.
Liu Mei took this chance to imbue her spiritual strength in 2 of her undead knights and personally control them during the fight, which was why she could hit the gigantic 7m(22.9ft) tall ''snow ape'' with the second bottle that was filled with the poison of the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''.
Of course, if the middle rank 5 ''snow ape'' hadn''t ced its attention on Shun Long and Chen Yan who had acted as bait during that time, it wouldn''t have been caught off-guard by the 2 ''weak'' undead knights that were hiding the poison inside their armor no matter whether it was a sneak attack or not.
This was the main reason why Shun Long had ced his attention on him and Chen Yan heading up the mountain first.
Even then, Shun Long wasn''tpletely certain that the ''snow ape'' would have been caught off-guard and get hit by the poison, but that there was simply a high chance of it happening.
At the same time, Liu Mei also realized the importance of swordsmanship when she was controlling the bodies of the undead knights.
After all, each of her ck-armored knights was wielding a 2m(6.6ft) long ck greatsword.
Although herbat strength would definitely rise when she used her own spiritual strength and qi to control her undead knights, she also needed to be proficient in the weapons that they used to control them better.
Although she didn''t directly fight by having her undead knights control their swords this time, this didn''t lower the importance of this matter.
With a light smile on his face, Shun Long first ced the bodies of the early rank 5 and the middle rank 5 ''snow apes'' inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he climbed the snow mountain heading towards its peak.
Neither Chen Yan nor Chen Wuying objected when they saw Shun Long taking the bodies of the 2 powerful rank 5 magic beasts.
After all, Chen Yan didn''t care about the rank 5 magic beasts that much.
Instead, what he fervently wanted, was the ''icicle soul grass'' so he could break through to the Nascent Soul stage in one go.
Of course, the bodies of the rank 5 ''snow apes'' were extremely useful to Shun Long. After all, he was nning to use the ''snow apes'' beast cores to refine the ''Dragonblood grass'' into pills.
A couple of minutester, without facing any obstruction, Shun Long arrived at the mountain''s peak, where 2 stalks of crystal-like grass were growing from the small crevice.
With a light smile on his face, Shun Long carefully dug out the 2 crystal-like rank 5 medicinal herbs from the crevice, before he ced one stalk inside the herb garden in the ''Stone of Time''.
After taking another look at the mountain peak and making sure that there was nothing else of value in this ce, Shun Long headed back to the foot of the snow mountain.
Seeing Shun Long returning from the peak of the mountain, Chen Yan waspletely unable to conceal the fervent look in his eyes as he stared at the crystal-like grass in Shun Long''s hands.
Ignoring his injuries, the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator stood up hurriedly, as he smiled and said
''''Brother Shun!''''
Shun Long nodded his head at the ck-robed young man, before he tossed him the stalk of the ''icicle soul grass'' in his hands.
No matter what, since he had promised to give it to him and Chen Yan had also participated in the fight against the ''snow apes'', Shun Long wouldn''t go back on his word.
Holding the rank 5 ''icicle soul grass'' in his hands, an excited expression had appeared in Chen Yan''s eyes as he cupped his hands in thanks.
Then, with a smile on his face, the young man looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei who still had the white veil on her face before he asked curiously
''''Brother Shun, sister Liu, me and my sister are going to return back to the ''Heaven''s Dome city''! Do you want toe with us?''''
Chapter 350 - 350 Future plans
Chapter 350 - 350 Future ns
Shun Long smiled lightly when he heard Chen Yan''s offer but he didn''t even consider it before he shook his head in response.
Return to the Heaven''s Dome city?
He and Liu Mei had left the city because they weren''t strong enough.
Although their cultivation had definitely advanced a lot since then, but in front of the strongest people of the younger generation of the ''Night star continent'', they would be unable to even put up a fight.
''''Forget about the strongest people of the continent, even Chen Yan''s cultivation is more than 5 minor ranks above mine and Mei''er''s.
Don''t even mention those who have already reached the Nascent Soul stage like the third princess of the dark elves or the blue-haired young master of the ''Golden Exchange firm'', Hu Liu, as well as the rest of the people at the top of the rankings!''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, he was even more determined to be stronger.
Seeing that Liu Mei had also stayed silent, obviously agreeing with Shun Long''s decision, Chen Yan sighed before he shook his head and cupped his hands in response.
Then, with a smile on his face, he first turned his eyes to look at his sister, before he looked at Shun Long and said with a light smile on his face
''''In that case brother Shun, let''s part ways here. If we are lucky enough to meet in the future, then let''s have drinks together!''''
Shun Long nodded his head at the smiling Chen Yan and Chen Wuying who was actually pouting her lips as she looked at him.
As the 2 siblings left, Liu Mei turned her head to look at Shun Long, and after a moment''s hesitation, she asked seriously
''''Long-ge, do you want to join the ''Holy sect''?''''
After she had seen the eager look in Chen Yan''s face once he received the ''icicle soul grass'', Liu Mei understood that practically everyone from the younger generation of the ''Night star continent'' would be willing to join the ''Holy sect'' or the ''Demon Emperor pce'' and go to the central region.
Shun Long thought seriously for a moment after hearing Liu Mei''s question, before he shook his head and said
''''That will depend on what kind of sect it really is.
If it''s a sect that restricts its disciples from even leaving the sect''s premises like the ''Floating Cloud sect'', then of course there is no reason for us to join.
At the same time, it doesn''t make much of a difference whether we join the ''Holy sect'' or the ''Demon Emperor pce''.
However, if this is the only way to leave the ''Night star continent'', then we will most likely have to join one of these powers in the future.''''
After a moment of deliberation, Shun Long had a mocking smile on his face as he continued
''''Of course, if they are sects like the ''Floating Cloud sect'', then I don''t mind using them until we arrive at the central region before I leave.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head with a serious look in her eyes when she heard Shun Long''s words.
Indeed, if they didn''t want to stay confined in the ''Night star continent'' forever, then they had to go towards the central region if they wanted to be stronger.
After all, Liu Mei already knew that Shun Long had certain things that he had to do in the future.
She also knew that Shun Long had some kind of secret inside his body, even if he hadn''t explicitly exined what it was, so if he suddenly ended up disappearing again just like thest time in the ''City of Sin'', he needed to be strong enough in order to stay alive the next time!
Of course, it wasn''t that Shun Long didn''t trust Liu Mei which was why he didn''t tell her about the ''Stone of Time'', but because he knew, that the mental burden from a secret like this would definitely pressure Liu Mei a lot.
At the same time, Liu Mei didn''t care too much about what kind of secret Shun Long had in his body either.
As long as he was safe and they continued to stay together, then this was enough for her.
Seeing that Liu Mei had understood his intentions, Shun Long smiled at her before he held her hand and said seriously
''''Mei''er, let''s look for a ce to rest for the next few days.''''
Seeing Liu Mei nod her head, Shun Long took a look around their surroundings, before they actually left the snow mountain behind them.
Of course, the environment around the mountain''s peak was actually very good for Shun Long and Liu Mei to stay in this ce, but considering that the disappearance of the 2 ''snow apes'' would soon attract the attention of the powerful rank 5 magic beasts from nearby, made Shun Long''s ns of staying here nothing but a fleeting thought that was soon extinguished.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t forget that the middle-aged man named Hao Chin would sooner ortere to this ce to obtain the stalks of ''icicle soul grass''.
Although Shun Long had the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', there was no reason to put himself in an unfavorable situation to fight against the peak rank 9 Spirit realm expert.
At the same time, if the man brought a group of more than 6 people, among of which there were even a few Nascent Soul stage experts, Shun Long knew that after exposing the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' poison to kill the first few people, the rest of them would be on their guards against it making the rest of the fight even harder.
As for summoning Little Silver to take care of these people, unless absolutely necessary, Shun Long wasn''t willing to expose the ck panther in this den of magic beasts.
He didn''t know if there were any peak rank 9 Dao Kings hidden at the depths of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' looking for rank 6 medicinal herbs or magic beasts, who could actually be attracted by the panther''s aura and would try to ''tame'' Little Silver for themselves.
If Little Silver really exposed its aura, although a peak rank 9 Dao King wouldn''t be able to necessarily notice it, Shun Long wasn''t willing to take this risk without any reason.
A couple of hourster, Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived at a small, isted mountain a few tens of miles from the north of the ''snow apes'' snowy mountain.
Seeing that there was a rtively small butfortable cave near the center of the mountain, Shun Long led Liu Mei as they both entered inside it, before Liu Mei summoned a group of her skeletons to guard the surroundings of the mountain instead.
Seeing that Liu Mei had started to practice her swordsmanship, tacitly giving Shun Long time to do what he wanted, Shun Long first had Little Silverpletely retract its aura and guard the entrance of the cave, before he sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, as he returned inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Looking at the bodies of the 2 rank 5 ''snow apes'' that were sprawled in front of him, an excited look shed through Shun Long''s eyes, as he was ready to finally advance to the middle of the fourth stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''!
Chapter 351 - 351 Breakthrough
Chapter 351 - 351 Breakthrough
Shun Long knew that he was just a step away from advancing to the middle of the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', and yet, he couldn''t directly consume a stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'' in order to advance.
Aside from the violent energy inside the ''Dragonblood grass'' that was harmful to cultivators if it was consumed directly, Shun Long knew that the only way to do it without leaving anytent dangers to his body, would be if he could refine the grass into rank 5 ''Dragonblood tempering pills''.
However, what he hadcked the most during this time, had been the beast cores from rank 5 magic beasts.
Thankfully, now that he had the beast cores of the 2 ''snow apes'' in his hand, he could finally attempt to refine the ''Dragonblood tempering pills''!
Seeing that Little ck was actually asleep, Shun Long guessed, that the ck dragon must have been digesting the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' that he had consumed during this time.
Of course, due to their soul connection, Shun Long could also feel that Little ck''s strength had been rising during this time as well.
Standing up, he first removed the beast cores from the 2 ''snow apes'' bodies, before he sat back on his usual seat and took out his alchemy cauldron.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then took out a dozen of rank 4 supplementary medicinal herbs, as well as a stalk of rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'' from his herb garden, before he started to warm up his alchemy cauldron.
Thanks to Little ck and Little Silver eating huge amounts of ''Dragonblood grass'', Shun Long had already created arge stockpile of this medicinal herb, so he didn''t need to specifically hasten the growth of the medicinal herbs in his herb garden just for this grass.
After throwing the rank 4 medicinal herbs inside the alchemy cauldron, 15 minutester, Shun Long finally ced the crimson stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'' inside, as well as the beast core of the early rank 5 ''snow ape'', before he closed the lid of the cauldron.
Due to the quality of the alchemy cauldron itself being just a rank 2 silver grade one, it was extremely difficult for it to contain the energy of the rank 5 medicinal herb inside it, as well as the beast core of the powerful rank 5 ''snow ape''.
Refining a rank 5 pill under these circ.u.mstances was extremely taxing to Shun Long''s spirit sense, that continued to purify the medicinal essence of the medicinal herbs inside the cauldron, while he tried to melt the beast core into essence at the same time.
Beads of sweat had appeared on Shun Long''s forehead as minutes continued to pass, but he knew that he couldn''t stop the pill refinement, otherwise everything he had done so far would be wasted.
Although losing a stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'' or the dozen of rank 4 supplementary herbs wasn''t too much of an issue, losing the beast core of the ''snow ape'' would be a huge problem.
After all, during this time, the number of beast cores that Shun Long had found which could be used in order to refine a ''Dragonblood tempering pill'', could be counted in one hand.
Aside from the 2 rank 5 ''snow apes'', the only other suitable magic beast core that Shun Long had found in the past, was the beast core from Cui Guoliang''s ''precious Nine-eyed giant worm''.
Of course, since Little ck had absorbed that beast core already in order to advance his strength, Shun Long could only use the beast cores from the 2 rank 5 ''snow apes'' that he had left.
Time continued to pass, and soon, 3 hours had already gone by, as the fragrant scent of the medicinal herbs slowly escaped the cauldron, as they started to fill the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
At the same time, Little ck opened his blue eyes, as he tried to look for the source of the scent that had assaulted his nose, before his eyesnded on Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Shun Long patted Little ck''s head as the ck dragon had already ced it next to the cauldron, before he opened the cauldron''s lid.
An even more intense smell assaulted Shun Long''s senses the moment that he lifted the lid of the cauldron, before his gaze fell on the scene inside it.
6 bright red colored pills that were covered with a pale green glow were lying inside the cauldron, giving Shun Long a sense of hunger as he stared at them.
Although Shun Long guessed that it was possible to refine 8 pills instead of 6, he also knew that this was impossible for him to do so with a rank 2 silver-grade cauldron.
The conditions had to be perfect in order to refine 8 pills, which meant that Shun Long needed to have at least a rank 1 gold grade cauldron as well as a strong enough spirit sense.
Of course, Shun Long knew, that even if he had the money, it was most likely impossible to find a gold-grade cauldron for sale, even in the ''Heaven''s Dome city''.
Gold grade formation masters would definitely be snatched up by a powerful power like the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' or the ''Golden Exchange firm'', and wouldn''t randomly auction their own works.
This way, the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' could also lure promising alchemists to join their ranks, while the formation masters could ensure the most benefits for themselves!
Staring at the 6 ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' inside the cauldron, Shun Long felt a wave of exhaustion oveing him, as he had suddenly expended more than half of his spirit sense during the pill refinement.
Of course, aside from one of the ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' being at the high-grade, the other 5 pills were all top-grade rank 5 pills!
Since he couldn''t consume the high-grade pill without being able to avoid dealing with the pill toxins inside itter on, Shun Long gave it to Little ck before his eyes stared at the 5 top-grade pills in front of him.
As for Little ck himself, the dragon''s body wouldn''t get affected by any kind of pill toxins.
This was the difference between the bodies of cultivators and magic beasts.
Even Shun Long who was cultivating in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' couldn''tpletely avoid the effects of the pill toxins.
Although he could most likely deal with themter on andpletely expel them from his body, it was still a troublesome process. Even Shun Long''s powerful body couldn''t bepared to the body of a king of magic beasts like Little ck''s in this regard.
Seeing Little ck excitedly eat the high-grade ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' as if it was some kind of delicacy, Shun Long smiled before he took a deep breath, and ced a top-grade ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' in his mouth.
The energy inside the top-grade rank 5 pill immediately exploded as soon as the pill entered inside Shun Long''s mouth, as the condensed medicinal essence inside it poured down Shun Long''s throat before it slowly seeped inside his body.
The burning sensation filled Shun Long with pain, almost as if his body was about to explode from the excess energy, making him want to shout to relieve himself from the pain.
And yet, he knew that he could only grit his teeth and continue to endure this. After all, this was the only way for his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' to advance.
Just when Shun Long felt that he had reached his limit and his body was about to explode, the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' circted by itself, as it started to hungrily absorb the energy from the ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' inside Shun Long''s body.
The barrier that was holding him at the early fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' instantly broke, as Shun Long felt his strength rising at an extremely rapid rate.
He could feel endless amounts of energy filling his body, and barely a few minutester, he had already entered the middle of the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''!
A few more moments passed before Shun Long felt the remnant energy of the ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' inside his body disappear.
Although he was still sitting cross-legged, but Shun Long could feel that his body was now many times stronger than before.
If he had trouble fighting with a rank 6 Spirit realm expert in the past, Shun Long could feel that he could most likely defeat one in less than 3 punches.
Little ck stared at Shun Long with excitement in his bright blue eyes, before he said in an excited voice
''''Master, congrattions for your breakthrough!''''
Shun Long could feel Little ck''s joy for his breakthrough, before he smiled and petted the ck dragon''s head.
Since their feelings were connected, even without Little ck saying anything, Shun Long could still feel his emotions.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long turned his eyes towards the remaining 4 pills inside his alchemy cauldron.
He didn''t choose to consume the remaining ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' right away, and instead, he first ced them inside a pill bottle, before he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Although a little more than 3 hours had passed inside the ''Stone of Time'', less than 30 minutes had gone by for Liu Mei who was still training with her ''four seasons azure sword''.
Seeing Shun Long appearing back in the cave so quickly, a shocked expression had appeared on Liu Mei''s face, before a blooming smile soon reced it.
Shun Long smiled gently as he caressed Liu Mei''s face, feeling much more confident now that he had advanced to the middle of the fourth stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Even if he had to fight with a peak rank 4 magic beast, even if he couldn''t defeat it, he was still confident in fighting it on even grounds.
Feeling the auraing from Shun Long''s body that was at least at the same level as that of a peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert''s, Liu Mei''s smile bloomed like a lotus.
Liu Mei already knew that Shun Long was cultivating in both qi and body refinement.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long first had Little Silver return inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he held Liu Mei''s hand and left the small mountain that they were staying in, ready to hunt some peak rank 4 magic beasts.
Time continued to fly inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain region'', and in the blink of an eye, 2 years had soon passed.
Chapter 352 - 352 Two years
Chapter 352 - 352 Two years
2 years had gone by in the blink of an eye.
In a mountain deep inside the northeast of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', an early rank 5 magic beast that resembled an earth bear with iron armor around its head and chest, was lying motionless in front of a blue-robed man''s feet.
An army of skeletons and undead knights hadpletely surrounded the young man, but they seemed to have turned their swords towards the iron bear that had copsed on the ground instead.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long looked past the skeletons and the undead knights around him, as his gazended at the forest behind him.
Liu Mei who was standing on the branch of a huge tree, wasn''t wearing her white veil on her face as she shed a dazzling smile at Shun Long before she floated towards him.
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei who soonnded in front of him, before he said with a smile on his face
''''Mei''er, your control over the undead knights during a fight has improved a lot in thest few days.''''
Liu Mei smiled even brighter after hearing Shun Long''s praise, before she nodded her head without saying anything, but a sweet feeling had appeared in her heart.
In thest few years, the thing that she had practiced the most, was her sword skills as well as her control of her skeletal warriors and her undead knights during a fight.
Originally, due to her weak spirit sense, Liu Mei couldn''t handle controlling more than 2 undead knights at the same time, but now, she could easily control 10 of them, as well as a certain number of her skeletons at the same time.
During the past 2 years, Liu Mei had also consumed tens of thousands of top-grade ''Spirit enhancing pills'', and had killed hundreds of criminals in the ''City of Sin'' as well as absorbed their qi, bringing both her cultivation as well as her spirit sense at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm!
The undead knights around Shun Long were also at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm as well, while the 200 skeletons were at the middle of rank 9 instead.
A terrifying army of 200 middle rank 9 Spirit realm skeletons, even if they weren''t as strong as normal middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators, could definitely stall for time, even when fighting against an early rank 5 magic beast!
As for Liu Mei''sprehension of the Dao, it had long since reached the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage.
The only thing that Liu Mei needed, was a spark of inspiration in order to begin her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.
After all, the Nascent Soul stage was also called the Nirvana stage, while the Spirit realm was the realm of preparation before entering this stage.
It was simply impossible to breakthrough and be a Nascent Soul stage expert without a sudden sense of inspiration.
Little ck had long since told Shun Long, that Shun Long needed his soul to be one with his body in order to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!
As for Shun Long, during the past 2 years, he had consumed countless middle-grade spirit stones in order to reach the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm as well.
The spirit stones that he had consumed, were far more than what he had originally estimated.
If it wasn''t because of his pill shop in the ''City of Sin'', Shun Long would have to think of another way to gather spirit stones during these 2 years in order to reach thete-stages and subsequently, the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm!
Unlike Liu Mei, he had also taken even more time to bring his spirit sense to the absolute peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm by consuming countless ''Spirit enhancing pills'' as well.
This was even harder than advancing his own cultivation!
Just the time he had spent in secluded cultivation to advance his spirit sense to the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm and bring it on par with his own cultivation level, had taken Shun Long more than 4 years inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
During this time, Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had also advanced to the peak of the fourth stage.
With both his qi and his body cultivation, at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm and the peak of the fourth stage respectively, Shun Long was certain that there was no other Spirit realm cultivator in the entire ''Night star continent'' who would be able tost more than 3 exchanges against him.
However, raising his spirit sense wasn''t actually the most time-consuming part.
Instead, it was the fact that Shun Long had spent almost 10 years inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''prehending the Dao of Time!
It was only a day ago that he had managed to finish hisprehension of the Dao and came out from the ''Stone of Time'' to test his strength.
More than 2 years had passed as Shun Long and Liu Mei were hunting magic beasts in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' or traveled back to the ''City of Sin'' to operate the pill shop.
ording to Shun Long''s estimations, the test for the Holy sect only had 2 or 3 months until it actually started.
As Shun Long ced the corpse of the early rank 5 magic beast inside the ''Stone of Time'', a sudden rumbling could be heard from the distance, as Shun Long and Liu Mei both felt the ground beneath their feet that had started to shake.
Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s expressions instantly changed as this obviously wasn''t a normal earthquake.
The terrifying rumbling did not only shake the entire ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', but instead, it actually affected the entire ''Night star continent''!
A gigantic beam of light shot to the sky, that every single person in the entire continent could see no matter where they were.
Shun Long''s expression suddenly changed when he saw the direction that the enormous beam of light wasing from.
It wasn''t justing from the center of the ''Night star continent''... but more specifically, from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' itself!
Chapter 353 - 353 Returning to the Dragon Lords villa
Chapter 353 - 353 Returning to the Dragon Lord''s vi
It didn''t take long for Liu Mei to realize this issue either, as she turned her head to look at Shun Long.
Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes as he stared at the gigantic pills of light in the distance, before Little ck''s voice suddenly sounded in his mind
''''Master! Someone is trying to take the dragonstone from that ce!''''
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed when he heard Little ck''s words that didn''t have a single hint of uncertainty inside them, before he started to think of the possible scenarios to resolve this situation.
He knew that Little ck had a mental connection with the dragonstone inside the ''Dragon Lord''s'' vi'' after sensing its aura once, so there was no way that he would be mistaken about this. If there was something that had caused the dragonstone inside the vi to react, Little ck would definitely end up sensing it and be aware that someone was trying to take the dragonstone!
At the same time, during the past 2 years, Shun Long had heard rumors in the ''City of Sin'', that the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'', Duan Zhu, had headed deep inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' by himself around the same time that he and Liu Mei had left the Heaven''s Dome city!
As a peak rank 9 Dao King who was probably as strong, if not stronger than the 5 most powerful Dao Kings of the ''Night star continent'', Duan Zhu had a high chance of reaching the depths of the vi, if one factored in that he was also a hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'' and most likely had nock of treasures with him!
This made Shun Long feel that this powerful rank 9 Dao King realm expert, was the most likely suspect to have caused this pir of light to erupt from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!
Of course, despite Duan Zhu''s identity as a high-ranking hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'', Shun Long couldn''t allow the dragonstone to fall in his hands.
He already knew that this stone was extremely important to Little ck.
Additionally, during the past 2 years, Little ck had also reached the middle of rank 6, while Little Silver was just a step away from advancing to that level as well.
In a direct fight, Little ck may not necessarily lose to Duan Zhu.
Even if Little ck was actually weaker than the peak rank 9 Dao King in the end, Shun Long was also confident that Duan Zhu wouldn''t be able to keep him tied down if he wanted to leave.
Although Shun Long wasn''t willing to let the ck dragon''s existence be known, he couldn''t afford to lose something like the dragonstone either.
After a serious moment of deliberation, he turned his head to look at Liu Mei, and after taking a deep breath he then said in a serious tone
''''Mei''er, let''s go to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!''''
Shun Long didn''t ask Liu Mei whether she wanted to go with him or not. In thest 2 years, he had already understood the way that he and Liu Mei both treated each other.
Since Shun Long knew that venturing into the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' was dangerous and it could potentially lead him into risking his life, Liu Mei would most likely choose to go with him instead of waiting outside.
Besides, Shun Long had more than enough ''Dragon Lord''s medallions'' for him and Liu Mei to both enter inside.
Even without the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' that he had gotten from Cui Guoliang, Shun Long still had the medallions from the 2 Dao Kings of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' who had ambushed him and Liu Mei in order to rob Little Silver away.
At the same time, Shun Long also remembered the red-haired female Elder of the Blood Moon sect who wanted to make Shun Long into a pill ve.
''''Zhong Biya would definitely have a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' with her as well!''''
Of course, Shun Long didn''t have any tender feelings for the red-haired Elder who had ''saved'' him by messing with Xue Zhn''s ns back then.
Instead, he simply wondered if she was still alive and hidden somewhere after her ambush outside of the Heaven''s Dome city.
If it wasn''t because the bald old man, Xue Zhn had simply refused to let Zhong Biya take Shun Long as a pill ve, incurring her wrath in the process, and making her do her use all of her strength to spoil the old man''s ns, Shun Long would have to face 3 Dao Kings during that time.
With Little ck''s strength back then, Shun Long wasn''t certain that they would be able to kill every single one of them!
Liu Mei nodded her head once she saw Shun Long''s serious look, before she waved her hand, making the army of skeletons and undead knights around her and Shun Long disappear.
At the same time, Shun Long first covered himself with a ck robe thatpletely concealed his face and body, before he gave an identical robe to Liu Mei.
Then, without any hesitation, he first summoned Little Silver from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before both he and Liu Mei sat on its back.
The ck panther that hadn''t left the ''Stone of Time'' for the past few months, let out a deafening roar, almost as it wanted to intimidate the magic beasts around it with its presence, before it spread its bright silver wings and shot towards the south of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', heading towards the entrance.
Shun Long twitched his lips when he heard Little Silver''s excited roar that reverberated in the mountains around them, but since they were already leaving the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', he wasn''t afraid of ate-stage Dao King finding their location and catching up to them.
Although Little Silver had yet to breakthrough to the middle of rank 6 like Little ck, its strength had already advanced by a lot during the past 2 years after consuming countless stalks of ''Dragonblood grass''.
Although it couldn''t beat a middle-stage Dao King, let alone ate-stage one, its speed had definitely reached the threshold of the averagete-stage Dao King.
The ck panther flew towards the entrance of the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' like a bolt of silver lightning,pletely ignoring the terrified magic beasts around it in the process.
In just a few minutes, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already left the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range, as they flew towards the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
At the same time, in the Heaven''s Dome city, every single Dao King from the peak powers of the city had shot to their feet as they noticed the gigantic beam of light piercing through the clouds, before they hurriedly flew towards the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' as well!
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Chapter 354 - 354 Entering the villa!
Chapter 354 - 354 Entering the vi!
Every single Dao King in the ''Night star continent'' had been rmed by the abnormal matter of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', and the peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city were no exception!
Inside the pce of the royal family of the Shengtian dynasty at the northern part of the city, the golden-robed old king, Sheng Jun, had already gathered a group of 16 Dao Kings that followed behind him, before he headed towards the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Sheng Jun had a solemn expression on his face as he remembered, that more than 2 years ago the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'', Duan Zhu had also entered the vi by himself.
Even though Sheng Jun was one of the 3 strongest Dao Kings in the entire continent, he had never managed to elicit such a reaction from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', neither by himself, nor with his Shentian dynasty''s help!
''''Could it be that he has obtained the treasures inside?''''
As this thought shed through Sheng Jun''s mind, he couldn''t help raising his speed, as he lead the group of Dao Kings behind him towards the Netherspirit forest.
The other peak powers of the city were no exceptions, as Zhao Lan lead 9 gold grade alchemists from the ''Alchemists Guild'', towards the Netherspirit forest''s location as well.
The same situation took ce in the ''Golden Exchange firm'', as well as the ''Mercenaries'' Association''s'' headquarters!
Only the members of the Dark elf race at the eastern part of the city seemedpletely unperturbed by the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''s'' matter, as they continued their lives normally.
At the depths of the Dark elf race''s pce, a young man with dark skin, dark green hair and pointy ears first knocked on a small wooden door before he cautiously entered the room where the 2 peak rank 9 Dao Kings, Yi Huian and Yi Xiaosi were leisurely chatting with each other, with bewitching smiles on their faces that could encapture any man''s attention.
Looking at the 2 beautiful red-haired women in front of him, the young man audibly gulped his saliva, before he hurriedly bowed and turned his body to face Yi Xiaosi as he said in a fl.u.s.tered voice
''''Your majesty! Something important is happening in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!
The Shengtian dynasty''s old king and the other peak powers have all been roused and are leaving the city, heading towards the Netherspirit forest! Should we follow them?''''
Although the young man looked to be barely above 20 years old, he was actually an early stage Dao King of the dark elves, and was the one responsible to inform Yi Xiaosi over the important matters that happened in the city.
Yi Xiaosi turned her head towards the fl.u.s.tered ''young man'', before an alluring smile had formed itself on her lips, as she shook her head and said calmly
''''No need!''''
The young man was shocked by this simple response, and after staying still for a moment to ruminate over Yi Xiaosi''s words, his eyes suddenly lit up before he asked in a voice full of fear and excitement
''''Your majesty, does that mean that Lord Duan has already obtained the treasures inside the vi?''''
Based on what this man knew, only if Duan Zhu had already obtained the treasures inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' would Yi Xiaosi and Yi Huian dare to be so rxed without worrying about Duan Zhu needing any help from them.
Nodding her head, Yi Xiaosi looked at the young man before she said in a calm tone that was filled with absolute confidence
''''Even if he hasn''t obtained everything yet, Lord Duan should be very close in getting the rest of the treasures inside that ce. Even if Sheng Jun and the rest go in now, I doubt that they will be able to find even scraps left behind by Lord Duan!''''
The young man was stunned for a moment, and he even forgot to bow as he turned his eyes towards the gigantic beam of light in the distance with zeal filling his eyes.
''''Indeed, only Lord Duan could do what Sheng Jun and the other Dao Kings have failed to do for thousands of years!'''',
As this thought shed through the young man''s mind, he hurriedly bowed as he looked at the smiling Yi Xiaosi and the expressionless Yi Huian, before he left the room with a look of pride on his face.
Indeed, since Duan Zhu had most likely already obtained the treasures in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', the situation in the Heaven''s Dome city was going topletely change.
...
At the same time, Dao Kings from every ce of the entire ''Night star continent'', were heading towards the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' in huge numbers.
With the ck panther''s speed, it took less than a day for Shun Long and Liu Mei to arrive just a few tens miles away from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Even from a distance however, Shun Long could easily notice that the situation around the vi had already started to turn chaotic.
It seemed that the gigantic beam of light had attracted even more people than what Shun Long had originally expected.
Whether it was Dao Kings who were flying by themselves, or those who were riding on top of powerful magic beasts, they were all heading directly towards the vi.
On the way, Shun Long had already noticed more than 4 groups of Dao Kings who were flying on the backs of powerful rank 6 magic beasts, and they had also turned their gazes to look at Little Silver as well.
However, with the pressing situation of the gigantic beam of light that wasing from the depths of the vi, as well as the fact that Shun Long hadpletely retracted his aura and could very likely be ate-stage Dao King as well, none of these groups chose to probe him for his identity or strength.
After all, although umon, it was very possible for a Dao King to bring their descendants to this ce, which was why these experts ignored Liu Mei''s cultivation that was still at the Spirit realm before they continued flying forward.
A few momentster, the gigantic building that was bigger than a city itself appeared in Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes.
The massive crowd that was previously camping in tents outside the vi had grown even more than before, while even some early-stage Dao Kings, as well as peak Nascent Soul stage experts, were hidden in their midst!
At the same time, Shun Long noticed a group of 4 early and middle-stage Dao Kings heading towards the vi''s gigantic gates, each of them holding a small bronze medallion in their hands.
As soon as the Dao Kings approached close to the gigantic gates of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', the golden barrier that was covering the vi reacted to the ''Dragon Lord''s medallions'' in their hands, as a golden glow of light covered their bodies, before the gates opened ever so slightly.
The gigantic gates didn''t fully open, but the ''small opening'' was still enough even for 6 people to walk side by side and enter inside.
The moment that the 4 Dao Kings entered inside, the gates of the vi closed, before the barrier of light around the vi returned to its previous calmness.
After waiting for a few minutes so that he wouldn''t have to directly meet with the people who had just entered, Shun Long took a deep breath, before he had Little Silver walk forward towards the vi''s entrance.
The early rank 6 ''Silver-winged panther king'' attracted the attention of some nearby Dao Kings, as well as the rest of the people in the crowd, as it was obvious that it was heading towards the gates.
Looks filled with doubt as well as envy had appeared in the Spirit realm and the Nascent Soul stage experts'' faces, once they felt Liu Mei''s aura at the peak of the Spirit realm who was sitting on the ck panther''s back.
Without paying any attention to the people around him however, Shun Long had Little Silver continue forward, until it stopped in front of the golden barrier a few meters away from the vi''s gigantic gates.
It would be a lie to say that Shun Long didn''t feel some fear in his heart as he approached closer and closer to the gigantic city-like building in front of him.
After all, this was a ce that only Dao Kings and peak Nascent Soul stage experts were allowed to enter.
Shun Long didn''t know what dangers they would meet with inside, but aside from the fear and wariness, a feeling of excitement had also filled his heart as he looked forward to finding the secrets of this ce that even held Cui Guoliang and his wife as prisoners.
Waving his hand, he took out 3 small bronze medallions from the ''Stone of Time'', and gave one of them to Liu Mei before he ced the other one on Little Silver''s back.
The golden barrier that covered the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' started to ripple the moment that it sensed the 3 bronze medallions, before it covered Shun Long''s, Liu Mei''s and Little Silver''s body with a bright golden glow.
At the same time, the gigantic gates slowly opened a little, allowing Little Silver to enter inside.
The moment that the ck panther stepped through the gigantic gates, the gates closed again with a thud, as Shun Long finally entered inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!
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Chapter 355 - 355 Stone labyrinth
Chapter 355 - 355 Stonebyrinth
The moment that Little Silver passed through the gates, a blinding light blocked Shun Long''s vision, and only receded after a few moments, revealing apletely new scene in Shun Long''s eyes.
''''Abyrinth?''''
Shun Long was stunned when he saw the baffling scene in front of him.
Large greenish stone walls were raised from the ground, reaching all the way to the ceiling of the endless room, as they formed an enormousbyrinth.
''''ording to Cui Guoliang''s map, his and his wife''s location is actually close to the northeast of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', right after I pass through some kind of desert, but there is nothing mentioned about abyrinth! Could it be that every time the gates of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' open, every group is sent to a different location, or is it that everyone must first pass through thisbyrinth before they can continue further inside?''''
Different possibilities shed through Shun Long''s mind as he tried to understand the situation in front of his eyes.
At the same time, Little ck''s voice sounded in his mind, as the ck dragon said seriously
''''Master, my soul sense is unable to scan the area around us! There is some kind of power thatpletely restricts soul scanning.''''
Although Shun Long knew that this was likely to happen after entering the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', since the same situation urred when Shun Long and Liu Mei had first arrived outside of the vi 2 years ago, he was still shocked once Little ck verified this.
After all, putting Little ck''s strength aside, Shun Long was certain that even Duan Zhu and the other peak rank 9 Dao Kings from the ''Night star continent'', were probably inferior to soul strength if they werepared to the terrifying ck dragon.
After advancing to the middle of rank 6, Little ck''s soul sense was certainly on par, if not stronger than the strongest Dao Kings!
And yet, even with his current strength, Little ck was unable to have his soul sense extend past Shun Long''s body.
''''In that case, those Dao Kings are most likely in the same situation once they enter inside the vi.''''
Liu Mei looked at the pondering look in Shun Long''s face, before she asked curiously
''''Long-ge, is this ce somewhat different from what you expected?''''
Since Cui Guoliang had only mentioned the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' to Shun Long, and Liu Mei hadn''t been curious enough about this ce in the past to ask Shun Long for details, she didn''t know whether thisbyrinth that they found themselves in was something abnormal or not.
Based on Shun Long''s reaction however, it was obvious that it was out of the ordinary.
After hearing Liu Mei''s question, Shun Long nodded his head affirmingly, before he took out the beast skin that he had received from Cui Guoliang and spread it on Little Silver''s back who was still observing their surroundings.
Although the map didn''t depict the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' with great detail, it was still easy for anyone who saw it, to identify whether a ce was a desert, a forest or ake.
Seeing that there were nobyrinths or anything simr to it on the map, Shun Long thought seriously for a few moments, before he said in a low voice
''''No matter what, we still need to get out of this ce first.
Besides, there are many ces on the map that arepletely nk, so it''s possible that Cui Guoliang created this map based on his own experiences.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head in confirmation. She already knew that the map in Shun Long''s hands was the map that he had obtained from the Dao King who had created the ''Vermilion realm'', and she also knew that that man was trapped somewhere inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' along with his wife.
If it was a map that he had personally created, then of course Cui Guoliang wouldn''t have traveled through the entire vi by himself.
After all, from the outside, the vi seemed to be at least as big as the Heaven''s Dome city itself, but based on the map in Shun Long''s hands, it could very likely be even bigger.
Even peak rank 9 Dao Kings may not have searched through the entire vi, let alone Cui Guoliang whom Shun Long suspected to be either an early, or a middle-stage Dao King.
Additionally, if Shun Long''s first guess was correct and the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''s'' entrance point changed every time the gates opened, then this also exined why thisbyrinth wasn''t marked on the map.
As he reached one of the 2 possible conclusions in his mind, Shun Long first returned the beast skin map inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he had Little Silver start walking forward. In any case, the most important thing at hand, was to get out of thisbyrinth.
Besides, Shun Long didn''t know if there were any dangers lurking in this ce. Staying still at the same ce instead of looking for an exit could very likely bring even more troubles.
The gigantic greenish walls around Shun Long and Liu Mei hadpletely covered their surroundings, as they rose all the way to the ceiling of the seemingly endless room.
Even when Little Silver soared in the air, Shun Long was be unable to get a ''bird''s view'' of thebyrinth and find an exit as everything waspletely submerged by the gigantic greenish walls, so he could only choose to blindly continue forward.
Time passed like this, and the only sound in the air around Shun Long and Liu Mei, was the sound of the ck panther''s silver wings pping.
Shun Long and Liu Mei found themselves in a dead-end more than once, forcing Shun Long to turn around and try different paths.
6 hourster, after many wrong attempts that lead into dead-ends, Shun Long and Liu Mei finally saw a light in the distance ahead of them, while thebyrinth''s path started to head upwards at the same time.
Before Little Silver could reach the source of the light however, the entirebyrinth started to shake, before Shun Long saw 2 stone golems more than 5m(16.4ft) tall each rising from the ground as they blocked Little Silver''s path!
Each of the golems auras was at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, while in their hands they held a sword and a shield formed from stone.
Shun Long however didn''t seem to be willing to slow down after feeling the golems auras, and instead, he simply patted Little Silver''s back with a smile on his face, urging it to go forward.
Little Silver let out a powerful roar the moment that it saw the 2 golems blocking its path, before its silver-colored wings lit up with a bright silver light!
The golem on the left raised its sword and shed forward, while the golem on the right raised the shield in its left hand, in an attempt to block the panther''s charge.
The moment that Little Silver''s wings met with the 2 stone golems attacks, the 2 weapons surprisingly split in half, before Little Silver''s bright silver wingsnded on the 2 golems'' bodies.
The ck panther''s wings were like sharp swords that pierced through the golems'' stone bodies, disintegrating them in an instant.
Under Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes, the 5m(16.4ft) tall golems crumbled into countless pieces that fell on the ground, before Little Silver flew forward like a streak of silver lightning, as it reached the source of the light.
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Chapter 356 - 356 Dangers in the Dragon Lords villa
Chapter 356 - 356 Dangers in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''
Warm sun rays passed through a 3m(10ft) tall entrance, as they illuminated the stonebyrinth.
Shun Long instantly understood that this was the exit of thebyrinth!
Having destroyed the 2 stone golems that stood guard in front of the entrance, Little Silver passed through the stone entrance without any obstructions, before a new scene appeared in Shun Long''s eyes.
It was a vast in field that spanned for hundreds of miles, whilerge and small mountains alike filled its surroundings.
The moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on the mountains around him, a look of disbelief shed through his eyes, before he took out the map that he had received from Cui Guoliang once again.
His eyes instantlynded on a spot of the map that was filled with greenery, while various mountains had surrounded it from every angle.
Beyond those mountains was a seemingly vast desert, and right after the desert ended, was the ce where Cui Guoliang and his wife were trapped at.
ording to the map, Cui Guoliang''s location was actually not too far from the periphery of the core region of the vi.
This made Shun Long have some doubts on whether Cui Guoliang was really just an early or a middle-stage Dao King.
ording to the scarce information that he had managed to gather during the past 2 years regarding the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Shun Long was actually certain about one thing.
It was the fact that the danger inside the vi grew exponentially the closer someone approached to its core region. ,
It was said that evente-stage Dao Kings may encounter trouble in the outskirts of the core region, while only rank 9 Dao Kings were allowed to enter inside the vi''s depths.
Thus, early and middle-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t get too close to the core region of the vi, and will look for treasures near its outskirts.
This was what made Shun Long feel doubt regarding Cui Guoliang''s actual strength.
Of course, he could also not disregard the fact, that Cui Guoliang and his wife had some other reason for heading to the core region.
''''Right! This is also in line with the fact that Cui Guoliang created the ''Vermilion realm'' and prepared everything beforehand, in order to find someone who could help him in the future.
He seemed to have already known how dangerous it was to approach close to the core region for 2 early or middle-stage Dao Kings like himself and his wife, which is why he chose to leave a way out for himself by creating the ''Vermilion realm'', and find for someone to save him!''''
The more that Shun Long thought about this matter, the more things seemed to have fallen into ce as he understood Cui Guoliang''s decision.
At the same time, as he observed his surroundings, Shun Long also realized one other thing.
His previous conjecture was actually correct.
Once someone entered the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', they were sent to a different location every time that the vi''s gates opened.
Shun Long could verify this, from the fact that there were no other people in his surroundings, as well as the fact that the stone golems at thebyrinth''s exit were in perfect condition.
After taking a look around him, he pondered seriously for a moment, but in the end, he didn''t choose to summon Little ck from the ''Stone of Time''.
Unless the dangers in this ce reached a level that Little Silver was unable to handle, Shun Long wasn''t willing to have Little cke out just yet.
After all, if he and Liu Mei really ended up meeting with a group of Dao Kings that had a peak rank 9 Dao King in their midst, then once these people saw the ck dragon there was no way that they would simply ignore it.
Without any more hesitation, Shun Long urged Little Silver to soar in the sky and fly towards the mountains in the distance.
As for the underground cave behind them that concealed the stonebyrinth inside it, neither Shun Long nor Liu Mei had any interest in it.
As Little Silver approached the mountains in the distance however, tens of middle and peak rank 5 magic beasts appeared from the mountain''s depths, as they all flew towards the ck panther in an attempt to swarm it.
Shun Long immediately recognized the countless magic beasts that were flying towards the ck panther, as he muttered under his breath
Peak rank 5 ''Silver-beaked eagles'', peak rank 5 ''Violet-winged poison bats'', followed by tens of middle rank 5 ''Thunderstorm killer bees'', all flew towards the ck panther in an attempt to drown it in numbers.
Liu Mei''s expression changed into one of worry as she saw this scene.
No matter what, if one hundred peak rank 5 magic beasts ended up attacking an early rank 6 beast like Little Silver, then the ck panther would definitely suffer some serious injuries, even if it killed every single one of the beasts around it.
ROAR!
The ck panther roared loudly, but the magic beasts around it didn''t seem to have any fear of death as they charged towards it with red eyes.
Tens of them swarmed Little Silver, in an attempt to either bite its silver wings, its neck, or attack Shun Long and Liu Mei who were sitting on its back.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he saw this scene, and just as he was about to summon Little ck to take care of this situation, the ck panther''s wings lit up with a blinding silver light, before it shot forward without any fear.
Its silver wings ripped the magic beasts around Shun Long and Liu Mei into countless pieces, as blood dyed the sky before Little Silver escaped the encirclement.
Although the magic beasts around Little Silver had left more than just a few wounds on its body, it was impossible for a rank 6 magic beast to be afraid of a bunch of rank 5 ones.
In just this one attack, almost 30 middle and peak rank 5 magic beasts had been killed in an instant.
Although more and more magic beasts seemed to appear from the mountains around them, even the strongest of them was still at the peak of rank 5, and werepletely unable to catch up to Little Silver''s speed.
In the blink of an eye, the ck panther had already left the area of the surrounding mountains, as a scorching-hot desert appeared in the distance ahead.
At the same time, at the depths of the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'' had a serious expression on his face, as he stared at the scene in front of him!
Chapter 357 - 357 The deserts true danger
Chapter 357 - 357 The desert''s true danger
At the depths of the vi, Duan Zhu was standing right outside of the gigantic pir of light, and he was staring at the scene in front of him with a fervent and greedy expression on his face.
He knew that what was lying inside this pir of light, was most likely the final treasures of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Originally, Duan Zhu hadn''t expected to find too many things that would catch his interest and neither did he expect for the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' to be dangerous to him.
After all, as a hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'', what kind of dangerous situation had he not be in already?
Additionally, the treasures that could catch his eyes were really important.
However, contrary to his thoughts, not only was the journey to reach this ce extremely dangerous, but the treasures that he had found during the past 2 years, were much more than what he originally owned himself!
Seeing that he was just a step away from obtaining the treasures hidden at the core of the vi, even the prestigious hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'' couldn''t contain himself.
Taking out a 1.7m blood-colored saber from his spatial ring, Duan Zhu first injected his qi inside it, before he started raining out powerful attacks on the pir of light in front of him.
As for the saber in his hands, this was a weapon that Duan Zhu had found a couple of days ago, just as he arrived at the depths of the vi.
The moment that the peak Dao King saw this weapon, his body had started to tremble from excitement.
This was a weapon that would be coveted even by Dao Emperors!
After all, this saber had already surpassed the gold grade and had reached an entirely new level!
Just this blood saber by itself, was already worth more than the entire fortune that Duan Zhu had inside his spatial ring.
At the same time that Duan Zhu was attacking the gigantic pir of light, the old king''s of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun''s group, was the one closest to arriving at the core of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''
A solemn expression had appeared on Sheng Jun''s face when he felt the tremorsing from the vi''s core region, but the old king only increased his speed in response, as he led the Dao Kings of the Shengtian dynasty even further inside!
...
At the same time, Shun Long who was still sitting with Liu Mei on Little Silver''s back, had just left the mountains that were filled with magic beasts further behind them, as they entered the region of the scorching hot desert up ahead.
It was unknown what the reason behind this was, but the heat in this desert could actually affect even body cultivators.
Shun Long could feel the difort caused by the heat, that resulted in a painful headache,
Liu Mei however found it even harder to withstand the heat, as the unbearable temperature had quickly brought her to the brink of copse.
Only Little Silver seemedpletely unaffected by the change in the temperature on its surroundings, as it continued to fly forwardpletely unperturbed.
Shun Long immediately understood the reason why only peak Nascent Soul stage experts and Dao Kings would dare to venture inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
After all, he and Liu Mei had been inside this ce for less than a day, and yet the dangers they had already faced hadpletely exceeded what even most Nascent Soul stage experts could handle.
Even ate-stage Nascent Soul expert would have most likely been unable to escape from the swarm of magic beasts that had surrounded Little Silver earlier.
Seeing that she could no longer withstand the heat from the desert and would most likely end up copsing soon, Liu Mei circted her qi, as a thinyer of icepletely covered herself and Shun Long like a thin membrane.
Although the ice would quickly melt, and the water on Shun Long''s and her own body would evaporate from the scorching temperature of the sun, the cooling feeling was more than enough to help Liu Mei withstand the terrible heat from her surroundings as Little Silver continued to fly forward.
Shun Long could also feel the difort caused by the heat to instantly disappear as soon as Liu Mei''syer of ice covered his body.
Additionally, as a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, Liu Mei only needed to use a tiny amount of her qi in order to create theyers of ice around her and Shun Long''s bodies every few seconds.
The qi required from this action couldn''t evenpare to her summoning of a single skeleton.
As Little Silver continued to fly through the desert, half a day soon passed like this.
During this time, Shun Long was extremely surprised by how smooth his journey with Liu Mei actually was.
In the past 12 hours, they hadn''t met with a single magic beast.
Forget about peak rank 5 or even early rank 6 beasts that Shun Long had expected to encounter, even rank 3 magic beasts were nowhere to be found.
Based on the previous 2 experiences from earlier, since the desert was closer to the core region of the vi than the mountains that were filled with the rank 5 magic beasts, Shun Long was certain that it was highly unlikely, that the only ''problem'' that he and Liu Mei would face would be the ufortable heat from the desert.
Liu Mei also found this matter suspicious, and looking at Shun Long, she thought seriously for a moment before she said in a curious tone
''''Long-ge, perhaps not every ce in this vi will hide powerful magic beasts.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response as he agreed with Liu Mei''s words.
He had also thought about this matter, and this was the conclusion he had just reached as well.
Indeed, it was impossible for every single mountain, forest and desert, to have hundreds of peak rank 5 magic beasts.
Just as Shun Long thought that their journey would actually continue like this, powerful sandstorms suddenly appeared in the distance ahead.,
The sandstorms had enveloped the desert as far as the eye could see, and left no room to fly through.
If someone insisted on passing through the desert, they would definitely have to get past the sandstorms to continue.
And yet, the giant sandstorms didn''t seem to be that easy to pass through.
Shun Long first had Little Silver stop flying before it reached the area of the sandstorms, as he then fell into deep thought.
''''Long-ge, what should we do? There doesn''t seem to be any other path to continue forward.''''
Hearing Liu Mei''s question jolt him awake, Shun Long finally nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes.
Since there was no other way to get around it, in the end, he could only get choose to get through the sandstorms.
The ck panther''s silver wings lit up with a bright light, as it charged towards the gigantic sandstorms directly!
However, the moment that Little Silver entered inside the sandstorm, Shun Long''s expression suddenly changed.
In the middle of the sandstorm, Shun Long tried hard, but he was unable to even open his eyes. He could feel his body was heavy, as though someone or something was pressing heavily on it.
The power of the sandstorm was actually much more terrifying than what Shun Long had originally expected.
He had to use all of his strength to resist this terrifying force, and turn his body around to hold Liu Mei''s body tightly, preventing her from falling off from Little Silver''s body.
Every move inside the sandstorm was exhausting, and Shun Long was even certain that if he hadn''t advanced to the peak of the fourth stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', he wouldn''t even have control of his body to even provide with any resistance!
At the same time, Shun Long finally realized the danger of this desert.
If he really lost control and allowed the sandstorms to sweep his body, he would definitely die in their midst, without ever finding his way out of the desert.
And yet, Shun Long could only grit his teeth and hang on Little Silver''s back as the ck panther continued forward.
Although the panther''s speed had dropped by almost half inside the sandstorm, Little Silver didn''t seem to face any other problems.
At the same time, time continued to pass, and as he felt the pressure from the sandstorm around him get even stronger, a single thought appeared in Shun Long''s mind
''''This ce is far more dangerous than I originally imagined!''''
Chapter 358 - 358 Searching for Cui Guoliang
Chapter 358 - 358 Searching for Cui Guoliang
Shun Long was holding Liu Mei tightly with one arm and had her chest ced against his own, while with the other arm he was grabbing Little Silver''s back, afraid that if he let go, he would be trapped in this ce forever.
However, no matter how long he held on for, he could feel the pressure around him that was evergrowing.
This feeling was simr to diving inside ake, trying to reach theke''s bottom, but the pressure around your body would only grow, while theke''s depths were actually nowhere in sight.
Time continued to pass, and 1 hourter, Shun Long felt himself beingpletely suffocated under the sandstorm''s pressure.
No matter how hard he tried to hold on, he could feel his grip loosening from Little Silver''s back, almost as if he was unable to hang on any longer.
Seeing that he had no other choice left, he was about to summon Little ck and have the ck dragon cover him with his gigantic ck wings, when the pressure around him suddenly disappeared.
Shun Long could feel that he was able to open his eyes again, while at the same time, he could feel a light breeze brushing past his face, almost as if he had entered an entirely different world.
When he opened his eyes, Shun Long''s gaze didn''t fall on his surroundings, but on Liu Mei who seemed to have already lost consciousness.
Of course, if it wasn''t because he was cultivating in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' and had already reached the peak of the fourth stage, Shun Long didn''t think that he would have managed to stay conscious either.
Taking out a pill bottle from the ''Stone of Time'', he gently parted Liu Mei''s lips open, before he ced a ''Sun-healing pill'' in her mouth.
Only after verifying that the pill had dissolved into essence and was slowly being absorbed inside Liu Mei''s body did he finally heave out in relief before he raised his head to look at his surroundings.
An endless blue sea appeared in Shun Long''s eyes, extending far past the horizon, while behind him was the scorching hot desert.
The sharp contrast where the sandstorms suddenly ended and the sea began to appear, was an extremely peculiar, as well as beautiful sight.
''''Is this some kind of formation?''''
This was the only logical conclusion that Shun Long coulde to, that could exin how the terrifying sandstorms suddenly ended, while the calm sea appeared at the same time.
Although Little ck also heard Shun Long''s question, it seemed that he wasn''t aware of the answer either.
A few minutester, Liu Mei finally opened her eyes, while her body still hadn''t gotten rid of the pain that the sandstorm had caused to her, causing her to still be in pain.
As she regained her consciousness, the sea that extended for thousands of miles instantly appeared in her gaze, before she turned her enchanting eyes that were barely covered by her ck robes to look at Shun Long, and asked in a shocked voice
''''Long-ge, where are we?''''
Pointing at the ever-raging sandstorms behind him Shun Long smiled lightly, and as he continued to hold Liu Mei in his arms he then said
''''We just passed the desert.''''
After taking a moment to realize what was going on, Liu Mei nodded her head, before she turned her eyes to observe her surroundings with curiosity in her eyes.
At the same time, Shun Long took out Cui Guoliang''s map from the ''Stone of Time'' and spread it in front of him.
He knew that this Dao King and his wife, were both trapped somewhere inside this sea.
Although Shun Long had ''promised'' Cui Guoliang that he woulde and save him only after he became a Dao King, it was very likely that he and Liu Mei would already be in the central region by then, and returning back to the ''Night star continent'' may not be that easy.
Additionally, since matters had changed with Duan Zhu stirring up the entire ''Night star continent'' by entering the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Shun Long decided to take this chance and check Cui Guoliang''s condition.
''''Of course, as long as I don''t have to put myself, Mei''er, or Little Silver at danger, and things are really the way that Cui Guoliang described them to be, then I don''t mind saving him in passing.''''
After making up his mind, Shun Long turned his eyes towards the beast skin map in his hands, before he focused on therge X mark that wasn''t too far from where the desert ended.
''''ording to Cui Guoliang''s directions, the ce where he is trapped in, is near an isted ind that is covered by snow, not too far away from this area.''''
After taking a few moments to verify his approximate location, Shun Long first took a look at the calm sea waves around him, before he had Little Silver fly towards his southeast.
Of course, there was no way that Shun Long or Liu Mei would believe, that this sea was really as calm as it seemed to be on the surface.
If Cui Guoliang and his wife were really trapped somewhere inside this ce, then this is more than enough to prove, that even Dao Kings will face danger here.
After all, in the end, Little Silver was only a an early rank 6 magic beast that was as strong as a rank 3 Dao King!
Although Shun Long was confident that it could beat most early stage Dao Kings, it? wouldn''t necessarily be much stronger than Cui Guoliang and his wife!
Half an hour soon passed as Little Silver continued to fly forward, when a number of inds appeared in the distance ahead.
As the ck panther approached closer, Shun Long could finally see clearly the appearance of these inds!
There were 5 inds that looked like they had been intentionally ced next to each other, the biggest of which was almost as big as the ''Silver sword city'' itself, while the smallest one was actually even smaller than a single city in the mortal world.
However, each ind waspletely different from the others.
The first ind was actually filled with thunderclouds gathering in the sky above it, while the second ind right next to it was like a paradise.
The only thing that these inds had inmon, was that there were absolutely no traces of humans or magic beasts living on them.
As he stared at the inds in front of him, Shun Long''s gaze was suddenly focused on the fourth ind.
Unlike the other inds around it, it was the only ind that was actually covered in snow!
Liu Mei''s gaze followed Shun Long''s, as her eyes soon fell on the ind that was covered with snow as well.
She clearly remembered that ording to the map that Shun Long had, Cui Guoliang was trapped somewhere near this ce.
And yet, Shun Long only stared at the ind for a few moments, before his eyes turned to look at the sea below it.
This was the ce where Cui Guoliang was trapped inside!
Shun Long thought seriously for a few moments, and in the end, he didn''t have Little Silver dive inside the sea right away, but instead, he turned his head to look at Liu Mei, before he said with a light smile on his face
''''Mei''er give me your robes.''''
Chapter 359 - 359 Cui Guoliangs plight
Chapter 359 - 359 Cui Guoliang''s plight
''''Ah?''''
A confused look appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she heard Shun Long''s words.
Realizing the ambiguous meaning behind his words, Shun Long shook his head with a wary smile on his face, before he took off his ck robes and ced them inside the spatial ring in his hand.
Before Shun Long could exin what he meant, Liu Mei''s face had turned red from embarrassment, before she took off her ck robes and handed them to Shun Long.
For a moment, she had misunderstood Shun Long''s actual intentions, making her face turn redder than a tomato.
Of course, Shun Long couldn''t put the me on Liu Mei.
Instead, he knew that it was his poor choice of words that caused this misunderstanding.
Looking at Liu Mei with a smile on his face, Shun Long ced his arms around her waist, and pulling her into a hug, he first pointed at the sea below them before he said
''''If Cui Guoliang and his wife are really trapped inside the sea, then having the ck robes on will do more harm than good.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes suddenly widenedpletely forgetting the embarrassing moment from a moment ago, and looking like she had just realized what Shun Long meant to say, she looked at him with shock in her eyes before she asked for confirmation
''''Long-ge, is it because people will recognize us in the future?'''',
Nodding his head, Shun Long turned his eyes towards the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', at the gigantic pir of light that was visible even from his current location, and said with a serious look in his eyes
''''There is no way that we can continue going forward using just Little Silver''s strength.
In the end, if we are going to go to the depths of the vi, Little ck will have to show himself!
Although it''s unlikely that Cui Guoliang would be able to make the connection in the future, between the 2 people who are sitting on the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' back, and those 2 who will be sitting on the ck dragon''s back, it''s not entirely impossible for it to happen.
Of course, the only thing that these 2 groups will have inmon will be the simr cultivation at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm.
Additionally, although Cui Guoliang knows our identities, he doesn''t know that we were wearing ck robes before we entered the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Even the people outside the vi only saw 2 people riding on the ck panther''s back.
Although it''s possible that they will be able to make the connection between the 2 people who are riding on the ck panther now, and the people who will be riding on Little ck, that will only be nothing more than an assumption in the end.
As long as Cui Guoliang doesn''t see us covering ourselves, it''s practically impossible for him to make the connection.''''
As Shun Long finished his words, he then added inwardly
''''And even if he does make the connection, when he realizes the consequences of offending the person behind Little ck, it''s unlikely that either Cui Guoliang or his wife wille out to say anything.''''
Liu Mei was stunned, as she stared at Shun Long with a gaping mouth.
At the same time, a feeling of admiration and pride had sprouted in her heart as she looked at Shun Long who confidently exined this thought process.
Indeed, it''s important to pay attention even to the smallest details.
As for the reason why Shun Long didn''t choose to ride on Little ck''s back before entering the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and then switch to Little Silver, Liu Mei didn''t need him to exin this as she could already understand the reason by herself.
Since Shun Long wasn''t aware, whether he and Liu Mei would be teleported to a random ce inside the vi after passing through the vi''s entrance, or whether they would arrive at the same ce as every other Dao King who had entered before them, in case it was actually thetter and there were some peak rank 9 Dao Kings who spotted the ck dragon, the trouble that this matter would have caused would probably be at the same level as the treasures at the core of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' itself!
It was very likely that even Sheng Jun''s group would be searching for the 2 ck robed people who were riding on the ck dragon if that was the case, leaving no room for Shun Long and Liu Mei to move freely.
Without any more dy, under Shun Long''s directions, Little Silver directly dove inside the sea right in front of the snowy ind.
The crystal clear waters of the sea turned turbulent, as big waves rose the moment that the panther''s body entered inside.
Although Little Silver''s speed was many times slower inside the water than it was in the air, it was still as fast as an early rank 5 magic beast inside the sea.
Although the water was cold and it gave off a chilly feeling once it touched a person''s body, this wasn''t a problem for either Shun Long or Liu Mei, as Little Silver continued diving deeper inside.
2 minutester, Little Silver arrived at the depths of the sea, where a shocking scene appeared in Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes.
At the bottom of the sea, tens of gigantic whirlpools seemed to have formed a maze, trapping inside them a handsome, golden-robed middle-aged man along with a beautiful middle-aged woman.
Shun Long instantly recognized the middle-aged man as Cui Guoliang.
Although his avatar inside the pce of the ''Vermilion realm'' was that of a young man''s, and his golden-hair back then were much more l.u.s.trous, Shun Long only needed a nce to recognize the man inside the maze.
As for the middle-aged woman next to him, she was obviously the same voluptuous ''young woman'', whose statue was erected right outside the ''King''s pce'' in the ''Vermilion realm''.
At the same time, almost as if he had felt Shun Long''s gaze on him, Cui Guoliang raised his head to look at the handsome young man in blue robes, and the white-veiled young woman who were sitting on top of the ''Silver-winged panther king'', and a look of disbelief appeared on his face,pletely unable to believe the scene in front of him!
Chapter 360 - 360 Rescuing Cui Guoliang
Chapter 360 - 360 Rescuing Cui Guoliang
Seeing the sudden change in expression in Cui Guoliang''s face, the woman next to him followed his line of sight, before her body started to tremble.
An expression of despair appeared in her eyes as she looked at the 2 people who were sitting on top of a magic beast and were heading in her direction.
Wan Zedong could easily guess, that once someone saw 2 Dao Kings trapped in between the whirlpools, only one thought woulde to their mind
''''Push them to death and take everything they have on their bodies!''''
After all, both Wan Zedong and Cui Guoliang, had to expend all the qi that they absorbed from their surroundings, to resist the terrifying whirlpools from crushing their bodies.
Even if ate-stage Nascent Soul expert ended up attacking them while she and Cui Guoliang were in this situation, Wan Zedong knew that that person would only need a few moments until he killed the 2 Dao Kings in front of him!
At the same time, turbulent waves had been raised in Cui Guoliang''s heart, and for a moment, the powerful Dao King thought that he was hallucinating.
''''Isn''t this the same brat that came to my secret realm 3 years ago? How can he be at the peak of the Spirit realm?
No, this is impossible... it has only been 3 years since I sent him to the ''Silver sword city''!
But isn''t that my ''Silver-winged panther king''???''''
As these thoughts shed through Cui Guoliang''s mind, the expression on his face turned from disbelief into joy, then to incredulousness and fear.
He could clearly remember that Shun Long wasn''t even a Heaven grade cultivator when he had left his pce 3 years ago.
However, since he wasn''t suppressing his aura with the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' right now, Cui Guoliang could clearly sense that he was already at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm!
For a second, he even started doubting the experiences that he had received from his own soul incantation!
As for Wan Zedong, she waspletely oblivious to Cui Guoliang''s thoughts.
Although she already knew that her husband had found someone to save them within the next few thousand years, Wan Zedong didn''t hold any hope in her heart for that person to appear.
After all, how difficult was it for someone to be a peak Nascent Soul stage expert?
How difficult was it for that person to reach the Dao King realm?
And even if they managed to reach the Dao King realm, who could assure her that, that person would then enter the vi to fulfill their oath to Cui Guoliang?
And even in the situation that that person really manages to be a Dao King and enters the ''Dragon Lord vi'' in the future, and even if he was also willing toe and help Cui Guoliang, the dangers inside the vi were enough even for Dao Kings like herself and Cui Guoliang to get trapped and even die!
Would that person necessarily be able to save them?
In her heart, Wan Zedong didn''t hold the slightest hint of hope for that matter to happen.
Instead, she was certain, that the first time that someone found them, she and Cui Guoliang would die.
Of course, although she knew that this was the truth, Wan Zedong was unwilling to die!
This was why she had chosen to resist with all her might, being trapped in this ce for thousands of years, hoping that the natural formation that she and Cui Guoliang had fallen in, would at some point disperse by itself.
Although this hope was nothing more than an illusionary, distant dream, it was still the only thing that could give hope to Wan Zedong.
At the same time, Shun Long instantly recognized the whirlpools around Cui Guoliang that were a natural formation.
Although Shun Long wasn''t well versed in formations, during the past 2 years, he had taken some time to study the very basics.
Although he had no idea how to break this formation and save Cui Guoliang, he knew that entering inside directly was equivalent to death.
At the same time, Shun Long was able to determine Cui Guoliang''s level of cultivation.
He was a peak rank 3 Dao King, while the voluptuous woman next to him was an early rank 3 Dao King.
As for the strength of the whirlpools around them, Shun Logn didn''t know how strong someone needed to be to break free from it, but he could guess that even rank 5 Dao Kings may have to use their full strength to free themselves.
However, Shun Long also knew that Cui Guoliang was a formation master himself.
Since he had asked him toe to this ce, it was very likely that he had a n to free himself.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long had Little Silver take a step forward, and under Cui Guoliang''s and Wan Zedong''s shocked gazes, he cupped his hands as he looked at Cui Guoliang and said
''''Senior.''''
Cui Guoliang felt his mind short-circuiting after hearing Shun Long confirm his identity, while Wan Zedong turned her head to look at her husband with a curious expression on her face, while unconcealed joy shed in her eyes.
She couldn''t believe that the young man in front of them happened to know Cui Guoliang!
Although she could sense that Shun Long was still a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, she didn''t belittle him thanks to the early rank 6 magic beast that he and the young woman behind him were riding on.
Just the ''Silver-winged panther king'' by itself was strong enough to fight against her and Cui Guoliang on even ground.
Seeing the inquiring expression on his wife''s face, Cui Guoliang puffed out his chest, and with a huge smile on his face, he suppressed the shock in his heart as he said proudly
''''Hahaha! Zedong, this is the young man I found to help us! What do you think? Isn''t my foresight impressive? HAHAHA!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Guoliang turned his attention towards Shun Long, and with that same bright smile on his face that was about to reach his ears, he continued to suppress the whirlpools around him as he said
''''Kid, I don''t know what kind of monster you actually are to breakthrough all the way to the peak of the Spirit realm from the peak of the earth grade in just 3 years, but I am very happy you are here! As long as you can help me get out of this ce... I swear to my Dao of Water that half of my treasures will be yours!''''
Cui Guoliang didn''t hesitate for even a moment, as he took a serious oath to his Dao of Water!
Forget about half of his treasures, the middle-aged Dao King was even willing to give everything up in order to escape from this ce.
After all, he had been trapped here for thousands of years, and every day that he stayed in this ce, was an extra day of danger.
When he had felt the entire ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' shaking 2 days ago, and that gigantic pir of light that shot to the sky, the first thing that came to his mind was that he would end up being buried inside this ce at the bottom of the sea.
Thankfully, as a Dao King who was proficient in the Dao of Water, Cui Guoliang could directly filter the oxygen inside the water, otherwise, after thousands of years, both he and his wife would have died from theck of oxygen.
At the same time, Wan Zedong nodded her head, clearly agreeing with Cui Guoliang''s words. Even if Shun Long asked her to give up her own treasures as well, Wan Zedong was already prepared to agree!
There was nothing more important to the 2 Dao Kings than to escape from this ce!
Since he had already decided to help Cui Guoliang and pay back his debt, Shun Long had no reason to decline, and after taking a look at Liu Mei who was standing next to him, he nodded his head, before he looked at Cui Guoliang and asked
''''Senior, what do you need help with?''''
Nodding his head, Cui Guoliang exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly after seeing that Shun Long didn''t extort him for more treasures this time, and pointing at the whirlpool that he was suppressing, he then said
''''It''s simple! All you have to do, is have the silver-winged panther attack the center of the whirlpools until they weaken enough to naturally disperse!''''
Of course, although it seemed simple at first nce, Cui Guoliang knew that this matter was much more difficult than it seemed.
If someone was trapped inside the formation, then it was simply impossible to attack the center of the whirlpools.
Additionally, even if Cui Guoliang could somehow destroy a single whirlpool, another one would soon take its ce.
Unless it was a peak rank 5 Dao King or an even higher level expert, then Cui Guoliang guessed that it was impossible to escape from this formation without using help from someone who was outside!
At the same time, if Cui Guoliang wasn''t a Dao King who hadprehended the Dao of Water, as well as a body cultivator at the same time, he was certain that he and his wife would have long since perished.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at the whirlpool in front of Cui Guoliang, which waspletely covered by a thinyer of his ''Dao of Water'', before he had Little Silver attack the whirlpool''s center.
Cui Guoliang watched with excitement, as well as envy in his heart, as the ck panther opened its mouth, and let out a powerful roar.
The roar turned into a shockwave that traveled towards the whirlpool in front of him, before it urately struck the whirlpool''s center!
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Chapter 361 - 361 Cui Guoliangs gratitude
Chapter 361 - 361 Cui Guoliang''s gratitude
Under Cui Guoliang''s and Wan Zedong''s shocked eyes, after just one hit, the whirlpool that Cui Guoliang was suppressing instantly weakened by more than half.
Just based on the power of this shockwave alone, the 2 Dao Kings could infer, that the ck panther''s strength was definitely at the peak of the early stage of rank 6!
Even 2 peak rank 3 Dao Kings may not necessarily be able to win in a fight against it!
As soon as the second shockwavended on the whirlpool''s core, the whirlpool that was already weakened instantly dispersed, making Cui Guoliang who was suppressing it have his eyes lit up with excitement.,
And yet, the moment that the first whirlpool disappeared, a second one moved from the surrounding ones and soon took its ce, as it continued to pressure Cui Guoliang and Wan Zedong.
The look in Cui Guoliang''s face however, was no longer that of wariness or despair, but instead it was one of excitement, as he stared at the silver-winged ck panther with shining eyes.
As the water around him surged, Cui Guoliang used his expertise in the ''Dao of Water'' to suppress the new whirlpool that appeared in front of him.
At the same time, Little Silver opened its mouth again, as it directed another shockwave towards the center of the new whirlpool.
Time passed like this, and one by one, the whirlpools around Cui Guoliang and Wan Zedong disappeared.
From the original 20, there were only 4 whirlpools left.
Even Wan Zedong''s eyes were staring at Little Silver like she was looking at her own ancestor, and with a look of excitement, she shouted at Shun Long in a voice filled with hope
''''Just one more whirlpool left! Please do your best!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t stop Little Silver, who opened its mouth as it let out another powerful shockwave.
This time, the moment that the shockwavended at the center of the whirlpool, all of the remaining 4 whirlpools started to tremble at the same time.
The moment that the second attack followed, the whirlpools were on the verge of copse, but this time, they didn''t instantly disappear.
It was only after the third and fourth shockwaves finally found their targets that the whirlpools copsed one after the other.
The ground beneath Cui Guoliang''s and Wan Zedong''s feet started to tremble, before the seabed slowly cracked.
The formation that had been restraining the 2 Dao Kings for thousands of years finally disappeared, as Cui Guoliang and his wife anxiously shot towards the water''s surface like fish that were being chased by a shark!
The moment that the golden-haired middle-aged man and the voluptuous woman appeared above the sea surface, tears welled up in their eyes as Cui Guoliang mumbled to himself
''''Finally...''''
Wan Zedong hugged him tightly, and with her eyes that were filled with tears of joy she looked at the golden-robed man in front of her and said joyously
''''Brother Liang... we are finally free! I thought that we were going to die in this ce, and get buried at the depths of the sea, without seeing the sun ever again!''''
Cui Guoliang nodded his head, his eyes unable to hide the turbulent emotions inside them, before he turned his gaze towards the ck panther that had juste out from the sea as well, and then looked at the handsome blue-robed young man and the white-veiled young woman who was standing next to him.
Surprisingly, Cui Guoliang cupped his hands and bowed as he said in an amiable tone,pletely different from the arrogant Dao King that Shun Long was used to deal with in the past
''''Little brother Shun, thank you for saving me! I always thought that you would need at least a few hundreds, if not thousands of years until you came to this ce. However, you took the risk toe here and help me and Zedong escape when you are still at the peak of the Spirit realm!
I, Cui Guoliang am not someone who forgets grudges or goodwill. Please ept my token of gratitude.''''
As he finished speaking, Cui Guoliang didn''t wait for Shun Long to respond, before the peak rank 3 Dao King took out a small, golden-colored spatial ring from his robes and threw it towards him.
Catching the spatial ring, Shun Long didn''t decline, and without checking the ring''s contents, he directly ced it in his pocket, intending to have a look at itter.
Then, he turned his eyes towards Cui Guoliang before he cupped his hands and said with a smile on his face
''''Senior, since I promised to help you, then of course I wouldn''t go back on my word. Just the fact that you let me have Little Silver in the past, was enough for me toe and save you today. I will not forget the gratitude that you showed me in the past either!''''
A shocked look shed through Cui Guoliang''s and Wan Zedong''s eyes as they turned their eyes to look at the early rank 6 ''Silver-winged panther king'' in front of them.
Cui Guoliang clearly remembered that the magic beasts that he had allowed Shun Long to choose from, were still at the early rank 5.
As for the ''Silver-winged panther king'' that he had chosen back then, it was definitely a magic beast that his own servant, Old Tao couldn''t help advance to the middle of rank 5 no matter what he did.
The disappointment that Cui Guoliang had felt for this magic beast had exceeded the joy he felt for having it. He had clearly deemed that the ''Silver-winged panther king'' was useless and wouldn''t be able to advance again in its life.
And yet, 3 yearster, this same magic beast had already reached the early rank 6, and is now probably as strong as he himself is, if it isn''t even stronger!
Of course, Cui Guoliang could also read in-between the lines of Shun Long''s words causing him to chuckle awkwardly.
He knew that Shun Long had surely noticed his envious gaze earlier as he stared at the rank 6 ck panther, so mentioning that this was part of his reward, was the same as asking Cui Guoliang to forget any ns of asking him to return the panther.
Of course, this thought had shed through Cui Guoliang''s mind, but he wouldn''t push this matter either if Shun Long refused.
Putting aside the fact that he wasn''t one hundred percent certain of beating the panther in a head-on fight, even if he could, Cui Guoliang wasn''t a person who would go back on his word and try to backstab the person who had just saved his and his wife''s lives.
Cupping his hands, Cui Guoliang had a smile on his face as he looked at Shun Long, before he shook his head in a self-deprecating manner, as he then took out arge piece that looked like white iron from his spatial ring and held it in his hands.
His gaze turnedplicated, but there was joy amidst his pain as he said to Shun Long
''''If it wasn''t for this little thing, me and Zedong wouldn''t have suffered for the past thousands of years like that!''''
Chapter 362 - 362 The reason behind the entrapment
Chapter 362 - 362 The reason behind the entrapment
Wan Zedong turned to look at the piece of white iron in Cui Guoliang''s hands with aplicated look in her eyes, but in the end, she simply nodded her head in response.
Liu Mei turned to look at Shun Long with curiosity in her eyes, but she saw the look of puzzlement in his face as well, obviously having no idea what the white iron in Cui Guoliang''s hands actually was.
Seeing that neither Shun Long nor the white-veiled young woman next to him were speaking, Cui Guoliang understood that he had yet to exin things properly, and with a smile on his face, the golden-haired Dao King waved his hand, as an old, tattered yellow beast skin appeared in his hands.
With a sigh that seemed to have been trying to expel all of the negative emotions that were bubbled up inside him, Cui Guoliang sat cross-legged in the air, before he looked at Shun Long and asked in a serious tone
''''Little brother Shun, do you know what this white iron in my hands really is?''''
Shun Long simply shook his head as he looked at the white iron in Cui Guoliang''s hands. He was curious as to what was this item that had caused the entrapment of 2 Dao Kings for thousands of years.
Shaking his head, Cui Guoliang first turned to look at his wife who was also sitting next to him, before he said with a smile on his face
''''This is actually a rank 6 ''white sea ore''.''''
Knowing that Shun Long and the young woman next to him were most likely going to be unaware of the origins of this item, Cui Guoliang then continued
''''This is an extremely rare ore that can be used by rank 3 gold grade formation masters to create peak rank 3 gold grade weapons and armor, or it can be infused to strengthen gold grade formations!
If a pinnacle rank 3 gold grade formation is infused with this ore, then it will certainly reach the absolute peak of rank 3 gold grade!
No, such a formation may even exceed the gold grade!
Of course, this also requires the formation master''s level to have reached the required level as well!''''
There was a fervent look in Cui Guoliang''s green eyes as he said thest sentence.
After taking a deep breath, he then added with an excited tone in his voice
''''Nevertheless, this is a priceless treasure that cannot be purchased, no matter how many spirit stones a powerful force from the ''Night star continent'' is willing to offer!''''
Shun Long and Liu Mei were both shocked when they heard Cui Guoliang''s words.
The thing in Cui Guoliang''s hands was indeed a treasure.
After all, Shun Long already knew, that even the strongest experts of the continent were most likely at the peak of rank 9 of the Dao King realm, with no one managing to reach the level of a Dao Emperor!
At the same time, even with his superficial understanding of formations, Shun Long easily understood that, if there really was a formation that could potentially exceed even the pinnacle of rank 3 gold grade, then no matter how many powerful Dao Kings gathered to fight against it, it would be practically impossible for them to forcefully break through such a formation using brute force!
Seeing that Shun Long could instantly recognize the value of the ore in his hands, Cui Guoliang nodded his head before he turned his eyes to the tattered, yellow-colored beast skin, and said with a look of pain in his eyes
''''Back then, I found this treasure map along with a jade slip with stored information inside it, as well as a small piece of ''white sea ore'' next to it, in the cave of a deceased expert.
The person who had left these items, probably knew that he was going to die, since he had also recorded a mental message inside the jade slip, saying that if one followed the map carved out in the beast skin they would be able to find an even bigger piece of ''white sea ore''.''''
Turning his head to look at his wife, Cui Guoliang continued with a self-deprecating smile
''''Of course, the moment that I realized that the ''white sea ore'' was near the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', I couldn''t help but rethink this matter. After all, even middle-stage Dao Kings have a high chance of dying in this ce!
I who was just an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator had no hope of surviving in this ce!''''
As he finished his words, Cui Guoliang looked around him warily, before he ced the ''white sea ore'' back inside his spatial ring, as he then continued
''''However, no matter what, the ''white sea ore'' wasn''t a treasure that I could let go!
I cultivated for thousands of years, and after bing a Dao King and reached the peak of the early stages, I exined everything to Zedong before we came to this ce together.
Unfortunately, the map didn''t mention that the ''white sea ore'' was hidden in a ce filled with powerful formations.''''
Noticing that Cui Guoliang had fallen silent after he finished this sentence, almost as if he was still trying to realize that he had finally escaped from this endless nightmare, Wan Zedong nodded her head as she then added
''''Thankfully, Guoliang had already taken precautions and created the secret realm in the Deste East in order to find someone to help us!
Although I had always thought that such an action was worthless, in the end, I can only thank you since you were the reason why we could escape!''''
Seeing Wan Zedong sincerely bow in thanks, Shun Long cupped his hands in response, epting the Dao King''s act of gratitude.
Straightening her ck robes that were embroidered with silver patterns, Wan Zedong then took out a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' from her spatial ring, and with a smile on her face, she looked at Shun Long and the white-veiled, silent Liu Mei who was standing next to him, before she said
''''Unfortunately, being trapped in that formation meant that we were unable to activate our ''Dragon Lord''s medallions'' and get teleported directly at the vi''s entrance as well!''''
Cui Guoliang seemed to have just woken up when he heard Wan Zedong''s words, as he took out his ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' from his spatial ring as well, before he looked at Shun Long with an apologetic look on his face, as he then added
''''Right, little brother Shun! I forgot to mention this.
If you want to instantly escape from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', all you have to do, is to directly inject your qi inside your ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', and you will be teleported to the vi''s entrance!
However, you have to be careful!
If you are trapped in a formation simr to ours, then the ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' cannot be activated.
If you don''t find another way to escape, you will certainly die!''''
Shun Long had never heard of this before, as he took out his ''Dragon Lord''s medallion and examined it carefully.
He wasn''t able to sense any direct connection with it, without injecting his qi inside it.
Even after examining it with his spirit sense, there was still nothing out of the ordinary with the bronze medallion in his hands.
Excited to leave this ce and return back to the ''Night star continent'', Cui Guoliang took a deep breath to suppress his anxious emotions, as he looked at Shun Long and the young woman next to him and asked
''''Little brother Shun, should we return together then? The road forward is extremely dangerous. Even with an early rank 6 magic beast, you won''t manage to reach the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!''''
Understanding that Cui Guoliang was only warning him out of goodwill for the dangers that lied deeper inside, Shun Long cupped his hands at the golden-haired Dao King in front of him, before he reached out to hold Liu Mei''s hand and said in a tone that had obvious hints of gratitude inside it
''''Senior, we have certain matters to investigate, so we won''t be able to return back just yet!''''
Cui Guoliang nodded his head, not willing to pressure the matter.
After sweeping his gaze past Liu Mei, he turned his eyes to look at Shun Long and handed him a token with the words ''Cui'' on it, before he said with a smile on his face
''''Very well! Make sure to be careful. This is the token of my Cui n! If you visit the ''Golden Shield city'' make sure to drop by the Cui n! Me and Zedong will definitely hold a banquet to wee you and your wife when the timees.''''
Although Cui Guoliang hadn''t recognized Liu Mei, based on how close she was with Shun Long and the fact that they were traveling together in the most dangerous ce of the ''Night star continent'', the experienced Dao King only needed a moment to understand that the white-veiled woman''s rtionship with Shun Long was anything but ordinary.
As soon as he finished his words, the peak rank 3 Dao King and his wife, injected their qi in the ''Dragon Lord''s medallions'' in their hands at the same time.
A golden light descended from the barrier above their heads that covered the entire ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', before itpletely enveloped the 2 Dao Kings.
Under Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes, Cui Guoliang and Wan Zedong''s bodies slowly turned into motes of light, and just a few momentster, they finally disappeared.
Chapter 363 - 363 Arriving at the core region
Chapter 363 - 363 Arriving at the core region
Looking at Cui Guoliang''s and Wan Zedong''s body that disappeared into motes of light, Liu Mei turned her eyes to look at Shun Long before she asked in a gentle voice
''''Long-ge, what should we do now?''''
Liu Mei knew that Shun Long had been keeping the matter of Cui Guoliang at the back of his mind during thest 3 years.
After all, no matter what, as a person who had given aid to Shun Long 3 years ago, unless Cui Guoliang was intentionally trying to bring trouble to him by having him explore this region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Shun Long wouldn''t simply let the Dao King and his wife die.
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei with a smile on his face, while a sense of relief filled his heart after finally helping Cui Guoliang escape from this ce.
After patting the ck panther''s head, he then said in a voice that was filled with gratitude
''''Little Silver, you did a good job! You can rest now.''''
Waving his right hand, he then had Little Silver return inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Although it seemed that the ck panther hadn''t faced any major problems so far in their journey in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Shun Long knew that this wasn''t the case.
Little Silver had initially suffered some minor injuries, from the tens of peak rank 5 magic beast that lived in the mountains right before the desert that attacked Shun Long''s group.
Additionally, although the heat of the desert waspletely inconsequential to a powerful early rank 6 magic beast like the ''Silver-winged panther king'', the terrifying sandstorms at the end of the desert weren''t that easy to pass through.
Although Little Silver didn''t suffer any injuries from them, it wasn''t an easy journey either.
Even Dao Kings would face a certain degree of trouble and would have to expend plenty of their qi to sessfully pass through the desert.
In the end, after passing through the sandstorms, the ck panther still hadn''t gotten any time to rest.
After all, it still had to destroy the whirlpools that entrapped Cui Guoliang and his wife, while each whirlpool needed at least 2 or 3 full-powered shockwaves in order topletely disperse.
Although Little Silver didn''t whimper toin that it had been tired and had expended too much of its strength, Shun Long could feel that after thest day''s journey, it really needed the rest.
The moment that Little Silver''s body disappeared from Shun Long''s eyes, the body of a 10m(33ft) tall dragon, with blue eyes and a pair of majestic ck wings appeared in front of him and Liu Mei.
Feeling Little ck''s excited emotions after leaving the ''Stone of Time'' for a while, Shun Long patted the ck dragon''s head, before he covered himself with the ck robes that he wore earlier, and looking at Liu Mei with a smile on his face, he said
''''Mei''er, let''s go to the core region of the vi!''''
Since Cui Guoliang''s matter had already been dealt with, Shun Long wasn''t willing to waste any more time.
He also didn''t know if Duan Zhu would manage to obtain the dragonstone in the meanwhile, which made him even more urgent to explore the depths of the vi itself.
Looking at Shun Long, Liu Mei nodded her head, as she simply replied
''''Mm!''''
After covering herselfpletely with the ck robes, she felt Shun Long''s arm wrapping itself around her waist, before she quickly appeared on the ck dragon''s back.
Although Liu Mei had seen Little ck appear in front of her for more than once, she was still filled with shock every time that her eyesnded on the majestic ck dragon.
With Liu Mei sitting behind him, Shun Long turned his eyes to look at Little ck and said with a smile
''''Little ck, let''s go. I am also curious to find out what really lies inside the depths of this ''vi''.''''
As soon as he heard Shun Long''s words, the ck dragon pped his wings, as he flew right above the sea and headed towards the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Although Little ck wasn''t flying at full speed, his speed was many times faster than Little Silver''s.
In just a few hours, Shun Long could already see the gigantic pir of light in the distance ahead, slowly bing bigger and bigger in his eyes.
At the same time, the sea that was supposed to be lethal for early and middle stage Dao Kings, didn''t seem to pose the slightest danger to Shun Long and Liu Mei!
Little ck''s aura hadpletely terrified every early and middle rank 6 magic beast that lied at the depths of the sea as they saw the ck dragon that flew above their heads.
As for any peak rank 6 magic beasts, Shun Long was unaware if there were any of them hidden inside the sea and lying in wait.
Almost as if sensing Shun Long''s emotions, Little ck''s voice suddenly sounded in his head as Little ck said confidently
''''Master, there is nothing to worry about! Even if we meet with peak rank 6 magic beasts, I can still rip them to pieces!
Unless we meet with any abnormal magic beasts that have extremely powerful defensive or offensive abilities, or those with rare bloodlines, no other beast should be able to pose any danger to us!''''
Shun Long knew that what Little ck had said was the truth, as he took a deep breath and said with a serious look in his eyes
''''In any case, it''s not like we can ignore the Dragonstone and let it be taken by someone else.''''
Little ck nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes.
Indeed, even if he had to fight against the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'', he still couldn''t allow the dragonstone to be taken away!
Half a dayter, the endless sea seemed to have finallye to an end, and right in front of Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes, an enormous, luxurious building appeared at the seashore, right where the endless sea ended.
Shun Long could easily make out, that the gigantic beam of light that was visible throughout the entire continent was actuallying from the depths of this building in front of him.
This was the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!
At the same time that Little ck was about to enter through the half-opened doors of the building in front of him however, Shun Long noticed a group of powerful Dao Kings slowlying out from the building''s entrance.
Raising their heads, the 5 Dao Kings'' gazes all fell on the gigantic ck dragon who was flying towards them at the same time!
Chapter 364 - 364 Overbearing
Chapter 364 - 364 Overbearing
Shock as well as confusion filled the 5 experts'' eyes, while one of them couldn''t help mumbling in a voice filled with disbelief
''''A.. dragon...??''''
Little ck had also noticed the 5te-stage Dao Kings at the entrance of the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', but he didn''t seem to care too much about them, as he continued flying forward towards the building''s entrance.
Seeing that the 2 ck-robed people who were sitting on top of the dragon''s back didn''t seem to have any intention to stop, the strongest out of the 5 Dao Kings who was at the middle of rank 8 in the Dao King realm took a step forward before he shouted in a loud voice
''''Stop right there!
We are Elders of the Shengtian dynasty! If you want to enter inside the vi, you need to identify yourselves first!''''
Although the 5 Dao Kings could clearly sense the terrifying auraing from the ck dragon, and at the same time, they had more than ''just a little'' apprehension towards the ck-robed Shun Long whose aura they werepletely unable to sense, they still had to verify his and Liu Mei''s identities before they allowed them to step inside the vi.
Although the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' didn''t belong to the Shengtian dynasty, since their old king had ordered them to stand guard here and prevent any members of the dark elf race from entering inside, the 5 Dao Kings wouldn''t let Shun Long and Liu Mei enter before they verified where the 2 of them actually came from.
Of course, the 5 Dao Kings were clearly aware, that Shun Long and Liu Mei weren''t from the dark elf race, but this was the first time that they were seeing a living dragon!
And that dragon was ''only'' at the middle of rank 6! This wasn''t a chance that they could simply ignore!
Turning his head to look at the people around him, the old man who was at the middle of rank 8 in the Dao King realm said in a suppressed voice
''''Unless the power behind them is a behemoth that is even stronger than our Shengtian dynasty... you know what to do!''''
The 4 Dao Kings around the old man all nodded their heads at the same time, as they looked at the ck dragon simultaneously, certain that the person on its back would have it stop in front of them now that they had dered their identities as Elders of the powerful dynasty.
After all, there were only a handful of powers who could be considered to be at the same level as their Shengtian dynasty in the entirety of the ''Night star continent''!
Additionally, none of these powers were even rumored to have seen a dragon, let alone to have tamed one, which made the 2 ck-robed people''s origins even more dubious!
It was very likely that the 2 people on the ck dragon''s back weren''t actually from their ''Night star continent''.
However, this by itself wasn''t enough to make the 5 Dao Kings to shy away.
Unless these people were from a power that was as strong as the ''Demon Emperor pce'' or the terrifying ''Holy sect'', their Shengtian dynasty would definitely dare to fight against them if they could obtain a powerful dragon!
A real, living dragon''s existence was reason enough to even start a war between 2 continents, let alone 2 powerful forces!
Of course, the 5 Dao Kings had also taken battle positions at the same time. They couldn''t neglect the fact, that the ck-robed person whose aura waspletely retracted, could very likely be a peak expert at the same level as their old king, Sheng Jun.
Otherwise, it was impossible to exin how he was able to ride on top of the dragon''s back!
The moment that he appeared in the air right above the 5 Dao Kings, Little ck had a scornful look in his eyes as he gazed down at them, almost as if he was looking at a bunch of ants beneath his feet.
Opening his mouth, the ck dragon didn''t have the slightest hints of mercy in his blue eyes, as he sent out a terrifying ball of ck mes towards the 5 Dao Kings.
The old Dao King who was at the middle of rank 8 instantly paled the moment that he felt the power behind the ck fireball, as he hurriedly shouted
''''RUN!!''''
Without waiting for a response from the people around him, he was the first one to try and escape as far as he could before the ck fireball approached his body.
The 4 Dao Kings around him didn''t dy either, as they all split themselves, trying to escape as far as possible from the iing ck fireball.
Although the ck dragon in front of them was just at the middle of rank 6, they could feel the lethality inside this fireball that could even threaten peak rank 9 Dao Kings!
BOOOM!
The entrance in front of the half-opened gates instantly burst in ck mes, while 2 unlucky Dao Kings of the Shengtian dynasty actually weren''t fast enough to avoid Little ck''s attack.
Under the old man''s horrified eyes, the powerfulte-stage Dao Kings from his group didn''t even have a chance to scream, as their bodies instantly turned into charred corpses.
2te-stage Dao Kings had instantly died just like that!
It wasn''t just the old man however, even Shun Long was shocked by Little ck''s power!
Without waiting for a response however, Shun Long barely threw a nce at the 3te-stage Dao Kings who had managed to escape in time, before he turned his eyes towards the half-opened doors in front of him, as Little ck flew inside them.
Even though these people had managed to conceal their greed over the ck dragon''s body well, how could Shun Long not guess their intentions?!
Besides, iming that he had to show his identity before entering would ce him in an even worse positionter on.
It was very likely that the entire ''Night star continent'', and perhaps even the ''Demon Emperor pce'' would try to look for him in order to get information about Little ck!
The old Dao King at the middle of rank 8, watched the 2 ck-robed people on Little ck''s back entering inside the vi''s core region, with a look of hate as well as fear in his eyes.
After taking a moment to calm himself down, he turned to look at the 2 remaining Dao Kings around him who still hadn''t gotten over their shock, and gritted his teeth before he said angrily
''''Inform our king about this!''''
Chapter 365 - 365 Face off!
Chapter 365 - 365 Face off!
Snapping out of their shock, the 2 Dao Kings hurriedly nodded their heads simultaneously, before one of them took out a green jade from his spatial ring and sent his soul sense inside it.
The green jade lit up with a pale green light, as the Dao King then said in a hurried tone
''''My King! Two ck-robed people have forcefully barged inside the vi!
One of them is just a junior who is still at the Spirit realm, but we were unable to identify the cultivation level of the person in the lead...
Additionally... they- they are riding on top of a living dragon!''''
Finishing his message, the Dao King stopped injecting his qi in the green jade in his hands, before he exhaled a sigh of relief.
Now that they had informed Sheng Jun, they didn''t need to worry about anything else.
Even if the ck-robed man somehow was at the same level as their old king, there was no way that he would be able to fight against the 10 remaining Elders of the Shengtian dynasty who are apanying Sheng Jun as well!
At the same time however, at the depths of the core region in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', the old king of the Shentian dynasty, Sheng Jun, hadn''t even noticed his jade that had suddenly lit up, as he stared at the purple-robed middle-aged man who was leisurely standing in front of him with a solemn expression on his face!
Duan Zhu was still trying to break past the gigantic beam of light that acted like a barrier and obtain the treasures at the core of the vi, when Sheng Jun and his group appeared in this ce.
Sheng Jun had never managed to get this far inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' in the past.
He knew that there were some terrifying formations, that even he and his wife had been unable to break past previously.
Even if he asked for help from the other peak Dao Kings in the Heaven''s Dome city, he still didn''t have any confidence in reaching this point!
And yet, Duan Zhu by himself had somehow destroyed all of the formations in his way and arrived at the depths of the vi.
Sheng Jun didn''t know what kind of treasure Duan Zhu had with him that could help him reach this ce, but there was a solemn look in his eyes as he stared at the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce''!
After all, not only had Duan Zhu managed to reach the depths of the vi, but he had also sweeped all the treasures that he had found so far!
Staring at the group of middle andte-stage Dao Kings in front of him, the red-haired hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'' didn''t show any fear or wariness in his eyes.
Instead, it was more like he was looking at a bunch of insignificant ants, with only Sheng Jun being worthy of his attention.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Sheng Jun looked at the peak rank 9 Dao King in front of him, before he said in a calm tone
''''Hall master Duan, don''t you think that you have obtained too many things from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''? This is a ce that belongs to my ''Night star continent''! Your ''Demon Emperor Pce'' should show some restraint!''''
A mocking look had appeared on Duan Zhu''s face when he heard Sheng Jun''s words, and looking at him like he was looking at a fool, the red-haired hall master then said with a smile on his face
''''Hahaha! Restraint? Because this ce belongs to your ''Night star continent''?
Fool!
You had hundreds of thousands of years to explore this ce, and yet the people of your ''Night star continent'' didn''t even manage to get so much as halfway through the core region of this vi!
If it wasn''t for me destroying the previous formations, you wouldn''t even have the chance to enter here today!
As for this ce belonging to your ''Night star continent''... don''t tell me that you want me to cough up the treasures that I have obtained as pensation''? Hahahaha!''''
Sheng Jun''s eyes twitched, when he heard Duan Zhu''s mockingughter, but he didn''t respond right away.
Instead, he took a deep breath, before he stered a fake smile on his face and said
''''Hall master Duan is right! It will indeed be better if you voluntarily give up some of your treasures!
However, I won''t ask for too much either! Just the saber in your hands will do.
As for the rest, I won''t even ask what hall master Duan has gathered previously! After all, you did indeed clear the way here, so you can consider itpensation for your troubles.''''
Duan Zhu couldn''t believe what he was hearing, and was about tough and mock Sheng Jun even further, when the expression on his face suddenly changed.
His eyes narrowed as he stared at a golden-colored talisman that had appeared in Sheng Jun''s hands, while his aura of a peak rank 9 Dao King exploded at the same time!
The saber in his hands lit up with countless patterns, as Duan Zhu took a defensive stance and shouted at Sheng Jun in a solemn tone, like he was looking at a madman
''''Sheng Jun, have you gone mad you old fool? Are you certain that you dare to do this?
I swear that my ''Demon Emperor Pce'' will raze your Shengtian dynasty from this world!!''''
How could Duan Zhu not understand, that the talisman in Sheng Jun''s hands was an extraordinary treasure?
Duan Zhu was already a peak rank 9 Dao King, and with the crimson saber that he had found in this ce, his might was certainly enough to certainly trample Sheng Jun if they fought against each other.
He wasn''t even afraid of the group of Dao Kings that Sheng Jun had brought with him!
Although he would most likely suffer some injuries if they fought, Duan Zhu was still confident that he could exterminate every single one of them with the help of his saber!
In his heart, Duan Zhu believed, that he could fight evenly even against a Dao Emperor who had newly advanced, if that person didn''t have a weapon at the same level as his saber.
And yet, he couldn''t help feeling fear when he felt the might inside the talisman that Sheng Jun held!
This was definitely a talisman created by a Dao Emperor, and it was someone who had stayed in that realm for a long time!
Duan Zhu was certain that if Sheng Jun activated it, there was a high chance that he would be left incapacitated, even if he managed to stay alive in the end.
At the same time, Shun Long who was still on Little ck''s back, saw hundreds of Dao Kings as they flew deeper inside the core region of the vi, all of whom turned to stare at the ck dragon with different emotions in their eyes.
Confusion, fear, reverence, greed, as well as many other emotions appeared in the Dao Kings'' eyes, as they saw the ck dragon flying above their heads and heading towards the depths of the vi!
And yet, despite their greed, none of these Dao Kings dared to step in Little ck''s path!,
Although they could sense that the ck dragon in front of them was just a middle rank 6 magic beast, these people knew that there were Dao Kings of the Shengtian dynasty at the entrance of the vi!
If they allowed the ck dragon to enter inside the vi instead of trying to capture it for themselves, then the ck-robed person on top of the ck dragon''s back whose aura waspletely retracted, must either have an extremely powerful background or his strength was certainly at least at the of rank 9 in the Dao King realm!
Of course, none of these people would think that Little ck''s strength was enough to threatente-stage Dao Kings by himself!
Even if he could, who in their right mind would dare to fight against the experts of the Shengtian dynasty in the ''Night star continent''?!
Only those monsters from the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', or those whoe from simr powers would have such guts, and even they would have to think twice before doing so!
As they flew deeper inside the vi, Shun Long saw Little ck passing through a group of golden-robed experts, who all turned their eyes towards the ck dragon at the same time.
Confusion, shock, as well as greed, shed through Zhao Lan''s eyes who was leading the group of Dao Kings from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', once he saw the dragon flying above his head.
His eyes narrowed, while at the same time he raised his hand to unleash an attack, but after thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and allowed Little ck to fly above him.
Shun Long threw a nce at the peak rank 9 Dao King from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' before Little ck soon left that group far behind them, as he continued deeper inside towards the depths of the vi!
Zhao Lan was stunned when he saw the ck dragon''s speed! Even if he flew at full speed himself, he would be unable to catch up to Little ck!
Half an hourter, after seeing many destroyed formations that were engraved at the walls of the vi, Little ck passed through a pair of gigantic golden gates, as he arrived inside an enormous hall.
Shock appeared in Shun Long''s eyes when he noticed the tense situation of the hall, while at the same time, Duan Zhu, Sheng Jun, and the experts of the Shengtian dynasty, all turned to look at the ck dragon with shock in their eyes!
Chapter 366 - 366 Plan
Chapter 366 - 366 n
Absolute silence permeated the gigantic hall the moment that the peak Dao Kings saw the ck dragon, as well as the 2 people who were riding on his back.
Looking at the tense situation in front of him, waves of shock appeared in Shun Long''s heart, while Little ck''s voice sounded in his head at the same time
''''Master, the old man in golden robes and the middle-aged man with red hair are both peak rank 9 Dao Kings!
Although they aren''t among the absolute strongest Dao Kings, they aren''t weak either.
Especially the red-haired man. His aura is even slightly stronger than the golden-robed old man''s, while his saber has already exceeded the gold grade!
However, the golden-robed old man isn''t less dangerous than him either.
He can actually pose lethal danger to myself and master!
The golden talisman in his hands... most likely contains the full-powered blow of a Dao Emperor!''''
The moment that he heard Little ck''s assessment of the 2 Dao Kings, Shun Long could feel cold sweat rolling from his back.
Both groups that were standing in front of him, were actually strong enough to threaten his and Liu Mei''s, as well as Little ck''s lives.
And yet, Little ck seemed to have only thrown a nce at the 2 powerful groups in front of him, before he turned his attention towards the gigantic beam of light next to Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun with shining eyes.
Seeing the ck dragon''s fervent gaze, Duan Zhu turned his eyes to look at the ck-robed Shun Long before he asked in a probing manner
''''Who are you?''''
Duan Zhu had been shocked when he realized that he couldn''t feel any auraing from Shun Long''s body, instinctively making him apprehensive.
Although Duan Zhu knew that there were certain techniques that couldpletely conceal a person''s cultivation level, this was the first time that he was unable to feel even the slightest hint of auraing from a person.
His ''Demon Emperor Pce''s''? Saint grade ''Demon Blood Refinement art'', could usually detect a person''s aura regardless of how much they tried to cover it with their own cultivation technique.
There have never been a precedent where Duan Zhu couldn''t sense anything at all!
''''This can only mean 2 things! Either that person''s cultivation is already above the Dao King realm, or his cultivation technique is actually a Saint high-grade cultivation technique as well, and one that is especially suited to concealing their own aura!
In both cases, the power behind these 2 people is most likely at the same level as my ''Demon Emperor Pce''.
Even if they are weaker, they can''t be too far off! After all, I have never before heard of a power taming a living dragon!
Even in our central region, only the absolutely strongest powers can maybe have a chance to see a living dragon!''''
As these thoughts shed through Duan Zhu''s mind, the peak rank 9 Dao King took an even more defensive posture.
Although the power behind Shun Long could very likely be at the same level, or even stronger than his ''Demon Emperor Pce'', this didn''t mean that Duan Zhu would back away!
Unless Shun Long was actually a Dao Emperor, he could forget about getting the treasures from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
At the same time, half of Sheng Jun''s army took defensive positions, as 5te-stage Dao Kings faced the ck dragon and the 2 people on its back, while the rest faced Duan Zhu, not allowing him to make any sudden movements!
Although Sheng Jun didn''t speak, it was obvious that he was also waiting for Shun Long''s answer.
At the same time, after hearing Little ck''s voice in his mind once again, Shun Long tried to calm himself down, before he turned his attention to the 2 peak Dao Kings who were waiting for his answer.
Shun Long lookedpletely unfazed by the situation in front of him, and staring at the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, as well as the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', he didn''t speak but instead, he simply pointed forward.
Under Duan Zhu''s and Sheng Jun''s astounded eyes, Little ck flew towards the gigantic beam of light like a streak of ck lightning tearing through the mid-day sky.
And yet, after flinching for a moment, Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun merely snickered in response.
If it was that easy to break the gigantic beam of light, Duan Zhu would have done so long ago, and wouldn''t have waited for Sheng Jun toe and ruin his ns.
Sweat had appeared on Shun Long''s forehead that was covered by his ck robes, but he could only grit his teeth and hope that this ''n'' would work!
Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun stared at the ck dragon with mocking looks in their eyes, as they waited for Little ck to crash on the pir of light and get injured before making their move.
However, contrary to their expectations, the moment that Little ck appeared in front of the gigantic light pir, the entire ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' started to tremble!
Shock appeared in Duan Zhu''s, Sheng Jun''s and the other Dao Kings'' eyes, but before they could realize what had happened, arge hole was suddenly opened in the barrier in front of Little ck.
Without any hesitation, the ck dragon entered inside therge pir of light,pletely ignoring the shocked Dao Kings behind him.
''''Quickly, after him!''''
Sheng Jun was the first one to speak, barely a momentter, as the powerful old king of the Shengtian dynasty flew towards the huge hole before he had even finished his own words!
Duan Zhu had made his move at the same time, as he also followed behind Sheng Jun not even a split-secondter!
The Dao Kings of the Shengtian dynasty all followed behind Sheng Jun and Duan Zhu, as they flocked towards the opening of the hole like a group of hungry magic beasts!
Having entered inside the pir of light before Duan Zhu and the rest, a stunning scene appeared in Shun Long''s eyes!
-
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Chapter 367 - 367 Treasures!
Chapter 367 - 367 Treasures!
A gigantic throne room appeared in Shun Long''s eyes, filled with endless gold, silver, and rare shiny jades.
A gigantic golden throne that seemed to have been made for a 4m(13ft) tall giant was ced at the edge of the room, with a small, wooden chest in front of it.
Shun Long had been stunned when he had seen Cui Guoliang''s luxurious pce in the past, but in front of the throne room in front of him, the difference was even bigger than the clouds and the mud.
Aside from the golden throne and the wooden chest, there were countless weapons on the floor of the hall, including swords, shields, sabers, spears, and bows.
And yet, Shun Long only had a chance to throw a nce at the treasures around him as soon as they entered the room, before Little ck shot towards a corner of the room.
A small, ck-colored stone was levitating in the air, and it was emitting a powerful light, almost as if it was excited to feel Little ck''s presence!
Even Shun Long and Liu Mei only needed a second to understand, that this was the piece of dragonstone that Little ck wanted!
Shun Long also knew, that this was this same piece of dragonstone that Little ck had formed a connection with just now, and had also stirred up some of its energy to open a hole in the enormous pir of light!,
At the same time, Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun had just passed through the hole at the same time, when the same shocking scene appeared in their eyes, dumbfounding the 2 peak Dao Kings.
Hundreds of weapons were sprawled on the ground, all of them actually being rank 3 gold-grade weapons!
This was a shocking sight to behold, causing the 2 powerful Dao Kings to stand still for a few moments, as they gawked at the scene in front of them with eyes filled with disbelief.
Even the Shengtian dynasty which was among the strongest powers in the ''Night star continent'' had less than 10 gold-grade weapons in their treasury!
Among them, only 2 of those weapons had actually reached the pinnacle of the gold grade.
However, every single weapon in front of Sheng Jun right now, was at the rank 3 without any exception, while almost half of them were actually at the peak of rank 3 in the gold-grade!
This was more than enough for Sheng Jun''s Shengtian dynasty to dominate the entire ''Night star continent''!
And yet, these weapons were thrown around on the ground as if they were trash!
Duan Zhu however wasn''t any less shocked than Sheng Jun!
As a hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', he clearly understood the value of the weapons in front of him!
Although his ''Demon Emperor Pce'' had their own peak rank 3 gold-grade formation masters who could create simr weapons, this wasn''t just a matter of the weapons themselves!
After all, the materials used to create all of the weapons in here, were definitely more than what the ''Demon Emperor Pce'' could afford to spend!
At the same time that the 2 peak Dao Kings were staring at the treasures around them, they suddenly noticed Little ck arriving in front of a levitating ck stone.
Sheng Jun''s and Duan Zhu''s eyes however weren''t focused on the levitating stone, but on a translucent armor as well as a ck sword with strange patterns on it, that were also hovering in the air next to the ck stone!
Sensing the powerful aurasing from the armor and the ck sword, the 2 peak Dao Kings only needed a moment to understand, that these weapons had already exceeded the gold-grade!
They were definitely at the same level as Duan Zhu''s blood saber!
And yet, before Sheng Jun and Duan Zhu could even make their moves, Little ck opened his mouth and swallowed the levitating stone, the ck sword and the translucent armor all at the same time!
''''STOP!''''
''''HAND OVER THAT SWORD!''''
Sheng Jun and Duan Zhu both shouted at the same time, as Duan Zhu brandished his blood saber, while Sheng Jun took out a pair of gloves from his spatial ring and put them on his hands, before they both attacked Little ck at the same time!
Little ck however didn''t seem to have paid any attention to the 2 Dao Kings, as he shot forward at full speed towards the wooden chest in front of the throne.
Duan Zhu however seemed to have already expected this, as he sent a powerful sh forward, blocking Little ck''s path.
A powerful crimson sh that was even redder than the color of fresh blood erupted from the saber, infused with the full might of the peak rank 9 Dao King!
Although Little ck had already avoided the first 2 attacks, if he wanted to get closer to the chest, he would have to take Duan Zhu''s attack head-on.
However, equipped with the blood saber in his hands, there was no need to even consider whether Duan Zhu''s sh was strong enough to hurt him.
Taking this chance that the ck dragon had to back off, Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun temporarily ignored the 3 items that Little ck had ''stolen'', before they turned their attention to the chest as well.
''''SCRAM!''''
Duan Zhu shouted as he shed his saber at Sheng Jun who was also rushing towards the throne at the same time as him!
Although he had expected this attack, the old king of the Shengtian dynasty barely had enough time to duck and dodge, as another powerful crimson sh erupted from the blood saber in Duan Zhu''s hands!
Seeing that he was just a hundred meters away from the wooden chest, while Sheng Jun tumbled backwards, Duan Zhu had a huge smile on his face, before he extended his hand in anticipation to grab the chest.
However, seemingly out of nowhere, a space tear appeared right in front of the chest, while a pair of hands covered by ck robes extended themselves to touch the wooden chest before Duan Zhu.
Under the peak rank 9 Dao King''s disbelieving gaze, the wooden chest was dragged inside the space tear, before it disappeared right in front of his eyes.
At the same time, both Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun turned their heads to look at the ck-robed person on top of the ck dragon, only to see the wooden chest now lying in his arms.
Chapter 368 - 368 Riling up the entire Shengtian dynasty
Chapter 368 - 368 Riling up the entire Shengtian dynasty
Shun Long''s heart had started to beat wildly, as the chest in his arms felt heavier than a mountain.
He could feel the pressureing from the 2 peak Dao Kings who were about to swallow him whole.
Not only had Little ck snatched the dragonstone and the translucent armor as well as the ck sword, but Shun Long was now holding what was potentially even more valuable than these items together!
''''DIE!!''''
''''HAND THE CHEST OVER!''''
Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun shouted at the same time, as they both unleashed their attacks towards Little ck.
A crimson sh that seemed capable enough to split even a group ofte-stage Dao Kings apart appeared from Duan Zhu''s blood saber, while 2 gigantic fists that were shining with a bright light materialized from Sheng Jun''s gloves, both of them heading towards the ck dragon!
Shun Long however was already prepared for the Dao Kings'' attacks, and the moment that he got his hands on the wooden chest, he hurriedly injected his qi into the 2 ''Dragon Lord''s medallions'', while Liu Mei did the same!
The golden barrier around the vi started to tremble, before it suddenly descended to cover Shun Long, Little ck and Liu Mei like a golden nket.
Before Duan Zhu''s and Sheng Jun''s powerful attacks could even approach him, Shun Long felt spatial distortions around his body, while his vision also started to blur.
Seeing the ck dragon, as well as the 2 ck-robed people on his back disappear right in front of his eyes, a furious expression appeared on Duan Zhu''s face.
Holding his own ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' in his hands, he was ready to activate it and chase after Little ck, but he hesitated for a moment.
Although Little ck had gotten everything, if he left right now, the Dao Kings from the Shengtian dynasty would definitely sweep up everything in this ce.
Hundreds of rank 3 gold-grade weapons and armors were enough even for Dao Emperors to get involved!
However, Duan Zhu only hesitated for a single moment, before his ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' lit up with a golden light.
After all, the treasures that Shun Long had gotten would definitely exceed the value of the rank 3 gold-grade weapons in this ce.
At the same time, Sheng Jun''s ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'' lit up as well, as both Dao Kings felt themselves being covered by the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' barrier, before they disappeared from the majestic throne room.
As for Sheng Jun, he was actually in a much more favorable position than Duan Zhu.
Let alone the fact that he could hunt down a living dragon in his own territory in the ''Night star continent'', he had also managed to let the Elders of his Shengtian dynasty freely gather everything inside the throne room, now that Duan Zhu decided to chase after Shun Long, while at the same time, Sheng Jun himself didn''t have to activate his golden talisman just yet!
As Shun Long appeared outside of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''s'' entrance, he didn''t wait to see the shocked expressions of the people in the crowd who were gathered outside the vi, as he had Little ck immediately leave the scene.
Before the crowd could even react, Little ck spread his majestic ck wings, before he flew towards the north of the ''Night star continent'' at full speed.
Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun appeared at the vi''s entrance barely a split-secondter and hurriedly turned their eyes to look at the sky, looking for the ck dragon.
The shocked crowd instantly exploded into exmations!
''''A dragon? A real dragon?''''
''''Eh? Isn''t that... the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce''? I saw him entering the vi 2 years ago!''''
''''What is he doing with the old king of the Shengtian dynasty? Don''t tell me that they are chasing after that dragon? Could it be... that the dragon has been living inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' for tens of thousands of years?''''
Ignoring the spections of the crowd, Duan Zhu looked at an early stage Dao King who was standing among the crowd, before he asked in a furious tone
''''WHERE DID THAT DRAGON GO?''''
The early-stage Dao King trembled when he felt Duan Zhu''s aura, which was even more terrifying than the average peak rank 9 Dao King''s, but he still steadied himself and pointed towards the north as he said hurriedly
''''Th-That way! It flew towards the north!''''
Without even considering that the Dao King in front of him could have lied to him, Duan Zhu instantly shot towards the north of the ''Night star continent'' with his blood saber in hand, like a hungry magic beast that was out for blood.
Of course, if that Dao King had really dared to lie to him, Duan Zhu would make him wish that he was dead instead!
Although normal people may not know how terrifying the experts of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'' really were, most of the Dao Kings in the ''Night star continent'' dreaded them from the bottom of their hearts!
Sheng Jun didn''tg behind Duan Zhu either, as he soared in the sky, flying towards the north of the ''Night star continent'' as well.
At the same time, he took out his green jade from his spatial ring, andpletely ignoring the report that he had missed from earlier, he injected his qi inside the jade making it light up with a pale green light, as he then said in amanding voice
''''This is amand to every Nascent Soul stage cultivator of my Shengtian dynasty! Immediately head to the north of the ''Night star continent'' and find clues to the ck dragon and the 2 ck-robed people who are riding on his back!
The person who finds the dragon''s location will obtain a rank 3 gold-grade weapon!''''
The moment that Sheng Jun finished his words, the entire pce of the Shengtian dynasty in the Heaven''s Dome city instantly exploded with shock and excitement, as every single Nascent Soul stage expert flew out from it and headed towards the northern part of the ''Night star continent''!
Of course, this was Sheng Jun''s n as well! The moment that someone caught wind of the ck dragon''s whereabouts, the old king of the Shengtian dynasty would definitely hear about it before Duan Zhu!
...
At the same time, Little ck was still flying in the sky a few tens of thousand miles away from the ''City of Sin'', when Liu Mei turned her head to look behind them, and see if Duan Zhu or Sheng Jun had managed to catch up with Little ck, before she then asked Shun Long
''''Long-ge, what should we do now? Everyone in the ''Night star continent'' will be looking for us!''''
Chapter 369 - 369 Attracting attention
Chapter 369 - 369 Attracting attention
Shun Long turned his head to look behind him and make sure that Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun hadn''t caught up with Little ck, before he turned his eyes to look at Liu Mei and answered with a light smile on his face
''''Let''s go and take a look at the ''City of Sin''!''''
Liu Mei felt confused in her heart when she heard Shun Long''s answer, and after taking a deep breath, she then asked
''''Long-ge... won''t the people from the Shengtian dynasty find us instantly then?
Isn''t it better for us to hide and wait somewhere else?''''
Of course, Liu Mei had already understood from Shun Long''s tone, that he wasn''t nning on hiding Little ck before they went to the ''City of Sin''!
Instead, it seemed like he wanted to attract even more attention.
Nodding his head, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly turned deep as he looked in the distance ahead, at the blood-red mountain that had slowly appeared on the horizon, before he said with a serious tone
''''Mei''er, you are right! The best course of action is to hide and wait or leave the ''Night star continent.
However, that hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', as well as that old man who is most likely the king of the Shengtian dynasty, won''t let things go no matter what!
Even if they can''t find us in the northern part of the city, I have no doubt that they will end up sweeping through the entire continent if they have to.
After all, let alone this wooden chest, or that ck sword and the translucent armor that Little ck snatched away earlier, even the rest of the weapons that were randomly sprawled around on the ground were enough to make those Dao Kings excited.''''
Liu Mei seemed to have just realized what Shun Long wanted to do, as she then asked in a shocked voice
''''Long-ge is nning to lure them into thinking that we are hiding near the ''City of Sin'' then?''''
Shun Long nodded his head with that smile on his face, before he ced the wooden chest in his hands inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Although he was curious about the chest''s contents, he wouldn''t try to open it while Duan Zhu and Sheng Jun were still chasing after him.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t think that the 2 peak Dao Kings would have been able to find Little ck once he entered inside the ''Stone of Time''.
However, it would have been much harder for him and Liu Mei to hide if they didn''t direct the Shengtian dynasty''s attention to the north of the ''Night star continent''.
...
A few momentster, while the entire Heaven''s Dome city was riled up by the experts of the Shengtian dynasty who were all heading towards the north of the continent, the familiar-looking ''Mountain of Blood'' where the ''City of Sin'' was located appeared in Shun Long''s eyes.
As Little ck appeared above thewless city, he let out a terrifying roar that shook the entire crimson mountain!
ROOOAR!
Every single person in the ''City of Sin'' turned their eyes to look at the sky, as they stared at the ck dragon who was flying above their heads!
Even the middle-stage Dao King, senior Huang, flew out from his pce at the center of the ''City of Sin'', as he stared at the ck dragon in the sky with shock in his eyes.
And yet, Little ck only flew above the city for a single moment, before he disappeared in the distance.
Even if ''senior Huang'' wanted to give chase, he would bepletely incapable of catching up to the ck dragon.
After all, even Sheng Jun and Duan Zhu would at most be on par with Little ck''s speed, let alone a single middle-stage Dao King like him.
...
As the matter of a living ck dragon started to spread throughout the city like wildfire, Shun Long had Little ck descend in a small forest 300 miles away from the ''Mountain of Blood''.
Even the strongest magic beast in the forest which was at the early rank 4, equal to a peak rank 3 Spirit realm cultivator, could only tremble and prostrate itself in front of the ck dragon''s aura that had covered the entire forest.
Patting Little ck''s head, Shun Long said in a low voice that was filled with obvious hints of relief
''''Little ck, you did a good job. You can rest now!''''
Opening his mouth, Little ck spat out the translucent armor, as well as the ck sword with strange patterns on it, before he returned back inside the ''Stone of Time''.
And yet, Shun Long only threw a nce towards the ck sword and the armor that he suspected to be weapons at the absolute peak of rank 3 in the gold grade, before he ced them inside the ''Stone of Time'' as well.
''''Long-ge, what should we do now?''''
After falling silent for a few moments, Shun Long looked around him before he said
''''Let''s find an isted ce first. I am really curious about what is inside that wooden chest.''''
Since the chest was ced right before that golden throne, Shun Long was certain that even if its value wasn''t the highest among the things inside that hall, it would definitely be something at the same level as the dragonstone!
...
At the same time, in the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', the group of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' that Zhao Lan''s was leading had just arrived inside the throne room, when they saw the experts of the Shengtian dynasty gathering the remaining rank 3 gold-grade weapons from the floor.
Looking at the peak rank 9 Dao King of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', Sheng Jun''s wife, the queen of the Shengtian dynasty, Qiao Lifen shot him a cold nce when she saw the greedy look in his eyes, before she said
''''Zhao Lan, I suggest that you don''t get any funny ideas! My Shengtian dynasty was the one who managed to find this ce first!
I suggest that you turn around and leave immediately, otherwise...''''
''''Hahaha! Otherwise what? Qiao Lifen, I suggest that you give up half of what you have already obtained, otherwise, I will take everything by force!
Your Shengtian dynasty found this ce first? Why don''t you say that you also found the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' first? Do you think that I would believe you?
How could you even enter this ce without Duan Zhu''s help?
This is me giving you some face! Give up half of what you have already obtained, otherwise I will take everything myself!''''
Although Zhao Lan knew that he most likely wasn''t a match against Sheng Jun, as the strongest Dao King of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'', he was confident enough topletely suppress Qiao Lifen and her group by himself.
If he added the group of Dao Kings from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' behind him, he was certain that he could even kill the Shengtian dynasty''s group if Sheng Jun wasn''t present.
An ugly look appeared in Qiao Lifen''s eyes, before she fell silent for a few moments, while furious looks had appeared in the Dao Kings of the Shengtian dynasty''s faces.
Gritting her teeth, Qiao Lifen drew her sword before she shouted angrily
''''ZHAO LAN!
I will make you regret this!''''
Without waiting for Zhao Lan to respond, Qiao Lifen flew towards him, aiming to surprise attack the peak rank 9 Dao King!
Zhao Lan however seemed to have already expected this, as a huge fight instantly erupted between the 2 peak powers of the Heaven''s Dome city.
Chapter 370 - 370 Black sword and translucent armor
Chapter 370 - 370 ck sword and translucent armor
Sheng Jun''s expression instantly darkened the moment that he received a report from one of the Dao Kings inside the throne room, that a fight had erupted between their Shengtian dynasty and the ''Alchemists'' Guild''!
The peak rank 9 Dao King stood rooted on the spot, torn whether he should return back to the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and destroy Zhao Lan''s group, or whether he should continue chasing after Shun Long.
In the end, Sheng Jun simply stared at the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''s'' direction as he mumbled to himself
''''Zhao Lan! I will make you regret this!''''
Without wasting any more time, the old king of the Shengtian dynasty continued flying towards the north of the ''Night star continent''.
After all, in Sheng Jun''s mind, just that ck sword or that translucent armor, were worth far more than all the rank 3 gold-grade weapons in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' together!
...
While Sheng Jun kept flying towards the northern part of the ''Night star continent'' with an ugly expression on his face, Shun Long and Liu Mei had left the small forest that was a few hundred miles away from the ''City of Sin'', as they flew towards the east of the ''Night star continent''.
Although Shun Long knew that it would take a longer amount of time if he and Liu Mei flew towards the eastern part of the continent by themselves instead of riding on Little Silver''s back, this time he had to be extremely cautious.
After all, the crowd at the entrance of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi had already seen 2 ck-robed people enter the vi''s gates on the ''Silver-winged panther king''s'' back, while 2 other people simrly dressed in ck, left the vi just a dayter, riding on a ck dragon.
Shun Long wouldn''t underestimate the intelligence of every single person in the crowd, and think that they would be unable to put 2 and 2 together to figure out that the ck panther had something to do with the people on the ck dragon''s back.
This was also the reason why he didn''t dare to summon Little Silver, and instead, he continued to fly with Liu Mei by themselves.
A week soon passed, and yet, Shun Long and Liu Mei had only crossed two-thirds of the distance required to reach the eastern part of the continent.
During this time, Shun Long and Liu Mei had spotted more than just one group of golden-robed cultivators patrolling the northern part of the continent.
From the robes that these people were wearing, Shun Long could instantly guess, that they were members of the Shengtian dynasty.
However, since Shun Long and Liu Mei were wearing their normal clothes instead of the ck robes, the groups of Nascent Soul experts from the Shengtian dynasty ignored everyone who wasn''t rted to the ck dragon!
At the same time, and especially now that there were just 2 more months left before the test of the Holy sect started, it waspletely normal for peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators to travel through the continent in search of fortuitous encounters, just like the young man that Shun Long had met in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', Chen Yan.
After all, in the Holy sect''s test, peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators would be at the bottom of the barrel, while even Nascent Soul stage experts may not necessarily pass it sessfully.
3 more days soon passed, and Shun Long and Liu Mei finally arrived outside a middle-sized city in the eastern part of the ''Night star continent''.
Although this city was smaller than the Silver sword city, there were hundreds of cultivators entering and leaving through the gates at all times.
The moment that Shun Long''s eyes fell upon the city, an invisible wave of energy appeared from his body, covering the citypletely, before Little ck''s voice sounded in his head
''''Master, this city only has a dozen Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and even the strongest of them is only at the peak of rank 3!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long exhaled a sigh of relief, before he held Liu Mei''s hand and queued up at the entrance of the city.
After paying 100 low-grade spirit stones, Shun Long and Liu Mei were allowed to enter the city, before Shun Long looked around for an inn to spend the night.
As for the early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators inside the city, although Shun Long believed that he wouldn''te into conflict with them since he was nning to just stay inside the inn in the first ce, he wasn''t afraid of them either.
Now that he had already advanced to the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm as well as the peak of the fourth stage in his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long believed that he could fight against most normal early-stage Nascent Soul experts without any problems.
As for Nascent Soul stage cultivators who were newly advanced, he was certain that he could destroy them with a single move.
After spending 600 low-grade spirit stones to rent arge courtyard for 1 month, Shun Long and Liu Mei entered inside the room and closed the door, before they sat cross-legged on the meditative cushions on the floor.
Seeing the dazzling, gentle smile on Liu Mei''s face after she finally removed her white veil, a warm feeling appeared in Shun Long''s heart.
After all, Shun Long knew, that Liu Mei had felt extreme pressure during the time when they were facing the 2 peak rank 9 Dao Kings in the depths of the vi.
After all, one of those people was the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', a power that wasn''t located in the ''Night star continent'', but instead, the ce where they would be going towards soon, the central region, while the other one was most likely the old king of one of the strongest powers in the ''Night star continent''.
There was practically no Spirit realm cultivator who wouldn''t feel pressure when facing those 2 old monsters.
After sitting cross-legged on the floor, Shun Long waved his hand, and a ck sword with strange patterns on it, as well as a translucent armor appeared in front of him and Liu Mei.
Feeling the pressure that wasing from the ck sword and the translucent armor from such a close distance, waves of shock appeared in Shun Long''s heart.
At the same time, Liu Mei also asked in a shocked voice
''''Long-ge, are these really gold-grade weapons?''''
Liu Mei had seen a fair share of gold-grade weapons along with Shun Long during the past 3 years, and her ''Four seasons azure sword'' was also a peak rank 1 gold grade sword, but she could clearly feel that the auraing from the sword and the armor in front of her waspletely different from the gold grade weapons that she had encountered in the past.
After a moment of serious thinking, Shun Long shook his head before he said confidently
''''They have definitely exceeded the gold-grade!
Even the rank 3 gold grade weapons in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' didn''t have this kind of aura.''''
The moment that he finished his words, Little ck''s voice sounded in Shun Long''s mind as he said
''''Master, these are peak 1-star weapons!''''
''''1-star weapons?''''
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Chapter 371 - 371 Star weapons
Chapter 371 - 371 Star weapons
Nodding his head inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck then continued
''''Right, master! Above the gold-grade is the star-rank.
Star weapons are extremely powerful weapons that only Dao Emperors and above would normally wield.
Unlike bronze, silver, or even gold-grade weapons, star-rank weapons are considered to be on a tier of their own.
After all, each star-rank weapon has a small part of a certain Dao infused inside it when it is created, making the person who wields that weapon, be able to draw the strength of that Dao as well.
It''s not an exaggeration to say that a thousand rank 3 gold grade weapons can''t evenpare to a single star rank.''''
Waves of shock filled Shun Long''s heart the moment that he heard Little ck''s exnation.
''''A small part of the Dao?''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long closed his eyes before he sent his spirit sense inside the star rank weapons in front of him, in an attempt to sense the Dao inside it.
The moment that Shun Long''s spirit sense entered inside the ck sword, Liu Mei saw the various patterns on the sword''s surface lit up, as sparks of lightning covered the sword''s surface.
''''The Dao of Lightning!'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in a voice filled with disbelief, before he retracted his spirit sense from the ck sword.
''''There really is a Dao hidden inside a star-rank weapon!''''
At the same time, Shun Long could sense that the Dao of Lightning inside the sword was definitely extremely strong!
Curiosity had also filled Liu Mei''s stunning ck eyes as she stared at the lightning sword in front of her.
At the same time, Shun Long sent his spirit sense inside the translucent armor, curious about the type of Dao that was contained inside it.
This time however, Shun Long wasn''t able to recognize the Dao inside the armor.
Although he could feel that it was some kind of abnormal energy, he was unable to identify what it was.
Seemingly as if he could sense Shun Long''s puzzlement, Little ck''s voice that had hints of surprise inside it once again sounded in Shun Long''s head
''''Master, this is an extremely rare Dao called the ''Dao of Reflection''!
The armor in master''s hands was definitely created by a Dao Emperor who had insights in the Dao of Reflection!
It''s too bad that that person''sprehension wasn''t deep enough, otherwise this armor may had even managed to be a 2-star weapon.
However, that is not to say that the armor is useless right now!
It is actually a life-saving treasure for any cultivator below the Dao Emperor realm, as it should actually be able to weaken any attack that doesn''te from a Dao Emperor by 30 percent.
Of course, if someone''sprehension of the Dao has actually exceeded the Dao Emperor''s who created this armor, then the Dao of Reflection inside the armor will be useless in front of them, making it just slightly better than a peak rank 3 gold-grade armor!''''
Shun Long was still shocked when he heard about the armor''s ability.
Reflecting 30 percent of someone''s attack? Wouldn''t that mean that whoever was wearing this armor would have their survivability increased by many times?
After all, even without the Dao of Reflection, the translucent armor in front of Shun Long was still stronger than a peak rank 3 gold-grade armor!
Shun Long hadn''t even seen a peak rank 3 gold-grade weapon before, and yet, there were 2 of them in front of him and Liu Mei right now.
After exining to Liu Mei what he had learned about the star-rank weapons from Little ck, Shun Long said
''''Mei''er, you should keep both this ck sword and the armor.
Since I am also a body refiner, I am not in as much danger of dying as you are.
After all, as long as I have enough energy, I can heal most wounds on my body even without consuming any pills.
Additionally, there should only be 2 months until the test of that so-called Holy sect starts.
We also don''t know how dangerous the test will be or what it will contain, making the situation even more dangerous.
As for the ck sword, since you are more proficient in using swords than I am, it''s better for you to have it anyway.''''
Liu Mei instinctively wanted to refuse, but she knew that Shun Long''s words made sense.
She was indeed in much more danger of dyingpared to Shun Long, even though she had an army of skeletons and undead knights at hermand.
At the same time, during the past 2 years of training in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', Liu Mei had also realized her own weakness.
It was sneak attacks!
Although her skeletons and undead knights could take care of any cultivator at the same level as Liu Mei, or even those who were stronger than her with their sheer numbers, if Liu Mei didn''t have her army around her, she was at most, as strong as a weak peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator.
However, the moment that Shun Long finished his words, Little ck stared at the ck sword from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he said in a serious voice
''''Master, although it''s fine to give her the armor with the Dao of Reflection, master should still hold that ck sword.
The Dao inside it is the Dao of Lightning, while Liu Mei''s Dao, is the Dao of Death.
The Dao of Lightning and the Dao of Death are naturally opposing Daos and they don''t mesh well with each other.
Instead, they both counter each other to a certain extent!
Not only would it not help Liu Mei to have this sword, but it could instead weaken the strength of her undead creatures!''''
During the past 2 years that Shun Long and Liu Mei had trained inside the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', and since Liu Mei had followed Shun Long inside the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', Little ck no longer felt aversion towards ''this human'', as he started to slowly ept her existence in Shun Long''s life.
Once Liu Mei heard that the ck sword may weaken her skeletons and her undead knights, she didn''t even wish to so much as touch it.
After all, for a cultivator, their own Dao was the most important thing.
Nodding his head, Shun Long ced the ck sword to the side, before he took out the wooden chest from the ''Stone of Time'' and ced it in front of him.
Chapter 372 - 372 Elderwood King tree
Chapter 372 - 372 Elderwood King tree
Looking at the wooden chest in front of him, Shun Long was actually stunned for a moment, as he then mumbled to himself in a voice filled with disbelief
''''This is... actually made from an ''Elderwood King tree''?''''
Although Shun Long hadn''t noticed this back in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', since he had grabbed the chest in a hurry and ced it inside the ''Stone of Time'', now that he observed it carefully, he was shocked when he realized this ''minor'' detail.
At the same time, after hearing Shun Long mumbling to himself in a shocked voice, Liu Mei couldn''t help ask curiously
''''Long-ge, is this ''Elderwood King tree'' very rare?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei before he said
''''It isn''t only rare, it is also extremely valuable, even among rank 6 trees. A rank 6 ''Elderwood tree'' will take a thousand years to mature. Upon reaching maturity, its wood bes extremely durable, and can be used to create powerful gold-grade weapons like bows, arrows and staffs.
Among a thousand rank 6 ''Elderwood trees'' however, there is a small chance for a single rank 6 ''Elderwood King tree'' to appear! That tree will continue to grow, and it will take 7000 years until it reaches maturity.
Not only is the wood of the ''Elderwood King tree'' even sturdier than the normal ''Elderwood trees'' by many times, but it can also be used as a supplementary ingredient to create high-grade and even top-grade rank 6 pills.''''
Although Liu Mei wasn''t an alchemist or a formation master, it wasn''t difficult for her to realize the value of the ''Elderwood King tree'' after hearing Shun Long''s exnation.
This tree was a real treasure that could be used to create both rank 6 pills, as well as gold-grade weapons.
And yet, such a tree had simply been used to create a simple-looking chest.
As he continued to stare at it, Shun Long also noticed various runes that were carved on the chest''s surface.
Although Shun Long wasn''t too knowledgeable regarding formations, he could vaguely make out that the formations on the chest weren''t dangerous, but instead, they were used to protect it from any attacks.
Ignoring the formations on the chest''s surface, Shun Long took a deep breath, before he pushed the chest open.
Shun Long and Liu Mei, as well as Little ck and even Little Silver inside the ''Stone of Time'', all watched with rapt attention as the chest slowly opened.
However, contrary to what Shun Long had originally expected, there was nothing else inside the chest aside from a single white jade.
Shun Long was stunned for a moment, and he didn''t even try to pick up the white jade.
He had originally expected that there would either be a spatial ring filled with treasures, or a star rank weapon simr to the ck sword and the translucent armor.
After all, since this chest was ced directly in front of the golden throne, and since the chest itself was made from a rank 6 ''Elderwood King tree'', the chest''s contents were certainly valuable.
However, after hesitating for a moment, Shun Long still ced his hand inside the chest and picked up the white jade.
The jade was actually cold to the touch while its edges seemed to have been carved meticulously, but there didn''t seem to be anything too special about it.
Before Shun Long could even ask Little ck if he knew what this jade was, Little ck eximed in a somewhat surprised voice
''''Master, this is a memory jade. This jade is usually used, when a cultivator at the Dao Emperor realm or above wants to record a message and pass it down to their descendants.''''
Although Shun Long had never heard of the term memory jade before, since this jade was actually stored inside the wooden chest, its contents were definitely nothing simple.
At the same time that Little ck finished his words, a powerful soul sense erupted from Shun Long''s body submerging the entire room under its terrifying pressure.
Little ck stared intently at the memory jade in Shun Long''s hands, before he shook his head a few momentster, and said in a relieved voice as he retracted his soul sense
''''Thankfully, there is no soul inside that jade trying to take over master''s body.
It is actually not umon for cultivators to hide part of their souls inside a memory jade, and once a ''lucky'' cultivator finds the jade and activates it, they will also find the soul hidden inside it invading their body.
If that person is lucky and the soul hiding inside the jade is weak, there will usually be no problem to expel it before it can wrest control of their body.
However, in the case that the soul is too powerful, it isn''t impossible for that person to die, and the soul inside the jade to take control of that body!''''
Shun Long suddenly realized that he had actually neglected this matter.
Although he had originally been confident, that he could fight or escape against most enemies, he had actually had neglected the fact that Nascent Soul stage experts also had the ability to take over other cultivators'' bodies.
It wasn''t impossible for the soul of a powerful expert to hide itself inside the jade, and attack him when he wouldn''t expect it.
Although Shun Long was confident that there was a very high chance for the ''Stone of Time'' to protect him in such a situation since it was merged with his soul, it still wasn''t a risk that he was willing to take.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long first calmed down his agitated emotions, before he sent his spirit sense inside the ''Stone of Time'' and asked Little ck
''''Little ck, how do I activate this memory jade?''''
''''Master only needs to inject your qi inside the jade to activate it, before you send your spirit sense inside it.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long opened his eyes and circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', before he injected his qi inside the white jade in his hands.
A pale white light appeared from the jade, growing brighter and brighter as Shun Long infused more and more of his qi inside it.
Less than 10 breaths of timeter, after feeling that the light from the white jade had finally reached its peak, Shun Long closed his eyes, before his spirit sense was absorbed inside the jade.
Chapter 373 - 373 Huo Wuyi
Chapter 373 - 373 Huo Wuyi
The moment that Shun Long''s spirit sense entered the white jade, Shun Long could feel a blinding white light filling his mind, before apletely new scene appeared in his eyes.
A man in his early 40s who seemed to be even younger than Cui Guoliang, was floating in the air and was staring at Shun Long who seemed to have suddenly appeared in front of him.
Shun Long noticed that this man had ck hair and deep silver-colored eyes, while his body was covered by a white robe with mysterious runes and patterns on it.
With just a nce, Shun Long could instantly understand that this man''s robes were covered with some kind of formations.
At the same time, Shun Long also noticed, that he was no longer inside the room of the inn, with Liu Mei sitting on the floor directly opposite from him.
Instead, it seemed like he was floating in an empty white world, that had nothing else inside it aside from the white-robed man who was now standing in front of him.
''''Is this the scene inside the memory jade?''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long saw the man in front of him finally move for the first time.
The ck-haired man looked at Shun Long and opened his mouth, causing a loud, booming voice to sound in Shun Long''s ears, before it reverberated throughout the empty white world!
''''Wee to my pce!
My name is Huo Wuyi and I am the person who created the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!''''
As the man''s voice reverberated throughout the empty world, Shun Long felt a powerful headache oveing his mind.
At the same time, he also saw that his surroundings had started to change, before the throne hall at the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' appeared in front of his eyes.
As for the ck-haired, white-robed man, he stood in front of the throne as he gazed towards Shun Long''s direction before he then continued
''''Since you have obtained this memory jade, it means that you have managed to pass through the obstacles of my vi, making you eligible to inherit my legacy!''''
As the white-robed man finished speaking, Shun Long saw the throne room that he was standing in slowly fade away into emptiness, before an entirely different scene appeared around him.
It was a young man with short ck hair and bright silver-colored eyes, fighting bare-handed against a magic beast that resembled a bear.
Although Shun Long couldn''t feel any auraing from the young man in front of him or the brown bear, he only needed a nce to recognize the magic beast in front of him, that was certainly an early or a middle rank 2 ''earth bear''!
As for the young man who was fighting the bear, Shun Long instantly understood from his unique facial features, that this must be the same man who is standing in front of him right now.
At the same time that Shun Long was observing the scene in front of his eyes, the ck-robed man who seemed to have also been staring at the same scene took a deep breath, before he said in a voice that was devoid of any emotions.
''''I was originally born in this ''Night star continent'' as well, in a small n named the Huo n. My n lived in a small vige, not too far away from the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' at the west of the continent.
However, thanks to my talents, my cultivation quickly rose, and within just a few years, I had already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Heaven grade.
I continued adventuring throughout the continent, exploring different ces and meeting many new people, until I became a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
That was when I found the first big opportunity in my life!''''
As the ck-robed man continued to speak, the scenes around Shun Long constantly changed, almost as if they were allowing Shun Long to observe what the ck-robed man had gone through in his life.
Although Shun Long saw the man struggling,ughing and crying, the voice that resounded in his mind, was actually devoid of any joy or sadness, as it continued speaking
''''Since I was qualified to participate in the Holy sect''s test, despite the dangers that it entailed, and despite having no powerful faction of the ''Night star continent'' backing me, I still decided to take the risk and participate in it!
Although I faced some terrifying monsters during that test whose powers could not be measured usingmon sense, I still managed to pass the test and be a disciple of the Holy sect!''''
Shun Long didn''t know if the white-robed man had done this intentionally or if it was due to some other unknown reason, but he was actually unable to see anything regarding the Holy sect''s test from the man''s memories.
The man however didn''t seem to have noticed anything amiss as he continued speaking
''''After bing a disciple of the Holy sect, not only did I finally obtain a backing and a ce to stay in the cultivation world, as well as countless resources, but I also gained the chance to interact with those powerful monsters inside the sect!
At the same time, after sparring with other members of the sect and taking on sect missions, I grew stronger at a rate, countless times faster than when I was still in the ''Night star continent''!
Although I wasn''t even close to the strongest disciples of the sect, I was definitely not weak, even among other Nascent Soul stage cultivators!''''
For the first time during the narration, Shun Long heard the man''s voice suddenly turning emotional
''''Once I believed that I was strong enough, I started to take on even more difficult missions, even those that involved traveling to ces far away from the sect!
It was during such a sect mission however... that I met the person who ruined my life!''''
Chapter 374 - 374 The Dragon Lords villas purpose
Chapter 374 - 374 The Dragon Lord''s vi''s purpose
As Huo Wuyi''s voice trailed off, the scene in front of Shun Long''s eyes changed.
Shun Long saw the young Huo Wuyi inside a forest, standing in front of a very beautiful young woman who was dressed in white robes.
There was a stunning smile on the young woman''s face when she saw Huo Wuyi who was standing in front of her, and had just saved her and her younger brother who had been attacked by a powerful magic beast.
Even Shun Long had to admit that this young woman was extremely pretty.
Even if she wasn''t as pretty as Liu Mei, she was definitely not too far off.
As Shun Long looked at the young woman and her brother who were just saved by the young man they had just met, Huo Wuyi''s voice that was filled with self-mockery, anger and helplessness resounded in Shun Long''s ears once again
''''Hehe, this was my Dao partner, Yi Qianyu.
The day that I met her, she and her younger brother were being attacked by a middle rank 5 magic beast and were on the verge of dying.
The moment that I saw her, I was stunned by her beauty, and couldn''t bear to let her die like that.
I originally thought that we would each follow our own ways after they thanked me for saving their lives. I had never thought that Qianyu would actually ask me to travel with them.
Hehe, of course I also knew back then, that she had most likely asked me to travel with them only because she didn''t feel safe, that she and her brother would manage toplete their journey by themselves, and not because she was interested in me or because she felt grateful.
However, I had no reason to refuse either.
That was when I learned that Qianyu came from a small vige, and she was passing through that forest to enter a big city.
However, the more that I traveled with her, the more I could feel myself being attracted to her as well.
Half a monthter, after we arrived at the city that she and her brother were heading towards, I confessed my feelings for her, and she responded back.
That was when we first became Dao partners.
Hehe, Dao partners huh... what a foolish pair of words!
We traveled together for many years, and of course, I did everything I could to help my own woman to be stronger and live longer.
I tried my best to help her be a disciple of the Holy sect as well, but whether she could pass the test or not was up to her.
I had never expected that just a hundred yearster, she would actually betray me for another man!''''
Shun Long was stunned for a moment.
He didn''t understand why Huo Wuyi was narrating his life story to him right now, nor what was the reason behind it.
However, he was also stunned when he heard that Huo Wuyi''s wife betrayed him for another man.
Although it was said that it wasn''t too umon for Dao partners to betray each other for an extremely rare and valuable treasure, this was actually the first time that Shun Long had heard about someone betraying their Dao partner for another person.
At the same time, the scene in front of Shun Long changed once again, depicting a young Huo Wuyi who was confronting Yi Qianyu and a handsome young man who was standing next to her, with a nonchnt smile on his face.
Shun Long could easily discern the fury behind Huo Wuyi''s voice as he continued his narration
''''Hehe, everything changed the day that a young man from a powerful family saw Qianyu, and was instantly enchanted by her beauty!
What I hadn''t expected however, was for Qianyu to betray me and follow that man instead, the moment that he said that he was interested in her and wanted to marry her!
Hehehe! Back then I screamed on top of my lungs and cursed her as a shameless bitch before I fought with that man... but in the end, I was miserably defeated.''''
Shun Long saw the young Huo Wuyi lying in a pool of blood, with his arms both bent unnaturally, while an expression of fury and helplessness had appeared on his face, as tears had welled up in his eyes at the same time.
''''However, even though I was defeated, that man didn''t have the guts to kill me either. After all, he knew that he was in the wrong, and although the Holy sect isn''t the strongest sect in the central region, it definitely wasn''t much weaker than that man''s family.
In the end, that man simply told me to never approach him and Qianyu again, otherwise, he said that he would kill me no matter which power I belonged to!''''
After a brief moment of pause, Shun Long heard Huo Wuyi who started tough maniacally before he said
''''HAHAHA! Not only did that man steal my woman, but he even threatened me that he would kill me if I ever approached her again! I wonder if any man can live with this kind of shame! A woman who I had always loved and did my best for her, had not only betrayed me for another man, but I was also humiliated by both of them!
As a cultivator, I was simply unwilling to ept this! My heart was unwilling to ept this humiliation and shame!
And yet I knew that I simply couldn''t fight against that man.
Not only was his family almost at the same level as the Holy sect itself, but I also couldn''t bear to bring myself and ask for help from the sect, to take revenge on the man who managed to steal my wife.
Besides, it''s not like just anyone would be willing to help me either.,
Thus, I decided to cultivate by myself, until I became strong enough to challenge him and take my revenge.
Although I believe that I am strong enough to seek revenge today, I do not dare to underestimate that man either! After all, I have already fought against him once, and I waspletely incapable of evensting for 10 hits against him back then.
Even in the entire central region, that man can definitely be considered a genius!
This is why after much thought, I decided to first return back to the ''Night star continent'' and create the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
After all, I can''t say with certainty if I will be able to return alive either.
Thus, I created trials, and ced many treasures inside the vi, in order to help the natives of my home be stronger in the future.
Of course, the real treasures were actually ced at the depths of the vi, hidden behind thest barrier.
Since you have already obtained my memory jade, it means that you are at the very least, a peak Dao King whose talent isn''t too low either!
After all, to break through my final barrier, requires the full-powered blow of someone whose strength is close to a Dao Emperor!
Since you were fated to get my memory jade, I will tell you where my most valuable treasures are actually hidden, but I also hope that you can do one thing for me as well!''''
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Chapter 375 - 375 Shun Longs choice
Chapter 375 - 375 Shun Long''s choice
Without waiting for a response, the ck-robed man in front of Shun Long took a deep breath before he continued
''''My request is, that if you ever be strong enough, you will kill Yi Quanyu and Murong Tian from the Murong family in the central region!
Of course, I know very well that it is more than unlikely that you will evene to the same level as that man, but I still hope that you will try to fulfill this request of mine.
As for my treasures?
I have already ced everything inside a spatial ring, and buried it on the mountain right outside the ''Murong city''.
Hehe, as long as you are willing to bring the chest that this memory jade was ced inside to the peak of that mountain, you will be able to obtain all of my treasures.'''',
Without saying another word, the ck-haired Huo Wuyi''s figure started to fade, before Shun Long felt the empty world around him that had started to tremble.
A few momentster, he felt his spirit sense returning back to his body as he found himself back in the inn room once again.
At the same time that he opened his eyes, he saw the memory jade in his hand that had started to crack, before it surprisingly turned into a pile of white dust.
Seeing that Shun Long had just opened his eyes, Liu Mei had a worried look on her face as she asked
''''Long-ge, are you okay?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled lightly before he started to exin to Liu Mei and Little ck, as well as Little Silver who was also watching from the ''Stone of Time'', what he had seen inside Huo Wuyi''s memory jade.
The moment that he finished his exnation, Shun Long then turned his eyes to look at the box of ''Elderwood King tree'' in front of him before he said with that same smile on his face
''''By hiding everything inside his spatial ring and burying it on the mountain right outside the ''Murong city'', instead of leaving it in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' along with his other treasures, that old man practically made sure that whoever inherited his treasures, would at least arrive at the doorstep of that Murong family.
As for whether they would take revenge for him, that would depend on whether they were strong enough to do it.''''
Little ck nodded his head inside the ''Stone of Time'' as well as he agreed with Shun Long''s words.
''''Long-ge, will you try and kill that Murong Tian?''''
After hearing Liu Mei''s question, Shun Long fell silent for a few moments without answering straight away.
Half a minuteter, he looked at Liu Mei before he said with a solemn look in his eyes
''''That will depend on that Murong Tian.
Honestly, I don''t even know how strong that person is just yet, nor do I know anything about the real strength of the Murong family either, or Murong Tian''s importance in his family.
All I know is, that the Murong family''s strength was definitely not too far away from the Holy sect''s, at the time that Huo Wuyi recorded his memories in the memory jade.
However, there is no way that I will simply risk my life to get revenge for that old man.
Let alone that I have no feud with the Murong family, saving someone and taking revenge are 2pletely different matters.''''
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long continued
''''Of course, that doesn''t mean that I will simply be ungrateful and take everything that Huo Wuyi left without doing anything.
As long as I can help him without cing my own life at risk, then I don''t mind killing that Murong Tian if it''s actually possible.''''
The moment that he finished speaking, Shun Long heard Little ck''s voice sounding inside his head
''''That''s right master, you shouldn''t think too deeply about this matter just yet! These types of legacies are far toomon in this world.
A powerful expert will leave behind his treasures as well as a memory jade, in order to persuade the person who finds it to fulfill his wishes.
However, until master bes a Dao King, it is better to not get involved in such matters.
After bing a Dao King, master''s strength will surely advance by leaps and bounds, and I can''t even guess how strong master''s Time Dao will be by then!''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he agreed with Little ck.
Indeed, before bing a Dao King, he wouldn''t even think about taking revenge for Huo Wuyi.
After all, just from the fact that the final barrier of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' required the strength of a person who was at least a peak Dao King and was approaching the level of a Dao Emperor, Shun Long had also understood that Huo Wuyi was even stronger than that.
At the same time, Liu Mei exhaled out in relief, while a gentle smile had also appeared on her face after hearing Shun Long''s answer.
After all, she didn''t want Shun Long to feel burdened by Huo Wuyi''s request, before they had even arrived in the central region.
Shun Long then closed his eyes for a few moments, as he started to think seriously over what he and Liu Mei should do next.
Although he had already obtained Huo Wuyi''s ck sword, the translucent armor and the dragonstone, as well as the chest with the memory jade, he was also certain that he had riled up the entire continent during this time, including the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', Duan Zhu, as well as the full force of the Shengtian dynasty!
After thinking seriously for a moment, he turned his eyes to look at Liu Mei before he said with a regretful tone
''''Mei''er, let''s stay in this inn for a while.
I was originally nning for us to participate in the fights in the House of Rankings now that we have both advanced to the peak of the Spirit realm, but it''s better for us to not attract too much attention at this point.
There should be a little more than 2 weeks before the test of the Holy sect starts, and we can''t expose ourselves until then.
Although I doubt that the Shengtian dynasty will be able to find any clues, it will still be dangerous for us to stroll around the continent.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head with that same mesmerizing look on her face.
It was obvious that she didn''t mind too much whether she participated in the fights in the House of Rankings or not.
...
2 weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, before Shun Long and Liu Mei appeared a few hundred miles away from the Heaven''s Dome city.
However, before he and Liu Mei could even approach the city gates, Shun Long saw the sky above his head suddenly darken.
Every single person in the entire ''Night star continent'' turned their heads to look at the darkened sky above their heads, before a powerful voice resounded throughout the entire continent, shaking the hearts and souls of everyone who heard it
''''People of the ''Night star continent''!
The Holy sect''s test will start in 48 hours.
Every person whose age is below 300 years old and has reached at least thete-stages of the Spirit realm, can participate in it!
Those of you who want to participate, gather outside the Heaven''s Dome city within the next 48 hours!''''
Chapter 376 - 376 The test begins
Chapter 376 - 376 The test begins
The moment that this powerful voice disappeared, the darkness that covered the continent also faded away allowing the sun to find its way into the ''Night star continent'' once again.
The crowd in the Heaven''s Dome city however instantly exploded in discussions
''''The test of the Holy sect will really start soon! I wonder what kind of test it will be!''''
''''Hehe, I am thankful I coulde to the Heaven''s Dome city a month ago! Participating in the House of Rankings against other geniuses really helped me grow stronger!''''
''''Stronger? Pfft, you are just a middle rank 8 Spirit realm cultivator! Unless you are a Nascent Soul stage expert, your only fate will be to be cannon fodder during the test!''''
At the same time that the darkness disappeared, Liu Mei turned her head to look at Shun Long, before she asked in a suppressed voice that held hints of shock in it
''''Long-ge, that person was probably even stronger than the Dao King of the Demon Emperor Pce right?''''
Although Liu Mei didn''t know how strong Duan Zhu really was, even as a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, she could discern that the pressure that this voice alone had brought her, was definitely much more terrifying than the feeling she had gotten from Duan Zhu when he had sent an all-out attack towards Little ck in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
Shun Long nodded his head with a solemn look in his eyes, before he said
''''That person was most likely a Dao Emperor realm powerhouse!''''
Shun Long would have asked Little ck to ascertain exactly how strong that person was, but after he started to absorb the dragonstone 2 weeks ago, Little ck had fallen into deep sleep.
Of course, he had already guessed that this would happen, as Little ck had already exined, that the difference in strength between a Dao King and a Dao Emperor is evenrger than that of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator''s and a Dao King''s!
Shun Long knew that as soon as Little ck finished absorbing the dragonstone, he would definitely breakthrough to the rank 7 and be equivalent to a Dao Emperor!
At the same time, Shun Long had also spent the first 6 days that he and Liu Mei were staying in the inn, inside the ''Stone of Time'', as he tried to familiarize himself with the ck sword.
Although he had never used a sword in the past, but since Liu Mei couldn''t use the ck sword since it could reduce the strength of her undead army, he decided to use it instead, as it would make no sense for him to keep using the ''Purple Blossom staff''.
After all, in the test of the Holy sect, Shun Long was certain that there would be nock of those people who would have rank 2 and even rank 3 gold-grade weapons, so not using his own star weapon and use his peak rank 1 ''Purple Blossom staff'' instead, would definitely put him at a disadvantage.
At the same time, although it was unlikely, Shun Long couldn''t rule out the possibility that someone else would also have a star-rank weapon.
Although these weapons were mostly used by Dao Emperors, if one had a powerful background, there was the possibility for them to have such a weapon as well!
Coupled with Shun Long''s cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, he would definitely find it extremely hard to face off against those geniuses who had long since reached the Nascent Soul stage if he had weaker weapons as well!
After all, just Yi Mingzhu and Su Shanyuan whom Shun Long had first seen in the House of Rankings fighting against each other, were already at the early rank 1 and the middle of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul stage just 3 years ago!
Shun Long could only guess how strong these people would have be by today. And the most frightening thing was, that those 2 weren''t even peak geniuses of the ''Night star continent''!
Compared to the blue-haired Hu Liu who was ranked 3rd in the House of Rankings whom Shun Long had met in the ''Golden Exchange firm'' more than 2 years ago, these people couldn''t even be mentioned in the same breath!
Thus, Shun Long had spent almost 60 days inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', trying to familiarize himself with the ck sword, andpare it with the usage of a staff.
Although the staff and the sword weren''t fundamentally too different in the way that they were used, Shun Long noticed distinct differences between the 2 weapons.
''''The staff definitely allows someone to be more nimble and flexible with their movements, while allowing also arger variety of attacks at the same time.
However, the sword has a much higher destructive power and offensive capabilities that are simply iparable to that of a staff!''''
These had been Shun Long''s insights during the past 2 months, and although he couldn''t be called an expert with the sword, he could definitely use it without too many issues.
As Shun Long and Liu Mei walked towards the ins outside of the ''Heaven''s Dome city'', more and more people gathered as well, as they flew out of the gates of the city almost as if they were in a race.
In the blink of an eye, 10.000 people had already been gathered, and yet the number was only growing by the seconds.
A full dayter, 100.000 people, all of them at thete-stages of the Spirit realm or above, had already gathered outside of the city.
''''Look, that is senior Long Hong, the person who is ranked 20th in the House of Rankings!''''
''''Wasn''t Long Hong ranked 5th in the past until he lost to the young white lord though? How did he fall all the way to the 20th ce?''''
''''IDIOT! Who is the young white lord? He is the youngest rising star of the continent! He is already second in the House of Rankings, and the only person above him is Sheng Huang! I have also heard people saying that the young white lord would even have a chance to beat Sheng Huang if the 2 of them fought against each other, but s...!''''
Other people also chimed in when they heard this man belittling Long Hong''s 20th ce
''''Fool! Do you think that being ranked 20th in the House of Rankings is easy? Previously senior Long Hong was ranked 5th, but that was among the cultivators of the Heaven''s Dome city! How many people havee to the city ever since he fought with the young white lord? His 20th ce now isn''t just 20th in the Heaven''s Dome city, but in the entire continent instead!''''
That person who had criticized Long Hong instantly tucked his head as he fled the scene, unable to bear the crowd''s berating any longer.
More and more experts gathered, and Shun Long started to hear even more unfamiliar names, when a sudden name attracted both his and Liu Mei''s attention
''''Hey! Isn''t that Xie Xingyi from the Xie family of the Silver mountain? I heard that she had already taken the 5th ce in the rankings more than a year ago.''''
''''That''s all you know? Half a year ago miss Xie also fought Hu Liu from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' to a draw! However she disappeared shortly after, unable to take the fourth ce in the Rankings!''''
''''Damn! I wish she would have fought more often in the rankings so I could admire her beauty every day!''''
As both Shun Long and Liu Mei turned their heads towards the source of the noise, they saw a gorgeous young woman dressed in green robes walking through the crowd.
Her pale blonde hair and her stunning emerald eyes only served to entuate her gorgeous face and stunning figure, making this woman the object of attraction for countless young men around her.
No matter what, neither Shun Long nor Liu Mei could deny the fact, that this young woman was definitely a kingdom toppling beauty.
Liu Mei had a surprised look in her eyes behind her white veil, as she turned her head to look at Shun Long and said
''''Long-ge, she is probably rted to madam Xie Rong from the ''Pale Moon guild''.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response, as he remembered the beautiful woman from the ''Pale Moon guild'' of the Silver sword city, whose facial features were very simr to this woman''s.
Of course, Shun Long only stared at her for a few seconds more than he had stared at Long Hong earlier.
No matter how beautiful a woman was, he wouldn''t simply be interested in her just because of her beauty.
Besides, Xie Xingyi could at most be considered on par with Liu Mei, even though they both had a different type of beauty.
Time continued to pass and more people continued to gather, but between so many thousands of people, Shun Long wasn''t able to see everyone who had made a name for themselves in the Heaven''s Dome city during the past 2 years!
Finally, one more day passed as well, marking the end of the 48 hours period that the powerful expert from 2 days ago had set.
More than 200.000 people were gathered in the ins outside the city, when the continent was plunged into darkness for the second time, before the same, powerful voice, once again resounded throughout the continent
''''The 48 hours are over!''''
As that person finished speaking, a gigantic white gate that spanned for a few miles suddenly appeared in the sky before that person then continued
''''Those of you who are eligible to participate in the Holy sect''s test, pass through the gates and enter inside!
However, if any of you is already above 300 years old and you still attempt to enter inside, know beforehand that you will die!
Additionally, there are no alliances in the Holy sect''s test, and it is also possible, that during the test you will also lose your life!
Now... let the test of the Holy sect... BEGIN!''''
Chapter 377 - 377 The first test!
Chapter 377 - 377 The first test!
The moment that this voice finished speaking, thousands of people soared in the sky, as they flew towards the gigantic white gate one after the other, almost like they werepeting with each other to see who would enter first.
And yet, Shun Long wasn''t in a hurry to enter the white gate.
Instead, he turned to look at Liu Mei, before he took out a bottle from the ''Stone of Time'' that was filled with purple-colored pills. As he stared into Liu Mei''s gorgeous ck eyes behind her white veil, Shun Long handed her the bottle of pills, before he said in a serious voice
''''Mei''er, be very careful!
Since that voice said that there will be no alliances, it''s very likely that they will have everyone split from each other to ensure fairness during the test.
We have no idea what kind of tests we will have to face, so make sure to be careful.
Even if you somehow fail during test, don''t be anxious. There will definitely be many other ces in the central region for us to go to, it''s not like we have to enter the Holy sect no matter what.
However, there is one important thing that you have to pay attention to!
If you suddenly obtain inspiration and have to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, make sure to consume these pills before your breakthrough!''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long didn''t say anything else, and instead, he simply patted Liu Mei''s head.
Staring at the pills in her hands, Liu Mei nodded her head, before she ced the pill bottle inside her spatial ring.
Then, with a serious look on her face, she stepped forward and hugged Shun Long, cing her head on his chest before she said in a low voice
''''Long-ge, you have to be careful too!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long hugged Liu Mei back, before the 2 of them soared in the sky, as they followed the crowd and flew towards the gigantic white gate as well.
Staring at the gigantic white gate in front of him, Shun Long took a step forward before he entered inside.
The moment that his body passed through the gate however, he felt his previously clear vision suddenly getting blurry,
Shun Long could feel the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations covering his body, before he suddenly felt Liu Mei disappear from his arms.
More than a minuteter, he could finally open his eyes again, as Shun Long found himself in apletely unfamiliar environment.
He was standing on a white tform that seemed to have been created by some kind of white jade, while endless grassy ins filled the area around the tform.
However, what startled Shun Long, was neither the white tform nor the green scenery of his surroundings, but that he was actually unable to move a single muscle on his body.
It was like his body had been immobilized, and no matter how much strength he tried to exert, he was unable to break free.
The only thing that he could do was to just stare in front of him, but he was unable to even turn his head to the side.
Shun Long wanted to try and see if he could break free from this invisible restraint using ''blink'', when he suddenly noticed people appearing around him, practically out of thin air.
1, 2, 3...
8, 9, 10, 11!
The moment that thest person appeared around him, Shun Long acutely noticed, that none of these 11 people were able to move either.
These people''s conditions were simr to Shun Long''s own, unable to do move any part of their body but their eyes!
At the same time, Shun Long noticed countless different emotions shing through these people''s eyes.
Some of them observed the people in front of them with curiosity, others looked scared, while others seemed impatient to start a fight, while they were unable to conceal the bloodthirsty look in their eyes!
However, what shocked Shun Long the most, was that most of these people didn''t seem toe from the ''Night star continent''.
''''Don''t tell me that theye from another continent instead? And possibly more than one...?''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long found it even more usible with every passing moment, as he continued to observe the people in front of him.
The reason behind this assumption of his, was the way that some of these people had dressed themselves!
Two of them were dressed in luxurious clothes that seemed simr to the way that clothes were made in the ''Night star continent'', with powerful formation masters engraving protecting runes inside them, while others were covered with the hides of powerful magic beasts from head to toe.
Of course, the people who were dressed in ''normal clothes'' simr to Shun Long''s, were still the vast majority.
A few momentster, the familiar, powerful voice that had covered the entire ''Night star continent'' earlier, resounded in Shun Long''s ears for the second time
''''This is the first test to enter the Holy sect!
The first test tests your luck, as well as your resolve to be cultivators.
At the same time, it can also be considered a preliminary test as well.
Cultivators not only need to be lucky to survive, but they also need to be strong-willed!
Unless there is a supreme expert to protect you and help you grow, soft-hearted cultivators will definitely die sooner orter.
The path to be a cultivator is the path to defy the heavens!
You will need to step on the bodies of countless experts if you want to survive and continue moving forward, and this test is no exception!
This is a world where the strong rule and the weak get trampled on!''''
Shun Long could feel waves of shock trying to rock his heart, almost as if his emotions had turned turbulent just from this person''s words.
However, this feeling barelysted for less than a moment, before his heart returned to calmness.
After a brief moment of pause, that voice sounded again before it continued in a nonchnt tone
''''In front of you there are 11 other cultivators who are participating in the Holy sect''s test as well.,
However, if you want to pass the test, each of you have to kill 3 people!
If you fail toplete this within half an hour, then you will be considered to have failed the test!
Now... all of you can begin!''''
The moment that this voice disappeared, Shun Long felt the restraints around his body disappear at the same time, as he stared at the people in front of him who seemed to have noticed this change as well.
-
Author''s note: Chapters areing a bitter than usual these days because I have been experiencing some pain in my wrist. We are still getting our 2 chapters every day, but they will take some more time since I need to take breaks so I won''t cause any damage to my hand and be unable to write in the future. <3
Chapter 378 - 378 Dangerous woman
Chapter 378 - 378 Dangerous woman
Although the voice told them to begin, no one of the 11 people in front of Shun Long chose to make a move right away.
Instead, they silently observed everyone else in front of them like wolves staring at a group of defenseless sheep.
As Shun Long stared at the people in front of him, a look of shock appeared in his eyes, as his gazended on a young woman whose body was covered by a beast hide.
She had short ck hair and a big chest, but the muscles in her arms and legs weren''t inferior to those of powerful men either.
Additionally, it only took a nce for Shun Long to recognize, that her cultivation was definitely the strongest out of the 12 people here, as it had already reached the early rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage!
The moment that the bindings around everyone''s body disappeared, everyone hurriedly opened up the distance between themselves and this woman, whose gaze roamed around her without concealing her bloodthirsty intent!
This was even more evident when she noticed, that aside from herself there were no other rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators around her.
Aside from a peak rank 1 and a middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the cultivation of everyone else around her was only at thete-stages of the Spirit realm.
This was enough to make this woman stare at everyone else in front of her, with a look of disdain in her eyes.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t choose to keep his cultivation concealed in this ce, and instead, he had immediately circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' without any hesitation, allowing everyone to see that he was just at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
Otherwise, if he chose to hide his cultivation, it would definitely attract even more attention.
Seeing that the woman at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage didn''t fix her gaze on him, Shun Long wasn''t in a hurry to make a move.
Instead, he silently watched the people around him who were all staring at this woman, while he also thought to himself
''''That voice said that the rules for this test are, that each person has to kill 3 people in order to pass this test. Although this rule seems somewhat cruel, this is the cultivation world in the end.
I can only hope that Mei''er''s group will be rtively easy and that she won''t have any serious trouble.''''
As these thoughts shed through Shun Long''s mind, he noticed the young woman''s gazending on a young man who seemed to be less than 18 years old, and was standing a few meters away from him.
The moment that this young man whose cultivation was at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm felt this woman''s gaze settling on him, his face instantly paled, as he hurriedly took out a saber from his spatial ring and held it in front of his chest.
The woman however smirked when she saw the young man''s response, and after kicking the ground, she arrived in front of him almost instantly.
Shun Long felt some shock as well once he saw the woman''s speed, before he opened up the distance between himself and the 2 of them seeing that they were about to fight.
Although Shun Long was confident that he could fight against an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert even while he was still at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, he knew that it wouldn''t be an easy fight either!
Additionally, this woman''s speed was definitely nothing to scoff at, making a fight against her even harder!
Shun Long knew that even if his ''Time Prison'' could sessfully trap this woman for a split second, allowing him to find an opening to attack, more than half of his qi would be sapped during that time, and he still wasn''t certain if the ''Time Prison'' would be sessful either.
At the same time, even if the ''Time Prison'' seeded, Shun Long would have to use it at the most perfect moment, otherwise the slightest misstep would allow the woman to break free from it before his own attacknded, effectively wasting the qi during the process.
After all, although the ''Time Prison'' was an extremely powerful move, against opponents whose cultivation base was much higher than Shun Long''s, it would onlyst for a split-second before they managed to break free.
And even in the scenario where Shun Long managed to kill this woman, he was also certain that the other 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivators would notice that his qi would be depleted after the fight, and wouldn''t let him go like that.
Thus, unless absolutely necessary, Shun Long didn''t wish to sh with this short-haired, big-chested woman just yet.
As soon as she arrived in front of the young man whom she had targeted, Shun Long saw the young woman''s cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage erupt at full force, as she gathered her qi in her hands and punch towards the young man''s saber!
It wasn''t just Shun Long who was staring at this fight, but everyone else as well, including the peak rank 1 and the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul experts.
The moment that the woman''s hand punched the saber, the young man who was holding it was sent flying towards the sky like a shooting star, before hended a few hundred meters away with a bang.
Even from a few hundred meters away, Shun Long could see that the young man''s arm that was previously holding the saber, which was now distorted, causing the young man to scream in pain.
At the same time, everyone stared at this young woman with shock in their eyes!
She wasn''t even a body cultivator, and yet, she had managed to punch through a rank 1 gold grade weapon with her bare hands!
''''Even body refining cultivators at the early fifth stage of body refinement wouldn''t dare to punch through a gold grade weapon with their bare hands!''''
The moment that the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert said this out loud, everyone turned to look at him with shock in their eyes, while Shun Long nodded his head in confirmation.
Indeed, even cultivators who had just entered the fifth stage in body refinement wouldn''t dare to punch a gold grade weapon directly, without using qi to protect their bodies. Otherwise, there was no way that they woulde out on top without any injuries, even if their cultivation was higher than their opponents.
''''Although she managed to conceal it, she definitely used some sort of Dao to do this!''''
As Shun Long reached this conclusion, the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert who had spoken earlier, as well as the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul expert who was standing the furthest away from that young woman and was staring at her with fear in his eyes, had all arrived at this conclusion as well!
As he saw the young woman approaching him, the young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm whose arm was mangled and in a terrible condition, couldn''t help shouting in a voice filled with horror
''''Wait! WAIT! I QUIT! I GIVE UP!''''
The ck-haired woman however simply smiled mockingly when she heard this, before she raised her foot above the young man''s head.
She then turned around to look at the people who were watching her and smiled brightly, before she brought her foot downwards like a hammer.
Boom!
A small earthquake shook the ground the moment that the woman''s foot descended on the young man''s head, destroying it in an instant, as blood dyed her bare foot a bright red color.
Without waiting to see who would be this woman''s next target, everyone turned around to look for the weakest opponents!
After all, as long as they could kill 3 people, they would pass the test regardless of what that crazy woman did!
At the same time, Shun Long also looked around him to find an opponent, when he felt a piercing gaze staring at him.
Turning his head to the side, he saw a young man who was wearing a beast hide, stare at him like a hungry magic beast that had just found its target!
This gaze belonged to the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul expert! That man had chosen Shun Long as his first target!
Chapter 379 - 379 Fighting a Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Chapter 379 - 379 Fighting a Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed when he felt the piercing gaze of the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert.
After seeing the dangerous woman''s power, every single person seemed to have the same thought in their minds
''''As soon as I can kill 3 people, then I won''t have to be afraid of that monster choosing to fight me against her next opponent!''''
Even the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert who was the second strongest person in this ce after that woman was no exception!
Seeing the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert running towards him while holding a long and thick wooden club in his hands, Shun Long smirked inwardly, before he circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned golden, while his aura of a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator exploded from his body, with even more intensity than before.
At the same time, a purple-colored wooden staff appeared in his hands, and looking at the young man who was rushing towards him, Shun Long said in a low voice
''''Come!''''
Of course, against a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, Shun Long didn''t think that he would need to use his ck sword just yet, and chose to use the ''Purple Blossom staff'' instead!
Of course, if he was fighting against the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator or that short-haired young woman, then this would be apletely different matter altogether.
Looking at the rank 1 gold grade weapon in Shun Long''s hands, the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage young man smiled coldly, before he gathered his qi and infused it in the wooden club in his hands.
Not only was his club a rank 2 gold grade weapon, but his cultivation was also higher than Shun Long''s as well.
Thus, he was confident that he could kill Shun Long within 3 exchanges at most, before he moved to kill his next target!
Seeing the wooden club descending towards his head with immense force behind it, Shun Long''s golden eyes instantly lit up with a bright blue light, before he took a single step to the side without directly parrying this man''s attack.
BOOM
After failing to hit Shun Long, the young man''s club struck the ground with his full power behind it, causing it to tremble from the impact and bringing chills to the nearby cultivators who saw the power behind it.
Even the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator turned his eyes to look at that young man with a serious look in his eyes as he mumbled to himself
''''That guy is not weak after all.''''
However, the tiles beneath Shun Long''s and the young man''s feet that were made from white jade, didn''t seem to have even a single scratch on them.
Of course, since even that terrifying woman''s attacks had failed to cause any damage to them earlier, it was impossible for this man''s club to do so.
Despite having avoided the attack, Shun Long didn''t choose to counterattack right away, and instead, he took another step to the side, the look on his face beingpletely calm as he stared at the young man in front of him, almost as if he could predict his own movements before him.
At the same time, the young man in the beast hide had a shocked look in his eyes when he saw Shun Long''s movements, but his own actions didn''t stop, as he swung his club to the side without any dy, looking like he was trying to strike a fly in the air in front of him.
''''Don''t tell me that he saw through my feint?'''',
The young man thought to himself in disbelief, unable to understand how Shun Long had managed to see through his attack.
After delivering the first strike, he had left his left sidepletely exposed, allowing Shun Long to strike him if he wanted to.
However, Shun Long didn''t take this chance to attack, and instead, he had taken another step to the side, almost as if he knew that this was a deliberate opening!
''''No, this is the first time I have met him, there is no way that he knew about this tactic of mine beforehand! This was just pure luck!''''
Certain that it was Shun Long''s own cowardice that had saved him, the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert suppressed the irritated feeling in his heart, as he delivered attack after attack towards Shun Long, either one aimed at his head, his torso, or his waist.
And yet, Shun Long only dodged these attacks without counterattacking right away.
''''Worm! Do you only know how to dodge? Do you think that you can enter the Holy sect like this?''''
Unable to reign in his anger any longer after seeing his attacksnding on empty air one right after the other, the man could only shout in an angry and insulting manner, in an attempt to force the young man in front of him to fight him head-on.
And yet, despite knowing that the man in front of him was clearly taunting him, Shun Long smiled lightly before he nodded his head, dumbfounding the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert in front of him.
Before the man could react, Shun Long pointed forward with his right hand, before he mumbled in a low voice
''''Thunderbolt finger!''''
BOOM!
The sound of thunder booming sounded in the air, and before the man in the beast hide could do anything, he saw a sudden thunderbolt flying towards his face.
Raising the wooden club in his hands and cing it in front of his face, the young man hurriedly blocked Shun Long''s attack!
However, Shun Long''s attack wasn''t as simple as the man had expected it to be!
The peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert felt his own arms struggling to keep the wooden club in front of his face, as his feet slid through white jade tiles, looking like he was unable to hold on.
A few momentster, the lightning bolt finally lost its power and dispersed in the air, allowing the young man to heave a sigh of relief, his eyes staring at Shun Long with apprehension and fear inside them!
Even the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul expert and the terrifying young woman had their attention attracted from the powerful thunderbolt, as they turned their attention towards Shun Long!
Chapter 380 - 380 Kill or be killed
Chapter 380 - 380 Kill or be killed
Shun Long however simply sighed in response when he saw that the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert had managed to defend against his ''Thunderbolt finger'' without suffering any injuries, before he mumbled to himself
''''Nascent Soul stage cultivators are indeed in a league of their own!''''
After all, this wasn''t the same ''Thunderbolt finger'' that Shun Long had used 2 years ago.
Not only was his cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm now, but his ''Thunderbolt finger'' was no longer in its infancy stages either!
Shun Long had already reached the third rank of this Mystic high-grade martial skill, bringing it to its peak state!
The middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert turned his eyes and nced at Shun Long for a single moment, before he continued to fight against the early rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in front of him.
''''Thankfully my own opponents weren''t monsters like that guy!
Just like that voice said earlier, luck really is part of your own skills as well, so choosing easier opponents is important too! Of course, there is no way that a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator would be able to pose any danger to me. At most, I would take a longer amount of time to kill him, so this can be considered that guy''s good luck as well!''''
Without paying any more attention to Shun Long''s and the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul man''s fight, the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert continued to fight against the opponent in front of him.
A few moments ago, it had only taken him 2 strikes to kill the previous early rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, and the second target in front of him would be no different.
However, after seeing Shun Long''s power, although he wasn''t afraid of a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert started to act more cautious as well against his opponents!
At the same time, the ck-haired young woman stared at the handsome young man who had fired off the thunderbolt from his finger with a hungry look in her eyes, and after licking her lips once, she turned her attention towards the rest of thete-stage Spirit realm cultivators around her.
She only needed to kill one more person to be pass through the first stage of the test, so she wasn''t willing to waste too much time in this ce either.
''''Although that guy is somewhat interesting... in the end, he is only a Spirit realm cultivator!''''
As this thought shed through her mind, she narrowed her eyes before she turned her attention towards a middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator who was fighting against an early rank 9 Spirit realm young woman.
At the same time, although he had felt shock in his heart, the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert in front of Shun Long finally felt a sense of danger after receiving the ''Thunderbolt finger'' head-on, while a serious look shed through his eyes as he stared at Shun Long.
Although he had been too anxious earlier, he finally realized that he wouldn''t be able to kill the blue-robed young man in front of him that easily.
Of course, he couldn''t change targets either, even if he wanted to.
''''Since only 3 people can pass through the first test, I will either have to kill this guy, that crazy monster at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage, or that guy who has already reached the middle of rank 2.
No matter what, fighting against a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator is countless times better than having to fight against a Nascent Soul stage cultivator at the middle of rank 2! As for that monster, Tan Wei, I''d rather fight everyone else in this ce together than fight against her!''''
Of course, how could Shun Long not sense the killing intent that wasing from this young man''s body?
This time, he didn''t wait for the man to attack him first, and instead, he took the initiative to rush forward.
For a moment, it seemed as if Shun Long had turned one with the wind, as his body seemed to have suddenly disappeared.
This was the 5th stage of the Gale steps!
Of course, as a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the young man in front of Shun Long had plenty of experience, and only needed a second to determine Shun Long''s general location.
Even though Shun Long seemed to have turned invisible in the eyes of thete-stage Spirit realm cultivators around him, Nascent Soul stage experts were still able to pinpoint his location without any trouble.
This was the qualitative difference between Spirit realm cultivators and Nascent Soul experts after all.
Once a cultivator had condensed their Nascent Soul, their own existence was elevated to another level.
What others were unable to see with their own eyes, Nascent Soul stage cultivators could easily ''see'' with their soul sense.
Of course, Shun Long was already aware that the concealing ability of the Gale steps, was practically useless against a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, which was why he hadn''t even trained in this martial skill in the past 2 years.
Appearing by the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul expert''s side, Shun Long grabbed the ''Purple Blossom staff'' with both hands, before he swung it sideways.
The young man was surprised when he felt a sense of dangering from the wooden staff which was nothing more than a peak rank 1 gold grade weapon, but he had already been prepared for Shun Long''s attack, and raising his wooden club in front of him, he infused his qi inside it as he easily parried the ''Purple Blossom staff'' with a mocking look in his eyes.
Of course, the power behind Shun Long''s attack wasn''t as simple as it looked, forcing the young man to take 5 steps backward until he stabilized himself!
Finally, the confident look in his eyes changed into one of horror, as he looked at the blue-robed young man in front of him and asked in a voice filled with disbelief
''''You! You are also a body refiner?''''
Although people who dual cultivated in both qi and body refinement weren''tmon, they weren''t abnormally rare either!
It was possible to find one out of 100 cultivators in the Western region who trained in both qi and body refinement cultivation techniques!
The reason why this young man was so shocked, was because of Shun Long''s power.
''''Just a single martial skill of his was infused with an extremely pure qi, making me have a hard time to defend against it! But now, even the power of his body is this crazy? Where did this monstere from?''''
Shun Long nodded his head without exining anything, as he moved forward and swung the ''Purple Blossom staff'' diagonally
This was the second move of the Staff of Obliteration!
The third move followed right after without any dy, then the fourth and finally the fifth!
However, although Shun Long''s chain attacks had put him in a tough position, the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul expert knew that he had to hang on and find a chance to counterattack and kill Shun Long!
Otherwise, his hopes of entering the Holy sect would be gone!
Shun Long however couldn''t give up either.
This was the test of the Holy sect, and there was only one rule
''Kill or be killed!''
If one didn''t have a resolute heart and couldn''t kill the enemies who threatened their lives, they could no longer be called cultivators and the Holy sect certainly wouldn''t ept them in their midst.
As he stared at the man in front of him and was about to follow up with the 6th move of the Staff of Obliteration, Shun Long''s golden eyes suddenly lit up, and without any hesitation, he instantly jumped to the side.
At the same time, the man in the beast hide in front of him had opened his mouth, and spat out a gigantic red fireball towards Shun Long, in an attempt to kill him before he could use the sixth move of the Staff of Obliteration.
At that moment however, Shun Long abandoned the ''Purple Blossom staff'' and allowed it to fall on the ground, before he mumbled to himself
''Blink''
Before the fireball could even approach close to him, Shun Long instantly disappeared on the spot, before he suddenly appeared behind the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage young man.
Without any emotion in his eyes, Shun Long shed the illusionary, purple-colored de in his right hand sideways, towards the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul man''s head!
Chapter 381 - 381 Passing the test
Chapter 381 - 381 Passing the test
Blood spurted through the air like a fountain as Shun Long''s spatial de easily cut through the young man''s neck.
The headless corpse remained standing for a moment, before it copsed on the ground.
However, it wasn''t just his head that was severed!
The peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert''s soul had also dissipated as a result, after it was touched by the illusionary, purple-colored de.
After all, in order to kill a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, Shun Long was certain that it meant killing that person''s soul as well.
Everyone turned their eyes towards Shun Long at the same time, including the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert who had a look of disbelief stered on his face, as well as the terrifying young woman who was called Tan Wei.
Although they had already guessed earlier that Shun Long wasn''t much weaker than the young man in the beast hide, they hadn''t expected that he would be able to kill him so quickly!
At the same time, expressions of despair appeared in the remainingte-stage Spirit realm cultivators'' faces!
They had originally hoped that Shun Long or that peak rank 1 Nascent Soul young man would be gravely injured during their fight before one of them finally clinched victory, allowing one of the remainingte-stage Spirit realm cultivators to kill them, and pass through the test as a result.
However, not only wasn''t Shun Long hurt, but he didn''t look like he had expended much of his qi either!
Naturally, that made those young men''s hopes of passing the test to be instantly extinguished!
At the same time, the ck-haired young woman, Tan Wei licked her lips in excitement, before she removed her hand from the chest of the middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in front of her!
The person in front of her copsed lifelessly on the ground, the look in his eyes one of anger as well as despair!
A white light suddenly enveloped Tan Wei''s body, covering itpletely like a white cocoon.
Shun Long watched as the ck-haired young woman''s body started to turn transparent, before it slowly disappeared in front of everyone else''s eyes!
''''She passed the test!''''
Surprisingly, the one who spoke was the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert, who was still staring at the disappearing Tan Wei with a look of relief in his eyes!
Although it was unlikely that she would choose to fight against him, the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert had no confidence in fighting against her head-on.
Even among other early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, he could sense that Tan Wei wasn''t considered weak!
At the same time, Shun Long saw this young man turning around and giving him a deep look, before he said in a seemingly casual tone as he had finally gotten rid of his nervousness now that Tan Wei had disappeared
''''Although you are not weak, I wonder what you would do if you had to fight against me this time.''''
Seeing the confident look in this man''s eyes, Shun Long simply smiled in response without saying anything, as he took a step forward.
''''Tsk!''''
The young man clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes, before he turned his attention away from Shun Long and towards a young woman at the early rank 9 of the Spirit realm who was just a few tens of meters away from him.
After merely 3 exchanges, the middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert easily tore open a hole in the young woman''s chest, crushing her heart with his bare hands.
After throwing another look towards Shun Long''s direction, the young man closed his eyes, as he saw the white light that had previously covered Tan Wei now enveloping his own body.
10 secondster, the man''s bodypletely disappeared, leaving behind just Shun Long and two other cultivators at the middle of rank 9 and the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm respectively.
The 2 men were dressed in different attires, as one of them was covered with a beast hide that wasn''t too different than Tan Wei''s or from the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert''s that Shun Long had killed a few moments ago, while the other one was dressed in normal white robes, that were simr to the clothes that people wore in the ''Night star continent''.
And yet, despite their different appearances and despite having met each other before, the 2 men stood side by side as they faced off against Shun Long, before the man in the beast hide who was at the peak rank 9 of the Spirit realm looked at the young man next to him and said
''''Let''s fight him off together! Since he can fight and even kill a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he is definitely stronger than both you and me! However, if we fight him together, there is a chance that we can kill him! In the end, we can both fight each other and at least one of us will pass this test!''''
Shun Long saw as the young man in white robes didn''t even need to think about this offer, as he nodded his head without any hesitation!
After all, fighting against Shun Long by himself would certainly spell his own death! Thus, fighting against the young man next to him after they had both killed Shun Long was a much better option!
Shun Long shook his head, but he didn''t feel much pity for the 2 rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators in front of him.
Let alone that they already knew, that their lives would be in danger before they participated in the Holy sect''s test, the Holy sect''s instructions were clear!
Kill or be killed!
If you are not willing to kill the enemies in front of you, you can wait and be killed by them instead.
After all, this was the cultivation world, and every single expert had already stepped upon the bodies of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of other cultivators already.
Instead, although he stared at the 2 people in front of him, Shun Long''s mind was on Liu Mei and whether she hadnded in an easier group than him.
''''Of course, even if her group is harder than this... as long as she uses ''''that'''', her life will most likely not be in danger... but I really hope that she won''t have to use it!''''
At the same time, Shun Long saw the peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in front of him taking out a long spear from his spatial ring, while the middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator unsheathed his sword, as they both rushed towards Shun Long at the same time unwilling to allow him to take the initiative.
Shun Long however had an apathetic expression on his face when he saw the scene in front of his eyes, as he said in apletely calm tone
''''Monarch''s Domain.''''
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body,pletely covering Shun Long, as well as the 2 rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators who were rushing towards him at the same time.
Under Shun Long''s gaze, time instantly stopped flowing inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'' forcing the bodies of the 2 men in front of him to go still!
Shun Long didn''t hesitate, as he took a step forward and shed the illusionary purple de in his right hand sideways, instantly tearing open the 2 rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators'' chests, and destroying their hearts.
Blood filled Shun Long''s hands, but not a single drop of this blood touched the spatial de in his hand, as the bodies of the 2 rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators lifelessly copsed on the ground at the same time.
In front of Shun Long''s peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivation, the 2 men had beenpletely helpless, as soon as they stepped inside the ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Shun Long barely had enough time to remove the 2 men''s spatial rings, when a blinding white light covered his body from head to toe, like a cocoon thatpletely obstructed his vision.
Barely a few momentster, Shun Long felt a dizziness oveing his mind, as his body slowly turned transparent and disappeared on the spot.
Chapter 382 - 382 Each with their own plans
Chapter 382 - 382 Each with their own ns
A few secondster, Shun Long''s blurry vision slowly turned clear, as he found himself inside a dark, closed space that resembled a cave.
His surroundings however werepletely dark, with only a faint trace of lighting from the distance up ahead.
''''Since that Dao Emperor had said that this was only the first test, there must be at least another one that will follow up.
Well... it makes sense as well. Otherwise, wouldn''t everyone who managed to kill 3 people be eligible to join the Holy sect? In that case, forget about the Nascent Soul stage cultivators, even rank 9 Spirit realm experts would be able to easily join after passing the first test sessfully.
Additionally, based on what Zhao Lan had said 2 years ago, the test of the Holy sect is going to be more than just ''hard''. After all, that old man had been certain, that only the top geniuses of the ''Night star continent'' would have a chance to pass.
In that case, let''s see what this second test really entails.''''
As he sorted out his thoughts, Shun Long spread his spirit sense around his body, before he walked towards the source of light in the distance.
At the same time, in a jade white arena simr to the one that Shun Long was standing during the first test, Liu Mei was holding the ''Four seasons azure sword'' in her hand, as she faced a young man who seemed to be in his early 20s.
The young man in front of Liu Mei was at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, and was holding a pair of daggers in his hands as he attacked Liu Mei without stop.
It was obvious that these 2 daggers were rank 2 gold grade weapons, and perhaps even peak rank 2 gold grade ones.
Liu Mei was having a hard time defending herself against the young man''s relentless attacks, but she still gritted her teeth as she continued to fight against him.
Aside from Liu Mei and this young man, there were 4 other people who were fighting against each other.
It was a peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert who was holding a hammer with both of his hands and was attacking a peak rank 9 Spirit realm young woman relentlessly, as well as an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who was fighting a young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
In a sense, Liu Mei''s group could be considered even more dangerous than Shun Long''s.
Although there were only 3 Nascent Soul stage experts just like in Shun Long''s group, the strongest of them was at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage, and had killed 3te-stage Spirit realm cultivators almost instantly, causing a white light to descend from the sky and cover his body before it teleported him away.
As for the second strongest person, who was the peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who was holding a hammer, he had already killed 2te-stage Spirit realm cultivators as well, and only needed to take care of the young woman in front of him to sessfully pass the first test.
As for the remaining early rank 1 Nascent Soul cultivator who was fighting with the young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, as well as Liu Mei and her own opponent... they could be considered the luckier ones since they hadn''t been targeted by the 2 monsters and were left to fight opponents at the same level as them.
Of course, fighting an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator as a peak rank 9 Spirit realm wasn''t an easy feat.
Even 3 peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators wouldn''t be able to stand against a rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert.
Finally, just as Liu Mei felt that she was unable to hold on any longer, a blinding white light appeared from the sky and covered the peak rank 2 Nascent Soul expert''s body like a cocoon, before the man slowly vanished from the jade white arena.
The 4 remaining people, including Liu Mei, all turned their heads to look at the disappearing peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert, before different looks shed through everyone''s eyes.
A look of relief appeared in the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert''s eyes now that he was the strongest person left in this white tform, while the young man in front of him who was at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm had a look of despair in his eyes.
He had been hoping that that peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert would kill this person in front of him and would allow the rest of them to fight against each other for the final spot.
This way, he would have a better chance to pass through the Holy sect''s test as well.
However, seeing that that person had disappeared, his own hopes to pass the test were also extinguished as well.
At the same time, Liu Mei noticed that the man in front of her had actually stopped attacking her all of a sudden. Instead, his lips had curved up into a smile, and without any hesitation, he abandoned his fight with Liu Mei as he rushed towards the remaining Nascent Soul expert.
Liu Mei instantly understood what that man was trying to do!
''''He is trying to kill that Nascent Soul cultivator before that person can kill the middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in front of him?''''
Liu Mei didn''t move, and instead, she simply watched the young man who was wielding the 2 daggers in his hands with a calm look behind her white veil.
Before that man could stab the rank 1 Nascent Soul expert in the back, Liu Mei watched as the Nascent Soul stage cultivator turned around with a mocking look in his eyes, and swung the saber in his hands towards the young man''s waist.
Of course, how could the Nascent Soul stage cultivator not expect, that as soon as they were just the 4 of them left in the arena, Liu Mei and the young man who was fighting against her would try and team up with the middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in front of him and would try to get rid of him first?
Then they would look to fight for thest ce against each other!
He had already been on guard against a sneak attack from behind, certain that it was going toe sooner orter.
Seeing that his attack had failed, the young man with the 2 gold grade daggers in his hands hurriedly stepped back before the saber''s attack couldnd on his waist, as he then turned his eyes towards Liu Mei.
Then, with an anxious look on his face, he shouted angrily
''''Are you going to help us take care of this guy, or will you wait until it''s your turn to die after he kills us one by one?''''
Of course, although this young man knew that their chances to fight against a Nascent Soul stage expert weren''t high, this was his best bet to pass the test.
He already knew that he was much stronger than Liu Mei, and probably he could even kill her if he had gone all out earlier, but he had simply been waiting for the 2 other Nascent Soul stage experts to disappear before he turned his attention towards the remaining one.
After he and Liu Mei, as well as the remaining young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm managed to take care of him, then they could fight against each other.
With his strength as the highest among the 3 of them and once Liu Mei''s and the middle rank 9 Spirit realm young man''s strength were depleted, he would certainly emerge as the winner then!
However, the problem was that Liu Mei was simply spectating the fight instead of joining!
If it was just 2 against 1, then the young man with the 2 daggers had no confidence in killing an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
''''Hahahaha! You worthless worms! You think that you can kill me even if you all band together? Do you know why I haven''t killed any of you just yet? It''s because I was waiting for those 2 monsters to disappear first and make sure that they don''t go crazy and fight against me. I allowed them to choose their targets, since none of you matter to me in the first ce!''''
Before the young man with the daggers had time to respond however, Liu Mei smiled coldly beneath her white veil, before a pitch-ck ball of qi appeared between her hands.
Although the young man with the daggers had his own scheme, while the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator had his own ns as well... how could Liu Mei not have ns of her own?
The reason why Liu Mei was fighting with her own sword and wasn''t showing her full strength as a necromancer, was because she didn''t want to attract the attention of the 2 Nascent Soul stage experts from before.
Although she had a trump card that she could use and could most likely protect herself, unless absolutely necessary, she didn''t want to use it!
The rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert''s eyes constricted when he saw the ck ball in Liu Mei''s hands, as a sense of lethal danger instantly appeared in his heart!
Without any hesitation, he immediately abandoned the middle rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in front of him, as he turned around and rushed towards Liu Mei!
He could feel that nothing good was going toe from the ck ball of qi in that woman''s hands and he had to kill her right away.
However, before the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator could even close half the distance between himself and Liu Mei, the ck ball filled with death qi suddenly fell on the ground.
The terrifying aura of death filled the jade white tform of the Holy sect, as an army of white skeletons led by a dozen undead knights surrounded Liu Mei, like soldiers paying their respects to their general!
Chapter 383 - 383 Liu Meis prowess
Chapter 383 - 383 Liu Mei''s prowess
The early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator instantly stopped in his tracks, as he stared at the army of undead creatures that were emerging from the ck ball of qi with a look of fear in his eyes.
In just 4 breaths of time, 300 jade-white skeletons, as well as 18 undead knights, were standing in front of Liu Mei, as they faced the 3 men who were standing in front of her.
The young man with the gold-grade daggers who had previously fought against Liu Mei could feel his knees growing weak as he stared at the white skeletons and the ck-armored undead knights who were now looking at him, as he then asked in a disbelieving voice,
''''What kind of monster are you?''''
Of course, this question was aimed towards Liu Mei, who was looking at the 3 young men in front of her with an expressionless look beneath her white veil.
What kind of monster could summon so many undead creatures out of nowhere?
At this moment, the look in Liu Mei''s eyes waspletely different from the gentle and warm look she had when she looked at Shun Long.
There was only coldness and apathy as she stared at the 3 people in front of her, while the aura of death around her body was only growing stronger and stronger until it slowly reached its peak.
Liu Mei had already faced the young man with the 2 daggers, and could clearly feel how close she had been to death earlier!
Even with her peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivation, she had reached a point where she had been unable to hold on any longer with just her ''Four seasons azure sword''. If the fight had continued for a few more moments, she was certain that she would have no other choice, other than to summon her undead creatures earlier if she didn''t want to die.
Of course, since this was the Holy sect''s test, Liu Mei knew that she couldn''t me anyone else for her own weakness!
Although her Dao of Death was extremely powerful, Liu Mei knew that she was unsuitable to fight head-on against her enemies.
Additionally, if it wasn''t because she had wanted to keep a low profile earlier and didn''t want to attract the attention of the peak rank 2 and the middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, she would have summoned her undead creatures long ago!
However, it wasn''t just the peak rank 9 Spirit realm young man who felt fear when he faced Liu Mei''s undead army! Even the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert felt terror growing in his heart the moment that he sensed the white skeletons and the ck-armored undead knights'' cultivation level!
Although the jade white skeletons were just at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, there were actually more than 300 of them!
As for the undead knights who were leading them, their cultivation was even higher than the skeletons'', as it had already reached the peak of the Spirit realm!
''''Over 300 rank 9 Spirit realm opponents... even a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator would actually have trouble facing this monster! How can a small, Spirit realm worm, summon so many creatures at the same level as her?''''
A look of despair appeared in the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert''s eyes as he stared at the ugly creatures in front of him.
He knew that even with his own strength and the 2 remaining Spirit realm cultivators, they wouldn''t be able to destroy Liu Mei''s army, unless another Nascent Soul cultivator could somehow appear and help them!
Liu Mei however didn''t seem to be willing to wait any longer.
Instead, she pointed her hand forward as she said in a low voice
''''Kill!''''
The entire arena started to tremble the moment that Liu Mei''s voice resounded through the air, as the jade-white skeletons and the 3m(10ft) tall, ck-armored undead knights instantly marched forward!
Surprisingly, it was the young man with the 2 daggers who was the first topose himself in the face of this terrifying army, and looking at Liu Mei who was standing still behind the skeletons and the undead knights, he then turned to look at the early rank 1 Nascent Soul expert next to him as he said in a determined tone
''''It''s not over yet! As long as we can kill that woman, then there is still a chance for us to survive!''''
The Nascent Soul stage young man narrowed his eyes as he looked at the peak rank 9 Spirit realm young man next to him, but in the end, he still nodded his head with a resolute look in his eyes.
Killing Liu Mei was the only option they had left to begin with, if they wanted to survive!
Without any hesitation, the Spirit realm cultivators and the Nascent Soul stage expert split up, as they charged into the midst of Liu Mei''s army.
However, contrary to what the 3 men had originally expected, Liu Mei''s skeletons and undead knights weren''t disorganized!
Instead, they split into 3 groups, as 10 skeletons attacked the young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, while more than 100 skeletons surrounded the man with the 2 daggers whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm instead!
As for the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert, a look of despair appeared in his eyes as he had to fight off against the attacks of the 18 undead knights and the remaining almost 200 skeletons!
In less than a minute, the 2 Spirit realm cultivators were the first ones to die under the skeletons'' relentless attacks, as the 2 men''s bodies were filled with wounds from the white bone swords.
As for the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator... it only took a few minutes for him to be drowned in the undead knights'' attacks that didn''t even spare his soul in the process!
Liu Mei however, didn''t try to absorb the energy from the 2 Spirit realm cultivators and the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert. Instead, she simply removed their spatial rings, before a bright white light descended from the sky,pletely sealing off her vision at the same time.
Her body that was covered by a white light, slowly turned into motes of light as she disappeared from the white tform, leaving behind nothing but the bodies of the dead cultivators.
Chapter 384 - 384 Barrier of Knowledge
Chapter 384 - 384 Barrier of Knowledge
At the same time that Liu Mei disappeared from the white tform, Shun Long who had walked for more than 10 minutes inside the dark cave, had finally arrived at the source of light in the distance ahead!
However, contrary to Shun Long''s expectations, the source of light wasn''ting from the sunlight that led to the exit of the cave.
Instead, it wasing from an enormous barrier of light that was erected right in the middle of the cave itself.
This barrier was shining with a bright azure color that resembled the clear sky.
And yet, it was this same barrier that was barring Shun Long''s path, preventing him from walking further forward.
After taking a look around him and examining his surroundings, Shun Long noticed two major details.
The first was that there was nothing else in this ce aside from this barrier of light.
It seemed to have been set up in such a way thatpletely blocked Shun Long''s path forward.
The second detail was, that in the center of the barrier, there was the outline of a palm print.
Shun Long immediately thought that this must be rted to the second test of the Holy sect.
Otherwise, it wouldn''t make sense for him to suddenly arrive in this ce after passing the first test, only to see this bizarre sight!
After hesitating for a moment, he decided against using his Dao of Space and tearing the space in front of him open, to arrive at the other side of the cave.
Since this was the test of the Holy sect, it was very likely that there were supervisors who were paying attention to this test, and they would most likely be alerted if someone tried to ''cheat''.
Shun Long took a few moments to verify that there was nothing else in this ce, before he slowly walked up to the azure barrier in front of him, and ced his hand on the empty spot with the outline of a palm.
The moment that his hand touched the barrier of light, Shun Long felt his vision blur for the second time today, as the melodic voice of a woman suddenly appeared in his mind
''''Wee to the barrier of knowledge.
This is also the second test of the Holy sect!
Unlike the first test, this test won''t test your resolve to be cultivators or your luck.
Instead, this time it will be your talent as well as yourprehension ability that will be tested!
After all, talent andprehension ability are equally as important to a cultivator as their own resolve and will to be stronger!
At the same time, this test can also be considered a gift from my Holy sect, to all of you who passed the first test.''''
As the voice finished speaking, Shun Long could see the enormous barrier of light in front of him change as various symbols started to appear on its surface one after the other, before the melodic voice of the woman then continued
''''You will be allowed to choose a single Saint low-grade cultivation technique or martial skill from the barrier of knowledge!
You have 5 days to get a preliminary understanding of the cultivation technique or the martial skill that you choose!
If you fail toprehend even the preliminary stages of that technique during the 5 days, then you can only be considered to have failed the test!
Once you finishprehending that technique, you only need to ce your hand on the barrier of knowledge and circte the technique that you chose.
The barrier will judge your results and will choose whether you have failed or seeded!''''
As the voice disappeared from Shun Long''s head, he saw the various symbols on the azure-colored barrier in front of him converge into different letters, before they formed the names of cultivation techniques or martial skills.
''''What??''''
Shun Long was unable to believe his eyes for a second, as he stared at the endless converging words that filled the so-called ''barrier of knowledge''!
Almost ten thousand cultivation techniques and martial skills had appeared in his eyes, and all of them were at the Saint low-grade!
The only Saint grade cultivation technique that Shun Long had previously seen, was the ''Moonlight Sigil'' that he had obtained from Cui Guoliang''s collection, and Shun Long had assumed that even that was on the weaker spectrum of Saint low-grade cultivation techniques since it only allowed its user to practice it at night.
Of course, that was if Shun Long excluded his own ''Monarch''s Hourss'' which was most likely far above the Saint grade, as well as Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art''.
As for Saint low-grade martial skills, Shun Long had never seen any of them before!
Even in the contribution hall of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the Heaven''s Dome city where alchemists were allowed to trade their contribution points for cultivation techniques, martial skills or medicinal ingredients that they needed, Shun Long had only seen one Saint low-grade cultivation technique, and even that was inferior to the ''Moonlight Sigil'' as well!
As for martial skills that alchemists were allowed to trade for, the highest among them was only at the Mystic high-grade!
Of course, Shun Long had also believed, that it was very possible for the higher echelons of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' to have at least a few more Saint low-grade cultivation techniques or martial skills, but they would definitely reserve those for themselves and wouldn''t allow them to be traded for contribution points.
After all, Jin Wenling had already told Shun Long, that behind their ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was the Feng family of the central region.
''''A family that was able to spread the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' throughout the entire ''Night star continent'' as well as the Deste east, must definitely have at least a few Saint low-grade cultivation techniques or martial skills in their treasury!''''
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Shun Long turned his sight towards the barrier of knowledge in front of him, as he saw the endless names of cultivation techniques and martial skills that filled his eyes.
Chapter 385 - 385 The tip of the iceberg!
Chapter 385 - 385 The tip of the iceberg!
''''Infernal Qi refinement art! A Saint low-grade cultivation technique that allows its user to absorb the qi in the air around them, and transform it into infernal qi that they can store in their dantian. This cultivation technique is exceptionally suited for cultivators who hadprehended the Dao of Fire!
If the cultivator who trains in this technique chooses to absorb the qi from a hot environment, their cultivation speed will increase ording to the heat''s intensity.? Only the first part of the cultivation technique is avable!''''
''''Earth armor''s protection! A Saint low-grade martial skill that allows its user to condense their qi into a protective armor around their body and protect themselves from physical attacks. This martial skill is exceptionally suitable for qi cultivators who hadprehended the Dao of Earth!
Even body refinement cultivators at the same level, will have trouble piercing through the earth armor in a short amount of time. Only the first part of the martial skill is avable!''''
''''Holy light absorption art! A Saint low-grade martial skill that allows its user to absorb the qi around them and transform it into light element qi that they can store in their dantian. This cultivation technique is much stronger than most other Saint low-grade cultivation techniques, but its degree of difficulty is also much higher!
Only cultivators who haveprehended the Dao of Light can train in this technique! Only the first part of the cultivation technique is avable!'''',
Shun Long stared in front of him with wide eyes, as more and more cultivation techniques and martial skills filled his gaze, all of which were clearly at the Saint grade! Additionally, whenpared to the ''Moonlight Sigil'' that he had gotten from Cui Guoliang in the past, or the Saint low-grade cultivation technique from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the Heaven''s Dome city, these techniques were clearly at a higher level, despite them being at the Saint low-grade as well.
''''The Holy sect is definitely much stronger than the Feng family that is supporting the ''Alchemists'' Guild''! Otherwise, they wouldn''t have dared to teach so many cultivation techniques and martial skills only to those who managed to pass through the first test!
Even if these martial skills and cultivation techniques are all iplete, they are still countless times more valuable than any Mystic high-grade cultivation technique or martial skill!''''
As Shun Long stared at the Saint-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills in front of him and noticed that he was only allowed to study the first part, he didn''t feel any disappointment.
Instead, he had already expected that and thought that it waspletely natural.
After all, how could the Holy sect hand over theplete Saint-grade techniques and skills like they were cabbages on the streets?
''''This is definitely done in order to entice every cultivator into doing their best to enter the sect! At the same time, even if these people return back to their own continents in the future, as long as they haven''t obtained theplete cultivation techniques or martial skills, they would definitely ask their descendants or disciples to do so for them once they participated in the test of the Holy sect!''''
As Shun Long''s train of thought continued towards that direction, he suddenly guessed that the Shengtian dynasty and the other peak powers of the ''Night star continent'' that had sent their descendants to participate in the Holy sect''s test, must have definitely told them to do their best and obtain certain powerful Saint-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills!
After all, if any of them managed to enter the Holy sect and could obtain even a single powerful Saint-grade cultivation technique or a martial skill, to those peak powers of the ''Night star continent'' it would be countless times more useful than obtaining even ten Saint low-grade techniques at once!
Such a matter could even change the bnce of power inside an entire continent, creating a new peak power that could probably exceed even the likes of the Shengtian dynasty and the others!
After a brief moment of pause, a look of realization shed through Shun Long''s eyes at the same time, as he then thought to himself
''''Indeed, only a huge power that is many times stronger than any power from the ''Night star continent, could possibly hold such a recruitment event and at such arge scale!
Even if three-fourths of all the participants from the ''Night star continent'' were eliminated during the first test, that still leaves 50.000 people from the original 200.000 that had entered the first test!
However, there were definitely people from other continents instead of just the ''Night star continent'' that participated in the first test!
In the Eastern region alone, there are said to be 2 other continents as well aside from the ''Night star continent'', and it''s very likely that the test of the Holy sect involved those 2 continents as well!
Additionally, based on the different clothings that those people were wearing, the Holy sect''s test definitely involved more than ''just'' the 3 continents of the Eastern region!
The southern region is also said to have 4 different continents which are probably the same size as the ''Night star continent'', while the western region has 2 of them!
As for the northern region, it is said to have 5 continents instead!
Even if the Holy sect''s test didn''t expand to all of those continents and instead it just reached half of them, if each continent has on average as many people as the ''Night star continent'', just the people who managed to pass through the first test of the Holy sect must definitely exceed 400.000!
And these 400.000 are the strongest cultivators from the original 1 million and 600.000 that entered the first test!''''
As Shun Long realized the horrifying level of influence and power that the Holy sect had, a look of shock had appeared in his eyes!
At the same time, as he reached this conclusion, Shun Long seemed to have realized another thing as well
''''In that case, these are definitely not all of the cultivation techniques that the Holy sect has! This is probably just the tip of the iceberg! Otherwise, it would have made no sense for the Holy sect to leak their elite techniques to people in every continent!
Even if it is just the first part of the techniques, this isn''t a trivial matter! Unless they have even stronger cultivation techniques and martial skills, there is no way that they would dare to do this!''''
As Shun Long reached this conclusion, his eyes continued to gaze at the names on the barrier of knowledge, before his gaze was suddenly attracted to a certain martial skill!
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Death''s chant!''''
Chapter 386 - 386 Choosing a Saint-grade martial skill
Chapter 386 - 386 Choosing a Saint-grade martial skill
''''Death''s Chant! A Saint low-grade martial skill that allows its user to freely control their qi and use it to coat their weapon or armor, simr to that of a protective qi barrier. A weapon or armor that is covered by ''Death Chant'' will be increasingly stronger and more resilient, while it will also exude the decaying aura of death. Any enemy touched by death chant will find their life-force being corroded at an extremely rapid rate, and will have to use their own qi to get rid of its effects!
Only cultivators who haveprehended the Dao of Death can train this martial skill!
Only the first part of the martial skill is avable.''''
As Shun Long read the description of this martial skill, his eyes immediately widened in surprise.
This martial skill seemed like it had been tailor-made for Liu Mei!
''''No, it is more apt to say that this martial skill has been tailor-made for cultivators who haveprehended the Dao of Death instead.
I wonder if Mei''er has already advanced to the second test by now as well..''''
Shun Long had guessed that it was very unlikely that there would be another person who hadprehended the Dao of Death during this selection exam of the Holy sect! ording to Little ck''s words, not even one in 10 million cultivators may be able toprehend the Dao of Death and survive, due to its extraordinarily strict and dangerous condition.
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, he threw one final nce towards the ''Death''s Chant'', before he continued to look at more martial skills in front of him, in hopes that he would find something suitable for him.
As for cultivation techniques, Shun Long decided to ignore them.
Since he had the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', training in another cultivation technique would most likely be a waste! Although the ''Stone of Time'' would more often than not put Shun Long in situations of extreme danger, both the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as well as the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' were extremely important parts of his strength that Shun Long wasn''t willing to rece.
As Shun Long continued to sweep his gaze over the barrier of knowledge, his eyes lit up as he stared at the name of a certain martial skill that had instantly attracted his attention
''''Thundergod''s sh! A Saint low-grade martial skill, suitable for cultivators who wield a sword! It allows a cultivator to gather their qi on their sword, and send out a powerful sh filled with lightning element qi, that will obliterate everything in its path!
Cultivators who haveprehended the ''Dao of Thunder'' or the ''Dao of Lightning'' are extremely suitable to train in this martial skill, increasing the martial skill''s power even further!
Only the first part of the martial skill is avable.''''
Shun Long''s eyes instantly lit up when he read the description of this martial skill.
He had already found more than 50 martial skills rted to either swords or sabers already, but this was the first time that a technique also involved the ''Dao of Thunder'' or the ''Dao of Lightning''! As for the star-rank sword inside the ''Stone of Time'', that was clearly a weapon infused with the ''Dao of Lightning''.
Although Shun Long himself wasn''t proficient in either of these 2 Daos, since the sword itself had a small part of the Dao of Lightning inside it that its wielder could use, this martial skill was highly suitable for Shun Long who had no martial skills rted to a sword!
''''I shouldn''t be rash. Perhaps there will be a martial skill rted to the ''Dao of Time'' or the ''Dao of Space'' among them! I shouldn''t be in a hurry to choose just yet.''''
After calming himself down, Shun Long continued to stare at the rest of the cultivation techniques and martial skills on the barrier of knowledge.
Although there were ten thousand skills and cultivation techniques in front of him, an hourter, Shun Long was slightly disappointed when he realized that none of them were rted to the ''Dao of Time'' or the ''Dao of Space''.
However, he had already expected this result as well.
After all, rarer Daos will have even fewer people who hadprehended them, and in turn created cultivation techniques or martial skills rted to those Daos in the end!
Even for the ''Dao of Death'' which Shun Long had assumed that it was just slightly easier toprehend than his ''Dao of Space'', aside from ''Death''s Chant'', Shun Long didn''t find any other martial skill or cultivation technique.
As for other rted martial skills, although Shun Long did find a movement technique that seemed to be very suitable to him, in the end, he still decided to choose the ''Thundergod''s sh''.
''''After all, now that the ''Purple Blossom staff'' is bing obsolete when faced against with everyone else who all have at least rank 2 and rank 3 gold grade weapons, a martial skill that can enhance the power of the ck sword is extremely important.''''
After he had taken his decision, Shun Long closed his eyes and allowed his spirit sense to enter the barrier of knowledge, and touch the golden words of the ''Thundergod''s sh''.
The moment that his spirit sense touched the golden words, Shun Long felt a stream of informationing from the barrier of knowledge in front of him, as it entered his mind.
However, he didn''t feel any difort, and simply allowed his mind to absorb the information rted to the ''Thundergod''s sh''.
6 hourster, Shun Long opened his eyes and saw the bright blue wall in front of him that was now empty of any other words!
All other cultivation techniques and martial skills had disappeared.
Aside from the azure light that was stilling from the barrier, as well as the palm imprint that was still present, there was nothing else on the barrier of knowledge.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw the sight in front of him, and ignoring the empty barrier of light in front of him, he suddenly closed his eyes, as a ck sword with strange patterns appeared in his right hand.
Chapter 387 - 387 Training in a Saint-grade martial skill
Chapter 387 - 387 Training in a Saint-grade martial skill
Holding the star-rank ck sword in his right hand, Shun Long didn''t make a move right away.
Instead, he stood still for a moment with his eyes closed, almost as if he was processing the information in his mind.
''''The Thundergod''s sh has 3 moves. The first move requires me to gather my qi in my hands, and inject it inside the sword before I use the ''Dao of Lightning'' or the ''Dao of Thunder'' to sh the air in front of me.
Although I haven''tprehended any of these 2 Daos, the Dao of Lightning inside the ck sword should be more than sufficient to make up for this issue. After all, this is the biggest advantage of a star-rank weapon!
The only problem is, that to use the first move of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', a cultivator needs to have reached the Nascent Soul stage at the very least!
Hmm... although I have yet to enter the Nascent Soul stage, my qi is probably not inferior to that of an early Nascent Soul cultivator''s. As for my spirit sense, although it is much weakerpared to an actual soul sense that should be able to reach at least 30 meters around a Nascent Soul stage expert''s body, it shouldn''t matter too much since I can extend it beyond my body like a weaker soul sense.
As for the second and the third moves of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', they can only wait until I enter the Holy sect in the future.
Hmm, I shouldn''t be too overconfident either. There is definitely nock of geniuses from all over the continents while my own cultivation is only at the peak of the Spirit realm.
Against a strong genius who has reached the rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage, I may not necessarily be able to win, even with the ck sword in my hands.
After all, the difference in cultivation can''t be breached so easily!
At the same time, I also don''t know if there will be anyone else who may also have any star-rank weapon either!
Although these weapons are extremely rare, I can''t possibly rule out this possibility either!''''
After reorganizing his thoughts, Shun Long first calmed himself down, before he actually closed his eyes and emptied his thoughts.
Holding the ck sword in his right hand, Shun Long first circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as 81 balls of qi appeared above his head in the upper part of the invisible hourss.
During the past 2 years, Shun Long had already purified all 80 balls of qi, bringing them at the same level of purity as the 81st.
With his eyes closed, Shun Long stirred his qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as waves of pure qi entered the peak rank 1 star-rank sword in his hands.
The strange patterns on the sword''s surface lit up with a golden light, before sparks of lightning appeared around the ck sword''s edge.
Contrary to Shun Long''s original expectations however, the star-rank sword wasn''t that easy to use.
Just to fully activate the Dao of Lightning inside it, Shun Long had to expend more than 10 percent of his qi!
Considering that even more qi was required for the ''Dao of Lightning'' inside the sword to stay active during a fight, Shun Long realized the difficulty of using a star-rank weapon with an insufficient cultivation.
Shun Long however, didn''t seem to mind the expenditure of his qi, as his mind was fully focused on the Saint low-grade martial skill in his head!
''''ording to the first move of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', a cultivator has to converge the energy of their Dao of Lightning or their Dao of Thunder around the sword''s edge before sending a full-powered sh forward.''''
After verifying the way to use the first move of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', Shun Long used his qi to make the sparks of lightning around the sword converge on the ck sword''s edge.
Using his spirit sense to cover the sword''s surface, Shun Long raised the ck sword in the air, ready to send a powerful sh forward filled with the Dao of Lightning.
However, the moment that the sword was raised above his head, Shun Long could feel the lightning around it getting out of control, as the sparks of lightning easily escaped the control of his spirit sense, and started to flow chaotically around the sword''s surface instead of converging on the sword''s edge!
A few momentster, the sparks of lightning around the sword''s surface disappeared, before the strange golden patterns started to dim.
Shun Long wasn''t disappointed that he had failed to control the ''Thundergod''s sh'' on the first try!
Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground, his hand still holding on the ck sword''s hilt, as he thought to himself
''''Hmm, the ''Dao of Lightning inside the ck sword is definitely amplifying the might of the skill, but it is also easier for the lightning to go out of control.
If I had already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, I could probably use the Dao of Time topletely control the sparks of lightning without needing to use my spirit sense.
Additionally, I could probably also enhance the power of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', if I merged the effects of my Dao of Time with the Dao of Lightning!''''
The moment that this thought took root in Shun Long''s head, the urge to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage became even more intense in his heart.
He knew that hisprehension level of the Dao of Time was already sufficient to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, but his soul still didn''t have the feeling of breaking through just yet.
Although Shun Long could breakthrough at any moment he wanted, he also knew that forcing a breakthrough when his mind wasn''t ready, would most likely end up having adverse effects instead.
..
A day passed in the blink of an eye, as Shun Long had remained seated in front of the barrier of knowledge during this time.
Finally, as the day neared its end, he stood up from the ground, and faced the azure barrier in front of him with a bright look in his eyes, before he slowly raised the ck sword above his head.
The patterns on the sword''s surface once again lit up with a bright golden light, while sparks of lightning crackled on the sword''s surface.
As the lightning converged on the sword''s edge, Shun Long clenched the sword''s hilt tightly, before he shed the ck sword forward towards the azure barrier in front of him!
Chapter 388 - 388 Choice
Chapter 388 - 388 Choice
A powerful, ck-colored sword sh filled with the Dao of Lightning escaped from the ck sword, as it flew towards the barrier of knowledge in front of Shun Long.
However, the moment that the ck-colored sh touched the barrier, the azure barrier barely rippled, before the sword sh lost all of its strength and quickly disappeared.
It looked no different than a small rock being thrown into the sea, barely creating any waves in the process.
Shun Long however didn''t seem disappointed when he saw the scene in front of him.
Instead, it seemed as if he had already expected this, as his lips curved up into a smile.
Of course, how could a barrier that could contain information about tens of thousands of martial skills and cultivation techniques, be harmed by a single sword sh at the early Nascent Soul stage?
Even if it was ate-stage Nascent Soul cultivator instead of Shun Long, they may not necessarily be able to damage the azure barrier in front of him.
This was the reason why Shun Long had decided to send the ck-colored sword sh towards the barrier of knowledge, instead of randomly hacking and shing at the walls around him.
This was Shun Long''s way to test the power of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' without destroying the cave he was in, and possibly getting buried in the process.
At the same time, Shun Long had also realized, that hisprehension of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' had almost reached 20 percent by now!
This meant that hisprehension of this Saint low-grade martial skill had already reached a preliminary understanding!
In other words, he could pass the second test the moment that he stood up and ced his hand on the palm imprint on the barrier of knowledge.
However, after thinking about it for a while, Shun Long simply shook his head as he thought to himself seriously
''''It''s very likely that there will be another test after this one. After all, ording to that old man from the ''Alchemist Guild'', the Holy sect''s test is extremely hard to pass. Based on what he had said, he had clearly believed, that not more than 3 people from the ''Night star continent'' would manage to pass the test and enter the sect.
Although I don''t know how fast everyone else is, it is impossible that there are only 3 people in the entire ''Night star continent'' who can manage to pass through this test andprehend a ''Saint low-grade technique'' to a preliminary understanding within 5 days!
As for me, what Ick the most right now, is a proper martial skill to use along with the ck sword, as well as experience with the sword itself.
Although the second matter is simply impossible to be solved in a matter of 5 days, I can use the remaining 4 days to try andprehend the first move of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' even further! Therefore, even if I have to face a rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, I will still have a killer card if my ''Time Prison'' is unable to affect them!''''
Coming to this decision, Shun Long didn''t hesitate any further, as he closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the ground once again.
As for entering the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' to elerate time andprehend the skill even further within the remaining 4 days, Shun Long decided against it in the end.
Although he had believed that it was impossible for the Holy sect to monitor every single one of the hundreds of thousands of disciples who were taking the second test at the same time, in the off chance that someone from the Holy sect noticed that this cave was empty and came to investigate it, Shun Long wouldn''t have a way to exin where he had gone once he returned.
In that case, forget about being unable to join the Holy sect, his own life could very likely be in danger!
After all, as the second test of the Holy sect, it was very likely that any abnormalities would be detected by the Holy sect itself.
..
Half a day quickly passed, but Shun Long remained seated in front of the barrier of knowledge without moving an inch, as he tried toprehend the ''Thundergod''s sh'' even further.
At the same time, in a spacious hall inside a luxurious white pce that pierced the clouds, a white-robed elder with long white hair and a clean-shaven face had focused his gaze on the horizon with a serious expression on his face.
Aside from the elder, more than 5000 young men and women dressed in yellow robes were also gathered in this hall, as they stared at a gigantic screen of light that was ced at the center of the hall with interest in their eyes.
Thousands of scenes were depicted in this gigantic screen of light that looked very simr to the barrier of knowledge in front of Shun Long, showing different young men and women every time.
All of these young men and women were either brandishing their weapons, or they were sitting cross-legged on the ground like Shun Long, trying to furtherprehend the cultivation techniques or martial skills that they had chosen.
Suddenly, a certain scene seemed to have turned bigger attracting everyone''s attention, as it depicted a person in ck robes who waspletely covering his appearance, cing his right hand on palm imprint on the barrier of knowledge.
Behind that person, a pair of huge ck wings that were covered by dark red mes seemed to have sprouted from his back, but surprisingly, they didn''t set his robes on fire.
The appearance of these wings, along with the face covered by the ck robes, gave off an eerie feeling to anyone who watched this scene.
Suddenly, the azure barrier in front of that person lit up as his hand touched the palm imprint on the barrier of knowledge, before a series of words appeared one after the other, shining with a bright white light
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Demonic Wings!
Level ofprehension: 27 percent!
Pass!''''
Chapter 389 - 389 Geniuses
Chapter 389 - 389 Geniuses
As these words appeared on the barrier of knowledge, an azure light covered the person in ck-robes before he disappeared from the dark cave!
Everyone in the hall, including the white-robed elder who was previously staring on the horizon, had instantly turned their eyes towards the gigantic screen of light with various expressions on their faces
''''The first person who hasprehended a ''Saint low-grade martial skill'', and it''s the ''Demonic Wings'' no less!''''
''''This person managed toprehend 27 percent of the ''Demonic Wings'' in less than 2 days? What kind of monster is this? Even junior brother Zhen Shi had onlyprehended 25 percent of this martial skill during the same timeframe!''''
''''Hehe, I look forward to this person''s fourth test! It is bound to be very interesting~''''
Even the white-robed elder looked at the white screen with a curious look in his eyes, as his gaze was focused on the figure of the person in ck robes that was quickly disappearing.
Of course, as the first person who managed toprehend a Saint low-grade martial skill from the hundreds of thousands of people who were participating in the Holy sect''s test, that person would naturally attract everyone''s attention.
However, barely an hour had passed since the ck-robed man had disappeared, when 2 more scenes were suddenly erged in the enormous screen of light at the center of the hall, attracting everyone''s attention.
The first scene showed a spiky-haired young man dressed in golden robes, cing his right hand on the palm imprint of the barrier of knowledge in front of him.
Unlike the previous scene with the ck-robed person who had a ring pair of ming ck wings on his back, there was no such exaggerated scene around this young man.
The only difference was, that his own palm that was touching the barrier of knowledge, was now shining with a dark red light.
Suddenly, the azure barrier in front of the spiky-haired young man lit up, before a series of words that were shining with a bright white light appeared in his eyes, as well as in the eyes of the young men and women who were staring at the screen of light with rapt attention
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Annihtion Palm!
Level ofprehension: 26 percent!
Pass!''''
As these words appeared on the barrier of knowledge, the young men and women who were staring at the screen of light in front of them had looks of astonishment in their eyes, before a young woman then said
''''Another person who managed toprehend a Saint low-grade martial skill in just a little more than a day, and it''s even the ''Annihtion Palm'' no less! Since when did these martial skills be so easy toprehend?''''
''''Eh... this person is probably not much weaker in terms ofprehension level even if he ispared to that ck-robed young man from an hour ago.''''
''''Wait! Look at that guy!''''
Just as everyone was staring at the spiky-haired young man in golden robes whose body was covered by the light from the barrier of knowledge and was slowly fading away, another young man shouted as he pointed towards the second screen with a surprised tone in his voice.
A young man dressed in white robes, who had a pair of sword-like eyebrows, long ck hair and deep blue eyes, was standing in front of the azure barrier of knowledge in front of him, while his own body seemed to have been bathed by a holy white light.
A series of white words appeared on the azure barrier one after the other, while the bright light around his body seemed to be increasing in intensity
''''Saint low-grade cultivation technique, Holy light absorption art!
Level ofprehension: 29 percent!
Pass!''''
''''29 percent? Just how high is this person''s affinity with the Dao of Light?''''
''''No, it''s not just his affinity! His own level ofprehension in the Dao of Light is definitely notcking either.''''
When the white-robed elder heard this, he nodded his head, while his eyes were staring at the young white lord of the ''Night star continent'', Bai Longtian with a profound look in his eyes, before he said in an emotionless voice
''''Indeed, there are many factors to take note of as well when judging someone''s talent. That person''s level ofprehension regarding the Dao of Light is probably a level above the ck-robed brat and that spiky-haired kid from earlier.
However, this is only the level ofprehension regarding the Dao of Light, and the Daos that those 2 people used, and this is only a possibility in the end.
After all, it''s not impossible that the ck-robed brat''sprehension level could also reach 28 or even 29 percent if he spent another hour. Perhaps he was simply unlucky or perhaps he was in a hurry which was why hisprehension level and talent seems to be lower than this white-robed kid''s. It''s not impossible that they are actually on the same level with each other!
Additionally, when someone tries toprehend a martial skill or a cultivation technique, even though the early stages are much easier, theter stages are far more difficult.
As for the spiky-haired brat from before, it''s also possible that his Dao didn''t have the same level of affinity with the Annihtion Palm as these 2 brats.''''
Bright lights appeared in the young men and young women''s eyes when they heard the white-robed elder''s words.
Indeed, affinity with the Dao was also extremely important when judging someone''s talent and so was their level ofprehension. However, luck seemed to also y a small factor as well, and howpatible each person was with the cultivation technique or martial skill that they had chosen.
Just as everyone kept staring at the screen that depicted Bai Longtian''s body disappear and thought that this would be thest scene for a while, the enormous screen of light suddenly focused itself on another scene, as a gorgeous young woman with blonde hair and emerald eyes, stood up and ced her palm on the barrier of knowledge in front of her.
If Shun Long and Liu Mei could see this scene, they would be able to instantly recognize this young woman whose facial features greatly resembled Madam Xie Rong''s from the Pale Moon guild.
This was the same young woman that Shun Long and Liu Mei had seen amidst the crowd in the outskirts of the Heaven''s Dome city, right before the Holy sect''s test had started!
As Xie Xingyi ced her palm on the barrier of knowledge in front of her, a series of words appeared on the azure barrier''s surface, but this time, the color of the words wasn''t white, but a bright silver instead!
Chapter 390 - 390 Liu Meis shocking results
Chapter 390 - 390 Liu Mei''s shocking results
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Creeping shadows!
Level ofprehension: 31 percent!
Pass!''''
...
As these silver-colored words appeared on the surface of the barrier of knowledge, surprised expressions quickly appeared on the faces of the young men and women who were staring at the screen of light in the center of the hall.
Even the white-robed elder raised his eyebrows as he stared at the beautiful young woman in green robes on the screen in front of him.
After all, the words on the screen would only turn silver, once someone had managed toprehend more than 30 percent of the cultivation technique or the martial skill that they had chosen.
Althoughprehending 30 percent wasn''t something rare to see during the Holy sect''s second test, doing so in less than 2 days showed the affinity that this young woman had with the martial skill that she had chosen, as well as how high her level ofprehension as well as her talent really were.
At the very least her level ofprehension regarding martial skills was probably at least a level higherpared to the ck-robed person from earlier, as well as the young white lord, Bai Longtian, and the spiky-haired young man.
A few momentster, a young man in yellow robes was the first one to break the silence in the hall, as he looked at Xie Xingyi inside the screen of light and said with a bright smile on his face
''''Hehe, not only is that junior sister talented, but she is also extremely beautiful! Once she joins the sect, I would be very happy to teach her as her senior brother!''''
A pretty young woman in yellow robes was the first one to react once she heard these words, as she looked at the young man who had just spoken with her eyes narrowed, before she asked him in a mocking tone
''''Jin Ming, you want to teach her personally? What makes you think that she would want you to teach her anything in the first ce?
Besides, don''t you think that it''s too early to say that she will certainly pass the test and join the sect? Although the level ofprehension is important during the second test, it has absolutely nothing to do with the third test.''''
Another young man nodded when he heard this, and with a serious look on his face, he looked at the young man named Jin Ming before he also added in
''''Indeed, junior sister Hu is right! Although the second test values someone''s talent andprehension ability, it''s still too early to say that this girl will definitely pass the third test... let alone the fourth one!''''
The young man named Jin Ming who had originally spoken in Xie Xingyi''s favor snorted when he heard this, but he didn''t say anything else in response, as he kept staring at the screen of light at the center of the hall.
Xie Xingyi''s body that was covered by shadows, was suddenly enveloped by a white light that came from the azure barrier in front of her, before her figure slowly faded away until it disappeared from the cave.
In the next 12 hours that followed, only one other person aside from Xie Xingyi had managed to light up the silver words on the barrier of knowledge, but with Xie Xingyi as a precedent, the yellow-robed disciples of the Holy sect didn''t seem to have paid too much attention to that person.
The second day soon came to an end, and the third day quickly took its ce.
However, during thest 2 days, Shun Long didn''t seem to have moved at all, as he kept sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed.
His right hand was still holding on the hilt of the star-rank ck sword, but he didn''t take any further action.
asionally, sparks of lightning would appear on the ck sword''s surface, but they would onlyst for a moment before they would recede back inside the sword.
As the third day slowly came to its end, thousands and thousands of people would ce their hands on the barrier of knowledge in front of them at the same time.
After all, the third day was usually the benchmark, where most of the people would start to sessfully pass the test or they would fail.
At the same time, people who hadprehended 30 percent weren''t too rare anymore either.
By the end of the third day, there had been at least a thousand people who had managed toprehend 30 percent of the cultivation techniques and martial skills that they had chosen from the barrier of knowledge.
However, just before the third day couldpletelye to its end, in an isted cave that was simr to Shun Long''s, Liu Mei stood up from her meditative cushion that she had ced on the ground, and took a few steps forward, as she stood in front of the azure barrier at the center of the cave.
After hesitating for a moment, her beautiful ck eyes behind the white veil had turned serious, as she took a deep breath, and ced her lithe white palm on the palm imprint on the barrier of knowledge in front of her.,
Strands of death qi flowed around her hand at the same time, before a series of eye-catching golden-colored words started to appear on the azure barrier''s surface.
Although there were tens of thousands of people who were cing their hands on the azure barrier in front of them at the same time as Liu Mei, the golden-colored words had instantly attracted the attention of the disciples of the Holy sect, who were now staring at the screen of light with wide-open eyes.
Even the white-robed elder who had only reacted a few times after he had seen Xie Xingyi''s results earlier, had now ced his attention on Liu Mei''s scene, as he saw a series of shocking golden-colored words, which made him almost lose hisposure
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Death''s Chant!
Level ofprehension: 52 percent!
Pass!''''
Chapter 391 - 391 Thundergods slash!
Chapter 391 - 391 Thundergod''s sh!
''''Death''s Chant?''''
The white-robed old man mumbled in a voice filled with disbelief as he stared at Liu Mei''s hand that was covered with ck strands of death qi.
As for the yellow-robed disciples, they had all fallen silent as they heard the old man''s voice that reverberated throughout the spacious hall.
A few secondster, a young man looked at the elder who was dressed in white robes, before he asked in a hesitant voice
''''Elder Zhuan... weren''t the requirements for a disciple to train in ''Death''s Chant'', that they first had toprehend the Dao of Death?''''
The white-robed elder turned his eyes to look at the young man who had just spoken and nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes, before he once again turned his gaze towards the screen of light at the center of the hall, at Liu Mei''s figure that had already started to disappear.
Seeing the thoughtful look on Elder Zhuan''s face, a young woman took a deep breath before she asked curiously
''''Elder Zhuan, is the ''Dao of Death'' that powerful? Is it even more powerful than senior brother Huang''s ''Dao of Eternal Night''?''''
Serious looks immediately appeared on the faces of the disciples around the young woman when they heard her question, as they all then turned their attention towards Elder Zhuan as they waited for his answer.
Elder Zhuan however didn''t reply right away, and instead, he kept staring at the gigantic screen of light at the center of the hall.
Without moving his gaze, the white-robed elder shook his head a few momentster, before he said seriously
''''I can''t be certain whether that girl''s ''Dao of Death'' or if inner disciple Huang''s ''Dao of Eternal Night'' is actually stronger if both of them were at the same level, but I do know one thing.
The ''Dao of Death'' is definitely much more dangerous toprehend than the ''Dao of Eternal Night''!
Although both of these Daos have a high degree of danger to startprehending them, the ''Dao of Death'' actually requires a cultivator to peer through the Abyss of Death and live.
However, the one simrity that the ''Dao of Death'' has with the ''Dao of Eternal Night'', is that cultivators who train in these Daos need to kill hundreds and thousands of cultivators in order to advance!
Of course, this can be both a boon and a bane...''''
The young woman who had asked the previous question seemed like she had wanted to ask some more things the moment that she heard this answer, but seeing that Elder Zhuan wasn''t willing to reveal anything else, she suppressed her curiosity as she turned her eyes towards Liu Mei at the gigantic screen of light once again.
Liu Mei''s body was covered by a bright white light, as her silhouette that had already started to fade, finally disappeared from the dark cave.
As Liu Mei disappeared, the third day soon came to an end as well.
Inside his own cave, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to themotion that Liu Mei''s results had caused, as well as the revtion that she hadprehended the Dao of Death, causing plenty of disciples of the Holy sect to pay attention to her.
Instead, he kept sitting cross-legged on the ground, as he continued toprehend the ''Thundergod''s sh''.
At times, Shun Long would asionally inject part of his qi inside the ck sword, and make the strange patterns on its surface lit up, while at other times he would simply continue sit inside the cave silently without even circting his qi.
During this time, Shun Long also felt himselfing a step closer towards the ''Dao of Lightning''.
However,prehending a Dao, even in its initial stages was never easy.
As the fourth day came to an end and the fifth day started, the disciples of the Holy sect who were watching the remaining participants of the second test in the gigantic screen of light in front of them, seemed to have exhaled a sigh of relief, as they started to chat between themselves in light-hearted tones
''''It''s probably pointless to wait another day for the second test to finish! Those that were strong enough to pass and advance to the third test have already done so! There is no point in waiting! Let''s see the third test already!''''
''''Junior brother Mu is wrong. It''s possible that there are still some people who are hiding themselves and are still trying toprehend the cultivation technique or the martial skill that they have chosen as much as they can, before they test themselves in the barrier of knowledge.''''
''''Senior brother, what''s the point of waiting instead ofpeting with the rest about who is fastest? Isn''t that a more urate representation of their talent? Besides, it''s not like the third test will wait for them either! I am sure those kids have already started!'''',
''''Hehe, there really were some terrifying brats among them! I wonder how many of them will manage to enter the test and be our junior brothers and sisters. However, let alone entering the sect, the third test itself is already terrifying enough to eliminate most of them!''''
At the same time that the disciples of the Holy sect were chatting between themselves, Shun Long who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground for the past 3 days finally opened his eyes.
His golden-colored eyes had a sharp and serious look inside them, while his gaze resembled that of a sharp sword that was finally leaving its sheath!
As he slowly stood up from the ground, Shun Long focused his gaze on the azure-colored barrier in front of him, as he mumbled to himself in a curious voice
''''Let''s see the true power of a Saint low-grade martial skill''.''''
Holding the ck, star-rank sword in his hand, Shun Long started to injectrge amounts of his qi inside it, lighting up the strange patterns on the sword''s surface!
At the same time, sparks of lightning appeared on the sword''s surface as the golden-colored patterns started to light up, as Shun Long steadily raised the ck sword in the air.
Using his spirit sense, Shun Long guided the lightning around the sword''s surface towards the sword''s edge, practically forcing the berserk ''Dao of Lightning'' to follow his will.
Staring at the azure-colored barrier of knowledge, Shun Long narrowed his eyes as he shed the star-rank sword forward at full force while he roared in his mind
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
Almost 80 percent of his qi had been sapped from the 81 balls of qi above his head in a single instant, before a terrifying ck-colored sh filled with berserk lightning left the ck sword''s edge, and flew towards the azure barrier of knowledge in front of him like a wild magic beast!
This scene instantly attracted the attention of the disciples of the Holy sect in the spacious hall, as they saw the powerful ck-colored sh collide with the barrier of knowledge!
The scene in front of Shun Long''s eyes, waspletely different from the first time that he had used the ''Thundergod''s sh''!
Crackling sounds could be heard from the sparks of lightning that were mixed in the powerful sh, as they kept trying to destroy the azure-colored barrier!
Shun Long saw the enormous ''barrier of knowledge'' in front of him ripple a few times, before the ''Thundergod''s sh'' lost its remaining strength and slowly disappeared.
Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile when he saw the power of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', and without any hesitation, he took a few steps forward, as he stretched out his right hand and ced it on the palm imprint of the azure-colored barrier!
Chapter 392 - 392 The third tests rules
Chapter 392 - 392 The third test''s rules
The spacious hall of the Holy sect had fallenpletely silent, as the yellow-robed disciples and even the white-robed Elder Zhuan, were all staring at Shun Long''s results with eyes filled with shock!
They couldn''t believe the scene that they were seeing!
The words that had appeared on the barrier of knowledge in front of Shun Long weren''t gold in color, but instead, they were shining with the brilliance of stars in the middle of a starry night.,
They were filled with a pure white color that had a goldish hue inside it, while their content had left the Elder of the Holy sect and the yellow-robed disciplespletely dumbfounded!
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, ''Thundergod''s sh''!
Level ofprehension: 92 percent!
Pass!''''
A deathly silence had filled the spacious hall for a few moments, before a young man in yellow robes was the first one to speak, as he could no longer restrain his shocked voice
''''Did the barrier of knowledge make a mistake?''''
The rest of the disciples around this young man seemed to have been brought back to reality after hearing his words, as a flurry of discussions erupted in the previously dead-silent hall
''''Could it really be that the barrier of knowledge made a mistake? Or perhaps... this person already knew of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' beforehand, and he simplyprehended it further in these 4 days!''''
''''This is impossible! The barrier of knowledge in the second test, will not allow someone to pick a skill that they already knew before taking the test, and it will only react to the skill that that person has chosen.
In other words, if this person already knew of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', the barrier wouldn''t have allowed him to pick it, and neither would it have reacted just now!''''
The person who had said these words, had obviously said them with absolute confidence in his voice, but he still turned his head at the same time to look at the white-robed Elder Zhuan, almost as if he was waiting for the elder''s confirmation.
Seeing that every disciple inside the hall seemed to have turned their attention towards him, Elder Zhuan nodded his head somewhat absent-mindedly, while his eyes were still staring at the handsome blue-robed young man in the screen of light in front of him.
''''What kind of monster is this? This is the first time that I am seeing someone reach above 90 percent during the second test! Just how high is hisprehension of the ''Dao of Lightning''?''''
Although Elder Zhuan''s voice wasn''t loud, and it was actually suppressed quite a bit, in the dead silent hall, every single disciple could hear it clearly in their ears.
Of course, as one of the Elders who was supervising the tests of the Holy sect and was responsible to pay attention to any abnormalities, it wasn''t rare for Elder Zhuan to see peopleprehend 50, 60, or even 70 percent within 4-5 days.
However, seeing that someone had managed toprehend a Saint low-grade martial skill to more than 90 percent during this period of time, was indeed shocking to the Elder!
One could only imagine the Elder''s reaction if he knew that, not only had Shun Long notprehended the ''Dao of Lightning'' before, but it was also the first time that he wasing in contact with a Saint low-grade martial skill as well.
Of course, due to the ''Dao of Lightning'' inside the star-rank sword that was at an extremely high-level and could aid Shun Long when he was learning martial skills rted to the ''Dao of Lightning'', as well as the fact that during the past 2 years that he had beenprehending the ''Dao of Time'' Shun Long had also felt his own level ofprehension rising as well, learning the first move of a Saint low-grade martial skill was no longer as difficult for Shun Long as it had been in the past.
''''Isn''t this level of talent andprehension, at the same level as an inner disciple''s?''''
It was unknown who had spoken this time, but it had instantly caused everyone in the hall to stare at Shun Long''s figure with even more serious looks in their eyes.
After all, even whenpared to Liu Mei''s or Xie Xingyi''s results, Shun Long''s was indeed even more shocking!
...
Completely oblivious to themotion that the results of his second test had caused, Shun Long had turned his attention to the azure-colored barrier in front of him, when suddenly, a bright white light shot out from the barrier''s surface like a bolt of lightning, as itpletely enveloped his body like a white membrane.
The moment that the white light covered his body, Shun Long could feel his vision blur, as a feeling simr to that of spatial fluctuations appeared from the white membrane around him.
The darkness of the cave and the light of the azure-colored barrier in front of him slowly disappeared as the light of the sun once again illuminated Shun Long''s surroundings.
As his vision slowly returned, Shun Long found himself standing at the foot of a small mountain, while trees of different sizes had filled the forest around the mountain.
However, before Shun Long couldpletely take in the scene in front of his eyes, the same powerful voice that he had heard during the first test, suddenly boomed inside his mind like a sudden bolt of lightning
''''Wee, to the third test of the Holy sect, the World of the one-thousand cities!
The rules of this test are simple.
There are one-thousand cities spread throughout this world, and each city has an army of Spirit realm and Nascent Soul stage cultivators inside it!
Every single one of those cultivators has been apprehended by our Holy sect, and they have either r.a.p.ed men, women, or children, or havemitted other heinous acts that exiled them into this ce.
Inside every single city, there will be a single yellow-colored token of my Holy sect.
Of course, a token may be hidden somewhere inside the city, or it may be held by the strongest person in there!
All you have to do is obtain one of those tokens, and make sure not to lose it.
You have 25 days left!
If you don''t manage to find a token within these 25 days and hold on to it, you will be instantly eliminated!''''
-
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Chapter 393 - 393 Hidden meaning
Chapter 393 - 393 Hidden meaning
As the booming voice finished its words, it instantly vanished from Shun Long''s mind, like a wisp of smoke being dispersed in the wind.
At the same time, shock had filled Shun Long''s eyes when he heard the rules of the third test, while his mind instantly ruminated over the hidden meaning behind them.
''''There are actually 1000 cities in this ce, and ording to that voice, all of them have been filled with death row criminals that the Holy sect has gathered for this test.
At the same time, ording to that voice''s tone, it is going to be almost impossible to gather even a single token without creating a massacre, and this is probably what the Holy sect wants as well. To nurture cultivators who are not afraid of killing and punishing evil-doers.
Hmm, this test also seems to have even more meanings as well!
On one hand, the Holy sect seems to be wary, that many of the disciples who are participating in this test may be talented but not prepared to kill. This can make sense since many of those disciples may have had very powerful backgrounds back in their own continents, but they may haven''t stepped foot outside their homes due to this as well.
Thus the Holy sect is looking to either forcefully temper everyone this time, or weed out those who are not strong enough to do what the sect wants them to.
Although this test looks simr to the first test, but in reality, it''spletely different!
Despite that voice saying that the main aim of this test is to obtain a token from a single city and just hold it for the remaining 25 days, there are many underlying meanings behind that.
What does it mean to hold the token?
It obviously means that anyone who manages to obtain a token, will then have to protect himself from those who are trying to steal it!
Otherwise, the Holy sect could simply allow the first person who grabs a token, to instantly pass this test!
After all, since there are only 1000 cities, and each city has a single token, there are at most 1000 disciples who will be allowed to pass this test!
There is no way that people won''t try to steal the tokens that others have in their possession!
At the same time, it''s going to be extremely difficult for a single person to exterminate everyone inside a city.
I suspect that the Holy sect has already foreseen how strong the disciples who are taking part of the test really are, and the strength of the strongest people inside the city won''t be much weaker.
Besides, there is no way that those criminals don''t know what''s going on!
Although they may not be willing to willingly hold a token and wait for the disciples toe and kill them, it''s very likely that the Holy sect itself will kill them if they leave the city.
And even if they willingly give up the token to the first person whoes into the city, what about the remaining people who will follow?
Hence, their best course of action is to band together and resist the disciples who will want to kill them.
Hmm, it''s also possible that the Holy sect has promised to let them go if they managed to survive for a certain period of time, giving them even more hope for them to struggle in order to stay alive.''''
As Shun Long reached this conclusion, he rubbed his temples with his thumb and his middle finger in frustration, as he understood that there were even more hidden meanings than he had originally expected behind the sect''s test.
It was just a single test and yet, there were so many things going on behind the scenes and Shun Long wasn''t even certain if this was everything!
After a brief moment of deliberation, there was a deep look inside his eyes as he mumbled in a low voice
''''At the same time, the Holy sect seems to be warning its disciples, that it won''t tolerate evil cultivators. Those whomit heinous acts may very likely find themselves in these cities in the future...?''''
Aftering to this conclusion, Shun Long immediately soared in the sky, as he ascended the mountain in front of him, flying all the way towards the mountain''s peak.
Barely 5 minutester, he had already arrived at the mountain''s peak, as his eyes took in the scenery around him from the high vantage point!
A forest that spanned for a few hundred miles seemed to have surrounded the mountain that he was standing on from all sides, while past this forest, Shun Long could see the vast ins that spanned as far as his eyes could see.
At the same time, a few hundred miles away from the east of this forest, Shun Long saw a city being erected in the midst of the boundless ins.
This was definitely one of the thousand cities in this world!
After hesitating for a moment, Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes, as he flew directly towards the east, heading straight towards the city in the distance!
...
At the same time, at the peak of a small mountain in a somewhat narrow cave, Liu Mei was sitting cross-legged on the ground while a look of pain had appeared in her eyes!
Originally, she had intended toprehend the ''Death''s Chant'' for the full 5 days before she passed the second test, but how could she expect that as she wasprehending the Saint low-grade martial skill, she would unconsciously enter a state of enlightenment and she would feel her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage arrive out of nowhere?
Without any other solution, her only option was to pass the second test as quickly as possible, before she attempted toplete her breakthrough during the third test!
Thankfully, the third teststed for a much longer period of time than the second, giving ample time to Liu Mei who wanted to find an isted ce and try toplete her breakthrough.
After all, unlike her previous breakthroughs, Liu Mei knew that this breakthrough was going to be extremely dangerous for her, and it was even possible for her to lose her life this time!
The reason behind this was her own cultivation technique, the ''Blood Absorption art''!
Chapter 394 - 394 Group of disciples
Chapter 394 - 394 Group of disciples
Liu Mei''s white robes were drenched in sweat, while an expression of agony and pain had filled her face!
She knew that she was about to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, and there was no way to dy this matter any longer!
Despite the piercing pain, that was simr to needles stabbing her soul, Liu Mei still did her best to take out a bottle filled with purple-colored pills from her spatial ring and hold it tightly in her hands.
This was the same bottle that Shun Long had given to her before they entered the white gate outside the Heaven''s Dome city, to participate in the first test of the Holy sect!
Liu Mei clearly remembered that Shun Long had seriously exhorted her, to consume these pills before she attempted her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!
Feeling her spirit sense that was wildly churning inside her spiritual space like a wild animal that could no longer be contained, as well as her qi that seemed to be on the verge of exploding, Liu Mei opened the pill bottle in her hands with great difficulty, before she ced all 3 pills inside her mouth without any hesitation!
Although she didn''t know the effects of these pills, Liu Mei believed that there was no way for Shun Long to harm her.
Since he had told her to consume these pills before her breakthrough, Liu Mei would do so without any hesitation.
The moment the pills entered her mouth and turned into a stream of purple-colored medicinal essence that slid down her throat, Liu Mei didn''t hesitate any longer, as she hurriedly closed her eyes and begun to circte the ''Blood Absorption art'', beginning her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!
At the same time, Liu Mei already knew, that the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage would be a qualitative change to her.
Not only would her spirit sense transform into soul sense and be able to leave her body after breaking through the Nascent Soul stage, but she also knew that if the body of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator died, as long as the soul stayed intact, it was possible to possess another body and start cultivating from the beginning!
Additionally, since the insights of the Daos that the Nascent Soul stage expert hadprehended, as well as the memories and experiences that they had acquired wouldn''t be lost, it wouldn''t be too hard to reach the Nascent Soul stage again in the future.
Of course, the quality of the qi as well as the foundation Dao of the cultivator, would also experience a huge change after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage!
Liu Mei knew, that as long as she managed to sessfullyplete her breakthrough, she would be many times stronger than before!
The moment that she started to circte the ''Blood Absorption art'' however, endless and insufferable pain filled every inch of her body, while her eyes instantly turned red!
Suddenly, ck and incorporeal tendrils of death qi appeared from her body, covering Liu Mei inside a ck cocoon!
...
At the same time,pletely oblivious to the fact that Liu Mei had fallen into a state of enlightenment during the second test and was now in the process of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, Shun Long was advancing through a lush forest, as he headed towards the small city that was located a few hundred miles past the east of the forest, amidst the vast ins in the distance!
As he traveled through the forest, Shun Long had been somewhat surprised to find out, that aside from a few early and middle rank 4 magic beasts, he didn''t even find a single peak rank 4 beast, let alone an early rank 5 one.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that it made sense.
''''Hmm, since the aim of the third test, is to make the disciples participating in it fight against the criminals inside the 1000 cities, the Holy sect wouldn''t go out of its way to ce rank 5 magic beasts near the cities'' surroundings!''''
And yet, despite reaching this conclusion and knowing that it was unlikely for a rank 5 magic beast to appear in this forest, Shun Long didn''t getcent and lower down his guard, as he carefully continued forward.
''''Even if there are no rank 5 magic beasts inside this forest, it is still more than likely for other disciples who are undertaking this test, to set up an ambush and attempt to try and rob others.
Perhaps if they are lucky, they will even find a token of the Holy sect among the treasures of their victim, allowing them to pass through the third test effortlessly.''''
As this mocking thought shed through his mind, he continued to check his surroundings without letting down his guard, as he continued moving forward!
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t afraid of being robbed and he would even wee these people with open arms if this was in the past, but this time, he didn''t want to waste too much time inside this forest, in case the token inside the city gets taken away while he wastes time inside this forest.
2 hours quickly passed, as Shun Long left the lush forest behind him without any issues.
It was unknown if there were no disciples who had set up an ambush, or if Shun Long had simply failed to meet them on the way.
As soon as he left the lush forest and entered the vast ins, Shun Long saw his field of view expanding, as a small-sized city appeared in the distance ahead of him, slowly getting bigger and bigger in his eyes as he continued forward.
An hour quickly passed, and Shun Long was just 10 miles away from the city, when he saw a small crowd gathered in the vast ins just a few miles away from the city gates!
Almost 200 young men and women dressed in different types of clothes were gathered together, and all of them were staring at the city gates in the distance with serious looks in their eyes.
Turning his eyes towards the small city ahead of him, Shun Long immediately realized the reason why these people were gathered here, and why they were staring at the city gates with solemn looks!
More than 1000 men and women were gathered in the city walls, staring at the small group of 200 disciples with mocking looks on their faces.
There was a serious look in Shun Long''s eyes as he also stared at the scene in the distance, without heading towards it straight away.
''''Although most of them seem to be at the rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, there are still more than 1000 of them! Additionally, it''s impossible for these people to be the entire force of the city, without any rank 2 or rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts hidden inside!''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, he then turned his eyes to look at the group of 200 disciples who were standing less than 10 miles away from the city, only to see that some of them were also staring back at him.
All of a sudden, Shun Long saw a handsome young man dressed in luxurious silver-colored robes whose cultivation was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage, as that person stood up and walked towards Shun Long''s direction.
Chapter 395 - 395 Temporary alliance
Chapter 395 - 395 Temporary alliance
Seeing that there wasn''t any direct hostilitying from this person, Shun Long who had already guessed what was going on in his mind, calmly waited to see what this person''s intention was!
As soon as he arrived just a couple of meters away from Shun Long, the silver-robed young man smiled brightly as he looked at him, before he said in a warm tone
''''This brother, my name is Qiu Lei and I am from the Northern region!
Since you are here, then that means that you have also managed to pass the second test as well!
As you can see, there are 176 more people like you and me in this ce, and we have all gathered together to pass the third test!''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he heard thest part of this sentence, as he stared at the young man who called himself Qiu Lei without interrupting him.
Qiu Lei smiled even brighter when he saw Shun Long''s smile, as he then continued with what seemed to be a genuine expression on his face
''''It looks like this brother has already realized the reason why I am here.
Indeed, it is to invite you to fight alongside us as we attack that city!''''
Pointing at the small city in the distance that had more than 1000 experts at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm, as well as early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators in its walls, Qiu Lei then continued with a serious look in his eyes
''''There are more than 1000 cultivators stationed on the city walls, and as you can very likely guess, this is definitely not going to be that city''s full strength! There are definitely bound to be rank 2, and even rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators inside the city and they are waiting for us to attack!
Otherwise, if it was just those 1000 people, even a middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator wouldn''t have too much trouble to destroy this city, let alone peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts!
Since it''s almost impossible for even rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts to storm the city by themselves, we are nning to wait here until the end of the day, and see if there are any more people who pass the second test as well ande here!
By the time night falls, regardless if it is just us or if more peoplee, we will definitely make our move!
As for the token of the Holy sect inside the city, we will leave that to fate! After all, there is only one token inside that city, and there are almost 180 of us here.''''
As he finished speaking, Qiu Lei looked at Shun Long with that same warm smile on his face as he waited for his answer.
Shun Long however, thought seriously for a while, without answering straight away.
He first looked at Qiu Lei, before he turned his gaze towards the small city in the distance.
Based on what Qiu Lei had said, this indeed sounded like a situation where everyone would only gain to benefit from it.
After all, Shun Long wouldn''t say that he was definitely stronger than a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert right now and he could storm the city by himself!
''''Although I am confident enough in taking care of this city if it was really just those 1000 people on the city walls, the situation is definitely not going to be that simple.
Teaming up with these people to take care of the powerful rank 2 and rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators inside the city and find the Holy sect''s token, is indeed a much better and safer choice.
However, the problem lies in this matter as well!
Everyone will be paying attention to find the token as well! Without having advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, I won''t be able to locate the strongest person inside the city and find the token first.''''
It only took a moment for Shun Long to realize the crux of the matter behind this alliance.
After all, although all of these disciples seemed to have grouped together at first nce, once they entered the city, everyone would look to find the strongest person and obtain the token of the Holy sect!
In that case, it was more apt to call it a temporary alliance instead! After all, the moment that someone obtained the token, the other disciples around him would definitely pounce on him like a pack of wolves! Since there were only 1000 disciples who could obtain the tokens and pass the third test, there was no way that anyone here would allow someone else to just take the token and leave in the end!
After thinking about it seriously for a few more moments, Shun Long looked at Qiu Lei, before he nodded his head and said with a calm smile as well
''''In that case, let''s enter this city together.''''
Seemingly as if he had expected this answer, the smile in the silver-robed man''s, Qiu Lei''s face widened even further, as he pointed towards the group behind him and said to Shun Long
''''Let''s wait until night falls! Then we will all move together at the same time as we attack the city!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long followed Qiu Lei as he walked towards the group of disciples in the distance.
Shun Long was surprised to see, that there were only 10 Spirit realm cultivators among this group, and just like him, they were all at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm!
As for the rest of these disciples, they were all at the Nascent Soul stage, while most of them were even at the early or the middle of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul stage!
Shun Long''s appearance attracted many looks from the disciples in this group, as the time to attack the city was getting near, but since he wasn''t hiding his aura and was only a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, many people quickly ignored him after a precursory nce!
After all, there was no way for a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator to even think of obtaining the Holy sect''s token and passing the test!
Even the other peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators only threw a few more nces at Shun Long, before they closed their eyes and did their best to bring themselves to peak condition, since there were only a few hours left until they attacked the city!
At the same time, every single one of these disciples here knew, that the third test of the Holy sect wasn''t a ce to make friends! If they were inside the sect, it would be apletely different matter, but here... despite being in an alliance, they were allpeting against the others as well!
Shun Long wasn''t expecting a warm reception in the first ce, and after finding an empty patch of grass to sit down, he closed his eyes as he waited for night to fall.
Half a day quickly passed and by the time that night had fallen, Shun Long only saw 2 more people joining the ''temporary alliance'' in the end.
Seeing that it was already time to move, Shun Long saw Qiu Lei, as well as 6 young men and 3 young women next to him, all standing up at the same time, as they looked at everyone else with serious looks in their eyes.
From Qiu Lei''s group, a young man dressed in luxurious golden robes was the first one to take a step forward, and facing the rest of the disciples who had joined the temporary alliance and were now looking at him, he said in amanding voice
''''There is no reason to wait any further! We will now attack this city that is filled with criminal sc.u.m!
Remember, that although this may be an alliance, but at the same time, it''s every man for himself!
The goal is to take the Holy sect''s token and pass the third test, not to help each other! The onlymon goal that we have, is that we are all looking for the Holy sect''s token while we eradicate the sc.u.m inside that city!
Now, if you are ready... follow behind me!''''
Without waiting for a response, the golden-robed young man led Qiu Lei and the other people around him, as he turned around and headed towards the small city in the distance!
Chapter 396: Attacking the city!
Chapter 396: Attacking the city!
After hesitating for a moment, the disciples of the alliance looked at each other, before they all followed the golden-robed man''s group as they headed towards the small city in the distance. ;
The moment that they arrived just 2 miles away from the city, Shun Long saw Qiu Lei''s group split into 3 different groups, as the golden-robed young man and Qiu Lei, as well as 2 more people at the rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage spearheaded the attack in the city, while the other 2 groups attacked from the sides! ;
Although the disciples of the alliance turned somewhat chaotic when they saw the unexpected splitting of the group in the lead, most of them still followed the first group, while less than 30 disciples followed the other 2 groups. ;
At the same time, as Shun Long flew after the first group, he also realized that the conjecture that he had arrived in during the first test, was actually wrong. ;
Just the alliance of disciples that was attacking this city alone, numbered close to 200 people! ;
This meant that, if there were 200 disciples that were attacking each one of the 1000 cities in this world, the total number of disciples that are participating in the third test would reach close to 200.000! ;
Even if the second test actually eliminated half of the disciples that took part in it, if Shun Long factored in, that only one-fourth of the disciples that were originally participating in the first test managed to sessfully pass it, the number of people that entered the Holy sect''s test in the beginning, must have definitely surpassed 1.5 million! ;
''''1.500.000 disciples, all of them either at thete-stages of the Spirit realm or the Nascent Soul stage...'''' ;
As Shun Long came to this conclusion, he realized how terrifying the Holy sect''s influence really was. After all, in the entire Night star continent, there were only 200.000 people who met the criteria to participate in the Holy sect''s test. Even if some people had decided to participate in the entrance selection of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'' instead of the Holy sect''s, these people definitely didn''t number more than 50.000. ;
As soon as Shun Long''s group neared closer to the city gates, the Nascent Soul stage cultivators that were stationed in the city walls instantly sounded the rm, before waves of attacks flew towards Shun Long and the rest of the disciples like a tsunami that was about to drown them. ;
me arrows, water pythons, sword and saber shes filled with qi, ice shards, as well as many other types of attacks, all looked to bury this group of disciples, before they could even approach close to the city walls. ;
At the same time, Shun Long saw the golden-robed man in the middle being covered in a burst of mes, that incinerated every attack that dared toe close to him! Even his hair were covered in mes, not allowing even an inch of his body to be unprotected as he continued to fly forward. ; ;
It didn''t matter if it were the me arrows, the ice shards, or any other type of attack, everything that came in contact with the crimson mes around this man''s body was instantly destroyed., ;
At the same time, Shun Long also realized, that this young man was actually a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert! ;
As for Qiu Lei and the rest, they all had their own means to easily resist these attacks, as they continued to fly towards the city walls. ;
Surprisingly, Qiu Lei''s cultivation which was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage, was actually the weakest one among the 4 people in this group! Aside from the golden-robed young man who seemed to be the strongest, the other 2 disciples around him were actually at the middle of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage as well. ;
Of course, since these people were previously concealing their cultivation, it was impossible for Shun Long who had yet to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage and form his soul sense, to sense their levels before these people started fighting. ;
As for the attacks that came his way, Shun Long had it just as easy as the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage young man, as he activated the ''Monarch''s Domain''! ;
Every attack that entered inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', was akin to entering Shun Long''s kingdom, unable to approach any closer to his body, as the flow of time around them was forcefully frozen. ;
In front of Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', even the attacks of rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators were practically worthless. ;
To avoid attracting too much attention however, Shun Long didn''t activate the ''Monarch''s Domain'' to its fullest, only allowing it to cover a small area around his body. ; ;
The rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators on top of the city walls were stunned when they saw that their attacks were actually useless against the enemies'' group! ;
Against 140 cultivators, most of whom were already at the early or middle rank 2 of the Nascent Soul stage, once they started to work together, the onught from 1000 rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators andte-stage Spirit realm ones was practically nonexistent. ; ;
As for monsters like Shun Long or the golden-robed young man and the rest of the rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, they didn''t even need to team up with others as they easily ignored these attacks and continued flying towards the city. ;
The moment that he arrived above the city walls, the golden-robed young man was the first one to attack, as he gathered his qi in his left hand and sent a powerful punch forward! ;
A fist of crimson mes escaped his arm, and flew towards the city walls below him at extreme speed, catching thete-stage Spirit realm and the Nascent Soul stage cultivatorspletely off-guard! ;
Before they had any time to escape, more than 10 rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and almost 30te-stage Spirit realm ones were submerged by the gigantic fist of mes, as they were killed in an instant! ;
Not willing to waste any more time than necessary against the ''small fries'', the golden-robed young man threw a mocking look at the remaining people on top of the city walls, before he instantly spread his soul sense and flew towards the east of the city, followed by Qiu Lei and the 2 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators behind him! ;
Chapter 397: Abrupt change
Chapter 397: Abrupt change
Seeing the powerful rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts that flew deeper inside the city instead of staying here to eradicate them, made thete-stage Spirit realm and the Nascent Soul stage cultivators on top of the city walls heave a sigh of relief!
After all, against the 4 rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and especially that peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage young man in golden robes, they knew that they werepletely powerless to put up any resistance.
The moment that Shun Long saw Qiu Lei''s group heading deeper inside the city however, he stopped holding back as well, as a blue light instantly covered his body before his speed increased by more than 5 times.
He was like a bolt of blue lightning, as a momentter, he quickly appeared above the city gates, before he also flew deeper inside the city,pletely ignoring the people who were staring at him with wide-open eyes!
After all, for a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator to be just as fast as the 4 rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts was a visually shocking scene that no one of them had seen before. Even if the rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators weren''t flying at full speed, Shun Long''s speed was definitely faster than any rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert!
Of course, Shun Long knew that he couldn''tg behind if he wanted to have a chance to obtain the Holy sect''s token so he could only go all out this time.
Since he hadn''t formed his soul sense just yet, he could only use his wits as well as his own strength if he wanted to have a chance at obtaining the token.
Since that golden-robed young man had first spread out his soul sense before he led Qiu Lei''s group towards the east of the city, Shun Long knew that this must have meant, that there was a powerful Nascent Soul stage expert in that direction.
Thus, heading towards that direction also meant that there was a good chance to find the Holy sect''s token.
After all, instead of searching throughout the city blindly, following after the 4 rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators was a much better choice.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t the only one who was chasing after their group either.
A few peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivators had also passed through the attacks of the people at the city walls almost effortlessly, as they chased behind the group of rank 4 rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts as well.
Less than a minuteter, Shun Long saw Qiu Lei''s group arriving above an old tower that seemed to be on the verge of crumbling to pieces.
The golden-robed young man had a profound look in his eyes as he looked at the tower in front of him, as he then gathered the qi in his hands, and without any warning, he sent a powerful me fist towards it.
The crimson mes looked as if they were about to burn the air itself, as the gigantic fist flew towards the old tower.
BOOM!
Without any suspense, the moment that the me fist touched the already half-broken tower, the tower copsed into countless pieces.
However, the mes that were supposed topletely burn down the old tower into dust were suddenly extinguished, as a gigantic sandstorm erupted out of nowhere, as itpletely covered the now-destroyed tower.
At the same time, from the debris of the copsed old tower, Shun Long saw a young woman with a cold look in her eyes emerging from it, followed by a young man in brown robes, as well as a middle-aged man who was holding arge greatsword, as they all shot towards the sky at the same time, facing off against the golden-robed young man from Qiu Lei''s group.
The golden-robed young man however didn''t seem to be surprised by this woman''s appearance. Instead, it looked like he had everything under control, as he looked at her with a cold look, before he said in amanding tone
''''Hand over the Holy sect''s token and I will allow you to live. Refuse, and I will simply bury you all here today!''''
Anger instantly colored the young woman''s expression when she heard these provocative words, while the sandstorm that was swirling around her started to turn even more powerful. However, the short-haired young woman didn''t re up, and instead, it looked like she was trying to suppress her fury, as she looked at the golden-robed man from Qiu Lei''s group as she said in a questioning tone
''''You fool, didn''t you notice that there are 2 more peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators in this city aside from me? What makes you think that I have the Holy sect''s token?
Besides... you really are too arrogant to im that you will bury me here today!''''
The golden-robed man didn''t seem angry when he heard the ck-robed woman''s response. Instead, a mocking look appeared in his already cold eyes, before he then said with a simrly mocking smile on his face
''''Do you take me for a fool, or do you really think that you are smarter than you actually are? You may be able to fool the others who have already split up and are chasing after the other garbage in this city, but I am not an idiot like them!
Since you revealed your strength thest time, did you think that no one would notice that you are actually the strongest one in this city? Do you really think that you were the only one who was holding back at that time?
If it wasn''t because there were 9 of you and just 6 of us, I would have already buried all of you criminal trash!
Enough talk! Hand over the-''''
Before the golden-robed young man could finish his words, he suddenly turned his gaze to the side with an incredulous look in his eyes.
It wasn''t just him, even Shun Long who by now had already understood that the golden-robed man''s group had already met this young woman''s group a few days ago, and had either lost or they had been forced to retreat, was now staring at the scene in front of him with eyes that betrayed his shock.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a ck-robed old man had appeared behind Qiu Lei, and before anyone could react, the old man stabbed a pitch-ck dagger in Qiu Lei''s back.
Before Qiu Lei could react, the old man instantly removed the dagger, before he mmed it on the back of his chest a second time!
The silver-robed Qiu Lei had a look of pain on his face, as he tried hard to turn around and see his assant''s face.
He couldn''t believe that he had been sneak-attacked with his guard up.
His body however seemed to have lost all of its strength, as the silver-robed Qiu Lei felt his eyes losing their focus while his body started to plummet.
Unable to support himself any longer, he fell from the sky like a cannonball, as he crashed on the ground with a bang!
An early rank 3 Nascent Soul expert had been instantly killed just like that!
Chapter 398: Realization!
Chapter 398: Realization!
The golden-robed young man looked at Qiu Lei''s lifeless body that had crashed on the ground, having lost its remaining vitality, before he turned his eyes towards the ck-robed old man who was standing in the sky just a few meters away from him.
The old man however didn''t seem afraid of the young man in golden robes despite seeing the murderous look in his eyes, or the crimson mes around his body that had increased in intensity and were looking like they were about to swallow everything in sight, and after shing him a ghastly smile that revealed his crooked teeth, the old man''s body quickly disappeared, looking like it had blended in the surrounding darkness.
At the same time, the golden-robed young man narrowed his eyes, before he gathered his qi in his arms and punched forward, towards the old man''s disappearing figure.
This time though, it wasn''t a me fist that had appeared from his arms, but a pir of crimson mes instead.
The scorching hot mes that flew towards the ck-robed old man looked like they were about to expand and engulf the entire city, razing down everything in sight, while even from a distance of nearly a mile away, Shun Long could still feel the hot temperature in the city that was rapidly rising.
It was obvious that the golden-robed young man was going all out this time, and wasn''t willing to give the old man a chance to escape!
The pir of me urately struck the old man''s disappearing figure, before it continued flying further into the distance, before itnded on a small house 3 miles away, instantly reducing it into molten rocks.
In fact, the buildings that the pir of mes had flew above, clearly showed signs of melting as well, despite being barely grazed by this crimson pir!
The golden-robed man however didn''t seem to be satisfied with the result, as he turned his gaze back towards the young woman, who seemed to be leisurely staring at him with an expressionless look on her face.
By her side, the figure of the ck-robed old man started to quickly materialize, revealing his body that was devoid of injuries.
Only the edge of his right sleeve had barely been grazed by the scorching red mes, but that was a small price to pay, considering that he had managed to easily kill Qiu Lei amidst 3 other rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts!
At the same time, Shun Long was also stunned by the old man''s powers, as well as the strength of the me pir from the golden-robed young man.
It had instantly destroyed more than a dozen buildings, while at the same time, it had also raised the temperature of its surroundings, affecting more than one-fourth of the city in a single instant!
This made Shun Long remember, just how powerful Nascent Soul stage cultivators really were!
During the past 3 years that he and Liu Mei were traveling through the Night star continent, thanks to Little ck''s enormous strength as well as the poison that he had concocted from the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'', the times that Shun Long had to directly face Nascent Soul stage experts or rank 5 magic beasts were actually very few.
This had caused Shun Long to effectively not ce too much attention to the previous cultivation realms, making the Dao King realm his next direct goal. After all, he already knew that once someone became a Dao King, their Dao would experience a qualitative change.
However, seeing the fight in front of him right now made Shun Long suddenly recall the ever-growing progress that he had experienced in thest 4 years, nearly causing himself to fall in a daze in the process, as he stared at the ck-robed young woman''s group which was now confronting the golden-robed young man''s.
Unknowingly, Shun Long had actually entered a state of sudden enlightenment as countless thoughts shed through his mind one by one, while scenes of himself slowly advancing in his cultivation flooded his head!
''''Qi condensation cultivators are those who have just stepped a foot in the world of cultivation and are barely stronger than average mortals. Nevertheless, since they can absorb the qi around them inside their bodies and can train in cultivation techniques, they are still considered cultivators.
As for earth grade cultivators... the moment that a cultivator manages to break through to the earth grade, they will experience an immense increase in the amount of qi that they can store in their dantian, and they will even be able to start training in martial skills that allow them to control their qi outside of their bodies.
Even without the use of martial skills however, an earth grade cultivator can''t bepared to a Qi condensation one in terms of pure strength! After all, a single earth grade cultivator can easily take care of dozens of Qi condensation cultivators without any problem.
The most noticeable increase however,es when one of them breaks through to the Heaven grade. After all, earth grade cultivators are still stronger than normal humans, but unless they haveprehended a martial skill, they are still nothing more than very strong humans in the end.
However, the moment that someone breaks through to the Heaven grade, they will see an enormous increase in their strength.
After all, Heaven grade cultivators have not only gained an enormous increase in the purity and the quantity of their qi, but they can also freely control it outside of their bodies as well, even allowing them to fly.
However, the biggest benefit in their strengthes from the fact that a Heaven grade cultivator has obtained an initialprehension of their Dao!
The power of the Daos is simply the biggest difference between a Heaven grade cultivator and an earth grade one! No matter what, even a thousand earth-grade cultivators may not necessarily be able to defeat a Heaven-grade expert in the end, unless they manage to exhaust all of his strength first.
And above the Heaven grade is the Spirit realm...
Finally, once a cultivator reaches the Spirit realm they can be considered a powerful cultivator. Even in the Night star continent, one needs to be at least at the Spirit realm to safely roam throughout the continent.
After all, not only will theprehension of the Dao experience a big increase once a cultivator breaks through to the Spirit realm, but so will their spirit sense as well as the amount of qi that they have.
At the same time, once a cultivator manages to breakthrough to the Spirit realm, their strength will also multiply by many times!
If an average Spirit realm cultivator exploded with their full strength, their attacks could probably tten a sect like the ''Floating Cloud sect'' in a matter of minutes. Unless there is another Spirit realm cultivator to fight them off, Heaven grade cultivators are like ants in front of a powerful Spirit realm expert!
And yet... the Spirit realm is in reality, nothing more than just preparations before the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!''''
As Shun Long''s thoughts reached this point, a bright blue light started to appear from his body, covering him from head to toe.
Chapter 399: Transformation
Chapter 399: Transformation
Although the blue lighting from Shun Long''s body wasn''t too bright, in the midst of the dark night it instantly attracted everyone''s attention.
The golden-robed young man and the 2 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts who were alongside him, were just about to start fighting with the ck-robed young woman''s group, when they suddenly turned their attention towards Shun Long''s direction all at the same time.
Shun Long''s body now resembled a shining blue-colored star whose light was illuminating everything around him!
The lighting from his body was also expanding at a rapid rate, instantly submerging everything around it.
Seeing that the blue-colored lighting from Shun Long''s body was now expanding towards their direction and was about to touch them, actually gave the rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts a feeling of immense danger!
Even the golden-robed young man and the ck-robed young woman, as well as the ck-robed old man who had just killed Qiu Lei, all 3 of which were peak rank 3 Nascent Souls stage experts, they could all feel a sense of dangering from Shun Long, one that was not inferior to another peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert at all!
The ck-robed woman led her group, as she instantly turned tail and fled away without any hesitation, heading towards the north of the city.
Chances were that even if Shun Long wasn''t a friend of the golden-robed young man, he would still be her own enemy and would be looking for the Holy sect''s token as well.
Thus, as long as Shun Long wasn''t a direct threat to her, leaving the area and taking care of the golden-robed young man first was more important!
The golden-robed young man had a deep look in his eyes as he stared towards Shun Long''s direction for a few moments, before he turned his attention back towards the fleeing ck-robed woman''s group!
After a moment of serious thinking, he turned his eyes to look at the 2 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators by his sides, before they all nodded their heads simultaneously, as they chased after the ck-robed woman.
At the same time, that the 2 groups left the scene, Shun Long who was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, hadpletely lost all sense of his surroundings.
His mind that had entered a state of sudden enlightenment, didn''t allow any conscious thinking!
Although he could vaguely feel that his surroundings were changing in some way, he wasn''t certain of what was going on, and neither could he actively think about it either.
The only thing in Shun Long''s mind right now, was his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage that had unconsciously begun!
As the invisible figure of an hourss appeared around him, 81 bright balls of qi had also appeared above his head at the same time, while the bright blue light that wasing from his body was giving off a sense of lethal danger, that didn''t allow even peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts to touch it.
Shun Long could feel his spirit sense inside his spiritual space that was churning madly, like a wild beast that was finally unshackling itself after a very long time!
Circting the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long started to fuse the 81 white balls of qi with each other, while at the same time, he could feel his spirit sense that was bing stronger with every passing moment!
At the same time, right above his head and next to the invisible ''Monarch''s Hourss'', Shun Long was now unaware that a gigantic ck-colored vortex had also appeared, sucking in the qi in the air from the entire eastern part of this small city.
Shun Long''s body that needed vast amounts of qi to supplement the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' for his breakthrough, for the very first time seemed to becking the qi that it needed.
Since Shun Long couldn''t absorb any qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' that was still inside the ''Stone of Time'', the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' had naturally formed a gigantic vortex that stole the qi from the air around the entire eastern part of the city, supplementing it all inside Shun Long''s body.
Using therge amounts of qi that were entering his body, Shun Long started to fuse the 81 balls of qi with each other, while at the same time, his thoughts continued to ruminate over the meaning of entering the Nascent Soul stage
''''A Nascent Soul stage cultivator cannot bepared to someone who is still in the Spirit realm in terms of strength.
Now I understand!
Nascent Soul.. it doesn''t just mean that a cultivator is using their soul...
It isn''t just the stage of rebirth... the soul itself bes many times stronger alongside the increase in qi and spirit sense... no, soul sense!''''
At this point, Shun Long who was stillprehending the meaning of being a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, waspletely unaware that the vortex above his head had now covered half of the city!
Be it the alliance members who were fighting the criminals stationed at the city walls, or the golden-robed young man and his group as well as the ck-robed young woman''s, everyone could see the ck vortex that was now hovering above their heads like an omen of death!
''''Senior brother Qiong, is this really a Nascent Soul vortex? How can it be this terrifying...?''''
One of the 2 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who was following the golden-robed young man couldn''t help asking in a voice filled with disbelief, once he saw the gigantic vortex in the sky that was so simr, and yet at the same time so different from his own vortex when he was breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage!
After all, it wasmon knowledge, that once someone was breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, their body would absorb the qi around them to supplement itself with enough qi for the breakthrough, but the scene created wouldn''t be nearly as terrifying as this!
Perhaps the vortex would have a radius of half a meter, or it could be as much as 3 meters wide!
Even ''senior brother Qiong'' however didn''t seem to have an answer to this, as he stared at Shun Long''s direction with a serious look in his eyes.
At this point, even he wasn''t certain if this was really a Nascent Soul vortex.
After all, even his own Nascent Soul vortex in the past, had only reached a radius of a little more than 11 meters, and ''senior brother Qiong'' was certain that he himself was definitely considered a genius!
At the same time, the 81 balls of qi above Shun Long''s head had already merged into 27, and yet, this wasn''t the only transformation that was taking ce this time.
Shun Long could feel his spirit sense was that churning even more wildly, when suddenly, his spiritual space started to rumble!
It was like a terrifying magic beast that was finally waking up after an endlessly long period of slumber!
The moment that the 27 balls of qi were merged into 9, Shun Long felt a terrifying, soul-splitting headache assaulting him, before a booming sound that was simr to the Heaven and earth splitting apart resounded from his spiritual space!
Chapter 400: Sealed memories
Chapter 400: Sealed memories
The moment that this booming sound resounded inside his spiritual space, Shun Long who could feel a transformation taking ce in his mind, suddenly felt a soul-splitting headache assaulting him, almost as if it was trying to tear apart his soul.
At the same time, his entire spiritual space had started to rumble violently, while only the ''Stone of Time'' continued to float there calmly, as if these changes had no effect on it.
Despite having experienced endless amounts of pain and suffering in the past, including having his body reformed twice by the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long was unable to suppress this pain that wasing from the depths of his soul, as he subconsciously let out a roar
''''AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH''''
He could feel as if his own soul was slowly being torn apart... while something sealed inside him was slowly awakening! And yet, this very awakening was causing him so much pain, that Shun Long was already on the verge of breaking down.
At the same time, Shun Long had also realized, that this pain was no different from when he was absorbing the knowledge inside the golden book! Despite being half a step away from advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, he was barely able to endure this suffering while maintaining his consciousness.
However, just as Shun Long was trying to suppress the soul-splitting pain and merge the remaining 9 balls of qi above his head into 3, somethingpletely unexpected suddenly happened.
ROOOOAAAAR!!
A powerful roar came from the depths of Shun Long''s spiritual space, shaking his soul in the process, while at the same time, Shun Long could feel that whatever was sealed deep inside him had finally broken free!
At that same moment, the soul-splitting headache turned even more intense, as countless scenes appeared in Shun Long''s mind, like a volcano that was suppressing itself for millions of years and had finally erupted!
Suddenly, a new scene appeared in Shun Long''s mind, as Shun Long saw himself wearing a golden armor as he was flying in the sky, while in his right hand, he was holding a familiar ck spear.
This scene didn''t seem to be a memory that Shun Long was observing as an outsider.
Instead, he could actually feel that he was flying in the sky, as he led 10.000 ck-armored soldiers towards a mountain that was hovering above the clouds!
As he turned his head around to look at the ten-thousand ck-armored warriors, a single name appeared in Shun Long''s mind
''The Heaven Trampling Legion!''
This name had been etched at the deepest parts of Shun Long''s soul, and as he mumbled it inside his mind, a myriad of emotions suddenly appeared in his heart!
At the same time, Shun Long clearly remembered, that he had seen a simr scene once again in the past, back when he was breaking through to the fourth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
However, back then, not only was Shun Long riding on Little ck''s back, but the faces of the warriors of the Heaven Trampling Legion were blurry and indistinct, making Shun Long unable to recognize their facial features.
This time though, not only could Shun Long clearly see each and every one of their faces, but their names had also appeared in his mind at the same time!
Staring at the floating mountain in the distance, more and more memories continued to appear in Shun Long''s mind, while at the same time, he could practically feel the overflowing killing intenting from the Heaven Trampling Legion behind him.
They were all staring at the mountain peak high above the clouds with emotionless eyes, but the endless killing intenting from their bodies, made them seem like a pack of bloodthirsty beasts that couldn''t wait to raze the mountain to the ground.
''''Right... back then, the Sky mountain''s Xiong family had attacked Gao Jiahao''s family, killing everyst descendant of theirs in order to steal their family treasure, the ''Golden Immortal Bell''.
Jiahao and his elder brother weren''t at the Gao family back then, managing to escape the disaster out of pure luck!
Once the 2 siblings learned of their family''s destruction, they immediately fled the area they were in, trying to escape as far as they could.
... I still remember how Jiahao was carrying his big brother''s body in his hands once he arrived outside the Heaven Trampling city, as he begged Xiao Ming to revive his elder brother that had died to magic beasts while they were on the run.
There were tears in his eyes as he knelt down and begged the ''Lord Immortal'' to save his elder brother who had sacrificed himself to keep his younger brother alive... but s...
After Xiao Ming took him in as a disciple, Jiahao dedicated himself into bing strong enough to exact his revenge and trained madly for more than 2000 years.
However, even in my Heaven Trampling Legion, aside from my 10manders, only a handful of people could match the strength of the Sky mountain''s Xiong family''s head, Xiong Qin''s.
I remember I then personally led the Heaven Trampling Legion to the Sky mountain, topletely eradicate the Xiong family!
...How many years has it been since then...?''''
As these thoughts shed through Shun Long''s mind, he saw himself leading the Heaven Trampling Legion towards the Sky mountain, before he raised his hand in the air.
The sky above the mountain peak of the enormous mountain that spanned for thousands of miles instantly darkened, before the outline of an enormous ck palm that spanned for thousands of meters appeared above the pce of the Xiong family!
''''Who is it??''''
At that very moment, voices filled with surprise and shock, as well as anger and killing intent sounded from the depths of the pce, as thousands of figures flew out from the pce''s entrance, as they all shot to the sky at the same time.
All of these figures were the core members of the Xiong family!
However, the moment that these people saw the 10.000 ck-armored warriors of the Heaven Trampling Legion, as well as the golden-armored ''Shun Long'' who was leading them, a series of different expressions appeared on the Xiong family members'' faces.
''Shun Long'' however wasn''t willing to give any exnations to the Xiong family members, as he stared at the pce stationed in the Sky mountain''s peak, before he mmed his hand downwards.
At the same time, seeing the gigantic ck palm in the sky that was descending towards the Xiong family''s pce, a voice filled with fury and disbelief sounded from the depths of the pce as it shouted angrily
''''STOP!''''
At the same time, a small golden bell appeared in the sky above the luxurious pce, before it quickly erged in size, bing just as big as the enormous ck palm in the sky!
The enormous palm that had covered the sky however didn''t seem to stop due to the voice, as it continued descending downwards, before it met the huge golden bell head-on!
BOOOOM!
Chapter 401: Bond
Chapter 401: Bond
The heavens themselves seemed to have dimmed the moment that the gigantic ck palm met the golden bell, before a melodious sound was then heard from the bell, as it resounded throughout the Sky mountain.
And yet, the enormous ck palm was simr to a gigantic hammer smashing on the bell''s surface, barely stopping for a single moment, before it sent the golden bell flying into the distance as it continued descending down on the Xiong family''s pce.
''''NO!''''
A voice filled with fear resounded from the depths of the luxurious pce, as an elder with a head filled with sparse white hair appeared from it, staring at the golden bell that was sent flying away from the Sky mountain.
Shun Long''s memories allowed him to recognize this person as the head of the Xiong family, Xiong Qin.
Seeing Xiong Qin''s haggard appearance with his disheveled hair and his lips dripping with blood made the thousands of core members of the Xiong family''s faces pale from fear, as they all looked at the golden-armored ''Shun Long'' with terrified looks in their eyes.
However, before any of them had a chance to move and try to escape, the enormous ck palm in the sky finally collided with the Xiong family''s pce!
BOOOOM!
Countless runes and formations that seemed to be condensed from a myriad of colorful lights lit up around the pce walls, in an attempt to resist the ck palm''s descent, but no matter what, it was futile.
Cracks instantly started to appear on the ground below the luxurious pce, while the powerful runes in the pce walls seemed to be rapidly dimming, unable to resist the power of the enormous ck palm.
''''WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING MY XIONG FAMILY?''''
The Xiong family head, Xiong Qin shouted at the golden-robed ''Shun Long'', unwilling to ept this sudden oue!
This person''s strength was definitely extraordinary, and Xiong Qin was also certain, that neither he nor any core member of his Xiong family had ever met him before. And yet, this person seemed to be suddenly attacking his Xiong family!?
''Shun Long'' however didn''t respond to Xiong Qin''s question. Instead, he simply turned his head around and stared at the 10.000 ck-armored warriors of the Heaven Trampling Legion with a serious look in his eyes.
Seeing Shun Long''s gaze, a 1.8m(5.10ft) tall, red-haired young man who was holding a dark-silver bow in his hands took a step forward, and looking at the ck-armored warriors around him he shouted in a loud voice
''''Heaven Trampling Legion!
Surround them!
Don''t let a single one of them escape!''''
The red-haired man''s voice was domineering, as he coldly looked at the Xiong family members who were hovering in the sky above the Xiong family''s pce.
At the same time, a single name appeared in Shun Long''s mind as he looked at the red-haired young man, while waves of memories seemed to be waking up in his mind.
This was the 2ndmander of his Heaven Trampling Legion, Hong Shuren!
As these words echoed in the sky, the 10.000 warriors of the Heaven Trampling Legion immediately surrounded the Sky Mountain, not allowing a single member of the Xiong family to try and escape.
Xiong Qin''s face instantly paled when he heard the red-haired man''s words, but before he could even open his mouth to respond, cracking sounds resounded from the Xiong family''s pce behind him, as thest protective formation was destroyed.
Without any emotion in his eyes, Shun Long then mmed his right hand downwards, as the enormous ck palm directly fell atop the Xiong family''s pce!
BOOOM!
The moment that Shun Long''s palm fell atop the Xiong family''s pce, the entire Sky Mountain started to tremble from the terrifying force behind it!
The cultivators living inside the city around the Xiong family''s pce thought that the sky was going to copse,pletely unaware of what the Xiong family had done to invite such destruction on their doorstep.
In a single instant, the core of the luxurious pce that spanned for more than 10 miles was instantly obliterated, while flesh and blood dyed the sky above the Sky mountain a bright red color.
At that moment, almost every single core member of the Xiong family had been killed under the enormous ck palm''s terrifying might.
The luxurious pce of the Xiong family that had been standing there for hundreds of thousands of years was instantly reduced into dust, while the only person who was still alive inside it, was the head of the Xiong family, Xiong Qin!
And yet, the powerful family head of the Xiong family had a nk look in his eyes, as he was unable to understand the reason behind his family''s destruction, while his body had almost exploded from the impact of the terrifying ck palm''s attack, leaving him on the verge of death and yet unable to die even if he wanted to.
At his level, how could Xiong Qin not understand, that Shun Long had intentionally left him alive?!
Despite being on the verge of death, Xiong Qin raised his head with difficulty, and looking at Shun Long, he asked in a hoarse tone filled with incredulity, hate and disbelief
''''You! You are the city lord of the Heaven Trampling city... Long Han?
Why??
Why did you destroy my Xiong family??''''
''Shun Long'' however didn''t reply to Xiong Qin this time either.
Instead, he simply turned his head around and looked at the ck-armored warriors of the Heaven Trampling Legion, before his gazended on a white-haired young man with a ck eye-patch on his left eye.
The white-haired young man looked at Shun Long''s figure in the sky who seemed like a god of war, with a gaze filled with reverence, before he turned his attention towards Xiong Qin who was lying on the ground amidst the rubble of the Xiong family''s pce with a look of hatred in his eyes.
Looking at the white-haired young man, ''Shun Long'' nodded his head before he said in a calm tone
''''Jiahao,e here.''''
The white-haired Hao Jiahao''s body trembled when he heard this, as he lowered his head and slowly flew towards Shun Long''s direction.
No matter how much he hated the Xiong family, he respected and adored the Heaven Trampling Legion even more.
In his darkest hour, the Heaven Trampling Legion had be his second family.
Looking at the white-haired young man in front of him, Shun Long nodded his head before he said in an amiable but at the same time solemn tone
''''You can do whatever you want but remember one thing. Losing yourself in revenge won''t bring back anyone! Don''t let the Xiong family dictate your life!''''
A myriad of emotions shed through Hao Jiahao''s eye when he heard Shun Long''s words, as he nodded his head in response.
Taking out a small, white-colored dagger from his spatial ring, Hao Jiahao then flew towards the Sky mountain, towards where the Xiong family''s pce was previously located, but all that was left now was a pile of rubble and dust.
Looking at Xiong Qin in front of him, the white-haired young man ced the white dagger in his hand on Xiong Qin''s throat before he said in a cold voice
''''My name is Hao Jiahao, and I am the youngest son of the third Elder of the Hao family.''''
Xiong Qin''s eyes instantly widened when he heard the words Hao family.
The Hao family wasn''t a big family, and since Xiong Qin had heard from a trustworthy source that they had obtained the ''Golden Immortal bell'', he hadn''t hesitated to eradicate them down to thest person.
He had never expected that there was actually someone who had survived from that family, and hade to the Sky Mountain with a terrifying backing to obtain revenge!
Seeing the look in Xiong Qin''s eyes, Hao Jiahao didn''t show any change in his emotions, as he looked at the white dagger in his hands and continued with an absent-minded tone
''''This dagger belonged to my elder brother who sacrificed himself to save me, as we ran to escape from your Xiong family! He fell victim to the magic beasts inside the ''Nightmare forest''... because you decided to destroy our family for a single treasure!''''
As he finished his words, Hao Jiahao shed the white dagger in his hands sideways, tearing open a hole in Xiong Qin''s neck without giving him any chance to speak and defend his actions!
Although his voice had been calm in the beginning, when he mentioned his elder brother''s death, it was obvious that his emotions had been agitated to the extreme.
How could he not feel guilty that his brother had traded his life to save him?
As the white dagger shed through Xiong Qin''s neck, blood spurted like a fountain as it dyed Hao Jiahao''s armor with a bright crimson color, while a look of fury as well as helplessness had appeared inside Xiong Qin''s eyes when he heard Hao Jiahao''s exnation.
At this point, he would be an idiot if he could not understand, that this man had somehow managed to convince the Heaven Trampling city''s city lord toe here and help him take revenge on his Xiong family because he had destroyed the Hao family 2000 years ago!
Without taking another look at Xiong Qin, the white-haired young man then turned his gaze to look at the surroundings of the destroyed pce, where the rest of the members of the Xiong family were staying.
Although the core members of the Xiong family had already died, the branch members were still alive and could very well try and take revenge on him in the future.
And yet, Hao Jiahao only threw a single look towards them, before he shot to the sky, as he headed towards the golden-armored ''Shun Long''.
As soon as he arrived in front of Shun Long, Hao Jiahao knelt in the sky on both knees, as he started kowtowing while tears had started to flow from his left eye without stop.
His voice that was previously calm, could no longer hold back his emotions of grief and sorrow as well as gratitude, as he raised his head to look at ''Shun Long'' in front of him, and said in a tone that was filled with devotion
''''City lord...!
I, Hao Jiahao swear on my soul, that I will always follow the City lord and be a part of the Heaven Trampling Legion... until the day my soul dies!''''
Although it was a short and simple sentence, Shun Long could feel Hao Jiahao''s sincerity, as the young man in front of him had sworn an oath with his soul!
The rest of the 10.000 warriors of the Heaven Trampling Legion had solemn looks on their faces when they saw this scene, as they all stared at Shun Long and Hao Jiahao and nodded their heads in response.
Respect, adoration, admiration, sincerity, gratitude... there was not a single warrior of the Heaven Trampling Legion who didn''t have these feelings for Shun Long.
As Hao Jiahao finished his words, the scene in Shun Long''s eyes finally changed.
Chapter 402: Hua Fengyu
Chapter 402: Hua Fengyu
Shun Long felt another wave of memories slowly waking up inside his mind, as he found himself inside a simple yet spacious room without many decorations.
He found himself sitting cross-legged on a small silver cushion ced on the floor, while in front of him was a ck-colored, plucked, seven-stringed musical instrument, that didn''t have any supportive legs.
Shun Long only needed a single nce to recognize this, as the instrument of the sages, the guqin.
Even more waves of memories flooded his head at that moment, before Shun Long saw himself raising his right hand ever-so-slightly, cing it right above the seven-stringed instrument.
As his hand was hanging above the guqin, he was unaware that his eyes had a calm look inside them, like ake that no one could cause any ripples into it, as his finger then gently plucked a single string.
Ping~
An extremely beautiful and melodic sound echoed throughout the spacious room, causing a myriad of emotions to rise in Shun Long''s heart like a tempestuous storm.
This, was the guqin!
This was the musical instrument that he had yed countless times in the past, be it when he had wanted to cate his own feelings, or when he wanted to enjoy his spare time.
Although not many people outside of the Heaven Trampling Legion knew about it, ''Shun Long''s'' skills with the guqin were actually second to no one.
The melody when he yed the guqin could help someone enter a state of enlightenment through a single note, or it could actually kill immortals with the pluck of a single string!
This was the power of someone who had reached the absolute pinnacle with a musical instrument!
Shun Long''s fingers didn''t stop, and with practiced movements, he plucked a second string before the melody of the first one could dissipate in the air.
Peng~
His fingers continued to move skillfully but without any hurry, as the quiet and soul-stirring melodic sounds started to spread even further away from the spacious room.
As he looked at his hands that continued to pluck the guqin''s strings, Shun Long could feel his own soul being cleansed in the process, as a feeling of indescribable tranquility and calmness filled his heart!
A few minutester, his hand plucked the final string of the guqin as he finished the song, before he then raised his head and looked at the person who was sitting in front of him.
It was a peerlessly beautiful woman dressed in ck armor, with long ck hair tied in a ponytail and mesmerizing purple-colored eyes.
This gorgeous woman had a look of infatuation on her face, while her gaze that was looking at ''Shun Long'' was no different as if she was staring at her entire world,pletely ignoring anything else in her surroundings.
A myriad of emotions appeared in Shun Long''s heart the moment that he saw this peerlessly beautiful woman in front of him whose looks weren''t inferior to even Liu Mei''s, while a single name had appeared in his mind at the same time
''''Hua Fengyu!''''
This was the 3rdmander of his Heaven Trampling Legion!
The scene in Shun Long''s eyes then instantly shattered, while the myriad of memories were rapidly integrating themselves inside his mind, as Shun Long found himself returning back to the small city where the test of the Holy sect was taking ce.
As more and more fragments of different scenes were still appearing in his mind one after the other, Shun Long only needed a moment to realize what was going on as a single thought appeared in his mind
''''These... are all my own memories.''''
At that moment, Shun Long unconsciously raised his head to look in the sky above him, only to see 3 bright balls of qi floating inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''. He could feelrge amounts of qi stored inside the 3 balls, while their color had also changed, and was no longer a white one but a bright silver instead!
It only took a moment for Shun Long to realize that he had unconsciously fallen into a state of enlightenment, unintentionally beginning his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.
At the same time, cold sweat had appeared on his forehead, realizing how dangerous a breakthrough in this ce really was.
After all, he waspletely unable to fight if anyone happened to attack him at this moment, causing him to fail in his breakthrough and most likely injure his soul in the process.
And yet, Shun Long also knew, that he was also unable to suppress his breakthrough at this point even if he wanted to.
The only thing that he could do, was to try and finish it as quickly as possible.
The gigantic ck-colored vortex above his head continued to absorb the qi from the entire city like a ck hole, as it continued to supply Shun Long with enormous amounts of pure qi.
Although the purity of this qi wasn''t even close to that of the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', Shun Long didn''t need to absorb it, and he only needed to make use of it to merge the remaining 3 balls of qi into one.
During this time, although there were no longer any vivid-like scenes like earlier, fragments of memories continued to appear inside his mind, one after the other, making the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage even more difficult!
Shun Long could feel that he was standing on a tight rope while trying hard to maintain his lucidity, and keep himself from falling asleep and losing himself into his memories.
Half an hourter, after absorbing enormous amounts of qi in the process, the 3 balls of qi had been merged into a single, bright silver ball that was emittingrge amounts of qi.
This was the culmination of the previous 81 balls of qi from the pinnacle of the Spirit realm, all condensed into one.
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long closed his eyes for a single moment, before he waved his hand, as an alchemy bottle with a single pill inside appeared in front of him.
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Chapter 403: Nascent Soul
Chapter 403: Nascent Soul
Inside the alchemy bottle was a single, light blue-colored pill with pale green lines on its surface.
This was a top-grade rank 5 ''Icicle soul pill'' that Shun Long had refined for himself and Liu Mei using the ''icicle soul grass'' that he had obtained from the rank 5 ''Snow apes'' in the Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range.
The value of this pill even exceeded that of a raw ''icicle soul grass'' by almost 10 times, allowing a cultivator at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm to condense their soul inside their spiritual space during the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage even more perfectly.
To refine this pill, Shun Long had used half a dozen of rank 5 medicinal herbs as supplementary medicinal ingredients, as well as the blood essence of the rank 5 ''snow apes''.
Every magic beast that had reached the rank 5 or above, had a special type of blood inside their hearts called ''blood essence''.
The value of the blood essence was only inferior to a magic beast''s beast core, and sometimes, depending on the magic beasts, the blood essence may be even more valuable than the beast core itself!
Using the blood essence of the early rank 5 and the middle rank 5 snow apes to refine these pills increased the efficiency of the ''icicle soul pills'' by at least 30 percent than a normal top-grade rank 5 ''icicle soul pill''.
Holding the light blue-colored pill in his hand, Shun Long could feel a frosty feeling permeating his body, almost as if he had dove into a frozenke that was trying to directly freeze his soul.
With his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that had already reached the peak of the fourth stage long ago, Shun Long clearly understood, that this feeling that came from the ''icicle soul pill'' in his hands wasn''t something that was affecting his body, but instead, something that was directly affecting his soul.
The moment that he ced the ''icicle soul pill'' in his mouth, Shun Long could feel his thoughts slowing down, almost as if his soul was suddenly ced inside ake of ice.
And yet, Shun Long knew, that if he wanted to sessfullyplete his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, he had to get past this stage of condensing his soul inside his spiritual space that would then transform into a spiritual sea!
...
In the spacious hall inside the luxurious white pce that pierced the clouds, the disciples of the Holy sect were staring at the scene inside the screen of light with eyes filled with curiosity and shock.
The enormous ck vortex above Shun Long''s head had already covered the entire city, and was only now starting to decrease in size.
Although this was only one city among the one thousand cities of the third test, how could a ck vortex that had covered an entire city fail to be noticed by the disciples of the Holy sect!?
Looking at the white-robed Elder Zhuan whose eyes were also staring at this scene as well, a young man turned his head to look at him before he asked curiously
''''Elder Zhuan, could this actually be a Nascent Soul vortex?''''
The moment that this question left the young man''s mouth, the entire hall descended into silence, as everyone turned their gazes towards the white-robed Elder as they waited for his answer.
Elder Zhuan seemed to have instinctively wanted to shake his head in response, but at the same time, he wasn''t confident enough to deny this either!
The reason was because the enormous ck vortex did indeed resemble a Nascent Soul vortex!
After a few moments of silence, Elder Zhuan who was still staring at the gigantic screen of light slowly shook his head, before he said in a thoughtful tone
''''It is impossible for a Nascent Soul vortex to be this big, but in this world, nothing is truly impossible...
Additionally... the possibility of this vortex being created by an immortal-grade cultivation technique isn''t impossible either...
In any case, as long as this person manages to pass the fourth test, we will definitely know the answer.''''
Elder Zhuan''s words were like a sudden bolt of lightning that brought shock to the hearts of the disciples inside the hall.
Although they had guessed that there was probably something extraordinary about this ck vortex, Elder Zhuan''s guess wasn''t something that could be easily epted, causing hushed discussions to fill the hall!
''''Immortal grade cultivation technique? Can there possibly be immortal grade cultivation techniques outside of the central region?''''
''''I don''t think so! This is just a guess in the end.''''
''''Even Elder Zhuan doesn''t seem confident in this matter. After all, aside from senior brother Chen who had a fortuitous encounter, I don''t think that even inner disciples have immortal grade cultivation techniques!''''
...
As the disciples of the Holy sect continued to debate over this matter, rumbling sounds could be heard inside Shun Long''s spiritual space, as an illusionary sea had started to form itself.
Shun Long could feel that below his soul that was on the verge of condensing itself inside his spiritual space, his spiritual strength was rapidly transforming itself into an enormous sea!
Shun Long immediately understood that this was the creation of his spiritual sea!
He had already heard from Little ck, that the moment that a cultivator entered the Nascent Soul stage, their spiritual strength would entirely transform into a spiritual sea.
The power of a person''s soul sense was also directly rted to the purity of their soul, as well as their spiritual sea!
An hour quickly passed, and at the same moment that the enormous ck vortex above his head disappeared back inside his body, Shun Long who was already just a step away from entering the Nascent Soul stage, could feel the ''icicle soul pill'' providing enormous amounts of energy to his soul, before his spiritual space violently shook!
At the same moment that he could feel his Nascent soul sessfully condensing itself and bing hundreds of times more powerful than before, Shun Long could feel that a vast spiritual sea had also formed itself inside his spiritual space.
And right above this spiritual sea the ''Stone of Time'' was calmly floating in the air, almost as if it was overlooking the changes in its own home!
At this moment, Shun Long knew that he had finally entered the Nascent Soul stage!
However, just when Shun Long thought that his breakthrough was over and he was about to open his eyes, he suddenly felt his blood churning inside his body, like a volcano that was about to explode!
His arms and legs started to grow protective ck scales that resembled ck armor while immense amounts of energy started to fill his body, making Shun Long feel as if something had finally woken up inside him after thousands of years of slumber!
Chapter 404: Bloodline of a King of magic beasts
Chapter 404: Bloodline of a King of magic beasts
Shun Long could sense the changes that were taking ce in his body even without opening his eyes, as more and more energy was filling his body without stop.
He could feel as if an unending sea of qi had appeared inside him, while even his muscles, bones and tendons, were also being empowered by this strange energy as well.
This was the first time that Shun Long had met something that could empower both his qi and his body at the same time!
And yet, this unending stream of energy had only appeared for a single moment before it instantly disappeared.
At the same time, Shun Long could feel his burning blood that had started to calm down as well, while the ck scales that had appeared on his body had also started to vanish, leaving behind no traces in the process, almost as if they had never existed in the first ce!
At that moment, 2 words appeared in Shun Long''s mind, as he then mumbled to himself in an uncertain voice
''''Dragon Bloodline?''''
Opening his eyes, Shun Long immediately turned his gaze towards his hands, but there were no traces of any scales anywhere on his body.
And yet, based on his memories, how could Shun Long not understand, that the thing inside his soul that seemed to have woken up after his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, was precisely this bloodline?!
Although he knew that his memories weren''tplete, Shun Long could clearly understand the meaning behind having a bloodline, especially one that came from a powerful king of magic beasts like a dragon!
Cultivators with special bloodlines could activate their bloodline''s effect, augmenting their strength and obtaining different benefits ording to the level of their bloodline as well as their level of purity.
At the same time, Shun Long also knew that there were only 2 ways of obtaining a bloodline.
The first way, was for a cultivator to have had an ancestor in their family who was extremely powerful in the past and had a special bloodline of his own, allowing his descendants to inherit it as well in the future!
This was the mostmon way of inheriting a bloodline, but it was also the one with the weakest effects as well, as the purity of the bloodline that a descendant would inherit would be up to luck.
If someone was lucky or was born with extreme talent and had inherited their ancestor''s genes, they could inherit 90 or even 100 percent of their ancestor''s bloodline purity, but if they were unlucky, they would only be able to inherit 10 percent of it, or in some cases not even 1 percent!
As for the second way, it could actually guarantee that a cultivator could obtain a bloodline with 100 percent purity, but it was almost impossible to achieve in reality.
It was by having a powerful magic beast to willingly offer some of its blood essence, thus absorbing it and obtaining its bloodline effects as well!
However, magic beasts by nature were extremely unwilling to offer even a single drop of their blood essence, as that could weaken them for hundreds, and in some cases even for thousands of years!
Even magic beasts that had a master were often unwilling to offer their blood essence to their master.
Of course, even if a magic beast was willing to offer their blood, it didn''t necessarily mean that a cultivator would sessfully obtain its bloodline at the first try either.
A single attempt may require a single drop of blood essence, but it could also require dozens, hundreds, and some cases even thousands of drops depending on the strength of the bloodline and the magic beast!
At the same time, activating a bloodline didn''te without a cost.
Although a cultivator could obtain the bloodline''s effects for a limited amount of time after burning a part of their blood, once the bloodline''s effects were over if they had expended too much of their blood essence they would be greatly weakened, and would have to wait for a long period of time until their blood essence was replenished!
At that moment, a myriad of different emotions appeared in Shun Long''s heart as he realized one vital point!
''''This isn''t just any Dragon''s Bloodline, but Little ck''s own bloodline!''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long wanted to instinctively enter the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' where Little ck was, but remembering that this was still the Holy sect''s test, as well as the fact that Little ck was still absorbing the dragonstone and could very likely be woken up after sensing that Shun Long had awakened his bloodline, made him instantly discard this idea!
After staring at his hands in a daze for a few more moments, Shun Long calmed himself down, before he turned his attention towards his surroundings.
After all, this was still the Holy sect''s test, and obtaining the Holy sect''s token was a top priority if he wanted to pass the test.
The moment that he raised his head to look at his surroundings however, Shun Long saw a baffling scene appear in his vision.
The old and half-destroyed buildings around him were actually no longer as damaged as they previously were, and instead, they seemed to have been restored back to a much better condition!
Even the half-destroyed broken tower that the golden-robed young man had turned into a pile of ash with that enormous me fist earlier, seemed as if it had been brought back to how it was before that attack!
It was almost as if time had been reversed in this ce, restoring everything in this ce back to its original appearance!
Closing his eyes, Shun Long stayed silent for a few moments, before a bright blue light suddenly appeared in his right hand.
With a deep look in his eyes, Shun Long activated the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' causing his eyes to turn golden, while at the same time a single, silver-colored ball of qi appeared inside the invisible figure of the hourss.
Chapter 405: Time Reversal
Chapter 405: Time Reversal
Turning his attention towards the half-broken tower in the distance, Shun Long flew towards it without any hesitation, before cing his right hand on the tower''s walls!
His golden eyes had a serious look inside them as he stared at the spot where his hand was touching, before he mumbled to himself in a low, almost inaudible voice
''''Time... reversal.''''
As soon as his voice left his mouth, the bright blue lighting from his hand immediately expanded, quickly covering the entire tower in just a few moments!
Shun Long could feel more than 10 percent of his own qi being sapped in an instant, as the half-broken tower was being ''restored'' back to its previous condition at a speed visible in the naked eye.
Just a few momentster, Shun Long retracted his hand from the tower''s wall, and despite the tower still being in a half-broken state, it was in a much better condition than the rest of the buildings around it.
This was one of the moves that Shun Long hadprehended by himself upon breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, ''Time Reversal''!
In a sense, the ''Time Prison'' that he hadprehended in the past, the ''Eternal Banishment'', and this ''Time Reversal'', were no different than self-created martial skills.
Using his qi, Shun Long could reverse the time around an item, bringing it back to its original condition.
Of course, if Shun Long wanted to, he could restore this tower back to perfect condition in just a few moments, but more than half of his qi was required for such an action.
Reversing time and restoring an item''s condition back to who knew how many years ago, even if it was an inanimate thing like a half-broken tower, still required an enormous amount of qi expenditure!
Looking at the receding blue glow in his hands that was returning back to his body, Shun Long didn''t move immediately from the spot he was standing on, as various thoughts shed through his mind one after the other
''''Although ''Time Reversal'' doesn''t seem to be too useful in a fight at first nce, in a sense, it is no different than turning back time!
Even though it is impossible for it to allow me to travel back in time, it has more than simply one use in the end.
I wonder if I can use it to repair cauldrons or formations this way. Hehe, that would be no different than a quack formation master.
The only problem with it is, that the effects of the passage of time are too obvious, making it too easy for others to understand that it involves the Dao of Time...
At the same time, I wonder... now that I have broken through to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, perhaps my Eternal Banishment will be able to affect even peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Although it requires so much of my qi, it is still an instant-kill move that leaves behind no traces in the end.
This is definitely the best skill if I want to stealthily kill someone... even opening a space tear and crushing someone''s heart pales inparison to it.
The only problem is, that it can''t affect enemies whose cultivation is higher than mine by an entire rank.
Hmm... even if I can''t fully control it well enough now, upon breaking through to thete-stages of the Nascent Soul stage or even the Dao King realm, my control over it will definitely advance by many times.''''
After sorting out his thoughts, Shun Long took a deep breath before he decided to put the memories that had appeared in his mind aside for now, as he decided to stir his soul sense for the first time.
After all, this was still the Holy sect''s test, and he could not afford to dy obtaining the Holy sect''s token any longer.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long stirred the energy inside his spiritual sea, before an invisible green ball that contained his soul sense exploded out from his body.
He could feel his short ck hair raising upwards in the process as if a gust of wind had appeared around his body, while the green ball started to expand even further away from his location.
Shun Long decided to not hold back, curious to see how far his soul sense could extend.
Even before breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, his spirit sense could still leave his body and extend a few meters around him.
Now that he had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage however, this effect had surely been augmented by many times!
The green ball containing Shun Long''s soul sense continued to expand, as more and more scenes of empty and half-broken buildings that were on the brink of copse appeared in his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the green ball had already expanded in a radius of nearly 3 miles!
Although 3 miles was only a tenthpared to Little ck who could use his soul sense while he was still a peak rank 3 magic beast and could cover an area of 30 miles around Shun Long, Little ck''s soul was only weakened after he had entered the ''Stone of Time'' and had to restart his cultivation, and wasn''t fractured into different pieces like Shun Long''s.
For a cultivator who had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage to be able to extend their soul sense for 3 miles, this was already an unbelievable feat!
As his soul sense had covered more than half of the city, Shun Long immediately spotted a group of 7 people fighting almost 2 miles away from him, towards the north of the city.
Although it was practically impossible to see the faces of the people who were fighting since they covered by dense amounts of overflowing qi, Shun Long was certain that it was the golden-robed young man''s group fighting against the ck-robed young woman''s.
At the same time, Shun Long clearly remembered that the golden-robed young man had seemed certain that the ck-robed young woman was the one who had the Holy sect''s token, while she hadn''t directly denied this either.
Thus, after thinking about it for a while, Shun Long shot towards the north of the city without any hesitation!
Now that he had already advanced to the Nascent Soul stage as well, he could certainly match up against the golden-robed young man, the ck-robed old man as well as the ck-robed young woman!
As for who would obtain the Holy sect''s token, that still remained to be seen.
...
At the same time that Shun Long was flying towards the north of the city, heading towards the ce where the golden-robed young man was fighting against the ck-robed young woman''s group, in the outskirts of another small city in this world, a white-robed Liu Mei was leading an enormous army of undead creatures as they marched towards the city''s gates!
Chapter 406: Liu Meis advancement
Chapter 406: Liu Mei''s advancement
A little more than 5 miles away from the city, a group of nearly 130 disciples were gathered there, all of them staring at the undead army in front of Liu Mei with disbelieving looks on their faces.
An army of more than 1000 jade-white skeletons were following behind 50 undead knights that were d in ck armor, as they all headed towards the city gates in the distance!
However, neither the 1000 white skeletons nor the 50 undead knights were the most eye-catching and shocking creatures in this scene.
Instead, right in the midst of the white skeleton army was an enormous 30m(100ft) tall bizarre undead beast, with a white-robed, white-veiled young woman sitting on its back!
This beast''s appearance was extremely sinister and bizarre.
It had 4 thick andrge ck-colored legs that resembled horse hooves, as well as a gigantic body, but it didn''t have any arms or a head!
Instead, in the region of its torso was arge, ck-colored mouth, with rows of white teeth being exposed.
The appearance of this creature was so terrifying, that it brought chills down to the spines of everyone who turned their eyes towards it, while even the criminals on top of the city walls were no exception to this.
''''What... What is this thing?''''
''''It-It looks like some kind of magic beast !?''''
''''Is this thing even a magic beast? Its aura is clearly at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, but why does it feel so terrifying then?''''
The ''criminals'' on the city walls had shocked expressions on their faces as they stared at the enormous creature that Liu Mei was standing on, as they immediately prepared themselves for battle!
Liu Mei however had an unperturbed expression in her eyes, as she ordered her skeletons to continue marching forward towards the city gates.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, she had not only formed her own soul sense, but she also saw a huge increase in her spiritual strength as well!
At the same time, the number of skeletons and undead knights that she could summon increased by many times, but that wasn''t the biggest change.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, Liu Mei also noticed, that she could use arge amount of her qi to summon this enormous creature as well, which she ended up naming Death eater!
The Death Eater''s cultivation was at the same level as hers, and the same level as her undead knights at the same time, at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, but its strength wasn''t that simple.
Not only could it easily trample ten undead knights with a single stomp if it wanted, but Liu Mei could feel an intense hungering from this beast!
At the same time, that wasn''t the third major change that Liu Mei noticed upon breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Her skeletons and undead knights seemed to have be stronger, but now, she also had to use her own spirit sense, no, her own soul sense to restrain them from escaping her control!
Of course, this was a result of Liu Mei''s Dao of Death strengthening itself, giving consciousness to her undead knights and her skeletons, and allowing them to be many times stronger during a fight!
Originally, Liu Mei knew that it needed around 10 of her skeletons if they wanted to kill a single cultivator at the same level as them, but after her breakthrough, 5 skeletons at the peak of rank 9 of the Spirit realm could probably take care of a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator without too much difficulty!
The biggest problem that Liu Mei faced however, was using her soul sense to control the enormous Death eater!
This creature had terrifying urges to consume everything around it and cause endless havoc and death at its surroundings.
Of course, although it was challenging to control this undead creature, Liu Mei also knew that its strength was definitely terrifying!
Although she hadn''t tested it just yet, she could clearly feel that, even if her 1000 skeletons and her 50 undead knightsbined their strengths and attacked the Death eater together at the same time, they may not necessarily win!
Of course, to obtain this level of strength, Liu Mei''s breakthrough was anything but easy!
She had nearly fallen into the depths of hell, as the Blood Absorption art showed its negative effects for the first time.
During her breakthrough, she could feel an intense feeling of bloodlust sprouting from inside her, trying to affect her mind, almost as if it was trying to corrupt her and turn her into a bloodthirsty demon that wanted nothing but chaos!
It was at that moment that the purple-colored pill that she had consumed before her breakthrough finally showed its effects!
This pill was something that Shun Long had personally concocted for her using the rank 5 ''Dreamy ash flower'' as the main ingredient.
Based on what the alchemists in the ''City of Sin'' knew, the ''Dreamy ash flower'' had only one use:
To be grinded into dust and produce a powder that could help a cultivator who was suffering from mental illnesses!
However, Shun Long knew that this wasn''t the only use of this rank 5 medicinal herb.
Using it as the main medicinal ingredient, he could concoct a pill that could help Liu Mei retain rity in her mind, and suppress the negative effects that the ''Blood Absorption art'' had on her during her breakthrough!
Of course, as a top-grade rank 5 pill, the effects that the pill had on the peak rank 9 Spirit realm Liu Mei were extremely potent, helping her suppress the bloodlust from the ''Blood Absorption art'' in the end and allowing her to sessfullyplete her breakthrough.
Standing on the Death Eater''s back, Liu Mei first threw a nce at the disciples who were staring at her from the ins a few miles away from the city, before she turned her attention back towards the enormous city gates, and the ''criminals'' of the Holy sect who were stationed there.
Chapter 407: Sieging the city
Chapter 407: Sieging the city
Seeing that Liu Mei''s skeletons were less than a mile away from the small city and were heading towards the city gates without stopping, the disciples that were staring at this scene from the distance had disbelieving looks on their faces, almost unable to believe what they were seeing
''''Is she crazy? Does she really intend to siege the city by herself?''''
''''Maybe... she has 1000 of those skeletons, as well as 50 of those knights in ck armor and that huge ugly beast... perhaps it''s not impossible?''''
A young man in red robes chuckled when he heard this, and looking at Liu Mei who was confidently storming the city, he said in a mocking tone
''''Hehe, it is indeed not impossible for her to seed in killing those dogs with that army of hers as well as that beast she is riding on, but even if she manages to kill them all, she is doomed to suffer even if she somehow survives!
It''s only a matter of time until she attracts the attention of one of the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who wille and take care of her.
After all, even though those scum on top of the city walls are only at thete-stages of the Spirit realm and the rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, they are still useful as guard dogs. There is no way that those idiots inside the city will allow their own dogs to be killed like that.''''
Serious expressions appeared on those disciples'' faces when they heard the red-robed young man''s words.
This person was the only peak rank 3 Nascent Soul expert in this group of disciples and he was also the one who had led the attack in this city half a day ago.
However, not only was the number of disciples in this group much smaller than the alliance that Shun Long and the golden-robed young man were in, but this city also had 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts hidden inside it as well.
The moment that this red-robed man''s group found out about this, they immediately turned around and fled, not daring to siege the city any longer.
As a single peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he had no confidence in fighting against 3 other cultivators at the same level all by himself!
And yet, he wasn''t anxious about taking the Holy sect''s token either, neither was he afraid of Liu Mei taking it by herself.
Let alone the fact that a single peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator could easily take care of her and her undead army by himself, Liu Mei could actually be useful to him if she ended up killing even half of the ''criminals'' who were standing guard on the city walls!
That way, his own alliance would face less resistance in the future and would be able to conquer the city with greater ease.
As for the second reason why the red-robed young man wasn''t anxious, was because he already knew, that sooner orter, some more rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts woulde here from the nearby cities.
After all, there were only 1000 tokens of the Holy sect, and far more than simply 1000 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, let alone those who were in the early and the middle of rank 3 as well.
Once the tokens from the nearby cities were obtained, this city would also be those people''s target as well.
Although thepetition would be much fiercer then, but he already knew that it was impossible for him to obtain the Holy sect''s token in this city by himself.
At the same time that these thoughts shed through the red-robed young man''s mind, Liu Mei''s undead army had already arrived just a few hundred meters away from the city walls.
At that moment, a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who was standing on the walls stared at Liu Mei''s army that was moving towards the city before he shouted loudly
''''Attack!''''
The moment that his voice resounded in the air, an endless barrage of attacks exploded from the cultivators on top of the city walls.
One thousandte-stage Spirit realm cultivators as well as rank 1 Nascent Soul stage experts, allunched out their attacks at the same time, blocking out the sky and leaving Liu Mei''s army no room for retreat!
One by one, the skeletons that had no way to protect themselves started to break down into countless pieces, as they faced the endless barrage of attacks that bombarded them without stop.
And yet, despite the fact that dozens of them were being destroyed at every wave of attacks, the army of 1000 jade-white skeletons still continued to move forward towards the city walls.
As for Liu Mei''s undead knights, they were much more resilient than the skeletons.
Although the attacks of the one thousand cultivators on the city walls were numerous and without end, there were also a thousand skeletons in Liu Mei''s army as well, forcing them to spread out their range of attacks in order to hit all of the skeletons, thus causing the undead knights to not face too much difficulty in the process.
Although a handful of the undead knights were ''killed'', the rest of them only had superficial injuries, while most attacks didn''t even manage to pierce through their ck armors.
After all, more than half of the criminals on top of the city walls werete-stage Spirit realm cultivators.
In front of the rank 1 Nascent Soul stage undead knights, their attacks couldn''t be considered anything more than average!
Although these attacks could definitely destroy the skeletons who were much weaker individually and were only at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, the undead knights that had already advanced into the Nascent Soul stage were on apletely different level.
However, the one who had it the easiest was actually the Death eater and Liu Mei who was sitting on its back.
This terrifying beast opened its mouth, and easily swallowed the attacks that came its way, almost as if it was having a meal!
It didn''t matter if they were me arrows, huge stone rocks or ice shards, or if they came from thete-stage Spirit realm cultivators or from early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage ones, all of them were swallowed without any problem, as they entered the Death eater''s mouth and disappeared without leaving behind any traces!
As for the attacks of the middle rank 1 Nascent Soul stage experts, although they fell upon the Death eater''s massive body, they failed to cause any damage to the enormous beast who thenpletely ignored them.
Only the attacks of the few peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage experts seemed to be able to prate through its body, causing the massive beast to consciously avoid them!
In just a few moments, the enormous Death eater had arrived right in front of the city walls, along with Liu Mei''s remaining army, as it stared at the cultivators on top of the walls with a hungry look in its eyes!
Chapter 408: The Death eaters power!
Chapter 408: The Death eater''s power!
A little more than 400 skeletons, 43 undead knights as well as the Death eater that Liu Mei was sitting on, had now arrived in front of the city gates, as they stared at the nearly one thousand cultivators in front of them.
Although more than half of the original 1000 skeletons had been destroyed during the endless barrage of attacks, as well as 7 of her undead knights, Liu Mei didn''t seem to have a change in her expression, as she kept staring at the criminals of the Holy sect who were staring at the Death eater with shock in their eyes.
Liu Mei however barely threw a nce at them, before she turned her attention towards the Death eater that she was riding on.
With a cold look in her gorgeous ck eyes, she waved her hand, as she finally lifted some of her restrictions on it, and allowed the Death eater to go wild!
The 30m(100ft) tall terrifying beast, which was even taller than the city''s 20m(66ft) tall city walls, looked at the cultivators below it and opened its enormous mouth letting out an ear-grating roar before it jumped in their midst with obvious hunger and excitement to kill!
The moment that the Death eater''s thick legs touched the city walls, the stone walls instantly crumbled, as the criminals there hurriedly opened the distance between themselves and the enormous beast, while sending another wave of attacks towards it at the same time.
The Death eater however didn''t seem to mind these attacks, and with an aura that oozed of excitement and bloodlust, it opened its enormous mouth as it immediately swallowed a handful ofte-stage Spirit realm cultivators as well as an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
The 5 cultivators heart-wrenching cries resounded in the air, their voices unable to conceal their pain and horror in the slightest, as they shouted from the top of their lungs while they were inside the Death eater''s mouth.
At the same time, looks of terror had appeared on the faces of the rest of the criminals on top of the city walls, as along with the screams, sounds of bones being crushed and munched could be heard from the Death eater''s mouth!
Despite hearing the cries for help that were filled with fear and pain however, Liu Mei had an unperturbed expression on her face, without any hints of sympathy in her eyes.
Upon arriving in this ce and starting the third test, she clearly remembered the reason why these people had been sent here.
Raping men, women and children, killing thousands of mortals and cultivators alike, destroying countless families, these were the crimes that the Holy sect had ced these people here for.
Liu Mei had already seen the cruel side of people more than once, as the City of Sin was an actual den of criminals, thus she felt nopassion for these people.
Instead, killing them could be considered a form of revenge for the families whose lives had been destroyed by them.
After all, even in the cultivation world where killing was rampant, most cultivators still had their own morals, almost as if there was a set of unwritten rules that they would all abide by.
Usually, unless it was a deep grudge at the same level as a family feud, cultivators wouldn''t easily harm mortals, even if they belonged to an enemies'' family.
After all, even Heaven grade cultivators had a lifespan of at least 1000 years, let alone peak rank 9 Spirit realm experts and Nascent Soul stage cultivators like these people who could leave for at least 10.000 years.
How many generations of mortals would be harmed if they fell in their hands?
However, there was one thing that Liu Mei detested even more than those cultivators who killed mortals for their own enjoyment... rape!
This was the thing that Liu Mei detested from the bottom of her heart!
She could clearly remember how back in Cui Guoliang''s ''Vermilion Realm'', the disciples of the ''Poison Hall'' had secretly assaulted her while one of them had even coated his weapon with some kind of aphrodisiac.
If it wasn''t for Shun Long saving her back then, she would have most likely chosen to end her life and take those disciples of the ''Poison Hall'' along with her in the afterlife.
Thus, seeing these people in front of her dying to the Death eater''s jaws didn''t cause Liu Mei even the slightest bit of guilt, despite hearing their soul-wrenching cries for help that were only growing louder and louder.
''''Demon! You are a demon!''''
''''Someone! Someone quickly call senior Meng Yin!''''
The criminals around Liu Mei shouted loudly when they saw the horrifying scene in front of their eyes, while they continued with their barrage of attacks against the enormous 30m(100ft) tall Death eater!
Liu Mei however wasn''t nning on just sitting there and watch as these people attacked her.
With a cold look in her eyes, she raised her left hand and pointed forward, causing the more than 400 skeletons and 43 undead knights to immediately join the fight, attacking the cultivators on top of the city walls.
However, this wasn''t the end of it!
As the Death eater continued to go on a rampage, chasing after the peak rank 9 Spirit realm and rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators around it, Liu Mei who was sitting on its back suddenly closed her eyes, as a ck ball filled with death qi appeared between her hands.
''''Quickly! Attack her! No matter what she is trying to do, don''t let her finish it!''''
A peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who was the closest to Liu Mei, was the first one to shout, attracting everyone''s attention, before he raised his sword and immediately shot himself towards her,pletely ignoring the jade-white skeletons and the undead knights around him!
He didn''t know what Liu Mei was nning, but he wasn''t willing to wait until she finished with it.
Holding the thin, red-colored sword in his hand, he shot to the sky, and ignoring the rampaging Death eater that was recklessly killing and eating the cultivators around it, the man aimed his sword towards Liu Mei''s throat.
At that moment however, Liu Mei snapped her eyes open, and looking at the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert who was quickly flying towards her and was intending topletely ignore the Death eater, her lips slightly parted, as she opened her mouth and uttered a single word, one that brought chills down to the spine of anyone who heard it
''''Death.''''
As this single and seemingly simple word left Liu Mei''s mouth, the ball of death qi between her hands suddenly exploded, immediately covering the gigantic body of the Death eater.
A terrifying death aura covered the 30m(100ft) tall beast, as the enormous Death eater suddenly stopped rampaging, and turned its attention towards the man with the thin, red-colored sword in his hands.
Chapter 409: Shaking the city!
Chapter 409: Shaking the city!
Raising one of its gigantic 4 legs, the Death eater ''looked'' at the man who was flying towards Liu Mei, before it stomped its leg down violently, like a giant that was about to step on an ant!
The peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator was startled when he felt the enormous Death eater abruptly turning its attention towards him, while at the same time, a sense of lethal danger had suddenly appeared in his heart.
He didn''t understand why, but the early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage beast in front of him actually made him feel threatened.
And yet, despite seeing the enormous leg that was descending upon him, the middle-aged man didn''t back down!
Instead, he changed the target of his sword, from Liu Mei to the Death eater''s leg, as he snorted angrily and said
''''Hmph! You think you can go against me with just an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage beast... know your ce!''''
Suppressing the danger that had sprouted from the bottom of his heart and was bing even more intense with every passing moment, the middle-aged man''s sword lit up with a bright light, as he swung it sideways, sending out a powerful sh towards the Death eater''s leg!
The scene that followed after this however, did not only shock the middle-aged man, but the rest of the criminals around him as well who happened to see it, as well as the disciples of the alliance who were staring at the city walls from the distance a few miles away from the city.
Contrary to the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul man''s expectations, the ''powerful sh'' that he had expected to sh open the Death eater''s leg did not only fail to harm the enormous beast in the slightest, but instead, it was instantly obliterated!
Unable to hide the shock in his eyes, the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert had no time to analyze why his attack had failed, and could only raise his sword in response, in an attempt to block the enormous ck leg that continued its descend towards him and was now just a few meters away from him!
The moment that his sword met the Death eater''s gigantic leg however, the middle-aged man could feel an unstoppable force striking his body, immediately sending him flying back into the ground.
BOOOM!
The moment that the Death eater''s ck leg descended on the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator''s body, a powerful earthquake suddenly erupted, shaking half of the city, causing even those cultivators who were fighting with Liu Mei''s skeletons and undead knights to involuntarily turn their eyes towards its direction.
The rowdy battlefield that was filled with screams and shouts just a moment ago immediately fell silent, as everyone turned their eyes towards Liu Mei and the Death eater.
The hideous beast slowly raised its leg from the ground, revealing the mangled and already destroyed body of a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator below it. A long and thin sword was lying by his side, but even with his rank 2 gold grade weapon, the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul cultivator''s body had already turned into meat paste from the Death eater''s terrifying stomp!
Looking at the fresh blood that was dripping from the Death eater''s leg, looks of shock, as well as incredulousness and disbelief had appeared on the eyes of the disciples that were 5 miles away from the city, unable to take in the scene in front of their eyes
''''What?''''
''''How is this possible?''''
It wasn''t just the few Spirit realm cultivators from the alliance that were shocked, even the rank 1 and the rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and even the young man in red robes who had already reached the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage had looks of disbelief in their eyes when they saw this scene.
After all, it was clear that the Death eater''s aura was merely at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, while the middle-aged man was clearly a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage expert!
And yet, not only had that person died despite the disparity in their cultivation, but it was done with a single stomp!
A young woman at the peak rank 2 in the Nascent Soul stage slowly approached the red-robed young man, as she suddenly asked in a voice full of skepticism
''''Senior brother... could it be that that beast is actually at the middle rank 2 of the Nascent Soul stage or even higher?
Otherwise... this isn''t possible...''''
The red-robed young man however simply shook his head without answering, as his eyes were intently staring at the white-veiled young woman on top of the beast''s back.
How could he not know that even an early rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator was unable to kill that middle-aged man with a single hit?!
Only a middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert, or someone who was even stronger could possible achieve such a feat.
However, as a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert, he could clearly understand that Liu Mei''s and the Death eater''s auras were only at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage!
Of course, although the young man was shocked, he didn''t know that to achieve this result, not only had Liu Mei used the Death eater''s full force, but the moment that she had said the word ''Death'' earlier and allowed the ck ball of death qi in her hands to fall on the Death eater''s back, she had used the first stage of the ''Death''s chant''.
The Death eater by itself could fight against the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul middle-aged man without any problem. However, augmented by Liu Mei''s Saint low-grade martial skill, the powerful beast''s strength rose all the way to the middle of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul stage!
Despite its aura being only at the early of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul, it was simply impossible for a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator to survive from its attack!
At that moment however, as the red-robed young man continued to stare at Liu Mei on top of the Death eater''s back, his eyes suddenly narrowed as he stared deeper inside the city.
A cold smile then appeared on his lips, as he mumbled to himself in an almost indiscernible voice
''''They have finallye.''''
As these words left the young man''s mouth, half a mile away from Liu Mei, an old man in ck robes, a middle-aged man with eyes that resembled a snake''s, as well as an old woman in red armor, all appeared practically at the same time, staring at Liu Mei on the Death eater''s back with nonchnt looks in their eyes.
Chapter 410: Liu Meis trump card
Chapter 410: Liu Mei''s trump card
Although the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts had nonchnt looks on their faces, the killing intenting from their bodies showed that they weren''t nning on giving Liu Mei any chance to escape from this ce.
However, Liu Mei didn''t seem too surprised by the 3 criminals'' sudden appearance.
Despite sensing the auraing from their bodies which made it obvious that they were all peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, Liu Mei still had a calm expression on her face behind her white veil, as she continued to sit on the Death eater''s back, almost if she had already expected their arrival just now.
As for the Death eater, despite having its strength augmented thanks to Liu Mei''s ''Death chant'' which made it equal to a middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and despite it certainly not being a match for the 3 people around it, it still didn''t seem to be afraid of the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts that had already surrounded it. However, due to Liu Mei''s soul sense suppressing it naturally, unless it was allowed to attack, the 30m(100ft) tall enormous ck beast wouldn''t move an inch!
At the same time, Liu Mei''s skeletons and her undead knights also stopped fighting with the rest of the criminals around them, as they quickly surrounded the Death eater, looking like they were protecting the enormous beast!
The old man in ck robes didn''t seem to mind the fact that Liu Mei was gathering her skeletons and her undead knights around the Death eater, and with a sinister look on his face, he revealed his crooked teeth as he then asked with a smile
''''Little girl, are you in such a hurry to die? Don''t you see those idiotic brats over there who don''t even dare to step foot within 5 miles from this city? Don''t tell me that you don''t understand the reason behind that!? Hehe, or do you perhaps think that you are even stronger than all of thembined?''''
The moment that the ck-robed old man finished his words, ugly looks appeared on the faces of the disciples in the alliance 5 miles away from the city.
It was almost as if that person was inviting them to step foot into the city if they had the guts.
However, since the red-robed young man in their group didn''t speak and chose to remain silent while watching this scene, no one else dared to rebut the old man''s words.
After all, it was true that they had already tried to enter the city once, but they had already suffered a catastrophic defeat!
From their original group of 170 people, 40 disciples ended up losing their lives,pletely unable to put up any resistance!
Additionally, if it wasn''t because the old man''s group didn''t chase after them the moment that they left the city, the red-robed young man was certain that more than half of the members of his alliance would have died back then, while the rest of them would most likely be forced to scatter in the wild before regrouping in the future.
Without waiting for Liu Mei''s response, the old woman in red armor narrowed her eyes when she heard the old man''s words, before she said in an ice-cold voice
''''What''s the point of chatting with a dead person? Just kill her and get this over with!''''
The middle-aged man with vertical irises that resembled a snake''s nodded his head in agreement, while his eyes stared at Liu Mei without any change in his expression, almost as if he was looking at a corpse.
''''Hahaha, alright. Let me have the honors then. After all, I love fresh meat the most!''''
The ck-robed old man said as he stared at Liu Mei on the Death eater''s back, before licking his lips in excitement, ready to make his move.
Seeing that the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul old man was just about to attack, in the alliance of disciples 5 miles away from the city, the young woman at the peak rank 2 of the Nascent Soul stage looked at the red-robed young man next to her, before she asked in a curious voice
''''Senior brother, should we try and help her? Although she is only at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, perhaps she can be useful to us the next time we attack the city.
As long as she can do the same thing as today and fight against those scum in the city walls by herself, it should be more than enough!''''
The red-robed young man who was still staring at the Death Eater in the distance seemed to have fallen into deep thoughts for a few moments, but he eventually shook his head before he said in a disappointed tone
''''The risk is not worth it. The moment that we enter the vicinity of the city, neither that snake-eyed man or that disgusting old hag will let us get close to her easily. And even if they did, it''s very likely that I will suffer some injuries in that case. It is definitely not worth it!
If she wasn''t too rash and had simply joined our alliance, we could definitely wait for one more person at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul to arrive before we attacked the city. By then, we would have more than a just 50 percent chance of sess if we fought together!
However, being rash has already sealed her fate! Since she chose to attack the city by herself, she can only pay the price for this.''''
Although the red-robed young man seemed calm when he said these words, it was obvious that he was extremely disappointed!
After all, adding a thousand peak rank 9 Spirit realm skeletons to his alliance, 50 undead knights and that enormous monster that could probably fight against a middle rank 2 Nascent Soul stage expert without a problem, could have proven to be an immense help.
At the same time, the young man was also interested in the type of Dao Liu Mei hadprehended to be able to summon such immensely powerful creatures, practically at the same level of cultivation as herself!
No... the Death Eater that she had summoned alone, was definitely much stronger than most rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators since it could obviously fight above its level.
Even without Liu Mei''s Death chant that had augmented its strength, it could probably fight against a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator head-on without necessarily losing!
Looking at the old man at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage that was about to make his move, Liu Mei actually didn''t choose to try and escape.
Instead, there was a resolute look in her beautiful ck eyes behind her white veil, as she then waved her hand, taking out a pill bottle from her spatial ring with a single red-colored pill stored inside it.
Seeing the pill bottle that had appeared in Liu Mei''s hands, a sinister and at the same time mocking smile was formed on the old man''s lips, before he asked her in a mocking tone, almost as if he was a hyena that was looking at a small, defenseless rabbit that was trying its hardest to survive
''''Hehehe, is that your trump card? A single pill? Hahaha!''''
The moment that he finished his words, the old man didn''t wait for Liu Mei''s response nor did he wait for her to consume the pill in her hands, as he suddenly shot towards her with that same mocking look on his face.
No matter what that pill was, he was certain that there was no way for a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert like himself to be harmed by Liu Mei''s pill, unless it was an extraordinarily powerful poison pill.
However, even if it was a poison pill that could somehow harmte-stage Nascent Soul experts, the old man still had a peak rank 5 anti-toxin pill in his spatial ring.
No matter what that woman in front of him was intending to do, she was bound to die here today.
Despite the mocking tone in the old man''s voice Liu Mei''s lips actually curved up, forming a dazzling smile on her peerlessly beautiful face, as she then said in a nearly inaudible voice
''''Right. This is the trump card that Long-ge prepared for me.
Although it was meant to save my life when I''m in danger, this is the only way to pass this third test!''''
As she finished her words, Liu Mei raised her white veil revealing her alluring red lips, before she ced the red-colored pill in her mouth!
Chapter 411: Rank 5 Blood Ignition pill
Chapter 411: Rank 5 Blood Ignition pill
The moment that the pill entered her mouth, Liu Mei could feel a violent type of energy suddenly erupting inside her, immediately filling her entire body!
At the same time, her aura which was clearly at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage started to rise at an extremely rapid rate.
The ck-robed old man, the old woman in red armor, as well as the middle-aged man whose eyes resembled those of a snake''s, all looked at Liu Mei with eyes filled with incredulity.
In just a few moments, the auraing from her body had already reached the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent soul stage, and yet it still showed no signs of stopping!
Early rank 2, middle rank 2, peak rank 2 of the Nascent Soul stage!
In the blink of an eye, Liu Mei''s aura had already climbed to the peak of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul stage, but this was still not the end.
Under the disbelieving looks of the people around her, including the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, her aura ''broke through'' to the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage, until a few momentster, it eventually stabilized itself in the middle of rank 3.
Although this process seemed as if it had taken a while, in reality, it waspleted in practically an instant.
This sudden ''breakthrough'' had not only caused the old man in ck robes to suddenly stop in his tracks and stare at Liu Mei with a look of wariness as well as shock and disbelief, but the disciples outside the city that were staring at this scene were also unable to believe their eyes, before they immediately exploded in fervent discussions
''''How is this even possible? She advanced from the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, all the way to the middle of rank 3 in just a few moments?''''
''''What- What kind of divine pill was that?''''
''''Wait! Does this mean that if we were the ones who consumed that pill, we would be able to breakthrough to the peak of rank 3... or perhaps even the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul?''''
As one person came to this conclusion, everyone suddenly turned their gaze towards the few rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts in the alliance, before their eyes finallynded on the red-robed young man who was the only person at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage.
Despite everyone turning their gaze on him all at the same time, the red-robed young man didn''t seem to care, as his eyes didn''t move an inch from Liu Mei''s figure on top of the Death Eater''s back.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, he shook his head with a serious expression on his face, before he replied in a thoughtful tone
''''It''s not like that.
This is not a true breakthrough all the way to the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul.
Rather, it''s most likely only a temporary increase in her strength.
That pill probably increased that woman''s cultivation to the middle of rank 3 temporarily and it will revert back to its real level after a while.
Of course, such a pill will certainly have immense negative effects, but it is definitely a godly pill in the end.''''
It was obvious that although the young man didn''t know many things about the pill that Liu Mei had consumed, his own knowledge was definitely up to par, and allowed him to instantly guess what was going on.
Indeed, this pill was a trump card that Shun Long had given to Liu Mei, and had exhorted her to only consume it if she was ced in a life or death situation without any other solution.
It was an enhanced version of his rank 4 ''Blood ignition pill'', and it temporarily increased the cultivation of a rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, allowing them to even fight against a rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert head-on!
Of course, such a pill was not only extremely rare and valuable in the cultivation world, but it also had extremely severe negative effects.
The moment that a cultivator consumed this enhanced version of the ''Blood Ignition pill'', they would only be able to fight at full strength for at most 3 hours.
3 hourster, they would feel their body lose all of their strength, bing no different than ordinary mortals.
As for how long this situation wouldst for, Shun Long had already told Liu Mei that it couldst anywhere from half a month to an entire month.
This meant that after consuming this pill, the moment that the 3 hour period was over, Liu Mei would be in a situation where she would be unable to use her own qi for at least half a month until the side-effects of the pill wore off!
Considering that this third test of the Holy sect originallysted for an entire month and there were still 25 days left until it was over, being ced in a situation like that was extremely dangerous to Liu Mei who would be unable to use her own qi during that period of time.
And yet, this was also the only way for her to pass this third test.
After all, even after breaking through to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, Liu Mei knew that she wasn''t strong enough to fight against a rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator head-on.
Even if she went all-out with the Death Eater and her undead army, it would still be impossible for the current her to match a normal rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
However, passing through the third test of the Holy sect wasn''t the only reason why Liu Mei decided to take this risk today.
She also had 2 more goals in her mind, which would definitely increase her strength by leaps and bounds if they managed to seed!
After all, there was one thing that she had wanted to test after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, and the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators in front of her were the best testing subjects for it!
-
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Author''s note: We should have a second chapter today despite my wrist''s current condition.
Chapter 412: A bad feeling
Chapter 412: A bad feeling
Looking at the white-robed young woman on top of the Death Eater''s back whose cultivation had already stabilized at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, the ck-robed old man smiled sinisterly once again, before he said in a mocking tone, clearly implying that he had already seen through Liu Mei''s ''trick''
''''Hehe, middle of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul... not bad, not bad at all.
That pill you consumed must have been very valuable... but too bad that this is only a fake increase in strength.
No matter what, a fake increase will never be able to match the power of a real cultivator!''''
As he finished his words and having reassured himself that Liu Mei didn''t pose any danger to him, the old man no longer held back, as he continued to fly towards her at full speed.
Earlier, he had been a bit apprehensive after seeing Liu Mei''s strength rising at such a fast rate, and the same went for the old woman in red armor as well as the middle-aged man with eyes that resembled a snake''s, but after seeing her aura stabilize at the middle of rank 3, they all heaved out a sigh of relief.
They weren''t afraid that Liu Mei''s aura would advance to the peak of rank 3. Instead, they were afraid that with her previous momentum, she would end up advancing all the way to the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul in one go!
''''Thankfully that pill only allowed her to raise her strength to the middle of rank 3. Otherwise, if it was something as exaggerated as the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, even the 3 of usbined may be unable to resist in a head-on fight!
Luckily she is nothing more than an early rank 1 Nascent Soul brat. However, if it was a rank 2 or a rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator who had consumed it...''''
The snake-eyed man nodded his head with a serious expression when he heard the old woman''s words, before he turned his attention towards the peak rank 3 red-robed young man outside of the city.
Although he was confident that that person wouldn''t dare to attempt to save the white-robed young woman on the monster''s back, in case that he actually did try something like that, the snake-eyed man was more than willing to stop him the moment that he steps foot inside the city.
At the same time, seeing the ck-robed old man that was once again flying towards her at full speed, a serious look appeared in Liu Mei''s eyes.
She knew that she only had 3 hours before the effects of the enhanced ''Blood Ignition pill'' wore off and she was ced in a helpless position.
Thus, she had to take care of everything before the 3 hours period was over.
Without wasting any more time, Liu Mei took a deep breath, before she actually sat up on the Death Eater''s back!
Closing her eyes, she raised both of her hands in front of her chest, when suddenly, the Death Eater below her feet disappeared!
No, it wasn''t just the Death Eater, even the remaining 43 undead knights as well as the 460 skeletons, all disappeared as well at the same time, immediately dumbfounding everyone who watched this scene.
''''Hehe, it''s toote to give up now!''''
As the old man''s words reverberated in the air, he was now less than 200 meters away from Liu Mei.
Raising his left hand, a gust of wind appeared around him, before it turned into countless spiraling wind des that floated in the air around him.
Originally, he was nning on killing Liu Mei with his bare hands, but seeing that she had given up and had no more skeletons or ck-armored knights to protect her, he decided to take care of her with his Dao of Wind.
As the spiraling wind des appeared around him, the ck-robed old man shed the air in front of him, sending them all flying towards the defenseless Liu Mei!
It was obvious that the old man was determined to take care of her in one strike!
As the wind des cut through the air however, a ck ball of death qi also took shape between Liu Mei''s hands at the same time.
At that moment, a dreadful feeling appeared in the old man''s heart, and the same went for the old woman in red armor as well as the snake-eyed man, almost as if they had just realized something terrifying!
''''It- It''s not possible... right?''''
The snake-eyed man was the first one to speak, as he stared at the ck ball of death qi between Liu Mei''s hands that was only growing bigger and bigger with every passing second.
A terrifying possibility shed through his mind, but was unable and unwilling to ept it.
At the same time, the ck-robed old man suppressed the feeling of anxiousness that had suddenly sprouted in his heart, and looking at Liu Mei he then shouted in an angry voice filled with killing intent
''''DIE!''''
However, just as the spiraling wind des were just a few meters away from Liu Mei and were about tond on her body, Liu Mei suddenly opened her eyes, before she allowed the ck ball of death qi in her hands to fall on the ground.
As the ball of qi fell on the ground, it created what seemed to be a gigantic ck hole that exuded endless amounts of death qi.
A familiar, 30m(100ft) tall, enormous ck beast, with 4 huge legs and a huge ck body suddenly appeared from the ck hole, like a giant that wasing out from his cave!
As the enormous body of the Death Eater appeared in the city for the second time, the hundreds of wind des that the ck-robed old man had sent forward all fell upon it at the same time like a torrential rain!
Before the Death Eater had enough time toe out from the ck hole, hundreds of cuts had already appeared on its body, leaving behind countless scars.
ROAAARRR!
A powerful roar filled with hunger and fury sounded from the Death Eater''s mouth, and yet, aside from those scars, the hundreds of spiraling wind des had been unable to deal any real damage to the enormous ck beast!
Chapter 413: Making their move
Chapter 413: Making their move
A look of shock as well as fear appeared on the ck-robed old man''s face when he saw the Death Eater that was emerging from the ck hole, almost as if his biggest fear had suddenly be reality.
No, it wasn''t just the ck-robed old man. The old woman in red armor as well as the snake-eyed man also had simr expressions on their faces, as they involuntarily took a few steps back, opening the distance between themselves and the enormous beast.
Even the disciples that were staring at this scene 5 miles away from the city, including the red-robed young man, were staring at this scene dumbfounded, unable to believe their eyes.
The auraing from the Death Eater was actually at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage... the same as Liu Mei''s!
''''How is this possible? Even if that pill augmented her own strength temporarily, the power of her summoned creatures shouldn''t change! After all, this is just a temporary increase in strength.
...Don''t tell me that their strength isn''t actually set, and instead it rises in ordance with her own cultivation level!
If that''s the case... isn''t this girl actually considered a monster genius as well?''''
The more that the red-robed young man stared at the scene in the city, the more dumbfounded he became, while a myriad of thoughts seemed to have shed through his eyes at the same time.
At that moment, a young woman in red-robes whose cultivation was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage appeared next to him, and staring at the scene in the distance she couldn''t help asking in a somewhat weak as well as uncertain voice
''''Senior brother... doesn''t that girl''s fighting style look very simr to senior brother Jun''s?''''
Serious looks shed through 2 other disciples'' faces when they heard this question, before they immediately turned their attention towards the red-robed young man, almost as if they were waiting for his reaction.
The red-robed young man however simply smiled when he heard this before he turned his eyes to look at the young woman who had asked this question and said in an easy-going tone
''''Hehe, you are right! At first nce, her style does indeed look simr to Jun Ren''s.
However, although it happens to look simr, in reality, there are also many differences as well, whether that is in their true strength or their own cultivation, as well as the way they truly fight!
Hehehe! Don''t forget that despite being ranked 8th in our continent, I am definitely among the 1000 strongest people in this third test.
And yet, even I wouldn''t dare to fight with Jun Ren head-on.
That person is a true monster!
There is a reason why he was called the undefeated God of War in our younger generation!
Probably in this entire test of the Holy sect, there will be one, or at most two other people who are able to match him in a head-on fight, and all of them will definitely be disciples of the Holy sect without question!
I can confidently tell you that even if this girl was at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage as well, she would still have no chance fighting against Jun Ren in a one-versus-one!''''
The young woman who had asked this question, as well as the 2 other red-robed disciples who were close to the red-robed young man and happened to overhear this, all nodded their heads at the same time, as they continued to stare at the scene inside the city.
At that moment however, the look on the red-robed young man''s face turned slightly serious as he then added a shocking sentence
''''However, if that girl''s cultivation was actually reached the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul as well, she would probably be able to enter the top 5 rankings in our continent!
Actually... even the top 3 wouldn''t be impossible either! After all, if that terrifying ck beast was at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, it would probably be able to fight against an early rank 4 Nascent Soul cultivator without losing!''''
The moment that the disciples around the red-robed young man heard his judgement, looks of shock immediately covered their faces.
The top 3?
That was really a terrifying notion that these disciples were unable to ept!
And yet, since it was this red-robed young man who had said this, they had no other choice but to ept that it was very likely to be true.
After all, this young man was someone who was ranked within the top 10 in their own continent, and he was the most qualified person here to judge Liu Mei''s talent.
ROOOOAAARR
By the time that these discussions hade to an end, the gigantic body of the Death Eater had alreadypletelye out from the ck hole, as it let out a powerful roar, as its aura that was filled with tyranny and killing intent swept through the entire battlefield, instantly shaking the hearts of all the criminals inside the city!
The ck-robed old man who had sent out the hundreds of wind des involuntarily took a few steps back, while an obvious look of fear suddenly covered his face.
And yet, this wasn''t the end!
Following behind the enormous body of the Death Eater, hundreds of skeletons started to appear from the ck hole all at the same time, following behind the 50 ck-armored undead knights who were wielding their ck greatswords!
It only took a few moments for the 50 undead knights and the 1000 skeletons to arrange themselves in front of Liu Mei, as they all turned their attention towards the ck-robed old man who was just 200 meters away from them.
The green and red wisps of ember that were flickering inside their eye sockets, finally made the old man feel a profound sense of fear for the first time today... a fear that seemed to have stemmed from the bottom of his heart.
Liu Mei however wasn''t nning on giving the old man even a single chance to try and escape, and raising her left hand, she simply pointed forward.
At that moment, the aura of 1000 skeletons and 50 undead knights at the early and the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage instantly exploded at the same time, immediately drowning the entire city!
A terrifying scene that could shock any rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator suddenly appeared in the old man''s eyes!
1000 jade-white skeletons at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul were holding the bony white swords in their hands, as they followed behind the 3m(10ft) tall undead knights d in ck armor, as they all rushed towards the old man at the same time!
Seeing this soul-shaking scene, the old man didn''t hesitate any longer, as he turned his head around and looked at the old woman in red armor and the man with the snake eyes before he shouted loudly
''''Quickly! Come here and help me!''''
The moment that the old man finished his words, hundreds of wind des quickly took shape in the air around him, as they all shot towards the army of undead that were rushing towards him without any fear in their eyes.
At the same time, in the alliance of disciples outside the city, the red-robed young man who was at the peak of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, narrowed his eyes as he stared at Liu Mei''s army, before his lips slowly curved up into a smile.
Without saying a single word, he instantly soared to the sky as he flew towards the city at full speed!
The disciples in the alliance around him were stunned by this sudden turn of events, but without any hesitation, they all followed after the red-robed young man, as they flew towards the city as well, almost as if they werepeting with each other!
How could they not understand, that with Liu Mei attacking the city by herself, this was their best chance to obtain the Holy sect''s token?
It was obvious that even if they did nothing, the white-robed young woman on the Death Eater''s back would most likely end up obtaining the token by herself!
At that moment, it would be practically impossible for most of these disciples to even have a chance at getting their hands on it and pass the third test.
Chapter 414: Fighting 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts
Chapter 414: Fighting 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts
As the red-robed young man flew towards the city at full speed, followed by a bunch of other disciples, the wind des that the ck-robed old man had sent were effortlessly cutting through the air itself, as they beheaded skeleton after skeleton!
In just a few moments, nearly a hundred skeletons had been beheaded or had been cut into half, while another hundred of them had lost at least an arm or a leg!
And yet, by the time that the old man''s wind des disappeared, the skeletons had already covered more than half of the distance between them and the old man and were now less than 50 meters away from him.
At the same time, the skeletons and the undead knights had already spread out, so even if the old man tried to escape, it would be impossible to do so by himself.
The old woman in red armor as well as the snake-eyed man both turned to look at each other at the same time and nodded their heads with solemn looks on their faces, before they instantly flew towards the ck-robed old man as well.
They clearly understood that if nothing was done, the old man would certainly end up dead while they wouldn''t be able to escape from Liu Mei''s army either!
Thus, the only thing they could do was band together and fight!
Seeing the 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who quickly arrived to back him up, the old man heaved a sigh of relief, before he then said to the 2 of them in a voice filled with confidence
''''Don''t worry! That pill will certainly have some severe side effects and will only be able to boost her cultivation for a short time! As long as we can defend ourselves until its effects wear off, we will certainly be able to kill her!''''
The snake-eyed man nodded his head seriously, and turned his eyes to look at Liu Mei before he said with a greedy look in his eyes
''''Right! If she has such a valuable pill, the rest of the items inside her spatial rings will definitely not be too ordinary either.''''
The old woman in red armor however had a solemn look on her old wrinkled face, as she suddenly turned her attention towards the red-robed young man in the distance who was followed by the rest of the disciples in his alliance, before she said in a hoarse voice
''''Enough talking. Take care of these skeletons first!''''
As she finished her words, the old woman''s body was instantly covered by ayer of thin ice, before almost three hundred icicle shards appeared in the air around her, as they all shot towards Liu Mei''s undead army.
The snake-eyed man nodded his head as well, as a green-colored liquid suddenly appeared from his body, slowly moving towards the 50 ck-armored undead knights who were leading the remaining 900 skeletons.
Liu Mei''s army was only 200 meters away from the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, when the old woman''s ice shards fell on the skeletons and the undead knights that were the closest to them like an endless barrage.
Guided by Liu Mei''s soul sense, the ck-armored knights easily blocked the ice shards with their greatswords the moment that they banded together!
Although the ice shards left a thinyer of ice on a handful of the undead knights'' swords, this was the only result as almost 100 ice shards were taken care of in a single instant.
After all, although this was an attack created by a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert, it was still an attack that covered a wide area, and it wasn''t focused on the undead knights alone, but rather the entire undead army instead!
As the ice shards fell on the jade-white skeletons, 150 of them were obliterated in the blink of an eye,pletely unable to withstand the old woman''s violent attack.
After all, the difference in strength between the undead knights and the skeletons wasn''t just the single sub-rank in cultivation levels. Instead, it was a qualitative difference, simr to the difference of the undead knights with the enormous Death Eater!
And yet, after both the ck-robed old man''s wind des as well as the old woman''s icicle shards,? only one-fourth of Liu Mei''s undead army was destroyed, before they finally appeared in front of the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts.
The moment that the ck-armored undead knights who led the charge however appeared in front of the ck-robed old man who was the closest to them, a thick green liquid suddenly emerged from the ground, instantly trapping the 10 undead knights in the lead.
At that moment, Liu Mei suddenly could feel a corrosive effect on her soul sense that covered these 10 undead knights, while even the ck armor on the undead knights'' chests had started to slowly get affected by the green liquid, letting out sizzling sounds in the air.
At the same time, no matter how much the undead knights tried to get rid of the green liquid that had trapped them, they were unable to do so.
And yet, the remaining undead knights didn''t seem to show any fear, as they rushed towards the ck-robed old man who was now just a few meters away from them.
The peak rank 3 Nascent Soul expert had a solemn look on his face, as he ced his palms together before he chanted a single word
''''Hurricane!''''
A gigantic hurricane that spanned for more than 50 meters(164ft) into the sky immediately appeared around him, instantly trapping the first 30 undead knights in the lead, while at the same time it slowly expanded, slowly trapping the skeletons behind them as well.
Unlike the undead knights, under the enormous hurricane''s might, the jade-white skeletons werepletely unable to resist, as their bodies were instantly swept in the air before they were dismembered, turning into a pile of bones and dust.
At that moment however, the ground suddenly started to tremble, as the old man and the old woman in red armor immediately turned their attention to the previously still Death Eater!
The enormous ck beast that was covered by a thickyer of death qi, suddenly rushed towards the gigantic hurricane head-on!
Dumbfounded looks instantly appeared on the faces of the 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts!
This hurricane was a Saint low-grade martial skill, and yet Liu Mei had chosen to enter inside it by her own volition?
The old man had originally nned to create another hurricane the moment that the Death Eater attacked, but it seems that his previous concerns were needless!
After all, this hurricane was his strongest martial skill.
Of course, although the hurricane blocked the most direct path towards the old man, it was also impossible for someone to enter inside it directly.
Even the young man in red-robes who had just led the disciples of the alliance into the city was shocked by this shocking scene.
Even if it was himself, he wouldn''t dare to enter inside that hurricane since that was pure suicide!
Even if he managed to survive the hurricane, he had no doubt that the old woman in red armor and the snake-eyed man, would definitely follow up with an attack the moment that he emerged from it!
Chapter 415: Trap?
Chapter 415: Trap?
However, almost as if she was oblivious to the red-robed young man''s thoughts, Liu Mei didn''t stop the Death Eater and instead, she allowed the gigantic monster to step inside the hurricane.
Seeing the enormous 30m(100ft) tall ck beast that had actually entered inside the hurricane, a look of joy as well as disbelief and excitement appeared on the ck-robed old man''s face at the same time, before he turned his head towards the red-armored old woman who nodded her head without any hesitation.
The peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage old woman raised her hands in front of her and gathered her qi, as a pir of ice that was actually no smaller than the massive hurricane started to take shape in the air in front of her.
The old man nodded his head when he saw this scene, before he sighed out in relief.
This ice pir was a martial skill at the same level as his own hurricane, a Saint low-grade martial skill!
There was no way for Liu Mei and her Death Eater to survive in the midst of 2 Saint low-grade martial skills, both created by 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Even if the Death Eater''s strength was at the same level or even slightly stronger than a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, it was still bound to sustain fatal injuries this time, even if it somehow managed to luckily survive!
As for Liu Mei, her fate would definitely be even worse than that!
It only took a single breath of time for the massive ice pir to condense itself in the air in front of the old woman.
Snapping her eyes open, the old woman ced both of her hands on the ice pir''s surface, before she sent it flying forward towards the gigantic hurricane as she then shouted in a shrill voice
''''DIE YOU LITTLE BITCH!''''
The ice pir shot through the air like a small, flying mountain of ice, heading straight towards the old man''s hurricane.
At the same time however, apletely unexpected scene followed that made the old man''s expression suddenly change, while his heartbeat had started to rapidly rise at the same time.
An enormous leg that resembled a horse hoove slowly emerged from the midst of the hurricane, followed by a massive ck body that was oozing with endless amounts of death qi.
On top of the beast''s body was a young woman in white robes with an ice-cold look in her eyes, as if everything that had happened just now waspletely inconsequential to her.
''''HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?''''
''''No way! The old man''s hurricane was broken just like that?''''
The old man in ck robes and the snake-eyed man who was doing his best to hold back Liu Mei''s skeletons and the remaining 10 undead knights both shouted out in disbelief at the same time, when they saw the Death Eater''s massive body emerging from the hurricane!
It had been less than 2 breaths of time, and yet the Death Eater had managed to pass through the hurricane effortlessly,pletely ignoring the Saint low-grade martial skill?!
Even the young man in red-robes who had quickly closed the distance and was almost in front of the city gates by now couldn''t help but slow down his speed when his eyes took in this shocking scene.
As soon as the Death Eater stepped out of the hurricane however, Liu Mei saw the huge ice pir that was flying towards her, destroying the remaining few buildings that were left standing between them in the process.
The aura of death around the Death Eater suddenly exploded, as the enormous beast opened its hideous mouth and directly bit down on the enormous ice pir that had instantly arrived in front of it without any hesitation.
Crunchhh!
The moment that the Death Eater''s teeth chomped down on it, the massive ice pir was instantly split in half as ice fragments exploded into the enormous beast''s mouth!
The 30m(100ft) tall Death Eater was suddenly rooted on the spot, as a sudden hailstorm started to ravage its insides.
The old woman''s lips curved up into a sinister smile when she saw this scene, while the ck-robed old man and the snake-eyed man both nodded their heads with relieved looks in their eyes.
The old woman''s n had actually seeded.
At the same time, Liu Mei narrowed her eyes behind her white veil, while she immediately understood what was going on thanks to her soul sense that was suppressing the Death Eater.
The old woman''s goal wasn''t to use the ice pir''s weight and raw strength to fight the Death Eater head-on. Instead, it seemed that a powerful hailstorm was hidden inside the ice pir, and the moment that the pir was actually broken, the hailstorm would suddenly erupt.
Liu Mei''s guess was spot on, as this was exactly the old woman''s goal.
It was to send the ice pir flying into the hurricane, and as the ice pir was destroyed by the gigantic hurricane, the hurricane would then be merged with her hailstorm, immediately trapping Liu Mei inside it.
With the strength of 2 Saint low-grade martial skills augmenting each other, Liu Mei''s and the Death Eater''s chances of survival would be practically nonexistent!
Even if the enormous beast managed to survive, it would definitely be riddled with countless injuries and wouldn''t be too far from death either!
Of course, although the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul experts hadn''t expected that the Death Eater''s strength was enough topletely ignore the hurricane and walk out of it in just a single breath of time, there was still no way for it to avoid the ice pir in the end.
However, by opening its mouth and consuming the massive ice pir directly, the Death Eater had practically jumped straight into its death.
After all, it was an entirely different thing to resist the hailstorm head-on, and to allow it to erupt directly inside its mouth!
Layers of frost started to slowly appear on the Death Eater''s body, slowly covering the entirety of the enormous beast''s body, while its movements had alreadypletely came to a halt.
And yet, this scene onlysted for a few moments before cracking sounds started to resound incessantly in the air.
Crack.
Crack..
Crack!
Before theyer of frost couldpletely solidify on the Death Eater''s, ice shards started to fall on the ground one by one.
At that moment, the ck-robed old man who was the closest to Liu Mei felt a sudden chill on his spine, while he also had the illusion that the Death Eater was smiling mockingly towards him.
However, just as he was about to step back and open up the distance between them, the Death Eater suddenly lunged forward with its mouth open,pletely unaffected by the remaining ice shards on its body, and under the disbelieving eyes of the old woman in red armor and the snake-eyed man, as well as the thousands of criminals in the city and the alliance of disciples that had just arrived at the city walls, it immediately swallowed the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul old man, leaving nothing behind.
Chapter 416: One in three chances
Chapter 416: One in three chances
The old woman in red armor and the snake-eyed man who were both standing just a few meters away from the old man in ck robes, stared at the gigantic body of the Death Eater with nk looks.
Even the red-robed young man who was now less than a mile away from Liu Mei and the Death Eater had also stopped in his tracks, as his gaze was glued on the enormous ck beast at the center of the battlefield with a disbelieving expression.
Absolute silence had suddenly filled the small city, as every single cultivator, regardless of whether they were disciples of the alliance or the criminals in this city, all stared at the enormous ck beast with looks of fear in their eyes.
No, it wasn''t absolute silence.
The sound of Liu Mei''s undead knights marching forward could still be heard clearly, bringing a horrifying sense of fear to the remaining criminals in the city.
It only took a single moment for the old woman in red armor and the snake-eyed man to snap out of their reverie, before they immediately moved backwards as they tried to open up the distance between themselves and the Death Eater that was now just a few meters away from them.
However, how could Liu Mei give them such a chance?
From the start, she knew that she had at most 3 hours before the effects of the rank 5 ''Blood Ignition pill'' wore off!
By then, she was certain that if she hadn''t already taken care of every enemy around her and if she hadn''t left the city and find a safe ce to hide herself, she would definitely end up dead without any questions.
Even if she had taken care of all the criminals in the city, there was no way that the alliance of disciples would let her go.
After all, everyone''s goal was the Holy sect''s token, and Liu Mei knew that even if it wasn''t the old man in ck robes who had it in his possession, it would definitely be the old woman in red armor or the snake-eyed man who had it.
Once she obtained it she would definitely be everyone''s enemy.
''''No. Even if it wasn''t for the token, I can''t allow myself to be defenseless in this ce!''''
As she steeled her heart, Liu Mei allowed the Death Eater to go all out!
The enormous magic beast looked at the 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts in front of it, before it immediately went after the snake-eyed man,pletely ignoring the old woman in red armor for now.
At the same time, the red-robed young man who seemed to have just returned back to his senses seemed to be hesitating on what to do.
Things had changed much faster than he had originally expected.
As the disciples that were following behind him finally caught up with him, a young woman at the peak of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul stage looked at the enormous monster in the distance before she asked hesitantly
''''Senior brother... should we retreat? That... thing has already eaten a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert...''''
How could the red-robed young man not understand what this woman implied?
Although he was slightly stronger than the old man in ck robes, in the end he was also a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert.
In a head-on fight, it was impossible for him to kill the ck-robed old man by himself.
And yet, not only was that woman in white robes able to kill him, but she was also taking on every single criminal in the city, all at once!
After a moment of deliberation, the red-robed young man shook his head firmly before he then said
''''Giving up will mean looking for another city, or even worse, for someone who has already obtained a Holy sect''s token. However, there are only one thousand tokens and one thousand cities in the end!
At the same time, although I am confident in ranking in the top 300 of the people taking the third test, finding someone who has already obtained a token and robbing them will be almost impossible in this world!
It is the same for me, and it is even more so for you guys who have no hope of obtaining one in the first ce!''''
Almost as if he didn''t notice the ugly expressions on the faces of the disciples around him, the young man in red robes then continued
''''Trying to obtain this token is our best chance. Although it''s not impossible for me to find another one, the same can''t be said for any of you.
So if you want to have even a single chance of passing this test, you know what to do!''''
As he finished his words, the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul young man didn''t give any more exnations before he instantly flew towards the old woman in red armor.
He believed that the disciples behind him clearly understood his meaning.
Although Liu Mei had already killed the old man in ck robes and was now chasing after the snake-eyed man, there was still a one in three chances that it was actually the old woman who had the token in her possession!
Additionally, with a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, as well as 2 middle rank 3 ones and more than 10 peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, their hunting speed was probably not inferior to Liu Mei''s Death Eater either!
In the end, it would boil down to being nothing else than a matter of luck.
Seeing the disciples of the alliance that had entered the battlefield and were chasing after her like mad dogs, made the old woman''s face to instantly turn pale, as she hurriedly fled in the opposite direction, opening up the distance between them.
On one hand it was Liu Mei''s skeletons and her undead knights who were fighting the criminals in the city, while on the other hand it was the hundreds of disciples who were finally making their move!
There was practically nowhere for the old woman to run to, and yet she still chose to move towards Liu Mei''s army in the end.
Although she already knew that she could fight off the young man in red robes for a while by herself, it was nothing more than a wistful dream if she actually expected to survive against the more than 100 disciples that were following after him as well!
Instead, moving towards Liu Mei''s army that was ughtering the criminals was a much better choice!
At the same time however, Liu Mei who was sitting on the Death Eater''s back and was chasing after the snake-eyed man, suddenly turned her attention towards the old woman''s direction.
Since the Death Eater had already eaten the old man in ck robes, Liu Mei already knew that the Holy sect''s token wasn''t in his possession!
This meant that it was either on the old woman''s hands or in the snake-eyed man''s!
However, if it was in the old woman''s hands and one of those disciples managed to obtain it, Liu Mei who only had a little more than 3 hours of time to fight would most certainly be unable to chase after that person.
With a serious look in her eyes, Liu Mei had her undead army immediately give up on killing the criminals on the copsed city walls, as they all moved towards the old woman''s direction.
The old woman had never expected Liu Mei to still have part of her attention split towards her while she was still chasing after the snake-eyed man.
Her skeletons and her undead knights were just a few steps away from shing with the old woman head-on, when suddenly, a pir of mes appeared from behind the old woman, attacking her and Liu Mei''s undead army at the same time, killing more than 60 skeletons as well as 2 undead knights in the process.
Liu Mei immediately turned her attention towards the young man in red robes who was chasing after the old woman, and was obviously the one who had unleashed this attack.
The young man seemed to have felt Liu Mei''s bone-chilling gaze and turned to stare back at her for a moment, before he turned his attention towards the old woman in red armor.
He wasn''t going to bother with Liu Mei if he didn''t have to.
As long as the old woman was the one who had the Holy sect''s token on her possession, he would definitely take it before he left the city!
ROOAARRR
At the same time, the Death Eater that had already blocked tens of attacks from the snake-eyed man, suddenly let out a powerful roar the moment that it was just a few meters away from him, before it lunged forward once again with its mouth open!
The peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator had a look of despair in his eyes, before his body was immediately covered with ayer of green liquid, simr to the one he had used to trap Liu Mei''s skeletons and her undead knights previously.
However, the enormous beast seemed as if it had a sinister smile stered on its face while it watched the snake-eyed man vainly struggle to kill it along with himself, before it opened its hideous mouth and immediately swallowed the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Chapter 417: The Holy sects token
Chapter 417: The Holy sect''s token
The same scene repeated itself for the second time, as another peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator was swallowed by the gigantic Death Eater, and yet, the visual impact of this scene was no less than the first.
No, it was actually even worse.
Even if one argued that the ck-robed old man had been caught off-guard the first time, the look of despair in the snake-eyed man''s face this time was obvious to everyone around him, sending chills down their backs.
After all, this was a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
And yet, despite doing his best to take the Death Eater to the grave along with him, the snake-eyed man''s fate was no different than the ck-robed old man''s, as he ended up inside the enormous beast''s mouth altogether.
After staying still for a moment Liu Mei''s expression suddenly changed, as she suddenly turned her attention towards the old woman in crimson armor.
The Holy sect''s token wasn''t in the snake-eyed man''s possession either, which meant that there was only one possible target... the old woman in red armor!
The young man in red robes who was killing off the remaining skeletons and undead knights that blocked his way didn''t miss the change in Liu Mei''s attitude, nor the sudden nce that she shot towards the old woman in red armor, immediately understanding that the Holy sect''s token was most likely on her body.
Without wasting a single moment, the young man looked at the old woman who was trying to escape from him and Liu Mei''s army as she headed deeper inside the city, before he shouted in a loud voice
''''Old bitch, hand over the Holy sect''s token! Do it and I will let you live!''''
The old woman who was at the peak rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage could feel that this person was most likely saying the truth, and he wouldn''t chase after her as long as she gave up the Holy sect''s token in her possession.
And yet, she merely snorted in response before she headed deeper inside the city, without so much as giving the young man''s offer even a single thought!
After all, giving up the Holy sect''s token was no different from suicide for these criminals who had been ced here by the Holy sect.
Although they wouldn''t regain their freedom due to the crimes that they hadmitted and the number of people that they had murdered, they would still be able to keep their lives if they managed to hold on to the Holy sect''s token by the end of the test.
This was the Holy sect''s rule and the most important reason why these criminals didn''t give up the Holy sect''s token to the first person who attacked the city.
After all, if they didn''t have the token in their possession, it was very likely that those disciples would fight between themselves and wouldpletely ignore the criminals inside the city.
However, this wasn''t the only reason why she refused to give up the sect''s token either.
Even if both Liu Mei, and the young man in red robes as well as his group all decided to spare the old woman''s life, the next group who attacked the city would definitely not let her go.
Even if they knew that the chances of her being alive and having the Holy sect''s token in her possession were close to nil, they still wouldn''t spare her life!
Thus, her best chance was to stick to her original n, and if their group was unable to kill the disciples that attacked the city, then hiding and wait for the one month to be over was the only choice she had left!
At the same time, the young man in red robes had a furious expression on his face when he saw the old woman who didn''t even consider his offer.
And yet, despite wanting to go after her, he was unable topletely break free from Liu Mei''s army either!
Although the skeletons at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul were unable to hold him down for even a single moment, the 20 undead knights who had attacked him all at the same time were apletely different matter.
Although the 3m(10ft) tall ck-armored knights were unable to threaten him in the slightest and it was only a matter of time until they were all exterminated under his powerful attacks, the undead knights were still sessful in temporarily slowing the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage young man down.
At the same time, the remaining 20 undead knights as well as the 300 skeletons that were still in perfect condition, all intercepted the rest of the disciples in the alliance that were chasing after the old woman, not allowing a single one to get past them.
More than 300 jade-white skeletons at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage had attacked these disciples at the same time, and even if the skeletons weren''t as strong as the average cultivator at the same level as them, they were definitely strong enough to take care of 100 disciples who were all at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage or below.
As for those few disciples in the alliance that were at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage, they had their hands already full, fighting against Liu Mei''s 20 remaining undead knights.
Even if a single undead knight wasn''t as strong as a normal disciple at the same level as them, due to the undead knights not having any long-ranged attacks, with their ck armor and their strength augmented by Liu Mei''s ''Death chant'', they could definitely fight with those disciples head-on without any issues.
In fact, if they managed to get close to those disciples, the undead knights could actually deal fatal injuries if not outright kill them.
''''How is this possible? It''s not just that enormous ck monster, even these knights in ck armor are practically as strong as normal cultivators at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul! Are these really summoned creatures?!''''
''''Stop talking and take care of them quickly! If we don''t do it fast that old hag will definitely get away!''''
Indeed, those disciples had never expected Liu Mei''s army outside of the gigantic Death Eater that she was riding on to be so strong, that she could simultaneously hold every single one of them down at the same time!
At the same time, Liu Mei had the Death Eater run past these disciples, as she chased after the old woman in red armor!
The old woman was originally feeling ted after seeing Liu Mei''s skeletons and her undead knights fight against the disciples of the alliance, giving her enough time to run as far away inside the city as possible.
However, in less than 30 breaths of time, she could feel the ground beneath her feet shaking violently, as the enormous silhouette of the Death Eater appeared behind her, and was only getting bigger and bigger with every passing moment.
''''NO! Don''te any closer!!''''
Finally, despair gripped the old woman''s heart as she shouted loudly with all of her might.
Liu Mei however wasn''t moved by her screams as she allowed the Death Eater to continue chasing after her,ing ever-so-closer to her with every passing moment.
She wasn''t going to give this peak rank 3 Nascent Soul expert even a single chance to escape.
Finally, when the Death Eater was just a few meters away from her, the old woman turned around with a sinister look in her eyes, before she shouted loudly
''''DIE YOU LITTLE BITCH!''''
As she finished her words, hundreds of small and sharp ice shards appeared around the old woman, as they all shot towards the white-robed Liu Mei on the Death Eater''s back.
Liu Mei however didn''t move from the Death Eater''s back, nor did she attempt to dodge the old woman''s ice shards.
Instead, the enormous beast that was more than 30m(100ft) tall, opened its gigantic mouth, and sucked in every single one of those ice shards, leaving nothing behind.
However, this wasn''t the end.
Without giving the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul expert a chance to unleash another attack, the Death Eater jumped forward with its mouth still open, as it immediately swallowed the old woman in red armor.
The third peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage criminal in this city disappeared just like that!
However, without wasting any more time in this ce, the moment that Liu Mei sent her soul sense in the Death Eater''s belly and confirmed that there was indeed a token on the old woman''s body, Liu Mei immediately had the Death Eater fly towards the other end of the city.
After all, Liu Mei already knew that the red-robed young man had already destroyed 20 of her undead knights, and was now flying towards her location at full speed!
Chapter 418: Perilous condition
Chapter 418: Perilous condition
As the Death Eater rushed towards the east of the city, the old and already half-destroyed buildings around it started to copse one by one due to the tremors that its enormous body was causing, leaving only the sturdiest ones of them standing.
It was as if small earthquakes were taking ce in the eastern part of the city, as the Death Eater''s huge and thick legs ttened everything in its path.
At the same time, barely a minute had passed since the Death Eater had finished its ''fight'' with the old woman, when the young man in red robes arrived at the scene.
However, a dejected expression soon appeared on his face the moment heid his eyes on the scene in front of him.
Contrary to his expectations, the fight between Liu Mei and the old woman hadn''t evensted for even a few moments, giving him no time to catch up to the enormous beast.
It seemed that the gigantic ck beast had taken care of the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert as soon as it caught up with her before it immediately left the scene!
The red-robed young man was unwilling to give up just yet and spread his soul sense as far as he could, but even after scanning every single building in the area half a mile around him, there was still nothing to be found.
An expression of anger and killing intent appeared on his face as he stared at the ttened buildings that led towards the eastern part of the city, but in the end he still chose to remain standing without moving from this ce.
Although he wanted to chase after Liu Mei since he knew that her ''power-up'' was only temporary, and she was bound to return back to her real cultivation at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul sooner orter, he also knew by now that the enormous ck beast that she was riding on was probably not any slower than him despite its massive body.
At the same time, even if he managed to catch up to Liu Mei, the red-robed young man had no degree of assurance that he could even take the Holy sect''s token from her in the first ce.
''''That monster''s strength is definitely stronger than the average peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Especially when it is augmented by that weird qi, it is probably not much weaker than an average early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage expert.
No, perhaps it''s already at that level! It''s likely that only monsters like Jun Ren or those who ranked in the top 3 in their continents can probably take care of that ck beast in this third test!
Sigh There is no reason to be too fixated on that particr token either.
As long as I am not too unlucky, I will definitely be able to obtain a token myself within the next 25 days.
Heh, let''s see how far that woman can go with borrowed strength and if she will be able to sessfully hide herself for the next 25 days.
I refuse to believe that she has another one of those pills and that it has no side effects either!''''
As the red-robed young man arrived in this conjecture, he continued to stare at the east of the city and the destruction that the Death Eater had caused with a serious look on his face, before he actually flew towards the north.
...
Staring behind her, Liu Mei actually heaved out a sigh of relief when she saw that the red-robed young man wasn''t chasing after the Death Eater.
Although she was certain that that person wasn''t strong enough to match the Death Eater''s power head-on, Liu Mei also knew that she only had a little more than 2 hours until the effects of the ''Blood Ignition pill'' wore off and her cultivation returned back to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul.
Thus, she had to find a safe ce for herself as quickly as possible instead of fighting against the red-robed young man.
Thend continued to quake as the Death Eater ran towards the east at full speed, passing through mountains and rivers in the process, before finally, an hourter, a lush forest appeared in the distance ahead of Liu Mei.
At first nce, this forest seemed to span for hundreds if not a thousand miles, and it was definitely the best ce for anyone to hide themselves if they wanted to wait until the end of the third test.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei had the Death Eater enter inside the forest, while at the same time she observed her surroundings, as she looked for a ce to stay.
Half an hour quickly passed like this, and just as Liu Mei arrived in front of a small river, mocking voices filled with fury, lust, greed, and killing intent appeared in her ears all at the same time.
''''Xie Xingyi you bitch, did you think that you could escape from us so easily? Against 4 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, even you arepletely incapable of escaping!''''
''''Hehehe, little beauty there is no reason to look at us like that! Give up the Holy sect''s token and I will allow you to live a little longer.''''
''''Hahahaha! That''s right. As long as you are willing to serve the 4 of us brothers tonight, we will indeed allow you to live a little longer!''''
The moment that she heard these words, Liu Mei was stunned for a moment, as the face of a gorgeous young woman with pale blonde hair and beautiful emerald eyes appeared in her mind.
''''Xie Xingyi?''''
As the figure of the young woman in green robes that she and Shun Long had seen outside the Heaven''s Dome city shed through her mind, Liu Mei hesitated for a moment, before she finally ordered the Death Eater to go towards the origin of those voices.
Chapter 419: Meddling in other peoples business
Chapter 419: Meddling in other people''s business
As the Death Eater moved towards the direction of those voices, the ground beneath its feet had once again started to shake as the gigantic beast ran through the forest.
Despite its enormous body, even without the augmentation of Liu Mei''s ''Death Chant'', the Death Eater''s speed was definitely not inferior to an average peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and in just a few moments, Liu Mei had already arrived at the ce where the origin of those voices wasing from.
At that moment, as thest tree that was blocking her vision disappeared, a shocking scene appeared in Liu Mei''s eyes.
A gorgeous young woman dressed in green robes was standing at the edge of an 80m(260ft) waterfall, while 4 men dressed in different clothes had surrounded her from every direction, not willing to give her even a single chance to escape.
Liu Mei only needed a nce to recognize this young woman who was most likely rted to the guild master of the Pale Moon guild in the Silver sword city as Xie Xingyi.
It was indeed the same kingdom toppling beauty that she and Shun Long had seen from afar before the first test of the Holy sect started.
This was also part of the reason why Liu Mei decided to take the risk ande to this ce, despite having less than one hour left until the effects of the Blood Ignition pill wore off and the side effects to start kicking in.
After all, be it Xie Xingyi''s facial features or herst name, she was definitely rted to Xie Rong.
Although Liu Mei had already adopted this habit from Shun Long and would more often than not decide against putting herself into danger to help strangers, Xie Rong was an acquaintance and she had definitely showed some goodwill to Shun Long in the past.
However, contrary to the first time that Liu Mei had seen Xie Xingyi, the stunning young woman was in a much worse condition this time.
Blood had stained the corner of her lips red, while her qi was clearly almost entirely depleted, bringing her on the verge of death.
Even if she wanted to escape, it was very likely that Xie Xingyi didn''t even have enough qi to even move, which was why she was ced in such a perilous condition.
Of course, the moment that Liu Mei appeared, Xie Xingyi and the 4 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who had surrounded her, all turned their attention towards the white-robed Liu Mei on the Death Eater''s back at the same time!
After all, how could the 5 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators not notice themotion that the Death Eater had caused before arriving in this ce?!
Originally, these people had thought that some kind of early rank 5 magic beast was living in this forest and was alerted by their fight, but the moment that they noticed the decaying aura of death around the Death Eater''s body, serious expressions appeared on their faces.
Although none of these disciples knew the Death Eater''s origins, they could sense that despite its cultivation being at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, it was definitely not going to be an easy opponent for them.
As for the young woman that was riding on its back, she was most likely going to be troublesome as well.
A young man in luxurious purple robes was the first one to take a step forward as he looked at Liu Mei, before he shouted in an imposing voice
''''No matter who you are or what you are doing here, I suggest that you mind your own business and move along. This woman is our prey, so unless you want to fight all of us at the same time, leave this ce right now!''''
How could this person not understand that Liu Mei had intentionallye to this ce after hearing their voices?
She most likely overheard the matter of the Holy sect''s token that is in Xie Rong''s possession which immediately drew her attention!
However, with 4 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators in their midst, how could the purple-robed young man''s group be afraid of a single middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Liu Mei?
Although he wanted to avoid fighting her if possible, considering that they knew nothing about Liu Mei including herbat strength or any possible trump cards that she may have, his group had no reason to be afraid of her either!
Looking at the purple-robed young man who had spoken just now, Liu Mei immediately recognized him barely a momentter.
This person''s name was Hua Ping and he was ranked 17th in the Heaven''s Dome city''s House of Rankings.
Knowing that chatting with these people was useless, Liu Mei didn''t waste any time as she had the Death Eater immediately lunge forward towards the 2 people that were the closest to her.
The enormous ck beast had a sinister smile on its face as it jumped forward with its mouth open, ready to devour the 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts in front of it!
Shocked looks appeared on Hua Ping''s and the other disciples'' faces when they saw the enormous beast''s sudden attack, before they all shouted at the same time with voices filled with anger and killing intent
''''DIE!''''
The 4 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators all unleashed their own attacks at the Death Eater without holding back, as theirbined attacks shook the entire forest.
Sword and saber shes, as well as powerful water arrows and wind des all flew through the air, until theynded on the Death Eater''s enormous body filling it with cuts and injuries!
And yet, the gigantic beast didn''t seem daunted despite its injuries nor did it seem to feel any pain, as it continued forward towards the 2 men that were the closest to it with saliva dripping from its ugly mouth.
Horrified looks shed through the 4 young men''s eyes when they noticed that despite theirbined attacks, the Death Eater didn''t stop its advance, and instead, it actually seemed even hungrier than before.
The 2 young men that were the closest to it immediately jumped away from each other in fright, but the gigantic monster wasn''t any slower than them either.
Unable topletely dodge the Death Eater''s attack, the first young man was split in half, as his bottom half ended inside the Death Eater''s mouth!
Chapter 420: Saving Xie Xingyi
Chapter 420: Saving Xie Xingyi
Sounds of bones being chewed and gnawed on resounded in the silent forest, apanied by the young man''s terrified screams as he suddenly lost the bottom half of his body.
Barely a momentter, a green wisp of smoke left the young man''s body, and without any hesitation, it flew in the distance as far away from the forest as possible!
Although he clearly knew that it was dangerous, the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator had still abandoned his body in the end, and flew away using his Nascent Soul alone.
In practically an instant, a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator had been forced to abandon his body and survive solely with his soul.
Hua Ping and the other 2 cultivators at the peak of rank 3 were left dumbfounded as they stared at the scene in front of them, not knowing what to do next.
They had clearly pushed Xie Xingyi to an inch of her life, expending a lot of their qi as well as their trump cards in the process, and yet someone else wasing here in thest moment to steal their spoils?
The hungry Death Eater however didn''t give the 3 young men any time to think over their options, as it jumped forward, this time heading straight for Hua Ping.
A look of hate appeared on his face as Hua Ping stared at the gigantic monster that was moving towards him as well as the white-robed young woman that was sitting on its back, before he shouted in a decisive tone
''''Retreat!''''
Without waiting for a response from the other 2 people in his group, the purple-robed Hua Ping immediately turned around and fled directly, as he headed for the entrance of the forest.
The other 2 young men in his group had unwilling looks on their faces, but in the end, they still chose to retreat as well while undisguised looks of hate and killing intent were stered on their faces.
Although they didn''t want to retreat and would rather fight the gigantic ck beast to the death, they had already expended more than 70 percent of their qi while they were chasing after and trapping Xie Xingyi.
At the same time, the enormous ''magic beast'' seemed to be even stronger than what they had originally estimated, able to kill a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert almost instantly!
They knew that even if the 3 of them joined hands and decided to go all out, their chances of killing Liu Mei were definitely not any higher than 20 percent at most.
Watching these people leave with hateful looks in their eyes, Liu Mei didn''t chase after them, and instead, she stopped the hungry Death Eater right in its tracks.
She could feel the hungering from the beast''s soul as it was ready to devour the 3 remaining peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, but she still used her soul sense to suppress the Death Eater''s hunger before she turned her attention towards Xie Xingyi.
Liu Mei then stood up from her sitting position, as she slowly floated towards Xie Xingyi''s direction.
The gorgeous young woman in green robes had a mesmerizing smile on her face as she looked at the white-robed young woman that was standing in front of her, before she bowed slightly with some difficulty. Then, taking out a small, golden token from her green robes that were stained with mud and blood, she handed it to Liu Mei before she said with that same smile on her face
''''This is the Holy sect''s token. I hope that you won''t make it too difficult for me.''''
As she handed the Holy sect''s token to Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi closed her eyes and waited for death toe.
Although she knew that the 4 men from earlier would most likely not have the guts to rape her considering that this was the Holy sect''s test and the sect was most likely monitoring the test, she still didn''t want those people to obtain the token from her. This was even more so for the purple-robed Hua Ping whom she found utterly detestable.
As for Liu Mei, it didn''t matter if she did it to obtain the Holy sect''s token from her, in the end, she still nearly killed one of those people while forcing the other 3 of them to retreat.
Of course, Xie Xingyi wasn''t naive enough to think that whoever took the Holy sect''s token from her would allow her to live.
After all, showing mercy to your enemy and letting them return to take revenge on you in the future, was no different than being cruel to yourself.
Taking the golden token in her hands Liu Mei examined it carefully before she actually ced it back in Xie Xingyi''s own hands barely a momentter.
Then, with an equally mesmerizing smile on her face that could capture the hearts of both men and women alike, she lifted her white veil and looked at Xie Xingyi before she asked in a curious voice
''''Are you rted to madam Xie Rong?''''
A stunned expression appeared on Xie Xingyi''s face when she heard this question, while at the same time she involuntarily opened her previously closed eyes.
Seeing how Liu Mei had not taken the Holy sect''s token from her and had instead asked her this question, caused tempestuous waves to rise in Xie Xingyi''s heart.
At the same time, as she opened her eyes, Xie Xingyi was stunned when her eyes took in Liu Mei''s peerlessly beautiful face, but suppressing the shock in her heart, she nodded her head in response before she asked in a tone that was obviously unable to hide her disbelief
''''Do you know my elder sister?''''
''''Sister?''''
This time it was Liu Mei''s turn to be shocked when she heard Xie Xingyi addressing Xie Rong as her sister. After taking a more careful look at Xie Xingyi''s facial features, Liu Mei actually nodded her head lightly.
Indeed, her blonde hair and her bright emerald eyes as well as her facial features, despite being different at the same time, they still greatly resembled Xie Rong''s.
Although Liu Mei had originally guessed that Xie Xingyi just happened to be from the same ''Xie family'' as Xie Rong, after a few moments of thought, she realized that it was very likely for the 2 of them to truly be blood-rted sisters in the end.
After all, Xie Rong was a beauty as well.
Even if she paled ever-so-slightly inparison to Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi, she was definitely a stunning beauty in her own right.
Finally, a few momentster, Liu Mei had a serious expression on her face as she seemed to have made up her mind as she kept staring at Xie Xingyi.
Knowing that she didn''t have too much time until the effects of the ''Blood Ignition pill'' wore off, which would ce both her and Xie Xingyi in a passive position if they ended up in danger, Liu Mei closed her eyes for a moment, before she suddenly opened them again barely a momentter and said seriously
''''Let''s find a ce to hide for now.
Otherwise, if any peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators find us, we will definitely be in a lot of trouble.''''
Although she was stunned for a second, Xie Xingyi didn''t refuse and simply nodded her head in response, before she saw Liu Mei holding her right arm and soaring in the sky, until they both sat on the enormous ck beast''s back.
The reason why she didn''t refuse was because, not only did Liu Mei seem to know her elder sister somehow, but she also didn''t seem to want to take her Holy sect''s token from her.
Additionally, Xie Xingyi was in her most vulnerable state right now.
If Liu Mei really wanted to kill her, she would have no way to resist even if she went all out.
At the same time, Xie Xingyi didn''t feel any hostile intentions from the peerlessly beautiful young woman in front of her either, finally lowering her final mental barrier and allowing Liu Mei to take her along with her.
15 minutester, Liu Mei found a small, isted cave inside the forest, covered by many tall trees and bushes.
Then, under Xie Xingyi''s shocked eyes, she had the Death Eater spit out theplete corpses of the old man in ck robes, the snake-eyed man, and the old woman in red armor, before she allowed the enormous undead monster to disappear.
A huge ck hole that was exudingrge amounts of death qi slowly appeared on the ground, before the gigantic Death Eater entered inside it and disappeared in front of Liu Mei and Xie XIngyi.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei then threw the 3 corpses inside the cave, before she and Xie Xingyi also entered inside.
...
At the same time that Liu Mei and Xie XIngyi had hidden themselves inside the cave, Shun Long had already arrived at the north of the city, staring at the colossal fight that was taking ce between the golden-robed young man, ''Senior brother Qiong'' and his group that was fighting against the ck-robed young woman''s group.
The moment that Shun Long arrived at the scene, he could feel 3 pairs of eyes that were suddenly focused in his direction, like 3 hungry magic beasts that were staring at a defenseless beast that had suddenly stepped into their territory.
Chapter 421: Assassinate
Chapter 421: Assassinate
Shun Long didn''t even need to look at them to understand, that these gazes wereing from ''senior brother Qiong'' and the ck-robed young woman that he was fighting against, as well as the old man in ck robes who was looking at a chance to assassinate the golden-robed young man.
After all, how could the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul experts allow anyone to step too close to their fight?
This was especially true for the golden-robed young man, ''senior brother Qiong''.
Although it was impossible for any cultivator to have their soul sense spread away from their bodies for an extended period of time, the golden-robed young man didn''t have a choice this time.
The ck-robed old man would more often than not disappear into the darkness, and would only asionally leave his hiding ce to try andunch a sneak attack on him.
Although it was extremely taxing to have his soul sense active for so long, ''senior brother Qiong'' could do nothing but grit his teeth and endure it while keeping his soul sense active in a few meters around his body at all times, so that he wouldn''t be assassinated by the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul old man while he fought with the ck-robed young woman.
At the same time, Shun Long noticed that the entire northern part of the city had been leveled to the ground, while buildings had also started to melt under ''senior brother Qiong''s'' terrifying mes.
And yet, it was this same ''senior brother Qiong'' who was forced in a passive position during his fight against the ck-robed young woman, as the old man who continuously appeared and disappeared from the battlefield could take his life at any moment.
Seeing how everyone had suddenly turned their attention to him, Shun Long''s lips quickly curved up into a smile as he took out a long, ck-colored sword with strange patterns from the ''Stone of Time'' and held it tightly with both hands.
The moment that they saw him taking out a weapon, ''senior brother Qiong'', the young woman in ck robes, as well as the old man who was also at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, all had confused looks in their eyes as a single thought shed through their minds at the same time
''''Is this early rank 1 Nascent Soul brat going to join the fight?''''
At that moment however, ''senior brother Qiong''s'' expression suddenly changed, while his eyes also narrowed as he looked at Shun Long.
''''Early rank 1 Nascent Soul? Was that vortex that covered the entire city caused by his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul?''''
The same thought shed through the ck-robed young woman''s and the old man''s minds barely a momentter, while their eyes stared at Shun Long with a deadly glint inside them.
After all, this small city spanned for more than 3 miles, and yet the Nascent Soul vortex that had appeared above Shun Long''s head had covered itpletely!
If it was really a Nascent Soul vortex that had caused this phenomenon, then the person in front of them was definitely a monster.
Even if such a person was only at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, his talent, the cultivation technique that he was training in, as well as the Dao that he hadprehended, all of them must definitely be extremely terrifying to produce such a result!
After all, even ''senior brother Qiong'' who could be considered a genius as well, had only managed to create a Nascent Soul vortex with a radius of 11 meters during his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage back then.
No one of them had ever heard of such a terrifying Nascent Soul vortex!
Almost as if he hadn''t noticed the expressions on the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts faces, Shun Long continued to stand therefortably while he leisurely yed with the ck sword in his hand, almost as if he was a spectator watching a y.
At the same time, an angry look appeared on the ck-robed old man''s face as he stared at Shun Longbefore he suddenly disappeared on the spot, almost as if his body had blended into the darkness of the night without any warning.
Watching this scene, Shun Long didn''t choose to move from the spot he was standing on, but his previously ck eyes instantly turned golden, while the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body at the same time.
The ck-robed young woman stared at Shun Long with a mocking look in her eyes, almost as if she was waiting for his body to be cut in half at any moment.
Even the golden-robed young man, ''senior brother Qiong'' shook his head when he saw that, before he turned his eyes towards the ck-robed woman in front of him ready to continue the fight.
In his eyes, Shun Long who had clearly not spread his soul sense around him, was already dead.
There was no other way to avoid the old man''s attack if you didn''t know when or where it was going to hit you from.
Instead, now that the ck-robed old man was going to kill Shun Long, ''senior brother Qiong'' could take advantage of this to take care of the ck-robed woman in front of him and obtain the Holy sect''s token from her body!
Barely a momentter, the old man''s body suddenly materialized behind Shun Long, while a sinister smile appeared in the old man''s eyes as he stared at the ''prey'' in front of him.
Without waiting for Shun Long to react, the old man held the 2 pitch-ck daggers tightly with both hands, before he thrust them towards Shun Long''s neck as well as his back at the same time.
This attack was practically invisible, and even the sound of the daggers shing the air couldn''t be heard no matter how much attention someone was paying at it.
In the old man''s eyes, no matter what Shun Long did, it was impossible for him to avoid this attack.
With that same smile on his face, Shun Long didn''t seem flustered at all, as if he had already foreseen this attack a long time ago.
A blue light suddenly covered his body, while his speed increased by many times as the second ''Monarch''s Domain'' forcibly changed the flow of time around him.
Inside his own domain, Shun Long was equivalent to a god!
Turning around, his body and his light blue-colored robes left afterimages behind them, as Shun Long infused his qi in the ck sword in his hands and swung it towards the ck-robed old man.
The old man''s eyes suddenly widened when he realized how fast the young man in front of him was, but before he had enough time to stop his attack and retract his hands, Shun Long''s ck sword chopped at him without any warning.
sh!
Under the ck-robed young woman''s horrified eyes, as well as ''senior brother Qiong''s'' gaze that was filled with disbelief, 2 hands that were holding 2 pitch-ck daggers were chopped from their wrists, as blood started to spurt from the old man''s wounds.
However, before the old man had enough time to back away, Shun Long suddenly blinked in front of him as he swung the star-rank sword sideways!
A head filled with an expression of fear as well as unwillingness was severed from its body, as the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul old man that was about to kill Shun Long immediately copsed to the ground, his body losing all signs of life that it had left in the process.
Absolute silence filled the battlefield, as everyone turned their attention towards the early rank 1 Nascent Soul young man in blue robes who unhurriedly removed the old man''s spatial ring, before he turned his attention towards the young woman in ck robes in front of ''senior brother Qiong''.
Chapter 422: Sandstorm
Chapter 422: Sandstorm
Seeing Shun Long leisurely staring at her with that same, light smile on his face, the young woman in ck robes involuntarily took a few steps back in fear.
She couldn''t understand how Shun Long had not only managed to avoid the old man''s attack, but he had also counterattacked as well.
It was the same for the golden-robed young man, ''senior brother Qiong'' who was staring at Shun Long with a shocked expression on his face.
He had already fought against the ck-robed young woman who had joined hands with the old man in ck robes, and he knew very clearly how terrifying the old man''s assassination attacks really were.
If he hadn''t been using his soul sense all this while to avoid the old man''s attacks, he would have definitely died long ago and wouldn''t havested for so long.
Of course, the 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators had no idea that Shun Long had never taken the old man''s attacks to heart.
After all, how could Shun Long ever be assassinated when he was already expecting it? He had already foreseen this sneak attack thanks to his golden eyes and knew exactly when and where the old man would attack him from.
At the same time, after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, the effects of both of his ''Monarch''s Domains'' increased once again.
By activating both of the ''Monarch''s Domains'' at the same time, he had easily slowed down the old man''s speed by 20 percent while augmenting his own speed at the same time.
Even with his cultivation at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, it was extremely easy for Shun Long topete with the old man if it was purely in terms of speed.
Unless it was a cultivator who hadprehended the ''Dao of Wind'', the ''Dao of Lightning'' or some other peculiar Dao that could help them increase their speed by many times, even average peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators had no hope ofpeting with Shun Long when it came down to a match of speed.
Of course, if these cultivators had a Saint-grade movement technique then things would bepletely different.
The unsuspected old man had never expected that not only had Shun Long already foreseen his attack, but he was also much faster than him as well.
Additionally, with his thoughts being slowed down due to Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', the ck-robed old man wasn''t fast enough to retreat when he realized the danger he was in, resulting in both his hands being cut off.
The mental impact that this scene created, caused the old man''s thoughts to be muddled for a moment, unable to fully process the scene that had just happened.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t miss this chance, especially when his enemy was in their most vulnerable state and didn''t have a chance to retreat.
Using blink, he instantly appeared in front of the ck-robed old man and swung the star-rank sword in his hand horizontally, beheading the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator with a single sh.
It was all of these factors together that had allowed Shun Long to instantly kill a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator with a single move, but the effect was simply astonishing.
Whether it was the ck-robe young woman, the golden-robed young man, senior brother Qiong, or the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators that were fighting with each other, all of them stared at Shun Long with eyes filled with shock and incredulity.
After all, the old man was a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator!
Even if his strength was more suited towards assassination and sneak attacks instead of head-on fights, he still wasn''t someone that an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Shun Long should be capable of fighting against.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t pay too much attention to these shocked gazes and instead, he continued to stare at the ck-robed young woman who had an ugly look on her face.
Without the old man to support her, it wasn''t even certain if she would be able to fight against the golden-robed young man head-on by herself.
If one included Shun Long''s sudden arrival in this ce, her chances of survival were almost zero!
Without any hesitation, the ck-robed young woman spread her hands in the air, as a massive sandstorm erupted around her, instantly covering everyone on the battlefield.
It didn''t matter if it was Shun Long, ''senior brother Qiong'' or the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, all of them were trapped inside the sandstorm in a single instant while their vision waspletely blocked.
''Senior brother Qiong'' snorted when he saw this scene, immediately understanding that the ck-robed woman was trying to escape, before his body suddenly lit up with a bright red light.
This was his most powerful attack, a Saint low-grade martial skill that could burn everything around him to ashes.
Even peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts would be badly hurt if they were inside the radius of this martial skill.
If it wasn''t because he was wary of the old man sneak attacking him the moment that he finished this skill, ''senior brother Qiong'' would have long since used this skill to take care of the ck-robed woman and obtain the Holy sect''s token from her body.
In the blinding sandstorm that covered the entire battlefield, his body suddenly lit up like the sun in the sky attracting everyone''s attention.
The grains of sand around him were being burned quickly, slowly turning into ash and dust.
It was obvious that it was just a matter of a few seconds until the golden-robed young manpletely extracted himself from this sandstorm.
At the same time however, Shun Long actually smiled despite being trapped inside the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul woman''s sandstorm while his golden eyes lit up with a bright blue light that slowly expanded and covered his entire body.
With his gaze focused in the distance ahead of him, Shun Long then mumbled in a low but domineering voice as if he was the king inside this ce
''''Eternal Banishment!''''
The single ball of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' started to churn, as the blue light around his body started to be even brighter than before.
At that moment, Shun Long''s gaze was like the gaze of a monarch, ready to judge the life and death of all things around him.
It didn''t matter where his gazended, the moment that his eyes looked at the sandstorm around him, the grains of sands didn''t even touch him before they were being erased from existence.
It was almost as if they were being banished in a different realm,pletely unable to resist the might of the blue lighting from Shun Long for even a second.
As the sandstorm in Shun Long''s eyes thinned out, he saw the figure of a ck-robed young woman flying away from the battlefield at full speed.
Clutching the ck sword in his right hand, Shun Long raised his left hand in the air, and with a focused look in his eyes he shed the air in front of him, opening a medium-sized space tear.
At that moment, the ck-robed young woman seemed to have sensed something, as her body suddenly shivered while a sense of lethal danger overcame her!
Turning her head around, she saw a ck space tear appear behind her seemingly out of nowhere, before a handsome young man in blue robes walked out from it.
The pupils in the ck-robed woman''s eyes widened when she saw Shun Long casually tear space open and appear behind her, as she immediately turned around and tried to escape even further.
She couldn''t understand how Shun Long had managed to escape from her sandstorm so easily, but she knew that she couldn''t fight him head-on just yet!
Her qi had been severely depleted after creating that huge sandstorm, causing a trace of fear to sh through her eyes.
Her only choice was to try and lure Shun Long to the ce where the other peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators were, before they all killed him together!
Knowing that she wasn''t in a condition to fight him head-on, Shun Long wasn''t going to give the ck-robed woman any chances to escape.
Using blink for the second time, he instantly appeared behind her, and without giving her a second to flee, he shed the ck, star-rank sword towards her using both hands.
The moment that ''senior brother Qiong'' managed to escape from the sandstorm, a scene that he was practically unable to believe appeared in his eyes.
As Shun Long shed the ck sword in his hands horizontally a rain of blood filled the air, before the ck-robed woman''s body was split in half in a single instant.
-
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Chapter 423: Dont throw away your life
Chapter 423: Don''t throw away your life
''Senior brother Qiong'' couldn''t believe that 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul experts had died under the hands of an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage rookie, let alone with both of them beingpletely incapable of even putting up a fight.
They didn''t even have enough time to resist before they were both killed in an instant.
Even for a genius like ''senior brother Qiong'' who was one of the 3 strongest people in this alliance of disciples that attacked this city, this was still a shocking scene that couldn''t be exined.
Of course, although it was true that the ck-robed old man had most likely underestimated Shun Long while the ck-robed woman was actually fleeing, the result was that they both died in a head-on fight.
In the end, they weren''t even able to struggle before they were killed.
This was especially so for the ck-robed woman''s death. Before ''senior brother Qiong'' even had enough time to escape from her sandstorm, Shun Long had already taken her life.
For ''senior brother Qiong'' who had already suffered under the 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivatorsbined attacks earlier, seeing them getting both killed by an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator one after the other made him shiver in his heart.
And yet, this wasn''t something that he could ept so easily.
No matter what, he himself was a genius who would certainly pass the Holy sect''s test! He was a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator! How could he allow anyone else to obtain the Holy sect''s token in front of his eyes? Let alone an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he would even fight with other peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage geniuses if he had to.
Completely oblivious to the golden-robed young man''s thoughts, Shun Long who was now standing in front of the ck-robed old woman''s body, waved his hand and removed her spatial ring.
However, after checking the ring''s contents, he immediately turned his attention towards the ck-robed woman''s corpse in front of him that was split in 2 halves.
Aside from 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones and a few middle-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' as well as some healing and several ''anti toxin'' pills, the ck-robed woman''s spatial ring didn''t have anything else.
That meant that the Holy sect''s token was either on her body or it was hidden somewhere else.
At that moment, Shun Long closed his eyes before his soul sense erupted like a volcano as itpletely covered the woman''s body.
As he opened his eyes, Shun Long stared at the bottom half of the ck-robed woman''s body as he mumbled to himself
''''There is actually something hidden here!''''
Waving his right hand, Shun Long used the ck, star-rank sword, to slice open a small hole near the ck-robed woman''s butt as a palm-sized, golden-colored token with the character ''Holy'' slowly revealed itself in front of Shun Long.
The moment that Shun Long was about to touch the Holy sect''s token however, he could feel an intense feeling of danger sprouting in his heart, while his golden eyes lit up with a bright azure light.
Another scene appeared in his eyes, causing Shun Long to give up on picking up the Holy sect''s token before he immediately dodged to the side without any hesitation.
Almost at the same time that he dodged, a huge me pir struck the spot that he was standing on, immediately enveloping the ck-robed woman''s corpse as well as the Holy sect''s token.
As the me pir slowly dissipated, Shun Long saw the golden-robed young man, ''senior brother Qiong'' standing a few meters away from him, staring at the Holy sect''s token on the ground with a look of fervor in his eyes, before he slowly turned his attention back to Shun Long.
There was a serious look in the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert''s eyes as he stared at Shun Long, looking like he was staring at another powerful peak rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator instead of an early rank 1 Nascent Soul rookie.
Shaking his head, ''senior brother Qiong'' took a deep breath before he said with a serious look in his eyes
''''Don''t try and touch that token again or the next time it won''t just be a warning attack.''''
Hearing ''senior brother Qiong''s'' words, Shun Long stared at the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul expert in front of him without any change in his emotions.
He had already expected that there was no way for the ''golden-robed young man'' to give up on the Holy sect''s token so easily!
Indeed, ''senior brother Qiong'' stared at Shun Long with the same solemn look before he continued
''''I admit that you are strong... at least strong enough for me to take you seriously, but the only reason that you managed to kill those 2 was thanks to me keeping that woman busy, as well as the old man not taking you seriously to begin with. If it wasn''t because he underestimated your speed since you are still at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, there was no way that you would have even managed to harm him, let alone kill him. However, I''m not going to do the same mistake.
I am warning you because you are strong enough to do so, but don''t think that you can fight against me head-on!
I am sure that you are aware that I am not like those 2 scum that you just killed.
I suggest that you don''t throw your life away for a single Holy sect''s token. If we really start fighting, I will not spare your life.''''
Shun Long slowly narrowed his eyes as he stared at the golden-robed man in front of him.
Although the man''s words wereced with threats left and right, it was obvious that he didn''t want to fight him head-on if he didn''t have to.
However, it was also obvious that he wasn''t going to give up the Holy sect''s token either.
In ''senior brother Qiong''s'' eyes, Shun Long was a much easier target to deal withpared to the ck-robed woman and the old man whom he was fighting against previously.
After all, no matter how strong Shun Long was, it was most likely only his speed that had reached the level of a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Additionally, if it wasn''t because the ck-robed woman knew that she had no chance of fight against Shun Long and ''senior brother Qiong'' at the same time, she wouldn''t have resorted to fleeing in the first ce.
Staring at the young man in front of him who was waiting for his answer, Shun Long ignored the 4 middle-rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who were previously fighting with each other and were now staring at the Holy sect''s token on the ground like a pack of wolves ready to pounce at it, before he shook his head a momentter, and said in a firm tone
''''You are indeed stronger than the old man and that woman, but you are wrong about something. Even if the old man was on his guard against me, he would still have died all the same.
At the same time, I would rather not kill someone I have no enmity with.
If you leave, you can still find another city and have a chance of obtaining another token to pass the third test. However, if we start fighting, don''t expect to leave alive.''''
Sigh
The moment that Shun Long finished his words, he saw the golden-robed man''s expression slowly darken before he let out a sigh.
Then with a look of disappointment on his face, ''senior brother Qiong'' stared at him before he said
''''I don''t have enough time to waste with you. Either turn around and leave... or DIE!''''
Boundless killing intent suddenly erupted from the golden-robed man''s body when he uttered thest word, before an enormous me pir started to condense itself in the air around him.
Seeing that the golden-robed man had no intentions of avoiding this fight, Shun Long nodded his head without saying another word.
At this point, arguing with each other was useless.
Holding the ck, star-rank sword with both hands, he closed his eyes for a moment as he infused his qi inside it.
The strange and intertwining ck runes and patterns on the sword''s surface started to lit up, while sparks of lightning started to appear on the sword''s surface at the same time.
With a serious look, Shun Long then stared at the enormous pir of mes above ''senior brother Qiong''s'' head that seemed to have reached its peak, before he mumbled to himself
''''Hopefully you won''t die from this. Thundergod''s sh!''''
Chapter 424: The power of the Thundergods slash
Chapter 424: The power of the Thundergod''s sh
As the sparks of lightning condensed themselves on the sword''s surface, Shun Long used his soul sense to suppress them and make them gather around the sword''s edge.
As the sparks of lightning all gathered in the sword''s edge and the strange andplicated patterns on the sword''s surface lit up with a bright golden light that seemed to have reached its peak, Shun Long shed the sword forward using all of his strength!
At that moment, the sparks of lightning all merged together, as a terrifying, ck-colored sh that seemed to be infused with the ''Dao of Lightning'' emerged from the sword''s edge and traveled towards the golden-robed young man opposite to Shun Long.
The moment that ''senior brother Qiong'' saw the terrifying sh that wasing his way, his eyes involuntarily widened while a feeling of lethal danger appeared in his heart.
He could feel that this sword sh was powerful enough topletely kill him and even eradicate his soul if it ended up striking his body, leaving him with no room for survival.
''''How is this possible? How can a small rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator be so powerful?''''
Originally, ''senior brother Qiong'' had thought, that although Shun Long was probably slightly faster than the average peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, there was still no way for him to pose any danger towards him.
However, after feeling the ''Dao of Lightning'' and the terrifying force hidden inside this ck-colored sh, he realized that he may actually be weaker than him even in a head-on fight!
At that moment, Shun Long saw the golden-robed young man''s eyes suddenly be focused as the pir of light above his head seemed to have reached its peak power.
Thrusting his palm forward, ''senior brother Qiong'' then shouted
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Inferno pir!''''
The huge me pir above his head rapidly increased in size, bing 3 timesrger than before, before it flew directly towards Shun Long''s ck-colored sword sh!
As for the remaining 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators that were watching this scene, their faces immediately paled when they sensed the power behind Shun Long''s and the golden-robed man''s attack.
They could feel as if the blood was being drained from their bodies, as they scurried away from the scene without any hesitation!
Although their strength was only a minor level away from the golden-robed young man''s and they had only stayed in this ce because they were secretly waiting for a chance to sneak attack him and obtain the Holy sect''s token, they could now clearly feel that none of them would survive if they were caught up between the 2 attacks created by 2 Saint low-grade martial skills.
Putting aside the fact that two of these middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators were originally subordinates of the ck-robed woman and the old man, and had no hope of obtaining the Holy sect''s token in the first ce, the other 2 that were participating in the Holy sect''s test, had actually chosen Saint low-grade cultivation techniques toprehend during the second test.
Even if they erupted with their full strength, they would be unable tost for more than a second if they were caught in the midst of Shun Long''s and the golden-robed man''s attacks.
After all, most of the disciples participating in the Holy sect''s test would usually choose cultivation techniques instead of martial skills from the barrier of knowledge.
Although martial skills could increase their strength during a crucial fight, cultivation techniques could help them increase their cultivation at an even faster rate than before.
Of course, those disciples who came from powerful forces and already had a few Saint-low grade cultivation techniques to choose from, would then choose martial skills during the second test of the Holy sect.
And this golden-robed young man was precisely such a person.
Finally, the moment that the ''Thundergod''s sh'' met ''senior brother Qiong''s'' ''Inferno pir'', the entire world seemed to have dimmed for a moment, before a horrifying explosion shook the small city!
BOOOM!
As the huge me pir collided with the ck-colored sh that was empowered with the ''Dao of Lightning'', it instantly attracted everyone''s attention.
It didn''t matter if it was the 2 other groups that were lead by peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, or the disciples at the city walls that were fighting with the criminals there, everyone subconsciously turned their heads at the same time, as they stared at the explosion that shook the whole city.
Orange mes filled with lightning seemed to have filled in the sky, as the massive me pir collided with the ck-colored sh.
And yet, ''senior brother Qiong''s'' expression finally changed when he felt the gigantic me pir that he had condensed, being destroyed inch by inch.
The powerful ck-colored sword sh was barely stopped for a single moment by the huge me pir, before it started to cut through the mes, as it slowly split the ''inferno pir'' in half.
The golden-robed ''senior brother Qiong''s'' eyes widened in disbelief when he saw this scene, as he hurriedly started to inject even more of his qi into the me pir, in an attempt to stop the terrifying ck-colored sh from cutting through it!
However, no matter how much qi he injected in it, he only managed to slow down the ''Thundergod''s sh'', and was unable topletely stop it.
''''No! How is this possible? I am a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage genius!''''
The golden-robed young man could no longer hold back his shock as he shouted out in anger and disbelief.
He couldn''t understand how it was possible for the attack of an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator to overpower his ''inferno pir'', to the state where he was unable topletely stop it even after injecting a huge amount of his qi.
After all, the difference in cultivation between himself and Shun Long should have been impossible to be bridged, especially when they were both using Saint low-grade martial skills.
Of course, how could the golden-robed man''s ''inferno pir'' that had barely reached a 20 percent level ofprehension,pare to Shun Long''s ''Thundergod''s sh''?
Not only had Shun Long''s level ofprehension over this martial skill reached a shocking 92 percent, but his attack was also augmented by his extremely pure qi, and was also supported by a peak rank 1 star-rank weapon.
At the same time, during thest 4 years, Shun Long had only absorbed extremely pure qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', while the qi inside his ''qi balls'' was filtered even further thanks to the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
It wasn''t an exaggeration to say, that there was no other cultivator at the early stages of the Nascent Soul who could evene close topare the purity of their qi with Shun Long.
It was these 3 factors that allowed Shun Long to be able to breach the difference in cultivation levels and fight equally against a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert.
Anger and fear shed through the golden-robed young man''s eyes at the same time when he saw that the ck-colored sh was about topletely cut through his me pir.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and gave up on the ''inferno pir'', as he immediately turned around and tried to escape.
Without any further support from his qi however, the me pir that was on the verge of copse instantly dispersed, as the ck-colored sh continued to fly towards the golden-robed man''s direction.
''''NO! I CAN''T DIE!''''
The golden-robed man shouted madly as he tried to outrun the terrifying sh that was bing bigger and bigger in his eyes.
However, no matter what he did, it was impossible to escape this attack.
As the powerful sh cut through his body, the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage young man was split in two halves, and under the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators'' terrified gazes, his body lifelessly copsed on the ground.
Chapter 425: Not even put him in my eyes
Chapter 425: Not even put him in my eyes
The rowdy battlefield immediately fell silent as the golden-robed man''s body copsed on the ground.
His body had been cut in half from his waist, and yet his face still had a look of anger and madness, as well as unwillingness and disbelief, almost unable to ept the fact that he had died.
Shun Long shook his head slightly when he saw ''senior brother Qiong''s'' expression after his death, but there wasn''t any regret in his heart.
He knew that this was an unavoidable oue once the 2 of them started fighting.
As soon as they both used Saint low-grade martial skills, only one of them would stay alive.
Although he and the golden-robed young man had no enmity between them, it was obvious that neither of them was willing to give up the Holy sect''s token.
After all, as a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, how could ''senior brother Qiong'' be afraid of someone who had just broken through to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul?
Of course, if he knew that even his ''Inferno pir'' was no match for Shun Long''s ''Thundergod''s sh'', then he may have chosen to retreat and attack another city instead of fighting Shun Long head-on. However, in this world, there is no medicine for regret.
At the same time, even if Shun Long wanted to go easy on him and wasn''t willing to kill him, he couldn''t be certain that the golden-robed young man wouldn''t chase after him once he had expended his qi.
No matter what, the ''Thundergod''s sh'' required an enormous amount of his qi to be activated, and even after breaking through to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, Shun Long was unable to use it more than two times in a row before his qi was entirely depleted.
After staring at the golden-robed young man''s body for a few moments, Shun Long took the spatial ring from his hand, before he turned his eyes towards the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivators who were staring at him from the distance with looks of fear and disbelief in their eyes.
The scenes that they had just witnessed had left them scarred in their minds, and the moment that they met Shun Long''s gaze they couldn''t help taking a few steps back in fear.
Not only had an early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator managed to kill the old man in ck robes as well as the young woman with short hair both of whom were peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts, but he had even managed to kill the golden-robed young man who was fighting against those 2 earlier in just one sh!
A single sword sh had not only destroyed the gigantic me pir that was most likely a Saint low-grade martial skill, but it had even destroyed that person''s body and soul in one go.
After staring at the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators for a moment, Shun Long turned his attention towards the Holy sect''s token on the ground.
Using blink, he instantly appeared in the air above the golden-colored token, before he swept it in his right hand.
Then, without any hesitation, Shun Long shed his left hand in the air opening arge space tear, and ignoring the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who were staring at him with shocked looks on their faces, he stepped forward and entered inside the space tear, before he disappeared right in front of their eyes.
At the same time, in the hall of the Holy sect where the yellow-robed disciples of the sect were watching the test, the elder in white robes, Elder Zhuan, had already stood up from his seat, and was now staring at the wide screen of light at the center of the hall with a shocked look on his face.
His abnormal reaction had already caused the disciples of the Holy sect inside the hall to all turn their attention towards him at the same time.
Although they too had been shocked by Shun Long''s ability to kill 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators by himself, especially when he was still at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage himself, they had never expected that something like this would have even rmed Elder Zhuan.
Even when Shun Long hadprehended 92 percent of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' during the second test the look on Elder Zhuan''s face wasn''t as exaggerated!
Ignoring the stunned looks of the disciples around him, Elder Zhuan took a deep breath and continued to stare at the screen of light in front of him, before he mumbled to himself in a low voice that didn''t hide his puzzlement and shock
''''This kid... has reallyprehended the Dao of Space?
No... it''s not just that he hasprehended it, but it''s probably the foundation Dao that he has chosen for his body refinement cultivation...''''
The moment that Elder Zhuan''s voice resounded in tha air, the entire hall instantly fell silent.
The disciples of the Holy sect felt as if an explosion had taken ce in their minds, as they all stared at the screen of light at the center of the hall with incredulous looks on their faces.
Some of them had shocked looks, others had looks of puzzlement, some of them were filled with envy, and there were even some who were filled with scorn.
Finally, a young woman in yellow robes who was the closest to the white-robed Elder Zhuan couldn''t stay silent when she heard his words, as she asked curiously
''''Is Elder Zhuan certain that it is the Dao of Space? Perhaps it''s some kind of special talisman that can bend space for a few moments. I heard that junior brother Mu also has a simr talisman.''''
Some of the disciples inside the hall nodded their heads when they heard this question, before they turned their attention towards Elder Zhuan as they waited for his answer.
Elder Zhuan however only stared at the disciple who had asked this question for a single moment, before he shook his head and asked without any hints of anger in his voice
''''Do you think I wouldn''t be able to realize it if someone used a talisman under my watch? Let alone the fact that the third test prohibits the use of any talismans that someone hasn''t personally crafted, that kid clearly didn''t use any qi when he tore space apart, using just his physical strength! This is only possible if he has chosen the Dao of Space as his foundational Dao for his body refinement cultivation, otherwise, there will be at least some qi fluctuations when he creates a space tear.''''
As Elder Zhuan''s voice finished resounding inside the hall, the disciples of the Holy sect fell silent once again, before a rtively tall and robust young man with long ck hair stared at the screen of light with a scornful look in his eyes and said
''''Even if it really is the Dao of Space, Elder Zhuan still gives that brat too much credit.
After all, his cultivation in body refinement is still at the peak of the fourth stage.
Even if he managed to get some insights in the Dao of Space in the past, he was still far too cocky to dare and use it as his foundational Dao during his breakthrough.
At the same time, even though his Nascent Soul vortex was abnormal during his breakthrough, he is still at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul in the end. I bet that it will take him at least a few thousand years until his body cultivation even breaks through to the early fifth stage. By then, which of us here won''t have stepped into the Dao King realm?
Honestly, I don''t even put that brat in my eyes.
As for his Dao of Lightning, although it will certainly enhance his speed, he is definitely not going to be anyone too important in the future!
Instead, I''d be much more wary of some of those brats that can destroy an entire city by themselves.''''
As the young man finished his words, everyone seemed to have realized that his words were probably true, and caused them to heave out a sigh of relief.
No matter how abnormal Shun Long''s Nascent Soul vortex was, his Dao of Space was still something that he hadprehended and set as a foundation for his body cultivation.
This was something that even Elder Zhuan had confirmed.
At the same time, it wasmon knowledge that body cultivators took much longer to breakthrough to the next stagepared to qi cultivators, due to the strict requirements that they needed to adhere to as they tempered their body to its fullest.
Even if Shun Long broke through to the early fifth stage in body refinement in the future, considering that he had just broken through to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, it would definitely take a hundred years at the very least until his body refinement managed to catch up.
By then, even if his qi cultivation had managed to catch up with his peers, he would definitely be left behind in terms of body refinement.
Elder Zhuan didn''t reply right away when he heard the young man''s words, as his eyes continued to stare at the screen of light at the center of the hall with a serious look inside them.
Chapter 426: Being careful
Chapter 426: Being careful
At the same time, Shun Long who had just entered the space tear, instantly appeared above the city walls a momentter, arriving right in the midst of the fight that had yet to end.
Originally, there were 1000 peak rank 9 Spirit realm and rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators on top of the city walls trying to fend off the alliance of disciples that attacked the city, not allowing them toe closer.
However, the cultivation of the disciples in the alliance was still much higher than the criminals on the city walls, causing catastrophic losses towards the criminals, with less than 400 of them left alive at this point.
The moment that the disciples in the alliance managed to endure the first wave of long-range attacks and reached the city walls was the moment that the ughter started, causing hundred of corpses to pile up on the city walls.
Of course, more than 30 of the original 170 disciples had also ended up dying during this fight, but most of them were either the few people that were at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm or those who were at the rank 1 of the Nascent Soul.
At the same time, although Shun Long''s appearance was noticed by people from both sides, no one paid too much attention to an early rank 1 Nascent Soul cultivator who appeared out of nowhere.
After taking a quick look at the situation below him, Shun Long didn''t stay in this ce any longer, as he raised his left hand for the second time opening another space tear, arriving 3 miles away from the city.
Shun Long repeated this action 3 more times until he was more than 10 miles away from the city.
Since he had already obtained the Holy sect''s token there was no reason for him to stay in the city any longer.
Instead, staying in the city was actually even more dangerous to him.
After all, the 4 middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who had seen him kill the golden-robed man, the ck-robed old man as well as the young woman in short hair, already knew that he was the one who had obtained the token from the city.
If Shun Long wasted more time inside the city, it was very likely that he would end up shing against the remaining peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators and their groups.
After all, Shun Long still remembered, that from the original members of the alliance that attacked the city, there were also 2 other peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, each of whom led their own small groups when they attacked the city.
At the same time, he had also heard from the golden-robed young man''s discussion with the ck-robed young woman, that there were 2 other criminals at the peak of rank 3 inside the city as well, while the 2 groups of disciples from the alliance had already chased after those peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts.
Of course, although Shun Long had managed to kill the 2 ck-robed old man and the short-haired woman who were at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, as well as the golden-robed ''senior brother Qiong'' all by himself, it was impossible for him to fight against 4 more people at the same level, let alone when they were all leading their own groups.
After all, he had already expended arge amount of his qi using the ''Thundergod''s sh'' once to kill the golden-robed ''senior brother Qiong''.
If he was besieged by 4 other peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators at the same time, then even in the best-case scenario, he would only be able to kill one of them before he ended up running out of qi and dying in their hands.
Of course, he had also considered killing the 4 people who had witnessed him obtaining the Holy sect''s token, silencing them and allowing no one to know that he was the one who had obtained the token in the first ce, but this thought only shed past his mind for a single moment before it was instantly extinguished.
In the end, these people were still middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and even if all of them were weaker than the golden-robed ''senior brother Qiong'', their strength was definitely not too far off from the ck-robed old man who was at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul.
Killing all 4 of them in a short amount of time was simply impossible.
At the same time, Shun Long was also aware that his fight against the golden-robed young man had already been noticed by the other cultivators in the city, causing all of them to head over to that ce.
After all, his ''Thundergod''s sh'' shing the huge ''inferno pir'' in half was probably noticed by more than just one or 2 people.
At that moment, everyone would immediately understand, that the only thing that could be enticing enough to cause 2 people to fight all-out using their Saint low-grade martial skills, could only be the Holy sect''s token or something of simr value.
Thus, it would only take a few moments for the remaining 2 groups of disciples to move towards the north of the city where he was fighting with the golden-robed young man.
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long didn''t hesitate, as he flew towards the south.
Originally, he had also thought of flying towards the west, to the forest where he originally came from, but knowing that the disciples inside the city could very likely remember this and startbing through it, caused him to change his direction and head towards the south instead.
Shun Long flew towards the south at full speed, passing through many mountains and a small forest, but he still didn''t stop.
Finally, more than 3 hourster, he arrived in front of an inconspicuous small mountain that was part of a small mountain range.
Seeing that there was a naturally formed cave near the small mountain''s foot, Shun Long first closed his eyes and spread his soul sense to check if there were any humans or magic beasts around him, before he entered inside the cave.
Having obtained the Holy sect''s token, the only thing he had to do was stay in seclusion for the next 25 days, and try to advance his strength as much as possible during this time.
In the blink of an eye, 24 days quickly passed, and thest day of the third test finally arrived!
Chapter 427: Golden door
Chapter 427: Golden door
As the sun slowly rose in this world of 1000 cities, sunlight seeped through the gaps of the cave''s entrance, slowly illuminating the dim environment inside it.
More than 5000 spirit stones were piled up on the ground around Shun Long in an orderly manner, and all of them seemed to have lost their luster by now, looking like they were nothing more than average stones without any value.
In thest 24 days Shun Long hadn''t moved from this cave at all, and he was either absorbing the energy inside the middle-grade spirit stones in front of him, or he spent his time trying to breakthrough to the next stage of body refinement.
Since he wasn''t certain yet if there would be another test of the Holy sect after this one, breaking through to the early fifth stage of the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' and increasing his strength as much as possible was the most important thing to do right now.
After all, in this third test alone, someone like the golden-robed ''senior brother Qiong'' had already forced him to nearly go all-out after using the ''Thundergod''s sh''.
If there was a fourth test and it was even harder than the third test, Shun Long guessed that even in the best-case scenario, not more than 200 out of the original 1000 disciples that passed through the third test would manage to sessfully pass the fourth one.
It was too bad that during thesest 24 days, Shun Long hadn''t managed to break through to the early fifth stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Although he could feel that his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had already reached the absolute peak of the fourth stage and his ''Dao of Space'' was also at a high enough level for him to breakthrough by now, Shun Long could feel that he was still half a step away from seeding.
At the same time, since he was still inside the Holy sect''s test, Shun Long didn''t dare to enter inside the ''Stone of Time'' or summon the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' to swallow the middle-grade spirit stones and provide him with pure qi during this time.
Instead, he was absorbing the spirit stones in front of him by himself, and although it was a slow process with a much lower efficiencypared to the Heaven Swallowing vine''s, this was still the only thing he could do right now to advance his strength.
After all, Shun Long knew that if the Holy sect learned of the existence of the Heaven Swallowing vine, then, even if they were a sect that would never rob its disciples, it was still very likely that there would be at least a few Elders who would be unable to reign in their greed and would choose to make their move.
After all, even in his previous life, Shun Long knew that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' was a peerless treasure that could increase anyone''s speed of cultivation, as well as provide them with endless pure qi.
This was something that had been buried in the annals of history, a treasure that hadn''t been found for countless years.
Who could expect that something like it would appear in a ce so small like the Deste East?
Even Dao Emperors would have their eyes turn red with envy if they learned of the existence of this treasure, and would trade everything in their possession if it meant that they could get a hold of this treasure vine.
Of course, during these past 24 days, since he was unable to use the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' to turn the middle-grade spirit stones into pure qi, Shun Long knew that his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' would end up expelling even more qi from the middle-grade spirit stones, causing him to waste even more spirit stones in the process.
After all, Shun Long knew, that the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' wouldn''t allow him to absorb the entirety of the qi contained inside a single middle-grade spirit stone, and would only absorb the tiniest amount inside it that contained the purest qi, rejecting anything that contained even the slightest bit of impurities.
Of course, the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' was still a treasure that could cleanse the qi regardless of its source, including the qiing from the bodies of magic beasts let alone that inside the spirit stones, and turn it into pure qi that Shun Long would then absorb.
In reality, even the qiing from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' was still ''screened'' by the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' in the end, allowing Shun Long to only absorb 80% of it while rejecting the rest, butpared to the qi that wasing directly from the spirit stones, the difference in quality was simply iparable.
At the same time, this was the only point that Shun Long couldn''t help butment on regarding his own cultivation.
After all, not only did the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' require enormous amounts of qipared to other cultivators at the same level as him, but Shun Long also knew that it would only allow him to absorb the purest qi possible inside his qi balls.
Thus, even with the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' and the foggy space inside the Stone of Time, Shun Long still had to spend more time cultivatingpared to other cultivators at the same level as him.
Of course, after obtaining the golden-robed ''senior brother Qiong''s'' spatial ring, Shun Long definitely didn''t feel the pinch of wasting 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
After all, ''senior brother Qiong''s'' spatial ring had more than 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones inside it.
Such wealth easily rivaled that of an average Dao King''s in the Night star continent.
Of course, as a person who most likely came from a major power in his own continent, it wasn''t too surprising for ''senior brother Qiong'' to be this rich.
As for the old man''s and the short-haired woman''s spatial rings, Shun Long had been initially surprised to find out that they were practically empty.
However, after thinking about it for a while, he understood that this was only natural in the end.
After all, the Holy sect would definitely sweep their spatial rings clean before exiling them in this ce, and would only allow them to keep their weapons to defend themselves and fight.
Letting them keep their spirit stones or any rare pills and medicinal herbs in their possession was simply impossible.
As the spirit stones on the groundpletely turned to dust, Shun Long finally condensed the 7th ball of qi above his head, reaching the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul stage.
At the same time, as the final day came to an end, Shun Long saw the Holy sect''s token that he had ced beside him suddenly lit up with a bright golden light.
In the beginning, the light was dim and had barely covered the surface of the Holy sect''s token, but as time went on it started to expand as it turned even brighter, slowly turning into a golden, incorporeal door.
The door started to ripple, and in just a few moments, it looked no different than a real door. The only difference was that this door that was created from qi had no handle on it.
However, with just a nce, Shun Long could see that this was definitely the exit from the third test.
This door didn''t only appear in front of Shun Long.
Everyone else who had a Holy sect''s token on their possession saw a simr scene appearing in front of their eyes.
In a forest far away from Shun Long, in a small, isted cave, 2 peerlessly beautiful young women were staring at the 2 doors golden doors that were taking shape in front of them, with dazzling smiles on both of their faces.
It was like spring hade inside the small cave, painting a scene of indescribable beauty as the 2 kingdom-toppling beautiful women stood next to each other.
A momentter, the green-robed blonde beauty on the left looked at the young woman on her right who had just finished putting a white veil on her face and asked with that same smile
''''Mei, are you ready?''''
Liu Mei nodded her head a momentter, while Shun Long''s image suddenly appeared in her mind, almost as if he was waiting behind this golden door, and without hesitating for a moment, she ced her left hand on the golden door''s surface.
Xie Xingyi smiled and did the same, before the figures of the 2 beautiful women instantly disappeared from the cave, leaving nothing left inside.
At the same time, inside the small mountain he was in, Shun Long took a step forward and ced his right hand on the golden door''s surface.
Golden light suddenly appeared from the door,pletely covering his body from head to toe, before a momentter, Shun Long''s body disappeared from the small cave.
Chapter 428: The fourth tests rules
Chapter 428: The fourth test''s rules
The moment that his right hand touched the golden door, Shun Long could sense the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations instantly covering his body, before the scene in front of his eyes started to blur.
At the same time, he could sense his surroundings that were rapidly changing, while different scenes shed through his eyes one after the other.
Finally, an hourter, Shun Long could see the segregated colors around him as they started toe together, forming apletely unfamiliar ce.
It was arge arena filled with empty seats, that seemed spacious enough to hold hundreds of thousands of people at the same time.
As Shun Long took a look around him, he instantly realized that he was no longer in the world of ''one-thousand cities''.
At the same time, he saw hundreds of other disciples around him dressed in all kinds of different clothing, all of them staring at their surroundings with eyes that didn''t hide their confusion, clearly having no idea what this ce was.
And yet, barely a moment had passed since Shun Long had appeared in this ce, when the same powerful voice that he had heard back during the start of the third test suddenly resounded throughout the entire arena, like a bolt of lightning that wasing down from the sky, as it once again said in that same, domineering tone as before
''''Wee to the fourth test of my Holy sect, the entrance battle!''''
As this booming voice resounded throughout the arena, everyone suddenly raised their heads to stare at the sky above the arena at the same time.
Turning his eyes towards the sky, Shun Long saw an old man in white robes standing above the arena, staring at Shun Long and the rest of the disciples around him with a calm smile on his face.
With just a nce, Shun Long''s eyes instantly took in the old man''s appearance.
He was thin and tall, with a long white beard and almost no hair on his head.
At the same time, from the smile that was hanging on his lips, anyone could guess that he was the person who had spoken just now.
However, everyone shook when they noticed the old man''s aura.
Unlike his domineering voice, the old man''s aura waspletely retracted, making him look like an ordinary, harmless mortal.
And yet, this scene was actually even more terrifying to the disciples inside the arena, than if the old man had been openly disying his strength. After all, to be able to stand in the sky without emitting the slightest bit of qi fluctuations, showed how terrifying this person really was.
''''A Dao Emperor realm expert!''''
This thought shed through every disciple''s mind practically at the same time, causing waves of shock to rise in their hearts.
This was especially true for those disciples who didn''te from a powerful force in their own continents and didn''t know the true strength of the Holy sect. Seeing a Dao Emperor realm expert standing in front of them with a smile on his face caused them to tremble while some of them involuntarily lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze head-on.
At the same time, although Shun Long had already guessed long ago that a Dao Emperor realm expert was most likely presiding over the Holy sect''s test, he hadn''t expected that he would meet one today.
After all, in thest 3 years that he and Liu Mei had spent in the Night star continent, Shun Long hadn''t even seen a single Dao Emperor realm cultivator!
He had only heard rumors that in the past, there were a couple Dao Emperor realm experts in the Night star continent, but they eventually left for the central continent and never came back.
After staring at the old man for a moment, Shun Long turned his gaze to the people following behind him.
A step behind this old man was another old man in white robes, with long white hair and a clean-shaven face, his appearance in sharp contrast to the old man in the lead.
This old man''s aura caused another wave of shock to rise in Shun Long''s heart.
Although this person wasn''t at the Dao Emperor realm, his aura was definitely simr to Duan Zhu''s from the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', at the peak of the Dao King realm!
No, it was actually slightly stronger than Duan Zhu''s!
Shun Long stared at this peak rank 9 Dao King realm expert for a few moments with a serious look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards the young men and women who were standing in the sky behind him.
Most of those young men and women had arrogant looks on their faces, almost as if they were looking down on Shun Long and the rest of the disciples around him.
At the same time, these people were dressed in yellow robes, with the word ''Holy'' engraved on the front part of their robes, near their chests, while the word ''Sect'' was engraved on the back of their robes.
These were definitely disciples of the Holy sect.
At that moment, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly narrowed when he realized how many of those disciples were present here.
There were precisely 1000 of them!
Before anyone could ask any questions however, the old man that was leading the Holy sect''s group smiled before he continued speaking
''''This is the fourth and final test of my Holy sect, the entrance battle!
The rules of this test are actually very simple, and yet... this can also be considered the most difficult test for you!
All you have to do is fight against an outer disciple of my Holy sect and defeat them.
Those of you who manage to pass this test and defeat your opponents will be able to join my Holy sect and be official outer disciples.
As for those of you who fail... you can only me yourselves!''''
As the old man finished his words, looks that were filled with both shock and disbelief immediately appeared on the faces of the disciples inside the arena, as they all turned their gazes towards the 1000 young men and women in the sky behind the old man.
The disciples of the Holy sect however weren''t flustered in the slightest, obviously having already expected this, as they stared back at the disciples inside the arena with condescending looks in their eyes.
Chapter 429: Token numbers
Chapter 429: Token numbers
''''Defeat an outer disciple of the Holy sect?''''
The old man''s words reverberated like a bolt of thunder in everyone''s ears, as the disciples inside the arena stared at the yellow-robed disciples of the Holy sect in the sky with shock in their eyes.
Even the weakest among the disciples of the Holy sect was at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, while the strongest of them were actually at the early rank 6!
After all, not only did the disciples of the Holy sect have a much higher cultivation level than the disciples in the arena, but it was certain that most of them were most likely training in Saint grade cultivation techniques and martial skills as well.
No matter what, this test was simply impossible.
Even Shun Long was stunned for a moment when he heard the rules of the fourth test, before he turned to look at the old man with a curious look in his eyes.
''''Is the Holy sect nning on eliminating everyone with this fourth test?''''
As this thought shed through Shun Long''s mind, he quickly rejected it as it didn''t make any sense. There was definitely more to this test than what the old man had exined just now, otherwise, the previous 3 tests would have been pointless.
Indeed, the old man smiled a momentter when he noticed the reaction of the disciples in the arena, before he continued exining with an unperturbed expression on his face
''''Hehe, don''t be so afraid. The disciples that you fight will have their cultivation restricted at the peak of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul. Otherwise, I doubt that there would be any of you who would be able to pass this test, hehehe.''''
Sighs of relief quickly filled the arena when the disciples heard the old man''s exnation, and yet, the condescending looks on the faces of those disciples of the Holy sect in the sky didn''t disappear, as mocking smiles slowly appeared on their faces at the same time.
Staring at the Dao Emperor old man in the sky, a young woman that was at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul and was standing a few meters away from Shun Long took a deep breath, before she took a step forward, attracting everyone''s attention, as she asked in a curious voice
''''Senior, I-I want to ask... what happens to those who fail this test? Can they still join the sect?
I heard that even if someone fails the third or the fourth test, they can still choose to be followers of an outer disciple. Is that true?''''
''''Hahahaha!''''
The white-robed old man with an unkempt appearance startedughing when he heard the young woman''s words, before he nodded his head and said with an amiable smile on his face
''''That''s right. As long as you pass through the fourth test, you can choose to take in 2 people along with you when you enter the sect. Those people can be your servants and will have to listen to everything you say. Additionally, if you fail the fourth test, if someone else who passes takes an interest in you, you can choose to be their servant and follow them in the sect as well.
Of course, if you fail the fourth test and you don''t want to be someone else''s servant, you can choose to return back to your own continent instead.''''
Most disciples nodded their heads as if they already knew about this matter. At the same time, Shun Long''s eyes instantly widened, as he suddenly remembered what the old man from the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' in the Heaven''s Dome city had said a little more than 2 years ago.
Back then, the peak rank 3 gold grade alchemist Zhao Lan, had told Shun Long that as long as he was willing to, the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' would give him a chance to groom him and allow him to be a ''follower'' of one of the geniuses that enter the Holy sect.
This way, he would be able to follow them inside the Holy sect and be their so-called follower.
After all, a talented alchemist would be sought after by both individuals andrge powers alike.
However, the Dao Emperor the Holy sect didn''t use the word follower just now to describe the people who entered the sect this way, but the word servant instead.
This implied that those ''followers'' would only have the same status as a servant inside the sect.
Even if their status slightly higher, it wouldn''t be that much different from an actual servant''s in the end.
''''Thank you senior.''''
The young woman who had asked the question just now bowed to the Dao Emperor in the sky with a determined look on her face.
It was obvious that she had made up her mind to pass this fourth test no matter what.
Seeing that no one else took a step forward to ask any more questions, the white-robed old man waved his hand and took out a Holy sect''s token from his spatial ring.
This token was practically identical to the one that Shun Long and the rest of the disciples here had? all obtained during the third test!
Seeing that everyone below him recognized the token in his hands, the old man''s lips seemed to have curved up unnoticeably, as he then continued with that same smile on his face
''''Each of you managed to obtain a token during the third test. It doesn''t matter if you hunted others and stole it from them, or if you obtained it directly from one of the thousand cities in the test. The token in your hands is what will determine your opponent during this fourth test.''''
As soon as the old man finished speaking, the 1000 disciples of the Holy sect behind him all took out a golden-colored token from their robes, that looked identical to the one that Shun Long and the rest of the disciples around him had.
However, their tokens didn''t have the words Holy sect on them but they had different numbers instead.
Those numbers ranged from number 1 all the way to 1000.
Taking a look at the token in his hands, Shun Long was stunned for a moment.
The words ''Holy'' and ''Sect'' that were engraved on the token seemed to have disappeared, as 3 numbers seemed to have taken their ce instead
''''351''''
At the same moment that this number appeared on his Holy sect''s token, Shun Long suddenly felt an unstoppable force enveloping his body, as he and the rest of the disciples in the arena were all sent flying towards the audience seats, no longer standing in the middle of the arena.
The unstoppable force slowly disappeared once Shun Long and the rest of the disciples arrived above the audience seats, allowing them tond safely.
Of course, this force hade from the old man in the sky, and it was nothing more than a simple wave of his hand.
Even a thousand Nascent Soul stage cultivators were unable to resist a single gust of air that came from the Dao Emperor as he swept his hand!
Ignoring the shocked expressions on the disciples'' faces, the old man with an unkempt appearance turned his head around and stared at the 1000 disciples of the Holy sect behind him, before he asked in a domineering voice
''''Who is fighting first?''''
The disciples of the Holy sect all turned their eyes towards a tall, robust young man with long ck hair.
This was the same young man who had said that he doesn''t put Shun Long in his eyes during the third test, a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage expert!
The young man looked at the white-robed old man in the sky and bowed deeply, before he said in a tone filled with confidence
''''Elder Cao, this junior is first.''''
The white-robed Dao Emperor, Elder Cao nodded his head after seeing the golden-colored token in the young man''s hands that had the number ''1'' on it, and allowed him to go and stand at the center of the arena.
The young man smiled as he descended in the middle of the arena like a bolt of lightninging down from the sky.
At that moment, his cultivation started to ''drop'', from the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul, until it finally stopped at the peak of rank 3 a few momentster.
As soon as his cultivation stabilized at the peak of rank 3, the robust young man turned his attention towards the group of disciples in the audience seats in the arena, before he called out in an arrogant tone as if he didn''t ce any of those disciples in his eyes
''''Which one of you has the token with the number 1 on it? Come out!''''
At that moment, everyone instantly turned their attention towards a handsome young man in sky-blue robes who shot towards the center of the arena with a serious expression on his face.
This young man stared at the tall and robust outer disciple of the Holy sect in front of him with a solemn look in his eyes, before he took out a golden-colored token from his robes.
This token had the number ''1'' on it.
At the same time, in the audience seats, Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he saw the blue-robed young man''s face. After all, this was a person that Shun Long had already met once back in the ''Night star continent''!
Chapter 430: Difference
Chapter 430: Difference
With just a nce, Shun Long instantly recognized this person as the young master of the Golden Exchange firm, the person who was ranked 4th in the House of Rankings of the Heaven''s Dome city, Hu Liu.
This man with blue-colored hair and sword-like eyebrows was the same person who owned the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'' and had allowed it to attack Little Silver at the entrance of the Golden Exchange firm in broad daylight.
Back then, Hu Liu hadn''t chosen to suppress the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'', and instead had a smile on his face as he observed the 2 magic beasts fighting with each other, almost as if he was watching a y.
And yet, his expression right now as he was about to face an outer disciple of the Holy sectcked any hints of a smile, and was reced by a serious and solemn look instead.
Staring at his opponent, Hu Liu seemed to have suppressed his usual arrogance as he cupped his hands and introduced himself
''''My name is Hu Liu and Ie from the ''Golden Exchange firm'' of the Night star continent.''''
However, the robust young man in yellow robes opposite to him smiled when he heard this introduction, and after shaking his head lightly he took a step forward and said with a smile filled with mockery
''''It doesn''t matter who you are since you are getting eliminated here today.
As soon as you are ready you can make your move.''''
Hu Liu''s expression changed when he heard the mockery and disregard on the robust young man''s voice.
After all, in the end, Hu Liu was a person of extremely high status in the Night star continent, the young master of one of the peak powers in the Heaven''s Dome city, the ''Golden Exchange firm''!
This was the first time that he had been treated like this and was brushed aside like a random beggar on the streets.
Not only did his opponent not introduce himself, but he even said that he was going to eliminate him without a change in his expression.
To a person like Hu Liu who had never lowered his head before to someone of the same generation, this was an insult that he couldn''t swallow. The utter disregard and the ridiculing look in his opponent''s eyes was no different than a fishbone being stuck in his throat.
Unable to endure this any longer, Hu Liu raised both of his hands in front of his chest and ced his palms against each other as he shouted in an angry voice
''''Earth golem summoning!''''
At that moment, Hu Liu''s cultivation at the peak of rank 3 exploded outwards while the ground beneath his feet had also started to rumble at the same time. The earth around him started toe together, as it quickly turned into arge golem more than 15m(49ft) tall!
This was a Saint low-grade martial skill that Hu Liu had obtained from the ''Golden Exchange firm'', ''Earth golem summoning''!
Of course, this was the only Saint low-grade martial skill that the ''Golden Exchange firm'' had, and it was something that they had obtained by chance thousands of years ago.
This martial skill could only be practiced by cultivators who hadprehended the Dao of Earth, allowing them to summon an earth golem at the same cultivation level as themselves.
This golem had terrifying defensive capabilities, and it was almost impossible to be damaged by cultivators at the same level. Additionally, even if this golem was damaged, it was impossible for it to be killed as long as Hu Liu''s qi didn''t run out!
Without waiting for the robust young man from the Holy sect to respond, after summoning the huge golem, Hu Liu also summoned a thickyer of earth armor around his body, making him look no different than a miniature golem himself.
At the same time, he also took out a shining silver-colored shield from his spatial ring and held it in front of his chest!
This was the full power of the person ranked 4th in the Night star continent, and the reason why Hu Liu had been high in the House of Rankings for so many years!
The robust young man''s expression changed slightly when he saw the shield in front of Hu Liu, but he didn''t seem to care one bit about the golem that was standing in front of him like a guard.
Of course, as an outer disciple of the Holy sect, how could he not realize that the silver shield in front of Hu Liu was a rank 3 gold grade weapon?
It wasn''t just an average rank 3 gold grade weapon either. Instead, it seemed to be very close to reaching the peak of rank 3 as well!
Of course, the robust young man''s expression only changed for a single moment, as he turned to look at Hu Liu with that same smile on his face a momentter, before he took out a small snow-white sword from his spatial ring.
This was another peak rank 3 gold grade weapon, while its quality was actually simr to Hu Liu''s shield.
Hu Liu wasn''t surprised when he saw the peak rank 3 gold-grade sword in the young man''s hands.
Although his origins as the young master of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' were illustrious in the Night star continent, many disciples of the Holy sect originated from powerful forces as well whose statuses may not be inferior to Hu Liu''s own.
Thus, he was already prepared if his opponent were to have a rank 3 gold grade weapon as well, which was why his father had given him this shield to use during the Holy sect''s test.
After all, even for the ''Golden Exchange firm'' which was one of the top powers even in the entire Night star continent, the number of rank 3 and peak rank 3 gold grade weapons that they had could be counted on two hands.
They only had a single peak rank 3 gold grade weapon which belonged to the head of the ''Golden Exchange firm'', while the rest of their rank 3 gold grade weapons actually didn''t exceed 10 in number!
Without waiting for the young man of the Holy sect to make the first move, Hu Liu then pointed forward with his shield, as therge earth golem in front of him raised its feet, and ran towards the tall young man in yellow robes in front of it.
The young man of the Holy sect didn''t seem flustered by the fact that Hu Liu seemed to have taken the initiative, and instead, a mocking smile was slowly formed on his lips.
Raising his snow-white sword above his head, the young man infused his qi inside it as he said with a casual voice
''''Ice Seal!''''
A blinding white light instantly enveloped the small white sword, asrge amounts of qi left the yellow-robed young man''s body, rapidly formingyers of ice around the sword''s surface.
At the same time, Hu Liu''s earth golem had already closed the distance between itself and the yellow-robed young man, but at the same moment that it clenched its fist and sent itsrge fist flying towards the yellow-robed disciple of the Holy sect, the yellow-robed young man suddenly shed the sword forward.
A powerful hailstorm instantly erupted from the sword''s surface, instantly enveloping the huge earth golem.
Hu Liu''s eyes instantly widened when he saw the scene inside the hailstorm!
The golem that he had summoned using his Saint low-grade martial skill was now trapped in a thickyer of ice, unable to even touch the yellow-robed young man in front of it.
Although its fist was less than 1 meter away from the yellow-robed man, the golem was unable to even move its muscles.
Hu Liu instantly saw his strongest skill being stopped without even inflicting any damage on the disciple of the Holy sect!
And yet, this wasn''t the end of it, as the terrifying hailstorm that had already frozen the earth golem in its tracks, started to move towards Hu Liu.
Hu Liu wanted to dodge, but the hailstorm had already covered a third of the arena!
No matter where he went, he would still be trapped inside the hailstorm eventually!
At the same time, his biggest advantage was his own defense. If he backed down now, he might as well give up on the Holy sect''s test.
Raising the silver shield in front of him, the blue-haired young man stood rooted on the spot as he actually resisted the powerful hailstorm head-on.
At that moment however, the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect didn''t stay idle, as he dove inside the hailstorm as well.
Sitting in the audience seats, Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he saw this.
Barely 3 breaths of time passed since that moment, as the hailstorm rapidly dispersed revealing the scene inside it.
The yellow-robed disciple of the Holy sect was holding his sword against Hu Liu''s neck with a yful look on his face, almost as if he was looking at an ant that he was toying around with.
In less than 3 moves, the young master of the ''Golden Exchange firm'', a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the person ranked 4th in the Night star continent, Hu Liu had actually been defeated.
Chapter 431: Shocking revelation
Chapter 431: Shocking revtion
Hu Liu stared at the young man in front of him who was holding the snow-white sword against his neck with a dazed look in his eyes.
For a moment, the young master of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' thought that he was actually living in a nightmare and couldn''t wait to wake up from it. And yet, the chilling feeling that wasing from the tip of the sword, as well as the few droplets of blood and the faint pain on his neck both made him realize that this was all real.
Seeing the blue-haired Hu Liu stumble backwards the yellow-robed young man of the Holy sect smiled mockingly, when a cold voice came from the sky and said in a cold tone
''''Eliminated!''''
As everyone turned their heads towards the sky, they noticed that this voice came from the white-robed old man with long hair, whose cultivation was at the peak of the Dao King realm.
''''NO! I didn''t lose!? I want another chance! I am still standing!''''
The moment that the word ''eliminated'' entered Hu Liu''s ears, it was as if something had suddenly broken inside him, as the young master of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' shouted unwillingly at the old man in the sky from the top of his lungs.
His father, the head of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' had already told him time and time again during the past few years of how important it was for him to enter the Holy sect.
If he became a disciple of the Holy sect, not only would he be able to help the Night star continent alleviate the pressure that they were feeling from the ''Demon Emperor pce'', but his own cultivation and status would also explode.
Even though Hu Liu didn''t really care about the Night star continent and its fate, how could he possibly ept being eliminated from the Holy sect''s test at this point? The Holy sect was the dream of every young cultivator in the Night star continent, especially those who came from the peak powers of the continent!
This was the ticket that would allow Hu Liu to be a true powerhouse in the future, one that wouldn''t be restricted at the peak of the Dao King realm!
And yet, the peak rank 9 Dao King in white robes stared at the raging Hu Liu who was filled with unwillingness, with a calm expression on his face.
Raising his hand, the old man revealed a small white token with mysterious symbols on it.
Before Hu Liu had any time to react, a white ray of light appeared from the token in the white-robed elder''s hand and instantly covered his entire body.
''''NO! I DIDN''T LOSE!''''
The blue-haired young man''s scream reverberated throughout the arena as his body started to fade away, turning into countless motes of light that slowly disappeared in front of everyone''s eyes.
Silence immediately filled the arena as everyone stared at Hu Liu''s disappearing body with different expressions on their faces, before they all turned their attention towards the old man in white robes in the sky.
The peak rank 9 Dao King looked at the disciples in the audience seats with a serious look, almost as if he was taking in everyone''s appearance, while stopping on a few select individuals for a few seconds longer than the rest.
Finally, a few momentster, the old man smiled before he said in a nonchnt voice
''''Don''t worry, that kid isn''t dead. I simply sent him to wait along with the rest of those who have failed the third test. If any of you has a good rtionship with him, I suppose that you can choose him as your servantter on and allow him to follow you inside the sect.
Hehe, that is of course under the premise that you will actually manage to pass this test first.
The truth is, that the disciples that you will all face here today are actually the 1000 weakest outer disciples of my Holy sect!
And yet, less than 100 out of the 1000 people that participate in the fourth test manage to enter our Holy sect in the end and be official disciples.''''
After a brief moment of pause, the old man''s smile slightly widened as he then continued
''''Of course, I am sure that some of you were shocked when you heard the test''s rules and thought that it is unfair.
After all, how can you fight against those who have already be outer disciples of the sect?
Hehehe, however, the truth is, that these disciples in front of you only entered the sect 2 months before you!''''
The moment that the white-haired old Dao King finished his words, shocked looks appeared on the faces of the disciples in the audience seats.
Even Shun Long couldn''t help feeling stunned for a moment once he heard this.
''''These were the one thousand weakest disciples of the sect?
They only entered the sect a month ago?
In that case, how many disciples did the Holy sect actually ept?''''
However, aside from these 3 questions, an even more shocking one appeared in Shun Long''s mind at the same time
''''A random disciple among the one thousand weakest disciples of the Holy sect could actually defeat Hu Liu within 2 or 3 moves?''''
Of course, it was natural for Shun Long to feel shocked after realizing this.
After all, no matter how weak Hu Liu may have really been, as the young master of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' and as a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, it should be impossible for him to lose against someone else so quickly.
For the fight to end so quickly, this only proved one thing! That Hu Liu''s opponent was so powerful, that he could definitely surmount realms and fight people stronger than him.
At the very least, as a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul expert, the young man in yellow robes was definitely strong enough to fight against early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivators head-on.
And yet, such a person was still ranked within the 1000 weakest disciples of the Holy sect!
The gap of strength between the Holy sect and the peak powers in the Night star continent couldn''t even be described if onepared them with the clouds and the mud!
The old Dao King seemed satisfied after seeing the shocked looks on every disciples'' faces, before turning his attention towards the yellow-robed disciples behind him, almost as if he was waiting for the next person to step into the arena.
At the same time, the old Dao Emperor who had stayed silent during this time actually raised his eyebrows with a curious expression on his face.
He had originally expected that these new disciples would have been shocked for a good while, and perhaps they would even tremble after realizing the Holy sect''s strength that was beyond their expectations.
And yet, there were actually 2 among those disciples who were only startled for a few moments, before they turned their eyes towards the rest of the yellow-robed disciples behind the old man, almost as if the shock from what they had just heard didn''t matter too much in the end.
At that moment, Shun Long had the illusion that the Dao Emperor''s gaze hadnded on his body, before it slowly moved away from him, towards a person d in ck robes not too far away from his location.
A few momentster, the white-robed Dao Emperor closed his eyes, his lips curving up into a smile as he mumbled a single word
''''Interesting!''''
Chapter 432: The Holy sects undefeatable disciples
Chapter 432: The Holy sect''s undefeatable disciples
The moment that he heard the bald old man''s mumbling, the peak rank 9 Dao King who was standing in the air just a few meters away from him immediately turned his eyes to look at the bald Dao Emperor with a shocked look.
Having obtained a deep understanding of this Elder''s personality over the years, the white-robed Dao King that was responsible for overseeing the first 3 tests of the Holy sect, Elder Zhuan, clearly knew that there were very few things that would attract this Dao Emperor''s attention.
Even in the tests of the Holy sect that took ce 3 months ago, there were only a handful of disciples who had managed to pique this Elder''s interest.
Without hiding his astonishment, the long white-haired Elder Zhuan stared at the white-robed Dao Emperor next to him before he asked in a voice filled with curiosity
''''Senior Cao Ling, did one of those disciples managed to attract your attention?''''
The bald Dao Emperor in white robes, Cao Ling opened his eyes when he heard ''Elder Zhuan''s'' question, and looking at the peak rank 9 Dao King next to him, he nodded his head while his lips slowly curved up into a smile before he replied
''''Hehe, there are actually 2 brats who didn''t seem to feel any fear for the sect even after hearing your exnation earlier. Although they appeared shocked for a few moments, there were no traces of shock in their hearts.
This old man is indeed a bit curious about their backgrounds now. However, let''s wait and see if they manage to pass this test first.''''
Elder Zhuan nodded his head once he heard ''senior Cao Ling''s'' words.
Although he didn''t know which disciples had managed to attract the Dao Emperor''s attention, as the overseer of the first 3 tests, Elder Zhuan already knew that there were some disciples that were participating in the sect''s test, who were really worth paying attention to.
At the same time, without waiting for any instructions, the robust young man in yellow robes didn''t stay in the arena any longer and flew towards the mass of disciples behind Elder Zhuan, before another disciple in yellow robes flew out from that group of disciples andnded at the center of the arena.
Without waiting for the disciples in the audience seats to get over the shock that they felt after hearing Elder Zhuan''s previous words, the young woman in yellow robes who was now standing in the middle of the arena took out a Holy sect''s token from her robes with the number ''2'' engraved on it, and turned to look at those disciples in the audience seats before she then said
''''Which of you has the token with the number 2? Come out!''''
Shun Long raised his eyebrows once he felt the nearly tangible anger and killing intenting from the young woman''s voice, puzzling him for a moment.
However, he instantly linked the woman''s behavior with the words that the white-robed Dao King had said a few moments ago, quickly realizing what was going on.
''''Indeed, it''s only natural for her to feel humiliation in her heart. After all, that Holy sect Elder clearly said, that each of them are actually the 1000 weakest outer disciples of the sect.
And yet they are still official disciples of the sect.
If they lose in front of everyone else and allow new disciples to enter the sect, wouldn''t they feel humiliated? So this test motivates both those disciples and us to do everything in order to win.''''
At the same time that this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long saw a tall young man dressed in beast skin walk out from the group in the audience seats, as he slowly walked towards the center of the arena to face the young woman in yellow robes from the Holy sect.
However, what surprised Shun Long the most was that the fight that followed wasn''t too different from Hu Liu''s fight in the end!
The young man dressed in beast skin had only managed tost for 5 moves against the young woman from the Holy sect, before he was sent flying back towards the audience seats.
The third, fourth and fifth fights followed right after, and yet the disciples of the Holy sect seemed to have won every single time.
This result made some of the disciples in the audience seats start to despair once they realized the difference in their strength between themselves and the disciples of the Holy sect.
In the blink of an eye, the first 10 fights werepleted, and not a single disciple of the Holy sect had lost yet.
Finally, after the first 20 fights were over, even the peak Dao King in white robes, Elder Zhuan raised his eyebrows as if he hadn''t expected this.
Although it wasn''t abnormal for 20 fights in a row to go by for the disciples of the Holy sect without a single defeat, it wasn''t toomon either.
At that moment however, as the 21st disciple of the Holy sect stood in the arena, the eyes of the white-robed Dao Emperor, ''senior Cao Ling'' lit up with interest when he saw the person walking out from the audience seats!
It was a person whose silhouette waspletely covered by a pair of ck robes not leaving even a small part of their face exposed, while the auraing from their body had actually surpassed the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul.
This was an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Out of the people who were participating in the fourth test of the Holy sect, there were less than a handful of them who had actually broken through to the middle-stages of the Nascent Soul, and this ck-robed person was precisely one of them!
At the same time, this was also the person who had managed to attract ''senior Cao Ling''s'' interest earlier along with Shun Long! The white-robed Dao Emperor had an eager look in his eyes, curious to find out what secrets this person really held.
Chapter 433: Black-robed person
Chapter 433: ck-robed person
As the ck-robed personnded in the middle of the arena, the disciples sitting in the audience seats all had serious looks in their eyes as they stared at his back. After all, among the disciples who were participating in this fourth test, this was the first person whose cultivation had reached the middle stages of the Nascent Soul.
No matter what, this ck-robed person was definitely considered a genius.
If even he couldn''t defeat a disciple of the Holy sect, the confidence that the rest of the disciples had to pass this fourth test would definitely plummet.
As the young woman from the Holy sect stared at this ck-robed person who had appeared in front of her and sensed the auraing from his body, her eyes narrowed dangerously before she turned around to look at the white-robed peak rank 9 Dao King in the sky behind her.
If Elder Zhuan wanted her to fight against this person with her cultivation suppressed at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, she wouldn''t mind doing so either.
Elder Zhuan seemed to have fallen into deep thought for a few moments, before he nodded his head without saying anything.
However, the young woman in yellow robes at the center of the arena smiled and bowed lightly at the Elder in the sky, before she unsealed part of her own cultivation bringing herself at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul as well.
She understood that Elder Zhuan nodding his head was a sign that she should fight the opponent on equal grounds.
At that moment however, just as the young woman was about to speak, the silent white-robed Dao Emperor, Cao Ling, shook his head with a smile on his face, before he then said in a deep voice
''''Unseal your cultivationpletely. Go all out!''''
The Dao Emperor''s voice reverberated throughout the silent arena, bringing endless shock to every single disciple that heard his voice.
It didn''t matter if it was the disciples in the audience seats, the yellow-robed disciples of the Holy sect behind him or even the peak rank 9 Dao King that was next to him, everyone turned their attention towards the Dao Emperor with eyes filled with disbelief!
Even Shun Long was no exception to this, as he stared at the white-robed bald old man in the sky above the arena with confusion in his eyes.
At the same time, the ck-robed person at the center of the arena and the yellow-robed young woman from the Holy sect, both raised their heads to look at the old man in the sky, before the young woman from the Holy sect asked in a cautious tone
''''Elder Cao, should I really not hold back?''''
Without waiting for Elder Cao to respond, the peak rank 9 Dao King Elder Zhuan, looked at the young woman with an angry look in his eyes, before he said in a berating tone
''''Since Elder Cao Ling said so, then fight with your full strength!''''
Although Elder Zhuan was initially confused, since he clearly knew the cultivation level of this young woman, his words didn''tg behind his thoughts, as he immediately ordered her to fight without holding back.
Of course, it only took a single moment for Elder Zhuan to actually link Elder Cao Ling''s abnormal order with the fact that he had been interested in 2 disciples earlier on.
''''Without a doubt, this ck-robed young man must be one of the 2 people that caught senior Cao Ling''s attention!''''
As this thought appeared in Elder Zhuan''s head curiosity filled the white-robed Dao King, who could no longer wait for this fight to start.
After all, someone who had attracted Elder Cao Ling''s attention was definitely bound to be extraordinary in some aspects.
Although the yellow-robed young woman and the rest of the disciples in the Holy sect were stunned by this order, no one dared to say a word since Elder Cao Ling had already spoken as they all turned their eyes towards the 2 people standing at the center of the arena.
The young woman from the Holy sect looked at the person in ck robes in front of her with a pitiful look in her eyes, before her cultivation immediately started to rise uncontrobly.
In just a moment, it had instantly reached the middle of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, and yet there were still no signs of stopping, indicating that this was still the beginning!
Middle of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul... Peak of rank 4.... Early rank 5........ Middle rank 5 of the Nascent Soul!
The disciples in the audience seats had their eyes widen in horror, as the young woman''s cultivation actually stabilized at the middle of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul stage.
Although the ck-robed person''s was concealed by his ck robes, he still raised his head to stare at the Dao Emperor in the sky for a few moments, before he turned his attention towards the yellow-robed young woman in front of him.
As a disciple of the Holy sect, the young woman had an embarrassed expression on her face after feeling the ck-robed young man''s gaze on her, obviously unwilling to fight against an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage disciple using her full strength.
Shaking her head, she looked at the ck-robed person opposite to her and said in a somewhat apologetic tone
''''This is Elder Cao Ling''s order. I don''t want to do this either but we don''t have a choice. If you are ready, let''s fight!''''
For a disciple of the Holy sect like her, defeating an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator this way brought her no glory. However, since this was Elder Cao Ling''s order, she had no other choice.
For the first time since he had entered the Holy sect''s tests, the ck-robed person finally took off his hood, revealing a devilishly handsome face that could make countless women go crazy, which was only ''tainted'' by a single scar below his left eye.
Staring at the yellow-robed young woman from the Holy sect in front of him, the ck-robed young man slowly shook his head, before he said in a cold voice
''''No matter. Let''s begin!''''
As the young man finished his words, his aura at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul exploded outwards, before a pair of huge ck wings burning with dark red mes erupted from his back.
Chapter 434: Trump card
Chapter 434: Trump card
Elder Zhuan''s eyes widened slightly the moment he saw the ck wings that had sprouted from the ck-robed young man''s back, while some of the disciples of the Holy sect narrowed their eyes at the same time, as if they had just realized something.
This ck-robed young man was the first person to pass through the second test of the sect a month ago afterprehending the ''Demonic wings''!
At the same time, the wings that he had created back then were still somewhat incorporeal while the dark mes that were burning around them weren''t this intense.
However, right now, not only were the ck wings on his back looking no different than real wings, but the dark red mes around them were burning so intensely that they were slowly distorting the air around them.
The young woman from the Holy sect opposite to him only needed a single nce to realize, that the ck-robed man''sprehension of this Saint low-grade martial skill had already increased by leaps and bounds during thisst one month that he was spent in the third test. If his level ofprehension had originally reached 27 percent before he had passed through the Barrier of Knowledge and entered the third test, then right now it was definitely above 80 percent!
Although this wasn''t too shocking to the disciples of the Holy sect after having seen Shun Longprehend more than 90 percent of the first level of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' within 4 days, it was still a result that even inner disciples may not be able to achieve within a month while passing the third test at the same time!
After all, the early portions of a martial skill were much easier toprehendpared to theter ones.
Of course, although she was surprised for a moment, the young woman from the Holy sect didn''t seem flustered at all by this development! Let alone 80 percent, even if the young man in front of her hadprehended the entire first portion of the ''Demonic Wings'', he still wouldn''t be able to put up a fight against her.
Shaking her head, the yellow-robed young woman no longer waited for the ck-robed young man to make a move, as she suddenly sprung into action.
Her feet started to blur as her body instantly disappeared on the spot, leaving behind nothing but rows of afterimages wherever she passed.
She continuously circled around the ck-robed young man, almost as if she was trapping him into ce, not allowing him to take even a single step forward.
However, she didn''t immediately attack him, and instead, she kept circling around him while her speed continued to increase while she asked in a casual tone
''''Did you think that you were the only one who hasprehended a Saint low-grade movement technique? If this is your trump card, then you were too unlucky that you had to face me today. Even if my cultivation was suppressed at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, you would still be unable to match up to my speed.
Although the first level of the ''Demonic Wings'' can definitely increase your speed, it is actually useless against me.
After all, I don''t mind telling you that I have alreadyprehended the entire first level of the ''Thousand afterimages''. Even if you had managed toprehend the entire first level of the ''Demonic Wings'', you would still be helpless against me.''''
The disciples in the audience seats around Shun Long, including Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi who were quite a distance away from him mixed among the crowd, seemed to have suddenly realized what was going on, as they stared at the ever-growing afterimages around the ck-robed young man that didn''t stop increasing in number.
At the same time, Shun Long had a thoughtful look on his face as he stared at the scene at the center of the arena with a deep look in his eyes.
Like most of the disciples around him, he had also noticed the ''Thousand afterimages'' skill that was in the ''Barrier of Knowledge'' during the second test of the Holy sect!
Since Shun Long had intended to check every martial skill to see if any of them were rted to his Dao of Time or the Dao of Space, he had to pay more attention to the martial skills in the barrier of knowledgepared to the rest of the disciples participating in the second test.
Thus, he clearly remembered that the ''Thousand afterimages'' was a movement technique that was purely used to evade the opponent''s attacks.
If a cultivator could train this martial skill to the fourth level, he would be able to move so quickly that he could create a thousand afterimages around him almost instantly.
At the same time, although the ''Demonic Wings'' wasn''t any inferior to the ''Thousand Afterimages'', and both of them were Saint low-grade martial skills, thetter still countered the ''Demonic Wings'' to a certain extent, despite the fact that the ''Demonic Wings'' were actually even more difficult to train inpared to the ''Thousand Afterimages''.
After all, the ''Demonic Wings'' was a martial skill that not only increased a cultivator''s speed, but it could also attack and defend while moving, while the ''Thousand Afterimages'' focused on evading the opponent''s attacks instead!
Thus, after having understood how both of those martial skills worked, Shun Long also understood that if the ck-robed young man didn''t have any other trump card and was nning on staking everything on the ''Demonic Wings'', he would most likely lose.
The young man in ck robes shook his head after hearing the yellow-robed young woman''s question, and without responding directly he waved his hand, as he took out arge, 2m(79inch) saber from his spatial ring.
The saber was golden in color and its surface was filled with countless interweaving runes and patterns that seemed connected with each other while forming different symbols.
The moment that the saber appeared in his hand, a deep look appeared in the ck-robed young man, before he started to infuse his qi inside the saber.
The mysterious patterns around the golden saber''s surface lit up, while at the same time, a terrifying aura so dark, that it seemed to havee from the deepest depths of hell erupted from the saber,pletely covering the ck-robed young man''s body!
At that moment, it didn''t matter if it was the white-robed Dao Emperor, the peak rank 9 Dao King, or the disciples of the Holy sect and those sitting in the audience seats, everyone''s expressions instantly changed when they felt the aura around the young man''s body.
Silence filled the surroundings of the arena before a disciple in the audience seats mumbled in shock
''''A star-rank weapon?''''
-
Author''s note: 1/3
Chapter 435: The black-robed young mans desperate struggle
Chapter 435: The ck-robed young man''s desperate struggle
It was unknown who had asked this question, but the moment that the words ''Star-rank weapon'' were uttered, they instantly broke the silence that had filled the arena as the disciples of the Holy sect and those in the audience seats couldn''t sit still any longer.
''''A star-rank weapon? A mere early rank 4 Nascent Soul kid has a star-rank weapon? What kind of background does he have?''''
''''No matter what his background is, there is no way that any force outside the central region can afford to give its disciples or its descendants star-rank weapons! That guy must have definitely stepped on some dogshit luck to obtain that saber!''''
''''Right! Even we can''t obtain star-rank weapons from our families, let alone someone outside from the central region!''''
Whether it was the disciples of the Holy sect or the disciples sitting in the audience seats, they were all staring at the golden saber in the ck-robed young man''s hands with red eyes that were filled with jealousy.
Even the yellow-robed young woman opposite to him ended up slowing down her speed, almost as if she couldn''t believe that the young man in front of her actually had a star-rank weapon.
After all, the auraing from star-rank weapons was vastly different to the auraing from the bodies of cultivators, so even if someone wanted to conceal that they were actually using a star-rank weapon, it was nearly impossible to do so!
Of course, if the disciples of the Holy sect had been standing next to Shun Long when he had activated the runes on the ck sword when he used the ''Thundergod''s sh'' during the second or the third test, they would have realized that his sword was a star-rank weapon as well. However, due to the screen of light that only allowed them to observe the scenes, even the peak rank 9 Dao King, Elder Zhuan hadn''t been able to discern that his sword was actually a peak rank 1 star-rank weapon!
At the same time, the moment that the ck-robed young man took out the star-rank saber, the most shocked out of everyone in the arena was actually the white-robed Dao Emperor. As soon as Elder Cao Ling sensed the ck auraing from the golden saber, his eyes instantly narrowed while a serious look appeared on his face, almost as if he had just guessed something.
Elder Zhuan who was standing a few meters away from him couldn''t help but shiver when he felt the auraing from the white-robed Dao Emperor next to him, as he asked in a voice that was mixed with confusion as well as some fear
''''Senior Cao Ling is everything alright?''''
Cao Ling nodded his head without responding to Elder Zhuan''s question, as he continued to stare at the fight in the arena with a deep look in his eyes.
The ck-robed young man held the golden saber in his hands, and without waiting for the yellow-robed young woman from the Holy sect to create more afterimages, he shed the saber sideways.
The deep, dark auraing from the saber instantly swept past the afterimages in front of the ck-robed young man, destroying more than 50 of them in a single instant!
From the original 200 afterimages that the yellow-robed young woman had managed to create, more than 50 of them were destroyed with a single sh!
Of course, as a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, despite being flustered for a moment after seeing the star-rank saber appear in the ck-robed young man''s hands, the young woman from the Holy sect quickly regained her bearings, as she started to create even more afterimages once again.
At the same time, she was no longer just running around, and while creating the afterimages she had also taken out a peak rank 3 gold grade dagger from her spatial ring, and had mixed her own attacks in the process, attacking the ck-robed young man from many different angles without giving him a chance to breathe.
Despite having the star-rank golden saber in his hands, the young man seemed to have fallen into a passive state, having to desperately deflect the attacks from the young woman of the Holy sect.
After all, even with a star-rank weapon in his possession, the difference between their cultivation couldn''t be bridged so easily.
''''Hahaha! In the end, he is just an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage rookie! No matter what, it''s impossible for him to defeat someone at the middle of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul! Especially when he is against someone like senior sister Huo Ru, who can even jump levels and fight against a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator head-on.''''
''''Eh? Could it be that Elder Cao Ling knew about his golden saber which is why he told senior sister Huo to not hold back in the fight?''''
''''No, I don''t think so. I''ve heard that there have also been a few instances in the past recruitments of the sect, where the disciplesing from the outside also had star-rank weapons, but neither Elder Cao Ling nor the other Elders of the sect had made someone fight against a disciple who was nearly 2 entire minor ranks higher than them in cultivation. I think that this ck-robed young man has somehow pissed off Elder Cao...''''
Although the disciples of the Holy sect tried to understand why Elder Cao Ling had forced the ck-robed young man to fight against ''senior sister Huo Ru'' like that, their voices were filled with hints of schadenfreude, almost as if they were enjoying seeing the ck-robed young man being beaten up.
Of course, even peak Dao Kings would be jealous if they saw an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator having a star-rank weapon in his possession.
However, although the disciples of the Holy sect seemed to be enjoying this scene, those sitting in the audience seats in the arena had furious looks on their faces after seeing the ck-robed young man fall into a passive position. And yet, although they all felt that this scene was unfair, none of them dared toin to the Elders of the Holy sect in the sky. After all, they were the ones who had made this rule.
More than a minute passed since the yellow-robed young woman, Huo Ru had started her barrage of attacks, causing the ck-robed young man''s condition to fall into a desperate struggle.
Not only did he not have an opportunity to attack, but Huo Ru''s attacks had already managed to pass through open up gaps in his defense, filling his body with cuts and injuries.
If it wasn''t for the ''Demonic Wings'' which allowed him to defend himself during the most desperate moments, the ck-robed young man would have already lost by now.
Although Shun Long had been stunned when he heard the Dao Emperor giving the order to the yellow-robed young woman named Huo Ru to fight all-out without suppressing her cultivation, he was even more shocked when he noticed the ck-robed young man having a calm look in his eyes, despite his body being filled with injuries.
Of course, Huo Ru had also noticed this calm look, which made her heart seethe with anger causing her attacks to turn even more powerful than before as she no longer held back.
Although it was unfair for a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like her to attack an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage rookie, it was also even worse if she was unable to defeat him even after going all-out and using her peak rank 3 gold grade weapon!
At that moment, Huo Ru infused her qi into the peak rank 3 dagger in her hands before she thrusted it towards the young man''s waist.
This was a Mystic high-grade martial skill that Huo Ru had been using for many years, and it was also the attack she was the most proficient in.
Five hundred afterimages followed after her, as they all attacked the ck-robed young man at the same time.
Although only one of them was the real Huo Ru and the rest were only afterimages, in that split moment it was nearly impossible to detect which one was the real her.
The ck-robed young man covered himselfpletely with the ''Demonic Wings'', almost as if he had turned them into the shape of a cocoon.
And yet, Huo Ru''s attack still shed through the ck wings easily, before she plunged her dagger into the ck-robed young man''s waist.
A rain of fresh blood filled the air, before the ck wings that were burning with red mes slowly dissipated in front of everyone''s eyes.
Chapter 436: Do I pass the test?
Chapter 436: Do I pass the test?
As the ''Demonic Wings'' slowly disappeared, it revealed the scene of a ck-robed young man standing behind them while a dagger that was filled with blood was plunged into his waist.
And yet, despite the horrible injury that revealed his destroyed internal organs, the ck-robed young man still had that same cold look on his face as he stared at the young woman in front of him.
The moment that she met his gaze, Huo Ru felt a sudden chill in her body, almost as if she had suddenly fallen into the deepest depths of hell!
She instantly tried to open up the distance, but the ck-robed young man opened his mouth for the second time today, as he said a simple sentence
''''Since you guys have forced me to do this, you have to pay the price as well!''''
The moment that Huo Ru opened up the distance between herself and the ck-robed young man, her eyes suddenly widened in shock, as she sensed a terrifying aura that suddenly erupted from the young man''s body.
It was an aura filled with darkness and cruelty, one that wanted to destroy until it had killed everything in its sight.
At that moment, fear instinctively filled Huo Ru''s eyes as she hurriedly stepped backwards, opening up the distance between herself and the ck-robed young man.
The ck-robed young man however didn''t chase after her, while the auraing from his body continued to rise, as it started to turn even more intense than before.
In Huo Ru''s eyes, the ck-robed young man was like a beast that had finally woken up.
At that moment, Shun Long''s expression instantly turned serious, as he stared at the scene at the center of the arena with a deep look in his eyes.
At the same time, different expressions mixed with doubt, fear, and disbelief, appeared in the faces of the disciples in the audience seats, as they all turned their attention towards the ck-robed young man who seemed to be undergoing a transformation.
His previously brown eyes had already turned red, while from his back, a pair of pitch-ck wings suddenly sprouted, tearing off a big part of his ck robes in the process.
These wings that seemed like the wings of a demon, didn''t have any dark red mes burning around them, making it obvious that they werepletely unrted to his ''Demonic Wings'' that had already dissipated.
The disciples of the Holy sect weren''t any less shocked than the disciples in the audience seats, as they all stared at this transformation with fear rising in their hearts.
Although all of them had knowledge regarding bloodlines, and some of them even had their own bloodlines inherited from their ancestors, the powering from the ck-robed young man definitely belonged to a very terrifying bloodline.
Seeing the changes in the ck-robed young man''s body, Elder Zhuan turned his head to look at Cao Ling, only to see that the white-robed Dao Emperor''s face was also filled with disbelief.
Elder Zhuan took a deep breath as he tried to calm down his agitated emotions, before he asked in a voice that seemed unable to ept the scene in front of him
''''Senior, is this really a -''''
''''Yes!''''
Before Elder Zhuan could finish his sentence, Cao Ling interrupted him with a serious look as he confirmed his guess.
At the same time, although Huo Ru could feel a sense of deep fear in her heart after seeing the ck-robed young man''s transformation, she knew that this was still the fourth test of the sect and she couldn''t back down.
Besides, no matter how scary the young man in front of her felt, his cultivation was still at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul!
As Huo Ru used this thought to cate her mind and calm herself down, her feet once again blurred as she started to create even more afterimages than before.
600 afterimages once again appeared around the ck-robed young man, all of them holding the same peak rank 3 gold grade dagger in their hands!
Without waiting for the ck-robed young man to make a move, Huo Ru immediately sprung into action, as she immediately shot towards him while she activated the same Mystic high-grade martial skill as before, causing her dagger to be shrouded by her qi in an instant.
No matter what, the ck-robed young man in front of her was already seriously injured right now. If he got hit this martial skill a second time, it was impossible for him to remain standing!
600 afterimages all shot towards him at the same time, but the ck-robed young man was still standing in the middle of the arena without a change in his expression.
However, at that moment, just as the 600 daggers around him were about to pierce through his waist, he suddenly turned around and stared at a specific image before stretching out his right hand.
He had found the real Huo Ru!
Huo Ru could feel her heart constrict but her movements didn''t stop, as she changed the trajectory of her dagger, aiming it towards the ck-robed young man''s chest.
At that moment however, something astonishing happened!
Before Huo Ru could pierce his chest, the young man stretched out his left hand as well, before he easily pped the dagger away from Huo Ru''s hand.
Her entire right hand exploded on the spot, but the ck-robed young man''s actions didn''t stop just yet, as his right hand tightly grabbed her neck.
Raising her in the air with one hand, he saw the look of fear and despair appear in her face, causing him to shake his head in response.
Then, with an uncaring look on his face, the ck-robed young man stared deep into Huo Ru''s eyes before he said in a nonchnt tone
''''Forget about it. Even an early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator wouldn''t be my match after I have activated my bloodline, let alone someone like you!''''
Without waiting for Huo Ru''s response, the ck-robed young man mmed her body into the ground below him causing her to lose consciousness.
Then, he turned his head to look at the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky before asking in a cold tone
''''Do I pass the test?''''
Chapter 437: Sheng Huang
Chapter 437: Sheng Huang
The disciples of the Holy sect and those sitting in the audience seats, all turned their attention towards the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky at the same time as they waited for his answer.
If this didn''t qualify as ''passing'' the test, then what else would?
However, Cao Ling didn''t respond right away.
Instead, he first turned his attention towards the yellow-robed Huo Ru who seemed to havepletely lost consciousness, before he finally turned his attention back towards the ck-robed young man.
At that moment, Cao Ling''s lips slowly curved up into a smile as he asked in a seemingly casual voice
''''What''s your name?''''
The ck-robed young man fell silent the moment that he heard this question, while his eyes continued to stare at the white-robed Dao Emperor above the arena without a change in his expression.
Silence filled the arena as the disciples of the Holy sect all had their eyes glued on him. No matter what, he had already passed the test, so it was unlikely for Elder Cao Ling to refuse him entry into the sect at this point. Of course, as a Dao Emperor, if he really wanted to, Elder Cao Ling definitely had enough authority to expel a disciple of the sect even if there weren''t any real reasons.
After all, even in the Holy sect, a Dao Emperor was a true powerhouse!
Finally, a few momentster, the ck-robed young man broke the silence in the arena, as he opened his mouth and said in the same cold tone
''''Jiang Chen.''''
A deep look shed past Cao Ling''s eyes when he heard his name, before he nodded his head a momentter, and with that same smile on his face he said
''''Hahaha, of course you passed the test kid. Although your test was slightly harder than the disciples'' before you, you still didn''t disappoint me!''''
Nodding his head, the ck-robed young man who called himself Jiang Chen didn''t say another word, as he turned around and flew directly towards the audience seats behind him.
Of course, his arrogant actions had already pissed off many of the disciples of the Holy sect standing behind Elder Zhuan and Cao Ling, but considering that Jiang Chen had already passed the test and would soon enter the sect and be an outer disciple like them, as well as the fact that neither of the 2 Elders didn''t say anything to berate him, in the end, none of them dared to express their anger.
At the same time, the disciples in the audience seats had mixed looks on their faces.
On one hand, they were happy that someone had finally passed this fourth test of the Holy sect showing that the disciples of the Holy sect weren''t really undefeatable. On the other hand though, that person was not only arrogant, but he was also a monster who could fight against someone 2 full minor ranks above his level!
Although he had activated some kind of bloodline, and it was very likely that he wouldn''t be able to activate that bloodline again any time soon, he still managed to beat an outer disciple of the Holy sect in the end, and someone whose cultivation was more than one full minor rank above his own.
More fights followed suit after Jiang Chen sat back in the audience seats, but in the next 10 fights that followed, the disciples of the Holy sect seemed even more fired up than before, winning every single one of them without suffering another defeat.
This was almost as if they were trying to im through their actions that Jiang Chen was an abnormality, and something like that won''t happen again.
By the time the 35th disciple of the Holy sect appeared at the center of the arena, the Holy sect''s disciples still hadn''t lost another fight since Jiang Chen''s victory.
At that moment, seeing the disciple of the Holy sect standing in the arena holding the token with the number ''35'' on it, a handsome young man in golden robes slowly stood up from the audience seats, and with a calm smile on his face, he walked towards the center of the arena as well.
This golden-robed young man had short-spiky ck hair and a pair of deep green emerald eyes, while his aura that seemed to have reached the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul exuded an air of confidence as if he wasn''t worried in the slightest about this battle.
At the same time, the faces of some people in the audience seats instantly turned serious when they saw this golden-robed young man walking towards the center of the arena.
Noticing the abnormally solemn expression on Xie Xingyi''s face, Liu Mei looked at her and asked curiously
''''Xingyi, do you know this person?''''
Xie Xingyi turned around and looked at Liu Mei before she nodded her head with that same solemn look in her eyes and said
''''Mei probably doesn''t know him because you didn''t spend enough time in the Heaven''s Dome city''s House of Rankings.
He is said to be the greatest genius of the Shengtian dynasty and perhaps even the entire Night star continent, the grandson of the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang!
It is said that so far, no one in the entire Night star continent had managed to force him to reveal his true strength!
The only one who is said to be on the same level as him in the entire Night star continent, is the young white lord, Bai Longtian.
However, since the 2 of them didn''t fight against each other, no one knows which of them is stronger or weaker.
However, Sheng Huang''s talent is said to be far greater than that of his father and his grandfather!
At the same time, he is a dual cultivator who trains both in qi refinement and body refinement! However, besides his Dao of Metal, no one knows what other Dao he hasprehended and set as a foundation for his body refinement. There are only some rumors that it''s an extremely powerful Dao that no one in the Shengtian dynasty has managed toprehend before!''''
The moment that she heard Xie Xingyi''s description Liu Mei nodded her head, while the look in her eyes slowly turned serious.
No matter what, for a person to be ranked first in the entire Night star continent, his strength would definitely not be weak.
As Sheng Huang arrived at the center of the arena and stared at the disciple of the Holy sect that was leisurely standing in front of him, the calm smile didn''t disappear from his face.
Instead, a fervent look appeared deep in his eyes, almost as if he had been waiting for this for a long time, and without wasting any moment, his aura at the peak of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul exploded out from his body! At the same time, he waved his left hand, causing a bronze warhammer to appear in front of him.
Then, with a voice that was no longer willing to wait, he raised the bronze warhammer in the air using his right hand, before he said in a serious voice
''''Let''s begin!''''
Chapter 438
Chapter 438
Without waiting for a response, Sheng Huang immediately kicked the ground, flying towards the yellow-robed young man in front of him at full speed.
At the same time, a metal armor quickly formed itself around his body, covering him from head to toe, without leaving any gaps in his defense.
Holding the bronze warhammer in his right hand Sheng Huang looked like a metal knight, as he swung the peak rank 3 gold grade warhammer at full force, aiming to hit the yellow-robed young man''s chest!
The young man from the Holy sect hurriedly took out a rank 3 gold grade sword from his spatial ring and held it in front of his chest with both hands, as he weed Sheng Huang''s attack head-on.
However, the moment that he actually felt the power behind Sheng Huang''s attack, the expression on his face suddenly changed.
The bronze warhammer felt no different than a small mountain copsing upon him, as it sent him flying backwards uncontrobly for more than 10 meters until he finally stopped.
And yet, the young man from the Holy sect barely had enough time to stabilize himself and regain his footing, before another attack followed right after, immediately pushing him into a passive position where he could only defend himself.
Staring at the scene at the center of the arena, Xie Xingyi narrowed her eyes as her gazended on Sheng Huang''s back, before she turned to look at Liu Mei next to her and spoke in a low voice
''''Originally, the Shengtian dynasty was said to have only 2 peak rank 3 gold grade weapons in their possession, and both of them were being used either by the old king of the Shengtian dynasty Sheng Jun, or his wife.
However, nearly 2 months ago, the Shengtian dynasty somehow managed to step foot into the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and obtained countless rank 3 gold grade weapons!
Even the peak rank 3 gold grade weapons that they found actually numbered more than thirty, let alone the normal rank 3 gold grade ones!
With so many rank 3 and peak rank 3 gold grade weapons, the Shengtian dynasty would have been considered the undisputed strongest power in the entire ''Night star continent''!
But who would expect that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' would actually arrive at the scene a few moments after the Shengtian dynasty and would engage in a chaotic fight with them?
Additionally, the old king of the Shengtian dynasty and the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor pce'' who were both at the scene in the very beginning, had long since left the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and were chasing after 2 people on a huge ck dragon!
Without Sheng Jun to help them, the members of the Shengtian dynasty fell in a disadvantageous position fighting against the group of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' that was led by Zhao Lan!
In the end, the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' obtained more than half of the gold-grade weapons in the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', while the Shengtian dynasty got the rest of them.
As for that bronze warhammer in Sheng Huang''s hands, it is one of the peak rank 3 gold-grade weapons that the Shengtian dynasty obtained from the depths of the vi!''''
Liu Mei''s lips twitched slightly when she heard this, before turning her gaze towards the bronze warhammer as well.
She couldn''t believe that so many things had happened after Shun Long had snatched the 2 star-rank treasures.
Of course, the main reason why Sheng Jun and Duan Zhu had both chased after Little ck instead of collecting the treasures inside the hall, was because Shun Long had not only taken both the star-rank ck sword and the translucent armor from the hall, but he had also snatched the wooden chest which most likely contained the most valuable treasure inside it!
At the same time, Liu Mei felt the translucent armor around her body, causing her eyes to once again search through the crowd around her in an attempt to see if Shun Long was really here!
However, due to the fact that the 1000 disciples in the audience seats were all sitting close to each other, Liu Mei didn''t manage to find the figure she was looking for.
Noticing Liu Mei''s gaze that was roaming through the crowd, Xie Xingyi asked curiously
''''Mei, are you looking for brother Shun Long?''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, but a disappointed expression soon appeared on her face, before she slowly turned her attention towards the center of the arena.
During thest 25 days that she and Xie Xingyi had spent together, the 2 of them had not only be friends, but after Xie Xingyi regained her strength, she also protected Liu Mei who was weak and couldn''t circte her qi due to the aftereffects of the rank 5 ''Blood Ignition pill''.
During this time, Liu Mei had also exined to Xie Xingyi how she and Shun Long got to know her elder sister, causing waves of shock to rise in Xie Xingyi''s heart.
In reality, Xie Xingyi already knew about ''a young master'' who had a powerful expert backing him, and was probably at the same level -if not stronger- than their entire Xie family!
Xie Xingyi also knew that Shun Long and Liu Mei were the names of the people who had helped her sister obtain a ''Dragon Lord''s medallion'', allowing her father, her mother, and her elder sister, as well as herself, to all return back to the Xie family!
Thus, Xie Xingyi felt endless gratitude towards the young man and the young woman that she hadn''t met.
However, based on what her sister had said, those 2 people were only Heaven grade cultivators back then and had yet to even step into the Spirit realm!
Could it be that they had managed to advance all the way to the Nascent Soul stage within 2 and a half years?
Although it wasn''t impossible if one had found an extremely rare treasure, in such a situation, that person''s cultivation would definitely be unstable.
As for Liu Mei''s cultivation, whether it was augmented by the help of a pill or not, she could still easily kill a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator by herself. This was certainly not the result of a rash advancement in cultivation!
During this time, Liu Mei had also noticed the attention that Xie Xingyi seemed to have been cing into Shun Long.
She had mentioned his name more than once and had said that she wanted to meet him.
As the days went by, she had even started referring to him as ''brother Shun Long''.
Originally, Liu Mei had been shocked by all of this and had even distanced herself from the beautiful young woman in front of her, but after spending thest 25 days together, the 2 stunning women ended uping a lot closer with each other.
Of course, the main reason why they were able to be good friends within a single month, was the fact that Liu Mei had first saved Xie Xingyi while she was still helpless from the 4 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who were chasing after her. Back then, after Liu Mei had saved her, if she had any malicious intentions she could have killed her long ago.
At the same time, during the time that Liu Mei waspletely defenseless for almost half a month, Xie Xingyi had protected her to her best of her abilities, even going all out and killing 2 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who had actually found their cave during the second week that they had gone into hiding!
Both of these things made the 2 women be very close with each other.
At that moment, as Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi stared at the fight in the center of the arena, they saw the yellow-robed young man who was enduring Sheng Huang''s barrage of attacks for so long roar out in anger, before he started to inject his qi in the sword in his hands.
Suddenly, a blinding white light seemed to have erupted from the edge of the sword in the young man''s hands causing Sheng Huang to stop the subsequent barrage of attacks that he was about to follow with.
The eyes of the spiky-haired prince of the Shengtian dynasty slowly turned serious as he swapped his warhammer into his left hand.
At that moment, his lips slowly curved up into a smile as his right palm suddenly started to glow with a dark red-colored light.
Staring at the sword in the hands of the disciple of the Holy sect that was shing down towards him, Sheng Huang finally smiled and no longer held back his strength! The aura of a cultivator at the early fifth stage in body refinement instantly erupted from his body, as he then pressed his right palm forward ready to sh with the rank 3 gold grade sword head-on, before he shouted in a mocking tone
''''GET LOST!''''
-
Author''s note: 1/3
Chapter 439: Same level of talent
Chapter 439: Same level of talent
The moment that the disciples of the Holy sect and those in the audience seats sensed Sheng Huang''s body cultivation at the early fifth stage of body refinement, all of them widened their eyes in shock.
Even in the Holy sect, dual cultivators who were training in both qi and body refinement were already considered rare. As for those who had reached the same level in body refinement as in their qi cultivation... all of them were definitely geniuses.
There was no question that a cultivator who was training in both qi and body refinement, would be able to jump levels and fight people above his own cultivation level.
As for the prince of the Shengtian dynasty who had already reached the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage while also reaching the early fifth stage in body refinement at the same time, he was definitely strong enough to fight against normal rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivators head-on.
The moment that Sheng Huang''s palm collided with the rank 3 gold grade sword, the dark red light on the palm''s surface lit up, before a loud booming resounded throughout the arena.
Under the shocked eyes of the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky, the yellow-robed young man was actually sent flying backwards, like a kite that had its string cut.
Even with his rank 3 gold grade sword paired with his Saint low-grade martial skill, he was still unable to resist the power behind Sheng Huang''s attack.
This was the might of the Saint low-grade martial skill that Sheng Huang had chosen during the second test of the Holy sect from the barrier of knowledge, the Annihtion palm.
And yet, Sheng Huang wasn''t going to give a chance to the disciple of the Holy sect to catch his breath! Although he clearly knew that he had already seriously injured his opponent, he was still nning to end this fight as quickly as possible.
The yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect had already copsed on the ground after rolling for dozens of meters and had barely managed to maintain his consciousness. He hadn''t expected that even after he had used a Saint low-grade martial skill and paired it with his own rank 3 gold grade weapon, he would still be seriously injured in the end. Although he had yet to let go of the sword in his hands his body was still filled with injuries, with the most obvious one being his destroyed left shoulder.
However, this level of injury didn''t hinder him from holding his sword with his right hand as he struggled to stand up.
However, before the young man from the Holy sect couldpletely regain his senses, the golden-robed Sheng Huang had already appeared in the sky above him, while a merciless look shed through his eyes.
The bronze warhammer in his left hand was covered with a dark, grey light, before the spiky-haired prince of the Shengtian dynasty mmed it downwards at full force aiming towards the back of the disciple of the Holy sect.
Crack
Crackk!
The sound of bones being crushed resounded throughout arena as Sheng Huang''s warhammer mmed itself on the spine of the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect.
At that moment, the arena fell dead-silent, as everyone stared at the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty, with different looks in their eyes.
He was actually the second person to defeat a disciple of the Holy sect, and he had done it in less than 2 minutes!
Most of the disciples of the Holy sect seemed to have calm looks in their eyes, almost as if they were unfazed by this development, but there were also some of them who seemed extremely furious.
As for the disciples in the audience seats, although some of them were surprised that the fight was so short, after having seen the performance of the ck-robed young man named Jiang Chen earlier, they weren''t that surprised by Sheng Huang''s performance!
However, the disciples in the audience seats that came from the Night star continent and had passed the third test, were the most astonished out of everyone else here.
Although Sheng Huang was said to be the strongest cultivator in the younger generation throughout the entire continent, nobody expected him to pass through the test of the Holy sect so easily. Even if he managed to seed, everyone had expected this to be a hard fight. None of them had actually expected him to be a dual cultivator and to have already reached the early fifth stage in body refinement!
Of course, part of his swift victory was definitely attributed to the peak rank 3 gold grade warhammer in his hands! If it wasn''t for the difference in the quality of their weapons, Sheng Huang wouldn''t have been able to suppress the young man from the Holy sect so easily in the beginning. However, everyone could clearly see, that even without a peak rank 3 gold grade weapon, Sheng Huang would still have most likely been the winner in this fight.
Raising his head, the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty stared at the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky, who was actually looking back at him with a deep look in his eyes.
A look of interest had already appeared on Cao Ling''s face as he stared at the spiky-haired young man at the center of the arena, before he then asked with a smile on his face
''''Is the second Dao that you haveprehended, the ''Dao of Destruction''?''''
Sheng Huang''s pupils instantly narrowed as soon as he heard this question, while a look of apprehension appeared in his eyes as he stared at the white-robed Cao Ling.
His Dao of Destruction was his trump card and he had done everything he could to hide it so far! He had even picked the ''Annihtion palm'' from the barrier of knowledge, because the Dao of Annihtion and his Dao of Destruction were simr to a certain extent.
And yet,? the old Dao Emperor from the Holy sect had already managed to see through it.
Seeing Sheng Huang''s abnormal reaction, Cao Ling smiled even wider before he nodded his head and continued
''''Although your test wasn''t as hard as that ck-robed brat''s, your talent isn''t any lower than his. If you train your ''Dao of Destruction'' to its fullest, you will not be any weaker than him in the near future!''''
Sheng Huang fell silent for a moment, before he nodded his head and sped his hands towards Cao Ling.
Although he didn''t feel that he was inferior to the ck-robed young man who called himself Jiang Chen, he knew that it was impossible for the current him to win if the 2 of them really fought.
However, even if he wasn''t as strong as him right now, Sheng Huang still believed that he would trample everyone else in the future and rise to the top. And him passing the fourth test and entering the Holy sect today was only the beginning!
At that moment, the ck-robed Jiang Chen didn''t even raise his head to look at Sheng Huang, as he continued to sit in the audience seats with his eyes closed.
Seeing the determined expression on Sheng Huang''s face Cao Ling nodded his head, before he waved his hand, indicating for him to return to his seat.
Following Sheng Huang''s fight, the rest of the disciples in the audience seats started to fight with a lot more confidence.
They could finally see some hope in defeating the disciples from the Holy sect
After all, although Sheng Huang was also a genius, in everyone''s eyes, he wasn''t as strong as the ck-robed Jiang Chen.
Besides, which one of those people who had passed the third test was considered a genius in their own continent?
As more and more fights passed the disciples of the Holy sect started to lose some more.
An hourter, 5 more disciples aside from the ck-robed Jiang Chen and Sheng Huang had also managed to pass through this fourth test.
Finally, as the 83rd disciple of the Holy sect appeared on the stage, the white-veiled Liu Mei slowly stood up from her seat and turned her gaze towards the center of the arena.
Chapter 440: Liu Meis advancement
Chapter 440: Liu Mei''s advancement
Xie Xingyi was startled after seeing Liu Mei suddenly standing up from her seat, but when she noticed the token with the number ''83'' in her hands, her expression turned solemn. Looking at the beautiful young woman whose face was still covered by a white veil, Xie Xingyi then said with a serious look
''''Mei, be careful!''''
Although Xie Xingyi already knew that Liu Mei was extremely strong herself, and she had also witnessed first-hand the unbelievable rise in her cultivation during thest 10 days, she was still worried about her uing fight.
After all, even if they had their cultivation restricted at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, whether it was their weapons or their martial skills, the disciples of the Holy sect differed greatly from each other.
Some of them were stronger while some of them were weaker than others.
This was obvious by the fact that some of them had ''average'' rank 3 gold grade weapons, while others had peak rank 3 gold grade ones.
If Liu Mei ended up fighting someone extremely strong, Xie Xingyi was afraid that not only would she not win, but she may even be injured in the process. Although it was clear that the Holy sect wouldn''t allow any deaths to happen during this fourth test, staying alive didn''t mean that all your injuries would be healed.
An example was the disciple that had fought against Sheng Huang earlier.
Even after consuming a top-grade rank 5 healing pill, his injuries still hadn''t healedpletely.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei stood up and flew directly towards the center of the arena.
At that moment, Shun Long''s eyes immediately lit up as he saw Liu Mei''s familiar figure with her face hidden behind a white veil flying towards the arena, while at the same time a smile slowly formed itself on his lips.
Although Shun Long was certain that Liu Mei was strong enough to protect herself during the Holy sect''s test, in the end, before they had entered the first test, the 2 of them were still at the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
Fighting against disciples who were already at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul was practically impossible for Liu Mei, unless she was willing to consume the rank 5 ''Blood Ignition pill''.
And yet, even if is she consumed the pill, Shun Long knew that there would still be dangers for her. Even if Liu Mei managed to defeat a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, she would still have to spend at least 15 days if not an entire month recovering from the aftereffects of the ''Blood Ignition pill''. During that time, she would be helpless if anyone attacked her.
However, what made Shun Long feel happiness and relief, was that not only was Liu Meipletely unharmed, but her cultivation had also sky-rocketed during this time.
She had actually already reached the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul!
Of course, what Shun Long didn''t know was that during thest 10 days that she and Xie Xingyi had gone into hiding, Liu Mei had already absorbed 90 percent of the qi from the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts that she had killed during the third test.
After her ''Blood Absorption art'' filtered the foul qi away, Liu Mei still had enough qi to advance all the way to the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul in one go!
Such a terrifying speed of advancement had caused Xie Xingyi to feel some fear in her heart!
After all, she had never seen anyone advance in their cultivation like that.
Cultivation was a slow process, and yet Liu Mei seemed to have extracted the qi directly out of the 3 peak rank 3 cultivators'' bodies before she absorbed it all for herself!
Standing at the center of the arena, Liu Mei stared at her opponent a few meters away from her with a serious look in her eyes.
It was a young man in yellow robes with long ck hair and deep brown eyes, while his face seemed to have a rxed expression.
After noticing Liu Mei''s cultivation at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, the young man from the Holy sect seemed to have heaved out a sigh of relief.
The disciples who had managed to pass the third test and were below the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul didn''t number more than 30. Being lucky enough to fight against one of them was no different than getting a free win for a disciple of the Holy sect.
Even the disciples sitting in the audience seats didn''t seem to be excited for this battle, let alone the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky.
At that moment, the young man from the Holy sect smiled at Liu Mei, before he took out a pair of rank 3 gold grade gloves from his spatial ring and put them on his hands.
His confident voice then resounded throughout the arena as he said with that same smile on his lips
''''Let''s get this over with.''''
Without waiting for a reaction from Liu Mei, the long-haired young man immediately kicked the ground, running towards the white-robed young woman in front of him at full speed.
Although the look on his face was that of confidence and was no different than if he was looking down on her, he still didn''t choose to underestimate Liu Mei, putting both the rank 3 gold grade gloves on his hands before they started to fight.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei didn''t respond towards the yellow-robed young man''s words, and instead, a ck ball of qi appeared in her hands.
The moment that they sensed the ball filled with death qi appearing in the arena, the white-robed Dao Emperor Cao Ling, as well as the peak rank 9 Dao King Elder Zhuan, both turned their full attention towards the white-robed young woman at the center of the arena.
The young man from the Holy sect seemed to have sensed a feeling of lethal dangering from the ck ball of qi and instinctively wanted to step back and forcefully stop his attack.
He was afraid that Liu Mei was going to toss the ball of qi towards him once he got too close to her, causing him grave injuries in the process.
At the same time though, he also knew, that he had to take care of his opponent as quickly as possible and not allow her to do what she wanted. After a brief moment of pause, the young man gritted his teeth before he continued to fly towards Liu Mei at full speed.
However, contrary to his expectations, the yellow-robed young man noticed that Liu Mei didn''t throw the ball that was filled with death qi towards him, and instead, she opened up her hands as she allowed it to fall on the ground.
A portal that resembled a ck hole suddenly appeared on the ground, while an aura of decay and death erupted from the depths of the ck hole!
At that moment, the enormous, bizarre, and sinister-looking body of the Death Eater slowly emerged from the ck hole, bringing with it an aura of endless madness, hunger and killing intent, almost as if it wanted to devour everything in its sight.
The appearance of the gigantic beast that had 4 thick, ck-colored legs that resembled horse hooves, and the hideous mouth on its torso with its bright white teeth, instantly brought shivers down to everyone whoid their eyes on it for the first time.
Even the white-robed Dao Emperor Cao Ling couldn''t control the shocked expression from showing on his face.
However, this wasn''t the end yet.
The scene that followedpletely stunned everyone who stared at the center of the arena, including Xie Xingyi who already knew a bit about Liu Mei''s powers, and even Shun Long who was sitting in the audience seats.
A thousand jade-white skeletons and 50 undead knights, at the early and middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage all followed after the Death Eater, as they quickly arranged themselves in front of Liu Mei.
And following behind the skeletons and the ck-armored undead knights, were surprisingly 3 other ''cultivators'' at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage.
An old man in ck robes, a middle-aged man with eyes that resembled a snake''s and an old woman wearing a crimson armor, all arranged themselves around Liu Mei, as if they were all part of her undead army.
Chapter 441: Sinister smile
Chapter 441: Sinister smile
It didn''t matter whether it was the white-robed Dao Emperor, the peak rank 9 Dao King Elder Zhuan, the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky or those sitting in the audience seats, seeing the undead army of skeletons and undead knights that emerged from the ground made everyone feel endless shock.
After all, Liu Mei was clearly just a middle rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and yet, she could summon an entire army that was practically at the same level as her!
Of course, Shun Long, and even Xie Xingyi already knew about Liu Mei''s ability to summon undead creatures.
However, the appearance of the gigantic 30m(100ft) tall hideous beast with 4 legs that resembled horse hooves, as well as the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators around Liu Mei were extremely bizarre.
It only took a moment for Shun Long to guess, that the enormous beast that was emitting an aura of death and endless killing intent, was something that Liu Mei could summon after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
After all, Shun Long had already imagined long ago that as Liu Mei''sprehension of the Dao of Death increased, she would very likely be able to summon different undead creatures in the future.
The appearance of the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators however, was something that left him extremely puzzled.
It was obvious that neither the old man in ck robes, the middle-aged man with snake eyes, or the old woman in crimson armor were undead creatures. And yet, the 3 of them didn''t seem to be alive either, looking extremely odd among the creatures in Liu Mei''s army.
Although Shun Long had no idea about the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators that Liu Mei had already killed during the third test, Xie Xingyi had clearly seen the Death Eater spitting the 3 corpses inside the cave that she and Liu Mei were staying in.
Suddenly, a terrifying thought shed through the gorgeous, green-robed young woman''s mind
''''Mei can actually control the corpses of the people she has previously killed?''''
At that moment, the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect who was just a few meters away from Liu Mei had a look of horror in his eyes as he immediately stopped in his tracks, not daring to get any closer to the white-robed young woman opposite to him.
Seeing the one thousand jade-white skeletons and the 50 undead knights that had appeared in front of her was already enough to make him take Liu Mei seriously, despite her cultivation that was only at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul.
But seeing the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators that had appeared along with the undead knights was enough to make the young man from the Holy sect feel fear from the bottom of his heart.
And yet, even if onebined those things together, they still didn''t feel as terrifying as the enormous ck beast with a hideous appearance.
Despite its aura being only at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, the sense of danger that the yellow-robed young man could sense from the Death Eater exceeded even the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators around Liu Mei.
Of course, the main reason behind that was, that as soon as the Death Eater appeared, Liu Mei had silently chanted the word ''Death'', activating the Death''s chant!
Thus, the strength of the Death Eater had already exceeded that of an average peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
The yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect gritted his teeth, before he once again kicked the ground, shooting towards Liu Mei at full speed.
At the same time, all of the disciples from the Holy sect in the sky had serious looks on their faces, as they focused their gazes on the fight at the center of the arena.
Originally, they had all considered this a meaningless fight that would be over in a matter of seconds.? However, the looks in their eyes had now turned extremely serious, while none of them dared to think of the white-robed young woman as an easy target.
They knew that this fight would be extremely difficult for any of them if they also had to suppress their cultivation at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul.
In their eyes, Liu Mei wasn''t any less terrifying than the ck-robed young man named Jiang Chen.
That was because Jiang Chen was only one person who could fight cultivators above his level, but the white-robed young woman had an entire army instead!
And yet, although fighting against Liu Mei seemed difficult, it wasn''t entirely hopeless.
The yellow-robed young man opposite to Liu Mei already knew that it was impossible for him to fight against the entire army of 1000 skeletons and undead knights by himself. Therefore he had immediately set Liu Mei as his target!
As the person who had summoned all those undead creatures, dealing with her was equivalent to dealing with every single one of her summoned creatures as well.
At that moment, the yellow-robed disciple from the Holy sect dove into Liu Mei''s undead army head-on, destroying every single skeleton that stood in his path as he rushed towards the white-robed young woman on the Death Eater''s back in a straight line.
Although Liu Mei''s jade-white skeletons were all at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, against a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage outer disciple of the Holy sect who was also wearing a pair of rank 3 gold-grade gloves, they were destroyed almost instantly!
White bones flew in the air as more than 60 skeletons were destroyed in barely a few seconds.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei narrowed her eyes, as she had her undead knights pincer attack him in order to trap the yellow-robed disciple of the Holy sect.
The young man however simply snorted in response when he saw this, before he punched forward with both hands at the same time.
The 2 undead knights that were the closest to him and were trying to block his path from the front were immediately pushed back for dozens of meters,pletely unable to detain the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert.
Although the young man was stunned when he noticed that his 2 punches were unable to destroy the ck-armored knights in one hit, he didn''t seem to care too much, as he had already closed the distance between himself and Liu Mei.
But before he could even approach the white-veiled young woman on top of the enormous ck beast''s back, the old woman in crimson armor, the old man in ck robes, as well as the snake-eyed middle-aged man, all blocked the young man''s path at the same time.
''''SCRAM!''''
Seeing the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul ''cultivators'' who were blocking his way, the young man couldn''t help shouting in fury, as he punched the old woman in crimson armor who was the closest to him.
However, the old woman didn''t dodge his attack, and instead, she allowed the yellow-robed young man to punch her, as ayer of ice appeared around her body.
Crash!
As the fragments of ice around her body shattered, the old woman was immediately sent flying backwards, before she was buried inside the arena, creating a human-shaped hole.
This was the difference between a disciple of the Holy sect and an average cultivator at the same level as them! It only took a single punch for the yellow-robed young man to send the old woman flying.
And yet, at that moment, just as he was about to continue flying forward, the young man from the Holy sect noticed that ayer of ice had already appeared on his right fist, and was slowly spreading towards his entire body.
Just as he was about to shatter the ice around him, a sticky green liquid suddenly covered his body as it tried to restrict his movements, followed by a hundred wind des as well.
Those 2 attacks came from the snake-eyed man and the old man in ck robes respectively.
At that moment, the yellow-robed young man once again punched forward with his right hand, immediately destroying the bubble of corrosive green liquid, before he sent another punch with his left hand, as he counterattacked the hundreds of wind des that had sealed his path.
However, the moment that he sent out his second punch, the yellow-robed young man felt the scent of death suddenly enveloping his body, causing all of his hair to stand up at the same time.
Turning his head to the side, he then saw the enormous body of the Death Eater that had already appeared next to him with its hideous mouth wide open!
Seeing the sinister smile on the gigantic beast''s face caused a feeling of horror to quickly sprout in the young man''s heart, as he instinctively tried to run away. However, before he could even take a single step backwards, the Death Eater that had already appeared next to him suddenly snapped its mouth close, immediately swallowing the yellow-robed young man under everyone''s disbelieving eyes.
Chapter 442: Which continents peak power?
Chapter 442: Which continent''s peak power?
Looks of shock had appeared on the faces of the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky, as well as in the faces of the disciples sitting in the audience seats, as everyone stared at the enormous magic beast at the center of the arena with incredulous looks in their eyes.
The enormous ck beast that was more than 30m(100ft) tall had actually swallowed the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect whole!
No one believed that Liu Mei had the guts to kill a disciple from the Holy sect in front of a Dao Emperor, and yet, everyone could still see that the Death Eater had a sinister smile on its face, as if it was enjoying a great meal.
At that moment, everyone turned their gazes towards the Dao Emperor in the sky who was actually observing the scene at the center of the arena with a nonchnt look on his face.
A few momentster, the white-robed Cao Ling, shook his head as he stared at Liu Mei, before he opened his mouth and said in a seemingly casual tone
''''Remember, killing is not allowed!''''
Although his tone was soft, it was obvious that Cao Ling wasn''t going to allow Liu Mei to kill the yellow-robed young man.
Liu Mei turned her attention towards the white-robed Cao Ling in the sky and nodded her head in response, before she closed her eyes and ced her palm on the Death Eater''s back.
Opening its hideous mouth, the Death Eater spat out the yellow-robed young man''s body that it had yet to digest, causing the expressions on the Holy sect''s disciples'' faces to change.
Although no one believed that Liu Mei would actually dare to kill her opponent, they still hadn''t expected her to be this merciless.
The bones in the yellow-robed young man''s legs were all broken, almost as if the terrifying ck beast had munched on them, while the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator had already lost consciousness due to the pain.
And yet, despite the young man''s horrible injuries, the white-robed Cao Ling barely threw a nce at him, before he waved his hand, causing his body to fly towards the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect behind him.
At that moment, Cao Ling''s gaze seemed to have been focusedpletely on Liu Mei, as he looked at her and asked with a light smile on his face
''''Hehe, what''s your name little girl? Which continent''s peak power did youe from?''''
Elder Zhuan nodded his head when he heard Elder Cao Ling''s question, as he was curious about this as well.
Although there were no peak powers from the surrounding continents that could match the power of their Holy sect, as Elders of the Holy sect with plenty of experience, the 2 of them had already recognized the Dao that Liu Mei hadprehended, immediately attracting their interest.
The disciples of the Holy sect in the sky had also ced their attention on the white-veiled young woman at the center of the arena, while different expressions appeared on their faces.
Some of them seemed apprehensive of Liu Mei, while others were staring at her with interest in their eyes.
Liu Mei stared at the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky who had an amiable smile on his face, and after hesitating for a while she replied truthfully
''''This junior''s name is Liu Mei. I came from the Night star continent but I don''t belong to any of the peak powers. I am a rogue cultivator.''''
Silence instantly filled the arena as everyone stared at the white-robed young woman in shock.
The Night star continent? A rogue cultivator?
While most of the disciples of the Holy sect didn''t care about the surrounding continents, they knew that the Night star continent was definitely among the weakest ones. And yet, someone who had attracted the attention of a Dao Emperor of their Holy sect came from the Night star continent?
Even Cao Ling was stunned for a moment as his eyes kept staring at the young woman in the arena without speaking.
As a Dao Emperor from the Holy sect, he clearly knew the situation of the surrounding continents around the central region.
He already knew that the continents in the eastern region were in a very tense situation due to the ''Demon Emperor pce'' that was trying to take over theirnd.
As for the Night star continent and the Martial star continent, since none of those 2 had a Dao Emperor to protect their continents, their situation was the worst, and it was very likely that they would end up falling into the hands of the ''Demon Emperor pce''.
For a disciple below 300 years old to have actually startedprehending the Dao of Death while not belonging to any of the peak powers in the continent... the chances were extremely low.
And yet, the white-robed Dao Emperor didn''t suspect Liu Mei of lying. That was because unless someone was extremely ungrateful they would definitely reveal the name of the power they belonged to once they joined the Holy sect, allowing the sect to view their power with some more importance.
Of course, the most shocked out of everyone else were the disciples of the Night star continent in the audience seats.
Sheng Huang threw a deep look at Liu Mei trying to see if he had met her before, but he still didn''t recognize her.
As the number one disciple of the younger generation of the Night star continent, he already knew every single one of the top geniuses of the continent regardless if they came from a peak power or if they were rogue cultivators.
And yet someone like Liu Mei had actually managed to stay hidden until the Holy sect''s test?
It wasn''t just Sheng Huang who was perplexed by this. The rest of the disciples of the Night star continent in the audience seats had simrly puzzled expressions on their faces, unable to understand how or why this white-robed young woman had stayed hidden for so long.
Cao Ling stared seriously at Liu Mei for a few moments before he smiled and nodded his head in response, indicating that he had epted her answer.
Understanding that the white-robed Dao Emperor had no more questions, Liu Mei cupped her hands before she waved her hand, making the Death Eater, the remaining jade-white skeletons and the undead knights, as well as the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators all disappear, before she turned around to walk back to the audience seats.
The moment that she turned around however, a look of joy instantly appeared on her face that was hidden behind her white veil, as the familiar figure of a young man in blue robes appeared in her eyes, staring at her with a smile on his face.
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 443: Reunion
Chapter 443: Reunion
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei flew towards Shun Long''s direction at full speed, attracting everyone''s gaze in the process.
After all, every single disciple still had their attention ced on this white-robed young woman who had effortlessly passed through the fourth test just now. Seeing her eagerly fly towards someone else naturally made them feel both curious and jealous.
Even Xie Xingyi had a stunned expression on her face after seeing Liu Mei''s reaction.
Due to the disciples that were blocking her view however, she was unable to see who Liu Mei had seen who had made her behave like that. And yet in her mind, a possibility had already appeared, making the gorgeous young woman''s emerald eyes lit up with a bright light.
At that moment, Liu Mei had already arrived in front of Shun Long who had already stood up from his seat, as he stretched out his arms and embraced the stunning white-robed beauty in front of him.
''''Long-ge!''''
Liu Mei''s melodious voice resounded in the air, charming everyone who heard it, as she stepped forward and hugged Shun Long tightly.
Her tone just now waspletely different to the cold and distant voice that she used when she replied to Cao Ling''s questions earlier.
As they stared at the blue-robed young man whom this white-robed young woman was showing her affection to, disbelieving looks appeared on the faces of the disciples around Shun Long.
It seemed as if an explosion was taking ce in their minds as none of them could ept the scene in front of their eyes!
''''A rank 1 Nascent Soul stage rookie? How is this possible? How did this person even pass the third test? Is there some kind of mistake?''''
''''The third test? How did he even pass the first?''''
Those discussions immediately attracted everyone around them, while even the disciples of the Holy sect seemed to have turned their attention towards Shun Long.
A peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator participating in the fourth test? Some of them even started to doubt their eyes, wondering if that blue-robed young man was intentionally suppressing his cultivation to fool them on purpose.
However, they quickly shook their heads rejecting this idea, since it didn''t make any sense at all.
Why would someone suppress his cultivation to the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul to make himself look weak? Besides, once he started fighting in the arena, such a thing would be easily seen through.
A deep look shed through Cao Ling''s eyes when his gazended on Shun Long''s silhouette, while the corners of his lips curved up in an indiscernible manner.
Shun Long didn''t seem to care about the gazes of the people around him, as he sat back down on his seat and looked at Liu Mei who was staring at him excitedly.
At the same time, although the disciples that were staring at him and Liu Mei seemed to have confused looks in their eyes, most of them still turned their attention towards the center of the arena since they knew that the fights were about to continue.
Of course, now that she had seen Shun Long, Liu Mei couldn''t care less about the fights in the arena as she smiled brightly and said
''''Long-ge, I missed you!''''
''''I missed you as well.''''
Shun Long smiled warmly and patted Liu Mei''s head lightly as he replied, before he continued
''''You also seem to have gotten a lot stronger during this time. Not only did you break through to the Nascent Soul, but you even reached the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul in one go.''''
As Shun Long said this, a wave of relief also filled his heart at the same time.
Although he was confident that Liu Mei would most likely be able to protect her life during the Holy sect''s test, especially with the rank 5 ''Blood Ignition pill'' as ast resort, he was still afraid in his heart that something bad may happen to her.
It was only after seeing her step into the arena earlier that the final worries disappeared from his heart.
Liu Mei nodded her head like a little girl who was happy to receive praise from the person she loved, as she began to tell Shun Long everything that she had been through in thisst month, starting from the first test of the Holy sect.
At that moment, a gorgeous young woman dressed in green robes stared at Liu Mei and Shun Long from a distance, while her lips curved up into a mesmerizing smile that charmed everyone who happened to see it.
Seeing Liu Mei chatting with the blue-robed young man in front of her, Xie Xingyi could easily guess his identity. And yet, she didn''t go to interrupt the 2 of them right away, as she continued to stare at them from the distance.
At the same time, Shun Long seemedpletely oblivious to the gazes of the people around him, as he continued to stare at Liu Mei who was narrating her experiences during the past 1 month. asionally, the 2 of them would also turn their eyes towards the fights at the center of the arena as well.
More than 2 hours passed in the blink of an eye, and Liu Mei barely had enough time to exin how she had met Xie Xingyi and how the 2 of them had spent thest 25 days together inside a cave during the third test, when a young man with long brown hair stepped into the center of the arena.
The young man held a golden-colored token in his right hand with the number ''351'', as he stared at the disciples in the audience seats like a hawk as he waited for his opponent.
At that moment, Liu Mei seemed to have noticed the number in Shun Long''s token, as her lips slowly formed an enchanting smile behind her white veil, before she said in a gentle voice
''''Long-ge, good luck!''''
Although she had yet to hear about Shun Long''s experiences during thest one month, Liu Mei wasn''t concerned in the slightest about Shun Long facing a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
It didn''t matter if Shun Long''s opponent was an outer disciple of the Holy sect, Liu Mei had nearly blind confidence in Shun Long''s ability.
Although the outer disciples of the Holy sect couldn''t bepared to average cultivators at the same level as them, even if it was just these 1000 weakest outer disciples, Liu Mei was certain that Shun Long could win, even if he had to fight against a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had a peak rank 3 gold grade weapon as well!
Standing up from his seat, Shun Long nodded his head at Liu Mei with a gentle look, before he turned his attention towards the long-haired young man at the center of the arena.
Seeing Shun Long stand up and fly towards the center of the arena, everyone instantly turned their attention towards this rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, while different looks shed through their eyes.
At that moment, the white-robed Dao Emperor''s, Cao Ling''s lips curved up into a bright smile, as his eyes were focused on the figure of the blue-robed young man thatnded at the center of the arena.
Chapter 444: A soft laughter
Chapter 444: A softughter
Staring at the blue-robed young man who was calmly flying towards the center of the arena, the white-robed Dao King''s, Elder Zhuan''s eyes suddenly widened as he immediately recognized him with a single nce.
Even some of the disciples from the Holy sect behind Elder Zhuan who hadn''t taken a clear look at him earlier, now had serious looks in their eyes as they remembered the scene they had seen through the screen of light during the third test.
The blue-robed young man in front of them had not only killed 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators during the third test right after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, but Elder Zhuan had also verified, that he had alreadyprehended the Dao of Space and had even set it as his foundation Dao for his body refinement.
Now that his cultivation had already advanced to the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, even the disciples of the Holy sect knew that they could no longer look down on him.
If Shun Long could kill normal peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators while he was at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, then after breaking through to the peak of rank 1, it was very likely that he had the strength to threaten even some of them!
Only a few of the disciples behind Elder Zhuan could remainpletely calm, as they were barely affected by the appearance of this peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator in front of them.
The tall and robust young man who had eliminated Hu Liu earlier, narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at Shun Long, but a smile soon appeared on his lips.
Although he had already said a month ago that he didn''t put Shun Long in his eyes, he knew that someone who could defeat a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator when he had just broken through to the Nascent Soul was definitely considered a genius.
However, which of the disciples of the Holy sect wasn''t also considered a genius?
From the nearly 30 disciples that had already passed the fourth test, the robust, long-haired young man from the Holy sect didn''t put any of them in his eyes, aside from the ck-robed young man named Jiang Chen and a few others.
Of course, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the thoughts of the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky, as he slowly arrived at the center of the arena.
Seeing the young man with long brown hair in front of him who was holding the token with the number ''351'' in his hands, Shun Long''s eyes slowly turned serious.
He could feel that this person in front of him was clearly stronger than the average disciples of the Holy sect who had previously fought in the arena, and he was already staring at him with an ice-cold look in his eyes.
It was obvious that this yellow-robed young man had already seen Shun Long''s fighting style during the third test, and he wasn''t going to underestimate him.
At that moment, Shun Long could feel this person''s aura at the peak rank 3 of the Nascent Soul exploding out of his body, before he took out a long, silver-colored sword from his spatial ring.
This was clearly a peak rank 3 gold grade sword!
Staring at the blue-robed young man in front of him whose eyes had already turned serious, the long-haired young man from the Holy sect held his sword with his right hand before he asked in a cold tone
''''Are you ready?''''
Seeing the silver-colored sword in the yellow-robed man''s hands and feeling the auraing from his body, Shun Long knew that he couldn''t hold back in this fight.
However, just as he was about to take out the ck sword with mysterious patterns from his spatial ring and reveal his star-rank weapon, Shun Long heard a softughtering from the sky, as it resounded throughout the arena.? Thisughter wasn''t loud, but it instantly attracted everyone''s attention.
Raising his head, Shun Long saw the white-robed Dao Emperor looking at him with a smile on his face, before he slowly turned his attention towards the yellow-robed young man opposite of him.
Everyone in the arena seemed to have a sudden premonition of what Cao Ling was about to say, but they couldn''t believe it, so they continued to stare at the Dao Emperor in the sky as the arena fell intoplete silence.
And yet, Cao Ling didn''t seem to care about the reactions from the disciples behind him or those in the audience seats, as he stared at the long-haired young man at the center of the arena and said in a casual tone
''''There is no need to hold back. Fight at full strength!''''
The moment that these words resounded in the silent arena, everyone, including the peak rank 9 Dao King, Elder Zhuan, stared at the white-robed Dao Emperor with shock in their eyes.
''''Fight at full strength? Against a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator?''''
It didn''t matter if it was the white-robed Elder Zhuan, the disciples of the Holy sect, or those sitting in the audience seats, none of them believed that something like this was possible as they stared at each other with looks filled with incredulity.
This was the second time that this Dao Emperor Elder had ordered for such a fight to happen, and this time, it was even more difficult than the previous one.
At least the ck-robed young man named Jiang Chen was at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, but this ''blue-robed young man''s'' cultivation was only at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul!
Even Elder Zhuan who had already seen Shun Long''s full strength during the third test, felt that something like this was absolutely impossible.
''''No, even if the top outer disciples had to suppress their cultivation to the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul and fight against someone at the of peak rank 3, they may not necessarily win. And yet senior Cao Ling wants to make this even harder? Even inner disciples most likely can''t do something like this! What is senior Cao thinking?''''
As this thought shed through his mind, the white-robed Dao King stared at Cao Ling in front of him with a perplexed look.
At that moment, both Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had worried looks on their faces that neither of them could hide. Even Liu Mei who had absolute confidence in Shun Long''s ability felt that something like this was impossible! After all, at some point, the difference in cultivation realms couldn''t be bridged! It was almost as if Shun Long and the ck-robed young man from earlier had intentionally offended the Elder and were now suffering his anger.
Even the ck-robed Jiang Chen had now opened his eyes and was staring at the powerful bald Dao Emperor in the sky, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long.
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 445: Shun Longs trump card
Chapter 445: Shun Long''s trump card
Although he couldn''t understand the reason behind Cao Ling''s actions, Jiang Chen was certain that defeating an outer disciple of the Holy sect at full strength as a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator was already impossible.
After all, before they sealed their cultivation levels at the start of the test, even the weakest of the Holy sect''s disciples had already reached the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul.
At that moment, Jiang Chen had already expected that the ''blue-robed young man'' would start to despair after hearing Cao Ling''s words, and would either show fear, anger or unwillingness.
And yet, Shun Long''s expression was actually theplete opposite.
Despite hearing Cao Ling''s order, Jiang Chen noticed that the look on his face was still calm, as Shun Long continued to stare at the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky who was looking back at him with a smile.
At the same time, the yellow-robed, long-haired young man couldn''t believe his ears.
He -a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who was already an outer disciple of the sect- was going to fight all-out against a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage rookie?
However, despite staring at the white-robed Dao Emperor above the arena for nearly a minute, the long-haired young man from the Holy sect noticed, that Cao Ling''s smile didn''t fade.
The white-robed Elder didn''t even spare him a nce as he continued to stare at his opponent instead.
Understanding that he couldn''t change the Elder''s mind, the long-haired young man turned his attention towards Shun Long and shook his head in a dissatisfied manner, before the look in his eyes finally turned serious.
His cultivation that was previously restricted at the peak of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul abruptly started to rise at an rming rate, as it reached the peak of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul in one go!
Staring at the ''blue-robed young man'' in front of him, the long-haired young man from the Holy held his sword tightly with both hands, before he said with a resolute voice
''''This is pointless. Let''s end this quickly.''''
Without waiting for a response from Shun Long, the yellow-robed young man''s body instantly blurred as he looked to close the distance between the two of them and end this fight in a single strike. The young man from the Holy sect obviously intended to end this fight as quickly as possible!
Shun Long''s gaze immediately turned serious when he saw this, and without any hesitation, he circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, while his eyes instantly turned golden as well.
Seeing the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect running at him at full speed, Shun Long didn''t hesitate any longer, as he waved his hand and took out a ck-colored sword with mysterious patterns from his spatial ring.
He knew that concealing his strength and the ck sword was useless.
And yet, Shun Long''s golden eyes suddenly narrowed when he saw the long-haired young man''s sword appearing in front of him almost instantly, and was ready to pierce a hole through the right side of his chest.
Holding the star-rank sword horizontally in front of him with both hands, Shun Long circted the full strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', as he met with the long-haired man''s attack head-on.
Since he didn''t have enough time to inject his qi inside the ck sword and activate the runes on its surface, he could only use the strength from his ''Monarch''s Eternal''s body'' to block the sword strike.
At that moment, the long, silver-colored sword that was about to pierce through his chest was perfectly blocked as itnded on the ck sword''s surface, while Shun Long felt a nearly unstoppable force entering his body at the same time.
For a moment, he thought that he was about to lose his grip on the ck sword, as his body was instantly swept off the ground and was sent flying backwards for more than 30 meters until he finally stopped.
''''Eh? You really blocked it?''''
The yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect eximed in disbelief, unable to realize how Shun Long had managed to block his attack.
Although his attack wasn''t going to kill Shun Long, he knew very clearly that he hadn''t held back at all.
At the same time, he had noticed that although Shun Long was extremely fast and his speed probably rivaled that of a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the long-haired young man was still slightly faster than him. As for the difference in strength, that was even more obvious.
Even if Shun Long could really jump levels and battle a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator with his cultivation at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul, the long-haired young man still believed that he could take care of him in a single strike.
This was the reason why he couldn''t believe that Shun Long had actually managed to block this sword strike of his.
Of course, what the yellow-robed young man didn''t know was that Shun Long''s hands had already been injured, despite perfectly blocking the attack.
Even the bones in his hands had started to crackle, barely able to handle the pressure from this sword strike.
At this point, Shun Long was certain that he would be unable to block a second sword strike.
After all, his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was still at the peak of the fourth stage. Facing against the full-powered attack of a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage, it was already a miracle that he had managed to block the first attack already.
Finally, the look in Shun Long''s eyes slowly changed as if he had just made a decision.
His right hand slightly rxed on the grip of the ck sword as he allowed it to touch the ground, while he stared at the long-haired young man opposite to him and mumbled in a low voice
''''I really didn''t want to use this.''''
As he finished his words, Shun Long closed his eyes with a resolute look on his face, before the blood inside his heart started to wildly churn.
Suddenly, a terrifying aura erupted from his body, like the awakening of a horrifying magic beast, immediately enveloping every corner of the Holy sect''s arena.
At that moment, regardless of whether it was the disciples of the Holy sect in the air, those sitting in the audience seats, or the white-robed Dao King and Dao Emperor in the sky, everyone who sensed this aura felt a chill from the bottom of their hearts, as they all turned their attention towards the blue-robed young man at the center of the arena.
Chapter 446: Shun Longs goal
Chapter 446: Shun Long''s goal
The look in Cao Ling''s eyes had turned extremely deep and serious as he stared at Shun Long.
This auraing from Shun Long''s body was so terrifying, that it even made him, a Dao Emperor, feel a chill in his heart.
Of course, this wasn''t because Shun Long''s strength had suddenly reached the same level as a Dao Emperor''s. After all, that was simply impossible regardless of one''s bloodline or the pills they had consumed.
Instead, Cao Ling clearly understood, that this sudden chill that he felt was an instinctive reaction that his body had towards the bloodline inside Shun Long''s body.
He could feel that this was no different, than if he was standing in front of a terrifying magic beast that had just opened its eyes.
Naturally, as a Dao Emperor, it wasn''t difficult for Cao Ling to suppress this feeling and he didn''t even need to circte his qi, as his eyes continued to stare at the blue-robed young man in the center of the arena.
Of course, Shun Long already knew that the moment he revealed his ''Dragon Bloodline'', it was bound to attract a lot of attention.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul and awakened his bloodline, he had originally decided to keep it as a trump card and not use it in this fourth test. However, after a few moments of deliberation he finally decided against it.
Although he didn''t know why the old Dao Emperor from the Holy sect would force a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul disciple to fight against someone at the peak of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, Shun Long knew that this fight was nearly impossible to win.
Even if he utilized the Dao of Space to its fullest and covertly used the Dao of Time without allowing anyone to notice it, he knew that his chances of winning were still less than 10 percent!
Of course, those chances would probably rise to 20 percent if he went all-out and attempted to use his Time Prison on the long-haired young man, but the odds of the ''Time Prison'' affecting someone 3 minor ranks above him were extremely low.
Additionally, even if it did affect the long-haired young man in the end, there was no way that Cao Ling wouldn''t recognize his Dao of Time in that case.
Althoughprehending a Dao wasn''t a sin, as more and more time passed, Shun Long realized how extraordinary his Dao of Time really was. Thus, unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn''t reveal it in front of thousands of people during the fourth test.
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long still decided to openly reveal only his Dao of Space during the Holy sect''s test. After all, although the Dao of Space was probably not that inferior to his Dao of Time, it was impossible for Shun Long to fight for so long without showing at least a single trump card of his.
At the same time, he had already guessed, that those people who were overseeing the third test had already guessed that he hadprehended the Dao of Space.
However, this wasn''t the only reason why Shun Long decided to show his Dragon''s bloodline.
After all, in the end, he didn''t really think that the old Dao Emperor in the sky would really eliminate him, even if he lost against the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect.
No matter what, as an experienced Dao Emperor, it was impossible for Cao Ling to not realize that since Shun Long could fight against a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator with his own cultivation at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul, he was at the very least considered a rare genius.
Since the Holy sect''s aim was to find disciples, Shun Long would most likely still pass the test, even after losing to the long-haired young man in front of him who had already unsealed his cultivation.
And yet, the reason why Shun Long still decided to show off his Dragon bloodline despite having guessed this, was because he wasn''t nning to stay low-key after entering the Holy sect.
He wanted the Holy sect to notice him, and only by showing his talent could he really achieve that.
At that moment, Shun Long could feel immense amounts of energy filling his body, while protective ck scales that resembled ck armor started to cover his arms and legs at the same time!
At first, the ck scales only covered his arms and legs but a few momentster they started to expandpletely covering his entire body and even his face.
Although it was obvious that these scales didn''t originate from a human, they gave off a sense of indescribable beauty as well as fear at the same time.
Finally, as Shun Long opened his eyes, a powerful aura instantly erupted from his body, causing the long-haired young man from the Holy sect to imperceptibly tremble.
Just based on his aura it was obvious that Shun Long''s strength was already more than enough to threaten him.
At that moment, a look of shock as well as some fear had already appeared on the face of the white-robed Dao King Elder Zhuan, as he stared at the blue-robed young man at the center of the arena without saying a word for a long time.
Elder Zhuan had already seen Shun Long fight with 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators during the third test and he was already certain that that was his limit.
After all, for a rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator to jump levels and fight against a rank 4 Nascent Soul stage outer disciple from the Holy sect was absolutely impossible.
And yet, the auraing from Shun Long''s body right now was clearly strong enough to rival even that of a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Turning his head to the side, Elder Zhuan looked at the white-robed Dao Emperor next to him and asked in a disbelieving voice
''''Senior Cao Ling... is that really an immortal-grade bloodline?''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 447: A crazy guess
Chapter 447: A crazy guess
It was obvious that Elder Zhuan trembled as he said this, almost unable toplete his own words.
Although he had also suspected that the ck-robed man''s, Jiang Chen''s bloodline was possible to be an immortal-grade bloodline as well, the instinctive feeling of terror that he had felt from Shun Long''s bloodline even exceeded the pressure that Jiang Chen''s bloodline was emitting!
The white-robed Dao Emperor, Elder Cao Ling stayed silent, as his eyes didn''t move away from the blue-robed young man''s body even for a second.
Finally, a few momentster, he nodded his head in a serious manner before he said
''''Just like the ck-robed kid with the demonic bloodline, this kid also possesses an immortal-grade bloodline!''''
Even though Cao Ling''s tone was calm, his words seemed to have struck Elder Zhuan''s heart like a hammer.
''''Indeed, both of them possess immortal-grade bloodlines, and that young man named Jiang Chen even has a demonic bloodline.''''
As Elder Zhuan mumbled to himself, he seemed to be unable to calm down the upheavals in his heart.
Even in the Holy sect, the number of disciples who possessed an immortal-grade bloodline could be counted in one hand! And yet, there were 2 of them here today, both participating in the fourth test!
What Elder Zhuan didn''t know, was that Cao Ling was even more shocked than him, as his eyes kept staring at Shun Long with a disbelieving look.
At that moment, a single thought shed through the bald Dao Emperor''s mind
''''Is this really a Dragon''s bloodline?''''
As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, Cao Ling instantly rejected it.
In the cultivation world, dragons were mythical creatures that may not even exist.
Even he, a powerful Dao Emperor hadn''t even heard rumors of any power possessing a dragon''s bloodline, let alone see such a person.
For someone to really have the bloodline of a dragon, it was unknown what kind of background such a person would really have!
Although the Holy sect wasn''t afraid of any power from the continents surrounding the central region, Cao Ling still wouldn''t treat such a matter lightly.
Without exining anything else, the white-robed Dao Emperor continued to observe the fight at the center of the arena with a profound look in his eyes.
At the same time, staring at the yellow-robed young man in front of him, Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile, as he said in a slightly excited tone
''''Now, we can really begin!''''
Clenching the ck star-rank sword with his right hand, he didn''t wait for the long-haired young man to respond before he abruptly took a step forward and disappeared on the spot!
The long-haired young man from the Holy sect instantly tensed up when he saw this, while his eyes immediately turned extremely serious.
He already knew that Shun Long hadprehended the Dao of Space, and had been on his guard about it from the very beginning. No matter which angle Shun Long attacked him from, he would definitely be able to react in time, before he counterattacked.
Using blink, Shun Long instantly appeared by the yellow-robed young man''s side, and with the same smile on his face, he swung the ck sword in his hand downwards without any hesitation.
Injecting his qi inside the ck sword, he no longer held back his strength, as the runes and the mysterious patterns on the sword''s surface lit up one by one, while sparks of lightning started to appear on the sword''s edge at the same time.
In less than a single breath of time, Shun Long had already condensed the lightning on the sword''s surface as he said in a low voice
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
At that moment, a terrifying ck-colored sh filled with berserk lightning left the sword''s edge and flew towards the long-haired young man from the Holy sect!
The yellow-robed young man''s face instantly paled when he felt the strength behind the sword sh, as he hurriedly raised the silver sword using both hands in front of his chest, in an attempt to block Shun Long''s strike.
And yet, the scene that followed was something that shocked every disciple to their core, regardless if it was those sitting in the audience seats, or the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky!
The moment that the ''Thundergod''s sh'' met the yellow-robed man''s silver sword, the long-haired young man was only able to resist it for a single moment before he was sent flying back to the ground like a meteor.
BOOOM!!
Everyone watched as the long-haired young man copsed on the ground, spitting a mouthful of blood in the process.
At that moment, silence immediately filled the arena, as every single disciple suddenly turned their attention towards the ck-robed Jiang Chen who was sitting in the audience seats, before they quickly turned their eyes back to look at the ck sword on Shun Long''s hands.
''''Another star-rank weapon? An early rank 1 Nascent Soul rookie actually has a star-rank weapon?''''
It was unknown who had actually said this among the disciples in the audience seats, but it instantly broke the silence that filled the arena, causing looks of shock and envy to appear on everyone''s faces.
''''What kind of force does this kide from? There is actually a power that can really afford to give out a star-rank weapon?''''
''''Wait! Wasn''t he sitting together with that white-veiled young woman earlier? Didn''t she say that she is a rogue cultivator from the Night star continent? Could it be that this kid is also a rogue cultivator as well?''''
A young man from the Holy sect asked in a loud voice, almost as if he had juste to a realization.
Silence filled his surroundings for a few moments, before another young man from the Holy sect looked at him and said mockingly
''''A rogue cultivator? Idiot! Do you really believe that a rogue cultivator can get a hold of a star-rank weapon? Even in our central region, have you ever seen a rogue cultivator with a star-rank weapon? Why don''t you bring out a star-rank weapon yourself? Even some of the top outer disciples of our Holy sect don''t have star-rank weapons!''''
It wasn''t just the disciples of the Holy sect who had been stunned after seeing the appearance of another star-rank weapon in this fourth test! Even the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky was shocked when he saw Shun Long holding the ck sword in his hand.
'''' A Dragon''s bloodline... a star-rank weapon... a woman who hasprehended the Dao of Death...''''
As these thoughts shed through Cao Ling''s mind, his previous thoughts about Shun Long having a powerful background started to take root even further.
And yet, the most shocked out of everyone wasn''t Cao Ling, but the ck-robed Jiang Chen in the audience seats, as well as the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang.
A crazy guess had appeared in Sheng Huang''s mind as he kept staring at the ck sword in Shun Long''s hands, while a look of animosity and hatred, as well as envy, also appeared in his eyes at the same time.
Chapter 448: Recognized
Chapter 448: Recognized
Although others may not know about it, Sheng Huang actually happened to be near the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' when his grandfather, Sheng Jun, and his grandmother had led the Dao Kings of the Shengtian dynasty inside the vi.
Thus, when Little ck charged out from the vi with Sheng Jun and the hall master of the ''Demon Emperor Pce'', Duan Zhu, both chasing after the ck dragon, Sheng Huang had happened to personally witness that scene.
He would never forget the scene of the majestic ck dragon spreading his wings and flying away from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
And seeing the scales on Shun Long''s body the first thing that came to Sheng Huang''s mind was the scales on the ck dragon''s body, that were nearly identical to Shun Long''s.
However, this was just a suspicion that Sheng Huang had in his mind, and it didn''t necessarily prove that the power backing Shun Long was really the one that had attacked the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and were rted to that majestic ck dragon!
And yet, the moment that Sheng Huangid his eyes on the ck sword in Shun Long''s hands, he became almost certain in his mind that Shun Long was indeed rted to that power.
The first reason that made him nearly certain, was that he was indeed a couple with that ''white-robed young woman'' named Liu Mei, who imed to be a rogue cultivator from the Night star continent.
But the most important reason was that Sheng Huang still remembered his grandfather''s words after returning from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
The old king of the Shengtian dynasty had already exined to his grandson, how the people sitting on the ck dragon''s back had stolen the mysterious ck sword and the translucent armor from the depths of the vi that he suspected them to be star-rank weapons, as well as the wooden chest right below the golden throne which most likely contained a star-rank weapon as well.
Thus, as he stared at Shun Long inside the arena, a single thought surfaced in Sheng Huang''s mind, filled with jealousy, hatred, and killing intent!
If the power behind Shun Long hadn''t stolen that ck sword, as the heir of the Shengtian dynasty, everything inside the core region of the vi including the sword in Shun Long''s hands would belong to him! If it wasn''t because of the people on the ck dragon that ended up luring Sheng Jun away, how would his own grandmother ever have to fight against the peak rank 9 Dao King, Zhao Lan, and his group from the ''Alchemists'' Guild''?
After reaching this conclusion, the killing intenting from Sheng Huang''s body had nearly be tangible, scaring away the disciples in the audience seats that were sitting around him!
As for the ck-robed Jiang Chen, his eyes werepletely focused on Shun Long''s back at the center of the arena, while his own thoughts were a mystery.
Of course, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the fact that he had already alerted the 2 geniuses who had already passed the test, as his eyes were focused on the long-haired young man at the center of the arena.
Despite hitting him with the ''Thundergod''s sh'', Shun Long knew, that not only was the long-haired young man from the Holy sect still alive, but he was most likely still able to fight.
The reason why Shun Long was so certain about this was because once the ''Thundergod''s sh'' cut through the long-haired man''s yellow robes, a set of silver armor revealed itself, before it absorbed most of the damage of the ck-colored sword sh.
And yet, the remaining power was still enough, to not only send the yellow-robed young man flying back to the ground, but it also made him spit blood while severely injuring him at the same time.
Indeed, a few momentster, the long-haired young man actually slowly stood up from the ground with some difficulty, as he turned his head and stared at the blue-robed young man covered in ck scales in the sky, with a look of anger as well as some concealed fear in his eyes.
It was obvious that Shun Long''s cultivation was still at the peak rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, and yet, the power of his bloodline had augmented his strength to such a degree, that he was already capable of harming him, a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
''''No, it isn''t just capable of harming me! If it wasn''t for the rank 3 gold grade armor in my chest, I would have already been seriously injured long ago!''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, the long-haired young man stared at Shun Long with even more apprehension in his gaze. And yet, amidst this apprehension was also some relief.
''''No matter what, in the end, he is just at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul! There is no way that he has enough qi to use that move again!''''
After reassuring himself the long-haired man''s gaze turned serious, as he raised his silver sword in the sky.
Of course, although the armor on his chest had already absorbed more than 80 percent of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', the luster of the armor was no longer as bright as before.
Instead, it had considerably dimmed and it was obvious that it was unable to absorb another attack.
Once they returned back to the Holy sect, the long-haired young man needed to find a formation master, and pay a huge amount of spirit stones to have it repaired.
Therefore, he was already prepared to end everything with his next attack.
Raising his silver sword in the air, the long-haired young man from the Holy sect infused his qi inside it, as he stared at Shun Long with a determined look in his eyes.
shing his sword horizontally he then shouted
''''Let''s end this!''''
At that moment, a silver-colored sword sh appeared from the long-haired young man''s sword, flying towards Shun Long at extreme speed.
With just a nce, Shun Long immediately realized, that this silver-colored sh wasn''t an average martial skill, but the first stage of a Saint low-grade martial skill the long-haired young man hadprehended to 100 percent!
Even with the ''Thundergod''s sh'', Shun Long would only be able to match its strength or slightly overpower it.
At that moment, Shun Long''s smile slowly faded from his face, and nodding his head, he looked at the long-haired young man with a serious expression before he said
''''Fine, let''s end this!''''
Clenching his right fist, Shun Long closed his eyes for a moment, before a pitch-ck me started to take form on his right hand.
Just as the silver-colored sh arrived just a few meters away from him, Shun Long suddenly snapped his eyes open, before he said in a low voice
''''mes of Destruction!''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 449: Flames of Destruction
Chapter 449: mes of Destruction
As his voice resounded in the air, Shun Long punched forward with his right hand, as a burst of terrifying, pitch-ck mes erupted from his arm, before they collided with the silver-colored sword sh in front of him head-on.
However, the scene that followed exceeded everyone''s expectations!
There was no loud explosion once the silver-colored sword sh met with the terrifying mes.
Instead, the ck mes quickly engulfed the sword sh before theypletely swallowed it, leaving no traces of it behind.
And yet, the powerful sword sh only managed to stop the ck mes for a single moment, before they continued to descend towards the arena, flying towards the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect.
Seeing this scene, the long-haired young man''s eyes instantly widened while an expression of fear finally appeared on his face.
The moment that he saw that his Saint low-grade martial skill had not only failed to defeat the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage rookie in the air, but it didn''t even manage to weaken the ball of ck mes in the slightest, made the yellow-robed young man''s face instantly pale.
Of course, the ''mes of Destruction'' was a unique skill to ck dragons that humans couldn''t possibly use. The only reason why Shun Long could use it, was because he had activated the power of his bloodline and wasn''t much different than an actual ck dragon during that time. As for how strong these mes really were, if they were rated in the terms of a martial skill, then they far exceeded the might of a normal Saint low-grade martial skill.
At that moment, right before Shun Long''s ''mes of Destruction'' were about to hit the long-haired young man from the Holy sect, a soft sigh resounded throughout the arena, as everyone turned their eyes towards the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky and saw him waving his hand!
The ck mes that were just a few inches away from the yellow-robed young man suddenly stopped in the air, almost as if they had met with an invisible wall, before they were slowly extinguished.
At that moment,plete silence filled the arena, as everyone stared at the blue-robed young man in the sky with different expressions on their faces.
It didn''t matter if it was in the eyes of the disciples of the Holy sect or those sitting in the audience seats, Shun Long hadpletely be the center of attention at this moment, attracting everyone''s gazes.
Some of these disciples were filled with shock, while others felt disbelief, nearly unable to believe that the scene in front of their eyes was real. A peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage rookie had actually managed to defeat a disciple of the Holy sect at the peak of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul?
The most surprising thing however, was the intense gazes of the female disciples sitting in the audience seats.
Most of them had a fervent look in their eyes as they stared at the handsome, blue-robed young man in the sky, while anyone could guess their thoughts from the expressions on their faces.
At the same time, a dazzling smile that could encapture the hearts of men and women alike appeared on Liu Mei''s face behind her white veil, while a look of pride filled her eyes as she stared at the handsome, blue-robed young man in the arena.
Meanwhile, the green-robed dazzling beauty, Xie Xingyi seemed to have heaved out a sigh of relief after seeing the white-robed Dao Emperor stopping the fight, while the look in her eyes seemed to have been filled with joy.
Since the Elder from the Holy sect was forced to step forward to stop the fight personally, it clearly meant that Shun Long had passed the test.
Of course, what none of them knew, was that the reason why Cao Ling had interfered in the fight, was because he could feel that Shun Long''s ''mes of Destruction'' wouldn''t have simply severely injured the long-haired young man. Instead, the tyrannical ck mes wouldpletely destroy his soul!
This hadpletely exceeded Cao Ling''s estimation of Shun Long''s absolute strength! It was very likely that even an average early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator may not be able to take these mes head-on!
Staring at the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky, Shun Long saw Cao Ling''s lips forming into a smile, as the bald Dao Emperor took a single step forward and asked in a seemingly amiable tone
''''What''s your name kid? Which power do youe from?''''
Staring at the bald Dao Emperor in the sky, Shun Long''s lips slightly curved up, as he cupped his hands and said seriously
''''This junior''s name is Shun Long. I am a rogue cultivator from the Night star continent.''''
The moment that he finished his words, silence once again descended in the arena, while even the hushed discussions from the disciples in the audience seats behind Shun Long instantly stopped. At that moment, Shun Long noticed Cao Ling''s eyes narrow, while the expressions of the disciples of the Holy sect behind him also changed.
A rogue cultivator? Another one from the Night star continent? Who would believe that?
Of course, Shun Long already knew that it was unlikely for anyone to really ept that he was a rogue cultivator.
Just by revealing the ck sword earlier, it was bound to attract a lot of attention.
However, it was the truth that he and Liu Mei were in reality rogue cultivators.
Although Shun Long had thought of dering himself as a member of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' from the Night star continent, he also remembered that the old woman from the guild, Jin Wenling, had already said that the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' was under the jurisdiction of the Feng family from the central region.
Despite having already guessed that the Holy sect was most likely stronger than the Feng family, Shun Long didn''t want to be entangled with a family that he knew nothing about. Besides, he hadn''t really received the favor of the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' as he had rejected Zhao Lan''s offer to be groomed by them.
Thus, dering himself as a rogue cultivator was the best choice.
And yet, contrary to everyone''s expectations, the white-robed Dao Emperor actually smiled a momentter, as he nodded his head and said in an uncaring tone
''''Very well. It doesn''t matter whether you really are a rogue cultivator or not. Since you have passed the test, you are now officially a disciple of my Holy sect!''''
Despite being stunned for a moment, Shun Long still nodded his head in response.
At the same time, the ck scales on his body slowly receded until theypletely disappeared, before he turned around, and without another word, he flew towards Liu Mei''s direction in the audience seats.
No matter what, he had sessfully passed the Holy sect''s test already.
Once the remaining fights were over, he and Liu Mei would enter the Holy sect, along with the remaining disciples who end up passing the test.
Chapter 450: Zhong Fang
Chapter 450: Zhong Fang
As he flew back to the audience seats, Shun Long saw that everyone''s gazes were focused on him.
Every single one of the more than 600 disciples sitting in the audience seats were staring at him with different looks in their eyes.
And the most intense out of all of them seemed to be the ck-robed young man''s, Jiang Chen''s curious gaze, the gaze of a handsome young man dressed in white robes, as well as the golden-robed prince''s of the Shengtian dynasty!
Shun Long first turned his eyes towards the white-robed young man with sword-like eyebrows, and saw him nod his head as a greeting with a smile on his face.
Since he didn''t sense any malicious intent from him, Shun Long nodded his head in response before he turned his eyes towards the ck-robed Jiang Chen and the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang.
And yet, Jiang Chen didn''t seem to move his gaze away from him despite seeing that Shun Long had noticed him. Instead, the mysterious ck-robed young man continued to stare at him with curiosity in his eyes, almost as if he was trying to carefully examine his body.
Frowning slightly, Shun Long decided to temporarily ignore Jiang Chen, as he then turned his attention towards the golden-robed Sheng Huang.
However, what surprised him, was Sheng Huang''s gaze that was stuck on him and was filled with undisguised hostility.
Seeing that Shun Long was looking at him, the golden-robed prince snorted, before he turned his attention back to the arena, as he waited for the next fight to start.
Ignoring the rest of the gazes around him, Shun Long continued forward and quickly arrived in front of Liu Mei.
Staring at Shun Long with the same dazzling smile behind her white veil, Liu Mei then said in a gentle voice that was filled with love and unconcealed pride
''''Hehe, Long-ge, congrattions. I knew that Long-ge wouldn''t lose no matter what!''''
Shun Long smiled and patted Liu Mei''s head lightly when he heard this, before he pulled her into a hug.
Of course, although Liu Mei was curious about the ck scales that previously appeared on Shun Long''s body, since she was already familiar with Little ck, it wasn''t too hard for her to guess that this was something rted to the ck dragon.
After all, Shun Long''s rtionship with the ck dragon was definitely one that seemed to go back for many years.
As Shun Long sat back down on his seat along with Liu Mei, they both turned their attention towards the center of the arena as well, as they continued to observe the fights that followed.
In the next 100 fights that took ce, only 8 disciples from the audience seats managed to defeat the disciples of the Holy sect.
Although 8 new people out of 100 passing the test to be outer disciples of the Holy sect wasn''t too small of a number, if one actually considered that practically every single one of those disciples who were participating in the fourth test were actually the strongest geniuses in their own continents, it only highlighted the difference between themselves and the newly admitted outer disciples of the Holy sect even further!
Among the disciples who passed the fourth test was also a young man dressed in white robes, with a chubby face and long silver hair that reached all the way to his back. This person had very thick arms and legs, but the most important reason why Shun Long ended up paying attention to him, was because he also came from the Night star continent as well.
This was the fourth person from the Night star continent who had managed to pass the fourth test after Shun Long, Liu Mei, and Sheng Huang.
When the white-robed Dao Emperor asked him for his name, the chubby-faced young man introduced himself as Zhong Fang from the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' of the Night star continent.
''''Zhong Fang!''''
Both Shun Long and Liu Mei had heard this name many times while they were still in the Heaven''s Dome city!
This person was previously ranked 2nd in the House of Rankings, but before the Holy sect''s test started, it was rumored that he fell to third ce after losing against the young white lord, Bai Longtian.
After passing the fourth test, Zhong Fang first threw a nce at Shun Long in the audience seats, before he actually flew towards Sheng Huang''s direction.
The prince of the Shengtian dynasty and the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' seemed to be quite close to each other.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t care too much about Zhong Fang. If it wasn''t because he also came from the Night star continent, Shun Long wouldn''t have care about him to begin with.
After all, although Zhong Fang was actually ranked 3rd in rankings of the Night star continent and was right behind Bai Longtian, he was nearly eliminated during his fight against the disciple of the Holy sect.
Although this proved that his strength was definitely high enough to be an outer disciple of the Holy sect as well, he was definitely not worth paying too much attention to.
In front of the strongest geniuses like the ck-robed Jiang Chen and Sheng Huang, he was actually considered weak!
As time passed, more and more fights continued to take ce, and less than 3 hourster, the 810th fight was alreadypleted.
During this time, only 76 disciples from the audience seats had actually managed to pass the fourth test.
As a young man from the Holy sect walked up and stood at the center of the arena while holding a token with the number ''811'' in his hands, everyone saw a stunning blonde-haired young woman fly out from the audience seats, heading directly towards the center of the arena!
Whether it was the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang, the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' Zhong Fang, Liu Mei, or even the white-robed young man with sword-like eyebrows who smiled at Shun Long earlier, they all had serious expressions on their faces as they looked at this gorgeous young woman who flew to the center of the arena.
And yet, before she stepped foot inside the arena, Xie Xingyi stopped and turned around to face Liu Mei and Shun Long.
Under everyone''s stunned eyes, this peerlessly beautiful girl smiled gently towards Shun Long and Liu Mei, before she finally stepped foot in the arena.
At that moment, Liu Mei''s lips behind her white veil curved up, forming a radiant smile.
Chapter 451: Unique physique
Chapter 451: Unique physique
Shun Long was stunned for a moment after seeing this kingdom-toppling beauty turning around and smiling at him and Liu Mei, while causing many young men from the Holy sect to feel envy in their hearts in the process.
After all, nearly every single one of the male disciples who had already passed the test, had already thought that they could happily take Xie Xingyi as their servant if she happened to fail her own test.
And yet, their hopes were quickly ruined since not only did Shun Long seem to have a rtionship with that white-robed, terrifying goddess of death, but even this stunningly beautiful girl ended up taking the initiative to smile at him.
Even some young men from the Holy sect who had already decided to court Xie Xingyi felt dejected when they saw this scene, but most of them didn''t choose to give up.
After all, unlike the white-robed Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi didn''t seem to have any rtionship with Shun Long. Besides, no matter how abnormal Shun Long was, inside the Holy sect, they wouldn''t have to restrict their cultivation to the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul!
Regardless if it was in terms of strength or status, most of these outer disciples felt that they were definitely stronger than a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul cultivator from the Night star continent like Shun Long.
Of course, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the thoughts of the people around him, as he turned to look at Liu Mei next to him and asked in a curious tone
''''Mei''er, do you know her?''''
Liu Mei looked at Shun Long with her enchanting ck eyes hidden behind her white veil, before she nodded her head a momentter and continued with that same radiant smile on her face
''''Long-ge should also know her. After all, her elder sister is madam Xie Rong.''''
Just like Liu Mei when she had first found out about Xie Xingyi''s identity, Shun Long was also stunned when he heard this.
Although Xie Xingyi did indeed resemble Xie Rong greatly and Shun Long had already guessed that the 2 of them were most likely rted one way or another, he hadn''t expected that this girl was actually Xie Rong''s younger sister.
With that same smile on her face, Liu Mei then didn''t hide anything, as she started to exin to Shun Long how she had met Xie Xingyi in the third test, and what the 2 of them had been through together in the past 25 days.
At the same time, standing at the center of the arena, Xie Xingyi looked at the young man from the Holy sect opposite to her and smiled lightly as she said
''''Senior, let''s start.''''
Without waiting for a response, Xie Xingyi''s body was quickly covered with a ck aura, before she suddenly disappeared from the arena under the astounded eyes of the yellow-robed young man in front of her.
The young man from the Holy sect didn''t even have a chance to attack, before he saw the gorgeous blonde-haired young woman vanish instantly!
Of course, as an experienced outer disciple of the Holy sect, he wouldn''t just sit there and do nothing when he was ced in a dangerous situation.
Although he couldn''t see where Xie Xingyi was, as a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he definitely wouldn''t lose so easily against an opponent he can''t locate.
Closing his eyes, he immediately activated his soul sense and spread it around him, trying to find out where Xie Xingyi disappeared to.
At the same time, the white-robed Dao Emperor, Cao Ling, stared at the scene at the center of the arena with a deep look in his eyes, before he mumbled to himself in a quiet voice
''''This girl was actually born with the Vanishing Shadows unique physique!''''
Although Cao Ling''s voice wasn''t loud, the long-haired Dao King standing next to him clearly heard this, as he then stared at the scene in the arena with an incredulous look in his eyes.
Elder Zhuan already knew, that the white-robed Dao Emperor next to him was extremely knowledgeable regarding the countless unique physiques under the heavens. Since he said that the green-robed young woman was born with the Vanishing Shadows unique physique, it was most likely to be true.
Even though Elder Zhuan didn''t know exactly how high-level of a physique the Vanishing Shadows physique really was, but to be able to garner Cao Ling''s attention, its level was definitely not low!
At the same time, the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect was still standing at the center of the arena with his eyes closed, as he tried to locate Xie Xingyi using his soul sense!
Finally, a few momentster, he could sense something akin to a formless shadow circling around him at a very quick speed, almost as if that thing had burrowed itself inside the ground.
With a smirk on his face, the young man from the Holy sect took a step forward and said
''''There you are!''''
With extremely swift movements, the yellow-robed young man then took out a long, light yellow-colored spear from his spatial ring, and infused his qi inside it before he turned around and mmed it downwards on the ground behind him.
At that moment, the entire arena started to rumble, before the nearly invisible shadow that had suddenly appeared behind him was struck by the yellow-colored spear''s tip.
And yet, a radiant smile actually appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she saw this scene, as she continued to quietly stare at the nearly invisible shadow without any anxiousness in her eyes.
At that moment, under everyone''s shocked gazes, the ck shadow-like figure actually ignored the yellow-colored spear that had struck it, as it quickly reformed itself, revealing the silhouette of a stunning blonde-haired young woman dressed in green robes.
Holding a silver dagger in her left hand, Xie Xingyi grabbed the spear''s handle that was mmed on the ground, before she moved forward, ready to stab the yellow-robed young man of the Holy sect!
At that moment, the yellow-robed young man''s eyes suddenly widened, and seeing the small, silver dagger that was moving towards his chest, he decisively abandoned his spear as he stepped forward, opening up the distance between himself and Xie Xingyi.
And yet, at that moment, Xie Xingyi''s lips curved up in a mesmerizing smile before she said in a low voice
''''Creeping Shadows!''''
Chapter 452: A chance to strengthen your physique
Chapter 452: A chance to strengthen your physique
At that moment, the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect felt a horrifying sensation suddenly gripping his heart, as a sense of danger overcame him.
The first action that came to his mind was to quickly dodge and open up the distance between himself and the green-robed blonde beauty in front of him even further, when somethingpletely suddenly unexpected happened.
ck-colored, shadow-like tentacles extended from his own shadow from the ground below him, as they started to wrap themselves around his arms and legs, trapping the yellow-robed young man into ce.
This was the Saint low-grade martial skill that Xie Xingyi had gotten from the barrier of knowledge during the second test, Creeping Shadows!
This martial skill used up arge amount of her qi, but it allowed Xie Xingyi to control an enemy''s shadow for a few seconds.
The young man from the Holy sect was startled when he saw the shadow-like tentacles wrapping themselves around his arms and feet, whilepletely immobilizing him in the process.
He knew that he had suddenly fallen into an extremely dangerous situation!
But before he had enough time to break free and escape their entanglement, Xie Xingyi suddenly took a few steps forward, and holding the silver-colored dagger in her hand, she thrust it towards the yellow-robed young man''s throat.
The yellow-robed young man''s eyes widened as he felt the silver dagger''s cold touch on his throat, while a droplet of blood slowly trickled off the dagger''s surface before it fell on the ground.
Silence once again filled the arena, as everyone stared at the green-robed beauty who was still holding the dagger against the yellow-robed young man''s throat.
Xie Xingyi''s lips once again formed a dazzling smile, before she turned her attention towards the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky and took a step back as she slowly retracted her dagger.
It was obvious that if she had pressured her dagger slightly further in, she would have most likely taken the yellow-robed young man''s life.
Nodding his head, the white-robed Cao Ling smiled amiably and asked in a voice that didn''t hide his curiosity
''''Little girl, what''s your name? Which continent do youe from? Hehehe, it''s been a while since this old man has seen a new disciple with a rare physique like your Vanishing Shadows unique physique.''''
Xie Xingyi bowed her head slightly and cupped her hands as she replied in a somewhat shocked voice
''''This junior''s name is Xie Xingyi and Ie from the Xie family of the Night star continent.''''
Although Xie Xingyi didn''t express her doubts, how could Cao Ling not realize, that she most likely had never heard the name of her unique physique before? Of course, although the white-robed Dao Emperor had been surprised that there was another genius from the weak Night star continent, he still nodded his head with that same, amiable smile on his face. before he said
''''Although your physique is not suited for head-on battles, you are a naturally born assassin. Your Vanishing Shadows unique physique is exceptionally suited for surprise attacks and assassinations rather than fighting your enemies head-on.
But from what I have noticed, you can''t remain in that state for too long! Hehehe, after entering the sect, you will really have a chance to strengthen your physique.''''
Astonishment shed past Xie Xingyi''s eyes, but she didn''t ask Cao Ling what he meant by that. Instead, she bowed once again, thanking the white-robed Dao Emperor, before she flew back towards the audience seats.
Regardless of what Cao Ling meant by a chance to strengthen her physique, she would definitely find out once she entered the sect.
And yet, what surprised everyone, was the fact that Xie Xingyi wasn''t actually returning back to her original seat, and instead, she was flying directly towards Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s seats.
At the same time, an ugly look shed past Sheng Huang''s eyes when he saw this scene, but the golden-robed prince suppressed his anger and killing intent as he remained seated instead.
A few momentster, the gorgeous green-robed, blonde-haired young woman, had already arrived in front of Shun Long and Liu Mei, before a dazzling smile appeared on her face for the first time since she had entered the Holy sect''s test, as her eyes stared at the blue-robed young man and the white-robed young woman in front of her with excitement in her eyes.
Without waiting for Xie Xingyi to say anything, Liu Mei stood up as a mesmerizing smile appeared on her lips behind her white veil, before she said gently
''''Xingyi, congrattions!''''
Although it was a simple line, it was filled with warmth and sincere happiness.
''''I am still not as strong as you, Mei!''''
Xie Xingyi replied with a slight blush on her face, before she turned her attention towards the blue-robed young man next to Liu Mei.
A deep look shed past Liu Mei''s eyes when she saw the look on Xie Xingyi''s face, but her smile only widened without saying a word.
Bowing slightly, Xie Xingyi stared at Shun Long with that same blush on her face, before she introduced herself
''''My name is Xie Xingyi. Brother Long, it''s nice to meet you!''''
Shun Long was startled for a moment after hearing Xie Xingyi calling him ''brother Long'', but with a gentle look on his face he nodded his head and said
''''Mei already told me that you are madam Xie Rong''s sister and how the 2 of you spent thest month together. Thank you for taking care of her.''''
Xie Xingyi shook her head lightly when she heard this, and holding Liu Mei''s hand she said with a serious look
''''If someone has to say thank you then that''s me. After all, it was Mei who saved me first, otherwise I would have definitely died during the third test!''''
As she finished speaking, Xie Xingyi turned her gaze to the side, and threw a murderous nce at a purple-robed young man sitting in the audience seats.
This was the same person who had tried to kill her during the third test, the person ranked 17th in the House of Rankings in the Night star continent, Hua Ping.
After failing to obtain Xie Xingyi''s token, this purple-robed young man managed to obtain another token from a city not too far away from it.
However, he knew that his chances of passing this fourth test were already very slim.
If it wasn''t because Xie Xingyi had been tired and had expended a lot of energy obtaining the Holy sect''s token during the third test, then even if he and the other 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who were chasing after her could still join hands, they wouldn''t dare to go after her for her own token!
At this moment, Hua Ping''s face instantly paled when he felt Xie Xingyi''s cold nce, while his body involuntarily shivered.
He knew that this woman who was ranked 5th in the House of Rankings, wouldn''t let his attack during the third test go!
At the same time, Liu Mei smiled gently and had Xie Xingyi sit next to her, as the fights in the arena continued.
Once the 921st fight ended, a cold smile appeared on Xie Xingyi''s lips as the purple-robed Hua Ping got eliminated.
Finally, 2 hourster, a young man from the Holy sectnded at the center of the arena holding the token with the number ''1000'' in his right hand. This was the final fight before these disciples finally entered the Holy sect!
Chapter 453: Bai Longtian
Chapter 453: Bai Longtian
Everyone''s eyes stared at the bald, yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect at the center of the arena with excited looks in their eyes.
This was going to be the final fight of the fourth test.
At that moment, the disciples sitting in the audience seats all turned their attention to the only person who had yet to step on the main stage.
It was a handsome young man dressed in white robes, with long ck hair, deep blue eyes, and sword-like eyebrows. A snow-white sword was strapped on his waist, as his hand held a golden-colored token with the number ''1000'' on it.
This was the same young man who was staring at Shun Long with an intense gaze once his fight was finished, before nodding his head as a greeting.
Seeing this white-robed young man fly towards the arena with a serious look in his eyes, the look in Sheng Huang''s, Zhong Fang''s, and Xie Xingyi''s eyes instantly changed, turning extremely serious as well.
In just a few moments, the white-robed young man had already appeared at the center of the arena, and staring at the bald, yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect who was standing in front of him, he actually smiled and cupped his hands before he said
''''My name is Bai Longtian. Ie from the ''Holy White city'' of the Night star continent.''''
The moment that they heard the white-robed young man introducing himself, Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s expressions slightly changed as well.
At that moment, Shun Long didn''t hold himself back from mumbling
''''So this is the young white lord who is ranked 2nd in the House of Rankings in the Heaven''s Dome city, Bai Longtian?''''
Although his words sounded like a question, it was obvious that Shun Long was actually verifying his guess.
After all, this was the first time that he and Liu Mei were seeing Bai Longtian. As the young white lord and the person ranked 2nd in the House of Rankings, Bai Longtian''s fame in the Night star continent wasn''t inferior to even Sheng Huang''s!
At the same time, Shun Long seemed to have suddenly realized why Bai Longtian had showed so much interest in him earlier.
As the person ranked 2nd in the entire Night star continent, it was natural that he would be stunned after seeing someone elseing from the Night star continent as well, who was able to pass the Holy sect''s test with a cultivation at the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul.
Turning her head to the side, Xie Xingyi stared at the surprised expression on Shun Long''s face and asked in a curious voice
''''Brother Long, is this the first time that you are actually seeing Bai Longtian?''''
Of course, the reason why Xie Xingyi was surprised, was because she had seen Shun Long nod at Bai Longtian earlier, and she assumed that they must have already been acquainted with each other.? She had also noticed that Sheng Huang seemed to have hated Shun Long for some reason, so she had ended up guessing that she was the only one who didn''t know Shun Long and Liu Mei before entering the Holy sect''s test.
However, based on Shun Long''s reaction, it seemed that he had no idea that this person was Bai Longtian.
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t hide anything as he exined directly
''''Me and Mei''er spent thest 2 years training in the ''Ten Thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and the ''City of Sin'' and didn''t stay in the Heaven''s Dome city for too long.''''
Xie Xingyi nodded her head in enlightenment when she heard Shun Long''s answer. Since he and Liu Mei didn''t spend too much time in the Heaven''s Dome city, it wasn''t too surprising that he hadn''t met Bai Longtian before.
After all, both Bai Longtian and Sheng Huang, and even the young lord of the Mercenaries'' Association, Zhong Fang, only showed up in the House of Rankings when they had a fight to attend to. Otherwise, they would spend the rest of their time training, and preparing for the Holy sect''s test.
As for the reason why Sheng Huang seemed to have hated Shun Long, Xie Xingyi didn''t ask. Instead, a smile appeared on her face as she looked at the blue-robed young man who was sitting next to Liu Mei, before she then started to exin
''''Brother Long, although Bai Longtian and Sheng Huang have never fought with each other before in public, it is said that Bai Longtian isn''t inferior to him at all despite being ranked 2nd in the House of Ranking of the Heaven''s Dome city.
Actually, it was just a few days before the Holy sect''s test started that Bai Longtian defeated Zhong Fang and was ranked 2nd in the rankings!
At the same time, there are rumors that Bai Longtian hasprehended a very rare Dao, not inferior to his Dao of Light at all. And yet, during his fight with Zhong Fang, Bai Longtian only revealed his Dao of Light.''''
Unlike Shun Long and Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi had spent a lot of time in the Heaven''s Dome city.
As the person ranked 5th in the House of Rankings, even if she hadn''t fought with Bai Longtian before, she already knew about the rumors going around regarding this genius, who wasn''t inferior to Sheng Huang.
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Xie Xingyi''s exnation, as his eyes stared at the white-robed, handsome young man at the center of the arena with a curious look in his eyes.
Of course, to be able to be mentioned in the same breath as Sheng Huang, Bai Longtian had to haveprehended a Dao that could at least put up a fight against Sheng Huang''s Dao of Destruction. After all, no matter what, Sheng Huang had actually managed to pass this fourth test effortlessly.
The bald, yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect opposite to Bai Longtian snorted when he heard the white-robed young man introduce himself before passing the test, and with a mocking look on his face he said
''''Kid, you are too arrogant. Aren''t you afraid that you will lose and be aughingstock?''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 454: Do you want to give up
Chapter 454: Do you want to give up
Bai Longtian simply smiled when he heard this and cupping his hands a second time he answered
''''Senior, you misunderstood. It''s not that I am looking down on you, but I am indeed confident in my strength.''''
''''Hmph!'''' The bald, yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect snorted, but he didn''t say anything in response.
Instead, he waved his hand and took out a dark brown bow that seemed to have been made from some kind of wood from his spatial ring, and held it in front of his chest. A quiver filled with arrows had appeared on his back at the same time, as the bald, yellow-robed young man grabbed an arrow with his right hand and ced it on the bowstring stretching it tightly. Then, with a smile on his face, he said
''''Since you are so confident, let''s begin!''''
At that moment, the yellow-robed young man released the bowstring, as the sound of an arrow tearing through the air sounded, flying towards Bai Longtian at extreme speed.
The look on Bai Longtian''s face quickly turned serious as he ced both of his hands in front of his chest and sped them together.? A bright white light erupted from his body, immediately drowning his surroundings, as 2 light arrows were quickly condensed in the air above him.
The 2 light arrows tore through the air, as they flew towards the bald, yellow-robed young man''s arrow in an attempt to stop it. And yet, the moment that they collided together, Bai Longtian''s arrows that were created from his Dao of Light were destroyed in an instant, as the yellow-robed young man''s arrow continued to fly towards him.
The bald young man from the Holy sect smirked when he saw this oue, almost as if it waspletely expected, but the look on Bai Longtian''s face didn''t change. Instead, his body was quickly enveloped by ayer of light, before he suddenly disappeared.
The arrow that the bald young man from the Holy sect had fired seemed to have pierced through Bai Longtian''s afterimage, before itnded on the ground a few tens of meters away from his original position.
At the same time, Bai Longtian''s figure that was covered in ayer of light quickly appeared a few meters away from the yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect, but didn''t directly attack him. Instead, Bai Longtian saw that the yellow-robed young man had that same smirk on his face as he nocked another arrow on his bow and said in a mocking tone
''''Do you think that if youprehend rared Daos like the Dao of Light, that you will be stronger than someone who hadprehended the Dao of Earth or the Dao of Wind? Let this senior teach you a lesson today then!''''
As he finished his words, the bald young man from the Holy sect released arrow after arrow from his bow, as he started to bombard Bai Longtian with his attacks.
The white-robed young white lord constantly used his Dao of Light to avoid the arrow attacks, while using his snow-white sword to fend off the arrows that he couldn''t dodge.
And yet, the force behind each arrow seemed to be no weaker than a full-powered attack from a powerful peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert.
Even with his extreme speed from his Dao of Light, Bai Longtian noticed that he had no room to attack the bald young man from the Holy sect. Every time he tried to approach him, the arrow attacks wouldpletely block his path, while the bald young man would step backwards, opening up the distance between them
At the same time, the arrows in his quiver seemed to be endless, as he continued to fire them without a care.
Of course, Shun Long who was sitting in the audience seats instantly noticed, that the bald young man was using an ingenious way to retrieve the arrows he had fired, which was why they didn''t seem to have an end.
He used his Dao of Earth to retrieve every arrow that fell on the ground, before he returned them back to his quiver and fired them again.
A few minutester, the young white lord stopped trying to dodge and stood still, as he stared at the yellow-robed young man opposite to him.
The bald young man from the Holy sect had the same smirk on his face as he looked at the white-robed young man in front of him and said
''''Hahaha! Have you figured it out yet? My arrows have all reached the same level as normal rank 3 gold grade weapons, and I don''t have to be afraid that they will run out. No matter how fast you may be, as long as you aren''t faster than my perception, then I can guess where you will go and block your path. It''s impossible to get near me and sooner orter my arrows will hit you. Even if you attack me with your own Dao attacks or that sword in your hand, it will still be impossible for you to destroy my arrows. Hehe, do you want to give up... junior brother~?''''
Everyone in the audience seats could hear the mocking tone in the bald young man''s words when he said the words ''junior brother''. After all, if Bai Longtian gave up, he wouldn''t enter the sect and be an outer disciple, so he wouldn''t be able to call himself a ''junior brother''.
Surprisingly, Bai Longtian nodded his head when he heard the yellow-robed young man''s words, and with a smile on his face he said
''''Senior brother is right. I am indeed unable to defeat you with just my Dao of Light.''''
The yellow-robed young man''s lips curved up into a mocking smile as he then asked
''''Are you going toin that you lost because your sword is only a rank 2 gold grade weapon?''''
Bai Longtian shook his head, almost as if he hadn''t realized that the bald young man from the Holy sect was mocking him, and after returning his sword back in its sheath he smiled and said
''''Senior brother is indeed very strong so I will no longer hold back either.''''
As he finished his words, Bai Longtian''s body lit up with a bright white light, while at the same time, from the depths of the light, an indistinct golden color slowly appeared.
Chapter 455: Bai Longtians Dao
Chapter 455: Bai Longtian''s Dao
The golden light was originally extremely faint and almost impossible to discern with the naked eye, but as time passed, it started to turn brighter and brighter.
In just a few moments, it had already covered Bai Longtian''s bodypletely, making him look like an immortal that has suddenly descended from the Heavens!
His white robes fluttered with the wind, while the disciples of the Holy sect and everyone else sitting in the audience seats had shocked looks in their eyes.
The only one who seemed to be rtively calm, was the prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang.
And yet, despite being calm, a deep look shed inside Sheng Huang''s eyes as he stared at Bai Longtian''s figure at the center of the arena.
Although the world didn''t know about it, as the prince of the Shengtian dynasty and the number 1 genius of the Night star continent, he had already fought against Bai Longtian in the past. Of course, back then, Sheng Huang didn''t have his bronze warhammer, but even after using both his Dao of Destruction and his Dao of Metal, he was still unable to beat the young white lord! Of course, he didn''t lose the fight either, and they ended up calling this a draw!
Although Sheng Huang believed that he was definitely stronger than Bai Longtian now that he had a peak rank 3 gold grade weapon, he also knew that the Dao that Bai Longtian hadprehended as his foundation Dao for his body refinement, was an extremely terrifying one... a Dao that could actually match his Dao of Destruction!
At the same time, the white-robed Dao Emperor''s, Cao Ling''s eyes immediately widened when he saw this scene, while a look of disbelief instantly colored his previously calm eyes.
His eyes first stared at the blue-robed Shun Long in the audience seats and Liu Mei who was sitting next to him, as well as the green-robed Xie Xingyi who was also sitting next to her, before he turned his attention towards the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang, and the chubby-faced young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', Zhong Fang!
Finally, a few momentster, he turned his eyes towards the white-robed Bai Longtian at the center of the arena, before he mumbled to himself thoughtfully
''''The Dao of Space, Dao of Death, Dao of Shadows, Dao of Destruction and now the Dao of the Buddha... is this be the change in the Night star continent''s fate?''''
The reason why even Cao Ling was shocked by this, was because Bai Longtian who also came from the Night star continent, had actuallyprehended the Dao of the Buddha!
This was an extremely rare Dao that wasn''t even inferior to Sheng Huang''s Dao of Destruction, Xie Xingyi''s Dao of Shadows, Liu Mei''s Dao of Death, and even Shun Long''s Dao of Space!
Of course, every Dao had its own strengths and uniquenesses, and neither one could be considered as clearly stronger than the others, but Bai Longtian''s Dao of Buddha required one to have a heart that was extremely suited to practice Buddhism.
At the same time, Bai Longtian was the sixth geniusing from the Night star continent.
The first one to pass the test was Sheng Huang, followed by Liu Mei and Shun Long, as well as Zhong Fang and Xie Xingyi, and now it was very likely that Bai Longtian would be the next.
For so many years, there had been almost no geniuses from the Night star continent who had ended up passing the fourth test, and today, there were already 5 of them, and Bai Longtian was definitely going to be the sixth!
Of course, Zhong Fang wasn''t necessarily weaker than the rest of them just because he hadn''tprehended a rare Dao like the Dao of the Buddha or the Dao of Death. After all, each Dao had its own strengths and weaknesses. Even Bai Longtian who had alreadyprehended the Dao of Light, was now forced to reveal his Dao of the Buddha against an opponent who had ''only''prehended the Dao of Earth!
As the golden lightpletely covered his body, Bai Longtian suddenly took a step forward causing an extremely thick golden barrier to appear around him, as his aura of a body refinement cultivator at the early fifth stage exploded outwards!
The yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect took a few steps back in response, but his hand didn''t dy for a single moment, as he nocked another arrow on the bowstring. Although he was stunned that Bai Longtian was also a dual cultivator of both qi and body refinement, this wasn''t the first time that this had appeared in the test today!
At the same time, the bald, yellow-robed young man could also feel a sense of dangering from the golden barrier, causing him to not hesitate to start firing arrow after arrow once again.
However, as the first arrow left the bowstring and crashed on the golden shield around Bai Longtian, the scene that the bald young man from the Holy sect had expected to see didn''t happen.
The barrier only rippled for a moment before it returned to its normal condition, instantly deflecting the arrow to the side!
Bai Longtian didn''t hesitate any longer, as he instantly shot forward at full speed, heading towards the yellow-robed young man!
Although he could previously block Bai Longtian''s advancement with his arrows earlier, the bald young man from the Holy sect had his eyes widen, as he saw arrow after arrow being deflected, unable to prate the golden shield!
In just a moment, Bai Longtian who took a straight path forward and waspletely covered with the light from his Dao of Light and his Dao of the Buddha, instantly appeared in the sky above the yellow-robed young man, before he swung his sword sideways.
Before the bald, yellow-robed young man from the Holy sect could react, the cold surface of a snow-white sword had already appeared in front of his eyes, before Bai Longtian''s calm voice resounded throughout the arena, as he said
''''Senior, I win!''''
-
Author''s note: 2/3
Chapter 456: A chance to change
Chapter 456: A chance to change
The bald, yellow-robed young man tried to open his mouth in protest, but the snow-white sword was still hanging in front of his eyes making him unable to utter a word. Although he knew that there was no way for him to die, it was obvious that Bai Longtian was giving him face by not injuring him and allowing him to ept his defeat unharmed. However, this was even more difficult to the yellow-robed young man than if he was actually injured! Finally, a few momentster, he let out a sigh that was mixed with anger and helplessness before he said
''''Fine, you won this time!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, the yellow-robed young man turned around and flew towards the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect in the sky, while at the same time, he also removed the restriction in his cultivation base, allowing it to rise all the way to the peak of rank 5 in one go!
It was as if he was saying to Bai Longtian that although he had lost, it was only because he was suppressing his cultivation to the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, otherwise, even though he wasn''t a body refinement cultivator like him, the yellow-robed young man would still beat him to the ground.
Bai Longtian didn''t seem to mind this as he turned his attention towards the white-robed Dao Emperor in the sky and cupped his hands.
Cao Ling smiled amiably and nodded his head towards him, before he turned his attention towards the white-robed Elder Zhuan standing next to him, and with a calm look on his face he said
''''Zhuan Peng, I will leave the rest to you.''''
Without waiting for a response, the bald Dao Emperor waved his hand, and in front of all the disciples present, he immediately disappeared.
At the same time, since Bai Longtian had already introduced himself before his fight, the white-robed Dao King, Elder Zhuan Peng didn''t ask him any questions, and instead, he turned his attention towards the yellow-robed disciples of the Holy sect behind him and said calmly
''''You can disperse for now.''''
The 1000 yellow-robed disciples behind him all bowed their heads before they soared in the sky, all of them heading towards the huge mountain located at the south of the arena, whose peak seemed to have pierced through the clouds.
Elder Zhuan ignored the yellow-robed disciples who left the arena and turned his attention towards those sitting in the audience seats and said with a smile on his face
''''Congrattions! Starting today, all of you are now disciples of my Holy sect. I will soon exin everything you need to know, but first, let''s enter the sect.''''
After he finished speaking, Elder Zhuan looked at the 93 disciples sitting in the audience seats who had already passed the fourth test, as well as Bai Longtian who was standing at the center of the arena, before he soared in the sky, heading towards the huge mountain in the distance where the yellow-robed disciples had already flown to.
Shun Long, Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, and the rest of the disciples sitting in the audience seats didn''t hesitate, as they all followed after the white-robed Dao King, flying towards therge mountain as well.
As they headed towards the mountain''s peak, Shun Long noticed an enormous city erected at the other side, near the foot of the mountain. Even from so far away, Shun Long and Liu Mei could guess, that this city was at least the same size as the Heaven''s Dome city in the Night star continent.
Of course, it wasn''t just Shun Long who had noticed this city but the rest of the disciples as well, but no one asked any questions as they continued to follow after the white-robed Dao King at full speed.
Finally, an incense stick of timeter, their group arrived at the mountain''s peak, only to see a stunning scene appear in their eyes.
A luxurious white pce was standing tall at the peak of the mountain, with its gates wide open. With just a nce, Shun Long immediately understood, that this pce was actually much bigger than the city located at the foot of the mountain! This was definitely not just a pce, but an entire city instead.
At the same time, he also noticed, that in front of the pce gates, 2 white-robed elderly men standing guard with their eyes closed. The auras of these 2 elders werepletely retracted inside their bodies, while the robes that they were wearing were identical to Elder Zhuan''s.
The moment that they sensed Shun Long''s group approaching, the 2 Elders opened their eyes and scanned the approaching group, revealing their auras at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao King realm at the same time. These Elders were actually Dao Kings who had reached the absolute pinnacle, the same level of strength as Elder Zhuan.
However, after seeing that it was Elder Zhuan who was leading this group, the 2 of them simply nodded their heads before they closed their eyes again.
Elder Zhuan nodded his head as he greeted the 2 Elders, before he turned his attention towards the disciples behind him, and with that same smile on his face he said
''''Follow me!''''
Seeing the white-robed Elder Zhuan enter the pce, the disciples following after him only hesitated for a single moment, before they followed after him as well.
Finally, a few minutester, after walking through a long corridor, Shun Long and the rest of the disciples around him found themselves inside arge, spacious room, when Elder Zhuan''s voice reverberated inside their ears
''''I officially wee all of you to our Holy sect! All of you are now considered official disciples of our sect.
Before you enter the sect and be outer disciples, each of you will have a chance to change your future today!''''
As he finished his words, Elder Zhuan turned around and walked towards the end of the hall, standing next to arge white-colored ball that was hovering in the air, instantly attracting everyone''s attention.
Chapter 457: Ball of fate
Chapter 457: Ball of fate
''''Change our future?''''
It was unknown who was the one who had asked this, as everyone stared at the white-robed Elder Zhuan standing next to the white-colored crystal-like ball, and waited for him to exin.
Seeing the confused expressions in the disciples'' faces, Elder Zhuan nodded his head and smiled as he then said
''''Right, today is your chance to change your future!
This white ball''s name is the ball of fate. It can read your fate and predict your future to a certain extent. Depending on your results today, you may even attract the attention of an Elder and be epted as their personal disciple.
Bing a disciple of an Elder will not only give you status in the sect, but you will also get more resources, a better training environment, and even personal guidance from the Elder.
Of course, every single outer court Elder is at least a peak rank 9 Dao King realm expert!
Now... let''s begin!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, the white-robed Elder Zhuan turned his attention towards a red-robed young man who was standing the closest to him.
This was actually the same young man that Liu Mei had fought during the third test when theypeted for the Holy sect''s token. He had barely managed to pass through the fourth test and defeat an outer disciple of the Holy sect.
Of course, he had long since noticed Liu Mei taking the third test, and how easily she had dealt with her own opponent, making him shiver in the process. At the same time, a terrifying feeling had sprouted in his heart when he noticed the 3 peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators that Liu Mei had summoned during the fourth test.
Although he hadn''t seen what had happened to the old woman with the red armor during the third test, he clearly remembered that Liu Mei''s enormous, hideous ck beast, had clearly eaten the old man in ck robes and the snake-eyed middle-aged man!
And yet, somehow, Liu Mei could actuallymand them freely! Of course, the red-robed young man had already sensed, that even though Liu Mei wasmanding them, the 3 of them were already dead. Even in death the 3 of them weren''t free!
Of course, aside from Liu Mei, the red-robed young man had also noticed other terrifying monsters who had passed the fourth test as well, including Shun Long, the ck-robed Jiang Chen, the golden-robed Sheng Huang and many others.
The geniuses who had appeared in the fourth test this time, had already far exceeded his expectations, especially the blue-robed young man next to Liu Mei whose cultivation was only at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul!
After turning his gaze towards another young man in red robes who was silently standing a few meters away from him, the red-robed young man took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, as he slowly walked towards the ball of fate next to Elder Zhuan.
Seeing the young man who was standing in front of him, Elder Zhuan nodded his head and turned his gaze at the ball of fate next to him, almost as if he was waiting for the red-robed young man to ce his hand on top of it.
The red-robed young man named Zi Zhenya stretched out his hand, and without any hesitation, he ced it directly on top of the crystal-like white ball.
Everyone noticed that Zi Zhenya didn''t even need to circte his qi, as the crystal ball lit up with a pale yellow light.
And yet, this light onlysted for a few moments, before it quickly turned white a few secondster.
Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on him Elder Zhuan shook his head without a change in his expression, as he looked at Zi Zhenya and said in a calm tone
''''You can at most be a Dao King in your life, but it''s unlikely that you will even reach thete-stages of the Dao King realm, let alone be a Dao Emperor...
Next.''''
Zi Zhenya felt his hopes being shattered while a stifling overcame him in an instant.
''''Would at most be a Dao King? Wouldn''t even be ate-stage Dao King, let alone a Dao Emperor?
He was the descendant of an early rank 9 Dao King! His grandfather was a powerhouse and yet he had failed the fourth test of the Holy sect in the past. Zi Zhenya was certain that since he had managed to do so, he would at least be a peak Dao King like Elder Zhuan, if not a Dao Emperor.''''
Everyone''s eyes were focused on the red-robed young man who had yet to move from his spot, almost as if he was in a daze, before Elder Zhuan''s words sounded once again
''''Did you think that every single one of you who passed the test would be peak Dao Kings at the very least, or even Dao Emperors? You never know what''s going to happen in your life, and whether you will survive to see the sunrise tomorrow.
As cultivators you should know that talent isn''t everything! You also need luck, powerfulprehension ability, and most importantly, a strong will. Some of you may not even enter the middle-stages of the Dao King realm in your lives, let alone thete-stages. Of course, some of you may even be powerful Dao Emperors, but if you think that bing a Dao Emperor is so easy, then think again! Those with terrifying talent will find it even more difficult to step into the Dao King realm in the future, let alone the Dao Emperor!''''
As he said this, Elder Zhuan''s gaze swept past Shun Long, Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and the other terrifying geniuses that had caught his eye during the fourth test, almost as if he was warning them.
The red-robed Zi Zhenya stepped away from the ball of fate, but a determined look had appeared in his eyes. He simply refused to believe that he wouldn''t be a peak Dao King in the future!
As Zi Zhenya stepped back from the ball of fate, Elder Zhuan turned his gaze towards Liu Mei, and looking at her with a curious look in his eyes, he then said
''''You are next.''''
Chapter 458: Liu Meis fate
Chapter 458: Liu Mei''s fate
The moment that they heard Elder Zhuan''s words, everyone''s attention was immediately focused on the white-robed, white veiled young woman who was standing next to Shun Long.
At the same time, Liu Mei turned her head to the side and stared at Shun Long solemnly for a moment, only to see him nod his head with a smile on his face.
Finally, the apprehension in Liu Mei''s heart eased slightly, as she took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward.
From the very beginning, Liu Mei had been wary of this ball of fate the moment that their group entered the hall.
If this ball could really predict someone''s fate, then Liu Mei who was already Shun Long''s woman, and knew a few things about his past and present situation, had a connection with a living dragon and had also epted an extremely high-grade cultivation technique from him, was definitely going to attract a lot of attention no matter what.
Het fate was definitely no longer simple.
However, she also understood that refusing to test her future through the ball of fate was only going to make people even more suspicious.
After all, the white-haired peak Dao King, Elder Zhuan, had clearly stated, that this wasn''t a test but an opportunity.
At the same time, Xie Xingyi didn''t say anything either, as she calmly stared at the white-veiled Liu Mei who was walking towards the crystal-like white ball next to the white-robed Elder. She already knew that Shun Long and Liu Mei had advanced from Heaven grade ''rookies'' to early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in a short period of 3 years.
To Xie Xingyi, just this alone was nothing short of a miracle!
At the same time, Xie Xingyi had also seen how Liu Mei''s cultivation had advanced from the early rank 1? all the way to the middle of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul within a few days.
These things by themselves were certainly enough to cause a hugemotion during this test.
Even Sheng Huang who was considered an extreme genius in the Night star continent, had all the resources of the Shengtian dynasty avable to him and had also consumed countless treasures and pills that aided him in his cultivation, took nearly 8 years to advance from the early rank 1 of the Spirit realm to his current stage.
Of course, this could also be rted to his Dao of Destruction as well.
After all, the more ''unique'' a Dao was, the more difficult and more time-consuming it would be toprehend it thoroughly.
Even Xie Xingyi herself who had her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'' and was extremely suited toprehend the Dao of Shadows, took 6 years to advance from the early rank 1 of the Spirit realm to the peak of rank 3 of the Nascent Soul.
However, it was also obvious that Liu Mei''s Dao of Death was definitely not inferior to her Dao of Shadows or Sheng Huang''s Dao of Destruction.
Thus, Xie XIngyi had actuallye to the conclusion, that from the people inside this hall, aside from the peak rank 1 Nascent Soul Shun Long, and perhaps the ck-robed Jiang Chen, Liu Mei probably had the most extraordinary fate.
Of course, although the rest of the disciples inside the hall didn''t know so many things about Liu Mei, everyone had already noticed her undead creatures during the third test, and were already curious about her ''fate''.
Seeing the white-robed Elder Zhuan nod amiably at her, Liu Mei closed her eyes for a moment, before she ced her lithe, pale white hand on top of the crystal ball of fate.
The moment that Liu Mei''s hand touched the ball of fate, the crystal-like ball instantly lit up with a bright white light that quickly turned yellow.? However, in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, the yellow light had already turned ck, causing Elder Zhuan''s heart to skip a beat.
This light wasn''t just a dim ck light, but one that could swallow everything around it, including all light itself.
And yet, just as Elder Zhuan was about to end Liu Mei''s test, a small part of the darkness at the center of the ball of fate slowly receded, giving way to a bright colorful light, that seemed to contain every possible color inside it.
At that moment, a tiny crack appeared on the crystal ball''s surface, causing Elder Zhuan who had already fallen in a trance to shout
''''STOP!''''
Hearing the white-robed Elder''s voice, Liu Mei took a step back while retracting her hand at the same time, not continuing to test her fate any further.
However, the light on the ball of fate still remained there for a few more moments until it slowly disappeared, returning the crystal ball to its original appearance.
And yet, the tiny crack was still on the white ball''s surface, like a small stain on a previously spotless jade.
Everyone''s eyes were focused on the white ball of fate, before they turned their attention to the white-robed Elder Zhuan next to the crystal ball.
However, the white-robed Dao King didn''t pay any attention to the disciples inside the hall, as aplicated look appeared on his face, almost as if he had just realized something.
At that moment, the ethereal voice of a woman resounded throughout the silent hall, as she said in a calm, uncaring tone
''''Continue the test!''''
Elder Zhuan''s eyes quickly returned to normal the moment that he heard this voice, as he nodded his head and stared at Liu Mei for a few moments before he said in a thoughtful voice
''''Your fate... isplicated... The only thing I can tell you is, that you will definitely have a chance to exceed the Dao King realm in the future.''''
Everyone stared at Elder Zhuan curiously, but no one asked any questions as they saw Liu Mei bow to the white-robed Elder and return to Shun Long''s side.
It was obvious that the white-robed Dao King didn''t want to exin more things about Liu Mei''s fate, and was ready to continue the rest of the test.
At the same time, in a seemingly isted room, a group of Elders were staring at the white-robed Liu Mei in the screen of light in front of them, with a deep look in their eyes.
Chapter 459: Immortal fate
Chapter 459: Immortal fate
After a few moments of silence, a white-robed old man with deep wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead was the first one to speak, as he looked at the Elders on the table around him and asked in a deep voice
''''What does everyone think about this little girl?''''
Silence filled the room for a few moments, before a beautiful middle-aged woman with her long ck hair tied in a ponytail turned to look at the white-robed wrinkled Elder next to her, as she then said in the same ethereal voice that resembled a fairy''s and had resounded inside the other hall a few moments ago
''''Elder Sun Wen, I think everyone here understands what that girl''s fate entails.
Death, murder, darkness, blood... and yet this isn''t the first time that our Holy sect is getting a disciple with such a deep andplicated fate.
Besides, didn''t everyone see the colorful light at the center of the ball of fate? I''m sure that everyone knows what that means. I don''t even have to exin the crack at the ball of fate.
An old woman with long white hair that flowed freely through her shoulders stood up from her seat and stared at the middle-aged woman a few seats away from her, before she spoke in a deep, wisened voice
''''Xuan Jiao, don''t forget that fate is only a possibility and not something certain. No one knows what may happen in the future. Although that girl''s fate inside the ball of fate was indeed colorful, this means that there is only a small chance for her to be an immortal in the future! This is not a certainty! After all, there have been plenty of other disciples with immortal fates who have died before they could reach their full potential!
What I am more concerned about, is that tiny crack on the ball of fate''s surface. This is the first time that something like this happens.''''
The white-robed old man, Sun Wen had a deep look in his eyes as he stared at the screen at the center of the hall, before he said in the same deep voice a few momentster
''''Have Elder Cao Ling see if he can find that little girl''s background. There are very few things that can really tamper with fate like this...''''
A middle-aged man with long brown hair and deep blue eyes stared at Elder Sun Wen for a few moments, almost as if he had suddenlye to a realization, before he then asked curiously
''''Elder Sun, are you saying that there is someone very powerful backing that girl?''''
The white-robed old man, Sun Wen nodded his head with a deep look on his face before he replied seriously
''''At the very least, it is someone who has exceeded the Dao Emperor realm long ago...
Perhaps... it is even someone at the same level as the sect master...''''
Silence immediately filled the room the moment that the rest of the Elders around him heard Sun Wen''s inference, before everyone stared at the screen of light at the center of the hall without saying a word.
Finally, a few momentster, the middle-aged man with deep blue eyes stared at Liu Mei''s figure in the screen of light and asked in a cautious tone
''''In that case, wouldn''t it be better if we gave that girl special treatment? Perhaps Elder Xuan Jiao, Mao Jing, or some other female Elder could ept her as a personal disciple. After all, although our Holy sect isn''t considered weak by any means, striking a rtionship with a senior at the level of the sect master is important even for us.''''
Staring at the screen of light in front of him, the white-robed Elder, Sun Wen didn''t even turn his head to the side to look at the Elders around him, before he shook his head and said calmly
''''If that person sent her here through the tests of our sect, he obviously doesn''t want her to be treated specially.''''
Turning his head towards the beautiful middle-aged woman named Xuan Jiao, the old woman with long white hair named Mao Jing, and another female Elder at the end of the table, Sun Wen nodded his head lightly before he continued
''''Of course, if any of you want to ept her as an in-name disciple, then that''s still eptable. After all, her talent definitely warrants at least that much attention.''''
''''Then, what about that blue-robed kid who seems to be close to her?'''' Another Elder asked curiously as he stared at Shun Long''s figure next to Liu Mei.
''''Let''s wait for his results first.'''' Although Sun Wen''s tone was calm, it was obvious that he was cing a lot of attention on Shun Long as well.
At the same time, at the center of the hall where Shun Long and the rest were in, the white-robed Dao King, Elder Zhuan continued the test, 10 more disciples tested their fates after Liu Mei on the ball of fate.
Among them, disciples who were fated to be Dao Emperors started to appear, but after themotion and shock that Liu Mei''s fate had caused, the subsequent scenes weren''t as shocking.
Finally, as the 15th disciple tested himself, the white-robed Elder Zhuan turned his attention towards a short, red-robed young man with spiky ck hair, standing a few meters away from him.
The moment that Elder Zhuan''s gaze fell on the red-robed young man, everyone''s attention including Shun Long''s fell on this young man as well.
Shun Long clearly remembered that this was one of the few people that was worthy paying a lot of attention to during the fourth test.
This person''s name was Jun Ren, an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage genius, the same level as the ck-robed Jiang Chen. However, the reason why Shun Long had ced so much attention on him, was because this young man hadprehended an extremely rare Dao... the Dao of War.
Seeing everyone''s gaze fall on him, the red-robed Jun Ren''s lips curved up into a smile, as he took a step forward and quickly appeared in front of Elder Zhuan and the crystal-like ball, before cing his right hand on top of the ball of fate.
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 460: Extraordinary fate
Chapter 460: Extraordinary fate
The moment that his palm touched the white-colored ball of fate, a bright red light instantly erupted from the depths of the ball, before it covered its surface in its entirety.
This bright red color resembled the color of blood, while at the depths of the crystal ball, there was a faint, almost indistinct mix of colors, that was simr to Liu Mei''s colorful light that had appeared during her test.
The only difference was, that Jun Ren''s light was actually much fainter than Liu Mei''s.
And yet, regardless of how faint it was, the moment that this light appeared, it didn''t stop Elder Zhuan''s expression of shock from showing on his face.
The white-robed Elder clearly knew, that even if Jun Ren didn''t have the same chances as Liu Mei, his fate was also considered an immortal fate!
This meant that Jun Ren also had a chance of bing an immortal in the future!
Although immortal fates weren''t too rare in the Holy sect, they definitely weren''tmon enough for 2 of them to appear during one selection process from the disciples that came from the continents surrounding the central region.
After all, Elder Zhuan also knew, that even in the Holy sect''s previous selection that took ce 2 months ago, there were only 3 geniuses with immortal fates.
A few momentster, Jun Ren''s expression slightly changed as he retracted his hand from the ball of fate while his eyes stared at the white-robed Elder in front of him with an impassive look.
Despite the shock on Elder Zhuan''s face, Jun Ren could clearly see that the colorful light that had appeared on the ball''s surface just now, wasn''t as bright as Liu Mei''s.
Although he didn''t know exactly what this light symbolized, he still had a certain guess in his mind, causing his expression to turn somewhat ugly.
Jun Ren didn''t wait for Elder Zhuan''s instructions, as he turned around and stared at the white-robed young woman next to Shun Long with a deep look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards the blue-robed young man who also had his gaze fixed on him.
Was Liu Mei stronger than him? Did she have a more promising future than him? Then what about that blue-robed young man with that terrifying bloodline?
''''No. It''s impossible for a single ball to predict my future! Whether it is talent, luck, or willpower, I am not inferior to anyone in the world!''''
The red-robed Jun Ren shook his head firmly while a determined look had appeared in his eyes at the same time, and after staring at the blue-robed Shun Long for a few more moments, he walked back to where he previously stood as he waited for the test to continue.
At the same time, Shun Long also cast another deep look at this red-robed young man, before he turned his attention towards the white-colored ball of fate.
Just like everyone else inside the hall, he had already guessed that the colorful light inside the ball of fate signified something extraordinary, making even the Elders of the Holy sect pay close attention to it.
Besides, although Jun Ren''s colorful light wasn''t as bright as Liu Mei''s it didn''t mean that Shun Long would underestimate him!
Instead, this made Shun Long pay even more attention to this red-robed young man who hadprehended the Dao of War.
After all, although others didn''t know about it, Shun Long clearly knew that Liu Mei''s fate had already been tampered with.
Bying in contact with Shun Long who had a terrifying secret inside him, as well asing in contact with Little ck and obtaining an extremely powerful cultivation technique from him, it would instead be weird if Liu Mei''s fate wasn''t abnormal.
And yet, the red-robed Jun Ren had such a result withouting in contact with a king of magic beasts.
No matter what, his fate was definitely extraordinary, which was enough for Shun Long to pay some attention to him.
Besides, Shun Long wouldn''t trust the Holy sect''s ball of fatepletely.
It wasn''t that he didn''t believe in fate, but he refused to ept that one''s future could really be divined.
''''At best, this is just a vague prediction. Even if someone is really talented enough to be a powerful cultivator in the future, it''s possible for him to die before he can mature. At the same time, even someone who isn''t ''fated'' to be powerful enough, if they obtain the legacy of a powerhouse or if they find a rare treasure that helps them advance their cultivation, their future may change.''''
Havingprehended the Dao of Time to his current level, Shun Long had already understood that fate was impossible to truly predict.
And yet, this didn''t mean that the ball of fate''s test wasn''t important. At the very least, it showed the path that one would follow in their life. After all, it was also unlikely that someone with a very weak fate would end up bing a powerhouse, unless they met somethingpletely unexpected in their lives.
As Shun Long reached this conclusion, he turned his attention towards the white-robed Elder next to the ball of fate, waiting to see whom he was going to choose next.
At the same time, the white-robed Elders remained silent as well, notmenting on Jun Ren''s fate, as everyone waited for Elder Zhuan''s decision.
Elder Zhuan''s eyes swept past the disciples in the hall for a few moments, before they finallynded on the figure of a devilishly handsome young man in ck robes, with brown eyes and a single scar below his left eye.
The moment that Elder Zhuan''s figurended on him, everyone immediately turned their attention towards the ck-robed Jiang Chen.
And yet, the ck-robed young man had a leisure look on his face, seemingly not caring about the attention of the people around him.
Surprisingly, Jiang Chen turned his head to the left, and stared at Shun Long seriously for a few moments, before his lips curved up into a smile, as he slowly took a step forward and appeared in front of the crystal ball of fate.
-
Author''s note 2/2 (next chaptering soon)
Chapter 461: Three left
Chapter 461: Three left
Even Elder Zhuan and the Elders observing from the other room were all curious to see Jiang Chen''s results.
Without wasting any time, the handsome, ck-robed young man raised his right hand and ced his palm on top of the white ball.
The moment that his hand touched the cold, crystal-like ball, a deep darkness immediately erupted from the depths of the ball,pletely filling its white surface in nearly an instant.
And yet, Jiang Chen''s darkness was different from Liu Mei''s. This wasn''t the pitch-ck darkness of death.
Instead, the fate in Jiang Chen''s darkness seemed to have been mixed with a bright red color, one that wasn''t too different from Jun Ren''s red color a few moments ago.
Just as everyone kept staring at the white ball of fate and waited for a certain result to appear, a colorful light gradually appeared from the ball''s depths, as it slowly emerged towards the ball''s surface.
And yet, before the colorful light couldpletely emerge, the darkness that was mixed with the color of blood quickly surrounded it, before they drowned itpletely, leaving out only a single, tiny speck of this colorful light, that seemed to be ready to be extinguished at any time.
Everyone''s eyes, including the ck-robed Jiang Chen''s widened at this scene, as they all stared at the white-robed Elder Zhuan and waited for his exnation.
However, just like with Liu Mei''s fate, Elder Zhuan actually shook his head before he said in a seemingly calm voice
''''Your fate is veryplicated.''''
Jiang Chen stared at the white-robed Elder in front of him with a deep look in his eyes, but seeing that he wasn''t getting an answer, he turned around and walked back to the ce he was standing without another word.
However, before Elder Zhuan could continue the test, the deep voice of an old man resounded throughout the room, as it said in a serious tone
''''You are doomed to die... but you will have a chance to live a normal life if you so wish. Give up on your dreams and live a normal life. In that case, not only will you not die, but you will also be very powerful!
However... you need to know that, if you chase something too deeply, you will really lose your life.''''
A trace of shock shed through Elder Zhuan''s eyes when he heard this voice, before he turned his attention towards the ck-robed young man who had just taken the test.
Elder Zhuan remembered that even when Liu Mei had cracked the ball of fate, or during Jun Ren''s test of his immortal fate, the Elders didn''t give an exnation.
And yet, Elder Sun Wen had personally spoken to give advice to the ck-robed young man.
It was obvious that there was a deep reason why the Elders decided to interfere this time and exin things to Jiang Chen.
Everyone inside the room had turned their attention towards the handsome young man in ck robes, who looked shocked after hearing what this deep voice had said.
However, the look in Jiang Chen''s eyes only turned hazy for a few moments before a resolute look appeared on his face, as he shook his head without saying a word.
The old voice sighed lightly, before it gradually turned distant and disappeared from the hall.
The entire room immediately fell silent, as the white-robed Elder Zhuan stared deeply at the ck-robed Jiang Chen for a few more moments, before he continued with the test.
More than 20 disciples tested themselves after Jiang Chen, including the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', Zhong Fang, but the colorful light didn''t appear in the ball of fate''s surface.
Even when the turn of the golden-robed prince from the Shengtian dynasty came, the colorful light still didn''t appear, no matter how hard he tried to make it appear.
An expression filled with anger and fury appeared on the golden-robed prince''s face when he saw this result, but he still suppressed it barely a momentter, as he retracted his hand from the crystal-like ball and walked away, while he stared at Shun Long, Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi from the corner of his eyes.
Of course, although others were surprised that Sheng Huang and some other powerful geniuses didn''t trigger the colorful light, the white-robed Elder Zhuan wasn''t surprised, and instead, he felt that this was only normal.
Although the disciples here didn''t know what the colorful light meant, as an Elder of the Holy sect, he obviously knew that it represented immortal fate. If every single disciple had an immortal fate, even Dao Emperors wouldn''t be rare in the Holy sect, let alone peak Dao Kings like him.
As they watched the tests that took ce one after the other, Xie Xingyi turned her head to the side and stared at Shun Long with a gentle look in her eyes, before she asked curiously
''''Brother Long, do you think that the colorful light means that one will surpass the level of a Dao Emperor in the future?''''
It wasn''t just Xie Xingyi, but Liu Mei, and even the surrounding disciples that weren''t too far away from the 3 of them and overheard this question, that turned their attention towards Shun Long, as they waited for his answer.
Although Shun Long was just a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, no one underestimated him.
Shaking his head, there was a deep look inside Shun Long''s eyes as he stared at Xie Xingyi, before he said seriously
''''Even for the Holy sect, it should be impossible to predict someone''s fate. Although the colorful light probably means that someone has the chance to surpass a Dao Emperor in the future, in the end, that''s only a chance. Willpower,prehension ability, talent, and luck, are all more important than fate in the end.''''
A profound look shed past Elder Zhuan''s eyes, as he nodded his head with a look of admiration inside them.
In the past, Elder Sun Wen had said the same thing.
Although the Holy sect tests the fate of the new disciples, this fate is only a small path that they can follow. Willpower,prehension ability, luck, and talent, are all equally as important as one''s fate, if not even more important. Cultivators fight against the Heavens, so why should they be restricted by their own fate? One born weak should strive to be strong, while one born strong should strive to be even stronger!
Elder Zhuan hid the look of admiration deep in his heart, as he continued with the tests of fate. In the end, no matter what, one''s fate was still important.
2 hours passed in the blink of an eye as the tests continued, and finally, only 3 disciples were left that had yet to test their fates.
Chapter 462: Last one
Chapter 462: Last one
Elder Zhuan turned his attention towards the 3 remaining disciples that had yet to test themselves, almost as if he was deciding which one to test.
Finally, his eyes fell on the stunning green-robed beauty with blonde hair who was standing next to Liu Mei.
The moment that she saw Elder Zhuan''s gazending on her, Xie Xingyi nodded her head with a serious look in her eyes, before she took a few steps forward and appeared in front of the crystal-like ball of fate.
Without any hesitation, she then ced her palm on the white ball''s surface, as her eyes stared at the ball''s color that had instantly started to change.
At that moment, the ball of fate split in 2 colors, a white light that covered half of the ball''s surface, and a ck light that covered the other half. The 2 colors didn''t merge together, but they coexisted with each other in perfect harmony, almost as if they were 2 parts of a bigger whole.
And yet, before Xie Xingyi could retract her hand, a hazy, colorful light appeared from the depths of the ball of fate, before it slowly emerged towards the ball''s surface, causing another wave of shock to rise in everyone''s heart.
Even though the light was hazy and was much dimmer than even Jiang Chen''s colorful light, it was obvious that Xie Xingyi was actually the fourth person who had actually summoned this colorful light during this test.
Even the Elders of the Holy sect who were watching this scene from another room couldn''t hide their astonishment, as the old woman with long white hair, Elder Mao Jing said in a disbelieving voice
''''A fourth immortal fate! And this girl seems to have a rtionship with that white-veiled little girl from earlier... Elder Sun, what does this girl''s fate signify?''''
After hearing the old woman''s question, every single one of the Elders inside the room turned their attention towards the white-robed old man, whose forehead and the area around his eyes were filled with wrinkles.
Elder Sun continued to stare at the screen of light in front of him, before he sighed and slowly said in a calm voice
''''That girl has a unique physique called the ''Vanishing Shadows physique'', but that by itself is still not enough for her to possess an immortal fate.
Even if she could awaken her physique to its fullest potential, it still wouldn''t be easy for her to surpass the Dao Emperor realm in the future... as for the current her who has only awakened 20 percent of her physique... that''s even more impossible.
At the same time, although she possesses an immortal fate, it''s extremely hazy and weak, even weaker than the ck-robed brat''s from the Jiang family, which means that she hasn''t acquired it yet. This is probably a chance that will appear for her in the future!''''
The moment that the white-robed Elder Sun Wen finished his words, the eyes of the rest of the Elders around him widened in shock. At the same time, a white-robed old man who was sitting with his eyes closed and had stayedpletely silent previously, suddenly snapped his eyes open like a sword that had left its sheath, and looked at Elder Sun Wen before he asked in disbelief
''''The Jiang family? Sun Wen, that ck-robed kid is really from the Jiang family? I thought that the Jiang family didn''t have any branches outside of the central region!''''
Compared to disciples who had extremely weak immortal fate like Xie Xingyi, something that involved the Jiang family was obviously much more important and interesting to this Elder.
Elder Sun Wen nodded his head seriously as he kept staring at Xie Xingyi''s figure inside the screen of light, before he said in a calm but certain tone
''''I actually look at some of the fights during the fourth test and saw that little brat fighting. Although few people know about it, the golden saber that he used during the fourth test, is Jiang Tianfang''s weapon that he used when he roamed the central region in the past, the Golden Dream.''''
The room of Elders instantly fell silent the moment that the name Jiang Tianfang was spoken, as everyone stared at the calm Elder Sun Wen in shock.
Sun Wen''s eyes however, were still focused on Xie Xingyi''s figure at the huge screen of light, before they were focused on the figure of a blue-robed young man standing not too far away from her.
At the same time, Xie Xingyi also removed her hand, before she bowed slightly at Elder Zhuan, and walked back next to Liu Mei.
Although she had seen the colorful light appear in the ball of fate, she knew that the white-robed Elder Zhuan wouldn''t exin anything even if someone asked him about it.
The Elder''s eyes stared at Xie Xingyi for a few more moments, before he turned his attention towards 2 young men who weren''t standing too far away from each other.
One of them was a handsome, blue-robed young man, with short ck hair and deep ck eyes, while the other one was a handsome young man in white robes, with ck hair and deep blue-eyes, with a snow-white sword strapped on his waist.
Gritting his teeth, Elder Zhuan decided to leave Shun Long forst, as he turned his attention towards the white-robed Bai Longtian.
Bai Longtian nodded his head and cupped his hands at the white-robed Elder of the Holy sect, before he took a few steps forward and ced his hands on the ball of fate in front of him.
The moment that Bai Longtian''s hands touched the white, crystal ball at the center of the hall, the ball of fate suddenly lit up with a bright golden light that covered the entirety of the ball''s surface.
Even after touching the ball for nearly a minute however, no other result appeared.
The golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty seemed to have heaved out a sigh of relief, and was about to turn his attention towards thest person who had yet to test himself, when his pupils suddenly dted, almost as if he was seeing something that he couldn''t ept!
From the depths of the golden light, a hazy, dim, and almost indistinct colorful light slowly emerged as well, one that was just as bright as Xie Xingyi''s light a few moments ago.
Unable to hold himself back any longer, a cold look that was filled with killing intent finally appeared in Sheng Huang''s eyes, as he barely held himself back from shouting
''''IMPOSSIBLE!''''
He was the strongest genius of the Night star continent, and yet there were 3 other people from the same continent as him, whose fates seemed to be even stronger than his own?!
Despite seeing the hazy, colorful light that had appeared during his test, there was no look of excitement in Bai Longtian''s eyes.
The look on his face was calm, as he voluntarily retracted his hands from the ball of fate and slightly bowed at the white-robed Elder Zhuan, before he turned around and walked back to the ce he was standing previously.
At that moment, as he walked in front of Shun Long, Bai Longtian shed an amiable smile and nodded his head at him, while a look of curiosity appeared deep in his eyes, curious to see the result of this blue-robed young man''s fate.
Chapter 463: Shun Longs fate
Chapter 463: Shun Long''s fate
Seeing that everyone had turned their attention on him, Shun Long took a deep breath, before he took a few steps forward and appeared in front of Elder Zhuan and the crystal ball of fate.
Looking at the white-robed Elder in front of him, he hesitated for a while before he asked in an uncertain voice
''''Should I begin?''''
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t hesitate to participate in any other test, but a test of fate waspletely different.
If even Liu Mei''s fate was altered due to her contact with him and Little ck, then Shun Long had no idea what would happen once he ced his hand on top of the ball of fate.
As the owner of the Stone of Time, Little ck''s master, and a peak cultivator who had already split his soul into 3 parts before reincarnating, Shun Long knew that his fate was anything but simple.
If Liu Mei''s test managed to create a tiny crack on the ball of fate, it would be a miracle if the crystal ball managed to remain intact after testing Shun Long''s fate.
Elder Zhuan didn''t answer right away, as he turned his attention to the roof of the hall.
Although he was an Elder of the Holy sect, the truth was that he was just an outer court Elder.
Considering how abnormal Shun Long was, he didn''t want to be the one to take the me if anything really happened.
At that moment, the white-robed Elder''s, Sun Wen''s voice resounded throughout the hall, as the old man said seriously
''''Go on.''''
Elder Zhuan heaved a sigh of relief, before he turned his attention towards the blue-robed young man in front of him and nodded his head somewhat warily.
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long no longer hesitated, as he ced his right hand on top of the white ball of fate. The moment that his hand touched the white ball, he instantly felt a cold and refreshing feeling enveloping his hand, before it started to spread through the rest of his body.
At that moment, every single disciple inside the hall, including the white-veiled Liu Mei, the green-robed Xie Xingyi, the young white lord Bai Longtian, the ck-robed Jiang Chen, the golden-robed prince of the Shengtian dynasty Sheng Huang, the red-robed young man who hadprehended the Dao of War Jun Ren, the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' Zhong Fang, and every other disciple, as well as the white-robed Elder Zhuan, and even the old man who had spoken a while ago, Elder Sun Wen, they had all ced their attention on the ball of fate and the blue-robed young man at the center of the hall.
As soon as Shun Long''s hand touched the ball of fate, a blinding blue light mixed with a deep golden hue immediately erupted from the ball''s surface, before a sound that was simr to ice cracking resounded throughout the entire hall.
The moment that his hand touched the crystal-like ball of fate, the white ball that had previously tested everyone''s fate actually shattered into countless pieces, under everyone''s astounded eyes.
Silence instantly filled the hall, as everyone stared at the shattered ball of fate with different looks in their eyes.
Liu Mei seemed to have already expected such a result, while Xie Xingyi''s mouth was wide open from shock. Bai Longtian''s expression looked calm on the surface, but it was obvious that his heart was in turmoil. The ck-robed Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long with an extremely deep look in his eyes, almost as if he had finally decided on something, but his actual thoughts were a mystery.
Meanwhile, excitement had actually appeared in the red-robed Jun Ren''s eyes, as he stared at the blue-robed young man at the center of the hall with a hungry look, simr to a hunter staring at his prey.
At the same time, killing intent instantly erupted from Sheng Huang''s body as he stared at the shattered remains of the ball of fate on the ground, while a single question appeared in his mind
''''What kind of fate was that?''''
The blinding gold and blue light had even forced him, a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage expert to actually close his eyes!
Even the colorful light from Jun Ren, Liu Mei, and the rest, didn''t have such a result previously.
As for the chubby Zhong Fang, his expression wasn''t much different from the red-robed Jun Ren''s. He didn''t seem intimidated by Shun Long''s result. Instead, his eyes were actually filled with fighting intent as he kept staring at the blue-robed young man in front of Elder Zhuan.
Of course, Elder Zhuan had yet to process that the ball of fate had actually shattered after testing Shun Long''s fate, as he kept staring at the blue-robed young man in front of him with a nk look in his eyes.
He didn''t know what to say about Shun Long''s fate, and instead, he hoped that the Elders could provide him with some help.
However, what Elder Zhuan didn''t know was, that he wasn''t the only one who was staring at Shun Long with an absent-minded look in his eyes.
The group of Elders that were watching the test through the screen of light, all had stunned looks on their faces as they stared at the blue-robed young man in front of him and the remains of the crystal-like ball on the ground, before they slowly turned their attention towards the white-robed Elder, Sun Wen.
At that moment, the middle-aged Elder with long brown hair and deep blue eyes who was sitting next to him, could no longer hold himself back from asking
''''Elder Sun, what kind of fate was that? Is it really possible for the ball of fate to be unable to withstand a disciple''s fate?''''
Everyone stared at the middle-aged Elder who had just spoken, before they turned their attention towards Elder Sun Wen as they waited for his answer.
After all, even when Liu Mei had caused that tiny crack on the ball of fate, the Elders could still ept it since there was a powerhouse behind her.
But destroying the ball of fate simply because it tried to peer through someone''s fate, this had never happened before.
Elder Sun Wen took a deep breath, while his eyes continued to stare at the shattered remains of the ball of fate inside the screen of light with a serious look inside them, before he slowly said
''''There are 3 possibilities of why the ball of fate actually shattered...''''
''''3?'''' The Elders around Sun Wen were confused, but they also waited to hear his exnation, so no one dared to interrupt him.
After all, Sun Wen was the most knowledgeable of them all in here in the domain of fate.
Nodding his head, the white-robed Elder Sun Wen continued with a serious look in his eyes
''''The first possibility is, that this young man''s fate is actually so terrifying, that even the ball of fate cannot withstand it.
If that''s the truth... then I can''t fathom what that kid has experienced so far, and what he is going to experience in the future...
The second possibility is, that a powerhouse who stands at the top of this world is actually backing him, making anyone who tries to peer through this kid''s fate suffer to a certain degree. Of course, although this possibility is low, it isn''t actually impossible.
As for the third possibility... this isn''t any less scary than the first one, but if this is actually the case, then the results will be even more terrifying than the previous 2 scenarios.''''
Seeing that Elder Sun had stopped speaking and had actually fallen into a trance, the old woman called Mao Jing could no longer restrain her curiosity, as she was the first one to ask
''''What is the third possibility?''''
After taking a deep breath, Elder Sun Wen nodded his head solemnly before he continued
''''The third possibility is... that this kid is actually hated by the Heavens!''''
Chapter 464: Entering the Holy sect
Chapter 464: Entering the Holy sect
''''Hated by the Heavens?''''
This wasn''t the first time that these Elders were hearing this term, but it was the first time that they were actually meeting someone who could actually be hated by the Heavens themselves.
Seeing the astonished looks on the rest of the Elders faces, Sun Wen nodded his head before he continued
''''Of course, it''s also possible that that kid actually has such a terrifying fate, which is the reason why he is hated by the Heavens!
I am sure that all of you understand what being hated by the Heavens means. If that''s really the case, then this kid won''t even be a Dao King in the future, let alone a Dao Emperor. During his breakthrough to the Dao King realm, he will definitely be annihted by Lightning Tribtion!''''
The moment that the words Lightning Tribtion left Sun Wen''s mouth, every single Elder in the room had serious looks on their faces as they nodded their heads.
Every single cultivator who broke through to the Dao King realm for the first time would have to withstand Lightning Tribtion, and these Elders here were no different. At the same time, the stronger a cultivator''s fate and talent is, the more powerful their Lightning Tribtion would be.
As for someone who actually has a fate so terrifying that even the ball of fate couldn''t withstand it, one could only guess who powerful this person''s tribtion would be.
In case that such a person was also hated by the Heavens, there would practically be no room left for survival!
The rest of the Elders around Sun Wen immediately fell silent, with none of them speaking, as they all stared at the screen of light in front of them.
Some of them had already dreamt of taking Shun Long as their disciple and doing their best to groom him.
However, if Shun Long was really hated by the Heavens, all of their love and attention would be wasted after he fails to breakthrough to the Dao King realm in the future.
Elder Sun Wen''s expression slightly eased, before he continued with a light smile on his face
''''If he is actually not hated by the Heavens, he may actually survive his Lightning Tribtion in the future. In that case, it won''t be toote for you to take that kid as your disciple after he has broken to the Dao King realm.''''
The Elders'' eyes lit up with a bright light, as they all stared greedily at Shun Long''s back in the screen of light.
Right! If he doesn''t fail his breakthrough, which one of them wouldn''t want to take an extremely talented disciple as their personal disciple?
Regardless of whether it was in terms of status, wealth, or experience, there were countless Dao Kings who were begging these Elders to take them as their personal disciples.
''''In that case, what are we going to do with the ball of fate? If it was just a crack or two, it could still be repaired, but now...''''
Elder Sun Wen shook his head before he said seriously
''''I will ask the sect master for another one. Although the ball of fate is a rare treasure, in the end, it''s not priceless. As long as we pay a sufficient price, we can easily buy another one.''''
The Elders around Sun Wen heaved out in relief when they heard this. Although they knew that the ball of fate could be reced, no one aside from Sun Wen wanted to be the ones who would inform the sect master of this matter.
At that moment, Sun Wen stood up from his seat, and staring at the absent-minded Elder Zhuan in the screen of light, he then said in a calm but domineering voice
''''The test is over!''''
''''The test is over!''''
''''The test is over!''''
Sun Wen''s voice resounded throughout the hall 3 times, as it entered Elder Zhuan''s ears and woke him up from his reverie.
At the same time, every single disciple including Shun Long, Liu Mei and the rest, all heard this voice as well, as they turned their attention towards the white-robed Elder Zhuan in front of them.
Although Shun Long''s test was extremely abnormal, since the Holy sect didn''t seem to care too much about it, then they wouldn''t care about it either. Instead, they were more concerned about the Holy sect''s rules and everything else.
Elder Zhuan nodded his head and cupped his hands in the air, as he then turned his attention towards the blue-robed Shun Long in front of him, and the rest of the disciples standing behind him, before he said with a smile on his face
''''As you have all already heard, the test is now over! Since you are all considered as official outer disciples of my Holy sect, it is time for me to exin the rules of the sect to you. However, before that, follow me!''''
As he finished speaking, Elder Zhuan turned around and walked towards the huge wooden door behind him, before he pushed it open with both hands.
The gigantic wooden door creaked slightly, before it was slowly opened by the white-robed Dao King who was the first one to step inside it.
Shun Long and the rest didn''t hesitate as they all followed after Elder Zhuan and stepped past the wooden door, before apletely different scene appeared in their eyes.
Sunlight filled Shun Long''s, Liu Mei''s, and the rest of the disciples'' eyes, as an enormous city that spanned further than the eye could see appeared in front of them, while thousands of yellow and grey-robed disciples appeared in their vision.
At the same time, the moment that he stepped past the wooden door, Shun Long could feel a wave of extremely pure qi assaulting his senses, one that was actually of an even higher level than his Heaven Swallowing vine''s qi when it absorbed low-grade spirit stones!
Turning around, Elder Zhuan stared at the 94 disciples in front of him, and with the same smile on his face he then said
''''Let me officially introduce myself. I am Zhuan Peng, and I am the outer court Elder responsible for the new disciples who enter the sect. Since you are all official disciples of our Holy sect, it''s time for you to learn how the sect operates as well as the sect''s rules.''''
Chapter 465: Sect rules and Factions
Chapter 465: Sect rules and Factions
After he finished speaking, Elder Zhuan took out a small, golden-colored token from his robes that looked almost identical to the token that Shun Long and the rest had obtained during the third test, and held it in his hand before he said seriously
''''The token that you obtained during the third test of the sect is your sect identification token. If you inject your qi inside it now, you will be the owner of the token.
Remember, your sect identification token is extremely important. Every time you ept a mission in the Assignment hall, or when youpete in faction wars and faction rankings with other disciples, you will need your sect identification token.''''
''''Faction wars? Faction rankings?''''
Shun Long and the rest of the disciples around Elder Zhuan were confused, but Elder Zhuan simply smiled as he started to walk forward, almost as if he was touring through the sect, while he continued exining
''''The rules of the sect are very simple. No matter what, you are not allowed to cripple or kill a fellow disciple. If there is an irreconcble feud between you and another disciple, you are allowed to fight in a deathmatch in the arena, if both disciples are agreeable to it. However, if one disciple doesn''t agree, the deathmatch will not take ce.
If anyone is caught killing or crippling another disciple of the sect in secret, there will only be one oue for that person regardless of his talent or status... death!''''
As he said those words, Elder Zhuan turned around and stared at the disciples behind him while the look in his eyes had turned cold, obviously having no tolerance over those who didn''t adhere to the sect''s rules.
Seeing that the disciples in front of him all had solemn looks on their faces, the white-robed Dao King''s expression slightly eased, as he turned around and continued touring through the sect, while he continued his exnation
''''At the same time, if you are caught fighting with other disciples outside of the arena, both parties will be temporarily detained by disciples of the ''Enforcement hall'', before the sect figures out who instigated the fight. If there are any other issues, they will also be dealt with by the disciples of the enforcement hall.
Now... it''s time for you to understand how the sect truly works.''''
As he finished speaking, Elder Zhuan suddenly halted his steps as he arrived in front of an enormous building, where hundreds of outer disciples wereing and going in it at all times.
Raising his head, Shun Long saw 2 words ted in gold right above the building''s entrance, 2 words that actually exerted pressure to anyone whoid their eyes on them
''''Assignment hall''''
Turning around, Elder Zhuan stared at the disciples behind him before he said with a smile on his face
''''This is one of the most important buildings throughout the entire sect, the Assignment hall. This is where you will be allowed to obtain missions, both those that are issued from the sect, or those issued by other disciples.
Any disciple can issue a mission, and as long as you pay enough of a price, there will be other disciples who will ept it.
As disciples of the sect, you need toplete at least one yellow-rank mission every 3 months, or 4 yellow-rank missions within a year. You can choose toplete all 4 missions together if you want to keep cultivating without being bothered by the sect for a whole year. However, if you keep cultivating in seclusion inside the sect withoutpleting the missions, the disciples of the Enforcement hall wille and detain you.
As for the missions'' rankings, you will understand everything once you enter the Assignment hallter on.''''
As he said this, Elder Zhuan actually didn''t enter inside the Assignment hall, but he continued walking forward almost as if he was taking a stroll, while he continued exining
''''Now, as you are all newly promoted outer disciples of the sect, it''s time for me to exin the most important thing to you, the Faction rankings, and Faction wars.
Every single disciple in the sect has to enter a faction if they want to participate in the faction rankings and obtain more resources from the sect aside from the mission rewards.
''What are factions?'' you will ask.
They are groups of disciples inside the sect that form a team which fights together, and evenpletes missions together.
There are many big and small factions inside the sect, and all of them fight in faction wars to get to the top of the faction rankings.
The factions at the top of the rankings in the outer court not only get to obtain lucrative rewards from the sect, but they even have a chance to fight some inner disciples'' factions and get a chance to be inner disciples as well.
The moment that he finished his words, Elder Zhuan arrived in front of arge tablet that was filled with a hundred names.
Staring at the top of the tablet, Shun Long saw 2 big words that were written there, and yet the aura they emitted wasn''t inferior to the words on top of the Assignment hall
''''Faction Rankings''''
First ce: Yang Hui''s faction
Second ce: Qiao Min''s faction
Third ce: Dong Cheng''s faction
The moment that his eyesnded on the words ''Faction Rankings'', Shun Long''s gaze was immediately attracted by the 3 biggest words that followed after them... the top 3 factions.
Elder Zhuan''s lips curved up into a smile when he saw everyone''s eyes focused on the top names of the faction rankings, before he continued
''''These are the strongest factions made by the strongest geniuses of the outer court. Each one of them is actually not inferior to many strong inner disciples of the sect. Although all of you are talented enough to be outer disciples of the sect, these people are the true ''kings'' of the Faction Rankings.''''
Chapter 466: Martial Roll of Honor
Chapter 466: Martial Roll of Honor
When they heard Elder Zhuan''s words, the disciples in front of him sucked in breaths of cold air.
What did it mean to be the strongest geniuses of the outer court of the Holy sect?
To be called ''kings'' among outer disciples, it was certain that their strength was extremely terrifying.
Seeing how he had roused everyone''s interest, Elder Zhuan nodded his head before he continued
''''However, don''t hold any hopes that you will be able to join any of the strongest factions any time soon. First, you have to prove yourself, and show that you are strong enough to be a part of them. After all, every top faction has to split the resources they obtain with the rest of their members, so gaining more members would mean fewer resources for everyone else.''''
Shun Long and the rest nodded their heads when they heard this.
Indeed, no matter how many resources the top factions obtained from the Holy sect, in the end, they would have to split it with their members equally.
Obtaining more members would definitely increase their strength, but it would also decrease the amount of resources that everyone else would obtain at the same time.
At that moment, a young man whose body waspletely covered by a beast hide looked at Elder Zhuan, and with a fearless look in his eyes he asked
''''Then, how does one qualify to enter the top 100 factions?''''
Elder Zhuan looked at this young man whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, and with a serious look on his face, he shook his head before he answered
''''I suggest that you don''t even think about it. To enter one of the top 100 factions, you need to first reach the top 1000 spots in the Martial Roll of Honor.
The Martial Roll of Honor is the ranking for the 1000 strongest outer disciples within the sect, and it''s a tournament that only happens once every year.
However, forget about the ''you'' of right now. Even in 3 years, it''s possible that none of you will be able to take the 1000th spot!''''
As Elder Zhuan''s voice trailed off, every disciple''s fighting spirit was immediately provoked when they heard this. After all, each one of them were the strongest geniuses of their respective continents. Even against the 1000 strongest disciples of the Holy sect, they believed that it was only a matter of time until they overtook them as well!
At the same time however, Shun Long noticed a look of pity appearing in Elder Zhuan''s eyes when he saw this scene.
It was obvious that the white-robed Dao King didn''t really think that these disciples had any hope of entering the top 1000 spots in the Martial Roll of Honor anytime soon.
Shaking his head lightly, Elder Zhuan then continued
''''The next tournament for the Martial Roll of Honor rankings is still 10 months away. Until then, I suggest that you try to familiarize yourselves with the other outer disciples, and hopefully try to enter the smaller factions in the outer court.
Don''t think that the slightly weaker factions will ept you just because you have passed the sect''s test.
You need to remember that the disciples that you fought against today, were the weakest members of the 100 weakest factions of the outer court!''''
Finally, the disciples in front of Elder Zhuan had serious looks when they heard this.
Even when the disciples of the Holy sect had suppressed their cultivation to the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, less than 10 percent of the original disciples that were participating in the fourth test managed to join the sect, while more than half of them had nearly lost their fights and had barely clinched victory through the skin of their teeth.
Even Shun Long, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, Jun Ren and the rest of the strongest geniuses actually had serious looks on their eyes when they heard this.
Seeing the solemn looks on the disciples'' faces, Elder Zhuan smiled before he added in
''''Of course, this doesn''t mean that no faction will ept you. The weakest factions may even be willing to kick the disciples that lost against you and allow you to take their spots.
After all, being in a sect is no different than participating in a hugepetition.
Only bypeting with each other will you be stronger.
At the same time, if no faction is willing to take you in, you can also choose to form your own faction and ept other disciples as well. That way, you won''t have to be afraid that no faction will ept you, or that you will get kicked by the faction and be reced by other disciples'' in the future.
However, only bypeting faction missions issued by the sect or challenging other factions in faction wars and rising in the faction rankings, will you be allowed to obtain resources from the sect to strengthen yourselves and your faction.''''
Elder Zhuan''s words instantly roused up everyone''s interest.
Being able to create their own faction indeed sounded attractive, but having topete with the stronger factions was practically impossible for any new disciples.
Most of the disciples of the Holy sect should be, at the very least, at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul stage.
As for those at the top 1000 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor, no one knew how strong they really were just yet.
Just this realization alone immediately extinguished the idea of creating a faction from most of these disciples'' minds.
And yet, there were still many of them who seemed to have the thought of creating their own faction and get more disciples to join them.
No matter what, creating their own faction inside the sect sounded much better than joining others.
At that moment, Shun Long also noticed Liu Mei''s and Xie Xingyi''s gazes that were glued on him, causing a wary smile to appear on his face.
It was obvious that it wasn''t just Liu Mei by herself, but Xie Xingyi as well who seemed willing to follow him, no matter whether he decided to join some faction or if he decided to create his own.
Seeing that so many disciples were interested in creating their own factions, Elder Zhuan turned his attention towards a huge building and continued with that same smile on his face
''''The next ce that you will see is only second to the Assignment Hall in the outer court in terms of importance.''''
Chapter 467: Come with me
Chapter 467: Come with me
Shun Long followed Elder Zhuan''s gaze as his eyesnded on a huge ck building with the words Administration Hall written on top of it, before Elder Zhuan''s voice once again sounded in his ears
''''Whether you want to create your own faction, obtain servants that will follow you inside the sect, obtain your sect uniform, or even find out where you are going to live in the sect from now on, you can only do so after you enter the Administration Hall!''''
Without waiting for any questions, Elder Zhuan stepped forward, as he moved towards the huge ck building in the distance.
After exchanging a few nces with each other, the disciples behind him didn''t waste any time as they quickly followed after him.
The moment that he passed through the Administration Hall''s gate and entered inside, Shun Long saw many different counters inside the hall, like the ''Faction registration'' counter, the ''servant registration'' counter, the ''living quarters'' counter, as well as many others.
At the same time, at the center of the hall, he also saw the white-robed Elder Zhuan chatting with another white-robed old man who had almost no hair left on his head.
The moment that the 2 old men saw the disciples that entered inside, Elder Zhuan smiled at them and looked at the white-robed Elder next to him before he said
''''Wee to the Administration Hall. This old man here is Elder Zhi and he is the Elder responsible for this ce.''''
The white-robed Elder Zhi nodded his head with a rtively strict look on his face as he stared at the disciples that had just entered the Administration Hall, before he said seriously
''''I don''t think there are many things that this old man has to exin to you. If you want to pick a servant from the disciples that failed the third or the fourth test of the sect, apply it in the servant registration counter before youe to me. Otherwise, try not to disturb this old man for no reason.''''
After he finished speaking, the white-robed Elder Zhi first nodded his head at Elder Zhuan, before he turned around and disappeared at the depths of the hall. It was obvious that he was not someone that was willing to hold a conversation for very long.
Elder Zhuan didn''t seem to mind this, almost as if he was already used to Elder Zhi''s behavior, as he turned his gaze and stared at the disciples that were standing in front of him instead, before he turned his attention towards the ''living quarters'' counter a few tens of meters away from him and said
''''Before you choose any servants or try to form your own faction, you should first register yourselves in the ''living quarters'' counter and obtain an official identity inside the sect, your outer disciples'' robes, as well as the ce where you will live from now on. After that, you can go and find Elder Zhi if you want to obtain servants from the previous 2 tests.
Aside from the Assignment Hall, the Enforcement Hall and the Administration Hall, remember that there are countless other ces inside the sect as well, such as the ''Golden Treasures Hall'' where you can even buy and sell all kinds of treasures, rare pills and even pill forms that have gone extinct in your own continents, high-grade medicinal herbs, rare ores for formation masters to smelt and create powerful runes, and even high-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills.
Hehe, in the Golden Treasures Hall there is even a chance for you to find the second and even the third parts of the cultivation techniques and martial skills that you chose during the second test from the barrier of knowledge.''''
Excited looks appeared on the disciples'' faces when they heard this, while even Shun Long was moved by this.
The might of the first move of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' when paired with his ck, star-rank sword had already exceeded his estimations during a fight.
Hearing that he would have a chance to find the second and the third parts of this Saint grade martial skill in the ''Golden Treasures Hall'' made him eager to have a look at it.
However, the most important matter was still to first register themselves in the ''living quarters'' counter and obtain the sect robes as well as a ce where he and Liu Mei were going to live.
After queuing up with the rest of the disciples, it was Shun Long''s turn to register himself barely 10 minutester.
Since he wasn''t hiding his cultivation, a shocked look appeared on the outer disciple''s face behind the counter when she saw the handsome blue-robed young man''s cultivation at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul.
However, she still nodded her head and extended her hand before she asked in a curious tone
''''What''s junior brother''s name?''''
After passing his Holy sect''s token to the disciple in front of him, Shun Long nodded his head in greeting and said calmly
''''Shun Long.''''
The outer disciple in front of him obviously hadn''t participated in the fourth test, so she had no idea who Shun Long was or how he had managed to pass the fourth test with such a low level of cultivation.
After using the help of a ck jade to carve Shun Long''s name on his Holy sect''s token, she passed the golden-colored token back to him, as well as 3 different sets of yellow robes that the outer court disciples wore and said seriously
''''As long as junior brother injects his qi in his sect identification token, you will be guided towards your own courtyard. Remember that each courtyard only has 3 rooms, one main room for you, and 2 rooms for your servants. Of course, if you want to obtain more than 2 servants, you can do so as well, but the sect won''t give you a bigger room to amodate them unless you be a member of a top faction and be awarded one in their areas. As for your outer court robes, if you end up damaging them, the sect can rece them for you, but you will have to pay a certain fee every time you do so.''''
A shocked look shed deep inside Shun Long''s eyes when he heard about the benefits of being a member of a top faction, but he still nodded his head and cupped his hands at the young woman in front of him as he said
''''Many thanks, senior sister.''''
The outer court young woman behind the ''living quarters counter'' cupped her hands in response and smiled lightly as she looked at Shun Long, who turned around and stared at the rest of the counters in the hall.
Although this young woman had no hope for any of these disciples -that came from the small continents that surrounded the central region- to ever enter the top factions, it was true that if one managed to enter a top faction, they would be awarded a much better room than themon ones.
After all, this was one of the benefits that the sect gave to the top factions.
Thus, as this was part of her job, she had to exin this to every single disciple that entered the sect for the first time, as a way to motivate them to strive to be stronger.
After Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had their names carved in their sect identification tokens and obtained their outer court robes as well, the 2 women walked by Shun Long''s side before Liu Mei asked curiously
''''Long-ge, do you want to create a faction?''''
Shun Long noticed that both Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had sparkles in their eyes when Liu Mei asked this question, and even Liu Mei''s veil was unable to conceal the curiosity and eagerness in her voice.
After thinking about it for a few moments, Shun Long nodded his head seriously before he said
''''Probably. However, let''s go to our courtyard first and check the ce where we are going to be staying. Since this is the Holy sect, I am curious how good their courtyards really are.''''
Seeing that Shun Long had no intention of obtaining a servant, the 2 girls nodded their heads genrly as they saw him inject his qi inside the sect identification token in his hands.
A thin white line created from his qi immediately appeared in his vision, guiding Shun Long outside the hall.
However, the moment that the 3 of them were about to walk outside of the hall, a young man in ck robes suddenly appeared in front of Shun Long and the 2 girls, staring at him with a serious look on his face.
''''Jiang Chen!''''
This name appeared in Liu Mei''s and Xie Xingyi''s mind at the same time, as they stared at the young man in front of them warily, ready to fight if they really had to.
Although Jiang Chen was extremely strong, the 2 girls weren''t weak by any means. Especially considering that Jiang Chen had already made use of his bloodline power, even with his higher cultivation, it was likely that he may not be stronger than Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi if the 2 girls joined hands to fight him.
Every single disciple inside the hall had suddenly stopped what they were doing, as they stared at the ck-robed young man with curious looks in their eyes.
And yet, Shun Long actually smiled as he looked at the young man in front of him, before he said calmly with that same smile on his face
''''Come with me!''''
Chapter 468: The domineering Jiang Chen
Chapter 468: The domineering Jiang Chen
Without waiting for a response, Shun Long took a few steps forward and walked past Jiang Chen, as he stepped out of the Administration Hall.
Looks of surprise instantly appeared in the faces of the disciples inside the hall when they heard Shun Long''s calm voice, as his words and actions astounded every single one of them, including Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi who were ready to fight Jiang Chen a moment ago.
ording to what they knew, Shun Long and Jiang Chen didn''t know each other before today nor had they had met each other during the third test either.
Thus, Shun Long saying e with me'' while walking past Jiang Chen and stepping out of the Administration Hall made them both stunned and confused for a few moments.
Even Bai Longtian was confused by this, as his eyes stared at Shun Long''s disappearing back with an astounded look on his face.
And yet, the most shocking part, was that Jiang Chen actually turned around and followed Shun Long a momentter,pletely ignoring the 2 girls that seemed ready to fight him at any moment.
Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi turned to look at each other, before they immediately stepped out of the Administration Hall as well.
''''What? Jiang Chen really went with him? Could it be that he and Shun Long have known each other before today?''''
''''Perhaps they have met each other before the Holy sect''s test. After all, nobody knows which continent Jiang Chen came from.''''
''''No way! Shun Long may truly be a rogue cultivator from the Night star continent but Jiang Chen definitely isn''t, otherwise, there is no way I wouldn''t know about it!''''
The one who was the first to refute this im was the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' of the Heaven''s Dome city, Zhong Fang.
Although Shun Long was a genius, if he wanted to stay low-key before they entered the Holy sect''s test it was possible to do so with his cultivation at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul. After all, no one would pay any attention to someone who had barely just entered the Nascent Soul stage before the Holy sect''s test started.
But for Jiang Chen to do the same was virtually impossible.
Forget about an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like him, even the peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators attracted a lot of attention in the Night star continent when they were all gathered together outside the Heaven''s Dome city to enter the Holy sect''s test, and Zhong Fang knew every single one of them.
And yet, although Zhong Fang''s words were epted by many disciples around him as he had already introduced himself as the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' of the Heaven''s Dome city when he passed the fourth test, there were also many others who weren''t convinced by this answer, as they looked at the chubby silver-haired young man and asked questioningly
''''If they didn''t know each other from your Night star continent isn''t it possible that they met sometime during the third test? Don''t tell me that you were personally monitoring Shun Long and Jiang Chen during the third test as well.''''
Zhong Fang was stunned for a moment as he realized that he didn''t have a way to refute this while a sharp glint shed through his eyes as he looked at the disciple who had asked this question with a mocking tone.
And yet, that disciple didn''t shy away from Zhong Fang''s gaze, obviously not being afraid of the chubby young man in the slightest.
At the same time, many other disciples seemed to have nodded their heads when they heard this, as they curiously stared at Jiang Chen''s disappearing figure as well, as he stepped out of the Administration Hall too.
Indeed, the only possible exnation seemed to be that he and Shun Long had met each other during the third test.
However, at that moment, another disciple shook his head when he heard this guess, while a look of fear shed through his eyes as he then said
''''There is no way that Shun Long and Jiang Chen had met each other during the third test. Although I have no idea what Shun Long did during the third test, what you all don''t know is that Jiang Chen is a true madman. During the third test, not only did he take over an entire city by himself, but he didn''t go into hiding after obtaining the Holy sect''s token, and he instead sat on top of the city walls and cultivated as he waited for the third test to be over. Every time that someone attacked him, he would kill them without hesitation.''''
Shock and disbelief shed every disciples'' eyes when they heard this, before they turned their attention towards the white-robed Elder Zhuan almost as if they were asking for confirmation.
After all, considering that the Holy sect would almost certainly be observing them during the time of the tests and as the Elder responsible for the new disciples that entered the sect, Elder Zhuan must definitely know about this issue as well.
Even the red-robed Jun Ren who was an early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator as well seemed to have turned his attention towards Elder Zhuan as he waited for his answer. However, unlike most other disciples, he had a calm and collected look on his face, almost as if this wasn''t of much importance to him anyway.
Of course, Jun Ren wasn''t surprised that Jiang Chen had managed to take over a city by himself. If Jun Ren wanted to, he could easily conquer 10 cities at the same time. The reason why he seemed interested in this, was to find out why Jiang Chen stopped Shun Long.
At that moment, the white-robed Elder Zhuan smiled and simply nodded his head as he stared at the entrance of the Administration Hall, leaving the entire hall dead-silent.
Of course, the reason why the disciples in the Administration Hall were so interested in Shun Long and Jiang Chen, aside from the fact that the 2 of them had attracted the attention of the white-robed Cao Ling during the fourth test, was because both of them were extremely powerful.
If the 2 of them had somehow formed a connection with each other and had be friends, there was no way that this wouldn''t affect the rest of the disciples as well.
This was even more so after the results of the test of fate, that had caused everyone to pay even more attention to Shun Long.
...
At the same time, unaware of themotion that his words and Jiang Chen''s actions had caused to the disciples in the Administration Hall just now, Shun Long continued following after the white line of qi that had appeared in his vision as he walked towards his courtyard,pletely ignoring the ck-robed young man that was following after him.
And yet, Jiang Chen wasn''t impatient, as he followed after Shun Long with a calm look on his face.
Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi were both stunned when they saw this scene, but despite their curiosity, none of them spoke, as they followed after Shun Long as well.
Finally, less than an hourter, after being guided by the white line of qi, Shun Long arrived at the entrance of a small courtyard that was surrounded by many other courtyards as well.
This was the ce where most of the outer disciples of the sect actually lived.
Although his courtyard didn''t seem to be big in size, it was actually surrounded by many formations, including protective formations that Shun Long was unable to break through even if he attacked them with his full strength for days.
Even though Shun Long had only studied formations briefly in thest 2 years that he and Liu Mei spent in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and he could only be considered a rookie among formations masters at best, he immediately understood that these formations could even take on the attacks of early-stage Dao Kings without too much trouble!
With a calm smile on his face, he then extended his hand, as he pressed his sect identification token on the courtyard''s gate.
As soon as the sect token touched the courtyard''s gates, the protective formations around the courtyard were instantly lifted, while the wooden gates opened at the same time.
Shun Long could feel waves after waves of pure qi ''assaulting'' him the moment that he stepped foot into the courtyard, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
At the same time, without any hesitation, Jiang Chen followed after him and stepped inside the courtyard as well, while Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi did the same.
Liu Mei''s expression immediately changed when she felt the pure qi that had filled the courtyard, as she immediately turned her eyes towards Shun Long as well.
This was the second time that Liu Mei had felt such pure qi in the air around her, and it was only inferior to the pure qi that she had absorbed from the Heaven Swallowing vine in the past.
Although this qi wasn''t at the same level as the Heaven Swallowing vine''s, it was actually not too inferior to it either.
Of course, due to her ''Blood Absorption art'', Liu Mei could no longer absorb any qi from the air around her and cultivate normally. Instead, she could only absorb the qi from other cultivators before turning it into her own.
This was part of the reason why Little ck had also said to Shun Long that the ''Blood Absorption art'' cultivation technique was extremely difficult to train in.
Once someone could only absorb the qi from others to be stronger, it was easier to start killing mindlessly or fall into qi deviation in the future, unless they had enough help to keep themselves in check every time.
However, thanks to this, Liu Mei could also advance her cultivation extremely quickly, as long as she was lucky enough to find plenty of strong cultivators that she could absorb qi from.
At the same time, Xie Xingyi''s and Jiang Chen''s expressions changed as well, as soon as they stepped inside the courtyard and felt the qi around them.
Unlike Shun Long and Liu Mei, they had never felt such pure qi before. The pure qi that filled Shun Long''s courtyard was like heaven for them, as they barely resisted the urge to sit cross-legged and cultivate right then and there.
After staying still for a few moments, Shun Long stared at the ''small house'' in front of him, before he walked directly towards what seemed to be the main room.
The moment that he pushed open the door and entered inside, an extremely in room appeared in his vision.
There were no decorations or anything else inside the room, aside from a single bed and a white meditative cushion on the floor.
After taking a look inside the room''s interior, Shun Long then turned around and stared at Jiang Chen who had followed after him and entered the room as well without saying a word, followed by Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi.
Seeing that everyone had entered the room, Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile before he sat on the white meditative cushion in front of the small bed, and looking at the ck-robed Jiang Chen in front of him he then said calmly
''''You were staring at me for quite a while during the fourth test. Was it because of my bloodline?''''
Jiang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly when he heard this, before he waved his hand and took out a ck meditative cushion from his spatial ring and ced it on the floor opposite Shun Long''s white cushion as he sat on it and stared at Shun Long silently.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei also did the same, as she took out 2 small cushions as well, one for herself and one for Xie Xingyi before they sat by Shun Long''s side.
At that moment, Shun Long saw the handsome ck-robed young man in front of him nod his head with a serious look in his eyes, and after hesitating for a moment he then said seriously
''''So you knew already... In that case, I only have one question! Are you from the Immortal Dimension?''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 469: Shun Longs wine
Chapter 469: Shun Long''s wine
Shun Long''s eyes instantly narrowed when he heard Jiang Chen''s question, before his lips actually curved up even further.
At the same time, Liu Mei''s expression instantly turned cold as she stared at the ck-robed young man in front of Shun Long, while Xie Xingyi''s gaze was filled with shock and confusion.
She had already heard of the ancient legends that mentioned a world of immortals both from her father and her grandfather.
''''Could it be that he is talking about this same world of immortals as well? Its real name is the Immortal Dimension? However, why would Jiang Chen ask brother Long if he is from the Immortal Dimension? Could it be... because of his bloodline? It actually originates from the world of immortals, the ''Immortal Dimension''?''''
Although Xie Xingyi didn''t know many things about Shun Long, she was an extremely clever girl and it only took her a few moments to connect the dots between the legends that she knew of, Shun Long''s question to Jiang Chen and Jiang Chen''s own response, to understand the reason why Jiang Chen would ask something like that.
Turning her head to the side, she also noticed Liu Mei''s cold gaze as well as Shun Long''s nonchnt smile, making her even more curious to hear Shun Long''s answer.
Staring at the ck-robed young man in front of him, Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned extremely deep before he asked in a calm voice
''''If you have the bloodline of an immortal-grade magic beast, don''t you think it''s normal for others to have it as well?''''
This time, it was Jiang Chen''s turn for his eyes to narrow as he stared at Shun Long with a curious look, almost as if he was trying to figure out whether the blue-robed young man in front of him was bluffing or if he had really guessed something.
Without waiting for Jiang Chen to ask another question, Shun Long waved his hand and took out a very big wooden barrel from the Stone of Time and ced it by his side, before he also took out 4 small cups of wine as well.
Swinging his sleeve, he instantly removed the barrel''s top, causing an intoxicating smell to fill the room, a scent that would make anyone drunk with a single sniff of it.
It wasn''t just Jiang Chen or Xie Xingyi who stared at Shun Long in shock, but even Liu Mei who was sitting on her cushion had a surprised look in her eyes when she saw him bringing out this wine.
She already knew that Shun Long had brewed this wine during their stay in the ''Ten Thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and the City of Sin in the past 2 years, but she also knew that Shun Long didn''t want to sell this in the Heaven''s Dome city, no matter how many spirit stones it would bring them.
He had only kept it for himself and Liu Mei to drink and hadn''t shared it with anyone else just yet.
And yet, he brought it out today to share it with a person he had never met before.
While sitting on the cushion, Shun Long tilted the barrel slightly, instantly filling the four wine cups to the brim before he gave one each to Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen.
Seeing Jiang Chen and Xie Xingyi stare at the bright red liquid in their cups while still enjoying its fragrance, Shun Long then said
''''Have a taste.''''
Raising his hand, he then emptied the small cup of wine in his mouth, while a slight smile of enjoyment appeared on his face.
At the same time, as he savored the heavenly taste of the wine, Shun Long could feel his body being filled with so much qi, that he could probably condense the 8th silver ball of qi at any moment.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei also mirror Shun Long''s movements, as the intoxicating smell and taste of the wine instantly filled her mouth.
Liu Mei clearly knew, that this was the best wine that Shun Long had created until today. Whether it was in terms of the wine''s effects or its taste, it was simply iparable to the wine that he had brewed back in the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
What she didn''t know however was, that to create a single barrel of this wine, Shun Long had mixed hundreds of rank 3 and rank 4, as well as more than 40 rank 5 medicinal herbs together before burying it in the herb garden inside the ''Stone of Time'' for more than 500 years.
Just the wine''s effects alone were no different than if a cultivator was actually consuming a high-grade rank 5 medicinal pill.
Even Shun Long had to control himself and Liu Mei and hadn''t tasted this wine before reaching thete stages of the Spirit realm, due to how powerful the wine''s effects were.
As for its taste, it was actually even better than its effects.
Although Shun Long didn''t have the memories of his past life unlocked and even after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage he only had some fragments of his previous life avable, he was certain that this wine''s test could definitely rival that of an immortal''s wine.
He was certain that even Dao Kings and Dao Emperors would go crazy after tasting his wine.
As for Little ck who was a wine lover, Shun Long knew that the ck dragon would probably be unwilling to taste his previous wine again.
Seeing that both Shun Long and Liu Mei had already emptied their cups, Jiang Chen and Xie Xingyi no longer held back either as they drank their wine as well.
A look of excitement appeared on Xie Xingyi''s face the moment that she tasted the bright red wine in her cup, while even the cold Jiang Chen wasn''t able topletely hide the look of enjoyment on his face.
''''What do you think?''''
Shun Long''s voice resounded throughout the room, as he looked at Jiang Chen and Xie Xingyi with that same calm smile on his face.
Xie Xingyi nodded her head excitedly like a little kid, while at the same time, she extended her little tongue and licked her lips, almost as if she was trying to taste the rest of the wine that had touched her lips just now.
As for the ck-robed Jiang Chen, he simply closed his eyes as hepletely took in the wine''s taste to the fullest.
Opening his eyes, he stared at Shun Long with a deep look in his eyes before he said seriously
''''Even my father''s prized win isn''t as good as yours!''''
Chapter 470: Jiang Chens story
Chapter 470: Jiang Chen''s story
''''Of course. No wine is as good as Long-ge''s.''''
Surprisingly, Liu Mei was the first one to answer when she heard Jiang Chen''s words, while her words were filled with pride and admiration.
Jiang Chen looked at her for a moment, but he surprisingly nodded his head and didn''t refute her im, as he turned his attention towards Shun Long. At the same time, the look in his eyes turned serious, almost as if he had finally decided on something, as he ced the empty cup of wine in front of him and said
''''I don''t know how you are connected to the Immortal Dimension, but you are definitely connected to it one way or another, and the power behind you is definitely not weak!
I also believe that you are not someone who is willing to join a weaker faction in the sect and you would much rather create one yourself. So, I will actually promise to join your faction as long as you are willing to help me.
No... as long as the power behind you is actually willing to help me, I will not only join you, but I will even agree to any terms! Even if I have to join the power behind you or do anything else that they ask, I will still agree to it as long as they help me!''''
A surprised look that Shun Long was unable to hide appeared on his face, as his eyes examined the ck-robed young man in front of him who was staring at him seriously.
Jiang Chen had barely spoken from the first time that Shun Long had seen him during the fourth test, to the moment before he had drunk his wine.
And yet, not only did he now decide to speak, but he also dropped a huge bomb at Shun Long''s feet.
Even Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi were shocked and confused by his words, but they still stared at Shun Long and Jiang Chen seriously without saying anything.
With a calm look on his face, Shun Long first refilled his cup and Jiang Chen''s, before he sat cross-legged on the ground once again and stared at the handsome ck-robed young man in front of him, as he then asked curiously
''''What kind of help do you want?''''
Jiang Chen''s eyes lit up when he heard this. He wasn''t afraid that his guess had missed its mark and that Shun Long wasn''t actually someone who had a connection with the Immortal Dimension. After all, Jiang Chen had clearly felt that just Shun Long''s bloodline alone was something extremely terrifying. Even his own bloodline trembled slightly in front of it.
What Jiang Chen was afraid of, was that Shun Long wouldn''t be allowed to discuss anything about the power behind him, or that he didn''t have enough authority to decide things. In that case, he would definitely decline without listening to Jiang Chen''s request.
After taking a deep breath, the ck-robed Jiang Chen then said seriously
''''This story starts even before I was born, nearly 50 years ago. My father''s name is Jiang Tianfang and he was born in a rtively powerful family of the central region. He was actually considered as one of the strongest geniuses of the family and in just 110 years, he had actually managed to reach the Dao King realm.
As he roamed throughout the central region, one day, my father met an extremely powerful and beautiful woman, one whose beauty he had never seen before. The moment that he saw her, he felt his heart stirring and decided to court her with everything he had.
Finally, 2 yearster, he managed to obtain her love and affection, and 3 more yearster, they had a child together!
However, before the child could turn a year old, the woman''s family actually found her. Before she and my father had gotten together, the woman told my father that she came from a very powerful family, one that was situated in the Immortal Dimension!''''
Jiang Chen suddenly paused for a moment before he closed his eyes and emptied the cup of wine in front of him, almost as if he was suppressing his rising emotions. Finally, a momentter, he opened his eyes again and stared at Shun Long before he continued
''''When the woman''s family found out that she was no longer ''pure'' they were furious and wanted to vent their anger. However, since the woman''s position in her family wasn''t low, they couldn''t kill her or cripple her no matter how angry they were. Thus, they decided to kill the man who had tainted her as well as their child, and bring their heads back to the family.
Although the woman tried to stop them, she wasn''t a match for the people from her family.
Of course, my father also decided to fight with them, but despite having considered himself strong in the past, he wasn''t a match for any of those people either.
He wasn''t even able to take a single blow before he was sent flying and was rendered helpless in front of them.
However, right as they were about to kill my father and the child, the woman threatened the people from her family that she was going to kill herself unless they stopped. If they stopped, she would agree to go back with them as long as they let my father and her child go.
The woman''s family had to choose whether they wanted to take revenge, or take her back with them.
Finally, the most senior out of their group, an old man whose eyes werepletely ck, was the one who took the final decision.
He chose to take the woman back while he personally cut off my father''s right arm.
Of course, since my father was also a body refiner cultivator, the old man made sure that my father wouldn''t be able to regrow his right arm ever again in the future.
And yet, despite losing his arm, my father wasn''t angered. Even though that was the arm that he used to hold his de with, he still epted this begrudgingly. After all, although he wasn''t afraid of death, he knew that he was unable to take the woman back at that moment. Only if he became stronger in the future would he have a tiny sliver of hope.
However, the old man hadn''t finished venting his anger just yet, and in front of my father who had just lost an arm and was being suppressed by 2 members of that family, and the woman who was also detained by 3 more, the old man then grabbed their child from the neck while he took out a small ck dagger from his robes at the same time.
Then, in front of my father''s and the woman''s eyes, the old man slowly pressed the dagger below the child''s left eye, creating a finger-sized scar.''''
As Jiang Chen finished speaking, Shun Long''s eyes slowlynded on the small scar below Jiang Chen''s left eye, but he didn''t say a word. He could hear Jiang Chen''s voice that had turned angry while there was also a hint of helplessness inside it.
After taking another deep breath, Jiang Chen then continued
''''That woman was the mother that I never met, a mother who decided to be voluntarily trapped by her family just so I and my father can stay alive... that woman is my mother.''''
Chapter 471: Assessment
Chapter 471: Assessment
When Jiang Chen said the word mother, Shun Long saw the proud young man''s previously cold expression slowly melting, as hints of pain and suffering appeared on his face, along with 2 translucent tears that rolled down from his cheeks.
It was obvious that Jiang Chen felt that he owed his mother too much, and couldn''t ept her situation.
He was determined to do anything he could to save her, no matter what the consequences were for himself.
This was the reason why he decided to take this risk and approach Shun Long to ask for the help of the power behind him, even though he knew that it was possible for him to be a ve in the future.
After all, no one would possibly satisfy Jiang Chen''s request without asking him to pay an enormous price for it!
Thus, before Shun Long could give his answer, Jiang Chen decided to exin everything without holding back. In the end, only if Shun Long and the power behind him knew about his enemies would they be able to confidently tell him whether they could help him or not.
Otherwise, if they decided to go back on their word in the future after learning of the power of his enemies, Jiang Chen would be the one to suffer.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chen then touched the finger-sized scar below his left eye with his forefinger as he then continued speaking in a self-mocking tone
''''My motheres from the Yu family of the Eternal Darkness world and this scar means that I have been rejected by the Elders of the Yu family! Although I carry their bloodline, I am not a part of their family, but just an outcast!''''
As Jiang Chen finished his words, he stared intently at Shun Long''s eyes, almost as if he was trying to see if there was any fear inside them after hearing the name of the Yu family.
Of course, although Shun Long didn''t have the knowledge of his past life avable at this moment but only a few fragments of them, and he didn''t know how strong the Eternal Darkness world and the powers on it really were, he clearly understood that, to be situated in the Immortal Dimension and to possess the bloodline of a powerful magic beast, the Yu family definitely had more than just a few immortals backing them!
Most likely, they were a really powerful force, one that couldn''t be taken lightly by most other powers in the Immortal Dimension.
Jiang Chen''s dreams of getting revenge on that family wouldn''t be easy even if he managed to somehow be an immortal in the future.
Shun Long had an extremely deep look in his eyes as he stared at the young man in front of him, before he said in a calm tone
''''It''s going to be nearly impossible for you to take revenge. Even if you train with the best resources and the best cultivation techniques and martial skills, even if you have the best sparring partners in this world and manage to be an immortal in the future, you will still be unable to shake a big family in the Immortal Dimension by yourself. Even if another huge power is backing you, they will still be unwilling to fight a war for your sake, regardless of what you have to offer.''''
Shun Long''s words were like a heavy hammer striking in Jiang Chen''s heart. This was the answer he wanted to hear the least, and yet, at the same time, he also understood that Shun Long was right.
How many people would have to fight in a war between 2 powers in the Immortal Dimension?
And yet, Jiang Chen didn''t show any despair on his face when he heard Shun Long''s answer.
Instead, he nodded his head calmly with an uncaring look in his eyes, as he stood up from his seat and turned around to leave the room.
He had already been prepared to be rejected from the beginning.
He knew that the chances that someone would agree to his request were extremely low.
Even if Shun Long had enough authority inside the power that was backing him to decide something like that, who would easily choose to fight another strong power in the Immortal Dimension for the sake of one person?
And yet, there was still a determined look in his eyes as he started to walk towards the door of the room,pletely ignoring the blue-robed young man who was still sitting on the white cushion and the 2 young women by his side.
Shaking his head, Shun Long stared at the figure of the ck-robed young man that was walking towards the door before he said in a calm voice
''''Although the purity of the bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness in your body has already reached 40 percent, you won''t be able to take on an entire family in the Immortal Dimension. You won''t even be able to fight against their strongest geniuses! You will die before you know it.
What you don''t know is, that in the Immortal Dimension, the stronger families are even able to increase the purity of the bloodlines of their descendants through special pills and rare techniques, making them even stronger. Someone who is born with a 40 percent purity of their bloodline can even reach 80 percent if they are groomed by their family. Do you think that you can fight against such a person?
What will you do if you have to fight against someone who is naturally born with 60, 70, or even 80 percent purity of the same bloodline as you? Can you even stand up to someone like that who has been born in the Immortal Dimension and has enjoyed the best resources from the very beginning of his birth?''''
Jiang Chen''s footsteps halted as he turned around and gazed at Shun Long who was speaking calmly at him with a shocked look on his face, almost as if Shun Long wasn''t crushing his dreams with his words right now, and instead, was stating the most natural fact.
At the same time, Jiang Chen was extremely shocked in his heart that Shun Long had actually recognized the origin of his bloodline so easily! The Demonic Crow of Darkness was a rare magic beast even in the Immortal Dimension, one that not many people knew of. And yet Shun Long had managed to recognize it with a single nce!
However, despite wavering for a moment, the look in Jiang Chen''s eyes still remained firm in the end as he said in a determined tone
''''Even without your help, I can still take revenge!''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long slowly stood up from his seat at that moment, and pointing his finger at Jiang Chen''s chest, he stared at the young man in front of him with an extremely profound look in his eyes before he said calmly
''''It''s useless. Even your unique physique won''t be enough to allow you topete with the best geniuses of your mother''s family in the Immortal Dimension by itself!''''
Suddenly, Jiang Chen''s movements turned rigid as he stood rooted on the spot.
Chapter 472: Shun Longs goal
Chapter 472: Shun Long''s goal
Shun Long''sst sentence resounded in Jiang Chen''s mind again and again, causing him to stare at the blue-robed young man in front of him with eyes filled with incredulity and shock.
Even in the fourth test when he was fighting a nearly desperate fight, Jiang Chen still hadn''t revealed the fact that he had a unique physique.
Of course, the reasons behind it were, that firstly, his body refinement cultivation was only at the early fifth stage and wasn''t strong enough to help him win the fight against his opponent, the young woman named Huo Ru who was at the middle of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul stage, while the second reason was, that since he had already revealed his most important trump card, his bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness, he still wanted to keep at least his unique physique a secret for a while.
And yet, Shun Long had actually managed to see through it and easily pointed out the fact that he possessed a unique physique.
At the same time, both from the look in his eyes, as well as the tone in which he said it, Jiang Chen was almost certain that Shun Long wasn''t just grasping for straws.
Shaking his head, Shun Long stared at the ck-robed young man opposite to him before he continued with a calm voice
''''Even though you managed to hide it well enough, it''s nearly impossible topletely conceal a unique physique when you fight. Even if you don''t make use of its special traits, it is still possible for others to find out about it due to the fluctuations of energy around your body!''''
Jiang Chen''s eyes were filled with skepticism and disbelief when he heard this, as he curiously stared at the blue-robed young man in front of him without answering right away.
Even his own father wouldn''t be able to point out that he possessed a unique physique if he didn''t reveal it by himself, and yet Shun Long could actually do so almost effortlessly? And yet, although Jiang Chen didn''t want to believe it, it seemed that Shun Long wasn''t bluffing either.
At the same time, although he had noticed that Jiang Chen hadn''t fully believed his words, Shun Long didn''t seem to mind, as he sat back down on his white cushion and with a calm look on his face he continued
''''You are actually not the only one who hid his unique physique during the fourth test. There is another guy who also did the same thing as you. However, even with your Demonic Crow of Darkness'' bloodline and your Eternal Darkness physiquebined, you will still be unable to shake a family in the Immortal Dimension by yourself. You may not even be able to fight against the absolute strongest geniuses of your mother''s family before you die...''''
Although Jiang Chen wasn''t daunted by Shun Long''s words previously, his confidence was finally shaken after staring at the unfathomable young man in front of him.
No matter what, to be able to see through him directly and expose every secret of his almost effortlessly, he could no longer disregard Shun Long''s words.
And yet, he couldn''t give up on his revenge either, nor could he give up on his n to save his mother!
Seeing the struggle in Jiang Chen''s eyes, Shun Long''s lips finally curved up into a smile as he looked at the young man in front of him, before he then said calmly
''''However, although you can''t do it just by yourself, it doesn''t mean that it''s somethingpletely impossible to do either!
Follow me!
Stand behind me in the future, both as my friend and as a general!
I will not only help you to save your mother, but even eradicate that family if you so wish!''''
Although Shun Long was still sitting in the white cushion at the center of the room, his body was exuding an aura of majesty, tyranny and absolute confidence as he said these words, while his calm ck eyes had an extremely deep look inside them as he stared at Jiang Chen''s eyes.
It was almost as if a monarch was recruiting his general while dering the course of the future.
At that moment, Jiang Chen''s body shivered as he looked at Shun Long with eyes filled with disbelief.
Unable to hide his confusion any longer he finally asked
''''Why?
Didn''t you say that no power would do it for my sake?
Why did you suddenly change your mind?''''
Shun Long didn''t move from his seat as he stared at the ck-robed young man in front of him before he said
''''You are right. No power would do it for your sake. The risk of fighting a huge power in the Immortal Dimension for the sake of one person is too big.
However, I will do it! I will create my own power before ascending to the Immortal Dimension in the future!''''
Every sentence that left Shun Long''s mouth made both Jiang Chen and Xie Xingyi tremble in their hearts.
At the same time, Jiang Chen seemed to have realized the meaning behind Shun Long''s previous words. Although no power would be willing to go to war against the Yu family for him, Shun Long would be willing to do so.
''''He isn''t nning of asking for help from the power that''s backing him, but he wants to create his own power instead!''''
As this thought shed through Jiang Chen''s mind, realization suddenly dawned on him.
What Shun Long was offering him, was a promise but nothing more. As long as Jiang Chen was willing to stand by his side as Shun Long created his own power, then in the future, Shun Long would help him take revenge on the Yu family of the Eternal Darkness world.
However, could Jiang Chen really trust Shun Long? If Shun Long had promised that he would ask for help from the power behind him, then Jiang Chen would have agreed without any hesitation. But creating a power by himself? Especially one that would be strong enough to rival a huge power from the Immortal Dimension... how difficult was that going to be?
Of course, Shun Long had already thought about this matter long ago.
Whether it was to find out more about the secrets of the ''Stone of Time'', or to unveil the mystery behind Little ck''s past, it was very likely that he would have to fight countless enemies and even sh with one of the nine emperors of the Dragon Realm, Little ck''s father, Long Tianyu.
Thus, Shun Long had to prepare himself and start creating his own power before he went to the Immortal Dimension.
And Jiang Chen was the perfect person to be his first general.
Not only was he extremely talented and possessed the bloodline of a powerful magic beast from the Immortal Dimension as well as a rare unique physique as well, but his will wouldn''t bend no matter what, and he was someone who loved his parents and would do everything for them.
Thus Shun Long had already taken a liking at him and decided to make him his first general.
At the same time, Shun Long also understood how difficult something like this would be for Jiang Chen to ept.
This was no different than cing a bet and hoping that Shun Long''s dream would seed.
Chapter 473: Shun Long vs Jiang Chen
Chapter 473: Shun Long vs Jiang Chen
The entire room immediately fell silent as Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi first stared at Shun Long for a few moments before they turned their attention towards Jiang Chen.
From Shun Long''s words alone and from the fact that he was willing to promise something such as fighting against the Yu family in the future for him, even if the 2 girls didn''t understand how strong a power of the Immortal Dimension really was, they still realized the importance that Shun Long ced on Jiang Chen.
At the same time, as he stared at Shun Long, the struggle in Jiang Chen''s eyes was obvious.
No matter what, it was almost impossible for him to simply believe, that Shun Long would be able to create a power strong enough, that it could rival the Yu family of the Eternal Darkness world in the future, regardless of how confident he was.
And yet, he also knew that Shun Long''s previous words were correct.
No power would possibly go to war with the Yu family just because of his sake.
Even if a power was strong enough to do so and fight against the Yu family, how many experts would die in such a war?
Would they really risk so much just for Jiang Chen to join them?
Besides, for the Yu family to exist for so many years while possessing the bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness, they likely had many enemies that hated them, and yet they were still standing tall.
After all, there was no powerful force that didn''t have at least a few enemies or struggles with other powerful forces. Whether it was to vie for more territory or resources, the Yu family had definitely umted enough enemies within the years.
Thus, if it was that easy to destroy such a powerful family, the Yu family''s enemies would have done so long ago and wouldn''t wait for Jiang Chen to do it!
Staring at the blue-robed young man in front of him, Jiang Chen looked at him deep in the eyes before he asked seriously
''''What makes you think that you can create a powerful force strong enough to fight against the Yu family in the future? If I really am to trust you, you need to be someone worthy of me following you!''''
At that moment, Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he saw Jiang Chen''s cultivation at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul exploding out of his body.
And yet, it only exploded outwards for a single moment before Jiang Chen quickly suppressed it. Peak of rank 3, middle of rank 3, early rank 3... in just a few breaths of time, he had already suppressed his cultivation at the same level as Shun Long''s, the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul!
Staring at the blue-robed young man in front of him, Jiang Chen then said seriously
''''Since we have both used our bloodline powers today it''s impossible to use them again now. Let''s fight. I have suppressed my cultivation at the same level as you, the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul. I will also not use my unique physique either. As long as you can beat me, I will take this bet with you and follow you, helping you create your own power. However, if you lose today, you will be the one to follow me instead!''''
At the same time, Jiang Chen took out his golden saber from his spatial ring, and held it with his right hand, ready to fight against Shun Long at any time.
A deep light shed through Shun Long''s eyes when he heard this, before he nodded his head and said in a calm tone
''''You are right. If you win, it''s only fair that I follow you. After all, the strongest is always the king!''''
As he finished his words, Shun Long''s eyes immediately turned golden, as the invisible figure of an hourss filled with 7 silver balls of qi appeared above his head while his cultivation at the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul exploded out from his body.
''''Let''s go!''''
As his words resounded throughout the spacious room, Shun Long blinked forward, appearing in front of Jiang Chen in an instant before he punched out with his right hand towards his chest.
Jiang Chen was startled for a moment, but he still held his saber horizontally in front of his chest as he weed Shun Long''s attack.
However, right before Shun Long''s punch could hit the golden saber, Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile as a gust of wind appeared around his feet, bringing him by Jiang Chen''s side.
Mystic high-grade martial skill, Gale Steps!
Liu Mei was startled when she saw Shun Long using this martial skill that he hadn''t used for a long time.
It was obvious that he wasn''t fighting against Jiang Chen with everything he had, as he still hid his Dao of Time.
At the same time, although he hadn''t seen Shun Long use this movement technique during the fourth test, Jiang Chen was still prepared for any trump card that Shun Long may have had, as a pair of pitch-ck wings that were burning with dark red mes sprouted from his back.
Saint low-grade martial skill, Demonic Wings!
The moment that his Demonic Wings appeared, Jiang Chen''s speed instantly increased by many times, even exceeding Shun Long''s own speed by a huge margin.
His ck-robed figure left countless afterimages inside the room, as hepletely surrounded Shun Long.
Due to the Demonic Dao that he hadprehended, Jiang Chen''s affinity with the Demonic Wings was much higher than Shun Long''s affinity with his Gale Steps.
Even if the Gale Steps were a Saint low-grade martial skill, it still wouldn''t be enough to bridge the gap between Shun Long''s speed and Jiang Chen''s, mainly due to Jiang Chen''sprehension of his Dao.
The golden saber shed in the room, attacking Shun Long again and again, pushing him in a desperate position.
Even if he used ''blink'', within the small premises of the room, Jiang Chen would easily catch up with him before he continued his barrage of attacks.
And yet, despite his increased speed, Jiang Chen noticed that he was unable to hit Shun Long with his attacks no matter how much he tried.
It was almost as if Shun Long could actually foresee where he would attack, and would avoid every single one of them just in time!
As for those attacks that he couldn''t avoid, Shun Long was actually able to parry them with an illusionary purple-colored de that had appeared in his right hand.
Even against his golden saber, Jiang Chen noticed that Shun Long''s purple de wasn''t destroyed, but it simply rippled a few times before it regained its previous form.
Of course, this exhausted Shun Long as well.
His illusionary purple de was created from his Dao of Space and it used the energy from his body refinement cultivation.
Since Shun Long had yet to breakthrough to the early fifth stage of body refinement, his energy was being rapidly depleted.
After shing with Jiang Chen''s golden saber 3 times, Shun Long felt that he was almost out of energy.
If his purple de was destroyed one more time, he wouldn''t be able to sustain it during this fight.
Finally, after enduring Jiang Chen''s barrage of attacks, Shun Long actually stood still at the center of the room, as a faint blue light appeared around his body.
His golden eyes stared at the countless afterimages that Jiang Chen had left behind as he moved around the room at extreme speed, before he said in a low voice
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 474: Shun Longs secret
Chapter 474: Shun Long''s secret
The afterimages in the room all froze as Jiang Chen''s figure had suddenly gone still.
With a cultivation at the same level as Shun Long, it was impossible for Jiang Chen to move within Shun Long''s Monarch''s Domain!
At that moment, even the 2 young women in the room were affected by it, as their reactions and their thought process slowed down dramatically.
Using blink, Shun Long instantly appeared in front of Jiang Chen, before he ced the illusionary purple de in his right hand on the ck-robed Jiang Chen''s throat, before he stopped circting his ''Monarch''s Domain'' and said in a calm tone with a smile on his face
''''You lose.''''
Jiang Chen''s eyes instantly widened when he saw the illusionary purple de appearing in front of him in an instant, before he immediately halted his movements, as he stared at the blue-robed young man in front of him with a mix of incredulity and disbelief in his gaze!
Seeing the calm smile on Shun Long''s face he had immediately understood that he had lost, and yet he couldn''t help ask in a low voice
''''How?''''
At the same time, although Liu Mei was calm and had a proud smile on her face as she stared at the fight in front of her, having obviously expected this result, Xie Xingyi had a look of shock as she stared at Shun Long''s and Jiang Chen''s figures.
Even with her experience and talent, she still couldn''t understand what Shun Long had done to forcibly stop Jiang Chen''s movementspletely.
At the same time, it was obvious that Jiang Chen hadn''t realized what was going on either as he looked at Shun Long in disbelief while he waited for his answer.
With that same smile on his face, Shun Long dispersed the spatial de in his hand that was on the verge of dissipating by itself as he had nearly run out of energy from his body refinement cultivation already, before he walked back to the white cushion in front of his bed and sat back down on it.
Shun Long thought seriously for a while as he stared at the curious Jiang Chen. Although he knew that sooner orter he would actually have to reveal his Dao of Time, he had nned on keeping it a secret until he had no other choice. However, he also realized that, if he wanted to have Jiang Chen be his first general as well as a real friend, he had to be honest with him.
After all, Jiang Chen had revealed everything about his life already, and he was only curious about the Dao that Shun Long had just used.
Finally, after staying silent for a few moments, the look in Shun Long''s eyes turned serious as he first looked at Liu Mei for a moment, before he turned his attention towards Xie Xingyi and then back to Jiang Chen.
Shun Long stared at the ck-robed young man in front of him, before he said
''''This is my own secret as well, and aside from Mei''er, you and miss Xie are going to be the first ones to learn about this.''''
As he looked at Jiang Chen in front of him, the bright golden light in Shun Long''s eyes started to emit a blue hue deep inside it before he continued
''''The Dao that I haveprehended for my Qi refinement foundation isn''t the Dao of Lightning nor the Dao of Space... but the Dao of Time!''''
A look of confusion appeared on Jiang Chen''s and Xie Xingyi''s faces when they heard this.
''''The Dao of Time?''''
Neither of these 2 geniuses had ever heard of someoneprehending the Dao of Time before nor did they know what kind of powers Shun Long had.
However, seeing the solemn look on Shun Long''s face as he said this, Jiang Chen understood how serious he was.
It was obvious that his Dao of Time was one of his most important secrets, and yet he had still decided to share it with him in the end.
With a smile on his face, the ck-robed Jiang Chen suddenly turned around and walked towards the door of the room.
Finally, just as he reached the door handle, he said calmly with his back still facing Shun Long and the 2 girls
''''I am going to cultivate for a few days. After the fourth test, I can feel myself being just a step away from breaking through. After I finish my breakthrough, I will return here again. Don''t go back on your promise in the future!''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile as he looked at Jiang Chen who didn''t wait for a reply, as he opened the door of the room and left without any hesitation.
Despite the awkwardness in his tone as he spoke, Shun Long could still understand that Jiang Chen''s words were sincere.
After fatty Fu, this was the second friend that Shun Long seemed to have made.
After staring at Jiang Chen''s figure that disappeared from his courtyard, Shun Long then turned his attention to the green-robed young woman next to him.
The reason why he didn''t mind exposing the secret of his Dao of Time to Xie Xingyi, was because Shun Long had already heard from Liu Mei about how the 2 young women had shared life and death with each other during the third test, and because Shun Long could also feel, that this beautiful young woman''s gaze when she looked at him waspletely different than the gaze she had when she stared at the rest of the outer disciples.
Shun Long had noticed that there was a warm expression in Xie Xingyi''s eyes when she looked at him, while her gaze was filled with admiration and curiosity along with many other mixed feelings, making her gaze not too different from Liu Mei''s when she stared at Shun Long.
Seeing how Shun Long was staring at her with a curious look in his eyes, Xie Xingyi blushed lightly before she hurriedly stood up and said
''''I- I have to go cultivate as well!''''
Without even bidding farewell to Liu Mei, the blond-haired kingdom toppling beauty whose face had already turned red then ran towards the door of the room.
However, right before she left the room her feet abruptly stopped, as she turned around and stared at the blue-robed young man sitting on the white cushion and the white-veiled young woman next to him before she said
''''Brother Long... I will also join your faction! I will see you in a few days!''''
Without waiting for a response Xie Xingyi''s body instantly blended in the shadows, as she disappeared from Shun Long''s courtyard.
-
Author''s note: 2/2
Chapter 475: Liu Meis problem
Chapter 475: Liu Mei''s problem
Liu Mei''s lips curved up when she saw this scene, forming a beautiful smile, as she turned her attention towards Shun Long and said in a tone filled with joy
''''I knew that Long-ge is the strongest!''''
Shun Long smiled when he heard this as he then stood up from his white cushion and pulled Liu Mei into a hug.
At the same time, he also activated his sect identifying token to lock the courtyard and make sure that no one could enter without permission, before he removed Liu Mei''s veil from her face, and after staring at her for a few moments he then said
''''Jiang Chen is actually very strong. Even if we are at the same cultivation level, I still need to use my Dao of Time in order to beat him.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head seriously when she heard this, but there was still a look of pride on her beautiful face.
Regardless, so far, there was no one who could stand up to Shun Long at the same level of cultivation when he used his Dao of Time.
Even Jiang Chen waspletely incapacitated inside his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The only person who could do so was Cui Guoliang, but he was still a Dao King who had suppressed his cultivation while retaining his insights into the Dao of Water during the fight.
If Shun Long and Cui Guoliang fought again under the same circumstances, Shun Long was certain that he could take care of the Dao King within a few moves at best.
Of course, this was only assuming that Cui Guoliang would restrict his cultivation at the same level as Shun Long, otherwise it would be impossible for Shun Long tost even a few moves against a Dao King!
At the same time, staring at the bashful expression on Liu Mei''s face as she looked at him caused a hot feeling to arise in Shun Long''s heart.
Although he wasn''t really a lustful person, after not having seen each other for an entire month, Shun Long couldn''t simply let Liu Mei go and start cultivating right away.
Taking her in his arms, he carried her all the way to the bed, as he took off his own robes before he started to unrobe her as well.
Liu Mei''s wless body once again appeared in front of Shun Long''s eyes, and paired with Liu Mei''s somewhat bashful expression only caused the fire in his heart to burn even wilder.
No matter how many times he saw this scene, Shun Long always felt excitement in his heart.
It was the same feeling as if he was unwrapping the same present every time, only to find the same expected result that made his heart beat wildly in response.
Sounds of pleasure filled the room for the next 2 hours until they finally quietened down.
Lying by Shun Long''s side with her head ced on his chest, Liu Mei stared at Shun Long with a gaze filled with love and affection before she said a few momentster
''''Long-ge, there have been some changes to my undead creatures after breaking through to the Nascent Soul.''''
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei with a curious look in his eyes as she then continued
''''I can feel that my undead creatures have their own consciousness and I have to use my soul sense to suppress them during a fight so they don''t go out of control, but they are also much stronger than before!''''
While they were still watching the rest of the fights during the fourth test, Liu Mei couldn''t find an opportunity to mention this to Shun Long as there were too many disciples around them.
She could only mention the things that she had experienced after she had been separated from Shun Long once they entered the Holy sect''s test, as well as everything that she had experienced together with Xie Xingyi.
After all, this matter regarding her undead creatures was a secret that could potentially risk her own life if it was exposed to a lot of people.
Shun Long fell silent when he heard this, before he patted Liu Mei''s head gently a momentter and said seriously
''''Try not to summon that giant ck beast if it''s too taxing for your soul sense, at least until you increase your spiritual strength.''''
Hearing the concerned tone in Shun Long''s words made Liu Mei feel warmth in her heart as she nodded her head.
At the same time, Shun Long also decided to ask Little ck about Liu Mei''s situation as well.
A few momentster, after changing himself into his yellow-colored outer disciple robes, Shun Long closed his eyes and sat on the white cushion in front of his bed, before he entered back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
As soon as he appeared in this space, an excited Little Silver greeted Shun Long, as well as Little ck who was still asleep.
Even though 20 years had nearly passed inside the foggy space in the Stone of Time, and Little ck had already finished absorbing the energy inside the dragonstone long ago, he still hadn''t woken up yet.
However, Shun Long could feel that Little ck''s situation was still fine. After all, for a dragon, 20 years were nothing more than a single nap.
After petting Little Silver for a while, Shun Long decided to let it outside in the real world to keeppany to Liu Mei.
After all, Liu Mei didn''t need to cultivate normally thanks to her ''Blood Absorption art'', and Little Silver''s existence wouldn''t be found out even by the Elders of the Holy sect thanks to the protective formations surrounding every courtyard.
Of course, although an early rank 6 magic beast didn''t hold any allure towards any Elder of the Holy sect, Shun Long wouldn''t be able to exin where he found such a magic beast in the first ce since he had only entered the sect today and it was impossible for anyone to carry magic beasts through spatial rings!
After letting Little Silver return to his room and stay with Liu Mei, Shun Long sat cross-legged in the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' and took out the Heaven Swallowing vine as well as more than 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones and ced them in front of him.
During thest 2 years that he and Liu Mei had been to the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and the ''City of Sin'', Shun Long had earned plenty of low and middle-grade spirit stones. Especially from his shop in the City of Sin which was the most profitable business for him.
However, in order to advance in his cultivation during thesest 2 years, he had spent plenty of spirit stones as well.
Now, even with the 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones from senior brother Qiong, the spirit stones inside Cui Guoliang''s spatial ring and what Shun Long had earned from his shop in the ''City of Sin'', Shun Long''s total wealth was a little more than 1 million and 300.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 476: An unexpected visit
Chapter 476: An unexpected visit
Although such wealth was much more than that of an average middle-stage Dao King in the Night star continent, it still wasn''t enough to support Shun Long''s expenditure for a long time.
Shun Long had already noticed that with his increase in his cultivation, the amount of spirit stones that he needed had also increased by a lot.
The moment that it noticed the 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones that Shun Long had ced in front of it, the Heaven Swallowing vine instantly started to absorb them, as it filled the air inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' with extremely pure qi.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as 7 silver balls of qi appeared inside it.
With the residual energy inside his body that he had absorbed from his wine earlier as well as the pure qi in the air around him, Shun Long condensed the 8th ball of qi in nearly an instant before he started to condense the 9th one as well.
Like this, a month had quickly passed for Shun Long inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
While he was still sitting cross-legged on his seat, he could clearly feel the 15 bright silver-colored balls of qi that were now floating above his head inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''!
In thisst month, Shun Long had used up more than 40.000 middle-grade spirit stones, but he had sessfully reached the middle of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul!
And yet, Shun Long still didn''t stop his cultivation this time as he continued to stay in seclusion with his eyes closed, allowing the Heaven Swallowing vine to absorb even more spirit stones.
In the blink of an eye, another month quickly passed as 18 balls of qi were now floating inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', allowing Shun Long to reach the peak of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul.
It was only then that Shun Long finally opened his eyes before he slowly stood up.
''''More than 60.000 middle-grade spirit stones disappeared like that. Even the golden-robed young man''s spatial ring only had 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones inside it. At this rate, I am not sure if I will even be able to reach thete stages of the Nascent Soul before I run out of spirit stones.''''
Staring at the number of spirit stones that the Heaven Swallowing vine had absorbed to provide him with pure qi during this time, Shun Long finally felt the pinch after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.
If he needed 20.000 middle-grade spirit stones just to advance from the middle of rank 2 of the Nascent Soul to the peak of rank 2, then 1 million spirit stones may actually not be enough tost him until he reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul.
Of course, this was only something that Shun Long had to deal with due to the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and its extremely strict requirements, as well as the fact that every subsequent ball of qi after the first one that he condensed needed to be purer than the previous one, which required even more qi to do so.
If it was an average peak rank 2 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he wouldn''t even need 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones to reach the rank 9 of the Nascent Soul in the future!
As he stood up from his seat, Shun Long first cast a look at the sleeping Little ck next to him and patted his head lightly, before he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space.
In the next moment, Shun Long could feel his surroundings change as he found himself back inside his room.
Dressed in her Holy sect''s robes, Liu Mei was sitting on her meditative cushion next to Shun Long''s as she brushed Little Silver''s ck fur.
Liu Mei''s gorgeous ck eyes and Little Silver''s yellow eyes were both focused on Shun Long''s figure the moment he appeared, while a dazzling appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she noticed Shun Long''s cultivation that had already reached the peak of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw the unconcealed joy on Liu Mei''s wless face, before he once again used the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' topletely conceal his cultivation and asked her seriously
''''Mei''er, how are you feeling?''''
Since he had already heard from Liu Mei about how difficult her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage really was, and how she had been close to falling into qi deviation with just her first breakthrough after cultivating in the ''Blood Absorption art'', Shun Long had told Liu Mei to simply rest for now.
Although Liu Mei hadn''t exerted herself during the time that she and Xie Xingyi were hidden in the cave during the third test, the mental wariness that they could be attacked at any time made the 2 girls really tired. This was especially so for Liu Mei who hadn''tpletely calmed her mind after her breakthrough during the third test as well, making the burden in her mind even more intense.
At the same time, Shun Long had also thought of another way to help Liu Mei during her breakthrough, one that would be even more efficient than turning a rank 5 Dreamy Ash flower into a pill. However, he still needed to purchase something from the Holy sect before doing so.
After all, herbs like the Dreamy ash flower that had the ability to calm someone''s mind and expel their mental demons were extremely rare to begin with.
Although people in the City of Sin and perhaps the entire Night star continent didn''t know of the flower''s usage, Shun Long wouldn''t underestimate every single alchemist in the Holy sect and think that no one would know of the flower''s effects either. And even if they did, those medicinal herbs that nobody knew much about were the rarest ones in the end!
Nodding her head, Liu Mei smiled brightly at Shun Long and said
''''Long-ge, I am fine. A couple of days were more than enough to restpletely. In these past 6 days I even meditated and slowly increased my spiritual strength as well.''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard this as he had already nned to visit the ''Golden Treasures Hall'' and see if he could find any medicinal herb that could be used to concoct a pill that could increase the spiritual strength.
However, the most important thing to do first was to first create his faction in the sect.
Seeing Shun Long stand up from his cushion Liu Mei seemed to have guessed his thoughts, as she took a deep breath and said with a curious look on her face
''''Long-ge, a few hours after you entered seclusion, that young white lord from the Night star continent came to visit.''''
-
Author''s note: 2/2 (This is yesterday''s second chapter. Today''s one should be ready in a few hours too)
Chapter 477: There is no need to do it any longer!
Chapter 477: There is no need to do it any longer!
Shun Long''s brows were raised in surprise when he heard this as he hadn''t expected for Bai Longtian toe visit him.
Although this young white lord had shown an amiable face towards Shun Long from the first time that they saw each other during the fourth test, he definitely didn''t know about Shun Long''s bloodline which made this visit seem a bit out of ce.
Liu Mei stared at the thoughtful expression on Shun Long''s face with an equal confused look but she still continued speaking
''''He said that he will enter seclusion first and enter the middle stages of the Nascent Soul before hees and visit Long-ge again. Apparently he has something that he wants to discuss with you.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long ced this thought at the back of his mind a few momentster before he turned his attention towards Liu Mei and said
''''Mei''er, let''s go!''''
Realizing that Shun Long was going to go to the Administration Hall to create his own faction, a brilliant smile appeared on Liu Mei''s face before she put her white veil back on.
However, Shun Long simply shook his head and removed Liu Mei''s veil with his right hand before he said seriously
''''Mei''er, there is no need to wear a veil any longer. Covering your face so that others won''t covet your beauty isn''t something that you should have to do from the beginning. Doing so while we were still weak in the Night star continent was already humbling enough. If anyone dares to set their eyes on my woman, I will make sure to have them regret it!''''
Liu Mei was stunned for a moment as she looked at Shun Long with a stunned gaze, before the look in her eyes quickly turned into an even warmer look of love.
Even before she had left the ''Floating Cloud sect'', she had decided to wear a white veil to cover her face because she had already understood that ''being too pretty was a sin''. It could attract the attention of countless people who coveted her due to her looks and bring trouble to Shun Long and her. This was why she had voluntarily covered her face from the very beginning.
However, it would also be a lie to say that she didn''t long to take the veil off her face as well.
Although she didn''t care about other people, she still wanted Shun Long to be able to see her.
After all, which woman didn''t want their man to openly admire their beauty?
And yet, she also hadn''t expected that Shun Long would suddenly decide to tell her to no longer wear a veil.
As a sudden warm feeling filled her heart, Liu Mei simply nodded her head in response while tears trickled from her eyes.
Of course, Shun Long had also thought about this issue long ago.
After entering the Holy sect, he had decided that he could no longer allow Liu Mei to wear a veil.
Not only was Liu Mei not ugly, but her beauty transcended any other woman that Shun Long had seen.
The only one whose looks could be considered to be on par with Liu Mei''s were Xie Xingyi''s.
Although Shun Long knew that he and Liu Mei were now in a much more dangerous ce, he could no longer allow Liu Mei to keep wearing a veil just so that ''she wouldn''t bring trouble'' to them.
Shun Long''s pride as a man could no longer ept this either.
At the same time, both Shun Long and Liu Mei could be considered strong enough that they could at least protect themselves.
Seeing Liu Mei nod her head, a smile appeared on Shun Long''s lips, as he first had Little Silver return inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' before he held Liu Mei''s hand and stepped past the courtyard''s gates as he headed towards the Administration Hall.
As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, Shun Long could feel the surrounding disciples'' gazesnding on himself and Liu Mei, but he didn''t pay any heed to them as he continued walking forward.
It was natural that Liu Mei would attract the gazes of the surrounding outer disciples, especially since she had been hiding her appearance during the Holy sect''s entrance test.
''''Who are these 2? Are they new outer disciples? I have never seen that woman before!''''
''''I have heard that there is an extremely beautiful girl among the new disciples named Xie Xingyi! I wonder if it''s her!''''
''''No, I heard that Xie Xingyi has blond hair. However, I have no idea who this one is!''''
Even though he clearly heard the discussions of the disciples around him and Liu Mei, Shun Longpletely ignored them as he kept heading towards the Administration Hall.
Of course, although Liu Mei''s appearance attracted a lot of attention, the disciples that followed after her and Shun Long to find out her identity were very few in the end.
After walking at a leisure pace with Liu Mei for nearly an hour, Shun Long arrived at the huge ck building that Elder Zhuan had taken them a week ago, the Administration Hall!
Just like thest time, the Administration Hall didn''t have too many people inside it. Although it was an important building in the sect, the disciples only came here when they needed to do something, while most of the time they would spend their time in the Assignment Hall!
Walking past through the hall''s gate, Shun Long quickly spotted the ''Faction Registration'' counter before he walked towards the young man situated behind it.
Surprisingly, the young man that was sitting behind the counter wasn''t wearing yellow robes, but a set of in robes without the Holy sect''s insignia on it.
After thinking about it for a while, Shun Long only needed a moment to realize that this person was someone''s follower or servant.
''''Of course, since the Holy sect allows disciples to work for the sect and obtain sect points as well, why wouldn''t those disciples have their followers do their work for them while they either cultivated or theypleted their own missions? That way they can gain sect points while not doing anything!''''
As he realized this issue, Shun Long stared at the rest of the young men and women behind the rest of the counters, and noticed that the only official outer disciple doing this job was the yellow-robed young woman sitting behind the ''living quarters'' counter.
It was unknown if she was doing this because she didn''t want to have her own servants to do her work or because there was something special about that counter and the sect wouldn''t allow a servant to be in charge of it.
Walking in front of the ''Faction Registration counter'', Shun Long looked at the young man behind the counter and said
''''I wish to create my own faction.''''
The young man who was almost dozing off behind the counter raised his droopy eyelids and barely looked at the person in front of him before he extended his hand and said
''''Sect token.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long handed his sect identification token to the young man behind the registration counter, only to see a confusing scene take ce.
The moment that the young man received Shun Long''s token and saw Shun Long''s name on it, his sleepy eyes instantly widened, as he stared at the young man in front of him without even noticing the peerlessly beautiful young woman next to him, as he then asked in a shocked voice that everyone inside the Administration Hall could hear
''''You... you are Shun Long??''''
Chapter 478: Offered a spot
Chapter 478: Offered a spot
Every single disciple inside the Administration Hall, including those who had followed him and Liu Mei because they were waiting to find Liu Mei''s identity, all turned their attention towards Shun Long at the same time.
Shun Long wasn''t too surprised that the young man in front of him had heard of his name.
After all, although Shun Long knew that he was definitely not famous throughout the sect, it was only natural that a few people would pay attention to him as the person who managed to pass through the Holy sect''s test with a cultivation at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul.
Things were exactly as Shun Long had imagined them to be. His name had actually started to spread among the weaker outer disciples'' ears, and was known as a person with an extremely powerful bloodline, attracting the attention of even some of the rtively stronger outer disciples.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t the only one who had attracted some attention from the newest batch that had entered the Holy sect!.
Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, Sheng Huang, Jun Ren and the names of a few other powerful new disciples had also started to spread in the ears of those people as well.
However, what surprised Shun Long was that the young man in front of him actually seemed to have expected his arrival here.
Noticing the doubtful look on Shun Long''s face, the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter took a deep breath before saying
''''Brother Shun Long, you probably don''t know this, but you being ready to create a faction has already been known by some outer disciples already.''''
Shun Long''s brows furrowed when he heard this, but the young man behind the counter didn''t seem to mind as he continued exining
''''Actually, this is all because of Jiang Chen. Nearly a week ago, senior brother Qian Tao personally approached Jiang Chen and offered him a spot in his faction, but Jiang Chen refused without a second thought, saying that he would only join your faction!
This is why I knew that sooner orter you woulde to create your own faction.''''
A sharp look shed past Shun Long''s eyes when he heard this.
Of course, he wasn''t angry at Jiang Chen for exposing the fact that he was going to create his own faction before he did so.
After all, creating his own faction wasn''t going to be a secret to begin with.
What Shun Long was most surprised about was that someone had actually approached Jiang Chen at the very first day after they had joined the sect.
''''Based on what Jiang Chen had said and considering his own character as well, after leaving my room he would definitely go straight to his own courtyard and start cultivating. So, that senior brother Qian Tao could have only approached him before he reached his own courtyard. Hehe, he really acted fast. Too bad that it''s only a fool''s dream to try and steal away someone I have set my sights on.''''
Almost as if he had guessed part of Shun Long''s thoughts, a mocking smile appeared on the face of the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter as he looked at Shun Long, but he quickly suppressed it before he continued
''''Brother Shun Long probably doesn''t know about this, but even after registering your own faction you still won''t be eligible to join the faction wars and obtain any resources from the sect for your own faction.
To obtain resources from the sect your own faction, you first need to join the faction wars and beat other factions, thus entering the faction rankings, before you are able to obtain any resources.
However, to even be eligible to enter the faction wars, your faction first needs toplete 5 D-rank faction missions and a single C-rank one!
As for senior brother Qian Tao''s faction, it''s already a faction that belongs to the top 1000 factions of the sect!''''
Seeing the stunned look on Shun Long''s face, the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter smiled brightly before he continued in a more amiable tone
''''Actually, if brother Shun Long is interested, senior brother Qian Tao has said that he is willing to ept both you and your wife into his faction along with Jiang Chen.''''
As he said this, the young man turned his eyes towards the ice-cold Liu Mei who was standing next to Shun Long before he gulped a mouthful of saliva in the process.
This was the most beautiful woman that he had seen in his life!
With just a nce, he immediately realized that this was the same white-robed young woman who had covered her face with a white veil during the fourth test.
At the same time, Shun Long was a bit confused when he heard the words D-rank and C-rank faction missions.
He clearly remembered that a week ago, when Elder Zhuan had introduced the ''Assignment Hall'' to the newly entered disciples, he had said that every disciple needed toplete at least a yellow-rank mission every 3 months and 4 yellow-rank missions every single year. However, there was no mention of any D-rank or C-rank missions.
''''It looks like I have to pay a visit to the ''Assignment Hall'' soon.''''
Nodding his head at the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter, Shun Long shook his head, before he turned his attention towards his own sect identification token that he had already handed to the man in front of him and said
''''I am not interested in joining someone else''s faction, regardless of who that person is.''''
''''Y-You... do you really want to refuse senior brother Qian Tao''s goodwill?!''''
The young man hadn''t expected such a response after he took so much time to patiently exin everything regarding the new factions to Shun Long!
He was certain that after hearing the difficulty ofpleting 5 D-rank missions and a single C-rank, paired with senior brother Qian Tao''s high ranking of his faction inside the sect, Shun Long would definitely know what to choose.
However, the cold and uncaring look in his eyes as he said that he is not interested in joining another faction left the young man speechless.
Even the surrounding disciples inside the Administration Hall couldn''t believe, that Shun Long had rejected senior brother Qian Tao''s offer without a second thought!
''''Are you certain about this? You still have time to change your mind! If you really refuse senior brother Qian''s offer you won''t get a second chance!''''
The young man behind the counter didn''t seem willing to ept this as he stared at Shun Long seriously while he warned him, hoping to change his mind.
And yet, Shun Long wasn''t nning to spend his entire day refusing to join another person''s faction even if that ''senior brother Qian Tao'' was standing here in front of him, let alone when someone else was insisting on it.
With a cold look in his eyes, he stared at the young man in front of him before he said seriously
''''I already refused once. I don''t care what kind of rtionship you or the person you are following in the sect have with that Qian Tao, but I don''t have the habit of repeating things.''''
Seeing that Shun Long refused to even consider his offer and ''wasn''t willing to give anyone any face'', the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter snorted before he said
''''Just a mere rank 1 Nascent Soul stage rookie and you want to create your own faction? Fine. Let''s see how it will do then.''''
Without waiting for a response, the young man took Shun Long''s sect identification token from the counter with an angry look on his face, before he ced it on top of a palm-sized white-colored jade that was hidden ced below the counter. Shun Long''s sect identification token suddenly lit up with a white light, while the words ''Shun Long''s faction'' appeared on the jade''s surface for a moment before they quickly disappeared barely a momentter.
The young man then took Shun Long''s sect identification token and ced it on the counter in front of him before he said mockingly
''''Hmph, your faction is officially registered in the sect. I have to tell you that to ept someone in your faction you need to have them ce their sect identification token next to your own token for a few moments and infuse your qi inside it. However, aside from Jiang Chen, I doubt that anyone will even be willing to join your faction even if you beg them.''''
Chapter 479: Elder Xuan Jiaos offer
Chapter 479: Elder Xuan Jiao''s offer
It was obvious that the young man behind the ''Faction Registration counter'' was angry at Shun Long and would no longer mince his words. If he wasn''t obliged to do it, he wouldn''t even be willing to exin how Shun Long could ept someone else in his faction.
At that moment, his eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at the peerlessly beautiful ck-haired young woman next to Shun Long, while a ttering smile appeared on his face as he then continued
''''You are sister Liu Mei right?
Although Shun Long has refused senior brother Qian Tao''s offer, the offer still stands for you.
As long as you are willing, you can join senior brother Qian Tao''s faction by yourself.
For someone like you, I am sure that senior brother Qian will be very happy to ept you in his faction!''''
As he finished his words, an eager look shed past the young man''s eyes, certain that he would definitely receive a sizeable reward if he could really get one of the geniuses of this batch to ept this offer.
This was even more so for Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian and Jun Ren, since word of all 5 of them possessing an immortal fate had already started to spread among some disciples of the sect.
Although those who possessed immortal fates within the sect weren''t too rare, they weren''tmon either!
Everyone knew that those with immortal fates were the most talented ones in the sect and they could very likely even reach the top 100 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor! Someone at the top 100 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor was even qualified to enter one of the top 10 factions!
''''Having someone at the level of the 100 strongest disciples in the future in his own faction in the future would definitely make even senior brother Qian Tao mad with joy!''''
As he thought of this, the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter stared at Liu Mei eagerly as he waited for her answer.
However, contrary to his expectations, Liu Mei only shot him a derisive look that was filled with contempt, before she looked at Shun Long and asked gently
''''Long-ge, can I be the first one to join?''''
The young man''s face suddenly turned extremely stiff and looked like he had just swallowed a fly.
He couldn''t believe that not only Liu Mei would reject his offer in public without a second thought, but she would even ask Shun Long if she could be the first one to join his faction.
This was no different than if she was pping him in the face.
After all, he had just said that no one else would join Shun Long''s faction aside from Jiang Chen, but his words were swallowed before Shun Long had even left the Administration Hall!
Besides, she wasn''t just rejecting him, she was also rejecting senior brother Qian Tao''s offer as well!
Shun Long''s lips curved up as he patted Liu Mei''s head with a smile on his face, before he nodded his head and extended his right hand that had just grabbed his sect identification token from the counter in front of him, and said
''''Here.''''
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei ced her token next to Shun Long''s, before a white light covered her own token a few momentster.
The words ''Shun Long''s faction'' appeared on the back of her token for a single moment, before they quickly disappeared.
Not paying any attention to the young man behind the ''Faction Registration counter'' any longer, Shun Long held Liu Mei''s hand as he turned around and walked out of the Administration Hall.
After walking through the sect for a while, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Long-ge, are we heading to the Assignment Hall?''''
Liu Mei clearly remembered that Shun Long had mentioned how he wanted to purchase some things from the sect, so she had assumed that they would go towards the Golden Treasures Hall right away. However, the direction that they were headed towards was the Assignment Hall instead.
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''I''m actually a bit curious about the missions of the sect and their ssification. Let''s take a look at those faction missions before we look for the Golden Treasures Hall.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head, as she too was curious about the sect''s missions after hearing the words of the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter.
From his words, it seemed like the C-rank and even the D-rank faction missions that one needed toplete for one''s faction to be eligible to join the faction wars wouldn''t be easy.
After all, regardless of whether he was just a follower or not, it was true that the young man behind the ''Faction Registration'' counter had reached the peak of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul.
A few momentster, Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived just a few meters away from the gates of a bustling, enormous building, where hundreds of outer disciples wereing and going from its entrance.
At the top of the building, the 2 words that were ted in gold instantly attracted Shun Long''s attention
''''Assignment Hall''''
At that moment however, before he and Liu Mei even had the time to start walking towards the Assignment Hall, Shun Long felt a gust of wind that carried the fragrance of a perfume sweeping past his face, as a beautiful middle-aged woman appeared in front of him and Liu Mei practically out of nowhere.
This woman was dressed in white robes, while her facial features were gentle, with limpid ck eyes, a small nose and curved eyebrows.
However, what surprised Shun Long and Liu Mei the most, was her white robes that were simr to Elder Cao Ling''s.
During the fourth test Shun Long had noticed, that the white-robed Dao Emperor''s Elder Cao Ling''s and the peak Dao King''s Elder Zhuan''s robes had some differences.
Cao Ling''s and this woman''s robes had 2 golden threads around their waist, while Elder Zhuan''s robes only had one of them.
The beautiful middle-aged woman who had her hair tied up in a ponytail first looked at Shun Long for a few moments while her lips formed a bright smile, before she then turned her attention towards the yellow-robed Liu Mei next to him.
The beautiful woman''s smile turned even more enchanting as she stared at the peerlessly beautiful young woman in front of her, before she asked in a gentle tone
''''You are Liu Mei right? Hehe, you did well not covering that pretty face any longer. My name is Xuan Jiao and I am an inner court Elder of the sect. After taking a look at your fight during the fourth test and after seeing your fate I have taken a liking to you. Hehe, you are the only disciple in the entire sect who hasprehended the Dao of Death, and I am also the only Elder who can give you some guidance into it. Are you willing to ept me as your master?''''
Chapter 480: Liu Meis decision
Chapter 480: Liu Mei''s decision
Both Shun Long and Liu Mei were taken aback by Xuan Jiao''s offer.
Although they had already expected that an Elder may want to take them as a disciple, this was still too sudden.
Liu Mei looked at the beautiful woman in front of her, but she didn''t directly respond, as she turned her attention to Shun Long who was standing next to her.
''''Oh?''''
A smile appeared on Xuan Jiao''s bright red lips when she understood what was going on, as she too turned her attention to the handsome yellow-robed young man who was standing next to Liu Mei and waited for his answer.
It was obvious that Liu Mei was asking Shun Long''s opinion on this matter and wouldn''t decide just by herself.
Shun Long snorted inwardly when he heard Xuan Jiao saying that ''she had taken a liking to Liu Mei after her performance in the fourth test and after seeing her results from the ball of fate''.
Of course she would take a liking to a potential disciple who hadprehended the Dao of Death and had an extraordinary fate.
Regardless of what the colorful light from Liu Mei''s fate signified, just from Elder Zhuan''s reaction at that time, it was obvious that it wasn''t somethingmon inside the sect.
Thus, every single disciple like Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian and Jun Ren, would all attract the attention of the Elders who learn about their results.
At the same time, Shun Long was certain that this Xuan Jiao wouldn''t be the only Elder who would be interested in taking Liu Mei as her personal disciple.
''''However, it is also true that this woman is the first Elder who approached Mei''er to take her as a disciple. This by itself shows that she is genuinely interested, even if it is just for her to obtain a powerful disciple in the future.
Regardless of whether she is saying the truth about being able to guide Mei''er with her Dao of Death, epting a master inside the sect will most likely have more benefits than drawbacks for Mei''er.
At the very least she will obtain a backing within the sect and may even be able to gain more resources as well.
Although spirit stones are practically useless to Mei''er, having a master can still help her gain rare pills, medicinal herbs, martial skills or even powerful weapons and protective artifacts.
Besides, let alone the fact that this woman will gain nothing if she wanted to harm me or Mei''er, if that was really the case, there is no way for 2 early Nascent Soul stage cultivators to resist a Dao Emperor!''''
Although Xuan Jiao hadpletely retracted her aura, not allowing even one bit of it to leak out, from the 2 golden threads of her robes and the fact that she was an inner court Elder, Shun Long could guess that she was definitely a Dao Emperor!
As he came to this conclusion, he instantly snapped out of his daze and looked at Liu Mei who was still staring at him before he nodded his head and said seriously
''''Mei''er, if you are really willing to ept a master, it may not be a bad thing in the end.''''
Shun Long''s answer was short but Liu Mei immediately understood that he wasn''t against it. Whether she really agreed to ept the woman in front of her as her master or not would be up to her.
Xuan Jiao nodded her head when she heard Shun Long''s answer, before she looked at Liu Mei and waited for her response.
After thinking seriously for a few moments, a resolute look appeared on Liu Mei''s face, as she nodded her head and bowed deeply at the beautiful woman in front of her as she said
''''Master, disciple is willing!''''
Xuan Jiao''s lips formed an enchanting smile when she heard Liu Mei''s resolute answer, before she nodded her head and saidughingly
''''Hehe, very well! I''m also happy to obtain such a beautiful and talented disciple.''''
As she finished speaking, Xuan Jiao took out a golden-colored token from her bosom with the word ''Xuan'' engraved on it, and handed it to Liu Mei before she continued
''''Our master and disciple ceremony will take ce in my home in the inner court in 3 days from now. You can use this token to enter the inner court if you want to find me. This is also proof that I have epted you as my disciple. Hehe, don''t bete little girl, otherwise this elder sister will be angry.''''
There was a teasing tone in Xuan Jiao''s words as she said thest few words, before she winked at Shun Long and was about to take her leave.
Understanding that Xuan Jiao was going to leave, Liu Mei hurriedly took a step forward and asked her newly epted master
''''Master, can Long-ge attend our ceremony as well?''''
Xuan Jiao was stunned briefly as she turned her eyes towards Shun Long and studied him seriously, before nodding her head a momentter as she saidughingly
''''Hehe, alright. I don''t mind having one more person present. Besides, it''s not going to be just you and me there.''''
Liu Mei heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this, while even Shun Long seemed to have warmed up a bit to the white-robed Elder in front of him.
After all, since it was Liu Mei''s ceremony of epting a master for the first time, he wasn''t willing to be absent.
After she finished speaking and made sure that Liu Mei didn''t have any more questions, the beautiful inner court Elder waved her hand with that same smile on her face, before she disappeared in front of Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes, as her body turned into a hundred flower petals that dispersed with the wind.
At the same time that Elder Xuan disappeared, Shun Long also noticed a thin, almost invisible barrier shattering around him and Liu Mei.
He actually hadn''t noticed this barrier that had covered him the entire time!
At the same time, Shun Long also noticed that not a single one of the surrounding disciples had turned their eyes to look at the beautiful inner court Elder that had appeared in this ce during this time.
It was almost as if she had only existed in front of Shun Long and Liu Mei.
Paired with the barrier that had shattered, Shun Long instantly understood that this was Elder Xuan''s technique, and this was also the reason why no one else had noticed the white-robed Elder this entire time.
With a calm look on his face, Shun Long ced the matter of Elder Xuan at the back of his mind, before he turned his attention towards the enormous ''Assignment Hall'' in front of him.
-
Author''s note: 2/2
Chapter 481: Assignment Hall
Chapter 481: Assignment Hall
Without any hesitation, Shun Long walked directly towards the Assignment Hall''s entrance where hundreds of other outer disciples were alsoing and going from with every passing moment.
After walking through the enormous hall''s 5-meter tall gates, a bustling scene appeared in front of Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes.
With just a nce, more than 1000 outer disciples all dressed in yellow robes, were followed by their own followers as they filled the interior of the Assignment Hall.
Unlike the Administration Hall, the Assignment Hall didn''t have too many counters, but each one of them was operated by an outer disciple.
The busiest one seemed to be the huge ''Exchange counter'' in the center of the hall, that had 3 outer disciples working behind it at the same time. A huge row of disciples or their followers were queued up in front of this counter, as they all handed in their missions and obtained their rewards.
It was obvious that this Exchange counter was the ce where one could hand in the missions that they had alreadypleted in exchange for sect points.
In sharp contrast to the Exchange counter was the Registration counter that was erected right next to it.? There was only a single outer disciple working behind this counter, while only a handful of outer disciples were queued up in front of it.
Shun Long had originally thought that he and Liu Mei would have to register themselves in the Registration counter, but a few momentster he realized that that was not the case.
The registration counter epted the missions that a disciple wanted to list, and listed them along with the sect''s missions, on the huge Mission board behind the Exchange counter.
At that moment, Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes were both focused on the enormous Mission board that had hundreds of outer disciples in front of it, before Shun Long walked closer towards it.
The moment that his eyesnded on the Mission board, Shun Long immediately noticed the first words written on it causing a wave of realization to fill his heart
''''Rules: Missions are split into 3 types, personal missions, faction missions, and disciple missions.
Every disciple mustplete at least one D-rank personal mission every 3 months, or 4 D-rank missions every year, otherwise, there will be a punishment meted out from the Enforcement Hall.
Every disciple can freely ept any mission regardless of its level without any limitations.
Afterpleting a mission, it must be handed in at the Exchange Hall to receive the corresponding rewards.
During personal missions, you are not allowed to receive the help of anyone else, including other members of your faction.
During faction missions, you are not allowed to receive the help of anyone else, aside from members of your own faction.''''
''''So personal missions are the ones that Elder Zhuan mentioned that we need toplete every month, but we are not allowed to receive any help whilepleting them. I guess this is also a test from the sect, trying to hone its disciples.''''
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long continued reading what was written on the Mission board, causing his eyes to slowly widen in astonishment at the same time
''''Mission Rankings: Missions are split into 5 different colors corresponding to their own ranks, each of them representing the difficulty of each mission. The colors are split into yellow, orange, red, blue, and purple.
Yellow D-rank --> A cultivation level at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul is required toplete these missions.
Orange C-rank--> A cultivation level at thete stages of the Nascent Soul is required toplete these missions.
Red B-rank -----> A cultivation level at the peak of the Nascent Soul or at the early stages of the Dao King realm is required toplete these missions.
Blue A-rank ----> A cultivation level at the middle stages of the Dao King realm is required toplete these missions.
Purple S-rank --> A cultivation level at thete stages of the Dao King realm is the minimum requirement toplete these missions.''''
Shun Long was stunned when he noticed that even the weakest D-rank missions needed a cultivation level at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, while at the same time, he also noticed that the description of the S-rank missions was somewhat different from the previous mission ranks descriptions.
Unlike the A-rank missions, the S-rank missions stated that the ''minimum requirement'' toplete an S-rank mission was a cultivation level at thete stages of the Dao King realm, which Shun Long assumed that meant, that even ate-stage Dao King may not necessarily be able toplete an S-rank mission sessfully.
This caused a wave of shock to fill Shun Long''s heart as he clearly remembered that even the outer court Elder that had guided them through the sect a week ago, Elder Zhuan, was still at the peak of the Dao King realm!
''''Did this mean that even Elders can ept sect missions, or that there are actually disciples at thete stages of the Dao King within the sect?''''
Shun Long found himself shocked when he reached the second possibility.
Although he wasn''t afraid of ate-stage Dao King even if he couldn''t fight one just yet, he was certain that his cultivation in the future would easily reach the level of a Dao Emperor and it would even exceed that.
However, having disciples at thete stages of the Dao King within the sect was still something shocking, as even the strongest cultivators within the Night star continent were only at the peak of the Dao King realm as well.
This caused Shun Long to reevaluate the strength of the Holy sect in his heart.
''''I suppose that this is why every single peak power of the Night star continent, and even from the surrounding continents around it, did everything they can to send their descendants or their disciples to be disciples of the Holy sect! The strength of the central region is simply iparable to the surrounding continents in the end.''''
As Shun Long had this thought, he continued to read further below and decide which mission he was going to choose for himself, as well as take a look at the faction missions that he needed toplete and their rewards.
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Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 482: Choosing missions
Chapter 482: Choosing missions
''''D-rank personal mission: Apprehend or kill the middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage criminal named Jin Bo, who is terrorizing a vige 300 miles away from the Holy city.
Reward: 120 sect points if he is captured alive or 90 sect points if he is dead.''''
''''D-rank faction mission: Eradicate the den of thieves led by the female bandit Deng Bao. Since this is a faction mission and the bandit leader''s cultivation has reached the early rank 6 of the Nascent Soul, a faction with at least 8 to 10 middle stage Nascent Soul outer disciples are rmended to take on this mission!
Reward: 700 sect points.''''
''''C-rank personal mission: Travel to the Seaside ins and kill the middle rank 8 Nascent Soul stage subus that is sucking off the life of the unsuspecting men in the region.
Reward: 1000 sect points.''''
As he kept looking at the missions on the Mission board, Shun Long realized the average corresponding rewards per mission as well as each mission''s difficulty.
A single, personal D-rank mission gave on average 100 sect points uponpletion, while a D-rank faction mission could give anywhere from 400 to 800 sect points.
As for the C-rank missions, their rewards went up by 10 timespared to the D-rank ones.
A single personal C-rank mission gave 1000 sect points uponpletion while a C-rank faction mission could bring in anywhere from 4000 to 8000 sect points.
The difficulty of the missions and the corresponding rewards went up dramatically as each tier of difficulty increased.
B-rank personal missions gave on average 10.000 sect points uponpletion while the B-rank faction missions gave anywhere from 40.000 to 80.000 sect points.
However, the number of B-rank missions was much lowerpared to the C-rank and the D-rank ones.
As for the A-rank missions, a single personal mission could give as much as 100.000 sect points while an A-rank faction mission could bring anywhere from 400.000 to 800.000 sect points!
Of course, there were less than 3 A-rank faction missions avable on the Mission board right now, making these missions a raremodity.
As for S-rank missions, there was not even a single personal mission posted on the Mission board, let alone one that required an S-rank faction within the sect.
Shun Long even doubted whether there were really enough disciples in the sect to form a faction strong enough toplete an S-rank faction mission!
At the same time, he also noticed that many of the D-rank missions weren''t too far away from the Holy sect, while from the C-rank missions and above, disciples needed to travel certain distances in order toplete them.
As for why there were so many D-rank missions avable so close to the Holy sect, Shun Long didn''t think that the Holy sect left them purposefully because they wanted to train their weakest outer disciples and not let them travel too far away from the sect.
Instead, it was most likely because the central region was so huge, that it was impossible for the Holy sect to keep everything in check while not expending a huge amount of manpower.
Regardless of how many criminals the sect killed, there were still so many of them, that if the Dao King and Dao Emperor realm Elders of the sect wanted toplete all the D-rank missions by themselves, they would definitely die from exhaustion.
Thus, having the outer disciples do this while giving them rewards, was the best way for the Holy sect to train its disciples while clearing the uwful cultivators around it.
Seeing that Shun Long had finally retracted his gaze from the Mission board, Liu Mei looked at him curiously before she asked
''''Long-ge, is there any missions that you want to choose?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at the smiling Liu Mei, before he said in a thoughtful tone
''''There are some interesting ones, but for now, we can only focus on the easiest ones instead. After all, even the ''easiest'' personal D-rank mission needs a disciple to apprehend or kill a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator by themselves, and the reward for it is only 50 sect points.''''
Liu Mei agreed with Shun Long, and after a moment''s hesitation she said
''''Long-ge, I still haven''t solidified my cultivationpletely, but I think I can defeat a normal middle rank 4 Nascent Soul cultivator if I consume the second rank 5 ''Blood Ignition pill''.''''
A smile was formed on Shun Long''s lips the moment that he heard this, as he shook his head without any hesitation before saying
''''There is no need to consume another pill. Focus on meditating for the next few days and try to increase your spiritual strength and slowly bring it to the same level as your cultivation level. The next few days are going to be very interesting.''''
Shun Long had already understood that Liu Mei hadn''tpletely solidified her cultivation during this time.
Due to her rapid and abnormally sudden increase in her cultivation, it was only natural that she wasn''tpletely feelingfortable with her breakthrough just yet and would need some more time to do so.
Advancing her spiritual strength so that her mind and soul wouldn''t feel as burdened when she summoned her undead creatures was the most important thing that she had to do.
At the same time, although Liu Mei couldn''t guess what Shun Long had in mind, she still nodded her head as he saw his gaze that was still focused on the Mission board in front of him.
Finally, a few momentster, a determined look appeared in Shun Long''s eyes as he turned around and exited the Assignment Hall with Liu Mei in hand.
After walking around the sect for barely a minute, Shun Long and Liu Mei quickly arrived in front of a tall and extremely luxurious building, that was just a few hundred meters away from the Assignment Hall that they were in just now.
Surprisingly, this building that had 2rge golden doors that were wide open wasn''t any less bustling than the Assignment Hall!
No, it actually seemed to have even more peopleing and going from its entrance, making it seem even livelier than the Assignment Hall, while many followers of the various outer disciples had even set up street stalls around it and were selling their goods, making this ce have the vibe of a mortal city from the mortal world.
After taking a look at the 3 golden words above the building''s entrance, Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile, while a light of curiosity filled his eyes at the same time, as he stepped past the building''s gates without any hesitation.
Chapter 483: Golden Treasures Hall
Chapter 483: Golden Treasures Hall
Raising her head, Liu Mei''s eyes also took in the words that were ted in gold above the building''s entrance, before she followed after Shun Long and entered inside as well.
This was the biggest and busiest market within the entire Holy sect, the ''Golden Treasures Hall''!
This was also the ce where disciples could find everything that they needed inside the sect. If the Golden Treasures Hall didn''t have what a disciple was looking for, then it was extremely unlikely that one would be able to find that thing elsewhere in the sect.
After stepping foot inside the bustling hall, a lively scene appeared in Shun Long''s field of vision, making him feel as if he had returned back to the Floating Cloud sect''s ''Treasure Pavilion''.
Hundreds of disciples had filled the first floor of the Golden treasures Hall, and were either standing in front of the countless counters as they observed the items behind the ss cases that were covered by protective formations, or they were discussing with the other disciples around them, looking like they were debating whether to purchase the items they wanted or not.
Of course, the scale of the Golden Treasures Hall was simply iparable to the small Treasure Pavilion in the Floating Cloud sect.
Although this ce wasn''t meant for cultivation, just the pure qi inside the Golden Treasures Hall was actually even purer than the qi inside Shun Long''s own courtyard.
Walking with Liu Mei by his side, Shun Long started to walk around the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall as he curiously took in the scenes around him.
Rank 5 and even rank 6 medicinal herbs and pills had filled this ce, along with many powerful gold grade weapons and armor, while even the corpses of some powerful rank 5 and even some early rank 6 magic beasts were for sale as well.
Although rank 3 gold grade weapons and armor were considered things that only powerful Dao Kings could usually possess in the Night star continent, both due to their rarity or their strength, inside the Golden Treasures Hall, they weren''t regarded too highly.
A single rank 3 gold grade sword was sold for 2000 sect points, while a peak rank 3 gold grade one could cost anywhere from 10.000 to 40.000 sect points. As for armor at the same level, a single rank 3 gold grade armor was sold for 5000 sect points, while a peak rank 3 gold grade one easily reached a price of 70.000 sect points.
It was obvious that armor of the same level was much more expensive than a normal weapon, especially due to their rarity!
At the same time, Shun Long also noticed quite a few Saint low-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills for sale, making every disciple who stepped foot inside the Golden Treasures Hall for the first time suck in a breath of cold air.
It was obvious that most of these Saint low-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, were the second parts of the techniques that many disciples had picked from the Barrier of Knowledge!
As he kept walking around the hall, Shun Long even saw some powerful talismans that were also for sale in this ce, but their prices could at the very least be considered exorbitant!
During this time, he had also noticed, that the protective formations covering the ss cases behind every counter were actually strong enough to withstand even the full-powered attacks of average Dao Kings without any problems.
This meant that every single protective formation behind each ss case, was inscribed by formation masters who had reached at least the rank 2 gold grade level, if not higher!
However, what made Shun Long slightly dejected was that nearly everything inside the Golden Treasures Hall could only be purchased using sect points, while very few things could actually be purchased with spirit stones.
Of course, this problem was only temporary as neither he nor Liu Mei had any sect points at this moment, but it could easily be solved as long as he was willing to sell a few things of his own.
Shun Long was certain that as long as he was willing to sell a few of his rarer pills, it would definitely create amotion in the Golden Treasures Hall.
And yet, he wasn''t in a rush to sell anything to the hall just yet, as he continued touring around the first floor of the hall with Liu Mei next to him.
Finally, a few minutester, a bright look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes as he suddenly stopped in front of a ss counter and stared at the yellow-colored scroll inside it.
At the surface of the scroll, only 4 words were written, but they were enough to instantly attract his attention.
''''Thundergod''s sh (second part).''''
''''Price: 50.000 sect points!''''
The second part of the Thundergod''s sh!
Below the yellow-colored scroll, the Golden Treasures Hall also listed the martial skill''s price, causing Shun Long''s eyes to narrow for a moment.
50.000 sect points! Just the price of this second part of the Thundergod''s sh alone, was as expensive as the best peak rank 3 gold grade swords on this floor.
And yet, Shun Long also knew that this price made sense as well.
After all, a Saint low-grade martial skill was clearly much rarer than a peak rank 3 gold grade weapon. At the same time, a weapon also needed to be maintained by a formation master as well, especially if it was damaged after a tough fight, causing a cultivator to pay even more than the price of a single low-level martial skill in the long run.
Of course, martial skills could also be passed down to one''s family without any restrictions, allowing more than one person could learn them at the same time, thus making the value of aplete Saint low-grade martial skill simply iparable to even 5 peak rank 3 gold grade weapons!
Just as Shun Long was debating whether he should sell some of his pills or medicinal herbs to purchase the second part of the Thundergod''s sh, his gaze was suddenly attracted to a small counter a few meters away from him and Liu Mei, while his eyes suddenly lit up with a bright light at the same time.
Shun Long''s gaze was instantly focused on a single, silver-colored wooden musical instrument with 7 strings, causing a smile to slowly form itself on his lips!
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Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 484: Silverbark guqin
Chapter 484: Silverbark guqin
Temporarily ignoring the second part of the Thundergod''s sh in front of him, Shun Long was still holding Liu Mei''s hand as he took a few steps forward and quickly appeared in front of the small counter that was just a few meters away from him.
Liu Mei was surprised by Shun Long''s sudden actions, as she looked at him for a second before following his field of view, as she turned her gaze towards the silver-colored musical instrument in the counter in front of her with a slightly confused look on her face.
She didn''t understand why Shun Long was suddenly interested in this musical instrument. However, seeing that his focus was still on the ss case in front of him, Liu Mei didn''t ask anything as she kept staring at the item inside, trying to figure out if there was anything special about it.
Shun Long''s eyes had turned extremely deep, almost as if he was examining intently the silver-colored musical instrument in front of him.
Finally, after staring at it for more than a minute, he slowly lowered his gaze to look at the words that were written below the instrument instead
''''Silverbark guqin.
Price: 70.000 sect points.''''
The introduction written below the guqin was extremely simple, only listing the guqin''s name as well as its price, but it still made Shun Long''s lips curve up into a smile after reading it.
Although the price of the guqin was considered exorbitant, with just a nce at the look on Shun Long''s face, Liu Mei immediately realized that Shun Long was nning to purchase this thing if it was possible.
At the same time, the young man behind the counter who was obviously not an outer disciple judging from his robes but a follower of a disciple of the sect instead, was surprised to see someone stand in front of the counter and stare at the item inside for so long.
He had worked here for a long time but he hadn''t seen anyone stare at the silver guqin with such an interested look as this new disciple in front of him. Usually, everyone who took a look at the price of the guqin would escape as far away as possible when they actually saw it.
After all, 70.000 sect points wasn''t a price that any outer disciple would normally be willing to pay for a single musical instrument. This price had already exceeded the average price of the first and second parts of a Saint low-grade cultivation technique or martial skill in the Golden Treasures Hall!
Only the wealthiest of disciples would be willing to pay such a price for their own musical instruments, and those disciples already had their own instruments and didn''t need to purchase new ones.
Staring at the unconcealed smile on Shun Long''s face, Liu Mei was the first one to break the silence a few momentster as she asked
''''Long-ge, are you going to buy this guqin?''''
It was natural that Liu Mei would be surprised by Shun Long''s sudden interest in the guqin. After all, forget about the guqin, in thest 3 years, Shun Long hadn''t shown an interest in any musical instrument before.
At the same time, the young man behind the counter scoffed in his heart when he heard this.
He was going to buy the guqin? In thest 2 months that he had been working on the Golden Treasures Hall, he had already realized how few disciples would be able to afford to spend 70.000 sect points so easily for something like this.
It was obvious that these 2 disciples in front of him were ignorant new disciples who didn''t know the importance of sect points just yet.
Nodding his head at Liu Mei, Shun Long turned his attention towards the young man behind the counter in front of him, and ignoring the weird look on his face he then asked in a curious tone
''''Is there a ce that can I sell pills or other items in this ce?''''
Without a change in his expression, the young man behind the counter pointed at arge counter a small distance away from him, where 2 young men and a young woman were standing behind it, before saying
''''If you have anything that you want to sell for sect points, you can try selling it there. However, the Golden Treasures Hall won''t buy things that it already has arge excess of like middle-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' or simr pills, nor will it buy any weapons below the rank 3 gold grade!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long walked towards the counter in the distance with Liu Mei in hand, and seeing that there was no queue, he walked towards the young man on the right of the counter.
The young man who was obviously also a follower of some disciple had a professional smile on his face when he saw Shun Long and Liu Mei, almost as if he was seeing 2 customers who had stepped into his own shop, before he said smilingly
''''How can I help you?''''
Waving his hand, Shun Long took out 3 different pill bottles from his spatial ring and said seriously
''''I wish to sell some rank 5 pills!''''
The young man behind the counter had the same, professional smile on his face when he heard this, and without any urgency in his tone he said calmly
''''Please allow me to have a look.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long ced the 3 pill bottles in his hands on the counter in front of him, allowing the young man behind it to inspect them.
Even if the young man in front of Shun Long wasn''t an alchemist himself, it was obvious that he had certain knowledge of alchemy, as he carefully opened the first bottle and tilted it slightly, allowing a single pill to roll on the counter in front of him before he started to sniff it.
The young man''s eyes widened slightly at that moment, as he said without any hesitation
''''A top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pill''!''''
Chapter 485: 10.000 sect points
Chapter 485: 10.000 sect points
Naturally, the reason why the young man behind the counter was slightly shocked, was because disciples would only try to buy top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' from the Golden Treasures Hall and wouldn''t try to sell them instead.
After all, which disciple didn''t need to replenish their qi when they run out and they were in a dangerous situation?
And yet, although he had already identified the pill in front of him, the young man still took out a silver dagger and carefully shaved off a small part of the pill to verify its effects. After making sure that it was indeed a genuine top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pill'', he turned his attention towards Shun Long in front of him before he said with that same professional smile on his face
''''Young master, if you are willing, the Golden Treasures Hall can purchase your top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' for 20 sect points per pill. For this entire bottle of top-grade ''Qi replenishing pills'' you can get a total of 200 sect points right away.''''
Afraid that Shun Long would misunderstand, the young man behind the counter then continued
''''Normally, the Golden Treasures Hall will not purchase low or middle-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'', but it can purchase high or top-grade ones for 5 or 20 sect points per pill respectively, depending on the pill''s quality.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long understood that this was indeed normal.
He had already seen earlier that a single bottle of high-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' was being sold for 80 sect points, which meant that the Golden Treasures Hall would only make a 30 sect point profit if they bought 10 high-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' for 5 sect points each.
As for top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'', each of them were being sold for 30 sect points each, while a single bottle of 10 pills could be purchased for 300 sect points.
Thus, buying Shun Long''s pills for 200 sect points would the Golden Treasures Hall with 100 sect points profit.
Naturally, if Shun Long wanted to, he could also set up a stall and sell his pills outside the Golden Treasures Hall just like many other disciples did, and he could probably make even more sect points that way, but considering that he didn''t have any followers nor was he nning to ept any of them, he would have to wait for a long time as he sat behind his stall until hepletely sold off all of his pills.
At the same time, there were some pills that many outer disciples may have not even heard of before, let alone seen them, so selling them at the Golden Treasures Hall would undoubtedly be less time consuming and more beneficial in the end.
Waving his hand, Shun Long then took out 50 more pill bottles from the ''Stone of Time'' and ced them on the counter in front of him all at once, causing the young man behind the counter to involuntarily tremble.
The young man behind the counter stared at the 50 pill bottles with eyes filled with disbelief, before he looked back at Shun Long and asked in an incredulous tone
''''Young master, are these all top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills''? Do you really wish to sell all of them?''''
Of course, it was normal for the young man behind the counter to be shocked by this sight in front of him.
After all, a single disciple would usually sell a few pill bottles at most if they were in urgent need of sect points, otherwise they would usually keep the pills for their own consumption.
Even those disciples who were also powerful alchemists wouldn''t sell 50 pill bottles filled with top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' all at once in the Golden Treasures Hall. And even if they did, this young man in front of Shun Long wasn''t usually qualified to evene in contact with them, so he wouldn''t know the specifics either!
Nodding his head, Shun Long allowed the young man to test a single random pill from each bottle to verify the pills'' effects, before the young man raised his head and stared at Shun Long once again, as he continued with a somewhat anxious tone, almost afraid that Shun Long would reject him
''''Young master, our Golden Treasures Hall will definitely be willing to purchase these pills for 10.000 sect points if you really intend to sell them, but unfortunately I am not qualified to authorize such a purchase. I will have to trouble you toe with me and go meet senior Wan Zu! This will definitely be beneficial for young master as well if you have more pills that you want to sell in the future!''''
After thinking about it for a moment, Shun Long nodded his head and simply said
''''Alright'''' before he and Liu Mei both followed after the young man in front of them who didn''t hesitate to leave the counter to the other young man and the young woman behind it, as he led Shun Long and Liu Mei towards a private room not too far away from them.
As they arrived in front of the door of the private room, the young man looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei and cupped his hands before saying
''''Please give me a moment to inform senior Wan Zu.''''
Liu Mei didn''t pay much attention to the excited young man who hurriedly opened the door of the private room and entered inside before closing it again, and instead, she looked at Shun Long with a bright gaze before asking curiously in a low voice
''''Long-ge, is there something special about that guqin?''''
Shun Long''s lips formed a brilliant smile when he heard this, and staring at the curious Liu Mei by his side, he then said calmly
''''Although that guqin isn''t a weapon and is just a musical instrument, it can definitely be considered a treasure even among peak rank 3 gold grade weapons.''''
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Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 486: Wan Zu
Chapter 486: Wan Zu
Seeing that Liu Mei was still confused by this, Shun Long''s smile became even more obvious as he then started to exin
''''The reason why it''s a treasure even among peak rank 3 gold grade weapons is because not only was it created from the wood of a rank 6 Silverbark tree, but each one of its strings was actually made using the silk of a rank 6 ''Frigid ice spider''.
A mature ''Frigid ice spider'' will easily reach the level of a peak rank 6 magic beast in its life, and even Elders like Elder Zhuan who have already reached the peak of the Dao King realm may not necessarily be able to fight it head-on.
As for its silk, it''s impossible to obtain it under normal circumstances. Even a group of 3 or 4 peak Dao Kings won''t have any chance to seed, unless they are all at the same level as Elder Zhuan.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes widened in shock, as she realized why Shun Long had just said that that guqin could be considered a treasure even when it waspared with peak rank 3 gold grade weapons.
Just the silking from a peak rank 6 magic beast was already something that couldn''t be easily obtained, let alone the wood of a rank 6 tree that Liu Mei hadn''t even heard of before.
However, before Liu Mei had time to ask any questions, the door of the private room in front of her opened from the inside, as a white-haired old man dressed in white robes stepped out from it, with the young man that had led Shun Long and Liu Mei here following right behind him.
The old man stared at the young man and young woman who were standing in front of the room with a calm look on his face for a few moments, before his gaze soonnded on Shun Long as he said calmly
''''I heard that you wish to sell 50 bottles of top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills''.''''
Although the old man''s voice was calm and seemingly uncaring, it was also obvious that it was filled with some interest towards this young man in front of him.? After all, he already knew most of the alchemists in the Holy sect, while the young man in front of him was most likely a new disciple that had just entered the sect.
Nodding his head, Shun Long -who had already retrieved the pill bottles from the counter beforeing here- took out a single pill bottle from the ''Stone of Time'' and tossed it to the old man in front of him before saying
''''I also have some more pills to sell aside from the ''Qi replenishing pills''.''''
Since the old man was hiding his cultivation Shun Long couldn''t guess his exact level, but just from the auraing from his body, it was obvious that this old man had already exceeded the Nascent Soul stage and was most likely a Dao King realm expert!
The old man caught the pill bottle and opened it, taking in the fragrance that wasing from the pills inside it, before a small smile was formed on his lips barely a momentter as he gestured with his hand for Shun Long and Liu Mei to enter the room and said calmly
''''Come inside.''''
Holding Liu Mei''s hand Shun Long nodded his head calmly as he followed the old man inside the private room, while the young man from earlier bowed and closed the door from the outside.
The private room wasn''t big in size nor did it seem to have too much furniture, being practically empty aside from a big couch and a few chairs that were ced around a medium-sized table, but the moment that Shun Long stepped foot inside it, he instantly noticed that the qi inside this room was even purer than the qi in his own courtyard!
Of course, although the qi here couldn''t bepared to when he was cultivating inside the foggy space using middle-grade spirit stones to feed the Heaven Swallowing vine in the ''Stone of Time'', it was still considered extremely pure for normal standards. After all, Shun Long''s Heaven Swallowing vine was a real heavenly treasure!
Sitting on the main seat of the room, the old man gestured for Shun Long and Liu Mei to sit on the couch opposite to him before he introduced himself
''''My name is Wan Zu, and I am responsible for the alchemy pills on the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall. How should I address you?''''
Although the white-haired old man who called himself Wan Zu was seemingly polite, his words still hid an aura of superiority almost as if he was looking at 2 people who were barely qualified to sit at the same table as him.
Of course, as a powerful Dao King and a follower of one of the Elders in the sect, it was only natural that he wouldn''t care too much about a pair of new disciples.
There was a deep look in Shun Long''s eyes as he replied in a calm tone
''''My name is Shun Long and this is my wife Liu Mei.''''
It was obvious that, unlike some outer disciples, Wan Zu hadn''t heard of Shun Long''s name before today as he didn''t have any reaction to it aside from merely nodding his head in response.
Without wasting any time, Shun Long took out the rest of the 50 pill bottles that were filled with top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'', and ced them all on the table in front of him, before taking out 2 more pill bottles as well and held it in his right hand.
Wan Zu barely threw a nce at the bottles on the table in front of him, before saying in a confident tone
''''Our ''Golden Treasures Hall'' is willing to purchase these 50 bottles filled with top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' for 10.000 sect points!''''
As he finished his words, Wan Zu took out his sect identifying token and ced it on the table in front of him.
Although 50 pill bottles of top-grade ''Qi replenishing pills'' wasn''t a small number to sell, it wasn''t something extraordinary to Wan Zu either.
The old man had already seen some alchemists inside the sect sell even more than that when they needed sect points, thus, a purchase at the scale of 10.000 sect points didn''t even enter his eyes.
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t take out his sect identifying token to ept the sect points right away, and instead, he ced the second pill bottle that he was holding in his hands on the table in front of him before saying
''''Aside from the ''Qi replenishing pills'', I also want to sell these pills as well. I wonder if senior Wan Zu has seen them before!''''
Hearing the confident tone in Shun Long''s voice, Wan Zu narrowed his eyes while a look of interest appeared on his face at the same time, as he stretched out his left hand and sucked the pill bottle in his hands.
Staring at the bright red-colored pills inside it, Wan Zu opened the bottle without any hesitation, before he took a sniff of the scent inside it.
However, the moment that he smelled the fragranceing from the bright red pills, his eyes instantly widened in shock, as he turned his eyes and stared incredulously at Shun Long before asking
''''What kind of pill is this?''''
Chapter 487: Selling the Dragonblood tempering pills
Chapter 487: Selling the ''Dragonblood tempering pills''
Although Wan Zu was an alchemist himself and he had also reached the standard of a rank 2 gold grade alchemist long ago, he was still unable to understand what kind of pill this was from its scent alone.
No, it was more urate to say that he had never smelled a pill that emitted such a fragrance in his life before.
At that moment, Shun Long''s lips curved up into an even more obvious smile as he then said calmly
''''These pills are called ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' and they can help a cultivator who is training in body refinement to advance even faster.''''
Wan Zu''s eyes examined the pills inside the pill bottle with a curious look in his eyes, before he turned his attention back at Shun Long and asked in a questioning tone
''''''Dragonblood tempering pills''? How are they different from rank 5 ''bone strengthening pills''? You should already know that for such pills to allow someone to breakthrough, even a cultivator at the early fifth stage of body refinement will have to consume at least a thousand of them and all of them will have to be at the high or top-grade as well, otherwise it will require even more of them than that. However, advancing that way after consuming a thousand pills in one go, it''s inevitable that pill toxins will also umte in a person''s body as well. Even if these ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' are top-grade rank 5 pills that don''t have as many toxins due to their purity, this isn''t something that can be avoided!''''
As a senior alchemist, Wan Zu already knew that for pills like the ''bone strengthening pills'' to allow a cultivator to truly breakthrough to the next stage, arge amount of them had to be consumed in one go, which in turn would lead to the umtion of pill toxins inside the body.
Although breaking through that way could save a cultivator months or even years of training, expelling the pill toxins was no easy feat either, which made pills like the ''bone strengthening pills'' not as enticing in some cultivators eyes.
After all,pared to having to expel arge amount of impurities in the future, some disciples would only choose to consume a small amount of ''bone strengthening pills'' that would allow them to speed up their cultivation just a little bit.
Shun Long looked at the old man who was sitting opposite to him and Liu Mei with a calm look on his face, as he shook his head and said seriously
''''I am afraid that senior Wan has misunderstood. These pills are nothing like the rank 5 ''bone strengthening pills''. Whether it is the medicinal herbs that are required to concoct a single furnace of them or their medicinal effects, the ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' are on an entirely different level.
After all, a single ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' is more potent than 50 ''bone strengthening pills''bined!''''
The moment that he heard Shun Long''s words, the white-haired Wan Zu''s eyes narrowed while a look of curiosity and skepticism appeared in his eyes, as he immediately turned his attention back to the pill bottle in his hands.
Although there was no way that he would believe that there was a pill whose effects was as powerful as 50 top-grade ''bone strengthening pills'', just from the ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' scent, it was obvious that they were no normal pills either.
Without any dy, Wan Zu tilted the bottle in his hands slightly, taking out a single top-grade rank 5 ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' from the bottle and ced it on the palm of his left hand, before he also took out a small dagger from his spatial ring and carefully shaved off a tiny part of the pill.
As soon as swallowed the tiny part of the ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' that he had ced in his mouth, Wan Zu could feel a burning feeling inside his body, almost as if a fire had been suddenly set up inside him. And yet, this feeling onlysted for barely a moment before it disappeared.
At that moment, Shun Long saw the old man opposite to him suddenly open his eyes and stare at him in shock, before asking in a disbelieving tone
''''This... how is this possible? What kind of medicinal herbs... no, what kind of recipe was used to create this pill?''''
Shaking his head, the look in Shun Long''s eyes turned serious as he replied coldly
''''I am sure that senior Wan understands that the recipe of a pill and the medicinal herbs used during the pill concoction aren''t something that any alchemist would easily share!''''
Nodding his head, Wan Zu took a deep breath to calm himself down realizing that he had been too rash this time, but the fervent look in his eyes as he stared at the pill bottle in his hands couldn''t be concealed.
At the same time, the look that he used to look at Shun Long slowly changed.
''''Even though this kid can''t be the alchemist who concocted these pills, from the amount of pills that he seems willing to sell, he is most likely an alchemist as well and probably knows the recipe of these ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' too. Even if he can''t concoct any of them right now, he will probably be able to create some of them after breaking through to the middle stages of the Nascent Soul. However, the most important thing is to purchase these pills first!''''
As he sorted out his thoughts Wan Zu looked at Shun Long with a solemn look on his face, this time no longer looking down on him, but instead facing him as if he was looking at an equal before saying
''''Brother Shun Long, as you already know, pills like your ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' haven''t appeared in our Golden Treasures Hall before, so it won''t be easy to price them ordingly.? I also wonder how many of these pills brother Shun Long intends to sell.''''
Even though Wan Zu knew that it was somewhat demeaning for a Dao King like him to call an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator as brother, just from the pills that Shun Long had on his possession Wan Zu didn''t feel that he was losing any face.
Pushing the second pill bottle that he was holding in his hand towards Wan Zu, Shun Long took out two more pill bottles from the ''Stone of Time'' without any hesitation, before saying in a calm voice
''''I will only sell 40 pills. As for the price, since senior Wan Zu can''t calcte it I don''t mind helping you.''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 488: Selling the Dragonblood tempering pills (2)
Chapter 488: Selling the ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' (2)
Wan Zu felt an ominous feeling oveing him at that moment, as he hurriedly shook his head and said
''''Don''t worry little brother. How could I allow you to suffer a loss from this?''''
Of course, Shun Long already knew that the ''bone strengthening pills'' that the Golden Treasure Hall sold were just average rank 5 pills at best, and couldn''t bepared with his own ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' that not only required a stalk of a mature Dragonblood grass and dozens of rank 4 supplementary medicinal herbs, but the perfectly maintained core of a rank 5 magic beast as well.
Of course, due to the fact that Shun Long had only killed less than two handfuls of rank 5 magic beasts in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' in thest 2 years, and only had those few beast cores to concoct more ''Dragonblood tempering pills'', as well as the fact that it was nearly impossible for him to keep concocting top-grade rank 5 pills with his rank 2 silver-grade cauldron, Shun Long had barely managed to refine 8 batches of pills before his cauldron exploded,pletely destroying his next refinement as well.
Thus, Shun Long only had the beast core of an early rank 5 magic beast and the middle rank 5 ''snow ape'' inside the ''Stone of Time''.
At that moment, Wan Zu took a deep breath and looked at Shun Long seriously before he said
''''Considering that a single top-grade rank 5 ''bone tempering pill'' is priced at 30 sect points and brother Shun Long''s ''Dragonblood tempering pill'' is as effective as 50 ''bone tempering pills'', I can purchase brother Shun Long''s pills for 1500 sect points each. So for 40 pills, I can give brother Shun Long 60.000 sect points right away.''''
The moment that he finished calcting the price, Wan Zu raised his head and had already expected to see an expression of joy on Shun Long''s face.
After all, 70.000 sect points were practically a fortune for any newly admitted new outer disciple of the sect.
And yet, contrary to Wan Zu''s expectations, Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes as he stared at the old man in front of him before he shook his head and said seriously
''''Senior Wan Zu, it looks like you have already forgotten that the only reason why not that many disciples are willing to buy your ''bone tempering pills'', is because of the pill toxins that would umte in every disciple''s body after consuming so many pills in one go.
However, as an alchemist, you should clearly be able to tell that my ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' are different!
Not only are they almostpletely clear from any pill toxins, but just a single one of them has the same effect as 50 ''bone tempering pills''.
This means that a disciple will only have to consume 20 of my ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' to breakthrough from the early fifth stage in body refinement to the middle stage.
How many years of work will that allow that disciple to save?
At the same time, the pill toxins that a disciple''s body will umte after consuming 20 pills is practically nothing.
I bet that even if I set up a shop outside the Golden Treasures Hall and priced each pill at 2500 sect points, I would still be able to sell 40 pills within a week!
Of course, it will be a bit troublesome to make those outer disciples believe that a pill that is 50 times more potent than the ''bone strengthening pill'' really exists, which is why I chose to sell them to the Golden Treasures Hall instead.''''
Wan Zu stayed silent for a few moments, before he eventually nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes, as he then continued
''''Fine. I will buy each pill for 2500 sect points. For 40 pills, I can give brother Shun Long 100.000 sect points. Including the 10.000 sect points from the 50 bottle of top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' that I owe brother Shun Long, the total is 110.000 sect points.''''
As someone who had been in charge of the pills in the Golden Treasures Hall for many years, Wan Zu''s business instinct was much stronger than Shun Long''s.
Forget about 2500 sect points, even if he sold each pill for 4000 sect points each, with the Golden Treasures Hall reputation and the pills'' effects it was still possible to sell everything within a week!
At the same time, Shun Long understood that Wan Zu wouldn''t go any further than that regardless of how much he wanted to buy the ''Dragonblood tempering pills''. After all, the Golden Treasures Hall had to make some profit with every pill that they sold, and 2500 sect points per pill was already a high enough price.
''''Considering that the Golden Treasures Hall will most likely sell each pill for 3500 sect points or perhaps even higher, a normal outer disciple will need at least 70.000 sect points to purchase 20 ''Dragonblood tempering pills''.''''
As he reached this conclusion, Shun Long nodded his head a momentter, before he took out his sect identifying token and handed it to Wan Zu who heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this.
With a smile on his face, the old man sent his soul sense inside his own sect token, before he transferred 110.000 sect points to Shun Long.
Although Wan Zu wasn''t even an outer disciple of the sect, let alone an Elder, as a follower of an Elder and the person responsible for the pills in the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, he was qualified enough to hold his own sect identifying token toplete the exchanges.
With a big smile on his face, Wan Zu handed Shun Long''s token back to him and collected the pill bottles in front of him in his spatial ring, before he stared at the young man and young woman in front of him and asked in a curious voice
''''I wonder if brother Shun Long has any more pills that you want to sell.''''
Of course, what Wan Zu actually meant with this was if Shun Long had any more pills at the same level as the ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' that he wanted to sell. Although he knew that the chances were low for Shun Long to have more of those miracle pills, in the end the old man still hoped that he could get another surprise.
Shun Long thought seriously for a moment, but in the end, he shook his head and decided against selling his ''Blood Ignition pills'' for now, as he held Liu Mei''s hand and stood up from the couch before he said
''''I will have to disappoint senior Wan then as I don''t intend to sell any more pills today.''''
110.000 sect points were already enough for the current Shun Long and Liu Mei to buy what they needed.
At the same time, although Wan Zu was disappointed after hearing Shun Long''s refusal to sell more pills to him, he still had a smile on his face as he stood up from his seat as well, and walked towards the door of the private room while he waved his hand and said in an easy-going manner
''''It doesn''t matter. However, I still hope that if little brother Shun Long obtains any more rare pills in the future, you will consider sharing them with our Golden Treasures Hall first.''''
Shun Long didn''t respond right away, and as he and Liu Mei were about to leave the private room, Shun Long suddenly stopped and stared at the old man in front of him with a deep look in his eyes, before a slight smile slowly formed itself on his lips.
Chapter 489: Buying the guqin
Chapter 489: Buying the guqin
Although Wan Zu and even Liu Mei were surprised by Shun Long''s sudden action, Shun Long merely smiled as he held Liu Mei''s hand and walked out of the private room.
How could he not understand that Wan Zu was practically certain that he would find out the recipe of his ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' and was only treating Shun Long as someone who would bring him new recipes?
Of course, nearly every alchemist would try to find out the recipe of a new pill as soon as they came in contact with it, and this was nothing new to Shun Long.
After all, this wasn''t only a test to an alchemist''s skills but it also tested one''s knowledge of alchemy and medicinal herbs as well.
And yet, Shun Long merely smiled as he walked out of the private room while holding Liu Mei''s hand, before he headed directly towards the counter with the Silverbark guqin in the distance.
Wan Zu stared at Shun Long''s back silently for a few moments, before he smiled and returned back inside his private room barely a momentter with an excited look in his eyes.
At the same time, as Shun Long and Liu Mei walked towards the counter in the distance, Liu Mei who had stayed silent for so long turned to look at Shun Long with her bright ck eyes, before she asked curiously
''''Long-ge, are you angry with that old man?''''
Turning his eyes to look at the serious Liu Mei next to him, Shun Long''s smile quickly turned gentle as he patted her head lightly, before he shook his own head and said
''''Haha, don''t worry Mei''er I am not angry. I just wonder what expression will Wan Zu really have when he tries to find out the recipe of the ''Dragonblood tempering pills''.
Hehe, even if I gave him a set of the ingredients, it would still be impossible for him to find out the correct way to concoct the pill by himself.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes widened slightly when she heard this, but she still nodded her head a momentter as she realized what was going on.
Indeed, every alchemist would try to find out the pill recipe behind a new pill, and that old man would also be the same.
It could be said that finding out the pill recipe behind a pill, was also a challenge, as well as an indirect confrontation between 2 alchemists who both put their skills to the test at the same time.
Of course, in order to decipher the real recipe behind the pill, the alchemist that tried to do the deciphering would have to be at least at the same level -if not a level higher- as the alchemist who created the pill recipe to begin with.
After all, finding out theplete pill recipe didn''t just mean simply finding out which medicinal ingredients were used but theplete refinement process of the pill as well, including the order that the medicinal ingredients were added inside the cauldron, their maturity age, as well as the intensity of the mes.
Even though Liu Mei wasn''t an alchemist, she already knew that even the peak rank 3 gold grade alchemists of the Alchemists'' Guild of the Heaven''s Dome city weren''t at the same level as Shun Long in terms of understanding of the medicinal herbs and magic beasts.
Even if Wan Zu was a Dao King realm expert as well, unless he was a peak rank 3 gold grade alchemist, he couldn''t be that much better than the top alchemists of the Night star continent.
A few momentster, Shun Long appeared in front of the counter with the Silverbark guqin and stared at it for a few moments, before he turned his attention towards the young man behind it.
Taking out his sect identifying token, he then looked at the young man in front of him before he said seriously
''''I am buying this guqin.''''
The young man behind the counter had a look of incredulity on his face when he heard this, before he turned his attention towards the sect identifying token in Shun Long''s hands.
At that moment, the young man suddenly trembled as he opened and closed his mouth in shock for a few moments, before he eventually managed to stammer out
''''1-110.000 sect points?''''
It was obvious that this man behind the counter was unable to believe that this was the same young man and young woman who had appeared here a few moments earlier and had discussed about buying the guqin in front of him.
He had scoffed in his heart at how ignorant these 2 new disciples were, and that they had clearly no idea that it was impossible for them to obtain 70.000 sect points, unless they had a few treasures to sell that were all at the level of a peak rank 3 gold grade weapon.
And yet, the number on Shun Long''s sect identifying token made the young man unable to believe his eyes!
Ignoring the young man''s reaction, Shun Long ced his sect identifying jade on the counter in front of him, as only then did the young man in front of him finally react, as he hurriedly took out a wooden token from the counter and epted the 70.000 sect points with a look of disbelief on his face.
''''Is that guy a descendant of one of the powerful families from the previous batch that entered the sect 2 months ago? How can he afford to spend 70.000 sect points just for a guqin?''''
''''No, I saw him enter Wan Zu''s room earlier. I bet he had to sell quite a few things to afford that guqin.''''
The disciples around Shun Long and Liu Mei that saw this scene, stared at Shun Long with eyes filled with curiosity when they saw him taking the Silverback guqin from the counter and cing it in his spatial ring before they started to discuss with each other.
After all, although most people in the Golden Treasures Hall had seen others spend even more sect points in the past, seeing someone spend 70.000 sect points for a single musical instrument was too crazy.
Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to the disciples around him that shot curious looks at him and Liu Mei, as he kept touring through the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, almost as if he was looking for something.
Finally, a few minutester, his eyesnded on arge counter that was filled with medicinal herbs and alchemy cauldrons.
Chapter 490: Sense of urgency
Chapter 490: Sense of urgency
Without any hesitation, Shun Long walked towards that counter with an unconcealed look of excitement in his eyes.
Since his cauldron was destroyed back in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and he didn''t have a chance to purchase a new one back in the Night star continent, Shun Long had already decided to buy a new one today.
At the same time, Shun Long knew that if he wanted to keep refining rank 5 pills or even rank 6 pills, he needed a gold-grade cauldron as well, or it was only a matter of time until his pill refinement kept failing due to silver grade cauldrons being unable to stand the pill and the violent temperature of the qi mes.
And yet, in the Night star continent, the peak powers there monopolized nearly every single gold-grade cauldron, making Shun Long unable to find even a single gold-grade cauldron to purchase.
However, things in the Golden Treasures Hall werepletely different.
Things that were practically impossible to buy in the Night star continent were sold everywhere here.
Rank 1, rank 2, and even rank 3 gold grade cauldrons, along with the corpses of rank 5 and even some early rank 6 magic beasts, as well as medicinal herbs at rank 5 and even rank 6, were all for sale in this ce!
Shun Long''s eyes first fell on the rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs.
A single rank 5 medicinal herb could cost anywhere from 100 to 20.000 sect points, depending on how rare each medicinal herb was and how useful it was to an alchemist, while the few rank 6 medicinal herbs that were for sale were sold at a minimum of 50.000 sect points.
Although some of these medicinal herbs were enough to attract Shun Long''s attention, since he didn''t need any of them urgently, he nned to buy them the next time he visited the Golden Treasures Hall.
At the same time, Shun Long also noticed that the prices of the corpses of the magic beasts weren''t too different from the prices of the medicinal herbs.
The corpse of a single early rank 5 magic beast that was practically intact could be bought for 1000 sect points, while the corpse of a middle rank 5 magic beast was priced at 5000 sect points. As for the corpse of a peak rank 5 magic beast, it was priced at 20.000 sect points.
Finally, although there weren''t many early rank 6 magic beasts, each one of them was priced at 60.000 sect points or even higher than that.
Of course, since early rank 6 magic beasts were even stronger than average early-stage Dao Kings, it was even harder to hunt those beasts, and even the disciples of the Holy sect often became food for them as well.
Shun Long barely threw a look at the bodies of the magic beasts that were for sale, before he turned his attention towards the alchemy cauldrons at the back of the counter.
A rank 1 gold grade cauldron was actually priced at 10.000 sect points while a rank 2 cauldron costed at least 25.000 sect points.
As for rank 3 and peak rank 3 gold grade cauldrons, they were priced at 80.000 sect points or above.
After a few moments of deliberation, Shun Long decided to buy a peak rank 2 gold grade cauldron for 35.000 sect points.
Although this meant that he was only left with 5000 sect points for now, getting a good quality cauldron was extremely important to Shun Long.
At the same time, it was no exaggeration to say, that the Golden Treasures Hall really had everything that an alchemist needed, and this was just the first floor.? Shun Long also knew that there was a second floor as well, but he had already bought everything that he needed this time just from the first floor!
Of course, the second floor wasn''t open to every outer disciple.
Only those disciples who belonged to the top 100 factions or they had entered the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor were allowed to enter the second floor.
After all, although having sect points to purchase treasures was important, having the status to match those treasures was equally as important.
Seeing that there was nothing else to buy from the first floor this time, Shun Long held Liu Mei''s hand and left the Golden Treasures Hall as he walked back towards his courtyard.
He had already decided that after Liu Mei''s master and disciple ceremony with Elder Xuan was over, he would go out of the Holy sect and take a look at the Holy city situated at the foot of the mountain of the sect, before he decided which missions to take on.
After all, although Shun Long knew that he and Liu Mei still had 3 months left until theypleted their first personal mission, he also knew that his time in the Holy sect would be anything but easy. At the same time, just from the fact that he had created his own faction and was aiming to rise to the top of the sect, Shun Long understood that this wouldn''t be anything simple either.
Right now, he couldn''t even guess how strong the strongest disciples in the Martial Roll of Honor and the heads of the top factions really were.
This caused a sense of urgency, but at the same time a feeling of excitement to rise in Shun Long''s heart.
A little more than half an hourter, he and Liu Mei arrived in front of his courtyard''s entrance, only to see an unexpected scene y along.
Jiang Chen was standing outside Shun Long''s courtyard, and was facing a white-robed young man with a look in his eyes that was filled with fighting intent.
With just a nce, both Shun Long and Liu Mei instantly recognized this handsome white-robed young man who was holding a snow-white sword with both hands as he seriously faced Jiang Chen.
That was the same person who had visited Shun Long nearly a week ago while he was still in seclusion, the young white lord, Bai Longtian!
Chapter 491: Bai Longtians reason
Chapter 491: Bai Longtian''s reason
''''Look! Is Jiang Chen really going to fight with Bai Longtian?''''
''''I don''t think they will. After all, the sect''s rules forbid fighting outside of the arena! However, what is Bai Longtian doing here? I know that his own courtyard isn''t close to this ce. Could it be that he has reallye here to challenge Jiang Chen?''''
The surrounding disciples who saw Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian ready to fight had started to gather a small distance away from Shun Long''s courtyard, as they stared at the scene in front of them while discussing the possible scenarios.
Of course, most of those disciples were either disciples who had entered the sect at the same time as Shun Long, Bai Longtian and the rest, or they were those disciples who had been their opponents during the fourth test.
The rest of the outer disciples who didn''t recognize Jiang Chen or Bai Longtian barely threw a nce at this scene before they continued with what they were doing.
At the same time, Shun Long was also curious as to how those 2 had ended up in a conflict... especially in front of his courtyard.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long then held Liu Mei''s hand as he walked towards the entrance of his courtyard.
''''Hey, isn''t that Shun Long? Don''t tell me that he is going to join the fight as well!''''
''''I wonder whose side he is going to take!''''
''''Who is that beauty next to him? Don''t tell me... it''s the goddess of death, Liu Mei?!''''
The disciples who saw Shun Long and Liu Mei walking towards the entrance of the courtyard, immediately recognized him due to how much attention he had attracted in the fourth test, and subsequently they also recognized Liu Mei, even though she wasn''t wearing her white veil.
However, Shun Long ignored the fervent crowd as he turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian in front of him, before he said seriously
''''Come inside!''''
Taking out his sect identifying token, he then deactivated the protective formations around his courtyard, before he and Liu Mei stepped past the courtyard''s entrance.
Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long seriously before snorting once, and after throwing one more look at Bai Longtian, he too entered the courtyard.
Bai Longtian instead had an excited look in his eyes when he looked at Shun Long, as he followed after Jiang Chen without a second thought.
''''What? This is Shun Long''s courtyard? Then why were those 2 waiting right outside of its entrance?''''
''''Wait! I heard that Jiang Chen refused senior brother Qian Tao''s invitation to join his faction and dered that he would join Shun Long''s instead!''''
''''Right! I heard about this earlier today as well! Maybe Bai Longtian has entered senior brother Qian Tao''s faction already, and he came to fight with Jiang Chen to teach him a lesson?''''
''''But Jiang Chen is extremely strong... I don''t think that''s possible!''''
Completely oblivious to the discussions among the disciples outside Shun Long''s courtyard or the attention that they had both attracted, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both stared at Shun Long before they turned to look at each other.
Feeling the tension between them that still hadn''t disappeared, Shun Long had a calm look on his face as he turned his eyes towards Jiang Chen and asked curiously
''''What happened between the two of you?''''
Of course, what also surprised Shun Long, was that within a single week both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had advanced in their cultivation.
Jiang Chen had already reached the middle of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul, while Bai Longtian had reached the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul as well.
Of course, the reason why they could advance so quickly was because they had both reached the pinnacle of the early rank 4 and peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul respectively and were just a step away from breaking through, while the insights that they had obtained from their fights during the fourth test were actually enough for them to keep cultivating even more.
At the same time, Jiang Chen ignored Bai Longtian, as he turned his attention towards Shun Long before he replied
''''I told you that I woulde and visit you in a few days, but when I came to your ce I saw this buddhist idiot standing outside the courtyard. I naturally asked him what he wanted to do, but as soon as I got close to him and saw his face, I could feel a huge irritation and barely held myself back.''''
Bai Longtian nodded his head when he heard this, as he looked at Jiang Chen and said seriously
''''Senior brother Jiang, it is because your heart isn''t pure. Cultivating in an evil Dao will only give rise to chaos and madness in your heart. This goes against the Dao of the Buddha!''''
Instantly, a look of realization appeared on Shun Long''s face as he stared at Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen and understood what the problem was.
Jiang Chen''s ''Demonic Dao'' and Bai Longtian''s ''Dao of the Buddha'' were 2 oppossing Daos so it was only natural that the two of them would end up fighting with each other.
This was a reaction that came from their Daos themselves.
Even if Bai Longtian didn''t show it to the same extent, it was obvious that he too disliked being around Jiang Chen.
At that moment however, Bai Longtian ignored Jiang Chen and he turned his attention towards Shun Long, before he said with a smile on his face
''''Brother Shun Long, even though we both came from the Night star continent, this is the first time that we actually meet each other. I came to visit you a few days ago as well, but I could only give up since you were in seclusion.''''
As he said this, Bai Longtian cupped his hands at Liu Mei, as a gesture of thanks for informing him about this thest time and said that he could try again in 1 or 2 weeks if he wanted to meet Shun Long, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long once again.
Shun Long nodded his head with a curious look on his face as he stared at Bai Longtian.
Unlike Jiang Chen, the young man in front of him had no obvious connection with him and neither did he have an immortal grade bloodline, which made Shun Long curious as to why Bai Longtian had approached him out of his own volition twice.
Feeling Shun Long''s profound and prative gazending on his body that looked like it could peer through all of his secrets, made Bai Longtian shiver for a moment, but the young white lord still took a deep breath and stared at Shun Long before he said seriously
''''I believe that brother Shun Long is also curious as to why I came to visit you twice now.''''
Shun Long nodded his head while even? Liu Mei and Jiang Chen were also staring at the ck-haired, blue-eyed young man as they waited for his answer.
Bai Longtian''s eyes however were focused on Shun Longpletely ignoring Liu Mei and Jiang Chen, while his tone slowly turned solemn as he continued
''''It''s because my fate is connected with brother Shun Long''s!''''
Chapter 492: Bai Longtians fate
Chapter 492: Bai Longtian''s fate
''''What do you mean?''''
Liu Mei was the first one to ask when she heard that, while Jiang Chen shot Bai Longtian a hostile re at the same time.
The young white lord looked at Liu Mei and Jiang Chen for a moment, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long and exined with a serious look on his face
''''As brother Shun Long may have heard, my father is the city lord of the ''White city'' and is also a peak Dao King realm expert at the same level as the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun.''''
Shun Long nodded his head without a change in his expression. Indeed, he had already heard that the city lord of the ''White city'', Bai Longtian''s father was a powerhouse in the Night star continent, one that could even bepared to the old king of the Shengtian dynasty!
The look on Bai Longtian''s face, as he took a deep breath before he continued
''''However, what brother Long doesn''t know, is that 30 years ago, a friend of my father''s visited our Night star continent and came to our ''White city'' to discuss something important with my father.
That person was a senior who was cultivating in the ''Dao of Fate'' as well as someone who was many times stronger than my father, a Dao Emperor realm expert.
Since my father knew that this friend of his was a true powerhouse, as well as a respectable senior even in the central region, my father asked him to take me as his personal disciple!
Haha, of course, back then I was only 12 years old and had barely started cultivating, having only reached the peak of rank 1 in the qi condensation stage.
And yet, my father''s friend didn''t seem to mind my low cultivation, and since he was good friends with my father he decided to test my fate before he gave his answer. Naturally, my father didn''t object to it, and was instead extremely happy that a Dao Emperor realm expert would personally test my fate.
However, when that senior tested my fate, he seemed startled and instantly refused to take me as a disciple without a second thought, despite being friends with my father for many years.
Instead, he looked at me for a few moments with his deep brown eyes that seemed to have turned even darker at that moment, before he said
When that senior finished testing my fate, he bade farewell to my father before he left our Night star continent.
Of course, as for who that senior referred to as ''that person'', after seeing the result of the ball of fate, it is impossible for it to be anyone else than brother Shun Long.
Ever since that day, I thought seriously of whether I should even take the Holy sect''s test in the first ce, or if I should stay in the Night star continent.
However, the truth is that I want to chase my dreams! I want to see what the peak of this world looks like! I want to see the pinnacle and hold my fate in my own hands! I want to be an immortal!''''
Bai Longtian''s emotions started to pour out along with his words, putting his heart and soul in every single sentence while his eyes seriously stared at Shun Long.
Finally, after a brief moment of silence he then continued
''''So, I will choose to follow brother Long!
Of course, I know that nothing in life is absolute, and I know that my choice today may also be mistaken, causing me to die in the future as well. But I am willing to follow my heart and take this risk! As long as you are willing to ept me... I will follow you!''''
The entire courtyard had fallen silent, as Liu Mei and Jiang Chen stared at the young man with ck hair and blue eyes in front of Shun Long with different expressions in their eyes.
At the same time, Shun Long''s gaze had turned extremely deep and profound as he stared at the young man in front of him.
Although their goals were entirely different as Jiang Chen wanted to save his mother and take revenge while Bai Longtian wanted to follow his dreams, Shun Long clearly recognized that the resolve in Bai Longtian''s eyes and words wasn''t inferior to Jiang Chen''s in the slightest.
Of course, although Shun Long wouldn''t simply ept anyone who asked to follow him regardless of their reasons, he also understood that Bai Longtian was extremely talented, and even in the Holy sect he could be considered a true genius.
Thus, having such a person follow him along with Jiang Chen and enter his faction as well wasn''t a bad idea!
At the same time, Bai Longtian had actually left a good impression on him, since he was somewhat simr to Jiang Chen in the fact that he was sincere and exined his reasons without holding back.
Seeing that Shun Long wasn''t responding right away, Bai Longtian took a step forward and stared at Jiang Chen who was standing by Shun Long''s side before he continued
''''Brother Long... the truth is that I didn''t use my full strength during the sect''s test!''''
Jiang Chen''s eyes widened slightly when he heard this, but an evil grin appeared on his face when he realized Bai Longtian''s intentions.
He wanted to fight against him to prove his strength, not just to Shun Long, but to him as well!
If Shun Long decided to ept Bai Longtian in his faction, this would be the fight to see who would be his strongest and the second strongest general instead!
However, Shun Long''s lips curved up when he heard Bai Longtian''s words, before he smiled and said in an easy-going manner, almost as if he had already expected to hear this from Bai Longtian long ago
''''I know.''''
At that moment, Shun Long turned his eyes towards Jiang Chen who was obviously preparing himself for a fight and was sealing his cultivation to the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul to match Bai Longtian''s, before he said with that same smile on his face
''''Jiang Chen, don''t underestimate him or you may lose. Without your bloodline, you may not necessarily be able to win against him if you guys are at the same cultivation level.''''
Chapter 493: Bai Longtians trump card
Chapter 493: Bai Longtian''s trump card
Both Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long with shock in their eyes, each of them for a different reason.
Shun Long said these words with so much confidence, almost as if he had already seen through all of Bai Longtian''s secrets. At the same time, his gaze that was extremely deep and profound made Bai Longtian think that he was actually saying the truth.
And yet, although Bai Longtian wasn''t arrogant, he was certain that if they were in the same cultivation level, even Jiang Chen wouldn''t be his match without his bloodline. Perhaps Shun Long could fight against him without his bloodline since he probably had many other secrets, but it was impossible for Jiang Chen. The reason behind Bai Longtian''s confidence was something that no one else knew about him besides his own father.
As for Jiang Chen, he was actually unable to believe Shun Long''s words.
He was not only a genius who had inherited the bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'', but he had alsoprehended both the ''Demonic Dao'' as well as the ''Dao of Darkness''. At the same time, he was also someone who was born with the ''Eternal Darkness unique physique'' as well! It was nearly impossible to find freaks who couldpete with him at the same level of cultivation! And yet, he also understood that Shun Long wouldn''t say something like this lightly. He had obviously said this to make him go all-out during the fight.
At the same time, Shun Long smiled leisurely as he stared at Bai Longtian who had just steeled his heart and had decided to reveal his secret in this fight, before he said in a casual tone
''''Although you can hide this from others, it''s impossible to hide your unique physique in front of me. Hahaha, you and Jiang Chen are both more simr than you may think.''''
Shun Long''s words instantly made Bai Longtian''s body to suddenly shiver, while Jiang Chen''s gaze that was calmly staring at the young man in front of him instantly turned serious at the same time, before he actually licked his lips in excitement.
At the same time, even Liu Mei couldn''t hide the shock in her eyes as she stared at the 2 young men in the center of the courtyard before she turned her attention back to Shun Long.
Bai Longtian actually had a unique physique as well!
However, the most shocked out of this revtion wasn''t Liu Mei or Jiang Chen, but Bai Longtian himself! He couldn''t understand how Shun Long had found out about this as he turned his eyes and stared at the calm short-haired young man in shock. Even when he had sparred with Sheng Huang in the past, Bai Longtian had only revealed his Dao of the Buddha and hadn''t showed his unique physique to anyone. Aside from his father, no one else knew about this, and yet Shun Long exposed it with a single nce.
At that moment, Jiang Chen was the first one to act, as he stared at the young man in front of him without holding himself back any longer.
His suppressed cultivation at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul exploded out, while at the same time, a ck veil that looked like it had been formed by pure darkness appeared around his body, before it slowly expanded outwards, covering an ever-increasing area around him.
''''You.. also have a unique physique?''''
Jiang Chen shed an evil grin as he stared at the dumbfounded Bai Longtian who couldn''t stop himself from asking this question, before he answered casually
''''Did you think that you are the only one with a unique physique? Remember, in this world, very few people are allowed to stand in front of me, and you are not one of them.''''
Although Bai Longtian wouldn''t mind it too much normally if he was being mocked by someone, being mocked when you were about to go all-out during a serious fight was an entirely different thing.
''''Don''t me me for this then!''''
As he finished speaking, a bright golden light appeared around Bai Longtian''s body, as his body actually started to increase in size.
His original height changed, and in just a few moments, Bai Longtian''s body had already exceeded 10 meters(33ft) in height, looking like a giant golden buddha!
Looking down at the stunned Jiang Chen whose eyes were burning with a will to fight, Bai Longtian then said in a serious voice
''''This is my unique physique, the ''Golden Buddha unique physique''!''''
As he finished his words, Bai Longtian brought down his right palm towards Jiang Chen, as he was the one to make the first move in this fight.
The darkness around Jiang Chen instantly churned turning into a huge palm that was no smaller than Bai Longtian''s, as it met his golden palm head-on.
BOOOM!
The entire courtyard shook from the impact of the collision between Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s attacks, while some of the defensive formations activated at the same time as well, suppressing the after-effects of the attacks from spreading to the room and the courtyard''s walls.
At the same time, Liu Mei had also summoned more than 100 jade-white skeletons at the same time, and had them fight together to block the aftereffects of the fight that were about to hit her and Shun Long.
''''Haha, let''s continue! Don''t tell me that that''s all you have!''''
Bai Longtian''s mocking voice resounded behind the huge ck palm and throughout, as he stared at the gigantic figure of Bai Longtian in front of him before he actually took the initiative to attack first.
His huge ck palm clenched itself turning into a punch, as it traveled through the air flying towards Bai Longtian''s head without any mercy.
Since Bai Longtian also had a unique physique, Jiang Chen had decided to really go all-out.
Aside from when he used his bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness, this was truly his strongest state!
Chapter 494: Jiang Chen vs Bai Longtian
Chapter 494: Jiang Chen vs Bai Longtian
Bai Longtian''s 2 palms immediately covered his face forming a wall that blocked Jiang Chen''s punch, before his body suddenly started to glow with a bright white light as his gigantic golden buddha form immediately disappeared on the spot, leaving behind countless afterimages as he circled around Jiang Chen.
This was Bai Longtian''s Dao of Light!
Using his Dao of Light, even with his enormous gigantic golden buddha body, Bai Longtian''s speed was now countless times faster than most early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivators!
At the same time, since both his and Jiang Chen''s body refinement cultivation had obviously reached the early fifth stage as well Bai Longtian no longer held back in this fight, as he sent a flurry of attacks towards the young man in front of him.
And yet, Jiang Chen simply smirked when he saw this scene, and just before Bai Longtian''s attacks couldnd on his body, a pair of pitch-ck wings that were burning with dark red mes were formed on his back as he said calmly
''''Demonic Wings!''''
Using the first stage of this Saint low-grade martial skill that he had gotten from the barrier of knowledge, Jiang Chen''s speed increased by many times, bing even a bit faster than Bai Longtian''s who was augmented with his Dao of Light.
Flying with a speed that was nearly impossible to match for most early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage experts, Jiang Chen was about to fly out from Bai Longtian''s range of attack, but at that moment, a bright golden light erupted from Bai Longtian''s body forming a small barrier that stopped Jiang Chen in his tracks.
Of course, Jiang Chen only needed a single moment to destroy the golden barrier created by Bai Longtian''s Dao of the Buddha, but that moment was enough for Bai Longtian''s attack to arrive in front of him!
Knowing that he had no way to dodge Bai Longtian''s attack, the darkness around Jiang Chen''s body surged, creating another huge ck palm that collided with Bai Longtian''s golden palm head-on!
However, how could Jiang Chen''s palm that he had formed in a single moment really fight against Bai Longtian''s strike that was further augmented by both his Dao of Light and his Dao of the Buddha so easily?
The huge ck palm was instantly destroyed, as Bai Longtian''s gigantic golden palm continued forward,nding on Jiang Chen''s chest and instantly piercing through his defenses, as it sent him crashing back on the ground like a meteor.
Unable to resist the overpowering force, Jiang Chen spat a mouthful of blood as his body created a crater at the center of Shun Long''s courtyard.
Shun Long and Liu Mei both stared at the fight between the 2 geniuses in front of them, as Jiang Chen''s battered figure slowly stood up from the ground barely a momentter, his body filled with injuries.
Staring at the serious look on the gigantic figure of the golden buddha in front of him, the look on Jiang Chen''s face gradually turned solemn as well, as he finally mumbled in a serious voice
''''Forget it! I am not losing to you! Kingdom of Darkness!''''
The darkness around his body then started to churn, expanding even further, like a veil of darknesspletely submerging the area around him.
At that moment, an ominous feeling appeared in Bai Longtian''s heart as he felt the darkness around Jiang Chen growing rapidly towards his direction, almost as if it was trying to submerge him.
Without any hesitation, Bai Longtian''s body lit up as he circted his Dao of Light, and yet he noticed that he was only able to barely slow down the advancement of the veil of darkness and notpletely stop it, let alone destroy it.
Lowering his gaze Bai Longtian suddenly noticed that a small ball of darkness that he hadn''t noticed earlier was actually stuck in his right palm.
A look of realization instantly appeared on his face as he understood, that this ck ball of darkness came from Jiang Chen''s body, as hisst attack had sent him flying to the ground.
And yet, just as Bai Longtian was about to try and expel the ck ball from his hand, the ck ball suddenly exploded as his vision was instantly plunged into darkness.
In just a few moments, the veil of darkness around Jiang Chen expanded as well, covering arge area of the courtyard andpletely trapping Bai Longtian''s gigantic golden figure inside it as well.
As the darkness started to spread even further, even Shun Long and Liu Mei weren''t able to see through the scene inside it any longer.
This was the true power behind Jiang Chen''s Eternal Darkness unique physique, the ''Kingdom of Darkness''!
At that moment, Liu Mei turned her head to the side to look at Shun Long who was seriously staring at the ck veil in front of him that had already covered half the courtyard, before she asked curiously
''''Long-ge, which of them do you think is going to win?''''
Even though Liu Mei could no longer see the fight in front of them, she still believed in Shun Long''s judgement the most and she was also curious about which of those 2 did he think that was stronger.
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei seriously before he replied
''''Jiang Chen is definitely faster in terms of speed thanks to his ''Demonic Wings'', but his real strength lies more in control and attacking. Although I don''t know too much about his Eternal Darkness unique physique, it is definitely not easy to escape from it.
As for Bai Longtian, his attack, defense, and speed are all exceptional, while his Golden Buddha unique physique enhances those attributes even further.
If the 2 of them had to exchange full-powered blows in this situation, they would probably be equal with each other in terms of their attack, but Bai Longtian''s defense will definitely be stronger.
Of course, that is only under the situation where Jiang Chen doesn''t use his bloodline power of the Demonic Crow of Darkness, otherwise, Bai Longtian will have a really hard time against him!''''
Nodding her head, Liu Mei had a serious look in her eyes as she stared at the ck veil that had now epassed more than half of the courtyard.
Chapter 495: Outcome of the fight
Chapter 495: Oue of the fight
Knowing that he was trapped inside this ce of absolute darkness where he couldn''t see anything, Bai Longtian didn''t move from the spot he was standing on, and instead, he closed his eyes as he spread his soul sense, trying to find Jiang Chen''s location instead.
However, his expression instantly changed barely a momentter, as he realized that the darkness around him had alreadypletely suppressed his soul sense, not allowing him to spread it around his body.
At the same time, a feeling of danger suddenly sprouted in Bai Longtian''s heart as he immediately turned around and thrusted his palm forward.
The air whistled from the force of his palm as his hand collided with a huge ck palm formed from Jiang Chen''s Dao of Darkness.
The 2 palms collided as both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were forced to take a few steps back from the impact.
However, even though he had managed to repel Jiang Chen''s attack, the look in Bai Longtian''s eyes turned even more serious than before as he looked around him in his gigantic golden buddha figure.
Inside his Kingdom of Darkness formed by his Eternal Darkness unique physique Jiang Chen''s Dao of Darkness was also amplified, making his attacks even stronger than before. However, the most dangerous thing for Bai Longtian was still the fact that he couldn''t see where the next attack woulde from and he could only rely on his instinct.
Finally, the silence broke a few momentster, as countless palms created by Jiang Chen''s Dao of Darkness emerged inside his Kingdom of Darkness, as they bombarded Bai Longtian''s gigantic golden figure without stop.
And yet, despite being ced in such an unfavorable situation, Bai Longtian still didn''t think that he would lose! Although Jiang Chen''s attacks were even stronger inside his Kingdom of Darkness, Bai Longtian knew that his Golden Buddha unique physique was definitely strong enough to take them head-on.
At that moment none of those 2 held back any of their abilities any longer, as Jiang Chen''s attacks were infused with both his Demonic Dao and his Dao of Darkness making any normal early rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who stood in front of him tremble in fear if they could sense his aura, while Bai Longtian circted his Dao of the Buddha to its limits, creating a small golden sphere around his body that enhanced his defense even further.
No matter how many ck palmsnded on his body, although he would be forced to take a few steps back in the process, Bai Longtian wouldn''t be too heavily injured!
Finally, an hourter, Shun Long saw the ck veil that had covered more than half of his courtyard slowly dissipate, as 2 figures appeared inside it, both of them facing each other with serious looks on their faces.
Shun Long noticed that Jiang Chen''s ''Demonic Wings'' were already on the verge of disappearing as his qi had already beenpletely depleted, while even his energy from his body cultivation could no longer sustain his Kingdom of Darkness!
As for Bai Longtian, his golden buddha figure had already disappeared as his body had already reverted back to its original appearance. It was obvious that both he and Jiang Chen had reached their limits, and yet neither of them was willing to stop.
After a few moments of tension that seemed like an eternity, Bai Longtian was the first one to speak, as he looked at Jiang Chen opposite to him and said seriously
''''Senior brother Jiang is really stronger than I expected. I thought that without your bloodline power I would easily win, but in the end I was wrong.''''
Shaking his head, Jiang Chen had an unresigned expression on his face as he looked at the young man in front of him, almost as if he was unwilling to ept this oue before he answered
''''This time it''s a draw, but this isn''t the end!''''
Nodding his head, Bai Longtian also didn''t want to ept that the oue of their fight didn''t have a clear winner. Although it was a draw this time since both of them had already depleted both their qi and the energy inside their bodies from their qi refinement cultivation, making Jiang Chen unable to sustain his Kingdom of Darkness any longer and even Bai Longtian to be unable to stay in his gigantic golden buddha form, they would definitely settle this in the future.
At that moment, everyone saw Bai Longtian turning his eyes to look at Shun Long with an expectant gaze, almost as if he was waiting to finally hear his answer.
After a moment of silence, Shun Long nodded his head with a smile on his face, before he turned around and walked towards the main room, beckoning for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian to follow behind him as well.
As soon as he sat down on the white cushion in front of his bed with Liu Mei sitting next to him, Shun Long looked at the 2 young men who sat down in front of him and was about to speak, when suddenly, the restrictions around the courtyard lit up before the image of a peerlessly beautiful young woman with blond hair and bright emerald eyes appeared in his mind.
Realizing that Xie Xingyi had also arrived at this moment Shun Long then deactivated the restrictions around his courtyard, allowing her to enter inside as well.
As soon as Xie Xingyi stepped into the room, everyone''s attention was instantly focused on her, as they realized that she had also broken through in thesest few days, entering the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul stage.
At the same time, Xie Xingyi was also stunned when she saw Bai Longtian appear in Shun Long''s room since she already knew from Liu Mei that the 2 of them weren''t familiar, causing Liu Mei to exin the situation that had taken ce before Xie Xingyi arrived.
Hearing that both Bai Longtian had a unique physique as well and was actually just as strong as Jiang Chen made the beautiful young woman open her mouth in shock as she stared at him for a few seconds longer.
After all, Xie Xingyi also came from the Night star continent just like Bai Longtian, and she clearly knew that the biggest genius of the Night star continent was rumored to be Sheng Huang and not him. There were some rumors that Bai Longtian may be at the same level as Sheng Huang of course, but since the 2 of them hadn''t openly fought, everyone considered the prince of the Shengtian dynasty as the strongest genius of the entire continent.
However, with his unique physique, there was no doubt that Bai Longtian would have been hailed as the strongest genius of the continent instead if as he had actually revealed it!
Of course, that was under the assumption that a monster like Shun Long wasn''t included in this discussion.
Xie Xingyi still remembered Shun Long''s fight with Jiang Chen from a few days ago and how he had revealed his Dao of Time, causing her heart to thump wildly as she thought back of that scene.
At the same time, sitting on his white cushion, Shun Long''s eyes swept past Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, with a deep look in his eyes, before he took out his sect identifying token and ced it on the floor in front of him.
Seeing that everyone''s gaze was focused on him, Shun Long took a deep breath, before his voice resounded throughout the room
''''If you really want to follow me, you most likely won''t have a peaceful life in the sect in the future. Doing so will mean that you will have to fight against the top factions of the sect as well as its strongest geniuses, and many of them are most likely Dao Kings already. If any of you wants to back out from it, this is your chance!''''
Chapter 496: Approached
Chapter 496: Approached
Jiang Chen was the first one to react when he heard Shun Long''s words, as he instantly took out his sect identifying token without any hesitation, and ced it above Shun Long''s own.
His action by itself seemed to be his answer.
Since he had already decided to follow Shun Long, he wouldn''t go back on his word no matter what.
Besides, aside from Shun Long, he didn''t know who else could possibly help him fight against the immortals from the Yu family of the Eternal Darkness world in the future.
Perhaps even Shun Long wouldn''t be able to do help him, but Jiang Chen had already made his choice.
Barely a moment after Jiang Chen had extended his hand, Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian took out their sect identifying tokens and ced them above Shun Long''s as well.
Being slower than Jiang Chen by a second didn''t mean that Xie Xingyi or Bai Longtian were uncertain or that they were less determined about joining Shun Long than Jiang Chen.
Instead, this just showed Jiang Chen''s mental preparations, as he didn''t even need to think over what Shun Long had said just now before giving his response.
Theck of hesitation in Xie Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s actions also showed that they had already decided in their hearts already as well.
Shun Long smiled when he saw this scene, as he nodded his head and touched his sect identifying token in front of him, infusing it with his qi.
A bright white light soon covered Jiang Chen''s, Bai Longtian''s and Xie Xingyi''s sect identifying tokens, before the words Shun Long''s faction soon appeared on their surface.
And yet, the words only appeared on the tokens'' surface for a single moment as they quickly disappeared a momentter.
Liu Mei''s face blossomed with a brilliant smile that was akin to springing inside the room when she saw the scene in front of her, while at the same time, Shun Long waved his hand, taking out arge wooden barrel and 5 small wine cups from his herb garden in the ''Stone of Time''.
After tilting the barrel slightly and filling all 5 cups with the bright red wine, an intoxicating fragrance instantly filled the room and soon spread throughout the entire courtyard!
An expression of fervor appeared on Jiang Chen''s and Xie XIngyi''s faces when they saw the bright red wine in their cups, while even Liu Mei licked her lips in anticipation.
As for Bai Longtian, the look on his face was originally a nonchnt one when he saw Shun Long taking out a barrel of wine, but as soon as he smelled the intoxicating fragrance that assaulted his senses, his expression quickly changed into that of disbelief.
cing the wine cups in front of him, Shun Long then handed a cup to Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian while he kept one for himself, before he said with a calm look on his face
''''Although we have created a faction, it is not eligible to join the faction wars just yet. For a faction to be able to join the faction wars and faction rankings and be able to fight other factions, it first has toplete 5 D-rank faction missions and a single C-rank one. However, forget about the C-rank one, even the D-rank faction missions will be extremely challenging for us right now. Even Jiang Chen is only at the middle of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul while miss Xingyi and Bai Longtian have just advanced to the early rank 4 as well.
So, in 10 days from now, each of us will go andplete 2 personal D-rank missions without any help, both so that we can get a hang of the sect''s missions and their difficulty level as well as train ourselves.
Although none of uscksbat experience, fighting against middle-stage Nascent Soul criminals is still the best form of training to hone ourselves and advance as quickly as possible!''''
As he said this, Shun Long turned his eyes to look at Liu Mei next to him, as this was even more true for her. Fighting and killing middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivators and absorbing their qi was the best way for her to advance her cultivation as well as furtherprehend the Dao of Death.
As for why Shun Long decided to wait 10 days instead of going right away, it was mainly because Jiang Chen, Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian had all broken through in their cultivation, so they needed at least a week to solidify their cultivation levels.
At the same time, Shun Long knew that he couldn''t just stay holed up inside his room and cultivate day and night either, and he had to go out and pressure himself in order for his spiritual strength to keep up with his rate of cultivation.
Simply sitting cross-legged and meditating wouldn''t work.
Only by pressuring himself and putting his mind and soul to extreme situations, could Shun Long''s spiritual strength match up to his cultivation speed!
Of course, Shun Long also knew that 3 days from today, Liu Mei''s master and disciple ceremony would also take ce in the ''inner court'', so he couldn''t leave and go train himself before that either.
Shaking her head, Xie Xingyi looked at Shun Long and pouted lightly as she said
''''Brother Long can just call me Xingyi.
Also... brother Long, the truth is that an Elder approached me today and asked me if I wanted to ept her as my master. I... actually agreed!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long wasn''t too surprised by this and felt that it was only natural that Xie Xingyi would be approached by an Elder to take her on as a disciple. With both the extraordinary fate that she had shown during the test of the ball of fate, as well as the fact that she had an extremely rare unique physique, at least one Elder or two would be interested in taking her on as a personal disciple.
At that moment, Jiang Chen also spoke barely a momentter as he looked at Shun Long and said in a serious tone, attracting everyone''s attention inside the room
''''I was also approached by an Elder today who asked me if I wanted to take him as my master.''''
Chapter 497:
Chapter 497:
Jiang Chen''s words didn''t cause any waves as Shun Long and the rest all stared at him apathetically.
Even if he and Shun Long hadn''t been forced to fight against stronger opponents during the fourth test after attracting Elder Cao Ling''s attention who wanted to find out what secrets they were hiding, and even if Jiang Chen didn''t have an extraordinary fate after testing himself on the ball of fate, just from the fact that he actually had an immortal-grade bloodline was enough for many Elders to be interested in him.
Thus, Shun Long barely looked at Jiang Chen after hearing this, before he turned his attention towards Bai Longtian.
Surprisingly, Bai Longtian also nodded his head in response, and after scratching his head in a slightly awkward manner he said
''''Me as well. The truth is that I didn''t have any hopes of an Elder choosing to take me as their disciple, since the only thing that I revealed during the fourth test was my Dao of the Buddha. But Elder He Kun found me almost instantly after we entered the Holy sect a week ago, and told me that I have potential in bing a powerful swordsman even if I haven''tprehended the Dao of the Sword, and that he wanted to take me as his disciple.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in response, while inwardly he felt that Bai Longtian was really lucky.
Out of the 4 people around him, Shun Long knew that Bai Longtian had the lowest chances of having an Elder taking him as a personal disciple due to the fact that he hadn''t exposed his Golden Buddha unique physique during the sect''s test.
So, having an Elder take a liking to him and choose him as a disciple even though he hadn''t shown his full abilities was really a form of luck.
At the same time, Xie Xingyi had a curious look on her face as she seemed to have realized something, and staring at Bai Longtian she then asked without any reservation
''''Since you have such a powerful unique physique, why didn''t you reveal it during the fourth test? Isn''t the goal of entering the Holy sect, for us to be stronger while also getting a master?''''
Bai Longtian shook his head, while the look in his eyes was serious as he responded without any hesitation
''''Although getting an Elder to be interested in me would be easier that way, my strength isn''t used as a show to attract attention. I will only use my Golden Buddha physique when I don''t have any other choice, otherwise, I feel that I wouldn''t be myself anymore if I did it to attract a master that way.''''
Shun Long and the rest all nodded their heads when they heard this, while even the apathetic look in Jiang Chen''s eyes when he looked at Bai Longtian diminished slightly as he seemed to have agreed with what he said.
Indeed, as cultivators, even if it was to ept a master, none of them would go all out in a fight if they didn''t have to, and would definitely save some of their trump cards for the future.
This was also part of the reason why Jiang Chen had concealed his Eternal Darkness unique physique and didn''t reveal it during his fight. Of course, unlike Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen had already revealed his strongest trump card which was his immortal-grade bloodline.
After chatting for some more time, Jiang Chen was the first one to stand up from his cushion as he looked at Shun Long and said that he would spend the next few days stabilizing his cultivation, as well as go and pick 2 personal D-rank missions from the Assignment Hall, and that he woulde and find Shun Long again in 10 days, before they left the sect toplete their missions.
The truth was that Jiang Chen was just a step away from breaking through to the peak of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, and if he wanted to, he could actually step in that level within the next few days, but stabilizing his cultivation after a breakthrough was extremely crucial to every cultivator.
Failing to stabilize your cultivation properly could mean that you would be unable to breakthrough any further in the future.
It was no different than trying to build an enormous building that reached the clouds. If its base wasn''t strong enough, it would at some point be unable to support more weight and would eventually copse.
Even Shun Long had to stabilize his own cultivation in a certain sense, since he had to always purify his qi balls, bringing the older ones at the same level as the new ones, while making every subsequent qi ball even purer with every breakthrough.
Bai Longtian soon followed a few momentster, obviously unwilling to fall behind Jiang Chen any longer. After all, Jiang Chen was already a minor stage above him in cultivation to begin with.
Seeing that she was the only one who had remained in the room along with Liu Mei and Shun Long, made Xie Xingyi''s heart start beating faster the moment that her eyesnded on the young man sitting calmly in front of her. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Xie Xingyi''s eyes that were filled with curiosity stared at Shun Long before she asked in a gentle yet curious voice
''''Brother Long... since you are an alchemist, have you ever heard of ''earth mes''?''''
''''Earth mes?'''' Liu Mei''s eyes were filled with confusion when she heard this unfamiliar term that she had never heard before, but as soon as she turned her head to look at Shun Long, she saw that the look in his eyes had already changed, almost as if Xie Xingyi had mentioned an extremely rare treasure!
Indeed, Shun Long nodded his head barely a momentter as he looked at the young woman in front of him and asked in a tone that didn''t hide his curiosity
''''Xingyi, you have heard about the existence of ''earth mes''?''''
Chapter 498: Earth flames
Chapter 498: Earth mes
Xie Xingyi nodded her head when she heard Shun Long''s question, before she shook it barely a momentter as she replied in a hurry
''''I- I have only heard of their existence from master and don''t know much about them either. Master is actually the Elder responsible for the Refinement Hall inside the sect. She said that she is in charge of the 2 earth mes that the sect has in its possession. When I asked master what are earth mes, she simply said that it''s something extremely precious for alchemists and formation masters alike, without exining anything else.''''
A stunned look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes when he heard Xie Xingyi saying that the Holy sect actually had 2 earth mes in its possession.
A few momentster, after calming down the upheavals in his heart, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi in front of him before he exined
''''Earth mes aren''t simple mes, but mes that are born from the essence of this world. They are special, extremely rare and powerful mes that alchemists and formation masters both need to find if they want to be stronger.
For an alchemist to even have a chance of creating a top-grade rank 6 pill, he needs to refine the pill using the power of an earth me.? Only then can the impurities from the medicinal herbs bepletely expelled, leaving behind the purest medicinal essence and allow the pill to be a top-grade rank 6 pill. Otherwise, without the use of an earth me, the chances of producing a top-grade rank 6 pill will be practically zero. Even a high-grade rank 6 pill will be difficult to refine without the assistance of an earth me.
As for rank 7 pills, it''s even harder. Without an earth me, an alchemist will usually be unable to refine anything above a middle-grade rank 7 pill, unless his cultivation has already reached the peak of the Dao Emperor realm!
This is why earth mes are considered to be treasures to every single high-grade alchemist.
Of course, this doesn''t mean that middle-grade rank 7 pills aren''t useful, but the difference between a middle-grade rank 7 pill and a high-grade or even a top-grade one is simply iparable.''''
As he finished exining the usage of the earth mes, Shun Long saw a look of realization dawning upon Liu Mei''s and Xie Xingyi''s faces as they seemed to have suddenly realized the value of an earth me.
If it was something that even high-grade alchemists needed to use, then the value of an earth me couldn''t be estimated. Thus, the Holy sect possessing 2 earth mes and having them sealed in the Refinement Hall was something that exceeded their expectations.
Of course, using an earth me to refine a pill didn''t mean that an alchemist would necessarily be able to refine a high-grade or top-grade rank 6 pill. It only meant that their chances would be higher during the pill refinement process.
Seeing that Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had both realized the importance of the earth mes Shun Long nodded his head, before he turned his eyes towards the beautiful blond-haired young woman in front of him and asked
''''Xingyi, is the Refinement Hall located within the inner court?''''
Shun Long already knew that the Holy sect was divided between the outer court and the inner court. Although he didn''t know the specifics, he knew that very few outer court disciples were allowed to step foot into the inner court.
At the same time, considering that he and Liu Mei had already walked through arge part of the outer court already, but he had yet to see the Refinement Hall in the outer court, it was very likely that it was located in the inner court instead.
Of course, since no one below the level of a Dao King would have a need to use an earth me, it made sense that most outer court disciples wouldn''t be aware of the existence of the Refinement Hall within the sect until they entered the inner court.
Indeed, Xie Xingyi nodded when she heard Shun Long''s question, before she replied in a gentle voice a momentter
''''Brother Long is right. Master said that the Refinement Hall is located within the inner court. However, ording to master, only the top 1000 outer court disciples on the Martial Roll of Honor, the members of the top 100 factions of the outer sect, or the personal disciples of an inner court Elder are allowed to enter the inner court. The rest of the outer disciples aren''t allowed to enter. However, if brother Long wants to enter the inner court and visit the Refinement Hall, I... will ask my master to allow it for you.''''
''''There is no need. I was just curious after hearing that the sect actually has 2 earth mes in its possession. Usually, alchemists will absorb the earth mes in their bodies and wouldn''t ce them in a ce where everyone can use them. After all, only by absorbing the earth mes inside their body could a cultivator allow the me to show its real strength!''''
Shun Long shook his head when he heard Xie Xingyi''s suggestion, but he still rejected it in the end.
Regardless, having an outer court disciple who isn''t even at the Dao King realm enter the Refinement Hall would draw too much attention even for him.
Although Shun Long wasn''t nning to stay lowkey inside the sect, showing his full talent as an alchemist was currently out of the question. At least until he reached the Dao King realm he had decided that he wouldn''t do so.
However, he had now met with another problem as well.
As it was right now, Shun Long had already reached the standards of a peak rank 2 gold grade alchemist and was already strong enough to concoct some of the moremon rank 6 pills. Even his soul sense which was his biggest limitation during the pill refinement was already strong enough for him toplete the refinement of a rank 6 pill without any issue.
At the same time, Shun Long estimated, that by the time that he broke through to the rank 6 of the Nascent Soul, he would also reach the standards of a peak rank 3 gold grade alchemist and be able to refine even the most difficult rank 6 pills.
However, without the use of an earth me, it would be extremely difficult for him to refine even high-grade rank 6 pills.? As for top-grade rank 6 pills, it would be nearly impossible. Thus, the truth was that Shun Long urgently needed an earth me.
Hearing that the Holy sect actually had 2 earth mes within the Refinement Hall made Shun Long unable to fully stop the waves of greed that were rising in his heart.
After all, every alchemist that met with an earth me would do everything they could to obtain it, and this was even more true for Shun Long. Although most of his memories regarding the earth mes were still sealed in his mind, Shun Long knew that if he could absorb an earth me and utilize it fully, not only would his skills as an alchemist would rise, but hisbat strength would see another leap forward as well, while he would have an extra trump card to use.
And yet, he also knew that there was no chance for the Holy sect to simply allow him to absorb either of the 2 earth mes in the Refinement Hall.
After all, it was unknown how many alchemists in the sect were eyeing those earth mes already.
As for allowing Xie Xingyi to bring him in the Refinement Hall and allow him to concoct his pills using the assistance of the mes, although that thought had shed through his mind for a moment, Shun Long quickly rejected it as well.
As a rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he shouldn''t even be able to refine a top-grade rank 5 pill just yet, let alone a rank 6. one
After all, ording to the normal standards, only those alchemists who had reached the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul stage could reach the standards of a rank 1 gold grade alchemist, while Shun Long had already be a rank 1 gold grade alchemist as soon as he broke through to the rank 3 of the Spirit realm.
Even as an extreme genius, this wasn''t something that could be easily exined even in a ce like the Holy sect that was filled with monster geniuses of all kinds.
Shun Long guessed, that even a genius alchemist of the Holy sect would only be able to refine a top-grade rank 5 pill at most if he was at the same cultivation stage as him, and he most likely wouldn''t be able to do that consistently either.
Xie Xingyi was excited when she saw Shun Long''s piqued interest the moment that she mentioned the earth mes, since she already knew that Shun Long wouldn''t usually show interest in most things.
Just from his tone alone, it was evident how interested he was in the earth mes.
However, she still felt somewhat disappointed in her heart when she realized that it was probably impossible to obtain the sect''s earth mes.
Almost as if he had guessed her thoughts, Shun Long''s expression slowly warmed towards her as he then said in a gentler tone
''''Xingyi, don''t think too much into it. Although earth mes are indeed rare, they aren''t impossible to find either. Additionally, if I really need to use an earth me to refine a rank 6 pill in the future, I will make sure to ask for your help to enter the Refinement Hall.''''
''''Mm!''''
Xie Xingyi nodded her head gently when she heard this as she stared at the young man in front of her with a look of determination inside her emerald-colored eyes.
After staying in Shun Long''s room for a few more minutes, Xingyi was a bit reluctant, but she still stood up with a somewhatplicated expression on her face, as she bade farewell and said that she woulde and visit Shun Long and Liu Mei again in a few days.
Without waiting for a response, her peerlessly beautiful face had already turned a light shade of red as she looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei next to him, before a veil of shadows covered her body as she then disappeared from Shun Long''s courtyard.
Chapter 499: Shun Long plays the guqin
Chapter 499: Shun Long ys the guqin
After staring at Xie Xingyi''s figure that had already disappeared from the room, Liu Mei turned her gaze towards Shun Long barely a momentter before she then asked
''''Long-ge, what do you think of Xingyi?
.. I am sure that Long-ge has noticed it already, but Xingyi seems to have developed feelings for you long ago. Actually, the truth is that if Long-ge really wants it, I won''t be against it either. After all, I have already spent a lot of time with Xingyi and it''s also obvious that she really likes Long-ge too. This is also why she joined Long-ge''s faction without any hesitation. So, instead of having someone else take her away in the future... it''s better if Long-ge takes her instead.''''
Shun Long was caught off-guard by Liu Mei''s sudden ''proposal'' causing his eyes to widen in the process, but he quickly regained a calm expression barely a momentter, as he looked at Liu Mei and smiled gently before he asked
''''Mei''er, isn''t it normally I who should say that I am interested in a girl instead of having you do it for me? Do you really want to ce another girl in our life?''''
Liu Mei could feel herself blushing when she heard Shun Long''s answer, as it indeed felt like she was trying to match Shun Long with Xingyi out of nowhere. However, a few momentster, the look in her eyes turned resolute as she said
''''If it''s someone who really cares about Long-ge then I won''t mind it too much...
But I am still selfish so I still want to be the one that Long-ge likes the most in the end!''''
Shun Long nodded his head while his lips curved up into a smile as he pulled Liu Mei into a hug and carried her to the bed behind him without responding directly to her ''request''.
Removing his outer sect robes Shun Long didn''t hesitate to unrobe Liu Mei as well, allowing his eyes to feast on her wless body once again.
The expression on Liu Mei''s face that was filled with love and gentleness when she looked at him which was contrary to her usual cold and indifferent expression that she showed to outsiders, only fueled to ignite Shun Long''s inner desires even further, as a feeling of lust filled his mind.
cing himself on top of Liu Mei, Shun Long''s hands moved directly towards her breasts and her 2 cherry-like nipples, fondling them and pinching them slightly, making Liu Mei let out moans of pleasure that she could no longer contain due to the intense stimtion.
At the same time, Shun Long''s hands didn''t stop, as his right hand moved downwards, starting to caress Liu Mei''s soft body, while his fingers explored every nook and cranny of hers without restraint.
A few momentster, the room was filled with sounds of pleasure and ecstasy thatsted for more than 3 hours until they started to slowly die down.
Lying on top of the bed with his face up, Shun Long turned his head to the side, to look at Liu Mei who had half her body ced on top of him and was staring at him with a look filled with love and infatuation on her face, as he then smiled and asked gently
''''Mei''er, do you want to hear a song?''''
''''A song... yed by Long-ge?''''
Liu Mei''s eyes instantly sparkled as she remembered the wooden guqin that Shun Long had purchased from the Golden Treasures Hall.
Liu Mei had thought that Shun Long had only purchased it because it was a treasure, and she didn''t think that he would try to y the instrument by himself.
After all, in the past 4 years, he had never shown an interest in any musical instrument.
Nodding his head, Shun Long put on his outer sect robes before he sat on his white cushion in front of the bed and faced Liu Mei before he waved his right hand.? A wooden, silver-colored musical instrument with 7 strings immediately appeared in front of him, bringing along with it a scent of vitality that quickly filled the room.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long''s attention was cedpletely on the ''Silverbark guqin'' in front of him, as his hands lightly touched the strings on the guqin''s surface.
No sound was produced when his fingers touched each of the icy strings created from the silk of a ''Frigid ice spider'', but the coldness of the strings produced a refreshing feeling that made Shun Long feel as if his mind had taken a dive inside a refreshing pool filled with cold water, instantly calming it down.
With his eyes still closed, Shun Long touched the first string of the guqin before he plucked it gently
Ping~
A beautiful sound instantly echoed throughout the room, making Liu Mei''s heart involuntarily tremble when she heard it.
It was only a single pluck of a string, and yet the note that it produced seemed to have been something that had already transcended this world!
This was unlike anything else that Liu Mei had ever heard in her life.
At that moment, as Shun Long held the guqin in front of him, Liu Mei felt that Shun Long''s aura had suddenly changed.
Peng~
Another sound followed soon after, as Shun Long''s fingers started to be more ustomed to the wooden guqin.
In the beginning, the movements of his hands were still somewhat stiff, creating a weird image of someone who was touching the guqin ''for the first time'', and yet was still producing wless notes that had already exceeded Liu Mei''s wildest imagination.
However, as his fingers kept plucking the strings, Shun Long no longer had to think as he yed, and instead he allowed his memories and the feelings inside him to all burst out at once, as his hands consecutively plucked the guqin''s strings.
At that moment, Liu Mei could suddenly feel herself plunging in a dream as an intense and almost irresistible feeling of tranquility filled her mind. The existence of everything else around her seemed to have slowly disappeared, as Liu Mei felt that the only 2 people left inside the entire Holy sect was herself and Shun Long who was ying the guqin in front of her with his eyes closed.
Without even trying to resist this feeling, Liu Mei allowed herself to fall into slumber while her eyes started to involuntarily tear up at the same time.
Chapter 500: A soothing melody
Chapter 500: A soothing melody
The sound of Shun Long ying the guqin quickly permeated the entire courtyard but it didn''t just stop there.
Barely a momentter, the disciples that were walking around Shun Long''s courtyard and even in the surrounding courtyards were all dazed and they were stopped in ce, as the indescribable, transcendent-like notes sounded in their ears as well.
Even though Shun Long''s courtyard had protective formations that didn''t allow sound toe in or go out and disturb the rest of the disciples so that they could cultivate in peace, the protective formations around the courtyard that could even block the full-powered attacks of early-stage Dao Kings, were actually unable to stop the sound of the guqin from spreading in the surroundings.
In just a few moments, every single one of the disciples in the surrounding courtyards, including those who had already reached the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul stage, had all fallen in a daze as they involuntarily drifted into slumber from Shun Long''s performance.
Even middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivators were actually unable to stop their minds from rxing before falling asleep.
In less than a minute, in this area of the sect where this cluster of courtyards was located, the only sound that could be heard was the melodious sound of the guqin that had already transcended this world.
At the same time, Shun Long wasn''t aware of anything that was going on in his surroundings, as his mind waspletely absorbed into ying the guqin.
It was only after nearly an hour had passed that the sound of the guqin finally stopped, and yet every single courtyard around Shun Long''s had fallen silent as the disciples inside them and those who were previously walking on the streets had fallen asleep and had yet to wake up.
Opening his eyes, Shun Long saw Liu Mei lying on the bed with a smile on her face and her eyes closed, while 2 streaks of tears had fallen from her eyes as they rolled down her cheeks.
The notes that Shun Long had yed just now didn''t correspond to a specific song from his memories. Instead, it was a song that he poured his own feelings into... a soothing beautiful melody that was aimed to calm Liu Mei''s heart.
Shun Long already knew that Liu Mei was having a hard time resisting the influence of the qi that she was absorbed with the Blood Absorption art. During her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, even with the pill that he had created by mixing the rank 5 ''Dream ash flower'' and the ''Icicle soul grass'' that he had obtained from their of the of rank 5 ''Snow apes'' in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'', he knew that Liu Mei would still have a hard timepleting her breakthrough.
So, after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage as well and unsealing some of his memories inside him, Shun Long had already decided to let Liu Mei hear him y the guqin and allow her to calm both her mind and her heart at the same time.
Shun Long already knew from his memories, that a cultivator who has enough insights to y a musical instrument well enough could even affect the psyche of other cultivators. With his own skills in music that had already reached the peak of the ''Immortal Dimension'' in the past, Shun Long was certain that as long as he was next to her, Liu Mei wouldn''t fall into qi deviation in the future unless somethingpletely out of his expectations happened.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long let Liu Mei sleep as he held the guqin in his hands and entered the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
However, as soon as he returned in this ce, Shun Long noticed that even Little Silver had fallen asleep in the process, as the ck panther slept next to Little ck.
At that moment, with his connection with Little Silver, Shun Long realized that the panther was on the verge of breaking through to the middle of rank 6!
For so long, Little Silver had stayed in the early rank 6 and was unable to breakthrough, even after consuming more than a thousand stalks of ''Dragonblood grass''. But as soon as he heard Shun Long ying the guqin, the ck panther was quickly swept asleep, while the condensed energy inside his body started to churn.
Unlike Little ck, Little Silver hadn''t restarted its cultivation from the start and was only a normal ''Silver-winged panther king''. Although such magic beasts were still considered rare, normally, an adult ''Silver-winged panther king'' would only reach the peak of rank 5 and would very rarely be an early rank 6 magic beast.? Being on the verge of a breakthrough to be a middle rank 6 magic beast was already something that other ''Silver-winged panther kings'' couldn''t even dream of. And yet Shun Long knew that unless he found some rare medicinal herbs, the beast cores of peak rank 6 magic beasts or the souls ofte-stage Dao Kings, it would be extremely tough for Little Silver to breakthrough again in the future and ever be a peak rank 6 magic beast.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long sat cross-legged on his usual seating spot, and after throwing one more look at the sleeping Little ck and Little Silver, he ced his ''Silverbark guqin'' by his side before he took out some middle-grade spirit stones and started to feed them to the Heaven Swallowing vine one after another.
He had decided to stay in seclusion for the next 2 days and try to breakthrough to the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, as well as purify the remaining balls of qi to bring them at the same level as well. After all, in 10 days, both he and Liu Mei as well as Jiang Chen and the rest would all leave the sect to go andplete 2 personal D-rank missions each, so bringing his strength to the peak before that to be able to deal with any unexpected circumstances was vital.
At the same time that Shun Long closed his eyes and started to absorb the energy of the pure qi from the Heaven Swallowing vine, the entire ''Enforcement Hall'' had already been riled up, as the enforcement disciples of the sect were already heard of the disciples that had fallen asleep on the streets of the sect and were furiously investigating the situation.
In the huge building of the ''Enforcement Hall'' located barely a mile away from the Assignment Hall''s location, the Elder responsible for the ''Enforcement Hall'', Elder Kang, stared at the ''Enforcement Hall disciples'' that were kneeling in front of him with a furious look on his face, as he roared angrily in a voice that shook the entire building while the aura of a peak Dao King exploded from his body at the same time
''''WHAT DID YOU SAY?!''''
-
Author''s note: I am thankful for every single one of you guys who are here in this journey with all of us. Happy 500 chapters! <3
Chapter 501: Stirring up the Enforcement Hall
Chapter 501: Stirring up the Enforcement Hall
The ''Enforcement Hall disciples'' that were kneeling in front of Elder Kang all trembled when they heard his furious voice, but the young man who was in charge of reporting this matter whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul, still took a deep breath before he said seriously
''''Elder Kang, it is like this; Many outer disciples were found unconscious on the streets near the area of the courtyards where the new disciples live. Although they have yet to wake up, none of those disciples seemed to have been attacked nor have they been poisoned, and it looks like they have simply lost consciousness for now.''''
The young man who reported this didn''t dare to raise his head and meet Elder Kang''s furious gaze, as he simply narrated everything that he knew.
He was simply unlucky enough to be the one who had to report things this time.
However, the look on Elder Kang''s face didn''t soften after hearing the report, and instead, the white-robed Elder looked at the disciples in front of him with the same cold look on his face before he asked in a mocking tone
''''None of them seem to have been attacked? Is that your excuse as a member of the Enforcement Hall? Do you im to haveprehended how every Dao and every unique physique works before you came to this assumption? More than a hundred outer disciples are unconscious on the streets, and you dare to say that they are simply unconscious? If you don''t investigate this and find out the reason behind this matter, every single one of you will be punished ordingly! Now scram!''''
Elder Kang''s tone had turned furious towards the end as his powerful voice and the unstoppable of a peak Dao King ended up shaking the entire Enforcement Hall!
The disciples of the Enforcement Hall all left the room in a hurry after hearing Elder Kang''s words, almost as if they had been pardoned, as they left the Enforcement Hall in a hurry.
As soon as they left the hall, the disciple that had to make the report to Elder Kang had a murderous look on his face as he said in a furious voice
''''I''m curious to see which idiot dared to attack other disciples in broad daylight like that! Tao Zheng, make sure to report to me immediately once any of those idiots wake up!''''
''''Yes leader!''''
At the same time that this discussion was taking ce among the disciples of the Enforcement Hall, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long was still sitting cross-legged on the ground as he kept feeding middle-grade spirit stones to the Heaven Swallowing vine, before it absorbed them and quickly filled the air around him with extremely pure qi.
A little more than 2 days soon passed like this, while 21 days had already gone by in the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' until Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
Raising his head with a smile on his face, Shun Long saw the 20 silver-colored balls of qi that were now floating inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as he had already entered the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul.
Since today was the day that Liu Mei''s master and disciple ceremony was going to take ce in the inner court, Shun Long didn''t stay inside the foggy space any longer, as he closed his eyes and simted himself returning back to his room.
After taking a shower and changing himself into a pair of clean, yellow-colored outer disciple robes, Shun Long opened the door of the room and saw Liu Mei on the courtyard, sitting on the Death Eater''s back with her eyes closed.
The enormous Death Eater was slowly walking around the courtyard, while an army of 60 undead knights and 1000 jade-white skeletons were marching behind it.
Noticing Shun Long''s presence, a brilliant smile soon formed on Liu Mei''s face as she waved her hand, allowing the Death Eater and the rest of her undead army to disappear before she flew towards Shun Long and greeted him warmly
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Mei''er, are you ready?''''
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei who had a dazzling smile on her face as she stared at him, while a bright look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes at the same time.
It was obvious that Liu Mei''s control over her undead army had increased significantly in these past 2 days.
The skeletons and the undead knights were now moving less raggedly and in an even more natural manner than before, while the Death Eater''s aura of madness and cruelty was also suppressed to a certain extent.
Of course, that didn''t mean that the Death Eater was weaker or less mad than before. Instead, Liu Mei was intentionally suppressing it for now, in order to increase her control over her undead army even further. After all, with her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, Liu Mei no longer treated her undead creatures as inanimate objects that she simply used to fight. Every single one of them felt no different than actual living creatures, even though they were obviously undead.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei took a step forward and hugged Shun Long before she gave him a kiss that was filled with love and joy as she then said
''''Long-ge, thank you!''''
Shun Long simply smiled in response as he used his right hand to gently brush Liu Mei''s hair.
He knew that the reason why Liu Mei was thanking him, was because of the guqin song that he had yed for her 2 days ago.
It was obvious that arge part of the difort that Liu Mei was feeling in the past from her ''Blood Absorption art'' had already disappeared as the guqin''s sound had cleansed her mind.
Without wasting any more time, Shun Long and Liu Mei then left the courtyard as they headed directly towards the north of the sect where the inner court was located.
Shun Long had already learned that the Holy sect was divided between the outer court where the outer disciples and the outer court Elders lived, and the inner court where the inner disciples and the inner court Elders stayed.
Normally, outer disciples wouldn''t set foot into the inner court unless there were some special circumstances. Of course, an inner court Elder like Elder Xuan Jiao epting a personal disciple was precisely one of those special circumstances.
Chapter 502: Intercepted?
Chapter 502: Intercepted?
However, the moment that he and Liu Mei stepped out of his courtyard and started to walk towards the inner court, Shun Long heard discussions among some of the surrounding outer disciples that made him suddenly stop into ce, while even Liu Mei''s expression changed into one of disbelief
''''Hey, did you hear about it? The Enforcement Hall disciples have already verified, that the person who attacked the disciples on the streets 3 days ago, was an expert who yed the guqin. Every single disciple who heard his guqin had fallen asleep, and they only woke up almost a full dayter!''''
''''That''s all you know? I heard that it''s not just the disciples that were walking on the streets during that time that they were affected by the guqin, but even some people who were cultivating inside their own courtyards. Every single one of them fell asleep,pletely unable to resist that feeling!''''
The second outer disciple had lowered his voice when he said this almost as if this was something that not many people knew of just yet.
''''What? How is this possible? The protective formations around the courtyards in this ce -even if they are the weakest among the entirety of the Holy sect- can even take on the full-powered attack of an early stage Dao King without any problem. Are you saying that the person who attacked those disciples has already exceeded the level of a Dao King?''''
The second outer disciple shook his head with an uncertain expression on his face before he replied
''''I am not sure... I actually heard that the protective formations around the courtyards weren''t even triggered by the sound of that guqin! I don''t know how that''s possible but it''s the truth! Additionally... the disciples who heard the guqin were not only unharmed in the end, but it seemed that their mental state even improved somewhat! However, the disciples of the Enforcement Hall are still looking for that person who yed the guqin, and I am not sure what they want to do with him!''''
Seeing Liu Mei turn her gaze towards him with a worrying look, Shun Long simply smiled and patter her head lightly, indicating for her that there was nothing to worry about, as they kept walking forward.
Of course, Liu Mei instantly understood that the person that these disciples were talking about and the person that the Enforcement Hall disciples were also looking for was obviously going to be Shun Long! After all, who else had yed the guqin 3 days ago and could possibly make everyone else rx and cleanse their minds, in the same way that Shun Long''s guqin did with Liu Mei?
Although Shun Long hadn''t even thought that the sound of his guqin would actually escape his own courtyard and would spread on the streets around it, let alone that it would spread into the surrounding courtyards, after barely a moment of thinking he realized that he had been negligent in this matter.
With his skill and his memories of the guqin from his previous life, and as someone who had already reached the pinnacle of ying the guqin in the ''Immortal Dimension'' in the past, even if his cultivation was still at the early stages of the Nascent Soul, how could the protective formations around the courtyard ever match the profoundness of the sound of his guqin?
This was a melody that even people in the Immortal Dimension couldn''t hear at will!
Even if these formations could actually block the full-powered attacks of early-stage Dao Kings, the sound of Shun Long''s guqin waspletely different.
After all, the profoundness hidden inside it wasn''t something that normal protective formations could block!
Of course, this didn''t mean that the sound of his guqin was actually stronger than the full-powered attack of a Dao King! Instead, it was the profoundness and the mystery of the magical sound that had already reached a level that was above this world!
As these thoughts appeared in his mind, Shun Long realized that it was only natural for the sound of his guqin to escape the confines of his courtyard and even be heard by the surrounding outer disciples instead.
Naturally, the effect that the guqin would have on those disciples who heard it, wouldn''t even be a tenth of the effects that it had on Liu Mei, but it was still something that allowed the people who heard it to benefit greatly.
As the 2 of them walked towards the inner court, Liu Mei could no longer contain her worry that had already covered her face, as she asked in a concerned tone
''''Long-ge, are you sure that it''s going to be alright? After all, in the Golden Treasures Hall a few days ago, there were plenty of disciples around us when Long-ge bought the silver guqin...''''
Hearing Liu Mei''s concerned voice, Shun Long smiled and held her hand as they walked forward, before he replied in a calm tone
''''Mei''er, don''t worry. Even if someone reported it to the disciples of the Enforcement Hall, it''s simply impossible for them to think that a disciple at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul could actually ignore the restrictions around the courtyards which can even block the attacks of Dao Kings. At most, it will definitely attract some more attention to me, but it''s nothing too important in the end. Even if people really learned about it, we are not going to stay lowkey inside the sect to begin with!''''
Liu Mei nodded her head gently while her left hand that was holding Shun Long''s tightened in response. No matter what Shun Long decided, even if he wanted to fight against the disciples of the Enforcement Hall in the end, Liu Mei would always stand by Shun Long''s side anyway.
Shun Long and Liu Mei kept walking towards the north of the outer court, and half an hourter, the gigantic gates that separated the outer court and the inner court soon appeared in Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s eyes.
The enormous ck gates were nearly 10 meters(33ft) tall, and were the only ce where one could pass through to enter the inner court. And yet, although the gates were wide-open, 2 disciples with yellow-colored robes and a badge with the words ''Enforcement Hall'' guarded it by both sides, not allowing anyone to step past it without permission.
However, before Shun Long and Liu Mei could even reach the gates of the inner court, 2 young men dressed in yellow robes both appeared in front of them and blocked their path at the same time!
Liu Mei''s eyes widened in shock, while Shun Long''s eyes narrowed, as they both recognized the 2 young men that appeared in front of them. The man in front of Shun Long was the prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang, while the young man in front of Liu Mei was the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' of the Night star continent, Zhong Fang!
Chapter 503: Intercepted (2)
Chapter 503: Intercepted (2)
Sheng Huang had a glimmer in his eyes as he stared at Shun Longpletely ignoring Liu Mei who was standing next to him, while a deep killing intent seemed to have involuntarily burst out from his body.
Liu Mei''s eyes narrowed when she saw this, andpletely ignoring the fact that Sheng Huang had already advanced to the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, she took a step forward while her entire body overflowed with the aura of Death. It was obvious that as long as Sheng Huang wanted to start a fight here, Liu Mei would happily oblige and take him on, even if her cultivation was 2 minor ranks lower than his.
Shun Long however simply shook his head and pulled Liu Mei back, and ignoring the silver-haired young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' that was standing by the side and was looking at him with a scornful look on his face, he focused his eyes on Sheng Huang as he asked coldly
''''Sheng Huang, what do you want? Don''t you know that a good dog doesn''t block the way?''''
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t nning on being polite with Sheng Huang. Putting aside the fact that Sheng Huang appeared out of nowhere and blocked his way, just from the fact that this was the second time that he had showed his killing intent towards him was enough for Shun Long to treat him like an enemy.
The killing intent in Sheng Huang''s eyes became even more apparent when he heard Shun Long''s provocative words, as he took a step forward and extended out his hand before he said
''''Shun Long, hand over the star-rank sword that you took from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' and I can let bygones be bygones between us. I know that you are definitely rted to the 2 people on that ck dragon who snatched the sword under my grandfather''s nose from the core of the vi! Refuse to hand it over and I will let the Elders of the sect know that you are rted to someone who is connected with a dragon! Even if the Elders of the Holy sect are all saints, I am sure that at least one of them will be interested in finding out the whereabouts of a living dragon! Hehehe, even if it''s just an outer court Elder that targets you, I am sure that you can imagine the results.''''
Liu Mei trembled in anger when she heard Sheng Huang''s tant ckmail attempt that was obviously trying to force Shun Long to hand over the ck sword that they had obtained from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' while the chubby Zhong Fang by Sheng Huang''s side simply smirked.
Of course, since neither of the 2 ck-robed people that were on the ck dragon''s back in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' hadn''t dared to fight against the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun, Sheng Huang had already assumed that any normal outer court Elder of the Holy sect could simply take care of them all the same. As long as they learned of the existence of a living ck dragon, Sheng Huang was certain that even if no inner court Elders actually did anything about it, at least 2 or 3 outer court Elders of the Holy sect would be interested in this.
And yet, Shun Long''s expression didn''t change as he kept staring at the prince of the Shengtian dynasty like he was looking at an idiot, and looking at Sheng Huang''s extended hand that was still waiting confidently for him to hand over his ck sword, Shun Long shook his head before he said in a mocking tone
''''Why would I give my own weapon to you? What do you think I am? Your father?
No, I doubt that even your father would actually give you a star-rank sword, even if he had one in his possession. Is this why you came here to beg uncle Shun Long? Stop begging and scram out of my way. Do you think I have so much time to waste on an idiot like you?''''
Sheng Huang''s eyes widened like saucers while even Zhong Fang could no longer help but have his expression change when he heard Shun Long''s mocking words that were obviously trying to anger Sheng Huang even further.
As for Liu Mei, although the aura of Death around her didn''t dissipate, a brilliant smile was formed on her lips as she couldn''t hold herughter back any longer.
Taking a step forward, Sheng Huang furiously took out his bronze-ted rank 3 gold-grade warhammer from his spatial ring and held it in front of him almost as if he was ready to attack as long as Shun Long said another word, while at the same time, his body was covered with the aura from his Dao of Destruction.
Barely managing to suppress himself from killing Shun Long on the spot, Sheng Huang took a deep breath before he asked coldly
''''Shun Long, do you really dare to refuse? Do you think I won''t inform the Elders of the sect about it? Hand over the star-rank sword or your life in the Holy sect will be more miserable than you can imagine!''''
''''Idiot, let alone that it''s useless to even dream of taking away something that belongs to me, even if I gave you the sword, do you think I would trust you with keeping your mouth shut?
Besides, you are not the only one who knows that there is a living ck dragon somewhere in the Night star continent. The hall master from the Demon Emperor Pce also knows it. Even if the Elders of the sect hear about it, do you think that they woulde and bother me instead? What are the chances that a normal outer court disciple would know about the whereabouts of a dragon in the first ce? Do you really think that a dragon would stay in the same ce if it senses danger? Instead of bothering me, the Elders would go directly to the Night star continent and search for him.''''
Chapter 504: Intercepted (3)
Chapter 504: Intercepted (3)
Sheng Huang''s expression finally changed as he seemed to have realized that Shun Long''s words were probably correct.
Indeed, as long as those Elders who were interested in a dragon heard that there is a living, breathing dragon somewhere in the Night star continent, they wouldn''t even bother with a small early-stage Nascent Soul outer disciple of the sect and would depend on their own resources to find his location.
Besides, the chances that Shun Long really knew the actual location of the dragon were most likely going to be nonexistent in the Elders'' eyes.
Taking a step forward, Shun Long appeared next to Sheng Huang who could barely hold himself back from attacking him with his warhammer and killing him in an instant, but Shun Long simply muttered a single word, as he and Liu Mei walked past the golden robed prince of the Shentian dynasty and the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' that were blocking his way, and towards the inner court gates in the distance
''''Idiots.''''
Sheng Huang''s face instantly turned bright red with anger, while even Zhong Fang''s chubby face had a murderous expression inside it, but in the end, they both allowed Shun Long and Liu Mei to keep walking forward while they stared at his back with a murderous look in their eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Zhong Fang looked at Sheng Huang before he said seriously
''''Brother Huang, there is no reason for us to be rash and fight against that brat. Right now although he is definitely unable to use his bloodline, his cultivation has most likely advanced to the early... no, to the middle of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul already. Although I don''t want to admit it, but even with your cultivation at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, you may not necessarily be able to defeat him. Besides, that kid may not ept a deathmatch challenge in the arena in the first ce!''''
''''What are you trying to say?''''
It was obvious that Sheng Huang was still irritated, as his tone held no trace of politeness when he responded to Zhong Fang, while his eyes were still glued on Shun Long''s and Liu Mei''s disappearing backs.
Zhong Fang''s eyes narrowed when he saw Sheng Huang snapping at him, but a smile was still formed on his lips barely a momentter as he shook his head and continued
''''Brother Huang seems to have misunderstood me. Although you may not be able to defeat that brat now, it doesn''t mean that you won''t be able to defeat him in the future either. As long as you manage to breakthrough to the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement, with your Dao of Destruction you will definitely be able to kill him without any issue. Even though Shun Long seems to also be a body refiner, he is still only at the peak of the fourth stage, making his body refinement cultivation essentially useless. Even if he breaks through to the early fifth stage in the future, he will still not be a match for brother Huang who will have definitely broken through again by then.''''
Sheng Huang''s eyes lit up with a bright light, while the murderous intentions inside his eyes only became even stronger! Indeed, as long as he broke through to the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement, Shun Long was as good as dead. Of course, he wouldn''t tell Shun Long about his breakthrough beforehand, and would simply kill him in one strike.
With both his body refinement cultivation and his Dao of Destruction, even Shun Long with his Dao of Space and his star-rank sword won''t be able to withstand a few strikes against him.
After all, Sheng Huang''s strongest attribute was his offensive ability!
As long as the 2 of them were trapped inside the arena in a deathmatch, Shun Long''s death would practically be assured.
At the same time, Shun Long simply smirked as he felt the dense killing intenting from Sheng Huang''s gaze behind him, as he and Liu Mei continued walking towards the inner court gates.
No matter what, he wouldn''t shy away from fighting against Sheng Huang to begin with. Since this prince of the Shengtian dynasty had not only shown killing intent against him twice already but had even eyed his ck sword and tried to threaten him, there was no way that Shun Long would allow him to stroll freely in the sect.
However, although Shun Long was certain that he was already stronger than Sheng Huang, in a situation where he wouldn''t easily expose his Dao of Time, he wouldn''t take this prince of the Shengtian dynasty -who had alreadyprehended the Dao of Destruction- lightly.
A few momentster, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already arrived in front of the inner court gates, when the 2 disciples of the ''Enforcement Hall'' that were guarding the gates took a step forward before one of them shouted
''''Halt! What are you doing here?''''
At the same time, the 2 disciples that were guarding the huge ck gates both burst out with their auras that were at the middle of rank 9 and the peak of rank 9 of the Nascent Soul stage respectively, ready to attack as long as Shun Long and Liu Mei tried to trespass within the inner court.
Waving her hand, Liu Mei took out a golden-colored token from her spatial ring and showed it to the 2 ''Enforcement Hall'' disciples in front of her, before she said in her usual apathetic voice
''''I am the personal disciple of Elder Xuan. I am here toplete the ''master and disciple'' ceremony with my master!''''
The 2 disciples of the ''Enforcement Hall'' both trembled barely a momentter as they stared at the golden token in Liu Mei''s hands that had the word ''Xuan'' on it, before they turned their eyes towards Liu Mei herself, while looks of disbelief had covered their faces.
Chapter 505: Senior sister?
Chapter 505: Senior sister?
The token in Liu Mei''s hands was obviously the personal token of the inner court Elder, Elder Xuan!
However, the two of them that were guarding the inner court''s entrance today, had already seen 4 other new outer court disciples that had been epted as personal disciples by inner court Elders and were going toplete their ''master and disciple ceremony'' with their respective masters. Could it be that there was going to be a fifth as well?
The ''master and disciple ceremony'' was extremely important in the cultivation world. Only after the ceremony waspleted would a disciple be formally considered a personal disciple. Otherwise, if there was no ''master and disciple ceremony'' between a master and his disciples, then those disciples can only be considered as in-name disciples at best.
Although in-name disciples usually received decent treatment from their masters and they would more often than not get some pointers in their cultivation as well, guiding them on how to progress in the future, they simply couldn''t bepared to the treatment that a personal disciple received.
A personal disciple would usually be able to cultivate using their master''s personal techniques, they would often receive pointers in their cultivation, and they would also get plenty of resources, including but not limited to spirit stones, Saint-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, high-grade pills or rare medicinal herbs, and even powerful weapons and protective artifacts!
It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that the status of an in-name disciple and that of a personal disciple were like the difference between the clouds and the mud.
After staying silent for a few moments, the 2 disciples of the Enforcement Hall both nodded their heads towards Liu Mei as they opened up a path for her, but the young man on the left looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''''Only the person who holds the personal token of an inner court Elder is allowed to enter the inner court! Stand back!''''
Shun Long didn''t respond to the young man from the Enforcement Hall, as Liu Mei''s eyes narrowed before she said seriously
''''Long-ge has already received permission from master to enter the inner court along with me. If you have a problem with it, you cane along with me and meet master yourself!''''
Without waiting for a response, Liu Mei who hadn''t let go of Shun Long''s hand took a step forward, as she walked towards the inner court''s gates.
''''This...''''
The 2 young men from the Enforcement Hall were both troubled when they heard this, as they turned to look at each other with uncertain looks on their faces.
Normally, they would never allow someone who didn''t hold the token of an Elder to enter the inner court, but if it was something that was personally allowed by an inner court Elder, they would be offending that Elder themselves.
Besides, although the disciples of the Enforcement Hall usually enjoyed a lofty status in the outer court, their status was still lower than that of a personal disciple of an inner court Elder. It was practically guaranteed that the personal disciples of the inner court Elders would also be inner court disciples in the future as well!
Thus, although the 2 of them wanted to stop Liu Mei, in the end, the young man on the right whose cultivation was at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul looked at the young man next to him, as he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice
''''If a problem really urs we will me that girl instead! If she really used the name of an Elder to sneak someone into the inner court, even Elder Xuan will not let her go like that.''''
The young man on the left nodded his head, as the 2 of them saw Shun Long and Liu Mei stepped past the huge gates and enter the inner court.
Liu Mei had a pout on her face as she looked at Shun Long before she said seriously
''''Hmph! They thought they could stop Long-ge froming with me? If they really insisted, I would go and bring master to teach them a lesson!''''
Shun Long smiled at the angry-looking Liu Mei who was obviously still in a bad mood due to their meeting Sheng Huang earlier, as he patted her head gently.
At that moment, as soon as Shun Long and Liu Mei entered the inner court, a young woman dressed in yellow robes who was standing a few meters away from their location actually approached them at full speed as soon as she spotted them, appearing in front of Liu Mei in the blink of an eye.
Even Shun Long was astonished by this woman''s speed, causing him to look at her for a few more moments with a serious look on his face.
This woman who looked to be in her mid-20s, whether it was her face or her body, she definitely had an above-average appearance.
As for her cultivation, from the auraing from her body, Shun Long instantly understood that this woman was at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul!
Her aura was even slightly stronger than the young man from the Enforcement Hall who was guarding the gates of the inner court just now as well.
For some reason, Shun Long could feel that although the woman in front of him was smiling, she was no different than a magic beast that was ready to attack at any moment!
This woman had a bright smile on her face she looked at Liu Mei, and taking a step forward, she affectionally held Liu Mei''s hands with her own before she said in a warm tone
''''Hehe, you must be our new junior sister, Liu Mei. You really had this senior sister wait for a long time today. Hehe, our master said that you are beautiful, but you are even more beautiful than I imagined!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Wei Yaling and I am a personal disciple of our master. Hehehe, you can call me senior sister Wei from now on!''''
Chapter 506: Dong Ai
Chapter 506: Dong Ai
Wei Yaling then took out a golden token from her spatial ring and showed it to Liu Mei with the same unchanging smile on her face, before she continued
''''Master sent me here to fetch you, junior sister. Hehehe, the truth is that master only has 4 personal disciples so far... well... 5 now that junior sister is also going to be one of us as well.''''
Nodding her head, Liu Mei''s expression finally softened somewhat after hearing Wei Yaling''s gentle tone and seeing the word ''Xuan'' on her token as well, proving that she was also a disciple of Elder Xuan, before she too held her own token in her hands showing it to Wei Yaling.
''''Senior sister, my name is Liu Mei and this is my husband, Shun Long!''''
Shun Long cupped his hands at Wei Yaling who in turn seemed to have shot him a curious look for a few moments, when a bright smile appeared on her face barely a momentter as she too cupped her hands in response.
Hearing the excited tone that was filled with unconcealed pride as Liu Mei introduced her husband to her, made Wei Yaling a bit curious about the young man in front of her. However, as a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage outer disciple and a personal disciple of an inner court Elder, she wouldn''t pay any attention to the new disciples that had just entered the sect. If it wasn''t because Liu Mei was going to be her new junior sister, it was very unlikely that Wei Yaling would even know of her name until she advanced in the rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor or if she became a member of one of the top 1000 factions.
Turning her eyes towards Liu Mei a momentter, Wei Yaling then said
''''Junior sister, let''s go! We shouldn''t make master wait for too long!''''
Liu Mei turned her eyes towards Shun Long who nodded his head in response, before they both followed Wei Yaling as they walked through the inner court.
A quarter of an hourter, their group arrived in front of a huge courtyard that was covered with many different flowers.
Turning around, Wei Yaling looked at Liu Mei with a smile on her face before she said
''''This is master''s residence in the inner court. Let''s enter inside.''''
Wei Yaling then ced the golden-colored token in her hands with the word ''Xuan'' on the entrance gates, as Shun Long then saw the gates slowly open as an enormous garden appeared in his and Liu Mei''s vision.
This garden was filled with countless trees and flowers, making it look like a ce meant for immortals inside the Holy sect.
However, what shocked both Shun Long and Liu Mei weren''t the many different trees and flowers around them. Instead, it was the extremely pure qi that had filled the courtyard.
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he realized, that the pure qi in this ce was barely inferior to the pure qi inside his foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' when he fed the Heaven Swallowing vine with middle-grade spirit stones!
With a proud smile on her face, Wei Yaling turned around to look at Liu Mei and Shun Long before she asked
''''Surprised? Master''s residence is indeed one of the best ces in the entire Holy sect. The pure qi in this ce is simply iparable to anything else I have ever seen as well! Even my own grandfather''s residence doesn''t have pure qi like master''s residence!''''
As she finished speaking, Wei Yaling didn''t look like she intended to exin anything else, as she led Liu Mei and Shun Long deeper inside Elder Xuan''s residence.
A few minutester, the 3 of them arrived in front of arge tree that seemed to have extended for hundreds of meters into the sky.
On top of the huge tree, a small but luxurious mansion that was covered with beautiful flowers seemed to have been built there, instantly attracting everyone''s attention.
Seeing Wei Yaling fly towards the flowery mansion, Liu Mei and Shun Long both followed after her as they appeared outside the mansion''s entrance.
Taking a deep breath, Wei Yaling had a solemn look on her face as she said in a serious voice
''''Master, disciple has returned. I have brought junior sister Liu with me as well!''''
''''Hehe,e inside then.''''
Elder Xuan''s gentle voice resounded in Shun Long''s ears, before Shun Long suddenly felt himself being covered by countless flower petals.
Shun Long noticed that the flower petals did not only block his vision, but even his soul sense waspletely suppressed.
And yet, this statested for barely a few moments before the flower petals slowly fell to the ground one by one, revealing the scene in front of his eyes.
At that moment, Shun Long saw that Liu Mei was standing by his left side while Wei Yaling had already taken a few steps forward standing next to a young woman behind Elder Xuan.
Elder Xuan Jiao took a step forward and quickly appeared in front of Liu Mei with that same gentle smile on her face, while her limpid ck eyes were staring at her with a satisfied look inside them.
As for the young woman in yellow robes next to Wei Yaling, she seemed to have been studying Liu Mei with a curious look in her eyes, while Shun Long could practically feel thepetitive spirit that was burning inside them.
And yet, Liu Mei only threw a look at that young woman for a few moments, before she turned her attention towards Elder Xuan that was standing in front of her.
The beautiful middle-aged Elder who had her ck hair tied in a ponytail looked at Liu Mei and smiled before she introduced the 2 women behind her
''''Hehe, little Mei, these 2 are your senior sisters from now on, but even though they are your senior sisters, your status is actually the same as theirs. You have already met with Yaling on your way here so I don''t need to introduce her. As for the girl next to her, hehe, her name is Dong Ai, and just like you, she entered the sect recently as well... just a few months ago.''''
Chapter 507: Dong Ais outburst
Chapter 507: Dong Ai''s outburst
Dong Ai puffed out her chest when she heard this while her gaze was fully focused on Liu Mei, almost as if she was studying this new ''junior sister'' of hers.
As for Liu Mei, she also stared at this new ''senior sister'' of hers for a few moments with her usual apathetic gaze, before she turned her attention back to Elder Xuan who was standing in front of her barely a momentter.
Even though Dong Ai had a look in her eyes that was saying ''I am superior to you in every way and you have nothing else but looks to show off in front of me'', Liu Mei didn''t care about this challenging look in her newly acquired senior sister''s face at all.
Elder Xuan''s lips curved up into a smile when she saw this scene, but she didn''t seem to be willing to solve a quarrel between her 2 newest personal disciples, as she turned around and sat towards the main seat of the hall.
With a gentle look on her face, she looked at Liu Mei before she said with that same, warm smile on her face
''''Little Mei, the ''master and disciple ceremony'' is very simple. All you have to do is pour a cup of tea for your master and offer it sincerely. As long as your master epts the cup and drinks the tea, you will formally be epted as a personal disciple.''''
Nodding her head, Liu Mei turned her eyes towards Shun Long for a moment, before she stepped forward, towards the already prepared cup of tea on the simple-looking, wooden table by Xuan Jiao''s side.
Holding the cup with both hands Liu Mei then carried it towards Xuan Jiao''s seat, before she kneeled down on both knees and offered it sincerely to her master.
Elder Xuan didn''t conceal her expression of joy and approval that she had on her face, as she elegantly received the cup with both hands and drained it in one gulp.
Her limpid ck eyes then looked at Liu Mei who was by her side before she said smilingly
''''Little Mei, stand up! Hehe, this elder sister is very proud to get a disciple like you.''''
When Elder Xuan said this, Shun Long noticed the yellow-robed Dong Ai''s expression turn angry for a moment while a glint appeared in her eyes that she managed to quickly conceal, while even Wei Yaling''s lips twitched slightly for a second.
With her usual ice-cold expression that had softened ever-so-slightly as she looked at her master, Liu Mei stood up and bowed to Elder Xuan as the final part of the ''master and disciple ceremony''.
''''Hehe, since I have epted a new disciple, it''s only fair that I will give you a small weing gift as well.''''
Using both of her hands, Elder Xuan then carefully removed a small pendant that she was wearing on her neck, and handed it to Liu Mei under Dong Ai''s and Wei Yaling''s stunned eyes.
''''Master!''''
''''Sigh, Junior sister is really lucky to be favored by master like this!''''
Dong Ai was the first one to speak, as she looked at the small pendant in Elder Xuan''s hands with an unconcealed expression of jealousy on her face, while even Wei Yaling couldn''t hide her envy as her words implied that their master clearly favored Liu Mei more than them.
After hesitating for a moment, Liu Mei extended her hand, epting her master''s gift, before her eyes widened barely a momentter.
Just from the qi fluctuationsing from the pendant in her hands, although Liu Mei didn''t know what it was used for, it was obvious that it was an extremely rare treasure.
Of course, something that Xuan Jiao was wearing on her person couldn''t be something of no value to begin with!
Staring at the beautiful middle-aged woman in front of her who was still smiling warmly, Liu Mei bowed before she replied with a tone filled with gratitude
''''Thank you, master!''''
Even Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at Xuan Jiao, agreeing that this was how a master who valued their disciples should act.
Inparison to Liu Mei''s father who could be considered half of Liu Mei''s master and had only given her a half-assed cultivation technique as well as that martial skill that could create an ice pir even though she was his own daughter, it was obvious that Xuan Jiao valued Liu Mei much more.
Even though he hadn''t touched it himself, just from the mysterious runes and patters on the pendant''s surface, as well as the powerful qi fluctuations that wereing from it, Shun Long could urately judge that it was most likely a defensive treasure that one couldn''t buy with sect points inside the sect.
''''Hehe, no need to thank me. Didn''t I say it already? This is just a weing gift for my youngest disciple.''''
As she finished her words, Elder Xuan turned her eyes towards Dong Ai and Wei Yaling before she said seriously
''''Do the 2 of you really want topare your assets with someone like Liu Mei?''''
''''But master... even I didn''t receive such a rare wee gift from ma-''''
''''Junior sister, shut up!''''
As soon as she heard Elder Xuan''s words, Dong Ai was the first one to step forward andin, but surprisingly Wei Yaling''s expression seemed to have suddenly changed as she snapped at her. And yet, the beautiful yellow-robed young woman''s expression turned even uglier when she heard this, as she looked at Wei Yaling and said angrily
''''Shut up? Why should I? Senior sister Wei, who do you think you are to tell me to shut up? Besides, I am only saying the truth here! Neither I nor anyone else aside from eldest senior sister has ever received such a weing gift from master, so why should she get master''s pendant?''''
Finally, Elder Xuan''s expression changed, and as the look in her eyes chilled, the entire room suddenly turned freezing cold as Xuan Jiao''s piercing gaze fell on Dong Ai''s body that had suddenly stiffened.
Chapter 508: Elder Xuans real reason
Chapter 508: Elder Xuan''s real reason
''''Ai, you dare to question my decision? Do you actually believe that I treated you unfairly 2 months ago when I handed you aplete Saint middle-grade cultivation technique as a weing gift?''''
''''Master... that is not what I meant! But-''''
''''Not what you meant? What you meant was clearly that the value of Mei''s gift was above yours isn''t it?''''
Dong Ai immediately fell silent when she heard this as she nodded her head with an unresigned look in her eyes. Indeed, in her eyes, the value of aplete Saint middle-grade cultivation technique was nowhere near close to the value of the pendant that Liu Mei just received from their master.
However Elder Xuan''s eyes only turned colder when she saw her disciple''s reaction before she continued
''''Ai, youined about neither you nor any of your senior sisters aside from your eldest senior sister have ever received such a weing gift from me, but you didn''t even stop to think what kind of background do you and Yaling reallye frompared to Mei!
Both you and Yalinge from influential families and are even the direct descendants of your own family line! You have been showered with the best resources ever since your birth and you still dare toin that my treatment towards you wasn''t equal in value?!
In that case, let me ask you, Ai! What did you do with the Saint middle-grade cultivation technique that I gave you? Did you only keep it for yourself or did you share it with your family instead?''''
Dong Ai''s face immediately paled when she heard this, as she lowered her head and said
''''I... I shared it. But master... even if I shared it, it is still not as valuable as master''s pend-''''
''''Enough! Of course I knew that you would share it with your family and that in turn, your family would reward you for it. After all, practically every single influential family that is adjacent to our Holy sect sends its descendants and disciples here, in hopes that they will be stronger.
Did you think that I didn''t know how valuable a Saint middle-grade cultivation technique is to a family? Even if your family has 10 Saint low-grade cultivation techniques, I know that you at most will have 1 or 2 that have reached the middle grade!
And yet I still gave you the technique without forbidding you from sharing it with your family since that was my weing gift to you!
How many spirit stones, protective artifacts and rare pills did your grandfather give you to reward you for bringing home a Saint middle-grade cultivation technique? Even if it wasn''t at the value of Mei''s pendant, it''s still not too far off either!''''
Seeing the regretful look that slowly appeared on Dong Ai''s face, Elder Xuan''s cold expression slowly softened as she shook her head and said
''''Questioning your master is not something that is taken lightly! Even more so when you feel jealousy for your junior sister!''''
''''Yes master!''''
Dong Ai lowered her gaze as she responded, not daring to meet Elder Xuan''s eyes any longer.
''''Master... I apologize. I also felt some envy in my heart when I saw master giving your pendant to junior sister. If master punished Ai, then I should be punished too. Junior sister... I apologize!''''
Dong Ai raised her head in surprise but she still shook it defiantly barely a momentter, almost as if she was unwilling to ept Wei Yaling''s ''charity'', while Liu Mei had the same cold expression on her face as she nodded her head, epting Wei Yaling''s apology.
Being envious after seeing something that you want being given to someone else wasn''t easy, and this was something that Liu Mei also understood herself as well, so it wasn''t hard for her to ept Wei Yaling''s apology.
At the same time however, Elder Xuan''s cold expression hadn''t disappeared from her face after hearing Wei Yaling''s words, as she replied seriously
''''Since I epted Mei as my disciple today and I also don''t want a chasm to be formed among yourselves for such a reason, there will be no punishment this time. However, I want you to remember that being senior and junior sisters should be a rtionship that goes beyond material needs. It should be a form no different from blood-rted sisters!''''
Turning her attention towards Liu Mei, Elder Xuan''s gaze turned gentle as she looked at the small pendant in her hands and started to exin in a gentle tone, almost as if she wasn''t speaking to Liu Mei but her own child instead
''''Little Mei, this pendant was something that I got from my master as a present, and I am now handing it to you. This is a protective artifact that I have been carrying with me for many years. It can protect you twice from the attack of anyone at the Dao Emperor realm and below. Even if you are attacked by someone who is at thete stages of the Dao Emperor realm, this pendant will still save your life twice. As for the specifics, since I never had the heart to use it, I can''t tell you how it works.''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he heard the description of the pendant and was surprised by how valuable it actually was, while Dong Ai had an even more fervent look in her eyes as she stared at it, almost as if she was staring at a treasure that she couldn''t lose no matter what. As for Wei Yaling, she nodded her head, but there was still a shocked look in her eyes, almost as if she hadn''t expected it to be this valuable after all.
Wei Yaling and Dong Ai already heard that in the past, their master had given a peak rank 1 star weapon to their eldest senior sister when she epter her as a disciple.
Although they were descendants of powerful families, neither of the 2 girls was qualified to hold a peak rank 1 star weapon. After all, the difference between a normal rank 1 star weapon and a peak rank 1 was much bigger than one could imagine.
As for Liu Mei, she bowed deeply, epting her master''s gift while thanking her.
However, Elder Xuan Jiao simply shook her head and waved her hand before she continued
''''Little Mei, do you remember what I told you 3 days ago? I said I am the only Elder in the entire sect that can help you with your control of your Dao of Death, and that there was a reason behind that! Although I haven''tprehended the Dao of Death, I know that it is an extremely dangerous Dao, one that is practically impossible to be traversed fully! I know that because my master had alsoprehended the Dao of Death herself!''''
Chapter 509: Xuan Jiaos master
Chapter 509: Xuan Jiao''s master
Elder Xuan''s words were like a bolt of lightning that shocked even Wei Yaling and Dong Ai who were obviously unaware of this piece of news as well.
However, the most shocked out of everyone else was clearly Shun Long followed by Liu Mei.
He already knew from Little ck that the difficulty inprehending the Dao of Death, regardless of ones cultivation level was extremely tough.
One had to practically enter a state that was almost dead and yet not dead, while they managed to survive being grabbed by the Hand of Death as they peered through the Death Abyss.
Only after those conditions were sessfully met would one be able to truly startprehending the Dao of Death.
Even in the Immortal Dimension, the Dao of Death was considered an extremely special Dao due to its mortality rate and the difficulty that one needed to have inprehending it. After all, regardless of whether one was a Heaven stage cultivator or an expert that had reached the Dao Emperor realm, the danger inprehending the Dao of Death was the same! In front of death, everyone was equal.
Thus, hearing that Xuan Jiao''s master had actuallyprehended this Dao made Shun Long stare at the beautiful middle-aged woman with a stunned look on his face. Although he knew that Liu Mei wasn''t the only person in this world who hadprehended the Dao of Death, hearing that Xuan Jiao''s master was simr to her was really too big of a coincidence.
''''No, perhaps it''s not a coincidence. After all, Elder Xuan clearly approached Mei''er because she knew that she hasprehended the Dao of Death.''''
As he reached this conclusion, Shun Long stared at the white-robed Elder who was standing in front of Liu Mei with a curious look in his eyes as he waited for her to continue exining.
Indeed, Elder Xuan didn''t let him down, as she stared at him for a moment and smiled before she turned her attention towards Liu Mei and spoke with a gentle smile on her face, one that was clearly reminiscing of certain scenes in her mind
''''My master was an expert that had reached the very pinnacle of the Dao Emperor realm, someone who could walk through thend unafraid of nearly every other Dao Emperor realm expert. In front of master and her undead army, only the strongest Dao Emperor realm experts even dared to raise their heads!
Even the martial skill that you obtained from the Barrier of Knowledge, the ''Death''s chant'', it''s a martial skill that master created herself after a lot of pain and effort.
Hehe, master would surely have been very happy if she knew that I obtained a disciple who hasprehended the same Dao as her.''''
Shun Long and Liu Mei, and even Wei Yaling and Dong Ai all clearly understood, that Elder Xuan''s tone was one filled with manyplicated emotions, including sadness, grief, mncholy, regret, and yet also longing, admiration, respect and familial love.
At that moment, they also understood from Elder Xuan''s words that her master had most likely already perished.
Without bothering to mask any of her emotions, Elder Xuan looked at Liu Mei as if she was looking at her own child as she continued
''''However, although master had reached the peak of the Dao Emperor realm, like every other cultivator she couldn''t remain stranded to her level forever as she longed to reach the peak of the world. After all, even after knowing how tough every subsequent breakthrough bes in the future, cultivators are attracted like moths to a me, as they do their best to be even stronger and live forever.
So, one day, master decided to try and breakthrough to the level above the Dao Emperor realm! However, as fate would have it master failed her breakthrough, causing her soul to scatter in the end.''''
Although Elder Xuan tried to say this with the most gentle tone, almost as if she was a mother who was telling a story to her own children, allowing Dong Ai and Wei Yaling to listen from the side, the warm tears that rolled down her cheeks betrayed her inner heart that was clearly in pain.
And yet, no one dared to interupt this powerful Dao Emperor who continued speaking barely a momentter
''''My master was my only family, the person who raised me from nothing and gave me everything in this world. Even though I wanted to try and cultivate in the same Dao as master, she always forbid that without a second thought, saying that the Dao of Death isn''t something you can consciously cultivate, but instead it is only a small chance that you need to be very lucky to grasp.''''
Shun Long listened attentively at Elder Xuan''s words, but he didn''t agree with thest part of her master''s words. He already knew from Little ck, that in the Immortal Dimension, there was a crazy powerful family who had every single one of its disciples and descendants cultivate in the Dao of Death.
Of course, it also wasn''t wrong to consider the Dao of Death a ''lucky Dao'' that only the few really ''lucky ones'' could survive from andprehend in the end.
Unable to notice the almost non-existent change in Shun Long''s expression, Elder Xuan who still had her eyes entirely focused on Liu Mei then continued
''''The reason why I said that I could guide you through your control of the Dao of Death was precisely because master imparted with me her knowledge and experience. Although she forbid me from ever trying to cultivate in this Dao, she hoped that her experience could prove useful to me, and perhaps even allow me to breakthrough to the level above the Dao Emperor realm in the future.
So little Mei, I will tell you everything that my master taught me about the Dao of Death, so pay close attention to it. After all, even though your fate said that you have hopes of bing an immortal in the future you do not understand the dangers of the Dao of Death just yet. But before that, the rest of you can all get out!''''
Chapter 510: The balance of the sects territories
Chapter 510: The bnce of the sect''s territories
Neither Dong Ai nor Wei Yaling were surprised after hearing that Liu Mei''s fate held some chances of bing an immortal. After all, nearly every single disciple in the top 100 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor possessed an immortal fate as well, and even Dong Ai and Wei Yaling also had immortal fates too, and the same went for their 2 senior sisters that weren''t present today.
Of course, if the 2 girls knew that Liu Mei''s fate had actually created a tiny crack on the ball of fate during her test, then their expressions would definitely bepletely different than they are right now.
After all, the news of Liu Mei cracking the ball of fate and Shun Longpletely shattering it had only started to spread throughout the Holy sect recently, and the most powerful outer disciples wouldn''t pay any attention to such news while even those who heard it would treat it as nothing more than a baseless rumor.
How could the sect''s ball of fate shatter so easily after all?
However, what the 2 girls were most surprised about, was when they heard Elder Xuan expelling them all from the room and keeping only Liu Mei inside. Without so much as even the slightest ability to resist, the 2 girls and even Shun Long were all sent outside the mansion, staring at the luxurious mansion on the huge tree in front of them withplicated expressions in their eyes.
Only Shun Long had a calm look in his eyes as he sat down cross-legged on the ground and waited for Liu Mei toe out.
Stomping her foot down angrily, Dong Ai stared at the mansion on therge tree in front of her as she asked angrily
''''Why did we have to leave? Aren''t we all martial sisters? Why does Liu Mei get to be the only one who hears more things about master''s master instead?''''
Wei Yaling looked at her junior sister and shook her head before she said in a disappointed tone
''''I also wanted to hear more about it, but it''s only natural that master wouldn''t permit us to do so. After all, Liu Mei hasprehended the same Dao as our grand master so it''s only normal that master allows her to learn more about it.
Besides... junior sister, you clearly understand that master is definitely going to dote more on junior sister Mei than she does with you or me. In her eyes, junior sister Mei is probably the same as eldest senior sister!''''
Shun Long opened his eyes when he heard this, as he stared at the 2 women next to him who were discussing things between them without caring about his presence.
Dong Ai''s expression turned even uglier when she heard her senior sister''s words, as she stared at him with an angry look in her eyes before she responded angrily
''''This is unfair! Coming from a powerful background should have been something that should make master happy for her disciples and not wary! Doesn''t it simply mean that we can get stronger faster when wee from powerful ns or families that are willing to support us instead of being rogue cultivators without any backing and resources? Why should master simply favor.. junior sister Mei more than us then?''''
Although Dong Ai''s tone was angry, it was obvious that she also understood what Wei Yaling meant by this but she simply wasn''t willing to ept this. At the same time, she struggled to say the words ''junior sister Mei'',? but she still did so in the end.
Shaking her head however, Wei Yaling didn''t even look at her junior sister any longer, as she turned her eyes towards Shun Long and said seriously
''''Actually, this is not a secret, which is why neither I and junior sister Ai don''t care if you hear about it from us or not. The reason why master is so happy to take on junior sister Mei as her disciple isn''t only because junior sister hasprehended the same Dao as our grand master. Although that was definitely important for master''s decision, I believe that master would still try to take junior sister Mei as a disciple even without her havingprehended the Dao of Death either.
The reason behind that is because, the Elders of the sect will always prefer to take on talented disciples that don''t have a powerful background rather than those whoe from powerful forces.
Of course, it''s not because the Elders are looking down on those disciples whoe from powerful ns or families like junior sister Ai''s ''Dong n'' or my ''Wei family''. Instead, it''s because those ns and families are already part of the Holy sect and are under the direct influence of the sect as well. So if an inner court Elder like master ends up favoring me or junior sister Ai more, I am sure you can imagine how the bnce of power would change among the powers that are governed by the Holy sect if one family has the support of an inner court Elder.
However, that is also extremely hard for the Elders as well, as the disciples who belong to the powerful families are almost always the most talented ones as well, so the inner court Elders end up taking them as disciples in the end regardless of them being part of a powerful family or not.''''
Shun Long seemed to have just realized a huge part of the internal situation of the Holy sect after hearing Wei Yaling''s words, as many thoughts shed through his mind at the same time
''''So this is why Mei''er, Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Longtian were all epted by the Elders so quickly.
Since their talents are exceptional and they don''te from any powerful families or ns of the central region, it''s only natural that the Elders will look to snatch them away and take them as personal disciples. After all, if they were toote to make their move, it''s possible that some of the ns or families adjacent to the sect would do so as well. Hmm, what about me though? Is it because I destroyed the ball of fate that I wasn''t approached by any Elder? Regardless, the Elders should still think of me as a potential seedling that they should be willing to nurture as well...''''
Chapter 511: Dong Ais provocation
Chapter 511: Dong Ai''s provocation
Shun Long was baffled by the Elders'' decision to not approach him just yet and try to take him as a personal disciple, especially considering the fighting prowess that he had showed during the fourth test and his immortal-grade bloodline that he had also revealed!
At the same time, he also managed to guess another thing that caused his eyes to widen in realization
''''If even the inner court Elders of the sect need to be wary of the powers that are under the sect''s influence and don''t want to favor any of them tantly, then the strength behind those powers is definitely nothing to scoff at! Even if those ns and families can''t match the strength of the entire Holy sect, they are definitely strong enough to rival the power of some inner court Elders, otherwise the Elders wouldn''t be so wary to ept disciples of those powers in the first ce!''''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long stared at the 2 young women next to him, only to hear Dong Ai''s mocking voice resound in his ears at the same time
''''Hehe, since you haven''t gotten picked by an Elder like your wife, it can only mean that you are a weakling, or at the very least, not someone who deserves the Elders'' attention. I am curious what junior sister Mei sees in you. Maybe she will leave you now that she became apprenticed to master and won''t look to carry a dead weight with her any longer. Hehehe, how tragic would it be to have such a beautiful wife only to have her leave you in the end!''''
Shun Long understood that Dong Ai''s spiteful words were only trying to create a chasm between himself and Liu Mei, as her venomous tongue tried to put the seeds of doubt in his heart.
However, what Dong Ai didn''t know was that it was useless to try and shake Shun Long''s confidence in the first ce.
Putting aside the fact that Dong Ai was simply unaware of his talent and real strength, even if he was a weakling and a ''dead weight'', Shun Long was still certain that Liu Mei wouldn''t leave him even if that was the case.
If Liu Mei was really someone like that, both himself and Little ck would have realized that long before they met Dong Ai.
Spending thest 4 years of his life with Liu Mei and going through countless life and death experiences, wasn''t something that Dong Ai could simplye and destroy with her ignorant words.
Shun Long simply shot Dong Ai a mocking look in response, making her narrow her eyes in the process as she looked at him.
As for Wei Yaling, although she heard this as well, she wasn''t going to get into a fight with her junior sister over her insulting Shun Long.
Even though Shun Long was Liu Mei''s husband, it wasn''t worth getting into a fight with her junior sister for his sake to begin with.
And yet, the mocking look on Shun Long''s face only caused an evil smirk to form itself on Dong Ai''s lips as she then continued
''''Do you really think that junior sister would be willing to be with you just because of your barely-passable face? Hehe, although I don''t want to admit it, junior sister Mei is indeed extremely beautiful. Do yourself a favor and give up on her and walk away. Now that she is a disciple of an inner court Elder, you two don''t belong in the same world anymore. Hehe, perhaps some powerful senior brother will be interested in her and take her as his wife instead!''''
At that moment, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly narrowed as he stared at the woman in front of him with a cold gaze, before he shook his head and responded in a frosty, yet mocking tone
''''Don''t judge everyone by your own low standards and don''t try to provoke me either, otherwise the moment that I step into thete stages of the Nascent Soul... I will squash you like a bug.''''
Wei Yaling''s eyes widened at Shun Long''s arrogant words that held no hints of politeness even when he was facing a personal disciple of an inner court Elder inside her own master''s residence, while Dong Ai suddenly burst outughing as she said mockingly
''''HAHAHAHA! You, an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage rookie will squash me like a bug? I wonder how you even managed to pass the sect''s test with such a trash cultivation level in the first ce! By the time you step into thete stages of the Nascent Soul, I may have even reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage instead. Fool! I don''t even put an idiot like you in my eyes in the first ce!''''
Wei Yaling also shook her head as she realized that Shun Long''s words that were obviously ''trying to gain back some face'' in her eyes, were actually nothing more than a joke in reality.
He had obviously sensed Dong Ai''s cultivation at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul, and yet he still dared to say something like that.
''''Just from the fact that junior sister Ai is a personal disciple of an inner Elder should have made him realize the difference between them from the beginning. Challenging someone like junior sister Ai is no different than courting death. Hmph, I suppose he is really counting on junior sister Mei''s strength in the end.''''
As she came to this conclusion, Wei Yaling simply closed her eyes, not bothering to care about the 2 of them any longer.
And yet, Shun Long simply refused to entertain Dong Ai either, as he turned his gaze towards the luxurious mansion in the end.
Although Shun Long was originally not going to respond to Dong Ai -even though she was obviously trying to provoke him- since he didn''t want to worsen Liu Mei''s rtionship with this senior sister of his, it was obvious that Dong Ai didn''t care about Liu Mei at all and only had feelings of jealousy towards her, from the moment that Liu Mei received her master''s pendant.
Elder Xuan kicking them out from the room and only allowing Liu Mei to stay inside as she shared her information regarding the Dao of Death with her, only made the negative feelings in Dong Ai''s heart unable to find an outlet, as she immediately set her sights on Shun Long and decided to make him her target and force him to leave Liu Mei.
Time passed like this as absolute silence filled Shun Long''s and the 2 women''s surroundings, until an hourter, a white-robed Elder Xuan along with Liu Mei finally appeared in front of the mansion''s gates.
Chapter 512: Nipping in the bud
Chapter 512: Nipping in the bud
''''Long-ge!''''
Liu Mei eximed with a smile on her face as shended on the ground and ran towards Shun Long''s direction.
''''Master.''''
''''Master!''''
Wei Yaling and Dong Ai spoke at the same time as they turned their attention towards Elder Xuan in the sky who was covered by many colorful flower petals as she stared at Liu Mei with a doting look in her eyes.
''''Sigh. Little Mei, It looks like even your master isn''t anything in your heartpared to her ''Long-ge''.''''
''''Master...''''
''''Hehe, don''t worry my cute disciple I was just joking with you. Of course it''s normal for someone to ce their Daopanion above everyone else.''''
Elder Xuan then turned her attention towards Dong Ai and Wei Yaling before she said seriously
''''Remember that no matter what, all 5 of you are martial sisters right now and you share the same master. If one of you needs help in the future, the rest of you should do everything you can to help her. Also, feeling envy towards your junior sister when you are descendants of the Dong n and the Wei family, two of the strongest ns and families in the territory of the sect, is not something that I will tolerate!''''
It was obvious that Elder Xuan''s words were mostly aimed towards Dong Ai who was still feeling aggrieved that Liu Mei got the pendant instead of her. Thus, she wanted her to understand that, as her master, she was not willing to tolerate this spoiled behavior of hers. After all, whether it was her current strength, background, or even her influence in the outer court right now, Dong Ai simply exceeded Liu Mei in every aspect.
However, even though she was a member of the Dong n and her cultivation had already reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul, it didn''t necessarily mean that Dong Ai would certainly be stronger than Liu Mei in the future even if she had more resources than her on hand right now.
After all, Liu Mei was someone who hadprehended the same Dao as her own master, the Dao of Death! Elder Xuan already knew some things about the terror of this Dao, and she didn''t want her 2 youngest disciples to be at odds with each other simply because of pettiness and envy.
Even if they couldn''t work together, she didn''t want them to be enemies at the very least, since she knew that it wasn''t umon for disciples of the same master to end up killing each other over a quarrel.
Whether she lost Liu Mei or Dong Ai, that wasn''t a sight that Elder Xuan was willing to see in the future so she decided to destroy such thoughts from the very beginning!
Dong Ai nodded her head a momentter as she looked at Elder Xuan, but her eyes still glimmered with a bright light.
As for Liu Mei, she was somewhat surprised when she heard her master''s words, as she looked at Elder Xuan and asked curiously
''''Master, I remember that senior sister Wei also mentioned that master had 4 personal disciples before me. But...''''
Elder Xuan clearly understood what Liu Mei meant. Since she had 4 personal disciples, it shouldn''t only be Wei Yaling and Dong Ai who were present here today.
Shaking her head, the beautiful white-robed Elder had an apologetic smile on her face as she replied
''''Your master is sorry little Mei. I know that you should have met your 2 senior sisters today during your ''master and disciple ceremony'', but your 2 senior sisters are both inner court disciples who are outside of the sect in an important sect mission. However, you will be able to meet them in a few months from now. Hehe, I am sure that your eldest senior sister would be very happy to meet you as well.''''
With a deep look in her eyes, Elder Xuan then turned her attention towards Shun Long before she said with a mesmerizing smile forming on her lips
''''Little brother, you can stay and cultivate here for the next few days along with little Mei if you want to. There is plenty of qi in my courtyard for everyone, and all of it is directly extracted from high-grade spirit stones using a special formation. Hehe, if you want to spend some time and chat with this elder sister, I may also agree to it as well!''''
Elder Xuan winked seductively at Shun Long when she said thest part, before her body turned into countless flower petals as she disappeared from everyone''s vision.
And yet, Shun Long simply cupped her hands towards her direction as a look of realization had dawned in his eyes.
''''So this is why the qi here is almost as pure as the qi from my Heaven Swallowing vine when I use middle-grade spirit stones to cultivate. The Elders here use high-grade spirit stones for their cultivation.''''
The simple notion of constantly using high-grade spirit stones to fill their courtyards with qi made Shun Long''s heart bleed as his greedy nature resurfaced.
After all, Shun Long had only heard of the existence of high-grade spirit stones and had yet to see one with his own eyes. And yet, he knew that a single high-grade spirit stone was worth as much as 1000 middle-grade ones.
Even if Shun Long exchanged all of his current 1 million and 210 thousand middle-grade spirit stones with high-grade ones, he would only be able to obtain 1210 high-grade spirit stones in the end.
Of course, no one was dumb enough to exchange their high-grade spirit stones for middle-grade ones in the first ce.
And yet the Holy sect''s Elders were able to constantly burn high-grade spirit stones to fuel their own courtyards with qi.
This showed the difference in wealth between a rich Dao Emperor and himself.
Shun Long had originally thought that even averagete-stage Dao Kings would drool at the sight of his wealth, but he finally realized that this was simply the difference of the experts residing in the central region and those in the Night star continent.
Indeed, although he could be considered a rich tycoon in the Night star continent, it was very likely that Shun Long''s wealth could only rival some weak middle-stage Dao Kings from the central region right now.
And yet, this didn''t make him feel discouraged but instead ted that there were so many resources in the central region for him to snatc-? cough... borrow!
After throwing another look at Elder Xuan who had already disappeared, Shun Long turned his eyes towards Liu Mei who was smiling brightly as she stood by his side before he said gently
''''Mei''er, let''s go back.''''
Chapter 513: Wei Yalings goodwill
Chapter 513: Wei Yaling''s goodwill
There was only a week until Shun Long and the rest left the Holy sect to go andplete their own personal missions, so returning to his room to cultivate without wasting time was the most important thing. After all, Shun Long didn''t know what unexpected issues may pop up during his sect missions.
Wei Yaling and Dong Ai both stared at Shun Long and Liu Mei who turned around to leave with eyes filled with disbelief. They were unable to understand why Shun Long and Liu Mei would both give up the opportunity to cultivate in their master''s courtyard and would instead choose to return back to their courtyard in the outer sect.
Of course, the 2 girls had no idea that Liu Mei couldn''t absorb the qi in the air in the first ce, while the qi inside Shun Long''s foggy space was even purer than the qi in Elder Xuan Jiao''s courtyard. Although Shun Long wouldn''t have to spend any of his own spirit stones if he decided to cultivate here, his cultivation speed would drastically reduce while the fact that he could absorb qi in huge amounts like a monster would also be revealed.
Risking to expose his secrets simply wasn''t worth it.
And yet, at that moment, Wei Yaling was actually the first one to take a step forward as she shouted loudly
''''Wait!''''
Seeing Shun Long and Liu Mei both turn around she then asked curiously
''''Do you really intend to leave? Master has already allowed for the both of you to stay here and cultivate.''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long cupped his hands at Wei Yaling who was clearly asking them without any ulterior motives, before he replied seriously
''''No matter what, I am not Elder Xuan''s disciple so I wouldn''t stay in this ce or it would be weird. Besides, a man shouldn''t cultivate in the same courtyard with 4 other women, 3 of whom he has no rtionship with, or rumors may start spreading.''''
Wei Yaling and Dong Ai both nodded their heads when they heard this, almost as if they had just realized this problem, as Dong Ai then said
''''At least you are not as shameless as I thought!''''
Liu Mei''s eyes narrowed dangerously as she immediately turned her attention towards this senior sister of hers, while the aura of Death started to swirl around her body! She would never allow anyone to insult Shun Long in front of her, even if that person is her senior sister or even her own master.
And yet, Shun Long simply held Liu Mei back with a smile on his face indicating that he didn''t care about her, as he looked at Wei Yaling and said without a care
''''If there is nothing else, I am going to take my leave.''''
Wei Yaling nodded her head, not caring too much about the quarrel that Shun Long seemed to have with Dong Ai, as she turned her attention towards Liu Mei and said
''''Junior sister, I won''t insist that you stay here if you don''t want to. I only have one thing to say.
If you want to join a faction, you can always join Xin Jia''s faction. Just mention my name and say that I invited you and you can join the faction without any issue! Her faction is ranked 23rd within the top 100 factions rankings so junior sister will be able to obtain plenty of resources this way, as well as get plenty of support within the sect.''''
Contrary to what Wei Yaling had expected however, Liu Mei simply shook her head and thanked her before she rejected her offer without a second thought, as she said
''''Senior sister, thank you for your goodwill, however, I have already joined Long-ge''s faction and I will not leave.''''
Wei Yaling was instantly rendered speechless, obviously not having expected Liu Mei''s rejection, but she still nodded her head reluctantly a momentter as she said
''''Don''t worry junior sister, I understand. Remember that if you ever need help, you can still ask for help from Xin Jia''s faction using my name. At the very least I will personallye to help you.''''
Although she didn''t understand why Liu Mei would want to stay in Shun Long''s faction when she could enter a faction in the top 30 of the outer court, Wei Yaling still didn''t pressure her to change her mind.
She had already exined everything that she had to, so the choice was Liu Mei''s.
Of course, Liu Mei immediately realized that Wei Yaling was trying to form a good rtionship with her this way. However, no matter what happened, she would never leave Shun Long''s faction to join another one. Even if everyone else left, she had already decided that she would be the one who would stay by his side.
At that moment, Dong Ai wanted to throw a mocking remark towards Liu Mei for joining Shun Long''s faction that would never even reach the top 1000, but remembering her master''s words earlier, she barely held herself back from insulting Shun Long again in front of her junior sister.
Of course, Dong Ai didn''t know that Shun Long really intended to crush her the moment that he entered thete stages of the Nascent Soul. He had already sensed her hostility both towards him and Liu Mei, and he wasn''t nning to allow that situation to continue.
As for how he was nning to take care of her... that was an entirely different issue.
He couldn''t outright kill her as the sect clearly forbade killing anyone outside of deathmatches in the arena, and Shun Long wasn''t confident in assassinating her using his Dao of Space without getting caught from the sect.
After all, he didn''t yet know the full capabilities of a Dao Emperor and if they had a way to find out about that, and he wasn''t willing to risk his life just to kill Dong Ai to begin with.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei thanked Wei Yaling before she and Shun Long both left Elder Xuan''s courtyard.
Turning her head to the side, Wei Yaling then looked at Dong Ai before she said seriously
''''Junior sister, you heard master already. It''s better for you to have a good rtionship with junior sister Mei rather than brood over something that wasn''t meant to be yours from the beginning. I know that you really wanted master''s pendant but you should see things more clearly. Master will definitely pamper junior sister Mei, and even eldest senior sister will probably like her a lot. Even if second senior sister doesn''t like her she won''t be at odds with her either, so your attitude right now is the only problem. If you keep fighting with her husband it''s certain that junior sister Mei and you will end up fighting each other!''''
Staring at the disappearing figures of Liu Mei and Shun Long, Dong Ai simply smiled mockingly before she replied coldly
''''Fight each other? So what? Don''t make meugh senior sister. Even if she hasprehended the same Dao as our grand master, it doesn''t mean she will be as proficient in it as her either. Senior sister should know this better than me, that even 2 people who haveprehended the same Dao may have entirely different powers in the end. As for 2 rogue cultivators who have just entered the sect and will definitely have to struggle for resources right now, so what if I am at odds with them? With how arrogant that piece of trash actually was, I will make sure to crush him in the future as well! Even if master forbids martial sisters from fighting with each other, she can''t say anything if I happen to have enmity with junior sister''s husband. Hehehe, of course, if junior sister Mei intends to give me a certain pendant to fix our rtionship, I may actually agree.''''
Chapter 514: Waking up
Chapter 514: Waking up
With a serious look on her face, Wei Yaling looked at Dong Ai before she asked coldly
''''What about eldest senior sister? Wasn''t she a rogue cultivator that was found and raised by master?''''
It was obvious that Wei Yaling was trying to warn Dong Ai, and yet the beautiful yellow-robed woman simplyughed before she responded with a mocking tone
''''Hahaha, senior sister, do you really think that every single rogue cultivator is like eldest senior sister? Even among inner court disciples, and even among the sect''s core disciples... how many can be mentioned in the same breath as eldest senior sister? Even if junior sister Mei hasprehended a rare Dao, that''s all there is to it! Besides, although eldest senior sister may have indeed been a rogue cultivator in the beginning, wasn''t she raised by master using the best resources that master had on hand? Can you really call her a rogue cultivator in that case?
Whether it is her talent or background, by being the eldest disciple of master, how can youpare her to any other rogue cultivator? I am sure that eldest senior sister was raised at the very least with the same resources that the top ns and families use on their direct heirs!''''
Wei Yaling shook her head as she looked at her junior sister, finally giving up on trying to persuade her to fix her rtionship with Liu Mei. After all, her words weren''t wrong either. Wei Yaling also didn''t believe that there was anyone else in the sect who could rise through the rankings and be a core disciple of the sect, like their eldest senior sister. Even Liu Mei would most likely be unable to replicate this feat.
After all, only the absolute best of inner disciples, in both their cultivation level, talent and fighting strength could obtain the title of core disciples in the sect, and their eldest senior sister was precisely one of those peak geniuses.
At the same time that this situation was taking ce in Elder Xuan''s courtyard, Shun Long and Liu Mei passed through the inner court''s gates as they returned back to the outer court.
With her arms both holding Shun Long''s right arm affectionately, Liu Mei raised her head and stared at him straight in the eyes before asking curiously
''''Long-ge, did something happen between you and senior sister Dong?''''
Hearing Dong Ai call Shun Long shameless had made Liu Mei extremely furious earlier. If it wasn''t because Shun Long had held her back, Liu Mei wouldn''t have cared about Dong Ai''s status as her senior sister and would have immediately gone to confront her.
Shun Long however simply pulled Liu Mei closer into a hug when he heard this, and as they continued to walk towards his courtyard he simply shook his head as he said in an uncaring tone
''''She is just an annoying girl, nothing more than that.''''
Liu Mei nodded without asking more about what had happened. If Shun Long didn''t want to mention it, it was probably nothing too important in his eyes. Instead, the 2 of them kept walking for nearly an hour until they arrived back in the courtyard and entered the room.
As soon as they stepped inside, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long, and without holding anything back she started to narrate everything that happened from the moment that Elder Xuan expelled him and her 2 senior sisters from her mansion.
''''Long-ge, actually, when master sent everyone outside, she taught me what her master had taught her about the Dao of Death. It seems that grand master''s experiences are somewhat simr to what I experienced after I broke through to the Nascent Soul.
Master said that I shouldn''t treat my summons as soulless creatures, and instead I should look at them as living beings.
However, master also said that I should never use my Dao of Death when my spiritual strength is close to depletion, otherwise if my skeletons escape my control, I will be their target instead. It seems that this happened to grand master once, and she only escaped out of luck.''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Liu Mei''s narration about what she had learned from Elder Xuan, before he actually fell silent for the next few moments.
It was obvious that Liu Mei hade to a simr conclusion regarding the first part of her experience, as she had already started to treat her undead creatures like being with a soul instead of inanimate objects. As for the second thing that Liu Mei mentioned, this seemed to be more like a warning rather than direct advice on how to use her Dao of Death.
Well, Elder Xuan''s master was a peak Dao Emperor so her experience with her Dao of Death must have definitely been much vaster than Liu Mei''s. However, even though it was obvious that Elder Xuan only wanted the best for Liu Mei, Shun Long wouldn''t take everything that she said for granted, and instead, he had already decided to ask Little ck about this as well.
After all, it was very likely that Little ck would know a few more things regarding Liu Mei''s Dao of Death too. However, Liu Mei would have to wait until Little ck hadpletely digested the energy inside the dragonstone first!
After a round of arduous dual cultivation on their bed, Shun Long and Liu Mei both took a shower before Shun Long entered the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' to cultivate further.
There was only a week left before his group all left the sect to go andplete their personal sect missions, and Shun Long was nning to spend this time condensing his 21st ball of qi, as well aspletely purifying the previous 20 qi balls, bringing them all at the same level.
As for Liu Mei, she was nning to further enhance her control of her undead creatures.
Entering the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long took out more than 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones and fed them to the Heaven Swallowing vine in front of him.
The pure qiing from the enormous vine instantly filled the air around him, as Shun Long closed his eyes and started to cultivate without a second thought.
...
Days quickly passed like this, and as the 7th day arrived in the real world, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long was suddenly woken up by the excited roar of a panther, causing a smile to slowly form itself on his lips.
Chapter 515: Day of the gathering
Chapter 515: Day of the gathering
Turning his eyes towards Little Silver, Shun Long felt its aura that had now reached the middle of rank 6 causing his smile to be even wider.
Although Shun Long knew that Little Silver''s breakthrough had high chances to seed since Little Silver had already absorbed enough energy during the past few years by eating an almost uncountable number of stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' from the herb garden, Shun Long also knew that there was a very big risk of danger involved when a magic beast tries to breakthrough to a level that has already exceeded its natural limits.
After all, although it was extremely rare, it wasn''t impossible for a ''Silver-winged panther king'' to reach the early rank 6 from the peak of rank 5 if it chanced upon a fortuitous opportunity. However, reaching the middle of rank 6 was an entirely different matter, as it had already exceeded Little Silver''s natural limits.
Of course, if it somehow managed to obtain the beast core of a middle or peak rank 6 magic beast, it would have also been possible for Little Silver to breakthrough that way as well, but the danger of the breakthrough would still have been there no matter what.
Nudging its big head on Shun Long''s left arm Little Silver acted like an excited puppy as it looked at him instead of a ferocious middle rank 6 magic beast.
After all, if it wasn''t for Shun Long''s guqin, even with the energy that was umted inside its body after eating so many stalks of rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass'', it was unknown if Little Silver would have sessfully broken through.
Shun Long smiled wryly as he raised his hand and rubbed the top of the ck panther''s head softly, before he stopped feeding middle-grade spirit stones to the Heaven Swallowing vine at the same time.
After all, it was already time for Jiang Chen, Xie Xingyi, and Bai Longtian to all arrive by now, so Shun Long knew that he had to return back to his room.
In the past nearly 70 days that he had spent cultivating in seclusion, Shun Long had used up more than 60.000 middle-grade spirit stones to condense the 21st ball of qi, as well as purify his previous 20 qi balls and bring them to the same level as the 21st.
Even though he didn''t manage to enhance the purity of the qi inside the 18th, 19th and 20th qi balls, he still managed topletely purify the previous ones.
With the enhanced purity of his qi balls, Shun Long was certain that he could now use his ''Thundergod''s sh'' at least 8 times consecutively before he ran out of qi! At the same time, along with his cultivation increase the power of the Thundergod''s sh had also increased, so using a Saint low-grade martial skill 8 times consecutively, even if it was just the first stage of that skill was something unheard of even for middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, let alone an early-stage one like Shun Long.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' as he returned back to his room. Opening his eyes barely a momentter, he noticed that just like thest time, he was the only one inside the room.
After changing his sect robes into a set of new ones, he opened the door of the room, only to see Liu Mei sitting with Xie Xingyi in his courtyard chatting joyfully with each other, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were also sitting cross-legged on the ground with their eyes closed.
Although they were in Shun Long''s courtyard, as long as Liu Mei wanted to, she could allow anyone to enter while she was inside.
As soon as the door of the room opened everyone turned their attention towards it at the same time, as they saw Shun Long''s figure walking towards them.
''''Long-ge''''
''''Brother Long''''
Liu Mei''s and Xie Xingyi''s voices sounded in his ears as they greeted him joyously, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had also opened their eyes at the same time and stood up, as they turned their eyes towards him as well.
It was obvious that all 4 of them were waiting for Shun Long to exit seclusion.
Looking at the members of his faction that had all gathered in his courtyard, a smile appeared on Shun Long''s face as he then asked
''''Are you all ready?''''
Nodding in response, Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian all stood up at the same time, while bouts of excitement filled their hearts.
''''Let''s go to the Assignment Hall to choose our missions first.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long walked out from his courtyard as he led the way to the Assignment Hall.
Of course, forget about their excited expressions, even Shun Long himself was looking forward to the sect''s missions. Although they were just missions that would give sect points and nothing more, Shun Long wasn''t nning to spend his entire life inside the Holy sect and he looked forward to these missions instead. After all, as a cultivator, he wanted to explore the entirety of the central region and not stay holed up in this ce.
Even though the D-rank personal missions would almost exclusively be contained within the territory that was controlled by the Holy sect, and wouldn''t allow any of them to go too far away from those limits, for the 5 of them who had never been in the central region before this was still apletely new ce that they could explore.
Half an hourter, Shun Long''s group arrived in front of the huge building at the center of the outer court, while his eyes were once again greeted by the 2 eye-catching words that were ted in gold above the building''s entrance.
As always, the Assignment Hall was filled with life, as hundreds of outer disciples wereing and going from its entrance at every moment.
Without any hesitation Shun Long then led his group inside the huge building, as they walked directly towards the building''s depths, towards the huge, ck Mission board in the distance.
Chapter 516: Choosing a D-rank mission
Chapter 516: Choosing a D-rank mission
Just like thest time that he and Liu Mei came here, Shun Long saw more than a hundred disciples standing in front of the Mission board looking for missions that they wanted to choose.
Without needing him to say anything, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both took a few steps forward at the same time, as they focused their eyes on the huge ck board in front of them.
Seeing that Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had turned their eyes towards him, Shun Long looked at the 2 peerlessly beautiful women who instantly attracted a lot of attention from the disciples around them and said
''''Mei''er, Xingyi, don''t choose any missions where the enemies are above the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul.''''
Although Shun Long was certain that both Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi wouldn''t choose any missions that were impossible toplete, he still decided to remind them to be careful about this.
For Xie Xingyi who had already broken through to the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul and had entered the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, Shun Long knew that it was possible for her to defeat a normal peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator that didn''te from a sect without many issues. As for where her limits lied, Shun Long guessed that she could probably defeat an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator as well in a head-on fight, albeit with some difficulty.
After all, in the cultivation world, it wasmon knowledge that cultivators who belonged to sects or powerful ns and families, would almost always be much stronger than other cultivators at the same level as them who had no backing.
The reason behind that was the rare cultivation techniques and martial skills that they could use, that normal cultivators that didn''t belong to powerful forces would almost never be able to touch in their lives.
This was also the reason why Dong Ai looked down on Shun Long and Liu Mei for being rogue cultivators.
After all, the difference between a Mystic-grade and a Saint-grade cultivation technique was much more important than one would think.
Just the difference in speed of the absorption of qi between a normal Saint-grade cultivation technique and a Mystic-grade one would make countless cultivators willing to kill for it, as a single Saint low-grade cultivation technique allowed a cultivator to absorb qi 50 percent fasterpared to someone who was training in a Mystic high-grade cultivation technique.
This 50 percent increase may not sound like a lot, but it would make an enormous difference if one had to cultivate for 2 years or 3 years in order to breakthrough to the next stage.
And yet, it wasn''t just the speed of advancement that made Saint-grade cultivation techniques so valuable.
The purity from the qi that a Saint low-grade cultivation technique allowed a cultivator to absorb was also more than 50 percent purerpared to the qi that a Mystic high-grade technique.
This increase in the purity of the qi may not allow a cultivator to advance faster, but it directly affected theirbat strength, making them even stronger.
This was why, every time that a Saint low-grade cultivation technique appeared in an auction or a ce that wasn''t controlled by a huge power, cultivators who didn''t belong to huge powers would do everything they could to get their hands on it.
Of course, even Saint low-grade techniques had their own differences as well.
For example, a Saint low-grade cultivation technique like the Moonlight Sigil that Shun Long had obtained from Cui Guoliang''s collection back in the Vermilion realm, was actually at the absolute bottom among Saint low-grade cultivation techniques and would at most be categorized as a Mystic high-grade cultivation technique in the central region.
The reason behind that was both its slow qi absorption speedpared to other Saint low-grade cultivation techniques, as well as a huge w that this technique actually had: That whoever trained in it could only practice at night since they had to absorb the moonlight.
As for the Saint middle-grade cultivation technique that Dong Ai obtained from Elder Xuan as her gift, its effects whether it was in the speed of qi absorption or the purity of the qi, were more than 2 times betterpared to a Saint low-grade cultivation technique!
This was why Shun Long believed, that someone like Xie Xingyi who belonged to the Xie family and was most likely training in a Saint low-grade cultivation technique, could fight against a weak early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who didn''te from a peak power head-on, albeit most likely with a lot of difficulty.
Of course, if by some crazy scenario, Xie Xingyi''s opponent was not only cultivating a Saint low-grade cultivation technique but he even knew a Saint low-grade martial skill as well, then forget about an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage opponent, Xie Xingyi would even have trouble fighting against a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, even with her unique physique!
After all, even most outer disciples of the Holy sect were at that level as well.
And yet, Shun Long knew that the chances of something like that happening were practically zero.
Additionally, he also knew that Xie Xingyi''s real strength didn''t lie in head-on fights, but instead in assassinations. Her Vanishing Shadows unique physique was practically the perfect physique for an assassin who wanted to lie in the shadows and wait to strike. If Xie Xingyi really went all-out to assassinate someone, Shun Long couldn''t estimate how high her killing potential could reach.
Perhaps even peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators would die in her hands before they realized what was going on.
However, assassinations were always risky, both for the victim as well as the assassin. In case that an assassination attempt failed, the assassin would then be in a vulnerable spot, and in that case, Xie Xingyi would be the one who would be risking her life.
At the same time, Shun Long''s words were also a hint to Liu Mei as well, for her to not try and choose any missions that were impossible either.
Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi both nodded their heads as they looked at him before their eyes started to scan the huge Mission board in front of them.
Smiling slightly Shun Long also did the same, as his gaze focused on the personal D-rank missions while he looked for a suitable one. At that moment, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly fell on a single mission that seemed perfect for him to test his current strength
''''D-rank personal mission: Kill the peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage ve traders Dai Lim and Dai Hao and destroy their shop in the Yanzhu city.
Reward: 190 sect points.''''
-
Author''s note: Starting on July we will be returning back to 2 chapters a day <3
Chapter 517: Memory recording formation
Chapter 517: Memory recording formation
Shun Long''s eyes instantly brightened upon seeing this mission and decided to choose it without any hesitation.
Although fighting against 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators with a cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul may seem impossible for most people, Shun Long didn''t think much about it.
After all, when he had just broken through to the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, he could actually kill peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage opponents like the golden-robed young man during the fourth test.
Now that he had broken through to the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, even though he had to fight against 2 Nascent Soul cultivators who had already reached the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, he was still confident that he couldplete this mission effortlessly unless something unexpected actually happened. At the same time, since he hadn''t been able to fight even once ever since he had entered seclusion to advance his cultivation, he was actually itching to stretch his limbs and fight without holding back.
As for the Yazhu city that Shun Long had to travel to, it was actually located on the small map along with the mission''s description, showing this city that was less than 2000 miles away from the Holy sect.
After choosing this mission, Shun Long didn''t leave just yet, as his eyes kept roaming around the huge ck board in front of him, staring at the rest of the D-rank personal missions while looking for a second mission to ept.
A few minutester, Shun Long''s eyes eventuallynded on another D-rank mission, as he nodded his head and mumbled to himself
''''This will do for now!''''
Unlike the previous one, the second mission didn''t need Shun Long to fight or kill someone toplete it. Instead, the mission''s description was even simpler than that.
''''D-rank personal mission: Join merchant Ying Gui''s group in the Holy city 3 days from now, and help his caravan reach Yanzhu city sessfully.
Reward: 80 sect points.''''
Seeing that this mission simply required him to act as a bodyguard and help a merchant transport his caravan to Yanzhu city which he was intending to go to in the first ce since he had toplete his mission, made Shun Long choose this as his second mission after a moment of thinking.
Turning his gaze towards Liu Mei and the rest, Shun Long noticed that they were all almost finished choosing their own missions as well.
A few minutester, seeing that everyone had stopped looking at the missions and had now gathered around him, Shun Long nodded his head before he said
''''Let''s go to the Mission counter.''''
Shun Long already knew that in the Holy sect, more than one disciple could ept the same mission if they wanted to. After all, all a disciple had to do was report the mission that they chose in the mission counter, and the first one whopleted it could im the rewards.
Thus, the missions on the Mission board always remained there until they werepleted.
Queueing up in front of the second busiest counter aside from the Exchange Hall, Shun Long''s group had to wait for 20 minutes until it was their turn.
Looking at the young man in front of him who was wearing yellow-colored robes like everyone else working in the Assignment Hall, indicating that he was an outer disciple, Shun Long took out his sect identifying token before he exined which missions he wanted to ept.
The young man behind the counter epted Shun Long''s token, before he asked in a curious voice barely a momentter
''''Is this your first time epting a mission?''''
Shun Long nodded his head after hearing this question, while his face had a curious look that he didn''t bother to hide.
The young man behind the Mission counter had a good-natured smile as he pointed at Shun Long''s token before he exined seriously
''''It is obvious that you haven''t used your memory recording formation.
Since it''s your first time epting a sect mission, I am obligated to inform you that every time you arepleting a mission, regardless of whether it''s a personal mission or a faction mission, you must record the entire process of how youpleted it through your sect identifying token.
Every single sect identifying token in the sect is embedded with special memory recording formations that you can activate by infusing a small part of your qi inside them.
Of course, this is done to ensure that you didn''t receive any external help during the mission andpleted it on your own, as well as serve as deterrent so no one can im a mission without being the one toplete them!''''
Although Shun Long had no idea that there was such a formation in his sect identifying token, he didn''t mind it that much as he simply cupped his hands and thanked the disciple in front of him.
The thought of using Little Silver or Little ck toplete higher leveled missions hadn''t crossed his mind from the beginning, since he was nning toplete everything by himself.
After all, only this way would he truly hone himself as well as be even stronger, since staying in seclusion to cultivate was useless.
If he didn''t exercise, he would be unable to bring himself to his full potential and would instead hinder his advancement.
The only ''problem'' that this memory recording formation could cause, was exposing his Dao of Time, but after some thought, he realized that there was no reason to be afraid of something like that happening.
The reason why he didn''t mind was because Shun Long knew, that unless an Elder of the sect was present right next to him when he used his Dao of Time and sensed it personally, it would be simply impossible for them to realize what Dao he was using.
Even if they had some questions and they would start to get suspicious, Shun Long still wouldn''t care and in a worst-case scenario, he would simply look to bullshit his way out of it.
In any case, even the Elders of the sect wouldn''t be able to force him to spit out what Dao he hasprehended. After all, as high-leveled experts, even peak Dao Kings wouldn''t risk losing face by personally asking a junior which Dao they hadprehended, let alone Dao Emperors.
Chapter 518: Everyones missions
Chapter 518: Everyone''s missions
After cupping his hands and thanking the young man in front of him, Shun Long walked away from the Mission counter while he waited for Liu Mei and the rest to register the missions that they wanted to take.
Although every disciple in the sect could choose any level of mission that they wanted to regardless of their status or cultivation level, even inner disciples couldn''t avoid the process of registering which missions they wanted to ept.
Fortunately, his wait wasn''t for too long as in just a couple of minutes, everyone else had also registered their missions as well before they turned their attention towards him.
At that moment, the look on Shun Long''s face turned serious as he said in a solemn voice
''''Remember, that no matter what happens, always ce your safety above everything else while you are alone.''''
Seeing Shun Long speaking solemnly for the first time in a while instead of having his usual non-caring,idback attitude, made Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian all nod their heads at the same time.
They all understood what Shun Long meant.
Since this was their first time venturing out alone in the central region they all had to be careful.
Jiang Chen knew this as well, as his father had already told him to not underestimate anyone in the central region regardless of their strength.
Even though he was a genius with an immortal-grade bloodline, Jiang Chen knew that his bloodline had a 3-month cooldown from the day he used it until he could use it again, so that wasn''t something that he could count on.
Hell, if it wasn''t for the fact that he had to fight against a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul outer disciple while his cultivation was still at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul, he wouldn''t have used his bloodline in the first ce, and would have at most exposed only his Eternal Darkness physique instead.
Seeing that everyone had understood his words, Shun Long simply smiled and said
''''Let''s go then!''''
Turning around, he then walked out of the Assignment Hall, as he led his group towards the entrance of the sect.
While they walked, Shun Long didn''t ask any of them about the missions that they had chosen.
He had already seen that Liu Mei had picked 2 personal D-rank missions that required her to hunt down 2 criminals at the middle and the peak of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul respectively, while Xie Xingyi had chosen a mission to act as a bodyguard for a caravan, just like him, as well as an assassination mission to kill a bandit head whose cultivation had reached the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul!
Missions that asked for protection were extremely popr, as the merchants wouldn''t miss a chance to get the powerful disciples of the Holy sect to act as their bodyguards, while many disciples who didn''t enjoy putting themselves into danger seemed to like them as well.
As for Xie Xingyi, the reason she chose this mission was the same as Shun Long.
Since the caravan was heading towards the city where the target of her main mission was located, she didn''t mindpleting this one as well.
As for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, their missions werepletely different.
Jiang Chen had first chosen a mission that required him to fight against a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage evil cultivator, who kidnapped infants and used them to increase his own cultivation stage, while his second mission required him to take care of a small gang in a city, as the gang leader who was at the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul had already destroyed a small vige and raped every single woman while he personally beheaded everyone at the Spirit realm and above.
Of course, although Jiang Chen''s first mission required him to fight against a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the same as the young woman whom he had to face during the fourth test, Jiang Chen wasn''t worried in the slightest even though he was unable to use his bloodline this time.
After all, how could normal cultivators who had to steal and kill to live bepared to the geniuses of the Holy sect who cultivated in Saint low-grade cultivation techniques?!
Even if the young woman he had to fight during the fourth test was one of the 1000 weakest disciples of the sect, she would still be considered a powerful genius in nearly every single city that she was ced within the Holy sect''s territory. Otherwise, how could she pass the Holy sect''s test in the first ce?
As for Bai Longtian, he had simply chosen to join the squad of a group of adventurers and help them hunt a middle rank 5 magic beast, as well as help guard a small sect and protect them from any attacks, while the head of the school attempts her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.
Surprisingly, these 2 missions that he had chosen were ones that almost no other outer disciple wanted to pick.
Especially thest mission, since the location was more than 5 days away from the Holy sect even if Bai Longtian rushed there at full speed, and most outer disciples either didn''t want to spend their time guarding a small peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator in her breakthrough, or they simply weren''t interested in the measly 60 sect points that this mission offered since they would have to spend at least 10 days just toe and go from there.
However, Bai Longtian didn''t seem to mind this as he epted this mission with a face full of joy, making Jiang Chen shoot him a side nce in the process.
Of course, Shun Long had seen all of this but he wouldn''t interfere with anyone''s mission. Whether Bai Longtian wanted to hunt magic beasts or guard someone during her breakthrough, or even go and hunt down gang heads like Jiang Chen, that waspletely up to him.
Although his personality seemed to be an amiable, easy-going one in the first ce, Bai Longtian''s choice of hunting a middle rank 5 magic beast showed that he still intended to train himself during these days that they were going to leave the sect.
The 5 of them kept walking, and 45 minutester, they arrived in front of the familiar wooden gates that they had passed through the first time, when they entered the sect.
Chapter 519: Splitting up
Chapter 519: Splitting up
It seemed that the gates of the Holy sect were wide-open, allowing anyone to pass through at will.
Unlike the ''Floating Cloud sect'', Shun Long realized that the Holy sect didn''t try to restrict any disciple''s freedom.
If someone wanted to leave, the sect wasn''t going to beg that person to stay.
Of course, no one was dumb enough to even think of leaving the sect in the first ce. Putting aside the protection and the status that the sect offered to all of its disciples, just the fact that they could obtainplete Saint-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, as well as countless other things that one would be unable to find outside of the sect while they could simply obtain them using their own sect points, was enough to make those disciples stay in the sect and even fight against anyone who tried to kick them out.
It wasmon knowledge that the Holy sect was practically the overlord of the region that they governed, so why would those disciples want to stop hugging such a strong thigh in the first ce?
And yet, obtaining average Saint low-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills was only something that the weaker outer disciples looked forward to, as the stronger disciples who belonged in the powerful factions of the outer court had already set their eyes towards the rewards that they could obtain through the faction wars.
After all, every single disciple with even a little bit of strength and who had already reached the rank 6 of the Nascent Soul, would always set their eyes towards the bountiful rewards of the top ranks in the faction wars that would make anyone''s gaze drip with envy.
The faction wars was the ultimatepetition among outer disciples in the Holy sect, its intense only being matched by the top fights of the Martial Roll of Honor!
The reason why Shun Long had decided for them to venture out of the sect right now, was precisely for them to be stronger andplete a few missions for themselves before they startedpleting faction missions, making their factions eligible to participate in the faction wars as well.
Of course, even if he could, Shun Long wouldn''t join the faction wars right now anyway, since he knew that the strength of his faction wasn''t enough topete even with any factions at the middle of the pack, let alone those at the top 100 faction rankings.
At best, Shun Long knew that they would be able to win against the weakest factions at the very bottom of the sect, and even that would probably be a stretch.
Stepping through the gates, Shun Long''s group soon arrived in front of the sect''s gates, where the same 2 white-robed Elders as thest time were standing guard as well.
The Elders were standing there with their eyes closed and they didn''t seem to care about Shun Long''s group or the other 3 groups like Shun Long''s that were entering and leaving the Holy sect.
Standing in front of the enormous pce gates of the Holy sect at the top of the mountain, Shun Long gazed at the enormous city at the foot of the mountain that could barely be seen from their current location.
A few momentster, he turned around and looked at Liu Mei and the rest before he said seriously
''''Let''s split up. We will meet each other again here 1 month from now.''''
Seeing that Shun Long didn''t say any fancy words and simply ryed that they should meet each other again in front of the Holy sect''s gates 30 dayster made Jiang Chen the first one to respond, as he nodded his head while he looked at him and said with a serious look in his eyes
''''Alright. Just remember that it doesn''t matter what Dao you haveprehended as you are not invincible either. You can''t die before I go to the Immortal Dimension so make sure to take care of yourself.''''
Without saying another word, Jiang Chen didn''t even look at Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi or Bai Longtian. and after staring intently at Shun Long''s eyes for a few moments, a pair of pitch-ck wings sprouted from his back as he flew towards the north without any hesitation.
A smile was formed on Shun Long''s face as he saw Jiang Chen''s disappearing figure, while he understood that the words that he had simply said just now were a warning for Shun Long to take care of himself properly.
Indeed, it didn''t matter if he hadprehended the Dao of Time, the Dao of Space, or even if he was a disciple of the Holy sect, Jiang Chen was still right. Even with his Monarch''s Eternal body, Shun Long wasn''t invincible!
Bai Longtian was the next one to move as he looked at Shun Long and smiled good-naturedly before he said
''''Brother Long, like senior brother Jiang said make sure to take care of yourself as well.''''
Turning his eyes towards Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi he then continued
''''Sister Mei, sister Xingyi, you should take care as well. I will see you all in 1 month from now. I hope that all of us will be stronger by then as well! Good luck!''''
After throwing onest look at Jiang Chen''s figure that had almost disappeared on the horizon, Bai Longtian smiled even further while a look filled with fighting intent appeared in his eyes, before he actually flew towards the west.
Seeing that there were just the 3 of them left, the stunning golden-haired beauty felt her face heat up as she stared at Shun Long, while even her ears had started to turn red, as she lowered her head and said gently
''''Brother Long, I will see you in 1 month. Take care of yourself as well! Sister Mei... you take care as well!''''
Without waiting for a response, Xie Xingyi then soared into the sky with a red face, as she actually headed towards the southwest.
Seeing that there were just the 2 of them left, Liu Mei walked up to Shun Long and hugged him gently, almost as if she was trying to take in the warmth of his body and integrate it into her own before she nted a kiss filled with love and affection on his face and said
''''Long-ge, I will see you in 1 month.''''
Chapter 520: Splitting up (2)
Chapter 520: Splitting up (2)
Liu Mei didn''t tell Shun Long to take care of himself, and simply said these simple words before she hugged him even tighter than before.
This was the second time that she and Shun Long were going to split with each other, but Liu Mei understood that this was something that couldn''t be avoided. At the same time, although she didn''t like being split away from Shun Long, she knew that this was also a chance for her to advance her cultivation as well using her Blood Absorption art.
Nodding his head, Shun Long ced his hands around Liu Mei''s waist and held her tightly as well, only letting her go a full minuteter.
Looking at Liu Mei''s enchanting ck eyes that seemed to be able to capture the soul of every man and woman alike, he simply smiled before he said
''''Mei''er, don''t worry, I will be waiting for you here 1 month from now.''''
A dazzling smile broke out on Liu Mei''s face when she heard this, and with these thoughts in mind she didn''t dy any longer, as she rose to the sky and flew towards the east.
Shun Long''s lips curved up as he stared at Liu Mei''s disappearing figure before he actually started to fly towards the east as well barely a momentter, instead of heading towards the Holy city that was located directly below the Holy sect, at the foot of the Holy mountain.
After opening up a distance of more than 20 miles between himself and the Holy mountain, Shun Long turned his eyes towards Liu Mei''s figure that was still visible in the distance ahead of him and waved his hand, as the figure of a ck panther that was more than 4 meters(13ft) tall appeared in front of him.
Patting Little Silver''s head gently, Shun Long sent a mentalmand to the ck panther in front of him who immediately turned its attention towards Liu Mei in the distance ahead of it.
After whimpering for a few moments, almost as if it was saying that Shun Long shouldn''t attract too much trouble while he was by himself, Little Silver pped its silver wings, chasing after Liu Mei who was going to disappear from his eyes in the next few moments.
Shun Long stared at Little Silver''s figure that flew forward like a bolt of ck and silver lightning as it tore through the sky, while he heaved out a sigh of relief.
Of course, the reason why Shun Long sent Little Silver to follow after Liu Mei, was to make sure that Liu Mei would stay alive even if she somehow ended up attracting more trouble than she normally would.
No matter what, Liu Mei was too important to Shun Long for him to gamble with her life and let her roam around the central regionpletely unprotected.
At the same time, Shun Long knew that sending Little Silver to protect her in the shadows was even better than sending Little ck.
As a ''Silver-winged panther king'', Little Silver was innately used to lying in the shadows and hunting for prey. Thus, protecting Liu Mei secretly until her life was really about to be taken away was the best form of protection that Shun Long could offer her.
After all, despite the difference in their strength between Little ck and Little Silver, Shun Long knew that it was impossible for Little ck to stay lowkey even if Shun Long asked the ck dragon to protect Liu Mei.
The moment that someone heard of the existence of a living ck dragon, it was likely that all hell would break loose in the entire Holy sect, and perhaps in the surrounding territories as well!
Besides, although Little ck had started to warm up to Liu Mei in the past 3 years, Shun Long knew that it was impossible for the ck dragon to act as a bodyguard for anyone else other than him.
However, it didn''t matter too much since Shun Long knew that he couldn''t expose Little ck''s existence in the first ce. Besides, although Little Silver had the strength of a newly advanced middle rank 6 magic beast, Shun Long knew that even middle-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to fight against it head-on.
Unless Liu Mei really offended a crazy peak-stage Dao King who didn''t care about anything, there was practically no one and nothing that would be able to harm her, especially considering that she was a personal disciple of an inner court Elder of the Holy sect.
Of course, Shun Long didn''t tell Liu Mei about it because he was certain that she would refuse if she knew about him sending Little Silver to protect her.
Since Little ck was still asleep, Liu Mei wouldn''t ept Shun Long not having anyone to protect him just so that she would stay safe by herself.
As for the reason why Shun Long had to fly for more than 10 miles away from the Holy mountain before he let out Little Silver from the Stone of Time'', it was because he was still wary of the 2 white-robed Dao Kings who were standing guard in front of the Holy sect''s gates.
As peak-stage Dao Kings, the 2 Elders would definitely be alerted if a middle rank 6 magic beast appeared in front of their eyes out of nowhere.
At the same time, although Shun Long knew that the soul sense of a peak stage Dao King could easily cover an area of 10 miles around them, it was impossible for anyone to keep their soul sense active at all times.
Using the soul sense to spread it around one''s body was extremely tiring and consuming towards one''s spiritual strength and wasn''t something that anyone could keep doing for long durations of time after all. Especially if one had to coverrge areas and observe everything that happened.
So the 2 Elders would only pay attention to anyone who approached the Holy sect''s gates and wouldn''t give a damn about the rest.
Finally, after Liu Mei''s and Little Silver''s figurespletely disappeared from his eyes, Shun Long turned around and cast his gaze back at the Holy mountain, before his eyes were focused on the enormous city at the Holy mountain''s foot.
With a look of curiosity as well as excitement in his eyes, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he flew straight towards the famous Holy city at the foot of the mountain.
Chapter 521: The Holy city
Chapter 521: The Holy city
Since he had just arrived in the central region for less than a month, Shun Long didn''t know anything about the city situated at the foot of the Holy mountain aside from the fact that it was called the Holy city.
Of course, since the city had such a name and it was also located directly in front of the mountain where the Holy sect was located, anyone would realize that the city had a connection with the Holy sect and it may even be managed by the sect directly.
20 minutester, Shun Long had already descended the gigantic Holy mountain and had circled around the periphery of the Holy city as he arrived in front of the city''s entrance.
Although Shun Long had guessed that the Holy city was probably just as big as the biggest city in the Night star continent, the Heaven''s Dome city, after arriving in front of the huge city gates and seeing the hundreds of luxurious carriages lining up one after the other to enter the city, he realized that this city was much more bustling than the Heaven''s Dome city instead.
Thousands of cultivators were lined up in front of Shun Long as they waited to enter inside the city as well, while the city guards on top of the city walls as well as those in front of the city gates who were responsible for allowing cultivators to enter made sure to keep everyone in order.
The heavy breathing of the magic beasts that were pulling the carriages as well as the fervor and excitement of the cultivators who were about to step enter the city for the first time gave an entirely different atmosphere to this city.
Just like the rest of the cultivators, Shun Long queued up in front of the city gates as he waited for his turn toe.
Even though there were thousands of cultivators lining up on foot as well as hundreds of carriages by their side, the guards in front of the city gates were extremely efficient, and in just an hour, it was already Shun Long''s turn.
Stretching his hand out, the guard looked at Shun Long with an impassive face and said seriously
''''100 middle-grade spiri-''''
p!
Before he could finish his words the guard felt someone p him at the back of his head, making him turn around and stare at the guard that was standing behind him furiously.
However, before the first guard could open his mouth and berate his friend, the second guard looked at him with an angry look on his face before he turned his attention towards Shun Long and spoke while cupping his hands
''''Young lord, please forgive this idiot and go ahead. As a disciple of the Holy sect of course you don''t have to pay anything to enter the city.''''
The first guard who had a furious look on his face immediately turned around when he heard the words ''disciple of the Holy sect''. And yet, the moment he noticed that Shun Long was indeed wearing the robes of an outer disciple of the sect his face turned pale in an instant.
He had actually disregarded a disciple of the Holy sect!
Whether it was the weakest outer disciple or not or that the guard was at the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, it didn''t matter in the slightest.
This guard already knew that any disciple of the Holy sect had more authority than him in the city, so asking for payment from Shun Long was no different than asking for payment from his direct superior.
Even his own superior only had a status where he could look at Shun Long and the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect as equals within the city.
At the same time, it was only now that the remaining cultivators around him looked at Shun Long''s robes with hints of envy in their eyes.
An outer disciple of the Holy sect! How many of them wished that they could enter the sect only to be mercilessly pped by the difficulty of the trials?
Of course, no one could me the first guard for not paying attention to Shun Long''s robes and realizing that he was an outer disciple, as most outer disciples of the Holy sect wouldn''t line up here and would directly skip the queue and enter the city as soon as they arrived.
After all, this was their own city, the Holy sect''s city.
Why would they voluntarily line up and wait along with the rest of themoners?
Additionally, most outer disciples of the sect came from the huge families and ns, as well as the rest of the big powers who lived in the territory of the Holy sect, so this sentiment was even further ingrained in their minds.
Of course, the guard who had exined this to Shun Long had already guessed that Shun Long didn''t belong to any of the powerful families or ns in the territory of the Holy sect, otherwise he would have already known about this.
Nodding his head, Shun Long thanked the second guard, and without paying any attention to the first guard whose face had turned even paler during this time, he stepped past the city gates and entered the Holy city.
The moment that he stepped inside the city, luxurious homes and mansions, as well as big shops that spanned further than the eye could see filled Shun Long''s vision, bringing along with them the vitality of an extremely bustling city.
Knowing that there were still 3 days until merchant Ying Gui and his caravan left the Holy city, Shun Long decided to first take a look around and see what the Holy city had to offer.
After all, there was no way that the city wouldn''t possibly have anything that would catch his attention.
Indeed, after leisurely walking around the city for 2 hours while taking in the sights around him, Shun Long finally stopped in front of an enormous tower more than 3.000 meters(9850ft) tall near the heart of the city.
The 2 words on the tower''s entrance immediately attracted Shun Long''s attention, while his eyes were quickly filled with a look of curiosity as well, as he mumbled to himself
''''Dao Tower?''''
Chapter 522: Dao Tower
Chapter 522: Dao Tower
Staring at the colossal ck tower in front of him that had more than a hundred cultivators queued up in front of its entrance, Shun Long walked towards it as well after a few moments of deliberation.
He still had 3 days until his first mission begun so he wasn''t in a hurry in the first ce.
Waiting in the queue along with the rest of the 100 cultivators, Shun Long looked around him while he stared at the expressions of the people who were also waiting to enter the tower as well.
He saw looks of hope and longing in their eyes as well as gazes that were filled with fighting intent, making Shun Long even more curious about the tower in front of him.
The reason why this tower had attracted Shun Long''s attention aside from its colossal size, was the words ''Dao Tower'' that Shun Long had never heard of before, as well as the fact that it didn''t matter whether one was a Heaven grade cultivator or a Dao King, as they were all queued up and waited for their turn. For a building to have both Heaven grade cultivators and Dao Kings enter inside it, as long as it wasn''t a shop, then there must definitely be something extraordinary about it.
Turning his attention towards the young man who was standing right in front of him while waiting in line as well, Shun Long looked at him and cupped his hands before asking in a voice that didn''t conceal his curiosity
''''Friend, I just arrived in the Holy city and I am still new here. Can you tell me what the purpose of this ''Dao Tower'' is?''''
The young man in front of Shun Long had a disdainful look on his face the moment that he heard his ignorant question, but as soon as he turned around and saw the yellow robes with the insignia of the Holy sect on them, his expression quickly changed as he stared at Shun Long''s face with some doubt in his eyes.
''''A disciple of the Holy sect?''''
The young man asked Shun Long with suspicion evident in his voice, unable to understand how it was possible for a disciple of the Holy sect to not know about the Dao Tower.
Even those disciples who didn''t belong to any powerful forces in the Holy sect''s territory still knew about the Dao Tower in the Holy city.
Did the guy in front of him juste out from a cave?
Regardless, after a moment of deliberation, the young man nodded his head and decided to answer seriously. After all, Shun Long still seemed to be an outer disciple of the Holy sect, and the young man knew that he wouldn''t lose anything by answering his question.
Pointing at the enormous ck tower in front of them, the young man looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''''The Dao Tower is one of the most important buildings in the entire Holy city. It is a mystical ce that every cultivator can enter to test their Dao, and all you have to do to enter is pay some middle-grade spirit stones!
It doesn''t matter if one is a Heaven grade newbie or a Dao King realm expert, the 2 of them can fight and the person who utilizes their Dao better will win. Cultivation ranks don''t matter at all when 2 people fight inside the Dao Tower, and it is not too umon for the person with the lowest cultivation to actually win a fight. Of course, it''s not possible for a Heaven grade rookie topete against a Dao King expert in the first ce, I am simply using it as an example!''''
The young man in front of Shun Long whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul had a look of fervor in his eyes as he looked at the tower in front of him, and after taking a deep breath a momentter he actually continued with an even more excited look than before
''''However, the most exciting thing about the Dao Tower isn''t just that you can fight experts above your level using the Dao that you haveprehended, but that the Dao Tower in the Holy city is actually connected with the rest of the Dao Towers in every major city in the rest of our central region!''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he heard this as he stared at the colossal ck tower in front of him with a look of disbelief.
He didn''t need the young man in front of him to exin thest sentence as he immediately understood what that meant.
The Dao Tower could allow you to fight other people all around the central region as well!
A tower where cultivation didn''t matter while only the Dao did?
Shun Long had never heard of something like this in his life!
Of course, his knowledge and memories of his previous life were still sealed for the most part, but the Dao Tower still made his eyes burn with fighting intent.
Almost as if he had guessed what Shun Long was thinking, the young man in front of him smiled and said
''''Hehe, even though you are an outer disciple of the Holy sect, don''t think that you will be able to fight against the best geniuses around the central region only because you managed to pass the sect''s tests! Practically every single disciple of the Holy secte and train themselves in the Dao Tower when they want to train, and I have heard that even inner disciples and... even the legendary core disciples do so as well, but I don''t think that any of them have ever reached the top rankings of the Dao Tower.
Of course, if any of the core disciples have reached the top rankings is not something that anyone would know, but if someone can do it it''s only them! It''s impossible for you or me to do so, so I suggest you stop dreaming!''''
Chapter 523: Dao Tower (2)
Chapter 523: Dao Tower (2)
The young man stared at Shun Long''s yellow robes with hints of envy in his eyes, but his words still hammered down mercilessly, uncaring if they were going to ruin his hopes of ever ncing at the people in the top ranks of the Dao Tower.
And yet, Shun Long merely smiled at the young man''s attempt to lower his confidence while a powerful fighting intent appeared inside his eyes as he stared at the enormous tower in front of him, while watching the line moving forward slowly.
''''Hmph.''''
The young man harrumphed when he saw Shun Long''s smile, making him feel like he was being mocked while inwardly he thought to himself
''''Just wait until you enter the Dao Tower. Outer disciple of the Holy sect or not, no one will give a damn about your identity in there!''''
Without another word, the young man angrily turned around and stared at the Dao Tower as he eagerly waited for his turn toe.
2 hourster, after the young man in front of him entered inside, it was Shun Long''s turn to enter the Dao Tower.
As he stepped forward, Shun Long saw that the huge gates of the tower were wide-open, allowing him to enter without any obstruction.
A luxurious hall appeared in Shun Long''s eyes the moment that he stepped foot inside the Dao Tower, as well as 2 beautiful receptionists standing who were behind arge counter.
Seeing the handsome yellow-robed young man who was approaching them caused the eyes of the 2 receptionists to light up at the same time, as both of them shed the sweetest smiles they could muster and greeted him gently
''''Hello young master!''''
''''Wee to the Dao Tower! How may I assist you?''''
The receptionist on the right looked at the woman next to her and pouted when she realized that she had taken the initiative to offer her assistance first.
Shun Long simply smiled at the 2 receptionists, before walking towards the one on the left a momentter and asked her
''''It''s my first time visiting the Dao Tower. Can you exin the rules for me or tell me anything else that I need to take note of?''''
''''With pleasure young master!''''
The young woman''s gaze heated up even further when she noticed the yellow robes that Shun Long was wearing that indicated that he was actually an outer disciple of the Holy sect.
Pointing at the huge staircase in the distance she then started to exin
''''The Dao Tower has more than 9000 rooms split into different floors, and you can use any room that you want without any restrictions. Every room is the same so it doesn''t matter which one you choose.
Additionally, you can stay inside a room for as long as you want, but to use a room you are required to pay 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones. Young master should be careful and shouldn''t leave the room unless you are certain that you are going to leave the Dao Tower as well, otherwise you will have to pay 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones again to enter inside.
Since it is your first timeing to the Dao Tower, we will give young master your personal tower token.
Of course, since young master hasn''t participated in any battles just yet, your tower token will be the lowest white rank token. However, as you fight and win more of your fights, your rank will rise as well.
The first and also the lowest rank is the white rank, followed by the yellow rank and then the orange rank. After the orange is the red rank, followed by the purple rank and the silver rank, and then finally the legendary gold rank.
Since young master is an outer disciple of the Holy sect, I am sure that you will be able to reach the orange rank in no time so I wouldn''t worry about it.
Now to the rules.
When you enter inside the room, it will only take a few moments for the Dao Tower to connect young master with someone else.
During the fights there are actually no rules. You can do whatever you want.
Of course, you cannot use your qi and will only be allowed to use your Dao, but you are free to torture or kill your opponent without any restraints.
Naturally, there is nothing to be afraid about even if the fights look real, since it will only be your mind and your opponent''s mind that will be connected. So, even if you die during a fight, your consciousness will return to normal soon... but you will feel an intense pain every time you die.''''
As she said thest part, the receptionist''s voice was lowered significantly, almost as if she remembered the intense pain every time she died inside the tower''s fights as well.
This was why most people couldn''t handle dying more than 3 times before they left the Dao Tower.
After all, the tower wouldn''t wait for you to rest every time you finished a fight, regardless of whether you won or lost, and would at most give you 15 minutes to rest before the next fight began.
After taking a deep breath and expelled the bad memories of death inside the tower, the receptionist looked at Shun Long and handed him a small, white-colored token before she continued
''''As long as young master lets a drop of blood fall onto the token, the token will connect with your consciousness every time that you enter a room. As long as you want to stop the challenges or give up a fight, all you have to do is cut off the connection with the token and you can leave the room. Your face will also not be shown to your opponent during the fights so there is nothing to worry about. I wish you good luck young master~''''
There was a flirtatious tone in the young receptionist''s words as she said thest sentence, but despite her pretty appearance, Shun Long simply nodded his head as thanks before he walked towards the huge staircase in the distance that led him to the next floor.
The receptionist pouted that she couldn''t get more of a reaction from him, while the other receptionist next to her simplyughed in response.
At the same time, arriving on the first floor, Shun Long saw nearly 100 doors, all of which were closed, while their entrances were filled with 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Seeing that there was no room avable on this floor he continued to walk upwards towards the second floor.
Noticing that there were a handful of rooms ''avable'', Shun Long picked one at random and stood in front of its entrance. Waving his hand, 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones appeared in front of him, before Shun Long sent them towards the small holes on the door.
As soon as the middle-grade spirit stones embedded themselves on the door, a deep rumbling could be heard as the door slowly opened.
Chapter 524: Dao Tower (3)
Chapter 524: Dao Tower (3)
The room behind the door was filled with nothing but darkness, without a piece of furniture or anything else in sight.
After a moment of deliberation, Shun Long took a step forward and entered inside a momentter.
However, the moment that he stepped foot inside the room, Shun Long heard another loud rumbling sounding from behind him, as the heavy door of the room automatically closed by itself, blocking off what little light tried to enter the room from the outside.
Inside the darkness that had now almostpletely filled the room, Shun Long wasn''t even able to see his own fingers.
There was only a very dim lighting from the door itself, which Shun Long assumed was thanks to his 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Of course, even if he couldn''t see anything using his eyes, he knew that he could still use his soul sense to sense his surroundings.
As expected, after scanning the room with his soul sense, he noticed that it was indeed empty.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground and closing his eyes, Shun Long then fell into deep thought a momentter
''''I wonder how the Dao Tower can force 2 people to fight using only their Dao without utilizing their cultivation. Regardless, if this Dao Tower can really allow one to do so, then this will truly be the perfect ce for me to advance myprehension of my Dao of Space.''''
Shun Long knew that he was just a step away from advancing to the early fifth stage of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' and that the only thing he required was to breakthrough in hisprehension of the Dao of Space.
However, unlike his Dao of Time, even with the increased affinity that he had for the Dao of Space thanks to his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', Shun Long was still unable to breakthrough in the past 2 years that he had spent in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and step into the early fifth stage.
Holding the white-colored token that he had received from the receptionist in his left hand, he no longer hesitated as he bit his own finger, causing a bright red droplet of blood to appear and fall on the white token.
Shun Long could instantly feel the token in his hands trying to establish a connection with his own consciousness the moment that it absorbed his drop of blood, but sensing that it was a connection which he could cut off at any moment, Shun Long gritted his teeth before deciding to allow it a momentter.
The moment that the connection was established, he could sense that his pitch-ck surroundings had started to change, while a feeling as if he had started to lose control of his own body had also sprouted in his heart.
No, it wasn''t that he had lost control of his body. Instead, it was his consciousness that had established the connection with the white token that was making him unable to control his body at this moment.
However, Shun Long quickly calmed down a momentter, as he could still feel that he could simply cut off the connection between himself and his white token any moment that he wished to do so, and everything would instantly go back to normal.
A few momentster, as he opened his eyes, he noticed that his surroundings hadpletely changed as he found himself standing in the center of arge pce hall.
Looking at his own hands as well as the rest of his body, Shun Long understood that this wasn''t his real body but a body made by motes of light instead.
In front of him, he also saw the silhouette of a young man that had started to materialize at the same time.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t pay too much attention to the man who had started to appear in front of him, as he stared at his own hands with a look filled with disbelief.
His cultivation seemed to have returned to the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade, but this wasn''t the biggest change that he sensed.
Instead, it was the qi inside him that feltpletely different from the qi in his body back in the real world.
Shun Long sensed that the qi inside this body that was made by motes of light, was much weaker and circted much slowerpared to his real qi.
When you and your opponent both have your cultivation base restricted at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, while having the same amount of qi inside your bodies as well as the same qi purity, the only difference between the 2 of you would be the martial skills that you know and the Dao that you haveprehended.
However, due to how slowly the qi inside his body was now circting, Shun Long instantly realized that it was impossible for him to use even Yellow-grade martial skills, let alone Mystic-grade and Saint-grade ones.
It was only at this moment that Shun Long truly realized why the Dao Tower was rumored to test nothing but the Dao that a cultivator hasprehended, while aplicated feeling started to rise in his heart at the same time.
After all, fighting like this was indeed no different than fighting with shackles around your entire body.
And yet, a momentter, Shun Long quickly shook his head, as a look filled with fighting intent appeared inside his eyes before he mumbled to himself
''''This is good as well. This ce is truly perfect for me to advance my Dao of Space!''''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long stared at the figure of the young man in front of him that had fully materialized itself as well.
It was a young man dressed in brown robes, with short ck hair and a solidly built body. However, Shun Long was unable to discern any details from his face.
Indeed, this was the protection that the Dao Tower offered to its participants.
As long as one wanted to keep their identity hidden, no one could force that person to reveal it.
At that moment, Shun Long saw the young man in front of him take a look at the hall around them before he turned his attention towards him.
Taking a step forward, the young man''s foot suddenly stomped on the ground, actually creating a small fissure on the floor of the pce hall.
The fissure rapidly expanded as it moved towards Shun Long, and from the pce''s depths, tree branches of various sizes some of them as thin as a person''s finger while some of them as thick as a human''s thigh emerged from the fissure, as they moved to surround Shun Long, blocking all paths of retreat.
Chapter 525: Dao fight
Chapter 525: Dao fight
Staring at the tree branches that were moving towards him Shun Long wasn''t flustered in the slightest, as he stretched out his right hand before an illusionary purple-colored de appeared on it.
Although martial skills couldn''t be used inside the Dao Tower, anything rted to his ownprehension of their Dao could be utilized as long as Shun Long was willing to spend some of his qi.
This meant that although he couldn''t use martial skills like the Gale steps, or his Thunderbolt finger, or the only Saint low-grade martial skill that he knew, the Thundergod''s sh, things that Shun Long hadprehended through his own Dao, like the spatial de in his hand, his blink or opening a space tear with his own hands, everything that was rted to his own Dao, regardless of whether they originally required Shun Long to use his qi or his body refinement energy to be activated, could now be used inside the Dao Tower.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t nning to use any of his moves that required him to use his Dao of Time, and was nning topletely rely on his Dao of Space instead.
Staring at the tree branches that were about topletely submerge him in their attacks, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as the spatial de in his right hand started to cut through them like a scorching de cutting through snow.
The tree branches couldn''t provide the slightest resistance in front of the purple spatial de, and regardless of whether it was the thicker tree branches or the small and thin ones, they were all cut down all the same as Shun Long advanced towards the young man in brown robes.
The young man''s body trembled when he felt his strongest attack being destroyed from the inside without him being able to do anything.
Although he tried to summon more tree branches, it was obvious that his attempt was futile as Shun Long simply cleared them faster than they emerged from the ground while he moved towards him.
And yet the only thing that he could do was stick to this same n.
As he kept attacking Shun Long, the young man had started to step backwards at the same time, opening up the distance between them as he wasn''t willing to allow Shun Long to get too close to him, but in just a few moments, he realized that he had ended up reaching the end of the hall with his back against the wall.
At the same time, Shun Long finally cut through thest of the tree branches that was blocking his way a few momentster, before he stared at the young man in front of him who was clearly trembling in fright.
Shun Long wasn''t certain if this was the young man''s first fight in the Dao Tower as well or his first timeing so close to death which made him so afraid, but it was obvious that hisprehension of his Dao was more thanckluster, to say the least.
Although the attribute of his Dao of Space was really terrifying being able to cut through practically anything at will, Shun Long knew that as long as he met someone whoseprehension of their Dao was higher than hisprehension of his Dao of Space, he wouldn''t be able to win effortlessly like this.
As for the young man in front of him, Shun Long guessed that hisprehension of his Dao was at the level of someone who had just broken through to the Heaven grade.
shing the air in front of him with his right hand, Shun Long then opened a space tear and stepped inside it, closing the distance between them and appearing in front of the brown-robed young man in practically an instant before he swept his right hand horizontally before the young man could even open his mouth to say anything.
A small wound appeared on the ce where the brown-robed young man''s heart was supposed to be, and a few momentster, his body started to break down into motes of light as he began to disappear in front of Shun Long.
The young man didn''t know why he had been so unlucky to face a monster like Shun Long so early in the Dao Tower.
He had won his previous fight almost effortlessly, but just in his second fight, he had to fight against this monster who had destroyed him in less than a minute.
He was still in the white rank!
What the hell was this guy doing in the white rank as well?
Shun Long had also guessed that the young man would probably feel aggrieved about his loss, since this previous fight was no different than bullying, he didn''t really care about it since there was nothing he could do about it either.
As he was still in the white rank, Shun Long had guessed that he would probably have to fight against the weaker cultivators before rising in the ranks, causing most of his opponents in the beginning to only have aprehension at the Heaven-grade level, but as he rose to the yellow-grade, Shun Long guessed that he would start fighting against peak Heaven-grade opponents or even Spirit realm cultivators, making the battles tougher as he rose through the ranks.
The moment that the brown-robed young man disappeared, Shun Long noticed that some of the motes of light around his body didn''t disperse in the surroundings, but instead, they were being absorbed by his white rank token.
His token that had a pure white color didn''t change externally, but Shun Long could sense that there was a small difference as he held it.
After looking at it seriously for a few more moments, a smile broke out on his face before he sat cross-legged on the ground on the now dead-silent pce hall and closed his eyes.
The cracks on the ground created by the fissure of the young man''s attack were quickly repaired in less than a minute, restoring the pce''s appearance to its original state before Shun Long''s first fight.
Finally, 15 minutester, after the period for everyone to rest had ended, a new silhouette started to materialize in front of Shun Long, causing him to slowly open his eyes as well.
Chapter 526: Dao Fight (2)
Chapter 526: Dao Fight (2)
This second silhouette that appeared in front of him belonged to a young woman who was dressed in pure white robes, and had long silver hair that reached down to her waist.
Even though her facial features couldn''t be discerned, from the way she carried herself and how she wasn''t in a rush to make the first move, Shun Long could guess that this woman had a calm and collected look on her face as she looked at him, before her gaze inspected the rest of the pce hall around her.
Of course, just like Shun Long and the brown-robed young man that Shun Long had faced a few minutes ago, this young woman''s cultivation was naturally at the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade as well.
After all, the rules of the Dao Tower were the same for everyone.
After inspecting the young man in front of her for a few seconds, the white-robed young woman''s body was suddenly surrounded by a gust of wind as she lifted herself in the air, and as she looked at the yellow-robed young man who was still sitting cross-legged on the floor without moving, she said in a calm but frigid tone, her voice resounding throughout the entire pce hall
''''Prepare yourself or die!''''
Without waiting for a response, the silver-haired young woman pointed her hand towards him before tens of wind des appeared in the air around her.
After staying still in the air for a few moments, the wind des all flew towards Shun Long at the same time, barraging him at once.
With a calm smile on his face, Shun Long looked at the young woman in front of him who was hovering in their confidently as she waited for her attack tond, before he calmly raised his right hand and punched the air in front of him once, creating arge space tear the size of a normal person.
The silver-haired young woman took a step back in disbelief as she saw her wind des all disappear inside the space tear that Shun Long had casually opened with a single punch, but before she could even process what was going on, her wind des had already appeared from behind her.
Before the silver-haired young woman had enough time to realize what happened and move out of the way, her body was riddled with wounds and holes as her own wind des ended up tearing her apart.
Falling on the floor of the pce hall with her consciousness on the verge of fading, the young woman raised her head with extreme difficulty to look at the yellow-robed young man who was sitting opposite to her and had yet to move a single step since their fight started. She was simply unwilling to ept that she had really lost just like this, but she only managed to see Shun Long sit casually at the center of the hall for a single moment, before her body finally broke apart into countless motes of light.
Of course, what the silver-haired young woman didn''t know, was that the reason why Shun Long didn''t move from his seat was in order to ce more pressure on himself.
Fighting against the brown-robed young man had made him realize that using his spatial de wasn''t really helping him increase hisprehension in his Dao of Space.
Thus, he decided against using it, or his blink, unless he really faced a powerful opponent.
As for the space tear that he had created during the fight that sucked in the young woman''s wind des, Shun Long could only use it when he was fighting opponents whoseprehension of their Dao was at the same level as his Dao of Space at most.
Otherwise, if the young woman''sprehension of her Dao of Wind actually exceeded hisprehension of his Dao of Space, Shun Long guessed that his space tear wouldn''t be able to absorb every single wind de, and would most likely end up crumbling halfway after absorbing around 40 percent of the wind des instead.
After all, the space tears could only absorb an enemy''s attacks, depending on Shun Long''s strength and his own Daoprehension.
No Dao was omnipotent.
Everything relied on a cultivator''s own strength in the end.
Of course, in situations where hisprehension of his Dao of Space and his opponent''s were at the same level, Shun Long was confident that he could win every single fight.
He had yet to meet someone who was strong enough to fight him head-on.
The only exception so far was when Shun Long fought against Jiang Chen, but to match Shun Long''s power when he was utilizing his Dao of Space, Jiang Chen needed to use his Demonic Dao, as well as his rank 1 star-rank weapon and a Saint low-grade martial skill.
Of course, Jiang Chen could also fight Shun Long even without his Demonic Wings when Shun Long was only using his Dao of Space, but in that case, he wouldn''t be the one who had the advantage during the fight and could only be ced in a passive position instead, where he would only be able to defend himself.
As for the silver-haired young woman whoseprehension of her Dao was still at the Heaven grade, it was impossible for her tost for even a few seconds against Shun Long when he fought seriously.
Nevertheless, if Shun Long had topare her with the brown-robed young man from before, Shun Long believed that the young woman would most likely emerge as the victor if the 2 of them fought against each other, and she wouldn''t need more than 15 minutes to do so.
As the young woman''s body turned into motes of light, a portion of that light didn''t disperse but instead, it was absorbed in Shun Long''s white token instead.
Shun Long continued to sit cross-legged on the ground without moving, as he waited for his next fight to begin.
...
In the blink of an eye, a day soon passed, as Shun Long stared at the body of a robust middle-aged man in front of him, that had started to turn into motes of light before it slowly disappeared from the pce hall.
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Chapter 527: Consecutive wins
Chapter 527: Consecutive wins
This middle-aged man was Shun Long''s 48th opponent.
During the past 24 hours, Shun Long had actually managed to win 48 battles in a row!? This was a terrifying number that very few people could achieve in the Dao Tower in one go.
In these past 24 hours, his token had also changed from the original white color to a deep orange one, and it seemed to be just a few fights away from having its color turn red.
After reaching the yellow rank, Shun Long had to fight against opponents whose Daoprehension had reached the level of an average peak Heaven grade cultivator or a newly advanced Spirit realm.
Of course, in front of Shun Long''s Dao of Space that was just a step away from reaching the standard of a newly advanced Nascent Soul stage cultivator, none of them could actuallyst for more than a couple of minutes.
However, after reaching the orange rank, the opponents that Shun Long had to face became even stronger, as every single one of them had reached the standard of a normal middle orte-stage Spirit realm cultivator, causing Shun Long to feel much more pressure fighting them while sitting cross-legged on the ground.
As for the robust middle-aged man that Shun Long had just faced, his Daoprehension was just a step away from breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage as well.
In this fight against the middle-aged man, Shun Long had actually failed to block some of his attacks as well, causing him to suffer pain simr to what he would have felt in the real world from them.
And yet, despite being hit in the chest 3 times and being ced in this situation of immense stress, Shun Long''s eyes lit up as he looked at the unmoving body of the man in front of him.
At the same time, as the middle-aged man''s body started to disappear, a few of the motes of lighting from his body were absorbed by Shun Long''s orange-colored token, bringing it one step closer to red.
After a moment of hesitation, Shun Long closed his eyes and cut off the connection between himself and his orange-colored token.
His surroundings quickly changed as he suddenly felt himself disappearing from therge pce hall, before he returned back to his dark room of the Dao Tower barely a momentter.
Although Shun Long was confident that he could probably reach the red rank after a few more fights using only his Dao of Space, despite the fact that the difficulty of the opponents that he had to face had already increased exponentially, after 24 hours of non-stop fighting and after thisst fight with the robust middle-aged man, an intense feeling had started to appear deep inside him, as Shun Long could feel that hisprehension of space had started to change.
He knew that this was his chance to breakthrough to the early fifth stage in his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
The moment that he cut off the connection between himself and his orange token and felt himself returning back to the room, Shun Long heard the familiar rumbling sounding from behind him, as the heavy ck door started to open by itself.
Without wasting any time, Shun Long walked out of the room directly, as he returned back to the ground floor of the Dao Tower a few momentster.
Walking past the enormous building''s entrance, Shun Long wandered around the Holy city as he started to look for an inn.
Thankfully, he didn''t have to search for a long time, as the Holy city was actually filled with plenty of inns, most of them belonging to the powerful ns and families that resided in the city.
After all, as the city located directly below the Holy mountain, it was only natural that many of the powerful ns and families that lived in the Holy sect''s territories would not only have their own businesses in the Holy city such as pill shops, formation master shops, and inns and restaurants, but some of them would even choose to relocate their entire n in the city as well.
Of course, only the strongest families and ns would dare to do something like that since the Holy city was a huge pie that everyone wanted to share but only the strongest would do so in the end. Additionally, those families and ns who dared to send their main forces in the Holy city didn''t mean that they wouldn''t control any other cities either.? After all, the more cities they have under their control the more businesses they will also have, meaning the bigger their profits would be.
After choosing a random inn near the center of the city that belonged to the Qiao n and paying 200 middle-grade spirit stones to rent a courtyard for the next 2 days, Shun Long entered his room and without wasting any time, he sat cross-legged on his bed and closed his eyes, as he simted himself returning to the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Sitting in his usual seat, Shun Long waved his hand, causing a single bottle filled with bright red pills to appear in front of him, as well as 100 stalks of rank 5 ''Dragonblood grass''.
This was thest bottle of top-grade ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' that Shun Long still had, and he had kept it for himself instead of selling it to Wan Zu in the Golden Treasures Hall for sect points because he was preparing for this breakthrough to the fifth stage of body refinement.
The moment that he opened the bottle, the sweet fragrance of the 5 ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' instantly filled the air around him with their intoxicating scent.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself down, Shun Long held the 5 red pills in his hands, before cing them all in his mouth at the same time.
The 5 top-grade rank 5 ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' instantly turned into a gentle stream of energy that melted in his mouth, but as soon as the energy went down his throat a familiar pain assaulted Shun Long, causing his eyes to widen in the process under the extreme pain, while his spiritual sea inside his spiritual space had started to split apart.
Chapter 528: Breaking through to the fifth stage of body refinement
Chapter 528: Breaking through to the fifth stage of body refinement
As his spiritual sea begun to churn and split into 2 parts, the sudden pain of his soul splitting, once again assaulted Shun Long, making him grind his teeth and try his best to endure it while his eyes suddenly turned bloodshot.
This indescribable pain in his soul was the only thing that neither Shun Long nor any other cultivator could defend against it, no matter what.
This was why attacks directed towards one''s soul were considered to be extremely dangerous. If your soul, your spiritual strength and your spiritual sea weren''t strong enough to endure it, forget about losing your body, even your soul would be snuffed out.
And yet, along with the soul-splitting pain, Shun Long also felt an intense sensation of hunger from every fiber of his being, almost as if his body was a hungry beast that had starved for countless years and was now demanding energy.
Fortunately, Shun Long had already predicted this, as he started eating the stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' that he had already prepared and had ced in front of him before he started his breakthrough without holding back, not caring about his appearance in the slightest.
Large amounts of energy started to fill his body the moment that he consumed the first stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'', but just as the energy entered his body, it quickly disappeared. And yet, Shun Long didn''t stop, as he kept eating stalk after stalk of the crimson-colored grass without caring about any of this.
He could sense that the energy from the ''Dragonblood grass'' that he was consuming was being split into 2 parts.
One part was absorbed by his body, enhancing his tendons, his muscles, his bones, and even his own blood, while the other half was transformed into spiritual energy and was absorbed by his spiritual sea that was split into 2 halves.
Even after he had consumed more than 30 stalks though, Shun Long still felt that he had barely made a dent in the insatiable feeling of hunger inside him.
Without any other choice, he could only continue eating until hepletely filled his stomach.
It was only 2 hourster and after he had consumed nearly 90 stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' that he finally felt his body being full.
However, this wasn''t the end just yet, as changes were also taking ce inside his spiritual sea as well!
The huge, illusionary sea made of spiritual energy that was previously split into 2 halves was gradually merging together into one gigantic spiritual sea that was twice the size of the original!
At the same time, Shun Long could feel hisprehension of his Dao of Space advancing even more and at a terrifying rate, while his affinity with the element of space was also increasing without any signs to stop.
This process continued for more than a week until Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
Even without standing up from his seat, he could now sense that his body was filled with limitless amounts of energy, as he finally reached the early fifth stage in body refinement.
And yet, the moment that he opened his eyes, before he could actually rejoice in his breakthrough, Shun Long realized that the golden stele inside the foggy space that hadn''t shown any changes during the past 2 years, was now emitting a white light that was many times stronger than before.
After staring at it seriously for a moment, Shun Long stood up from his seat and approached the golden stele with a serious look in his eyes.
He was actually feeling a little hesitant to touch this golden stele since everything that was rted to the ''Stone of Time'' had always subjected him to a certain degree of danger in the past, but after remembering that this stele had only appeared after he had returned from that magnificent white pce with the golden staircase that had allowed him to breakthrough again in his body refinement, he took a deep breath before he ced his hand on the stele''s surface.
However, even after waiting for a few moments, Shun Long noticed that there were no changes on the golden stele.
Even after injecting his qi or his soul sense inside it hoping that there would be any changes, there was still no reaction.
''''Maybe it needs a bit more time?''''
This was the only conclusion that Shun Long coulde to, causing him to temporarily give up for now.
After all, no matter what, it was obvious that the white light that wasing from the stele now, was much brighter than the dim and almost nonexistent light that the golden stele was previously emitting.
Shun Long guessed that he either had to wait for some more time, or he had to advance his body cultivation to the middle of the fifth stage or maybe even the peak of the fifth stage before the stele actually reacted again.
Of course, he wasn''t certain whether the stele would really take him back to that golden staircase in front of the white pce with the 2 angel statues guarding in front of it, but if he could advance his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' further, then this was a risk that he was willing to take.
After all, Shun Long hadn''t forgotten how he had been ''abducted'' by the ''Stone of Time'' twice after breaking through in his cultivation in the past, and he wasn''t certain what kind of enemies he would have to face in the future if that happened again.
Thus, advancing his cultivation in both his qi and his body refinement were of utmost importance to him.
Regardless, even if the stele didn''t respond right now, Shun Long now knew that it would do so again in the future.
Closing his eyes, he quickly calmed down as he tried to sense the changes around him.
A momentter however, he snapped his eyes open with a surprised look on his face, as he realized that as long as he closed his eyes and focused, he could clearly sense the differentyers of space present around him, meaning that his affinity with the element of space had increased even more than what he had originally thought.
Chapter 529: One with the world
Chapter 529: One with the world
Closing his eyes for the second time, Shun Long then spread his soul sense around his surroundings before he mumbled in a low, almost inaudible voice
''''Let''s try this!''''
Spatial fluctuations started to ripple out around his body as soon as the words left his mouth, before he suddenly vanished from the spot he was standing on barely a momentter, almost as if his figure had faded into nothingness.
A full minuteter, Shun Long''s body reappeared back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', in the same spot that he was standing on before he disappeared.
It was too bad that Little ck was still asleep, otherwise his reaction would have definitely been extremely interesting to look at, after seeing this scene in front of him.
After all, Shun Long hadn''t left the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' just now, but he had really disappeared.
As soon as he reappeared on the same spot as before, a bright smile appeared on Shun Long''s face as he mumbled to himself thoughtfully
''''Hmm, space has so many different uses, that its uniqueness is almost at the same level as my Dao of Time.
Since I canpletely conceal myself with this technique... I will name this, ''One with the world''!''''
As he came to this decision, Shun Long decided to spend the next couple of hours testing this new technique that he hadprehended after breaking through to the early fifth stage of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Indeed, after his breakthrough and since his affinity with the element of space had increased even further, he could now clearly feel the space around him even better than before, allowing him to hide his body inside it.
Of course, although it looked like he had actually vanished and even one''s soul sense would be hard-pressed to spot him while he used this technique, Shun Long knew that his ''One with the world'' wasn''t perfect since he couldn''t move while he activated this technique.
He could only stay still and observe his surroundings, but as long as he tried to move around, the technique would instantly break.
And yet, despite this limitation, Shun Long was extremely happy with this technique.
The only thing that he didn''t have, was such a protective technique to conceal himself.
Although he wasn''t certain if he would be able to hide sessfully in front of powerful Dao Kings, Shun Long''s intuition told him that there was a high chance for him to seed.
A few hourster, after consuming 5 stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' to replenish his energy, he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the ''Stone of Time'', returning back to his room at the inn.
Thankfully, his breakthrough had onlysted for a little more than a week inside the foggy space, meaning that barely 1 day had passed in the outside world.
Although he knew that he still had more than half a day left, Shun Long decided to leave the inn before that and take a quick look at the rest of the Holy city, as well as go and meet with the merchant Ying Gui after that.
After all, ording to the second mission that he had epted from the Assignment Hall, there was less than a day left until Ying Gui''s caravan left for Yanzhu city.
Shun Long spent the next 4 hours touring through the shops of the Holy city, especially pill shops in hopes that he could find some rare medicinal herbs.
However, Shun Long didn''t know whether it was because he simply was unlucky or if the pill shops that he visited just happened to be like that, but most of them didn''t sell almost any rank 6 medicinal herbs, but only sold their pills directly.
Of course, Shun Long wanted to take a look at the rest of the Holy city as well and see if the other pill shops really worked like that, but he knew that it was time to meet with Ying Gui as well.
After remembering the details of the mission, he decided that he would take a look at the rest of the shops in the Holy city afterpleting his 2 missions, so without any hesitation, he then started walking towards the east of the Holy city.
As he walked towards the east of the city looking for the inn that he was supposed to meet Ying Gui, Shun Long thought back to the things that he had seen in the Holy city in thest 4 hours and realized that he was truly much poorer than he thought.
Although his current wealth could most likely rival that of an average early-stage Dao King from the central region, this was as far as it could go.
Shun Long simply couldn''tpare yet to even middle-stage Dao Kings, let alone the truly rich heirs and families that lived in the Holy city.
He had already seen that an average early rank 6 magic beast actually costed anywhere from 1 to 1.5 million middle-grade spirit stones!
This meant that as long as an average middle-stage Dao King was strong enough and he managed to capture a living early rank 6 magic beast, he could actually make as many spirit stones as an average early stage Dao King had managed to gather throughout his life.
Of course, this was the price for a living early rank 6 magic beast and not a dead one, otherwise the price would drop by many times. Capturing a rank 6 magic beast alive was also much tougher than one would think, as most magic beasts were almost impossible to be subdued, and would rather fight to the death than submit to humans.
Naturally, if middle-stage Dao Kings could make 1 million spirit stones so quickly, Shun Long couldn''t even fathom how rich thete-stage Dao Kings would be, or even the Dao Emperors.
It was only now that he started to understand why Elders like Elder Xuan could burn high-grade spirit stones to fill their courtyards with qi effortlessly.
And yet, not only did this not make Shun Long depressed, but it actually made him so happy, that any passerby who happened to see the evil smile on his face would end up feeling shivers all over their body before they scurried as far away from him as possible.
With so many resources avable in the central region why wouldn''t Shun Long ever be happy?
Chapter 530: Meeting Ying Gui
Chapter 530: Meeting Ying Gui
At the same time, in thesest 4 hours that he toured through the Holy city, Shun Long also learned about the existence of some cultivators who were called Beast Tamers.
Beast tamers could subdue beasts much easier than normal cultivators, and they could even tame those magic beasts much faster than them and even have them follow them into battles, earning the title of beast tamers.
Of course also knew that there were such people in the Night star continent as well, and even in the Deste East, but they were so few and far between that he never paid any attention to them.
However, in the central region, beast tamers weren''t any less important than alchemists or formation masters.
High-level beast tamers were actually treated with the same importance by the powerful families and ns as well as the other forces in the central region, that everyone longed to be a beast tamer as well.
However, although beast tamers enjoyed a high status, it wasn''t easy for someone to join their ranks.
Every beast tamer needed to have extensive knowledge of the magic beasts they have to deal with, including the magic beasts'' personality traits and how aggressive or docile the beasts were, their natural habitat that they preferred to live, as well as the internal structure of the magic beast and even the prey that they liked to hunt the most, as well as the natural enemies that the magic beasts had.
At the same time, although alchemists also needed to have extensive knowledge of the magic beasts as well, the difference between them and beast tamers was that alchemists also needed to learn the traits of countless medicinal herbs as well as have a powerful spiritual strength that allowed them to mix the ingredients together and concoct their pills.
Inparison, although beast tamers didn''t need a powerful spiritual strength, they needed a highbat strength if they wanted to subdue a magic beast.
And yet, although being an alchemist was considered to be a lot harder than being a beast tamer due to the amount of knowledge that the alchemists needed to know, being a beast tamer and having to deal with terrifying and powerful magic beasts was more dangerous in the end, making both professions enjoy an extremely high status throughout the central region.
Thus, it was extremelymon for powerful families and ns to vie with each other in order to obtain the favor of powerful alchemists, formation masters and beast tamers alike.
After arriving at the eastern part of the city, Shun Long noticed that even if the inns and the shops weren''t as luxurious as the shops that were closer to the center, they didn''t seem to have much fewer customers than the top shops.
Finally, an hourter, he stopped in front of the entrance of a medium-sized inn named ''Blue Heaven inn''.
Shun Long knew that he was supposed to meet merchant Ying Gui here today if he wanted to join his caravan and join the Holy sect''s mission.
Before entering the inn, Shun Long first took out his sect identifying token and infused his qi inside it, immediately activating the ''Memory recording formation''.
Then, without any dy, he stepped past the inn''s entrance and entered the inn.
A fat, middle-aged woman with her hair tied up in a bun approached Shun Long the moment that he entered the inn, and as soon as she spotted his yellow-colored robes which indicated that he was an outer disciple of the Holy sect, she smiled brightly before asking
''''Wee young lord, can I help you?''''
Since Shun Long seemed to be an outer disciple of the Holy sect and the woman knew that most disciples of the sect usually enjoyed an extremely high status everywhere within the Holy sect''s territory, she didn''t think that the young man in front of her had actually chosen her inn to stay and would most likely be here looking for someone.
Indeed, nodding his head at this woman whom he assumed was most likely the innkeeper, Shun Long then asked curiously
''''Thank you, is merchant Ying Gui staying here?''''
The woman nodded her head with the same smile on her face as her eyes lit up in realization after hearing Shun Long''s question, before she pointed towards the depths of the inn and gestured for him to follow after her before she replied
''''Of course. Senior Ying Gui is staying in his own courtyard. I was told that if a disciple of the Holy sect really arrived, I should lead you to his courtyard right away. Please follow me.''''
Without any dy, the young woman led Shun Long to Ying Gui''s courtyard.
A couple of minutester, Shun Long arrived in front of one of thergest courtyards in the inn, before the innkeeper''s voice resounded in the air
''''Senior Ying Gui, your guest has arrived.''''
The gates of the courtyard opened promptly a few momentster, as Shun Long saw a short, almost obese middle-aged man with a fat nose, big lips, and a greasy forehead, walking towards him with a smile on his face.
With just a nce, Shun Long easily guessed that this was probably the man who had registered the mission, Ying Gui.
His cultivation was at the rank 1 of the Spirit realm, which wasn''t impressive for someone of his age, but it was still the norm for a merchant who mostly focused on traveling around instead of fighting or cultivating.
Behind him was a huge middle-aged man, whose height probably exceeded 2.5 meters(8.2ft), dressed in battle armor while a big, silver axe was strapped on his back.
The visual difference between Ying Gui and this man who was following behind him made the gigantic man look even more imposing, deterring anyone who would even think of approaching close to him.
Even though Shun Long had also grown taller in the past 4 years, his height that had reached 1.8m(5.10ft) made him look like a kid in front of this man as well.
However, as Ying Gui approached Shun Long with a smile on his face, the robust middle-aged man frowned when he saw him.
Chapter 531: Bad luck
Chapter 531: Bad luck
''''Wee! My name is Ying Gui and this is the head of my guards Zou Qiang. I am very happy that you epted the mission. Haha, I wasn''t sure if someone would really ept it in time!''''
Ying Gui didn''t lose a single moment as he introduced both himself and the head of his guards with a passionate expression as he looked at Shun Long, while gesturing for him to enter his courtyard at the same time.
Although Ying Gui knew that protection missions like this were popr among the outer disciples of the Holy sect, what he had said was also true.? He had to leave for Yanzhu city right away, and he wasn''t certain if an outer disciple of the Holy sect would ept the mission in time.
If he wasn''t lucky enough, he could only leave 3 dayster with only the power of his normal guards.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at the smiling Ying Gui before he took out his golden-colored token that he had ced in his robes and showed it to him, as he introduced himself
''''My name is Shun Long, and I am a disciple of the Holy sect.''''
After he finished his simple introduction, Shun Long stopped looking at Ying Gui and turned his gaze towards the giant Zou Qiang who was standing behind him and was staring at him with the same frown on his face.
Noticing that Shun Long hadn''t entered his courtyard and was looking at his head of guards instead, Ying Gui turned around and stared at the man behind him before he asked with the same professional smile of a merchant that he always used
''''Zou Qiang, is everything okay?''''
Zou Qiang shook his head after hearing his boss'' voice, before answering with a serious look
''''No problem boss.''''
''''Haha, that''s good. Young master Shun Long, how about you enter my courtyard for a drink?''''
Although Shun Long didn''t have a problem having a drink with Yin Gui, he wasn''t really in the mood to drink after seeing Zou Qiang''s gaze. Despite having said that there was no problem, how could Shun Long not realize that this head of guards was clearly looking at him as if he was staring at an ant?
With just a nce, he quickly realized, that the reason behind this was his cultivation that was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t hide his cultivation this time, since there was simply no reason to do so.
However, after seeing the frown that turned into a gaze of contempt and utter disregard from the peak rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivator behind Ying Gui a momentter, there was no way that he would simply ept Ying Gui''s offer to drink together.
Thus, he shook his head before he responded with his usual cold voice
''''No need. Let me know when you n to leave for Yanzhu city instead.''''
Ying Gui immediately noticed the tense atmosphere between the 2 men, and after turning around to shoot a stern nce towards Zou Qiang, not understanding why his head of guards was trying to antagonize a disciple of the Holy sect, he looked at Shun Long with the same smile on his face before he replied
''''I was simply waiting for young master Shun Long to join our group so we could leave. Since you are here, we can leave right away!''''
Turning around, Ying Gui looked at Zou Qiang before he ordered seriously, his usual easy-going smile having already disappeared from his face
''''Gather the guards in front of the inn. We are leaving for Yanzhu right away!''''
What Ying Gui had said to Shun Long was the truth. He had been waiting for a disciple of the Holy sect to join them before they left for Yanzhu city. Since Shun Long had now joined his group, why would Ying Gui wait any longer? Especially since it was obvious that Shun Long wasn''t willing to waste any time chatting.
Zou Qiang simply shook his head before he left his boss'' courtyard and headed elsewhere inside the inn.
Even though his boss couldn''t ascertain Shun Long''s exact cultivation since he was just at the rank 1 of the Spirit realm and could only understand that the young man in front of him had simply entered the Nascent Soul, how could Zou Qiang not realize that this outer disciple of the Holy sect was merely an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator?
Although he didn''t know how someone like that had passed the Holy sect''s test as even the weakest outer disciples had a cultivation at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, Zou Qiang simply epted his bad luck realizing that they would have no extra protection during this journey.
He and his team would simply have to face all any danger that showed up without any help.
If there was time, Zou Qiang would have told Ying Gui to simply send Shun Long back and wait for some other disciple of the Holy sect to ept the mission, but he knew that something like that wasn''t possible for 2 reasons.
Firstly, today was already the third and final day that his boss was willing for anyone who epted the mission to show up, and if no one eventually did, they would still leave the Holy sect by themselves. Thus, even if his boss actually rejected Shun Long''s help, it would just be Zou Qiang and his team in the end.
As for the second reason, Zou Qiang already knew that the Holy sect would never ept anyone questioning the capabilities of its disciples. The only way for someone to reject the help of a disciple of the Holy sect would be to cancel the mission, but canceling the missions wasn''t free.
To ask for the help of an outer disciple, Zou Qiang knew that his boss had to pay a certain fee to the Holy sect, and using that fee, the sect would reward the disciples whopleted the mission.
But if Ying Gui really canceled the mission, he would still have to pay half of the fee. The only way to reject Shun Long, would be if another outer disciple of the Holy sect showed up for the same mission.
In that case, Ying Gui would be able to choose between the 2 disciples.
Shaking his head, the giant 2.5m tall giant cursed his bad luck of getting the weakest outer disciple of the Holy sect, as he went to gather his team.
10 minutester, Shun Long who had already walked to the entrance of the ''Blue Heaven inn'' saw 14 men walking behind Zou Qiang, as they all stared at him and Ying Gui who was standing next to him.
Chapter 532: Ying Guis preparations
Chapter 532: Ying Gui''s preparations
Nodding his head, Ying Gui looked at his team of guards that had quickly gathered in front of the inn''s entrance, before turning his head to the side to look at Shun Long and saying humbly
''''As young master Shun Long can see, I only have 15 guards. Normally, they would be more than enough to protect me and the items that I transport from any thieves, but this time things are slightly different. Hehe, I will exin everything to young master Shun Long after we leave the city.''''
Originally, Ying Gui was about to exin his situation to Shun Long before they left the ''Blue Heaven inn'', but seeing that there were plenty of pedestrians who were looking at his 4 carriages with looks of curiosity, he decided against saying anything until they left the Holy city in case anyone ends up lusting over his merchandise.
Finishing his words, Ying Gui then jumped atop the first carriage, before he gestured for Shun Long to sit on the second one.
As for Zou Qiang, he didn''t pay any attention to Shun Long or his boss, as he had the 14 men who were walking behind him topletely surround the carriages, while he himself walked in the front.
Shun Long noticed that all of the guards from Zou Qiang''s team were between the early rank 1 and the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, with only Zou Qiang himself having reached the middle stages.
The guards had curious looks in their eyes as they inspected Shun Long as well, dumbfounded by his cultivation base that was only at the early rank 3 as well.
They had already heard from their boss that there was a chance for a disciple of the Holy sect to join them in their journey this time, and they were hoping that it would be someone at the early rank 6 of the Nascent Soul, or if they were unlucky, someone at the early or middle rank 5 in the Nascent Soul.
They couldn''t believe that they were so unlucky to get someone who was even weaker than some of them, let alone their captain!
Ignoring the looks on the guards'' faces, Shun Long took a look at the 4 carriages in front of him, and without declining Ying Gui''s offer, he sat atop the second carriage.
At the same time, Shun Long also noticed, that every single carriage was being pulled by 4 massive magic beasts at the middle of rank 4 that resembled cows, while the carriages themselves werepletely covered, each of them with a white piece of cloth that made it impossible to see what was inside them.
With just a nce, Shun Long instantly recognized the middle rank 4 magic beasts that were pulling the 4 carriages as ''Ironhide cows''.
He knew that these weren''t normal cows, but instead, resilient magic beasts with very high natural defensive abilities.? Their hide was as tough as iron and it could absorb the attacks of other middle rank 4 magic beasts without suffering too much damage.
Although the ''Ironhide cows'' didn''t have any offensive abilities, their ability to defend themselves was extremely strong, and they could even take on the attacks of somete-stage Spirit realm cultivators.
Just like Ying Gui had said, his guards were indeed strong enough to protect him from normal bandits. Even an early rank 6 Nascent Soul bandit wouldn''t necessarily try to rob him with Zou Qiang on the front and 14 early-stage Nascent Soul guards protecting the rest of the carriages, making Shun Long curious as to why Ying Gui felt the need to ask for the help of a disciple from the Holy sect.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then sent his soul sense past the white cloth below his feet, but a momentter he realized that he had failed to pass through it.
''''As expected...''''
He actually wasn''t surprised by this as he had already expected the carriages to be filled with protective formations that blocked out any attempts of soul sense.
Otherwise, anyone could simply send his soul sense and see past the white cloth of the carriage to find out what was being transported.
The reason why Shun Long tried this in the first ce, was simply to verify the importance that Ying Gui had ced on the merchandise that he was transporting this time.
Indeed, it seemed to be something beyond what he normally dealt with, otherwise he wouldn''t be so cautious as to ask for the help of the Holy sect on top of all of the normal measures that he had taken.
An hourter, Ying Gui''s caravan had already arrived at the gates of the Holy city before they passed right through it without any obstruction
After all, there was no need to pay a fee of any spirit stones to leave the city as one only had to pay when they entered.
As soon as they left the Holy city, Zou Qiang turned around and looked at his guards before he shouted
''''From now on and until we reach Yanzhu city, be on full alert!''''
''''Yes, captain!''''
Even Shun Long had to admit that Zou Qiang was a captain who was respected by his troops and had above-average leadership abilities.
Unfortunately, this didn''t really increase his image in Shun Long''s eyes.
Regardless of how good a captain he may be, intentionally offending someone who came to help him would only end up harming him in the end.
Not caring about the orders that Zou Qiang was giving as he arranged the rest of the guards, Ying Gui smiled brightly as he turned around and looked at Shun Long before he then said
''''Young master Shun Long, let me exin why I asked for your help. Unfortunately, I couldn''t exin this while we were still in the Holy city as there were too many people around us.''''
As he finished speaking, after checking and making sure that they had opened up a sizeable distance between themselves and the Holy city and that there were no other cultivators around them, Ying Gui raised the white sheet that was covering his own carriage revealing the scene inside.
As soon as Ying Gui lifted the sheet, Shun Long realized that what he was riding on wasn''t a normal carriage, but instead a small prison.
And inside this very prison, a beast that resembled a dog, with pitch-ck fur and orange eyes appeared in Shun Long''s vision!
Chapter 533: Biting more than he could chew
Chapter 533: Biting more than he could chew
This beast was evenrger than the rank 4 ''Ironhide cows'' that were pulling the carriages, as it kept wing with its front feet at the cell non-stop, trying to destroy the bars.
Its eyes were filled with endless killing intent, obviously unwilling to stay trapped in this ce, while every single one of its attacks ended up slightly shaking the entire carriage.
However, it didn''t matter how hard the beast wed at the cell bars as the protective formations lit up every time they were attacked,pletely absorbing the damage inflicted on them.
Even from a distance away, Shun Long could clearly sense that this magic beast had actually reached the peak of rank 5, as he asked in a voice that didn''t hide his surprise
''''A peak rank 5 ''Sr hound''?''''
''''Young master Shun Long is truly knowledgeable! Indeed, this is a rare peak rank 5 ''Sr hound''!''''
Ying Gui''s eyes instantly lit up when he saw that Shun Long had immediately recognized the magic beast, as he praised him with a truly sincere expression on his face.
Of course, ''Sr hounds'' were extremely rare rank 5 magic beasts, whose rarity to find them was at the same level as a ''Silver-winged panther king''. However, the reason why Shun Long was shocked wasn''t just due to how rare this magic beast was, but how did Ying Gui manage to get his hands on it in the first ce.
After all, even the strongest person on his caravan, Zou Qiang, was only a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Even with his entire team of guards as support, Zou Qiang wouldn''t be able to fight against a ''Sr hound'' who was still at the middle of rank 5, let alone a peak rank 5 one!
Hurriedly covering the carriage with the white sheet afraid that someone would see the peak rank 5 ''Sr hound'', Ying Gui first looked around to make sure that no one was watching them before he heaved out a sigh of relief. A self-mocking smile appeared on his face a momentter, and almost as if he had guessed Shun Long''s thoughts he then exined
''''As young master Shun Long can guess, it is impossible for me to hunt a peak rank 5 magic beast, especially one as powerful as the ''Sr hound''. Even if I asked Zou Qiang and the rest to risk their lives for me, I still know that it would be impossible to achieve something like this, and that we would all end up dying in the end.
The truth is that these 4 magic beasts that we are transporting today don''t belong to me, but to a rtively powerful family of Yanzhu city who purchased them from arge shop in the Holy city.
Of course, the person who gave me this mission didn''t want to use the channels of his family lest their family''s enemies found out about this and stopped them on the way, otherwise how could I ever get my hands on 4 peak rank 5 magic beasts?
I was simply asked to transport them from the Holy city to Yanzhu city.
Normally I would reject such a mission since I don''t know what dangers await us and we are simply incapable of handling even a single peak rank 5 magic beast by ourselves, let alone 4 of them.
However, the reward for this mission was too big and we only have to transport them from the Holy city to Yanzhu city in the end, so I couldn''t refuse.''''
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned serious when he heard this, as he realized that Ying Gui had probably bitten more than he could chew this time.
Without a moment to waste, Shun Long''s eyes started to scan his surroundings to see if anyone from the Holy city was following after their caravan, but even after a full minute had passed, he noticed that there wasn''t anyoneing after them.
And yet, this didn''t make Shun Long feel at ease, but instead, it made him even more certain that something was going to happen.
Ying Gui had indeed been too greedy this time, and he didn''t wait to think of the repercussions that his actions may cause to him and his guards.
A family that could afford to buy 4 peak rank 5 magic beasts, especially rare magic beasts like the ''Sr hound'', it was certain that they must have at least a couple of early-stage Dao Kings backing them.
If that family was truly afraid of transporting the magic beasts that they had purchased from the Holy city using their own channels, it could only mean that their family''s enemies were at least at the same level as them, if not even stronger.
Shun Long wasn''t certain if Ying Gui hadn''t realized this point or if he had simply been too blinded due to his greed for the reward that he had been promised, but from hisst sentence, Shun Long assumed that it was thetter.
However, could such a huge transaction really go unnoticed?
Shun Long had already seen in the Holy city, that a single peak rank 5 magic beast was usually sold for 200.000 to 250.000 middle-grade spirit stones. As for rare magic beasts like the ''Sr hound'', it wasn''t impossible for their price to exceed the 300.000 middle-grade spirit stones mark.
Naturally, he also knew that it was impossible for the family that had assigned this mission to Ying Gui, to simply allow him to be robbed by their enemies Dao Kings.
If any Dao Kings from either side really meddled in this fight, Shun Long believed that the other family wouldn''t stay still either and watch that scene unfold, thus this was most likely going to be a fight between Nascent Soul stage experts.
Unfortunately, neither Shun Long nor Ying Gui had any idea of the enemies forces that they would have to face, but if Ying Gui really believed that he could safely arrive in Yanzhu city and easily transport 4 peak rank 5 magic beasts to that family, Shun Long knew that was definitely going to be a fool''s dream!
Chapter 534: Traveling to Yanzhu city
Chapter 534: Traveling to Yanzhu city
Naturally, it wasn''t just Shun Long who had such thoughts in his mind, as Zou Qiang''s expression had already turned ugly upon hearing Ying Gui mentioning the mission''s details once again.
Even before they left the Holy city, this captain of the guards was always on full alert, not allowing anyone to get so much as within a few meters of the 4 carriages.
Aside from his boss and his subordinates, no one knew what they were transporting this time to Yanzhu city, and yet Zou Qiang still didn''t feel safe.
As a veteran mercenary, he knew that his boss shouldn''t have meddled in a transaction far above the level of what they could handle.
After all, even he, the head of the guards, was just a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator in the end. Although Zou Qiang was strong enough to defend himself against most dangers that he had faced so far, the reason behind him being still alive to this day while being a head of the guards, was that he was always prudent and never took risks that had a high risk of danger.
Zou Qiang clearly knew, that even a normal early rank 6 bandit would make him have to go all-out with the assistance of the rest of his guards just to fend him off.? In the end, peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators like him were far toomon in powerful families, which had made him always put his life first. If there was a mission that he deemed to danger to handle, he would usually reject it without a second thought.
And yet, Zou Qiang only had himself to me this time, since he had agreed to Ying Gui''s offer.
Even though he knew that the danger of this mission was probably going to be off the charts, he still agreed upon hearing the reward that Ying Gui had promised him.
Naturally, Ying Gui didn''t fail to see Shun Long checking his surroundings after hearing the details of the mission, but he simply closed his eyes and hoped that Shun Long wouldn''t abandon him after he had exined things.
After all, it wasn''t rare for disciples of the Holy sect to do so if a mission exceeded the danger level that they had originally estimated.? Besides, it wasmon knowledge that the disciples of the Holy sect also didn''t have to pay any fee if they gave up on a mission.
Thankfully for Ying Gui, Shun Long didn''t decide to abandon him and head to Yanzhu city by himself. Although he was certain that he would be much safer if he left this sinking ship and went forward alone, Shun Long already knew that being in tense situations like this was the best way to train himself.
Even though he couldn''t count on Little Silver who had now followed after Liu Mei, or Little ck who was still asleep inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', from the beginning Shun Long wasn''t nning on counting on anyone but himself during the sect''s missions, especially since the ''Memory recording formation'' was still active.
No matter what, he was already prepared for unexpected things to happen during the sect''s missions. Besides, in terms of survivability alone, Shun Long believed that there were very few cultivators at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul who couldpare with him.
Without paying any more attention to Ying Gui, Shun Long then closed his eyes as the carriages continued to move forward.
With the ''Ironhide cows'' speed, the trip to Yanzhu city would take at least a week.
Ying Gui heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Shun Long didn''t choose to leave in the end, but there was still a worried expression on the fat merchant''s face as he turned around and watched his carriages move forward.
After all, it would be a lie to say that Ying Gui himself wasn''t worried about this journey, with or without Shun Long''s presence along with his guards. He was the one who knew exactly what kind of family he was dealing with, making the pressure that he felt even more intense.
However, along with this pressure, a look of greed had also appeared deep in his eyes, as he looked forward to the reward he would obtain uponpleting this mission.
As for the 2.5 meters(8.2ft) tall head of guards, Zou Qiang, he seemed like he didn''t care in the slightest whether Shun Long stayed or left, as he kept walking forward, leading the way for the caravan to follow after him.
...
5 days quickly passed, and although Zou Qiang''s, Ying Gui''s, and the 14 guards'' nerves were stretched taut during the entirety of these 5 days and nights, not a single mishap happened throughout their journey.
At this point, both Ying Gui as well as his 14 guards, had all finally started to rx, knowing that they were less than a 2-day journey away from reaching their destination.
As soon as they reached Yanzhu city, it didn''t matter if anyone found out about their caravan since they would be provided with protection from their employer no matter what happened.
And yet, not only was Shun Long not feeling relieved that nothing had happened in thesest 5 days, but the look in his eyes was even more serious than before.
He understood that if they were going to be attacked, today was the most likely day for it to happen.
Their enemies wouldn''t be dumb enough to wait until they reached Yanzhu city to do so.
It seemed that Zou Qiang had also realized this point as well, and after turning around and seeing that the expressions of his subordinates had started to soften, he then shouted in a serious voice that was filled with unconcealed anger
''''Did we reach Yanzhu city yet? Why the hell are you idiots acting rxed? If we are going to be ambushed, it''s definitely going to happen today! Those fuckers won''t wait for us to deliver the magic beasts before they make their move!''''
The rxed expressions instantly disappeared from the guards'' faces as they realized that their captain was correct! Indeed, they had been feeling rxed today after walking on a thin line for the past 5 days that had made their minds mentally exhausted.
Since they had been waiting to be attacked at any time during the past 5 days, only for nothing to end up happening in the end, it gave them a false sense of security that they were finally in the clear.
However, Zou Qiang''s words quickly brought them back to the cruel reality of things. And yet, the guards didn''t seem to despair as they also realized the hidden meaning behind their captain''s words, making them feel invigorated and put aside their exhaustion as the 14 guards all shouted at the same time
''''Yes, captain!''''
Indeed, if they managed to pass the day safely, they would finally be clear of any danger.
Chapter 535: Flame Lions canyon
Chapter 535: me Lion''s canyon
Ying Gui also realized that Zou Qiang''s words were actually correct, instantly causing the easy-going expression to disappear from his face, as it was quickly reced with a serious one.
Of course, as a rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator and someone who didn''t even know a single martial skill, there was no way that Ying Gui could do anything but rely on the strength of his guards, as well as the young man who hade to support him from the Holy sect.
Turning his head to look at Shun Long, he noticed that the look on his face was serious as well, but thankfully he didn''t seem afraid like his guards, causing Ying Gui to rx a bit as well.
At the same time, Zou Qiang turned around, and ignoring both Shun Long and Ying Gui, he looked at his subordinates that were still in defensive positions to protect the carriages and said in a serious voice
''''In approximately 4 hours we will reach the ''me Lion''s'' canyon. As long as we manage to cross the canyon safely, Yanzhu city will only be half a day''s journey away!''''
The guards all nodded with solemn expressions on their faces, as they kept staring at their surroundings vigntly.
..
Indeed, before the 4-hour mark was crossed, Shun Long who was still sitting on top of the second carriage saw arge canyon appearing in the distance in front of them, before Ying Gui''s serious voice sounded a momentter as he exined seriously
''''Young master Shun Long, we have almost reached the ''me Lion''s'' canyon. This is the most dangerous ce that we have to cross to reach Yanzhu city, as there are many powerful magic beasts living inside the canyon.
Of course, even though there are also rumors of a rank 6 ''me Lion'' living inside the canyon, they are most likely just rumors in the end, as very few people imed to have truly seen it.
The biggest danger in this canyon is actually the early rank 5 and middle rank 5 magic beasts that may attack us at any moment.
Although the guards will probably be able to handle 1 or 2 early rank 5 magic beasts without any problems, if a middle rank 5 magic beast ends up attacking us, I hope that you can join hands with Zou Qiang and protect me.''''
Shun Long thought seriously for a moment upon hearing Ying Gui''s request before he eventually nodded his head.
After all, the point of the mission was to protect Ying Gui''s caravan.
Although hunting down a middle rank 5 magic beast would be normally considered a D-rank faction mission and not a personal mission based on the Holy sect''s rankings, as more than one rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators were normally required to kill a middle rank 5 magic beast, Ying Gui didn''t ask Shun Long to hunt the magic beast down if it appeared but simply protect him and his caravan.
Shun Long wasn''t certain if he could hunt down a middle rank 5 magic beast by himself, but he was actually eager to fight one and test his current limits, after enhancing his 21 qi balls and breaking through to the early fifth stage of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' as well.
It was too bad that Zou Qiang''s expression turned extremely ugly when he remembered that aside from being ambushed by their enemies, he would also have to be wary of the magic beasts inside the canyon, while a look of scorn had also appeared on his face at the same time when he saw Shun Long epting Ying Gui''s request to help him while he thought to himself in a mocking tone
''''Let''s see how you intend to help me if a middle rank 5 magic beast really attacks us with your cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul!''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Zou Qiang turned around and looked at the rest of his troops with a serious expression, certain that at least one-third of them would die if they were really unlucky enough to face a magic beast of that level.
At the same time, the look in Shun Long''s eyes had turned more serious when he heard that a rank 6 ''me Lion'' was actually living inside the canyon, and that this was where the canyon took its name from.
Although Shun Long may not be afraid of middle rank 5 magic beasts, he knew that the ''me Lion'' was apletely different level of magic beast!
Every single ''me Lion'' would always reach at least the middle of rank 6 upon reaching adulthood, while the powerful ones may even reach the peak of rank 6!
That level had already exceeded even Little Silver''s level, and even rank 9 Dao Kings may not be able to subdue such a magic beast!
Shun Long would never try to fight against such a terrifying magic beast with his cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, especially when Little ck was still asleep.
Staring at the carriages that had almost reached the entrance of the canyon by now, he looked at the look on Ying Gui''s face that was growing more solemn by the second before Shun Long actually heard a guard by his side asking
''''Boss, is this the only path avable to reach Yanzhu city?''''
Although most of the guards had followed Zou Qiang for many years, some of them were still new and had to rece the position of the guards who had died in other missions. It was obvious that this guard was going to Yanzhu city for the first time as well.
Shun Long however was also curious about this, since he didn''t know if there was no other way to get to their destination or if Ying Gui was simply following the shortest path to get there.
Shaking his head, the rank 1 Spirit realm merchant had a pained look on his face as he looked at the young guard whose cultivation was a full major stage above him, at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul, before he answered seriously
''''Although the ''me Lion''s'' canyon is extremely dangerous to cross, for any merchant who wants to arrive in Yanzhu city quickly there is actually no other way but to pass through it.
We could take the long way around to reach Yanzhu city, but doing so would mean that our journey would be dyed by at least half a month!''''
As Ying Gui finished his exnation half the guards looked at him with furious looks in their eyes, while at the same time, the carriages also started to enter the canyon''s entrance one by one.
Chapter 536: Shocking power
Chapter 536: Shocking power
Of course, it was natural that these guards would be angry at their boss, since he had chosen the most dangerous path to simply shave off some time, without caring about their lives in the slightest. However, only half the guards were furious, as the other half had followed Zou Qiang and Ying Gui for a long time and already knew about this.
Ying Gui simply shook his head when he saw the angry looks on the guards'' faces while they started to whisper among themselves, as he then continued with a helpless tone
''''With the things that we have to transport this time, I would have taken the safer path around the ''me Lion''s'' canyon if I could, since I cannot afford anything unexpected to happen.
Unfortunately, I was told that I had to reach Yanzhu city within 10 days, and if we take the long way around we will never make it in time.''''
Just as Ying Gui finished his exnation, Zou Qiang''s angry voice sounded from the front as he roared to those guards
''''You idiots knew the risks of the mission before you joined so you better shut your mouths! Stopining and pay attention to your surroundings, or you will only have yourselves to me if you end inside the stomach of a magic beast!''''
Although Zou Qiang was also indignant about this mission since there seemed to be hidden dangers in every corner, he wasn''t going to risk his own safety by having the guardsin to their boss when they were in the most dangerous period of their mission.
If they were suddenly ambushed, as the strongest person here, he would end up taking the brunt of it.
At that moment, before the guards could react upon hearing Zou Qiang''s angry voice, Shun Long''s pupils instantly narrowed as he suddenly took a step forward and appeared next to Ying Gui who was still sitting on the first carriage.
With his right hand clenched, he quickly punched the air in front of him without holding back his strength, before a loud booming sound was heard in everyone''s ears.
BOOOM
Zou Qiang, the 14 guards, and the startled Ying Gui, all turned their heads to stare at Shun Long at the same time, only to see that his punch seemed to have actually stopped a small metal arrow mid-air.
It was obvious that the arrow was heading directly towards Ying Gui''s neck, causing the fat merchant to stand up in fear while his eyes had widened in disbelief.
At the same time, the force of the arrow had ended up forcing Shun Long to take 2 steps back in order to stabilize himself, as he almost fell down from the carriage.
Zou Qiang was the first one toe back to his senses and realize what was going on, as he immediately recollected himself and shouted in a voice that was mixed with both shock and anger
''''Enemy attack! All of you, protect the boss!''''
Naturally, the shock that Zou Qiang felt was from Shun Long being able to react and block the arrow that even he hadn''t noticed, while his anger was actually directed towards himself as he failed to react in time and save his boss.
He knew that if Shun Long hadn''t stepped in this time, Ying Gui would have definitely turned into a corpse with an arrow on his neck by now.
As the head of the guards, this was a mistake that Zou Qiang wasn''t allowed to make.
''''Ohh?''''
Shun Long and the rest all heard a surprised voiceing from their right, but before they could all take their positions to protect Ying Gui, 3 consecutive sounds could be heard piercing through the air, one after the other.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
3 metal arrows instantly emerged from the same location as the first one that Shun Long had blocked, but unlike what everyone expected, the arrows didn''t all head towards Ying Gui.
Instead, only the first arrow was directed towards him, while the second one was actually flying towards Zou Qiang!
As for the third arrow? It was flying towards the guard closest to Ying Gui below the first carriage.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long immediately circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', while his eyes instantly turned golden at the same time.
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
Shun Long''s voice was cold as he activated his first ''Monarch''s Domain'' without holding back, before he punched the second arrow that was once again trying to take Ying Gui''s life.
The moment that it entered inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'' the arrow''s speed dropped dramatically but it didn''tpletely stop as it kept heading towards Ying Gui.
However, the closer it approached towards Shun Long, the more the arrow''s speed was reduced, before Shun Long clenched his right hand and sent another punch forward.
The second arrow was blocked effortlessly not causing Shun Long to even take a single step back this time, as his eyes stared towards the origin of the arrow.
At the same time that Shun Long blocked the metal arrow, Zou Qiang removed the silver axe that was strapped on his back and shed the iing arrow that was flying towards his head.
At that moment however, a scene that neither Ying Gui, the 14 guards, or even Zou Qiang himself expected actually happened.
The silver axe did indeed manage to block the metal arrow, stopping it from piercing his head, but Zou Qiang was actually sent flying backwards from the overpowering force behind it, as he stumbled for more than 10 meters until he managed to regain his bnce.
His arms started to tremble as pain coursed all over them, causing the peak rank 5 Nascent Soul head of the guards to look at the origin of the arrows with a gaze filled with disbelief as well as fear.
This wasn''t the end however as Zou Qiang suddenly remembered that there was a third arrow that was fired off this time.
However, as soon as he turned his head to the side to look at his subordinate and order him to dodge out of the way, the sound of blood sttering was suddenly heard, as the guard''s head exploded into a mist of blood.
Chapter 537: Su family
Chapter 537: Su family
Zou Qiang and the remaining 13 guards stared at the headless corpse next to them with eyes filled with shock and disbelief, while a look of extreme fear had appeared on Ying Gui''s face at the same time.
If even Zou Qiang himself could barely resist the attack of a single arrow, and if his own guard who was at the peak of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul couldn''t even guard against it before dying in one shot, what kind of terrifying enemy were they facing?
Shun Long''s gaze was also focused at the origin of the arrow while a serious look had also appeared on his face.
''Luckily'', Ying Gui didn''t have to wait for a long time to get an answer for the question in his mind, as 2 middle-aged men dressed in long ck robes slowly appeared as they stood next to each other.
One of the men held a long ck bow in his hands while a quiver filled with metal arrows was strapped on his back, while the other man was holding a crimson sword.
However, what made both Zou Qiang and his remaining 13 guards despair, was that the middle-aged man who was holding the crimson sword was a middle rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert, while the man with the arrow was actually at the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul!
Ying Gui''s body trembled when his eyes fell on the small emblems on the 2 men''s chest, as he suddenly asked in a high-pitched voice
''''You... you are from the Su family??''''
The 2 men inspected Zou Qiang and Shun Long for a few moments, while an amused expression had appeared on both of their faces barely a momentter as they turned their attention towards Ying Gui.
The middle-aged man with the ck bow smiled warmly and nodded his head as he looked at Ying Gui before he asked in return
''''Since you already know why bother asking? Tell me, do you want to take your own lives or should I do it for you?''''
Although the man in front of him seemed to be smiling, the warm smile on his face looked no different than the cold smile of a demon in Ying Gui''s eyes.
Even Zou Qiang started to fall into despair as he stealthily took a few steps backwards, opening up the distance between himself and the 2 monsters that had appeared in front of them.
There was no way that he could fight against even a middle rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, let alone one who had already reached the peak of rank 6.
Seeing the despair on Ying Gui''s face after he revealed his identity made the middle-aged man with the ck bow to smile even wider, as he took another step forward towards Ying Gui and asked mockingly
''''Hehe, who gave you, a small rank 1 Spirit realm trash, the guts to meddle between the fight of our family and the Yao family? Did you really think that you could purchase 4 peak rank 5 magic beasts from the Holy city for the Yaos and avoid being discovered by us? Hehehe, idiot. How could we not notice it when the Yaos used more than 1 million middle-grade spirit stones from their treasury for this?''''
Ying Gui''s face that had already started to turn pale in front of the middle-aged man''s imposing presence, ended up turning even paler as the blood was all drained from his face.
He had originally thought that even if this mission was leaked, the Su family wouldn''t know the exact details of it.
It was only now that he realized, that they most likely had a spy among the higher echelons of the Yao family!
Otherwise, how could they know it when the Yao family took out a million middle-grade spirit stones from their treasury?
From the moment that he epted this mission, he had already been noticed by the Su family!
After all, even for a family backed by Dao Kings like the Yao family, taking more than a million middle-grade spirit stones all at once from their treasury wasn''t something that they could do at a whim, as it would definitely affect the family''s financial ability to do anything else in the near future.
Without any hesitation, Ying Gui suddenly fell on his knees as he begged with a face filled with snot and tears
''''I am sorry! Please! Please don''t kill me! Take the ''Sr hound'' and the other 3 peak rank 5 magic beasts if you want, but let me live. I don''t want to die!''''
More than half of the remaining 13 guards instantly fell on their knees as well when they saw Ying Gui doing so, as they too echoed out their pleas
''''Please don''t kill us! We were only following orders!''''
''''It was just the boss who spoke with Yao family.''''
At the same time, the guards threw looks of hatred towards Ying Gui, both for making them take on this dangerous mission, as well as for choosing to go through the ''me Lion''s canyon'' instead of taking the long way around.
After all, it was obvious that if they took the long way around, they wouldn''t have met with these monsters who could so effortlessly kill them.
Although Ying Gui couldn''t understand how terrifying these people were, his guards who were all at the Nascent Soul stage could clearly sense that these people were just steps away from entering thete-stages of the Nascent Soul!
Even if they were willing to give up their lives, it was impossible for the guards to fight even one of them, let alone 2!
The middle-aged man who was holding the red sword and had stayed silent for so long suddenly started tough mockingly before he said in a derisive tone as if he was looking at a group of idiots
''''Hahaha! Let you live? You dared to meddle into our family''s matters and now you want to ask for forgiveness? Keep dreaming fools! As for the magic beasts, hehehe, of course I''m going to take them all! Do you think that I need your permission?''''
The middle-aged man then turned his gaze towards the guards who were pleading for mercy, and seeing that their thoughts were almost painted on their faces he didn''t hesitate to mock them as he said
''''Pathetic worms, do you regret entering the ''me Lion''s canyon''? Too bad that it wouldn''t have mattered whether you really entered it or not. Even if you decided to take the long way around to get to Yanzhu city, do you really think that you could escape so easily from our Su family?''''
Chapter 538: A disciple of the Holy sect?
Chapter 538: A disciple of the Holy sect?
The guards all froze the moment they heard the middle-aged man''s mocking words, while the despair in their faces became even more evident.
Since every way towards Yanzhu city was blocked by the Su family, didn''t this mean that they were doomed to fail from the moment that they epted the mission?
It wasn''t just the 13 guards were feeling despair however, as Ying Gui and even the 2.5m(8.2ft) tall Zou Qiang abruptly froze when they heard this, as they finally realized that they were nothing more than insects that had stepped into a deadly spider''s web.
However, Ying Gui couldn''t just ept that he would die like this when he was less than 2 days away from reaching Yanzhu city!
Looking around him with a hopeful expression, his eyes suddenly fell on Shun Long''s yellow robes, as he saw him still stare at the 2 middle-aged men who had appeared with a serious look on his face.
Unlike Zou Qiang however, he didn''t seem to be terrified of them.
It was only at this moment that Ying Gui remembered which power Shun Long really came from.
In front of the Holy sect, what was a tiny Su family?
Knowing that he wasn''t going to get spared from the men of the Su family today if he didn''t do something to save himself, the fat merchant gritted his teeth and stood up, before he pointed at Shun Long''s robes and asked the 2 men of the Su family in a threatening manner
''''Do you see this? Don''t tell me that you don''t recognize the words on his robes! Young master Shun is a disciple of the Holy sect! Even if youe from the Su family do you really think that you can mess with a disciple of the Holy sect?
I have personally asked for young master Shun to help me today, so killing me will mean fighting against the Holy sect itself! Do you think that you can afford to do something like that?''''
Ying Gui then turned his attention towards Shun Long who was still standing a few meters next to him, before he said with the previous begging expression on his face
''''Young master Shun, please make sure to save me. I don''t care if everything else is lost but I don''t want to die!''''
It was only at this moment that Ying Gui truly regretted taking on this mission from the Yao family. The Su and the Yao family were much more dangerous than he had originally expected. He knew that his only hope of escaping alive from this ce was to ask the yellow-robed young man in front of him to save him and scare off the men of the Su family with Shun Long''s status!
It was too bad that Ying Gui''s words not only failed to frighten the 2 men in ck robes, but the middle-aged man with the crimson sword actuallyughed mockingly as he looked at him, almost as if he was looking at an idiot, before his eyes inspected Shun Long with a smile on his face almost as if he was looking at his own toy.
Ying Gui couldn''t understand why the man in front of him didn''t seem afraid of Shun Long''s status as an outer disciple of the Holy sect, but the middle-aged man didn''t keep him waiting for long, as he spoke barely a momentter, his words echoing like thunder in Ying Gui''s ears
''''Hehe, a disciple of the Holy sect? So what? Do you really think that the status of a disciple of the Holy sect can really save you worms today, or are you counting on that kid''s pitiful cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul to protect you? Hahahaha. Fool!
Although the Holy sect may be the overlord of this region, do you really think that they will interfere every time someone fights against their disciples? How many missions has the Holy sect issued and how many times did its disciples have to fight with other families?
Naturally, if we were inside the Holy city, we wouldn''t fight against a disciple of the Holy sect since their status there is the same as those descendants of the big families and ns, but here? Why would I care fool?''''
The middle-aged man''s words were like a bolt of thunder as it struck Ying Gui''s mind making him tremble as if he was paralyzed, but the thing that kept reverberating in his mind over and over again, were the words ''pitiful cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul''!
Ying Gui had always thought that Shun Long was at least at the same level if not even stronger than Zou Qiang, but this middle-aged man said that he was just at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul instead?
Raising his eyes to look at the yellow-robed young man in front of him, Ying Gui didn''t see him refute the words of the middle-aged man from the Su family, finally making his heart sink in despair.
At that moment however, the solemn voice of the middle-aged man who was holding the ck bow in his hands resounded in Ying Gui''s ears, stunning both him and the ck-robed middle-aged man next to him
''''Su Bao, I will take care of those worms while you take care of that brat. You better not look down on him however. Regardless of how low his cultivation is, he still managed to block 2 of my arrows that were at 80 percent strength and he is still standing!''''
The middle-aged man named Su Bao looked at the man next to him with a disbelieving look on his face, as the ck-robed man''s words were like a bomb that had exploded in his head, before he immediately turned his attention towards Shun Long barely a momentter.
At this moment, Shun Long simply smiled as he noticed, that Su Bao''s gaze was no longer a condescending one, but one that was actually dead-serious.
Chapter 539: Abandoned
Chapter 539: Abandoned
Su Bao had originally thought that the arrows that the ck-robed middle-aged man next to him had fired previously, were using at most around 20 percent of his strength. He had obviously never expected that the arrows that Shun Long had blocked were actually fired at almost full strength, and yet he was somehow still standing there unharmed.
After all, the cultivation of the middle-aged man with the ck bow was already at the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul! Even if he wasn''t as strong as a normal peak rank 6 Nascent Soul disciple of the Holy sect, it shouldn''t be possible for an early rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator like Shun Long to take his attacks head-on, especially with his raw hands!
Although others may not know about it, Su Bao clearly knew, that the ck bow that the middle-aged man next to him was holding was actually a peak rank 1 gold-grade weapon, while the metal arrows that he fired were all rank 2 silver-grade weapons.
Their lethality was able to harm even a body refinement cultivator who had reached the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement, let alone someone like Shun Long who was obviously still at the early fifth stage.
Even if Shun Longbined both his qi and the strength of his body refinement, he shouldn''t be able to even block a single arrow at 40 percent strength, let alone 2 of them that were actually at 80 percent!
The shocks that he received one after the other made Su Bao stand rooted in ce, as he turned his head to look at the middle-aged man next to him and asked coldly
''''Su Dong, are you serious?''''
Of course, the shock that Su Bao felt was only natural.
Even before they began their ambush, the 2 of them had already noticed that Shun Long was wearing the robes of an outer disciple of the Holy sect.
They hadn''t expected that Ying Gui would actually ask for help from the Holy sect this time, nor that he would manage to find someone to help him in just the 3 days that he stayed in the Holy city.
Thankfully, after seeing that Shun Long was only an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had only reached the early fifth stage in body refinement, Su Bai and the middle-aged man with the ck bow, Su Dong, decided to continue with their ambush as nned.
Only if they had to fight against a disciple of the Holy sect who had reached the peak of rank 5 or the early rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, would they consider to back off from the fight and quickly return to the family and change their ns.
After all, it wasmon knowledge that the disciples of the Holy sect couldn''t bepared with the normal cultivators who were living within the Holy sect''s territory.
Even if Su Bao and Su Dong came from the Su family, they still wouldn''t fight against an early rank 6 Nascent Soul disciple of the Holy sect unless they absolutely had to, since even with theirbined strength they wouldn''t be absolutely certain that they coulde out on top.
As for Shun Long, although he wasn''t even at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, to be able to block Su Dong''s arrows, his strength was definitely abnormal.
This made Su Bao uncertain of whether he should continue or not.
And yet, Su Dong didn''t sit there and wait for him to react, as he started firing arrows from his quiver one by one, heading towards the guards who were either kneeling or they were still standing and staring at him.
''''Ahhhhh!''''
''''Help!!!!''''
The guards'' cries instantly woke Su Bao from his stupor, as 2 heads suddenly exploded into a mist of blood almost at the same time.
Staring at the headless corpses, Zou Qiang no longer waited until his turn arrived, as he run at full strength towards back towards the entrance of the ''me Lion''s'' canyon.
It was too bad that he couldn''t escape from Su Dong''s eyes, as the ck-robed middle-aged man instantly narrowed his eyes when he saw him trying to escape, and after killing 3 more guards with his arrows he actually chased after him.
Naturally, the remaining 8 guards didn''t care that Zou Qiang was being chased by the peak rank 6 Nascent Soul middle-aged man, and instead they actually rejoiced, as they headed deeper inside the ''me Lion''s'' canyon without any dy.
They weren''t dumb enough to return back to the canyon''s entrance since both Zou Qiang and that terrifying man named Su Dong were there, so heading deeper inside the canyon was their only chance to escape, leaving behind only Shun Long, Ying Gui, as well as the middle-aged man with the red sword Su Bao.
As for hoping that either Shun Long or their captain could win against those enemies? They''d rather cross this terrifying canyon all alone than base their chances on something like that!
Ying Gui wanted to escape inside the canyon as well after seeing his guards all do so, but unlike his guards who were all at the Nascent Soul stage, he remembered that his cultivation was only at the rank 1 of the Spirit realm.
Forget about an early rank 5 magic beast, even if a single rank 4 magic beast appeared in his way during this time, he would definitely end inside that beast''s stomach.? And unfortunately, Ying Gui clearly knew, that rank 4 magic beasts were more thanmon in the ''me Lion''s'' canyon.
Thus, the only thing he could do was slowly back away from the carriage, as he allowed Shun Long to fight with Su Bao!
His only hope now was that Shun Long could magically win this fight. Even if that seemed impossible, Ying Gui knew that there was nothing else that he could rely on.
His head of guards had already abandoned him and even his remaining 8 guards had done so as well. Right now even an average Spirit realm cultivator could probably take his life, let alone monsters from the Su family like Su Bao and Su Dong who clearly hated him for meddling in their business!
As for Su Bao, he didn''t care about those small fries at all, as his eyes were only focused on Shun Long who was staring back at him, as well as the 4 carriages with the peak rank 5 magic beasts.
Chapter 540: Fighting Su Bao
Chapter 540: Fighting Su Bao
Seeing that Su Bao''s gaze waspletely focused on him and the 4 carriages, Shun Long simply smiled before he waved his right hand, causing a ck sword with countless mysterious runes and patterns on its surface to appear in front of him.
Since he was going to fight against a middle rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator he wasn''t nning on holding back this time.
As soon as the ck sword appeared in his hand Shun Long injected his qi inside it without any hesitation, causing sparks of lightning to appear all over the sword''s surface before they slowly gathered on its edge.
The moment that Su Bao''s eyesnded on the ck sword in Shun Long''s hands his body suddenly started to tremble, as a look of disbelief appeared on his face.
For a moment, he couldn''t believe what he was seeing, before an uncontroble look of greed soon reced his expression barely a momentter.
Although he wasn''t part of some extremely powerful family, Su Bao wasn''t someone who couldn''t recognize a treasure when it was right in front of him!
He already knew that even the patriarch of his family only had a single peak rank 3 gold-grade weapon in his possession! Su Bao had once seen it and he immediately understood, that his rank 1 gold grade crimson sword simply couldn''t bepared with the patriarch''s weapon!
And yet, the energy fluctuationsing from the ck sword in Shun Long''s hands had already exceeded the Su patriarch''s peak rank 3 gold grade weapon.
This could only mean one thing!
With a face filled with excitement, Su Bao didn''t immediately attack Shun Long, as he first asked with a voice that could barely cover his heavy breathing
''''Kid... is that a legendary star-rank weapon?''''
Although Ying Gui was a distance away and he was still moving further back so he would avoid being harmed by their fight that was ready to erupt at any moment, his feet were instantly rooted on the spot when he heard the words ''star-rank weapon'' while his gaze was glued to the ck sword in Shun Long''s hands.
After all, although he was just a small rank 1 Spirit realm merchant, since he frequently visited the Holy city, he had already heard about the legendary weapons above the gold grade.
He knew that they were called star-rank weapons and that even in the Holy city, they were extremely rare to appear and would only do so in the auctions of the highest level.
The value of these weapons was so high, that even the powerful Dao Emperors of the strongest families in the Holy city would instantly exit their seclusion to obtain them!
It was known that some of the strongest families in the Holy city were rumored to have star-rank weapons, and they all treated them as supreme treasures!
Thus, for Shun Long to really have a star-rank weapon, how could Ying Gui as a merchant not be interested in such a treasure?
Surprisingly, not only did Shun Long not deny this, but he actually nodded his head in confirmation before he said
''''You are right. Not only is it a star-rank weapon but it''s even a peak rank 1 star weapon!''''
Naturally, how could Shun Long not noticed the greed in Su Bao''s eyes?
Indeed the moment that he heard Shun Long''s confirmation Su Bao no longer held back, as he stepped forward and exploded with his full strength, as he shed the crimson sword in his hand towards Shun Long''s chest.
Not only was he not feeling afraid to fight Shun Long who had a star-rank weapon in his possession, but even if Shun Long was even stronger than he currently was, Su Bao would still fight him going all-out!
Forget about the 4 peak rank 5 magic beasts, just this ck sword alone was worth him risking his life to obtain it. Unfortunately for him, the moment that he stepped inside Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', he didn''t notice that his speed was lowered by nearly 40 percent.
At the same time, after activating his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long''s body was instantly covered by a pale blue light, before he calmly took just a single step to the side. And yet, that single step was enough for him to avoid Su Bao''s full-powered sh that only managed to touch the edge of his clothes.
Su Bao and even Ying Gui were both surprised when they saw how easily Shun Long avoided his lethal attack, but Su Bao didn''t stop, as he continued to attack Shun Long without stop.
Every single one of his attacks were packed with his full strength. and could easily kill any normal early rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Although Su Bao wouldn''t possibly admit it, he was actually feeling extremely anxious right now and was afraid that Su Dong would take care of that peak rank 5 Nascent Soul head of guards and return at any moment.
If that happened, Su Bao''s dreams of obtaining Shun Long''s ck sword for himself would only remain a dream! There was no way that Su Dong would allow him to do something like that. A star-rank weapon wasn''t something that a small middle rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivator like him could keep for himself.
Unfortunately for him, not a single one of his attacksnded on Shun Long''s body, as even those that came from the trickiest angles were easily blocked by the terrifying ck sword in his hands.
Of course, how could Shun Long be caught off-guard when he could easily see 5 seconds into the future and foresee every move that Su Bao was about to make?
''''Brat, stop running like a coward! Do you not have balls to fight like a man?''''
It was obvious that with every passing second Su Bao was only growing more and more agitated, afraid that Su Dong was going to return. Shun Long avoiding and only parrying his attacks without giving him a single opening only made him more furious, as he couldn''t hold himself back from taunting Shun Long, hoping that he would take the initiative to attack himself.
Unfortunately, Shun Long''s next words made the middle rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert vomit blood from anger, while his eyes instantly turned red from the fury and humiliation as his words resounded in his and in Ying Gui''s ears
''''Attack you? I''m afraid that you won''t be able to withstand even a single strike.''''
Chapter 541: Fighting Su Bao (2)
Chapter 541: Fighting Su Bao (2)
How could Shun Long fail to notice the increased agitation and despair that showed on Su Bao''s face with every passing moment?
It only took a few seconds for Shun Long to piece everything together and realize why the middle-aged man in front of him was so agitated causing Shun Long to mock him without restraint in his mind.
''''You want to take my sword? Take it if you can!''''
Unfortunately for Su Bao, Shun Long wasn''t feeling pressured in the slightest during their battle and was merely getting used to his increase in cultivation without fighting for so long.
However, Shun Long knew that even though Su Bao didn''t pose any danger to him right now, the same couldn''t be said if Su Dong also joined his side.
Although Shun Long wasn''t afraid of them, he knew that the difficulty of the battle would increase by more than 2 times if the middle-aged man returned and the 2 of them joined hands against him.
After all, every single arrowing from Su Dong was at least at the same level as Su Bao''s full-powered attacks with his sword, and their teamwork where one could attack him from afar while the other one keeps him tied in close range could prove more difficult to handle.
However, it would only be slightly more difficult in the end.
And yet, in the end, after giving it some more thought, Shun Long nodded his head and closed his eyes for a second before he gathered his qi inside his sword.
Although he was getting used to the increase in his cultivation, he still had to take care of the mission in the end, as well as take care of Ying Gui. He didn''t want the first mission that he epted to be a failure because the person he had to protect died, especially when it was only a D-rank mission.
When Su Bao saw Shun Long snapping his eyes open a momentter, he involuntarily took a step back as he felt his senses screaming at him to escape.
It was too bad that Shun Long didn''t give him such a chance, as he looked at him coldly with his golden eyes and said
''''Let''s end this.''''
''''Screw this!''''
Although Su Bao was greedy and didn''t want to give up with such a treasure right in front of him, he could no longer be bothered to obtain the ck sword in Shun Long''s hands when this feeling of terror overwhelmed him, as he instantly tried to escape and fly towards the entrance of the ''me Lion''s'' canyon, hoping that he could regroup with Su Dong before they took care of Shun Long together.
Unlike most people, Su Bao was always someone who would listen to his own gut feeling since it had saved his life more than once already.
If he thought that there was no hope to win a fight, he wouldn''t stay and sacrifice his life like an idiot!.
After all, he could alwayse back along with Su Dong and join hands with him to kill Shun Long.
However, before he could turn around and leave, the feeling of danger that Su Bao felt seemed to have abruptly reached its peak, causing his heart to go cold with fear.
Without any hesitation, he instantly abandoned his n to escape and focused his eyes on Shun Long ready to go all-out and defend against his attack.
Unfortunately, the moment that he raised his head, he saw Shun Long holding the ck sword with both hands before he shed it forward, causing a terrifying ck-colored sh that was covered with lightning to fly towards the terrified Su Bao
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
''''NO!''''
Su Bao shouted in despair when he felt the ck-colored sh that was akin to death himself looking at him in the eye, before he raised his crimson sword in front of his face, while at the same time he covered his entire body with all of his qi, creating a qi shield and hoping that he could survive this terrifying attack.
''''STOP!''''
Just as the ''Thundergod''s sh'' had arrived less than 2 meters away from Su Bao and was about to collide with his red sword and his qi shield, a voice filled with fury came from the entrance of the canyon, as Shun Long saw a metal arrow covered in red mes tearing through the air before it collided with his ''Thundergod''s sh''!
Su Bao''s eyes instantly brightened when he saw the arrowing from behind him while a look of hope reappeared in his heart!
This was the ''me arrow''! A Mystic high-grade martial skill that Su Dong had been cultivating for many years, as well as his strongest move!
Indeed, Su Dong had just returned and had only managed to step past the entrance of the ''me Lion''s'' canyon, when he saw the terrible position that Su Bao had been ced in.
It was obvious that he had just been trying to escape but Shun Long wasn''t going to allow him to do so.
Seeing that the arrow was about to collide with his Thundergod''s sh head-on, Shun Long''s gaze instantly turned serious, as his golden eyes started to light up with an almost imperceptible azure color.
Before the ''me arrow'' could actually collide with his Thundergod''s sh, Shun Long mumbled in a low voice
''''Disappear!''''
At that moment, the nearly invisible blue lighting from his eyes instantly became much brighter before the arrow''s tip actually started to vanish.
Under Su Bao''s and Su Dong''s disbelieving eyes, in less than a single moment, the body of the arrow quickly followed suit as well, before Su Dong''s attack disappeared in front of their disbelieving eyes.
Of course, this was the strength of Shun Long''s ''Eternal Banishment''. Even though this move consumed an enormous amount of qi, it managed topletely banish Su Dong''s ''me arrow'' into absolute nothingness.
Despair and disbelief colored Su Bao''s face as he saw the terrifying ck sh that appeared right in front of him, while a look of incredulity had colored Su Dong''s face at the same time.
Holding the crimson sword with both hands, Su Bao raised it right above his head, as he unwillingly took Shun Long''s ''Thundergod''s sh'' head-on.
-
Author''s note: I originally thought that Eternal Banishment was pretty self-exnatory due to its name so I didn''t exin it as thoroughly as I perhaps should have, so I''ll exin it here as well
The technique actually banishes something to an entirely different time-space/prison forever,pletely removing it from the current reality.
Chapter 542: Injured?
Chapter 542: Injured?
The moment that the ck-colored ''Thundergod''s sh'' met Su Bao''s qi shield head-on, a loud sound akin to arge bubble popping could be heard, before the qi shield was obliterated instantly under Su Bao''s and Su Dong''s disbelieving eyes!
''''NOOOOOOOOO!''''
Su Bao could no longer contain his fear the moment that he saw his qi shield being destroyed so easily, as he shouted in a voice filled with fear and unwillingness.
BOOOM!
Unfortunately, his screams were drowned barely a momentter, as his crimson sword failed to block Shun Long''s ''Thundergod''s sh'' before his body waspletely engulfed by the gigantic sword sh.
The peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert, Su Dong, stared at the scene in front of him with a gaze filled with shock and disbelief, as the moment that the terrifying sword sh disappeared, Su Bao''s motionless body could be seen lying on the ground.
His body had been split into 2 halves, but the clear expression of terror that was still etched on his face even after his death, made Su Dong unconsciously take a few steps back.
Just a single sword sh had actually managed to kill a middle rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert like Su Bao, even when Su Dong himself had tried to interfere and block it using his ''me arrow''!
He didn''t know what Shun Long had done to his ''me arrow'', but the vignce that was previously present in his eyes now also held traces of fear, as he thought to himself
''''What kind of monster are we fighting against?''''
An early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage rookie could kill a middle rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Su Bao?
Even if Shun Long was a disciple of the Holy sect, Su Dong had never heard of something as exaggerated as this in his life.
A momentter, Su Dong''s eyes were attracted to therge ck sword in Shun Long''s hands, making his body immediately freeze as he stood rooted on the spot. Just like Su Bao, he also realized that Shun Long''s ck sword had already exceeded the gold grade, causing a look of unconcealed greed to appear on his face.
However, unlike Su Bao, Su Dong wasn''t someone who couldn''t control himself. Although he desperately wanted to get his hands on Shun Long''s sword as well, he wasn''t nning on getting himself killed in the process.
At the same time, Shun Long had also stopped looking at Su Bao after making sure that he had truly died to his ''Thundergod''s sh'', before he turned his attention towards Su Dong.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t give a chance for Su Bao''s soul to escape after his body was destroyed, which was why he had made sure to thoroughly kill him with the ''Thundergod''s sh''.
After all, he wouldn''t simply forget that the Nascent Soul stage was also called the Nirvana stage.
If his attack had been barely strong enough to destroy Su Bao''s body without harming his soul, Su Bao would not only try to escape, but in the worst-case scenario, he could even manage to invade Ying Gui''s body who was spectating from the distance.
If that happened, Shun Long wasn''t certain if Ying Gui who was only a rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator would be able to resist Su Bao''s invasion.
Turning his eyes towards the remaining peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage opponent, Shun Long saw the serious look on Su Dong''s face, as he nocked another arrow on his ck bow and fired it at him without any hesitation.
Whooosh!
The metal arrow pierced through the air, as it headed towards Shun Long with a speed that normal early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn''t even be able to see it.
It was obvious that Su Dong wasn''t holding back at all, as he used 100 percent of his strength this time. He clearly wasn''t nning to give Shun Long the chance to attack first and try to get close to him as he was the first one to take the initiative.
However, Shun Long wasn''t going to stay still and simply take on Su Dong''s attacks head-on.
Taking a step forward, his body instantly blurred as he rushed towards Su Dong at full speed.
With his speed enhanced by his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', even someone like Su Dong who had reached the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul and was just a step away from entering thete stages, was barely able to keep track of Shun Long.
Of course, since their distance was more than 700 meters away from each other while his blink could only cover around 300 meters at most with his currentprehension of his Dao of Space, Shun Long knew that he couldn''t just blink next to Su Dong even if he used his blink 2 consecutive times.
As he crossed the first 100 meters between them, Shun Long suddenly noticed that the trajectory of Su Dong''s arrow had slightly changed mid-air and was actually still flying towards him. Without any hesitation, he immediately dodged to the side, easily avoiding it, before he kept flying towards Su Dong.
At that moment however, Shun Long could suddenly feel a bad premonition appearing in his heart, while his golden eyes also lit up at the same time.
Another scene then appeared in his mind that caused his eyes to widen in disbelief.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long immediately turned around and punched the air in front of him without holding back any of his strength.
A metal arrow with a golden hue that was shooting towards him like a bolt of lightning suddenly collided with his punch.
This was the same arrow that Shun Long had dodged just a few moments ago.
Unlike the previous 2 times that he had repelled Su Dong''s arrows, this time Shun Long could clearly feel a sharp pain in his left hand, as the arrow''s tip actually pierced through his skin causing his blood to spurt in the process.
Ying Gui''s face instantly turned ashen when he saw the blood that had started to flow from Shun Long''s hand without stop, while a mocking smile had immediately appeared on Su Dong''s face when he saw this scene before he shouted
''''Hahaha! Die!''''
Not willing to waste this opportunity, Su Dong then nocked 2 more arrows on his ck bow, and one after the other, he fired them at Shun Long as well.
Chapter 543: Lethal attack
Chapter 543: Lethal attack
Shun Long who was still in a trance immediately regained his senses as he realized that Su Dong had fired 2 more of his metal arrows.
Grabbing the arrow that had pierced his left fist, he then clenched his teeth and pulled it out forcefully, causing even more blood to spurt from his wound.
And yet, Shun Long forcefully ignored the pain that had turned even more intense when he pulled out the metal arrow, before he turned his eyes towards Su Dong and the 2 arrows that were now cutting through the air as they flew in his direction.
After a moment of thought, Shun Long realized that there were 2 reasons why he had been ambushed just now and had ended up getting injured by Su Dong''s arrow.
The first reason was, that he wasn''t familiar enough with archers and didn''t know that they could use their qi topletely control the direction of their arrows in mid-air.
Indeed, the scene that had appeared in his mind after activating his golden eyes had showed Shun Long that after he had dodged Su Dong''s arrow, the arrow actually turned around and chased after him as it tried to pierce his heart from the back.
If Shun Long hadn''t noticed it, even if he had really survived such a lethal attack, it would have definitely dealt an extremely serious injury.
Of course, although Shun Long had fought with many cultivators in the past, most of them had used either swords, spears, or their own hands, and didn''t use bows and arrows, which was why he actually wasn''t familiar with an archer''s fighting style.
As for the second reason, it was actually the fact that this golden arrow that Su Dong had used, was actuallypletely different than the first 2 arrows that he had used against Shun Long before the fight had started.
To be able to pierce his skin when his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had already reached the early fifth stage, Shun Long guessed that the arrow was probably either at the peak of rank 3 in the silver grade or it had actually reached the gold grade.
However, there was no more time for him to analyze the situation in front of him as the 2 arrows that Su Dong had fired were less than 200 meters away from him.
However, as he held the ck sword with both hands and was about to deal with them, Shun Long suddenly noticed that his left hand had started to swell as it slowly turned purple.
His eyes instantly narrowed as a single thought appeared in his mind, before he turned his attention to the golden arrow that he had already removed from his fist and thrown it on the ground a few moments ago
''''I have actually been poisoned!''''
Su Dongughed furiously when he saw that Shun Long had finally realized this, as he shook his head and said mockingly
''''Hahaha! It''s toote to realize it now. The moment that the ''Golden python''s'' poison entered your blood, your fate was already sealed.''''
Shun Long didn''t respond to Su Dong as he turned his eyes towards the 2 arrows that were flying towards his direction.
He didn''t need Su Dong''s gloating exnation to know that the poison in his blood came from a rank 5 ''Golden python''.
He clearly knew that the ''Golden python'' was an extremely weak middle rank 5 magic beast that even a peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator could kill by himself. However, the python was still feared by many other middle rank 5 magic beasts despite its extremely lowbat ability, precisely because of its potent poison.
Although its poison was extremely slow-acting, it could even prove to be lethal for many middle rank 5 magic beasts, subjecting them to extreme agony before they died.
Thus, unless absolutely necessary, most middle rank 5 magic beasts wouldn''t provoke a rank 5 ''Golden python''.
Of course, it was possible to expel the python''s poison using a rank 5 ''anti-toxin pill'', but whether Su Dong would give such a chance to Shun Long, that was apletely different issue.
Looking at the arrows that were flying in his direction, Shun Long obviously wouldn''t do the mistake of ignoring them this time, as he clenched his ck sword tightly and swung it towards the first arrow.
Seeing that his arrow was about to get hit, Su Dong used his qi to try and change its direction to avoid the attack, but regardless of how much he tried, Shun Long''s sword speed was simply iparable to the speed of his arrow that had already entered inside his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
Crack!
The metal arrow instantly snapped in half as soon as the ck sword hit it before Shun Long turned his attention towards the second arrow. Without any suspense and regardless of how hard Su Dong tried to control it, the second arrow broke in half as well, as its connection was also severed from Su Dong at that moment.
As Shun Long continued moving forward, he saw that Su Dong was slowly moving backwards, as he fired arrow after arrow towards him.
And yet, the look in his eyes was extremely serious, as he destroyed every single arrow that came his way while he was quickly approaching even closer to Su Dong.
Finally, a few momentster, the moment that Shun Long entered within a 300 meters range from Su Dong, a cold smile appeared on his lips as he said in a calm voice
''''It''s over!''''
Under Su Dong''s disbelieving eyes, Shun Long abruptly disappeared from the spot he was standing as he suddenly appeared behind him.? Without any hesitation, he then swung the ck sword with his right hand towards Su Dong''s neck.
Before he could even react, the peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator''s head was instantly severed from his body, causing a fountain of blood to spurt in the air.
Ying Gui stared at the scene in front of him with awe and fear, as he saw the expert from the Su family die in Shun Long''s hands, with a single sword strike.
Chapter 544: Spoils of the battle
Chapter 544: Spoils of the battle
Shun Long stared at Su Dong''s dead body for a few moments without doing anything, before he finally waved his hand a few momentster, taking out a bottle filled with top-grade rank 5 ''anti-toxin pills'' from the ''Stone of Time''.
Without any hesitation, he immediately consumed a single pill to expel the poison of the ''Golden python'' that was still inside his hand, before he turned his attention towards Ying Gui, causing him to flinch and step back in reflex.
Shun Long simply smiled when he saw this scene, and ignoring the blood that had already painted his robes a bright red color, he simply shook his head before he mumbled to himself
''''This is definitely a peak D-rank mission. 80 sect points for this amount of work is really too little!''''
Without wasting a second he then waved his right hand, collecting both Su Dong''s and Su Bao''s spatial rings, as well as Su Bao''s crimson sword and Su Dong''s ck bow and his metal arrows.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t nning on giving up his spoils. Even if they were just middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, Shun Long believed that the 2 of them should have a sizeable amount of spirit stones.
As for their weapons? Each of them could definitely be sold for at least 40.000 to 60.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Indeed, after taking a look inside their spatial rings, Shun Long found a little more than 230.000 middle-grade spirit stones and some rank 5 pills.
Unfortunately, all of the pills were low-grade or middle-grade pills, making their market value practically non-existent.
After scanning Su Dong''s body with his spirit sense, Shun Long found another spatial ring as well hidden inside his robes.
After taking a look inside this spatial ring, Shun Long found 45.000 middle-grade spirit stones, as well as arge silver axe causing him to shake his head and say
''''As expected..''''
Naturally, this was Zou Qiang''s spatial ring.? It was obvious that Su Dong had managed to sessfully kill this captain of Ying Gui''s guards before he took his spatial ring.
Of course, the reason behind that wasn''t just due to the difference in their cultivation.
After all, Zou Qiang was a rogue cultivator who was most likely training in a Mystic low-grade or middle-grade cultivation technique, while Su Dong belonged to arge family that was probably backed by Dao Kings. Even if his family didn''t have a weak Saint low-grade cultivation technique to train in, they definitely had at least a handful of Mystic high-grade ones for him to choose from.
Just the difference in the purity of their qi was definitely going to be a huge factor for the fight, the same way it was for Shun Long and Su Bao.
If Shun Long''sbat strength wasn''t so abnormal and if he wasn''t absorbing the purest qi possible from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', as well as naturally having such an extremely pure qi thanks to the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', he wouldn''t have managed to break Su Bao''s qi shield that easily and obliterate him with one strike.
Aside from that, it was obvious that Su Dong had been the hunter while Zou Qiang was the hunted. In a situation where Zou Qiang -who was obviously suited better to fight in closebat- simply tried to escape and save his life instead of fighting, the chances of him sessfully escaping from Su Dong were nearly zero.
Instead, if he had tried to hold his ground, even if he hadn''t won the fight, it would be possible for him to pressure Su Dong and perhaps make him give up if he felt that it wasn''t worth it.
Unfortunately, Zou Qiang had already been too terrified of the Su family from the beginning that the thought of fighting didn''t even cross his mind.
Having Shun Long being the scapegoat and fight against the members of the Su family while he tried to escape was already the best scenario possible.
Shaking his head, Shun Long ced everything that he had obtained inside the ''Stone of Time'' before he turned his attention towards Ying Gui.
Seeing that his feet were trembling in fear, Shun Long jumped on top of the first carriage and asked him seriously
''''Do you know how to handle the ''Ironhide cows'' or should I do it?''''
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t look down on Ying Gui just because he was afraid. Although he was definitely foolish for meddling in a fight of 2 families that reached far beyond what he could normally handle, he was still a merchant in the end. If he didn''t take any risks in his life, it would be impossible for him to expand hiswork of clients.
Ying Gui immediately woke up from his shock when he heard Shun Long''s voice, and nodding his head he replied in a hurried manner
''''O-Of course!''''
There was no way that he was going to allow Shun Long to be his driver. In his eyes, Shun Long was already much more terrifying and worthy of respect than the members of the Su family!
After all, an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator killing those experts from the Su family who had managed to chase away all of his guards was already unbelievable.
Although Ying Gui didn''t know exactly how strong Su Bao and Su Dong were, just from the fact that they had managed to scare off not just all of his normal guards, but even Zou Qiang, his head of guards as well, Ying Gui guessed that they must have definitely been at least early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators. After all, even if there were 2 of them, if they were just 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators Zou Qiang wouldn''t have been so afraid of them.
''''No, for that Su Dong to chase away Zou Qiang all by himself, his strength is probably even above the early rank 6 of the Nascent Soul!''''
At the same time that he came to this conclusion, Ying Gui also cursed Zou Qiang in his heart for abandoning him to save his own life.
If it wasn''t for Shun Long who had stayed behind to protect him, it wouldn''t have been Su Dong and Su Bao who had died today, but him.
As he touched the back of his neck, Ying Gui felt a cold shiver in his heart, as he hurriedly went forward and sat on the back of the biggest ''Ironhide cow'' in the lead, before he started to lead his 4 carriages deeper inside the ''me Lion canyon''!
Chapter 545: Entering the Flame Lions canyon
Chapter 545: Entering the ''me Lion''s canyon''
As he led the carriages deeper inside the ''me Lion''s canyon'', Ying Gui started to check his surroundings with unconcealed fear in his eyes, clearly afraid that they would be attacked again.
Although Shun Long was probably stronger than his entire previous group of guardsbined, Ying Gui still didn''t feel safe in this ce that was rumored to have even rank 6 magic beasts, that were as powerful as Dao King realm experts.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself down, he turned around and looked at Shun Long who was still sitting on top of the first carriage, before he asked cautiously
''''Young master Shun Long... should we find a ce to stop and rest for a few hours? There are many magic beasts in this ce... and I''m afraid that young master Shun Long isn''t in optimal condition to fight.''''
Shun Long opened his eyes and thought seriously for a few moments after hearing Ying Gui''s cautious suggestion, before he actually nodded his head and said
''''You are right. It''s better to rest for a few hours before we head deeper inside.''''
Just as Ying Gui was about to ask if they should turn around and set up camp near the entrance of the canyon so that they won''t have to face the attacks of any magic beasts who lived inside the canyon, Shun Long''s next words instantly chilled his heart to the core as they destroyed any such notions from his mind.
''''Although we should find a ce to rest, we will do it deeper inside the canyon. Staying close to the entrance is too dangerous right now. You don''t know if those 2 are the only members that that Su family sent to this ce, or if there are more of them on the way.''''
Ying Gui immediately understood what Shun Long meant, causing his heart to freeze from the chill he felt.
Indeed, if there were more members of the Su family on their way to this ce, or if more of them simply came to search for Su Dong and Su Bao and only found Ying Gui''s camp there, the scene that would follow after that wasn''t hard for Ying Gui to imagine.
Even if Shun Long could somehow preserve his own life against more members of the Su family, it wasn''t certain if Ying Gui himself would be able to escape from a second certain death scenario.
Nodding his head with a serious look, the fat merchant turned around and led the ''Ironhide cows'' deeper inside the ''me Lion''s canyon'' without any dy. Right now, Ying Gui''s fear of the Su family was hundreds of times bigger than his fear for the magic beasts living inside the canyon.
A little more than an hourter, Shun Long and Ying Gui stopped the carriages in an isted ce, not too far away from the main path of the canyon.
Seeing that this ce was surrounded byrge rocks high above their heads, that blocked them from being spotted by any flying magic beasts that happened to fly in the sky above them, Shun Long nodded his head before he sat cross-legged and took out a bottle filled with top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills''.
Since he couldn''t enter inside the ''Stone of Time'' with Ying Gui sitting right next to him, while the ''Memory recording formation'' from his sect identifying token was still active during the mission as well, Shun Long simply closed his eyes and ate a handful of ''Qi replenishing pills'' to refill the qi inside his qi balls.
Although his fight with both Su Dong and Su Bao didn''tst for too long, Shun Long knew that he had expended more than 50 percent of his qi when he used his ''Eternal Banishment'' to take care of Su Dong''s ''me arrow'', as well as when he used his ''Thundergod''s sh'' to destroy Su Bao''s qi shield.
Continuing deeper inside the canyon when his qi wasn''t even 50 percent full was too dangerous considering that powerful magic beasts probably lived deeper inside the canyon.
At the same time, although Shun Long knew that it would be somewhat troublesome to exin how he took care of Su Dong''s ''me arrow'', since he wasn''t nning to exin anything about his Dao of Time to the sect, he wasn''t really too worried about this either.
The chances that the sect would review every single mission that a disciple took on were practically non-existent, and even if for some reason they decided to check his own missions, Shun Long would still me it on his Dao of Space.
After all, even the Holy sect''s Elders wouldn''t be able to find out anything about his Dao of Time through the ''Memory recording formation''. At most, it would only create some suspicions but that was still a level that Shun Long was willing to handle.
An hourter, after feeling that his qi balls were back to 100 percent full, Shun Long stood up from his seat and turned his attention towards Ying Gui who was still sitting just a few meters away from him and was vigntly checking his surroundings.
It was obvious he didn''t feel safe in the slightest in this ce.
Of course, even Shun Long could sense how dangerous this ce actually was, since in the first 1 hour alone that he and Ying Gui had entered the canyon, he had already dealt with 2 peak rank 4 magic beasts.
Although peak rank 4 magic beasts were only equivalent to rank 9 Spirit realm cultivators, considering that their group was still near the entrance of the canyon, Shun Long knew that things would only get tougher the deeper inside they headed.
After cing the bottle with the rest of the ''Qi replenishing pills'' in his hand inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long then sat on top of the first carriage and looked at the restless Ying Gui before he said
''''Let''s go. There is no reason for us to spend the night here. The faster we reach Yanzhu city the better.''''
Chapter 546: The Flame Lions canyon depths
Chapter 546: The ''me Lion''s'' canyon depths
Ying Gui''s eyes lit up when he remembered how close to Yanzhu city they were right now, and after taking a look at his surroundings and realized that it was almost nighttime already, he nodded his head before he sat on the back of the ''Ironhide cow'' in the lead and started leading the carriages forward.
Since Shun Long was ready, Ying Gui wouldn''t waste more time waiting in this ce until they were discovered by any of the wandering magic beasts around the region.
Getting out of this dangerous ce as quickly as possible and reaching Yanzhu city were his most important priorities.
Of course, Shun Long''s thoughts weren''t much different from Ying Gui''s since he also wanted to get to Yanzhu city as quickly as possible.
After taking care of the 2 ve traders and destroying their shop toplete his second mission, he was nning to return back to the Holy city and train himself in the Dao Tower until he returned back to the Holy sect.
Thankfully, despite their massive size, the ''Ironhide cows'' were among the fastest, as well as the most resilient rank 4 magic beasts, as they continued to pull the 4 carriages deeper inside the canyon without a break.
Forget about 1 day, the ''Ironhide cows'' could easily keep travelling for 2 weeks without a need for food or rest.
Like that, their group continued forward, and in just 4 hours Shun Long and Ying Gui had already covered more than two-thirds of the distance that they needed to cross, as they reached the deepest parts of the canyon.
During thesest 4 hours, Shun Long had dealt with a handful of peak rank 4 as well as 2 early rank 5 magic beasts, obtaining their magic beast cores as well as the rest of their bodies that were still considered treasures to him. Now that he had broken through to the early fifth stage in his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', dealing with early rank 5 magic beasts wasn''t an issue even if he didn''t use his qi and simply relied on the strength of his body.
However, the moment that they arrived in this ce, Shun Long noticed that Ying Gui''s expression had turned even more solemn than it previously was, as the fat merchant turned around and looked at him with a look that couldn''t hide his anxiousness, as he then said
''''Young master Shun Long, we have already reached the deepest parts of the ''me Lion''s'' canyon. As long as we manage to sessfully cross this final part without attracting any magic beasts, we should be able to exit the canyon and be just half a day away from Yanzhu city! I simply hope that if any middle rank 5 magic beasts show up, young master Shun Long can do your best to hold them off.''''
Although Ying Gui had already seen Shun Long deal with 2 early rank 5 magic beasts in the past 4 hours, he knew that the difference between an early rank 5 and a middle rank 5 magic beast was enormous, and what he was asking for right now was already past the limits of the mission.
After all, it was just a simple D-rank personal mission but Shun Long had already dealt with the 2 cultivators from the Su family, as well as a handful of peak rank 4 and 2 early rank 5 magic beasts all by himself. However, for a disciple of the Holy sect to fight against a middle rank 5 magic beast, the mission''s difficulty would be almost at the same level as a C-rank personal mission!
Ying Gui clearly understood that even if the 2 experts from the Su family -who had nearly destroyed his caravan- were forced to fight a life and death battle with a middle rank 5 magic beast, they would probably be the ones to lose their lives in the process.
After all, it wasmon knowledge that at least a handful of peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage experts were required if they wanted to truly take down a middle rank 5 magic beast.
As for the peak rank 5 magic beasts that he was transporting in his carriage? In order to actually subdue a rare magic beast like the ''Sr hound'' and the rest, even 7 or 8 peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage experts may not be enough.
This was why Ying Gui didn''t want to cross the ''me Lion''s'' canyon and would rather take the long way around to reach Yanzhu city. He knew that the dangers inside the canyon were much more difficult than what he could handle.
At the same time, this was also the reason why he didn''t ask Shun Long to kill the middle rank 5 magic beasts if they showed up but simply hold them off if he can. After all, holding them off and killing them were twopletely different things.
Of course, Ying Gui also understood that there was no way that Shun Long would simply ept his request like that, regardless of what he said. It was one thing to ask a disciple of the Holy sect to simply assist Zou Qiang and the rest of his guards with the protection of his carriages if a middle rank 5 magic beast attacked them, and another thing to ask him to do everything by himself. Otherwise, if every mission of the sect to guard someone was like that, no one would opt to ept these missions.
Ying Gui understood that since the mission''s level had almost reached the C-rank, he would have to pay the Holy sect much more, butpared to failing this mission that he had obtained from the Yao family, he would be willing to pay anything even if it meant going bankrupt.
Afraid that Shun Long was going to reject him, Ying Gui shook his head before he continued in an almost begging tone
''''Young master Shun Long, I know that this is truly much more dangerous than the original mission, but I hope that someone as magnanimous as you will help this poor merchant. Of course, I will report everything about this mission to the Holy sect as soon as I return back to the Holy city and would never allow young master Shun Long to suffer a loss.''''
Of course, Ying Gui understood that Shun Long had not only ''not suffered a loss'' this time, but he had most likely obtained a sizeable amount of middle-grade spirit stones from Su Bao''s and Su Dong''s spatial rings. However, in the end, he was also the one who had done everything to obtain them, while Ying Gui simply obtained his protection for almost nothing. Thus, he could only mention that he was willing to pay more to the Holy sect to raise the mission''s level.
Of course, it didn''t matter whether Ying Gui was willing to pay more or not, since it was clearly up to Shun Long whether or not he was willing to ept this mission. After all, the Holy sect itself wouldn''t force its disciples into epting a mission that could potentially risk their lives.
As for going back on his word and refusing to pay once the mission wasplete? Who would dare to do so in front of the Holy sect''s eyes? The ''Memory recording formation'' wasn''t there simply for the disciples to prove that they had sessfullypleted their missions, but also to deal with situations like this one.
Shun Long however simply smirked when he heard Ying Gui calling himself a poor merchant. Someone who could afford to employ 14 Nascent Soul stage cultivators as his personal guards was definitely anything but poor.
At the same time, Shun Long truly didn''t feel any pity for Ying Gui, since it was his greed alone that had drove him to this corner. However, even though Shun Long didn''t really care about the extra sect points that a C-rank mission would give him, since they were already less than a day away from Yanzhu city, there was no reason for him to refuse either.
However, just as Shun Long was about to answer to Ying Gui who was still staring at him with a hopeful gaze, his eyes suddenly spotted the huge figure of a magic beast running towards the ''Ironhide cows'' in the lead.
It was actually an enormous bear more than 8m(26ft) tall, with thick red fur and yellow eyes.
However, the moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on the bear''s figure and sensed its overbearing aura, a single word appeared in his mind as he mumbled to himself
''''Shit!''''
Chapter 547: Leaving the Flame Lions canyon
Chapter 547: Leaving the ''me Lion''s canyon''
Ying Gui quickly noticed Shun Long''s abnormality, as his gaze followed Shun Long''s, only to see the giant red bear that was running towards him.
His heart almost leaped out of his chest at this horrifying sight, but the moment that he sensed the bear''s aura, Ying Gui''s eyes widened even further in terror.
Although he was just a rank 1 Spirit realm cultivator and he was usually unable to sense the difference between a rank 3 and a rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert, Ying Gui knew that he had to be an idiot if he failed to understand that this bear''s aura had already far exceeded the aura of a peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Su Dong.
Based on this overbearing aura that made the ''Ironhide cows'' tremble in fear and freeze on the spot, it could only mean one thing!
Nodding his head solemnly, Shun Long looked at Ying Gui and said in a serious voice
''''You better step back!''''
Naturally, if Ying Gui could sense the bear''s aura then how could Shun Long fail to?
Looking at this bear that was obviously at the peak of rank 5, even Shun Long knew that it would nearly impossible for him to take it down!
Ying Gui hurriedly nodded when he heard this, but an expression of despair had already appeared in his eyes as he realized what was going to happen.
Forget about his ''Ironhide cows'', the bear was definitely going to destroy his carriages andpletely ruin his mission.
The moment that the ''Sr hound'' and the rest of the magic beasts inside the carriages were set free, the first thing that they would do would definitely be to take his life.
''''Young master Shun Long... is there any way for you to...?''''
Although Shun Long clearly heard Ying Gui''s question, he didn''t even bother to respond to it as his eyes were fully focused on the peak rank 5 ''Red-furred bear'' that was quickly approaching the first carriage.
He knew that there was no way for him to fight against a peak rank 5 magic beast head-on, at least not just yet.
After all, the cultivation level required to do something like that would be close to the level of a Dao King, while Shun Long was still at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul.
With a serious look on his face, he tried to think if there was any way possible way to deal with this, but all of his thoughts led to the same conclusion. There was only one way. As he stared at the iing magic beast, a sharp look shed through his eyes as he mumbled to himself
''''This shouldn''t affect cultivators at the rank 9 of the Nascent Soul stage and above, but... there is a chance if it''s against the ''Red-furred bear!''''
His eyes were focusedpletely on the massive body of the bear that was quickly approaching the carriage, before an illusionary purple de appeared in his hand a few secondster. At the same time, Shun Long also waved his left hand, causing a small bottle that was filled with a purple liquid to appear inside it.
The enormous bear was now only 500 meters away from the first carriage and the ''Ironhide cows'' that were pulling it, and at this point, even Shun Long could clearly sense the uncontroble bloodlusting from its body that was only growing more and more intense.
It was obvious that it had already targeted Shun Long, Ying Gui, and the ''Ironhide cows'', as its own food.
With a serious look on his face, Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', causing a blue light to cover his own body, before he used his left hand to open a small space tear in the air in front of him, while making sure that the bottle with the purple liquid in his hands wouldn''t break at the same time.
The moment that the space tear appeared in the air, Shun Long''s right hand along with his illusionary purple de both entered inside it, appearing right in front of the charging rank 5 ''red-furred bear''.
The bear seemed to have sensed something the moment that the space around it started to get distorted, but its attention was already fully focused on the ''Ironhide cows'' in front of it. By the time it noticed what was going on and tried to respond, it was already toote!
''''RAAAAGHHHH''''
The giant bear screamed in pain as its left eye was suddenly pierced by Shun Long''s illusionary purple de, causing its bright red blood to cover its face.
Shun Long''s spatial de had destroyed the bear''s eye effortlessly before he pulled his right hand back from the space tear.
Just as the bear roared in pain by having its left eye destroyed, Shun Long didn''t hesitate, as he pushed his left hand inside the space tear, before he actually threw the bottle filled with the purple-colored liquid towards the furious magic beast that was still thrashing around.
''''RAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!''''
The moment that the bottle fell on the giant bear''s head, it immediately exploded, causing the bear to scream in pain for the second time.
It was obvious from the bear''s roars, that this time the pain was much more intense than before.
It seemed that part of its red fur had also started to get corroded by the purple liquid, but that wasn''t the end.
Ying Gui watched with a dumbfounded look on his face, as the moment that the purple liquid entered inside the bear''s destroyed left eye, the terrifying peak rank 5 magic beast actually copsed on the ground with a bang.
Its cries that had already started to get weakened instantly died down a few momentster, as a powerful magic beast that could usually only be hunted by a group of peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage experts or a Dao King, was now lying motionless on the ground.
''''I-It d-d-died? It really died?''''
Ying Gui was stuttering unable to believe the sight that had appeared in front of his eyes. He couldn''t understand how it was possible for Shun Long to kill a peak rank 5 magic beast like that. He had already prepared himself to lose everything including his life, but before the bear had even killed a single ''Ironhide cow'' Shun Long had somehow managed to kill the huge magic beast instead.
Unfortunately, Shun Long didn''t seem to be willing to share his secrets, as he actually opened another space tear, appearing right in front of the huge body of the bear. After touching it with his right hand and cing it inside the ''Stone of Time'', he returned back and sat on top of the first carriage before he turned his attention to the still stunned Ying Gui who was standing in a frozen state behind him.
Ying Gui didn''t need any instructions this time, as he climbed on the back of the ''Ironhide cow'' and drove the 4 carriages forward without any dy.
He had already been scared to the core by his experiences in the ''me Lion''s'' canyon this time, and he wasn''t willing to stay in this ce any longer.
In fact, if he managed to escape sessfully, he never nned to enter this goddamned ce ever again!
Ying Gui didn''t know if it was thanks to his prayers or his good luck, but in the next 2 hours, he and Shun Long didn''t meet with a single other magic beast, causing him to rejoice as he finally managed to escape the horrifying canyon.
Even after his 4 carriages all left the canyon, he didn''t stop for a moment, as he kept urging the ''Ironhide cows'' forward at full speed.
Finally, 10 hourster, Shun Long''s eyes lit up as the outline of a city slowly appeared in front of his eyes.
Chapter 548: Yanzhu city
Chapter 548: Yanzhu city
Tears started to flow from Ying Gui''s eyes as he saw the city in the distance ahead of him, as he turned his head around and looked at Shun Long before he said with a face full of joy
''''Young master Shun Long, that''s Yanzhu city!''''
Shun Long nodded his head with a calm look in his eyes, as he looked at the city that was slowly bing bigger and bigger in front of his eyes.
He was originally nning toe to Yanzhu andplete the ''more difficult'' mission of the 2 that he had epted, which was to hunt down the 2 ve traders. However, in front of the problems that had showed up while he protected Ying Gui''s caravan, taking care of 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul ve traders and destroying their shop seemed to be nothing inparison.
As the ''Ironhide cows'' approached closer and closer to Yanzhu city, Shun Long was thinking of how lucky he was that his n had actually worked.
''''If it wasn''t the ''Red-furred bear'' but some other peak rank 5 magic beast instead, especially one with strong mental defenses, it would have been impossible for the poison from the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' to kill it. At most it would have managed to wound it severely.''''
Indeed, the purple liquid that he had used against the ''Red-furred bear'' was precisely the poison that he had concocted back in the ''City of Sin'' using the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass''!
Although Shun Long knew that this poison couldn''t kill any cultivators at the rank 9 of the Nascent Soul or above, he still knew that it could still severely injure them if they were affected by it directly.
As for a peak rank 5 magic beast like the ''Red-furred bear'', Shun Long was lucky that although its physical strength was extremely strong and it could even kill peak fifth stage body refinement cultivators with just a few attacks, its mental defenses were extremely weakpared to other peak rank 5 magic beasts.
After Shun Long had destroyed its left eye, the bear''s mental defenses were lowered even further because of the pain, which allowed the poison to immediately affect it and corrode its soul!
Otherwise, if it hadn''t been injured by Shun Long''s spatial de first, there was no way for a peak rank 5 magic beast like the ''Red-furred bear'' to die so easily, even after getting affected by the poison of the ''Soul poisoning hell grass''.
At the same time, Shun Long wondered whether the Elders of the sect would ept the mission or not. In the end, he had indeed used a poison to take care of the ''Red-furred bear'', but it was poison that he had created himself, so it was definitely considered part of his real strength.
After all, the poison that poison masters concoct is also considered part of their own strength rather than outside help.
As he reached this conclusion, Shun Long realized that the carriage had nearly reached the gates of the city already. They were simply waiting along with the rest of the carriages to enter the city.
Ying Gui seemed to have felt much more rxed at this moment almost as if he had suddenly gotten rid of a huge load of pressure that was weighing down on top of him, as he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and looked at him with a smile of relief on his face.
He then turned his gaze towards the medium-sized city in front of them and asked him curiously
''''Young master Shun Long, is this your first timeing to Yanzhu city?''''
Shun Long didn''t deny it as he kept staring at his surroundings with some curiosity in his eyes.
The city gates of Yanzhu city were actually much smallerpared to the Holy city''s, but the city itself seemed to have a lot of peopleing and going from its gates.
Although it couldn''t bepared to how bustling the Holy city was, but in a certain sense, the Holy city was the Holy sect''s capital, so this was the ''first normal-sized'' city that Shun Long saw since he had arrived in the central region.
With the same smile on his face, Ying Gui pointed at the words Yanzhu city above the city gates before he exined
''''Actually, this city isn''t governed by only one family like most of the cities in the Holy sect''s territory, but it is instead governed by both the Zhu and the Yan families. Those 2 are real top-tier families with many powerful Dao Kings in their midst, and they are hundreds of times stronger than the Su family that ambushed us in the entrance of the ''me Lion''s'' canyon. I have been in Yanzhu city a few times already, so if young master Shun Long needs any help, it would be my honor.''''
Ying Gui had already realized that Shun Long was probably a monster, even whenpared to most other outer disciples at the same level as him, so he would do anything he can to build a good rtionship with him.
Shun Long was about to decline his help, but after thinking for a few moments, he actually nodded his head and asked
''''Have you heard of a shop inside the city that belongs to 2 ve traders named Dai Hao and Dai Lim?''''
''''Dai Lim? Ah-''''
Just as Ying Gui was about to answer, the voice of a guard behind him sounded in his ears as the guard said while stretching his hand
''''The entrance fee is 40 middle-grade spirit stones for each carriage!''''
Ying Gui didn''t hesitate as he paid 160 middle-grade spirit stones, taking all 4 of the carriages inside the city.
He then turned his eyes back to Shun Long and said
''''Young master Shun Long, if you are looking for those 2 brothers, I heard that they have a shop at the east of the city. However, they don''t have a good reputation so I suggest young master Shun Long to be careful.''''
After a moment of hesitation Ying Gui then added in
''''I will stay in the Yao family for the next 3 days before I return back to the Holy city. If young master Shun Long wants to, you cane with me to the Yao family as well. I am sure they will be very happy to host a banquet for a genius of the Holy sect.''''
Chapter 549: Selling rank 5 medicinal herbs in a bulk
Chapter 549: Selling rank 5 medicinal herbs in a bulk
Shun Long smiled and shook his head at Ying Gui before he said
''''No need but thanks for the offer.''''
Jumping down from the carriage, he then waved his hand as he walked towards the east of the city as he then continued
''''Since there are no dangers inside the city, let''s part ways here.''''
Ying Gui got down from the ''Ironhide cow'' when he heard this, and staring at Shun Long''s back, the fat merchant bowed deeply without saying a word.
Words weren''t enough to express how grateful he felt after making it to Yanzhu city safely.
Shun Long had the same smile on his face as he kept walking towards the east of the city at a leisure pace.
Before he found the shop of the 2 ve traders and took care of them, he didn''t mind having a look at the rest of the shops inside the city as well, and see if there were any rare rank 6 medicinal herbs or anything else that caught his attention.
After all, what Shun Longcked the most right now was precisely rank 6 medicinal herbs.
After walking around the pill shops in the eastern part of Yanzhu city for a few hours, Shun Long found nearly a dozen rank 6 medicinal herbs that were ced up for sale. The situation in this city didn''t seem to be that much differentpared to some of the shops in the Holy city. Most of the shops only sold pills and very few of them looked to sell medicinal herbs directly.
Shun Long even heard from a shop clerk, that if he wanted to buy medicinal herbs directly he should have a look at the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' in the Holy city.
Regardless, Shun Long still bought every single rank 6 medicinal herb that he found despite the extremely expensive prices.
A single rank 6 medicinal herb was sold for more than 60.000 middle-grade spirit stones, while the prices of some of the more expensive ones went even beyond the 100.000 middle-grade spirit stones mark.
Naturally, those herbs could be used not just by peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemists, but even by the famous star-rank alchemists that had already exceeded the gold grade long ago, which was why they were so expensive.
After all, although they were only rank 6 medicinal herbs and couldn''t be used as the main medicinal ingredients to create rank 7 pills, star-rank alchemists would always look to buy rank 6 medicinal herbs to use them as supplementary ingredients when they concocted their pills.
In the end, Shun Long had to pay 755.000 middle-grade spirit stones just for the rank 6 medicinal herbs that he had purchased today, leaving him with only 675.000 middle-grade spirit stones remaining.
Seeing that his spirit stones inside the ''Stone of Time'' had shrunk by more than half after a single shopping spree, a deep look shed through Shun Long''s eyes as he decided to do something that he had never done in the Night star continent.
He first temporarily deactivate the ''Memory recording formation'' from his sect identifying token, so that his next actions wouldn''t be recorded inside it, before he started to visit the rest of the pill shops in the eastern part of Yanzhu city.
Since he had dozens of rare rank 5 medicinal herbs inside his ''Stone of Time'', and most of them would only be used as supplementary herbs for him in the future, he decided to sell a big batch in the pill shops in Yanzhu city.
Naturally, this was a huge risk, since he would sell a big amount of the same rank 5 herbs, which would definitely attract some people''s attention. This was the reason why he had never done so in the Night star continent.
However, things in the central region werepletely different.
Shun Long was now a disciple of the Holy sect, and he was simply selling his medicinal herbs in a city that was clearly not at the level of the Holy city. Even if he attracted some people''s attention here, he didn''t really care about it.
Besides, Shun Long had already created his own faction inside the Holy sect, how could he be afraid of selling some medicinal herbs in Yanzhu city? Especially when the risk of someone finding out about his secrets through that was practically zero.
As he entered the rest of the shops and turned his attention towards the rank 5 medicinal herbs as well, Shun Long noticed that the prices of most rank 5 herbs in the central region were actually much more expensivepared to the Night star continent.
In the end, Shun Long sold plenty of his medicinal herbs in many different shops in the eastern part of Yanzhu city, and in a bulk at that, making the employees inside the shops widen their eyes in shock. It was obvious that every single one of them was looking at Shun Long in disbelief, wondering where he found so many rank 5 medicinal herbs. Some of those shops didn''t even have half of the number of herbs that Shun Long sold in their own stock, causing them to fervently buy everything that Shun Long sold.
Especially rare herbs like the ''Dragonblood grass'', the ''Dreamy ash flower'', as well as the even more rare ''Icicle soul grass'', every single one of them was sold for very much higher pricespared to the other rank 5 medicinal herbs.
In the end, Shun Long made more than 1 million and 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones from his herbs, filling back his almost empty ''Stone of Time''.
After nearly emptying his stock of rank 5 herbs from his herb garden, Shun Long stared at the clerk of the pill shop in front of him and asked her if she knew the location of Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s shop. After receiving a positive response, he left the pill shop and continued to walk around the eastern part of Yanzhu city at the same unhurried pace as before, until he arrived in front of the entrance of a small shop half an hourter.
Shun Long''s expression didn''t change even after seeing the cultivators who were chained in front of the entrance of the shop like magic beasts for sale and had almost no clothes on their bodies aside from those that were barely covering their private parts.
Chapter 550: Burying them
Chapter 550: Burying them
Some of them even had their clothes torn, clearly exposing their private parts, and yet they didn''t seem to mind regardless of whether they were men or women.
It was clear that the look on their faces was one of despair, clearly having lost all hope or the will to keep living.
There were a few of them who were still self-conscious of their nudity and were trying to cover themselves in embarrassment, butpared to the rest they were only a tiny minority.
Most of them seemed to have already epted their fate after being captured and put on disy in this ce.
At the same time, Shun Long noticed that their cultivation seemed to range anywhere from thete stages of the Qi condensation all the way to the peak of the Heaven grade.
Seeing him approach the shop, some of them looked at him with gazes full of hope, hoping that he would buy them and be a good master, while most of them had that same look of despair in their eyes.
After activating his ''Memory recording formation'', Shun Long walked past them and entered inside the shop.
As soon as he stepped past the shop''s entrance, Shun Long saw even more ''ves'' that were chained and put on disy.
At the same time, there seemed to be more than a handful of customers who were looking at ''the products'' that they were going to buy, with different expressions on their faces.
Some of them were old men who were lecherously touching the women''s private parts whilementing on their suppleness and thickness, while others were old women who were checking the ''male products'' instead.
Surprisingly, most of the ves inside the shop were already at the Spirit realm, while there were even some of them who had even reached the early stages of the Nascent Soul.
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at them with unconcealed disgust on his face, before he took a deep breath and said in amanding voice that resounded throughout the entire shop
''''You disgusting fuckers can fuck off this ce right now, or I will bury you along with the rest of this shop.''''
Everyone inside the shop, regardless of whether they were ves or customers all turned their attention towards Shun Long at the same time.
Some of them had furious expressions on their faces when they realized what he had said while others seemed to have actually recognized his yellow robes and immediately scrammed out of the shop as fast as they could.
Regardless, more than half of the customers remained inside the shop in the end, and all of them had either angry or mocking looks on their faces as they looked at him.
Most of them were either at thete stage of the Spirit realm or the early stages of the Nascent Soul, so they clearly understood that Shun Long was going to die today. To dare step inside Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s shop and im that you were going to take it down... there was no way that the 2 cruel ve traders were going to let you go like that!
One of the old women around who was at the rank 8 of the Spirit realm, licked her lips when she looked at Shun Long, before she said in an excited voice
''''What a handsome young man. I want him! He is mine!''''
At the same time, from the midst of the rest of the customers, an old man who was at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul took a few steps forward and walked towards Shun Long with a mocking look on his face before he said
''''Brat, it doesn''t seem like you know where you are. A small early rank 3 Nascent Soul cultivator like you dares to say that you will bury us all if we don''t leave? You have already ruined this old man''s mood today so why don''t you show me how you n to bu-''''
Before the old man could actually finish his words, an illusionary, purple-colored de appeared in Shun Long''s hands, as Shun Long shed his right hand horizontally at an unbelievable speed, instantly beheading the old man!
Blood spurted through the air like a fountain, as the old man''s head fell on the ground with a thud and rolled on the floor of the shop, leaving behind his headless corpse that was slowly falling on its back as well.
The old man''s body copsed on the ground with a bang, instantly waking up the rest of the customers from their stupor, before they began shouting in terror.
They had never expected that Shun Long would really kill the old man, and so easily at that!
They had all sensed that he was just an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, which was why they weren''t afraid, but his speed had already exceeded that of an early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
The customers inside the shop started to run towards the exit, but unfortunately for them, they had to pass through Shun Long who was still standing there blocking their path.
Before they arrived within 5 meters from him, they actually all stopped and looked at him in wariness before one of them said in a terrified voice
''''Let us go. We will leave just like you said!''''
Unfortunately for them, Shun Long didn''t n to let them go any longer, as he shook his head and answered coldly
''''You have already lost your chance to leave. You can all die together now!''''
The ves around Shun Long looked at him with a worshipping gaze while the customers seemed to have fallen to the depths of despair when they heard his answer.
At that moment however, another voice seemed to have sounded from the depths of the shop that instantly brought joy back to the faces of the terrified customers, while the overjoyed ves seemed to have fallen back to terror and despair when they heard it
''''Which ignorant bastard dares to step inside my shop and tries to ruin my business?''''
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Chapter 551: I told you to scram!
Chapter 551: I told you to scram!
Shun Long wasn''t surprised when he heard this voice and saw the customers instantly stepping to the side and opening a path for 2 middle-aged men and a young man to walk towards them.
He had already scanned the shop with his soul sense from the moment that he entered inside it, and had instantly sensed that 2 men at the peak of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, as well as a man at the early rank 9 of the Spirit realm who were sitting at the shop''s depths together.
Naturally, the 2 men were Dai Lim and Dai Hao, the 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators who were now walking towards Shun Long. As for the person who was at the early rank 9 of the Spirit realm, it was obviously the green-robed young man who was walking by their side.
The person who had spoken was actually the middle-aged man on the left. His expression had turned furious when he saw the old man''s headless body that was lying on the ground, but the moment he saw Shun Long''s yellow robes, his expression instantly changed as he suddenly halted his steps.
The middle-aged man on the right had a simr reaction as well, as he instantly realized that Shun Long must be an outer disciple of the Holy sect.
Even if he was just an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, they knew that they couldn''t publicly kill a disciple of the Holy sect in their shop, or there would be no ce left for them within the Holy sect''s territory.
After all, killing Shun Long privately during a bodyguard mission where no one would find out about it like Su Bao and Su Dong nned to, and killing him in broad daylight inside Yanzhu city were 2pletely different things.
At the end of the day, Yanzhu city was an official city inside the Holy sect''s territory, and the 2 families that governed the city deferred to the Holy sect.
The moment that the 2 brothersid their hands on him, they knew that they were doomed to be chased from the forces of both the Zhu and the Yan family until they died.
At that moment, Dai Lim and Dai Hao seemed to have realized something, as they both turned their heads towards the young man behind them at the same time.
The young man seemed to have also realized what was going on, as he nodded his head towards them with a reassuring expression on his face, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long.
With a calm look on his face, he took a few steps forward towards him, before he said without a hint of anxiousness or fear in his expression
''''It looks like you are an outer disciple of the Holy sect, right? What''s your name and which family do youe from? Hmm, based on how low your cultivation is, you must be someone newly admitted to the Holy sect. Is there a feud between you and the Dai brothers or is there some other reason you are here?''''
Yan Wen immediately threw a barrage of questions towards Shun Long,pletely uncaring of his identity as an outer disciple of the Holy sect.
At that moment, the middle-aged man on his right immediately took a step forward when he heard this, and looking at the green-robed young man next to him he said politely
''''Young master Yan Wen, neither I nor Dai Hao have ever met with him before! Maybe he is here because someone has targeted our shop?''''
As soon as Dai Lim offered his opinion, Dai Hao nodded hurriedly confirming that they had never met Shun Long before, while the green-robed young man''s eyes lit up in realization.
With a calm smile on his face as if he was looking at 3 jumping clowns, Shun Long surprisingly nodded his head before he said
''''You are right. There has been a personal mission from the sect that requires you two to die.''''
As for Yan Wen, he didn''t even bother to respond to his questions. Why would Shun Long even pay attention to an early rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator who suddenly starts barraging him with questions?
Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s faces instantly paled when they heard Shun Long''s answer, unable to conceal the fear on their faces any longer.
Of course, they weren''t afraid that Shun Long would kill them, but they were terrified of the fact that the Holy sect had ced a mission on their heads.
This was the same as if a king had issued a royal decree in a mortal kingdom, ordering for amoner to be sentenced to death!
Even if they didn''t kill Shun Long and they somehow managed to send him away peacefully, there would definitely be other powerful disciples of the Holy sect who woulde to take their heads in the near future!
Since the mission has already been epted by the Holy sect, it means that the sect has researched thoroughly about them, and has already confirmed that the 2 brothers deserve to die.
Terrified, they could only turn their heads to look at ''young master Yan'' for help, but they saw that his expression had also turned ugly when he heard this news.
Taking a deep breath, Yan Wen calmed himself down, and after throwing a few more looks towards the pleading Dai brothers, he turned his attention back towards Shun Long and waved his hand dismissively before he said seriously
''''You can return back to the Holy sect. Dai Hao and Dai Lim are my friends, so they are also friends of my Yan family. I will personally ask my family to take care of this, so there is no need for someone like you to concern yourself with this matter any longer.''''
Dai Lim and Dai Hao both heaved a sigh of relief when they got ''young master Yan''s'' promise that he would deal with this, but young master Yan''s expression was still ugly.
It was obvious that dealing with a personal mission of the Holy sect wasn''t something easy to do, otherwise he wouldn''t have turned so serious when he heard this.
Seeing that Shun Long had yet to leave and instead he was staring at him like he was looking at an idiot, Yan Wen''s expression instantly turned ugly as he took another step forward in a threatening manner and said furiously
''''Didn''t you hear me? I TOLD YOU TO SCRAM!''''
Chapter 552: Fighting 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators
Chapter 552: Fighting 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators
At that moment, Shun Long''s expression finally changed as a sudden wave of bloodlust erupted from his body, one that made the furious young master of the Yan family to take a few steps back in shock!
Shun Long however didn''t stop, as he circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' to the extreme before he activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The flow of time around his body instantly increased by many times, increasing his speed explosively, as Shun Long suddenly took a step forward and appeared right in front of the green-robed Yan Wen before Dai Lim and Dai Hao had even realized what was going on.
''''What????''''
The 2 brothers didn''t even see when Shun Long had made his move, but in less than a single second, he had actually appeared in front of Yan Wen!
Extending his right hand forward with an ice-cold look on his face, Shun Long grabbed Yan Wen from the throat and lifted him up like he was lifting a chicken.
His body that was radiating endless killing intent made the green-robed young master of the Yan family tremble in shock.
He had never expected that someone would dare tond their hands on him inside Yanzhu city after he had given them his name!
''''Brat! Let go of young master Yan!''''
''''Bastard how dare you? Quickly, let young master Yan go, or you will die without aplete corpse.''''
Turning his head to the side, Shun Long stared at Dai Lim and Dai Hao who were hurling threats towards him, but not only did he not let Yan Wen go, but he even clenched his hand lightly
''''AAAAAAAAAGHHHHH! HELP!''''
Yan Wen''s screams resounded throughout the shop, causing Dai Lim and Dai Hao to stare at Shun Long with furious gazes but not daring to take a single step towards him.
If something happened to Yan Wen there would be no one who could deal with the Holy sect''s mission that targeted their heads.
''''No! If something really happens to young master Yan, forget about the Holy sect''s mission, before someone from the Holy sect evenes here, the Yan family will definitely take our heads first!''''
As they came to this conclusion, the 2 brothers didn''t know what to do as they looked at each other fearfully.
They knew that Shun Long was just an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator and they could kill him within a few seconds, but Yan Wen was already in his hands.
Even if they moved forward to kill Shun Long right now, he would be able to snap Yan Wen''s neck before they managed to touch him.
Unfortunately for the 2 brothers, Shun Long didn''t give a shit about them, as he stared at Yan Wen with the same cold look on his face, before he asked him
''''Scram? Who the fuck are you to tell me to scram? Didn''t I tell you to fuck off this shop or I will bury you along with it? Since you refused to leave... then you can die here!''''
Crack!
Without another word Shun Long clenched his right hand tightly, snapping Yan Wen''s neck without any hesitation.
A deathly silence instantly filled the interior of the shop as everyone inside it, regardless if it was Dai Lim, Dai Hao, or the remaining customers who had tried to escape previously, all looked at Shun Long with looks of disbelief on their faces.
''''YOU BASTARD!''''
''''Are you crazy?''''
Dai Hao and Dai Lim were the first ones to react, as they shouted at Shun Long with looks of fury as well as terror in their eyes!
They couldn''t believe that he was crazy enough to actually kill Yan Wen when he had already mentioned that he came from the Yan family. And the worst part was, that he did this inside their own shop! No matter what, Dai Hao and Dai Lim would both be hunted down by the Yan family after today for failing to protect Yan Wen inside their shop.
At that moment, Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s eyes both turned red as they turned to look at each other and nodded their heads simultaneously.
Dai Lim was the first one to make a move, as he suddenly took out a small dagger from his robes and rushed towards Shun Long, while his dagger aimed for the side of his throat.
As for Dai Hao, a 1.6m(5.2ft) long saber appeared in his hand, before he attacked Shun Long from the other side.
Shun Long''s golden eyes instantly lit up, before he activated his original ''Monarch''s Domain'', immediately slowing down the speed of the 2 brothers by almost half.
However, although Dai Hao and Dai Lim''s speed was reduced by almost half, the same couldn''t be said about the rest of the customers inside the shop who were now in a frozen-like state.
Naturally, since even the strongest of them was only at the peak of rank 2 in the Nascent Soul, they were unable to resist Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'' that forcibly halted the flow of time around their bodies.
Inside his domain, Shun Long was truly a king!
He could feel that as hisprehension of his Dao of Time increased, even his control of his ''Monarch''s Domain'', as well as its radius had started to increase as well. Shun Long believed that after he broke through to the Dao King realm sessfully, his Dao of Time would obtain a qualitative change.
Staring at the attacks of the 2 brothers that were now at half of their original speed, Shun Long waved his hand, causing a pitch-ck sword to appear in front of him.
Just as Dai Lim''s dagger was about to reach him, Shun Long held the ck sword and used blink, as he suddenly disappeared from Dai Lim''s eyes.
''''Brother! Behind you!''''
Dai Hao shouted in horror after seeing that Shun Long had suddenly appeared behind his brother, while even Dai Lim''s eyes widened after seeing that his dagger had failed to hit Shun Long''s throat!
However, before Dai Lim could even respond, Shun Long shed his ck sword horizontally towards Dai Lim''s waist. The peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage expert''s body was instantly cleaved in half, before it copsed on the ground under Dai Hao''s horrified eyes!
Chapter 553: Killing everyone
Chapter 553: Killing everyone
''''BROTHER!!''''
Dai Hao screamed loudly in despair when he saw Dai Lim''s body lying on the ground in front of him. Unfortunately for him, Shun Long''s sh hadn''t just destroyed Dai Lim''s body, but it hadpletely destroyed his soul as well, instantly killing the peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
''''Let''s die together then!''''
A look of madness suddenly appeared inside Dai Hao''s eyes as he looked at Shun Long who was standing just a few meters in front of him, before he started to madly gather his energy inside his dantian.
Indeed, he was trying to explode himself, just like the leader of the ''Dark de guild'', Tan Duyi, had done back in the ''Night star continent''.
Shun Long still remembered how Tan Duyi''s explosion had managed to hurt even Little Silver back then, causing his wings to be filled with its blood!
Instantly realizing what Dao Hao was trying to do, Shun Long''s serious gaze was fully focused on him, as he mumbled to himself in an inaudible voice
''''Time Prison.''''
Shun Long could feel more than 40 percent of his qi being sapped in an instant, as he forcibly stopped the flow of time around Dai Hao, cing him in a temporary time prison!
Holding his ck sword with both hands he then used blink for a second time, appearing right in front of the ''frozen'' Dai Hao, before he shed his ck sword horizontally towards his abdomen.
A rain of blood soon followed suit, as Dai Hao''s body was shed in half by Shun Long''s sword sh, before he copsed on the ground barely a momentter.
Another peak rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivator died in just a single sh!
There was no mercy inside Shun Long''s eyes as he slowly turned his attention towards the remaining customers inside the shop who were still under the effects of his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
In the blink of an eye, 7 more corpses appeared inside the shop, lying on the ground right next to the Dai Lim, Dai Hao, and the green-robed young master Yan Wen.
After gathering their spatial rings, Shun Long stopped his ''Monarch''s Domain'', allowing the flow of time inside the shop to return to normal.
The ves inside the shop who were also affected by the ''Monarch''s Domain'' as well, were all stunned when they saw the Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s corpses on the ground right next to Yan Wen''s, before they turned their attention towards the yellow-robed young man who was standing at the center of the shop.
Some of the ves even thought that they were dreaming for a moment, unable to truly believe the scene in front of their eyes, but the thick scent of blood that had filled the shop made them realize that this was anything but a dream.
Using the ck sword in his hands, Shun Long freed every single one of the ves that were inside the shop, before he turned around and stepped past the shop''s entrance, freeing the remaining ves who were standing outside as well.
Regardless if it was the qi condensation rookies or the Nascent Soul stage cultivators, every single one of the ves looked at him with gazes filled with respect, reverence, and gratefulness.
Only after those people had lost their freedom and were put to be sold as ves by Dai Lim and Dai Hao, after being humiliated over and over again while enduring those gazes that looked at them as if they were nothing more than an item for sale, did they finally realize the cruelty of this world.
Shun Long ignored their reverent gazes of those people, and pointing at the distance ahead of them he then said
''''You are no longer ves, but if you allow yourselves to be caught again, I doubt that you will be freed a second time.''''
More than 30 cultivators all bowed towards Shun Long, before they turned around and started to run as far as possible. Especially those who were inside the shop and had seen Shun Long kill Yan Wen. They knew it was only a matter of time until the Yan family got wind of it.
However, there were some who didn''t run right away, and looking at the yellow-robed young man in front of them, they steeled their hearts and walked towards him before one of them said cautiously
''''Senior, that... young master Yan Wen that you killed... is really from the Yan family of Yanzhu city. The Yan family is one of the 2 biggest families in the city and they control the city alongside the Zhu family. As for young master Yan Wen, he was someone who visited Dai Hao''s and Dai Lim''s shop very often, and we have even heard that his father is one of the Elders of the Yan family! Even if senior is really a disciple of the Holy sect, if you don''t have a powerful backing you will definitely be chased down by the Yan family! Also... thank you for saving us!''''
Since Shun Long hadn''t activated his first ''Monarch''s Domain'' before he had killed Yan Wen, every single one of the ves inside the shop had witnessed the terrifying sight that had taken ce inside it.
Thus, although these people were afraid and wanted to leave this ce as quickly as possible, they still grouped together and informed Shun Long of the iing danger.
Surprisingly, Shun Long actually smiled at them and said
''''Don''t worry, I already figured as much from the beginning. However, it still doesn''t matter. His identity makes no difference in my eyes.''''
''''But... he is from the Yan family!''''
Those people couldn''t understand why Shun Long would still dare to save them and kill Yan Wen after knowing of his identity. No matter what, they were still inside Yanzhu city. Killing Yan Wen in this ce was no different than dering war on the Yan family.
At that moment, the look on Shun Long''s face turned serious as he continued
''''The Yan family? So what? Is there a reason for me to be afraid of the Yan family inside Yanzhu city when I am a disciple of the Holy sect? This is still the Holy sect''s territory in the end. Killing Dai Lim and Dai Hao was also a mission issued by the Holy sect itself, so why would a disciple of the Holy sect simply leave, just because Yan Wen ordered him to do so?
However, even if I wasn''t a disciple of the Holy sect, I would still kill him all the same today!''''
Chapter 554: Leaving Yanzhu city
Chapter 554: Leaving Yanzhu city
The freed ves around him, all looked at Shun Long incredulously when they heard hisst sentence, but Shun Long didn''t seem to be willing to exin anything else, as he turned his attention towards the small shop in front of him.
Now that every single ve had been freed, there was no reason for Dai Lim''s and Dai Hao''s shop to remain standing.
Holding his ck, star-rank sword in his hand, Shun Long raised it above his head and infused his qi inside it, before he shed it forward, unleashing a powerful ck-colored sh.
Although the protective formations around the shop automatically activated themselves as soon as the ''Thundergod''s sh''nded on the shop''s outer walls, they only managed tost for a single second before they were destroyed.
The entire shop was instantly razed to the ground, causing all of the passersby to stare at Shun Long with gazes full of shock and fear. This was even more so once they noticed that he was just an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Even some of the middle stage Nascent Soul cultivators from the crowd couldn''t help but shiver after feeling the power of that sword sh which destroyed Dai Lim''s and Dai Hao''s shop, and were uncertain if they would be able to block it if they were the ones to face it instead.
''''Who is this guy? Isn''t that Dai Lim''s shop that he attacked? Someone really dared to destroy his shop?''''
''''The ve trader Dai Lim? How is this possible? I heard that he has already obtained the protection of the Yan family, which was why he hadn''t been arrested even when he and his brother abducted a woman in broad daylight a couple of weeks ago!''''
''''Is this guy crazy? Not only does he dare to mess with those 2 inhuman ve traders, but he actually attacked a shop protected by the Yan family?''''
''''No! Look at his robes! Aren''t those the robes of an outer disciple of the Holy sect?''''
A few people from the crowd seemed to have recognized Shun Long''s robes, making the discussions around them instantly turn even more fervent.
Shun Long however simply ignored the people around him and the curious gazes that they were shooting towards him, as he raised his hand and shed the air in front of him, opening a 2m(6.6ft) long space tear.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the crowd, he then stepped inside the space tear before he disappeared.
As he appeared close to the city gates a momentter, Shun Long walked towards them with an unhurried pace. Since he had already killed Dai Hao and Dai Lim andpletely destroyed their shop, there was no reason for him to stay in Yanzhu city any longer. He was nning to return back to the Holy city and train himself in the Dao Tower until he met Liu Mei and the rest back in the Holy sect.
As for killing Yan Wen during this mission, Shun Long waspletely unfazed by it even after hearing that he was actually the son of an Elder of the Yan family.
There was no way that Shun Long would simply turn around and leave from the city just because Yan Wen had ordered him to ''scram'' out of the shop. Although he didn''t know what kind of influence the Yan family had inside the Holy sect, he honestly didn''t care about it either.
Shun Long hadn''t joined the Holy sect simply so he couldy low and slowly grow bidding his time.
He knew that his own faction alone, was going to offend many people inside the sect, especially when they joined the faction wars and started to climb in the faction rankings. Thus, from the beginning, he wasn''t nning to stay low-key inside the sect.
After all, every single one of his faction members aside from himself, had actually been epted as personal disciples by inner court Elders!
Once word of this started to spread within the sect, many powerful outer disciples would start turning their attention towards him, including some of those disciples who belonged to the top 100 factions.
In front of that, what the hell was the son of a single Elder from the Yan family?
Although Shun Long didn''t know how strong this family really was, he knew that it was definitely nothingpared to the top families who lived inside the Holy city.
...
At the same time that Shun Long was walking past the city gates, inside a luxurious mansion at the heart of the city, a white-haired old man dressed in green robes was sitting in front of a marble table, with a purple-robed middle-aged man sitting opposite to him.
The marble table only had 2 cups of wine and a single wine sk on top of it.
The white-haired old man had a bright smile on his face as he grabbed the sk of wine from the table and filled both the cups to the brim, before he looked at the middle-aged man sitting opposite to him and said
''''Brother Yan, haven''t you always wanted to drink my ''purple nectar wine''? Hehe, then let this elder brother share it with you today since I happen to be in a good mood.''''
The middle-aged man whom the white-haired old man called as ''brother Yan'' snorted in response when he heard the old man''s words, and looking at him with an envious look on his face he then said
''''Senior Zhu, didn''t you just call me here today to brag? Would you have shared your ''purple nectar wine'' with me today if it wasn''t for your grandson entering the top 600 ces in the Martial Roll of Honor inside the Holy sect?''''
The white-haired old man startedughing boisterously when he heard this, his joyousughter resounding throughout the entire room as he nodded his head and said
''''Hahaha! Indeed, this old man is truly blessed to have such a grandson! However, there is no need to worry. Once your son enters the Holy sect, I will personally tell Guanyu to take care of him.''''
Chapter 555: Yan Nings fury
Chapter 555: Yan Ning''s fury
The middle-aged man''s face instantly brightened when he heard this, as heughed and emptied his cup of wine before he said in an overjoyed tone
''''Then I must thank senior in advance! I have heard that Zhu Guanyu has already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul and he can nearly fight against an early-rank 1 Dao King head-on. I am sure it''s only a matter of a time until he enters the top 500 rankings of the sect as well. Perhaps in the future he will even be able to match geniuses like Zhu Rong from your Zhu family!''''
The white-haired old man had a proud smile on his face when he heard so many praises for his grandson, but as soon as the name Zhu Rong was brought up, he simply shook his head and sighed before he answered in a tone that was filled with disappointment
''''Although there are some chances for Guanyu to enter the top 500 rankings, it will be impossible for him to go any higher if he doesn''t breakthrough to the Dao King realm! Geniuses like Zhu Rong are simply monsters in human skin who have also received the best resources of the n. It is simply impossible for Guanyu topete with the heir of the n. You should understand this too since your family''s Yan Bai is no different.''''
The white-haired old man sighed as he said this, while a look of envy also appeared in the middle-aged man''s eyes when the name Yan Bai was mentioned.
At that moment, just as the old man in purple robes was about to drink his wine as well, the door of the room was suddenly opened, as a young man in green robes entered inside, along with 2 middle-aged men in purple robes who were following after him.
The white-haired old man of the Zhu family and the green-robed middle-aged man from the Yan family both turned their eyes towards the green-robed young man with stern looks on their faces, before the old man turned his eyes towards his 2 guards who seemed to have allowed the green-robed young man inside like that.
However, before the old man questioned his guards, the green-robed young man looked at the middle-aged man from the Yan family and knelt on the floor, before he said in a voice that was filled with dread
''''El-Elder Yan Ning! Something terrible happened!''''
The middle-aged man''s from the Yan family, Yan Ning''s eyebrows were raised when he heard the rmed tone in the green-robed young man''s voice, but the young man didn''t care as he continued speaking with a face filled with horror
''''I-It''s Elder''s son. Young master Yan Wen''s life jade has... it has shattered!''''
Yan Ning''s face instantly paled when he heard this, while even the white-haired old man from the Zhu family stared at the young man who had entered the room with eyes filled with shock.
Was this a joke? How could Yan Wen''s life jade shatter when he was still inside Yanzhu city? Would someone really dare to touch him inside Yanzhu city?
The life jade was a magical jade that the geniuses of the powerful families in the central region used, so that their family would know of their condition and if they were alive or if a mishap had actually happened. Everyone clearly understood that a life jade shattering could only mean one thing! That the person whom the life jade belonged to had actually perished!
If the young man in front of them wasn''t wearing the robes of the Yan family, the white-haired old man from the Zhu family would have never believed what he had just heard.
As for Elder Yan Ning, his hands had started to tremble, causing the empty cup of wine to fall from his hand and shatter into countless pieces upon touching the ground. And yet, Yan Ning didn''t seem to have noticed this as his eyes kept staring at the young man in front of him while a gaze that was filled with killing intent that he was unable to suppress, causing his aura at the Dao King realm to erupt from his body and shake the entire room!
The white-haired man from the Zhu family shook his head and looked at the green-robed young man who was kneeling on the floor before he asked
''''What was Yan Wen''sst location?''''
The green-robed young man who was unable to even lift his head from the floor due to Yan Ning''s overpowering aura that was now suffocating him, finally raised his head with extreme difficulty and looked at the elder of the Zhu family before he answered fearfully
''''I-I heard that young master went to Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s ve shop! I don''t know if the young master left their shop or if something happened there!''''
Yan Ning stood up from his seat while his gaze that was filled with endless killing intent was instantly focused towards the east of the city, almost as if he was trying to look past the buildings in front of him and have his gazend directly on Dai Hao''s and Dai Lim''s shop as he mumbled to himself
''''Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s shop? Those bastards failed to protect Wen''er when he was visiting their shop? I will personally cut their heads off if they are still alive! As for the person who dared to touch my son... I will destroy your entire family no matter who you are!''''
Turning his gaze towards the green-robed young man who was looking at him with the same look of dread as before, Yan Ning then said in a frosty tone that seemed to be able to chill the hearts of anyone who heard it
''''Lock down the entire city! Don''t let anyone leave!''''
Without saying another word, Yan Ning didn''t even bid farewell to the white-haired old man from the Zhu family before he soared in the sky, destroying the roof of the room without any hesitation as he flew towards the east of the city at full speed!
The people of Yanzhu city trembled when they sense the furious Dao King who was flying in the sky and was radiating endless killing intent, as they all understood that something extremely big must have happened, something that would probably affect the entire Yanzhu city!
Chapter 556: Returning to the Holy city
Chapter 556: Returning to the Holy city
At the same time that the entire Yanzhu city was about to be engulfed in a storm, Shun Long had already walked past the city gates a few moments ago, as he headed towards the ''me Lion''s'' canyon right away.
Since he had no other reason to stay in Yanzhu city now that he hadpleted both of the missions that he had epted from the Assignment Hall, there was no way that Shun Long would simply stay there when the Elders of the Yan family would be looking for him after he had killed Yan Wen.
Although Shun Long wasn''t afraid that they would dare to do anything publicly to a disciple of the Holy sect, as that would be equivalent to the Yan family attacking the prestige of the sect itself, returning back to the Holy city was still the most important thing to do right now since he nned to spend the remaining 2 weeks within the Dao Tower advancing hisprehension of his Dao of Time. Thus there was no way that he would simply waste his time fighting with the people from the Yan family. Besides, it was very likely that the Yan family had more than a handful of Dao Kings, so fighting with them without even Little Silver by his side was impossible just yet even if he wanted to.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t take the long way around that would take him nearly a month to return back to the Holy city. There were only 20 days left until he met Liu Mei and the rest in front of the Holy sect''s gates, and if he really spent the remaining 20 days traveling, he wouldn''t be able to even make it back in time to the Holy sect, let alone train in the Dao Tower inside the Holy city like he was nning to.
Even though the ''me Lion''s'' canyon was said to be extremely dangerous and it was rumored to even have rank 6 magic beasts inside it, now that Shun Long wouldn''t have to protect Ying Gui and keep his carriages safe during the journey, crossing the canyon would be much easier.
After all, even if Shun Long met with peak rank 5 magic beasts again, even if they were beasts who had stronger mental defenses than the peak rank 5 ''Red-furred bear'' that he had met thest time and couldn''t be taken care of in one hit, he was still confident that he could injure them heavily with the poison he had concocted from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'' and kill them all the same.
Of course, if he was unlucky enough to meet with any rank 6 magic beasts, there was no way that Shun Long would even think of fighting them. He knew that it was impossible to harm them even if he threw all his remaining bottles of poison towards them. The only thing that he could do was try to run as far away as he could from them.
After all, the difference between a peak rank 5 and an early rank 6 magic beast was an enormous one!
''''I only have 6 more bottles filled with the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', but they should still be enough to allow me to cross the canyon even if I meet with 2 or 3 peak rank 5 magic beasts.''''
With this thought in mind, Shun Long no longer held back, as he ran at full speed, leaving Yanzhu behind him to disappear in the distance.
...
After running for almost 3 hours, Shun Long quickly arrived back at the canyon''s entrance.
Although it had taken him 10 hours to reach Yanzhu city from the ''me Lion''s'' canyon the first time when he was riding the carriage that Ying Gui''s ''Ironhide cows'' were pulling, in the end, the ''Ironhide cows'' were still rank 4 magic beasts. Even if they were running at full speed, they could never bepared to Shun Long''s own speed.
As soon as he stepped foot inside the canyon, Shun Long immediately circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss, causing his eyes to turn golden at the same time, before he headed towards the canyon''s depths right away. He knew that he was less than 30 minutes away from the spot where he had killed the peak rank 5 ''Red-furred bear'' a day ago.
Even though this ce was still considered to be extremely dangerous since it was still within the depths of the canyon, as long as no rank 6 magic beasts showed up, Shun Long was confident to take on even peak rank 5 beasts, which was why he dared to step foot inside the canyon by himself.
However, even most peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage experts wouldn''t usually enter the depths of the canyon by themselves without arge and powerful group, unless they were extremely desperate to cross the canyon as soon as possible!
A little more than half an hour soon passed before Shun Long arrived at the same spot where he had killed the peak rank 5 ''Red-furred bear'' one day ago.
Surprisingly, the bear''s blood that had fallen on the ground back then had yet to dry, even after an entire day had gone by, and it had actually formed a small pool of blood on the ground instead.
Ignoring the small pool of blood however, Shun Long followed the same path that he and Ying Gui had followed the first time, as he headed towards the other end of the canyon.
Activating the second ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long''s speed instantly increased by many folds, causing his body to look like a streak of yellow lightning covered with a faint blue light as he coursed through the ''me Lion''s canyon''.
Surprisingly, only a handful of peak rank 4 and early rank 5 magic beasts attacked him on the way, and every single one of them was destroyed in the blink of an eye.
Although the early rank 5 magic beasts were a bit trickier to handle, they were still taken care of easily as soon as Shun Long took out the ck sword from the ''Stone of Time''.
In the end, not even a single one of those magic beasts managed tost more than 2 hits, and finally, an hourter, Shun Long arrived at the other end of the canyon.
Chapter 557: Returning to the Holy city (2)
Chapter 557: Returning to the Holy city (2)
The moment that he walked out of the canyon, Shun Long saw another group standing outside, staring warily at the canyon''s entrance.
This group seemed simr to Ying Gui''s group, with 2 small carriages and a group of over 10 guards that hadpletely surrounded the carriages, protecting them from all sides.
The guards all had solemn looks on their faces as they stared at the entrance of the canyon, as if they were still debating whether to enter or not.
Shun Long also noticed that most of the guards seemed to be at the early stages of the Nascent Soul, while 2 of them were actually at the early rank 4 and the peak rank 4 of the Nascent Soul respectively.
At the same time that Shun Long walked out of the ''me Lion''s'' canyon and turned his gaze towards them, the 12 guards all turned to look in his direction as well, staring at him with gazes filled with incredulity and shock.
''''Did that guy really just exit the ''me Lion''s'' canyon by himself? This... don''t tell me that he made it outing from the other side...''''
''''Idiot, what are you even thinking about? Can''t you see that he is just an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator? He probably just entered the canyon and walked around the outskirts beforeing out again.''''
The first guard nodded his head when he heard his friend''s words as he realized that they actually made more sense than his own guess.
Indeed, even they needed a group of 12 people and more than ample preparations just to have a chance to pass through the ''me Lion''s'' canyon. Could an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator even survive if he entered inside by himself? Even reaching the depths of the canyon would be a far-fetched dream.
Shun Long howeverpletely ignored the guards'' hushed discussions, and soaring in the sky, he headed directly for the Holy city.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t keep his second ''Monarch''s Domain'' active after leaving the ''me Lion''s'' canyon, or even with his own qi reserves, he knew that it would only be a matter of time until he waspletely exhausted.
...
2 dayster, after flying at full speed without taking a break, Shun Long saw the familiar outline of an enormous city appearing in the distance, along with a gigantic mountain towering right above the city, whose peak pierced high above the clouds.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw the sight in front of him, as he flew towards the bustling city without any hesitation.
The line in front of the city gates was no different than 10 days ago, with thousands of cultivators queueing up one after the other, as well as hundreds of carriages waiting in line.
In front of the Holy city that had tens of thousands of cultivators entering and leaving every single day, Yanzhu city really seemed like an abandoned small vige inparison.
Unlike thest time however, Shun Long didn''t wait in front of the city gates along with the rest of the people who were queueing up, and flew towards the city gates right away.
Although some people were shocked when they saw someone skipping the queue, to most of them this was a natural urrence that they had seen far too many times to care about.
Forget about the disciples of the Holy sect, even the descendants of the powerful families and ns that lived inside the city didn''t have to wait in the queue and could enter the city directly.
Although most people were angry at those big families and ns who were abusing their power to do this, no oneined if the disciples of the Holy sect had at least this much preferential treatment.
Indeed, as soon as the city guards saw Shun Long approaching the gates, they simply bowed before they stepped aside, allowing him to enter the city, just like they did with any other outer court disciple of the Holy sect.
Staring at the city in front of him that was overflowing with life, just like thest time that he was here, with countless street stalls and shops everywhere around him trying to promote their goods, Shun Long headed for the heart of the city right away.
Although Shun Long was nning to enter the Dao Tower and spend the following 2 weeks trying to increase hisprehension in his Dao of Time before he returned back to the Holy sect, he first nned to take a look at the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' that he didn''t visit thest time and see if they truly had any rare rank 6 medicinal herbs for sale along with anything else.
Finally, 3 hourster, after walking around the center of the city where most of the biggest shops were located, Shun Long saw a massive building that seemed to have been made from pure white jade, with the words ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'' written above its entrance.
The building wasn''t as tall as the gigantic Dao Tower that spanned for more than 3.000 meters(9850ft) in the sky, but the area it covered was much wider, enough to fit 5 more Dao Towers inside it.
At the same time, Shun Long saw hundreds of cultivators entering and leaving the building at all times, but unlike the Dao Tower, there was no queue to enter inside.
Following the crowd, Shun Long had a look of curiosity on his face as he walked past the building''s entrance and entered inside.
However, the scene that appeared in Shun Long''s eyes the moment that he entered inside didn''t look like the interior of a building, but like a whole new city instead.? A sea of cultivators appeared in his eyes regardless of where he focused his gaze at, all of them standing in front of the hundreds of counters and looking at the items inside that were put on disy.
Chapter 558: White tiger chamber of commerce
Chapter 558: White tiger chamber ofmerce
Walking around the enormous hall, Shun Long started to take a look at the counters around him to see the items that they sold, but he was soon left disappointed when he realized that most of them were meant for cultivators at the qi condensation stage and the earth grade.
Whether it was the rank 1 and rank 2 pills and medicinal herbs that were for sale, or the bronze grade weapons and armor along with the yellow-grade martial skills and cultivation techniques, none of them would be used by anyone above the earth grade.
Of course, Shun Long quickly realized that this made sense as well. As an enormous city that easily housed tens of millions of cultivators, it wasn''t possible for the Holy city to only have cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above. It was only natural that there would be hundreds of thousands if not more cultivators at the Qi condensation stage and the earth grade as well.
As for the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', it seemed that they didn''t just deal with high-level cultivators but they had practically everything that one would need, regardless of their cultivation stage!
After taking one more look at this floor and making sure that there was nothing in this ce that would interest even average Spirit realm cultivators, Shun Long turned his attention towards therge staircase at the end of the hall that many others walked to and from as well.
Entering the second floor, Shun Long saw another sea of cultivators inside it, but their numbers were much fewerpared to the sheer amount of people that were present on the first floor.
However, barely 15 minutester, Shun Long realized that this floor was only filled with rank 3 and rank 4 medicinal herbs and pills, as well as silver-grade weapons and armor, none of which were of any use to the current him.
As for the Mystic low-grade and middle-grade cultivation and martial skills, Shun Long didn''t even nce at them, as he walked towards therge staircase that led to the third floor.
Thankfully, the moment that he stepped foot onto this floor, Shun Long understood that he had finallye to the right ce. Although this floor seemed to have less than 1000 people present, with just a look around he realized, that rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs and pills were bountiful here.
At the same time, rank 1 to rank 3 gold-grade weapons and armor were ced openly for disy for anyone who wished to purchase them. Although peak rank 3 gold-grade weapons were few and far between, some of them were also ced for sale on this floor as well.
As for the cultivation techniques and martial skills here, every single one of them seemed to be at the Mystic high-grade, but there wasn''t a single one of them at the Saint-grade or above.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long started to stroll around the floor, purchasing every single herb that caught his interest.
In less than 1 hour, he had actually spent more than 1 million 340.000 middle-grade spirit stones, as he purchased more than 20 rank 6 medicinal herbs along with a handful of supplementary rank 5 ones that he wascking.
With the 180.000 middle-grade spirit stones that he had found inside Dai Lim and Dai Hao''s spatial rings as well as the 300.000 that Yan Wen was carrying inside his own spatial ring, Shun Long had 2 million and 355.000 middle-grade spirit stones before he entered the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
After spending more than 1 million and 340.000 all at once, he was left with just 1 million and 15.000 in the end.
However, even though he had spent more than half of his spirit stones in one go, the only thing that Shun Long felt regretful for, was that there weren''t more rank 6 medicinal herbs avable to buy.
In this past 1 hour, he had actually emptied the entire third floor off of rank 6 medicinal herbs all by himself, leaving behind groups of employess and other cultivators who were staring at him with their eyes wide-open.
Even a few rank 6 herbs that no one else wanted to buy due to their low maturity age which would make them unsuitable for pill refinement, they were also bought by Shun Long with a smile on his face, feeling that he had made a killing this time, whilepletely ignoring the gazes of the people around him.
After all, it wasmon knowledge to every alchemist that medicinal herbs had their own ages as well, and unless a herb''s maturity age had reached a certain level, it would be almost impossible for someone to use it and refine pills.
Even if an alchemist really used such a herb, he would only be able to produce low-grade or middle-grade pills at most, making the herb''s value plummet in everyone''s eyes.
However, Shun Long didn''t care about immature herbs in the slightest, as he hoarded every single rank 6 one that appeared in front of him.
Naturally, why would he care about rank 6 medicinal herbs when he could speed up the herbs'' growth inside his herb garden in the ''Stone of Time''?
The rank 6 medicinal herbs that everyone else saw as trash were actually herbs that could easily be sold for 100.000 middle-grade spirit stones if they were mature, and yet Shun Long actually got them for less than half of that price.
Finally, afterpletely emptying the floor of every single rank 6 medicinal herb in sight, a single thought abruptly appeared in his mind
''''Since the first floor corresponds to cultivators at the Qi condensation and those at the earth grade, while the second floor is meant for those who are still at the Heaven grade and those at the Spirit realm... then, since the third floor is meant for Nascent Soul stage and Dao King realm cultivators, is the fourth floor actually meant for Dao Emperors and above?''''
At the same time that this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long turned his attention towards therge staircase at the end of the hall.? However, the moment that he did that, Shun Long saw 2 guards d in golden armor actually blocking the staircase, each of them holding the hilt of arge greatsword.
The most shocking thing however was actually the auraing from the guards'' bodies! These guards were actually rank 9 Dao King realm experts!
Chapter 559: Entering the Dao Tower once again
Chapter 559: Entering the Dao Tower once again
The auraing from the guards deterred everyone from approaching even a single step towards the staircase that was leading to the next floor.
This made Shun Long suspect that if one wanted to step foot on that staircase, then that person needed to be at least a Dao King realm expert whose strength was nearing the peak of the Dao King realm.
At the same time, he was also extremely surprised that there were actually 2 rank 9 Dao Kings inside the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', guarding the entrance of the next floor.
Even in the Holy sect, the 2 white-robed Elders who were guarding the entrance of the sect were just peak rank 9 Dao Kings as well.
Although the guards'' aura wasn''t at the same level as the 2 Elders of the Holy sect, making it obvious that they weren''t peak rank 9 Dao Kings just yet, just the presence of these 2 rank 9 Dao Kings acting as guards was enough to scare anyone below the Dao Emperor realm.
''''This ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' must have a very deep background to be able to employ 2 rank 9 Dao Kings and have them work for them like this!''''
Although Shun Long didn''t know how strong this famous chamber ofmerce really was, he could guess that their strength was probably not too inferiorpared to the Holy sect! After all, even the most powerful families and ns within the Holy sect''s territory wouldn''t be able to use rank 9 Dao Kings to work as guards.
Seeing that there was nothing else left for him to buy from this floor, Shun Long turned around and walked back towards the first floor.
Of course, although he too wanted to enter the fourth floor and have a look at the items there, he had already noticed how everyone else on the third floor was staring at the fourth floor''s entrance with the same excited looks on their faces.
However, a single look from the rank 9 Dao Kings who were guarding it quickly made those people change their minds, as they realized that that would be impossible for them to enter unless they reached the peak of the Dao King realm.
Walking out from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' Shun Long remained standing for a few moments, as he turned his gaze towards the enormous ck tower in the distance that he could clearly see even from his current location, before he walked straight towards it.
Since both the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' and the Dao Tower were located at the heart of the Holy city, it only took a few minutes for Shun Long to reach the colossal ck tower. Just like thest time, as soon as he arrived here, Shun Long once again saw the huge queue in front of the Dao Tower, as hundreds of cultivators waited to enter.
Half an hourter, it was Shun Long''s turn to enter the tower.? This time, he didn''t need any help from the receptionists at the entrance, as he headed straight towards the third floor, since every single room in both the first and the second floor seemed to be already taken.
After choosing a random room and cing 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones inside the holes on the door, a deep rumbling sound was heard as the door started to automatically open by itself.
A room that was filled with nothing but darkness once again appeared in Shun Long''s eyes, as he entered inside without any hesitation.
At the same time that he entered inside, the door of the room was closed,pletely isting Shun Long from the outside.
Waving his hand, he then took out a small orange token from the ''Stone of Time'' and ced it by his side, before a small smile was formed on his lips.
Shun Long knew that he was just a step away from entering the red rank and he probably could reach it with just a few more wins, however, his goal wasn''t the red rank but the opponents at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage and even the early stage Dao Kings as well.
Although he didn''t know how he would fare against Dao King realm opponents using just his ownprehension of the Dao just yet, since he already knew that entering the Dao King realm meant a qualitative change especially in one''s Dao, Shun Long was still eager to face a Dao King realm expert and see where he stood and how big the difference between them really was.
And yet, to fight againstte-stage and even peak stage Nascent Soul stage opponents as well as Dao Kings, Shun Long had already guessed that he would need to reach at least the peak of the red rank if not the purple rank!
Right now he was still at the peak of the orange rank, and Shun Long had already noticed that the difficulty to rank up increased with every rank that he advanced.
''''It doesn''t matter how many fights I will need to fight. I doubt that it will take more than a week to reach the purple rank! There are still 16 days left until I return back to the Holy sect, so it should be more than enough!''''
With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long sat down cross-legged on the ground and first scanned the room with his soul sense to make sure that he was alone.
Then, he closed his eyes and sent his soul sense towards the bright orange token of the Dao Tower that he had ced next to him, voluntarily connecting his consciousness with it.
The moment that his soul sense entered the token, Shun Long could feel his surroundings rapidly changing, as just like thest time, the feeling of losing control of his own body once again sprouted in his heart.
This time however, Shun Long was already prepared so he didn''t feel startled by this change.
Finally, a couple momentster, he opened his eyes as he found himself inside a familiar, huge pce hall, while the figure of a young woman that was dressed in red robes was standing opposite to him.
Chapter 560: Two weeks
Chapter 560: Two weeks
A week passed by in the blink of an eye, as the figure of a middle-aged man that was standing in front of Shun Long started to turn into motes of light and slowly disappear from the pce hall.
At the same time that the old man disappeared, some of the motes of light that were forming his body didn''t dissipate in the air, and instead, they started to gather around Shun Long before they were absorbed inside his ''Dao token''.
In the past week, Shun Long had fought more than 60 battles inside the Dao Tower, causing the color of his orange token to change, from the original deep orange to a deep red color.
The higher his rank rose inside the Dao Tower, the more fights he needed to win to advance even further into the next rank while his opponents became even more difficult to handle.
In the beginning, Shun Long could easily fight a dozen white and yellow rank opponents without an issue, but as soon as he entered the red rank, every single one of his opponents had a Daoprehension at the Nascent Soul stage, causing him to feel much more pressured during the fights.
Even with his Dao of Time, he could still feel the ever-increasing pressure from the opponents around him, making Shun Long realize that the depth of one''sprehension of their Dao was equally as important as a person''s cultivation base.
Of course, although he was pressured, Shun Long actually felt exhrated, as he could clearly feel that hisprehension of his Dao of Time was increasing at an extremely rapid rate through these fights.
The more he was pressured to fight against these stronger opponents, the deeper he couldprehend his Dao of Time as well making this a cycle that he was unwilling to stop.
However, he still had to stop his challenge inside the Dao Tower more than once during the past week, both to quietlyprehend his Dao of Time as well, but also to allow his mind to rest.
After all, fighting against Nascent Soul stage cultivators with every single fight, most of whom had evenprehended their Daos even further than Shun Long hadprehended his Dao of Time ced an extremely heavy toll on Shun Long''s mind.
As for the middle-aged man in front of him whose body had almostpletely disappeared by now, he was the strongest opponent that Shun Long had yet faced inside the Dao Tower during the past week, hisprehension of his Dao reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage!
Even with his Dao of Time, at his currentprehension, Shun Long found it more than hard to defeat the old man.
If it wasn''t for the previous 60 fights that had allowed hisprehension of the Dao to increase by leaps and bounds, Shun Long was certain that he would have lost against this middle-aged man.
As thest mote of lighting from the middle-aged man''s body was absorbed inside his token, Shun Long saw the deep red token by his side changing colors as it slowly turned purple.
''''I really had to reach the purple rank to fight against peak Nascent Soul stage opponents. Let''s see where my current limits are then!''''
...
7 more days quickly passed as well, as the figure of an old man who was dressed in ck robes, with short white hair and bony arms and legs soon materialized in the pce hall in front of Shun Long.
Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes as he stared at the old man in front of him who was casually standing at the center of the hall with an easy-going expression on his face.
Even though Shun Long could see that this old man was at the same cultivation level as him inside the pce hall, the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade, it was obvious from the auraing from his body, that the old man''s true cultivation had already exceeded the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul!
Gusts of wind were tightly hugging his body while wind des seemed to naturally flow around him, looking as if this old man was truly someone whomanded the wind itself with a wave of his hand.
Shun Long immediately understood that there was only one thing that exined the natural flow of wind around the old man''s body.
''''He is a Dao King realm expert!''''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long''s gaze turned even more serious, as he circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' without any hesitation, causing his eyes to instantly turn golden at the same time.
This was the first time that he had to fight against a Dao King realm expert inside the Dao Tower!
During the past week, ever since he had stepped into the purple rank, he had fought with more than 50 peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators, some of whom were even just a step away from entering the Dao King realm.
As long as they could take that one final step forward andprehend their Dao even further, they could attempt their breakthrough to the Dao King realm at any time.
However, those were also the strongest opponents that Shun Long had faced during this time.
Even with his Dao of Time, Shun Long found himself in a tough spot when he fought against some of those experts who were just a step away from breaking through to the Dao King realm.
Thus, during this past week, he had already realized the difference between a normal Nascent Soul stage cultivator and an expert who was only half a step away from entering the Dao King realm.
Of course, hisprehension of his Dao of Time had also increased even more during the past week, while Shun Long guessed that he was probably at the same level in terms of hisprehension of his Dao of Time, as the averagete-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
Chapter 561: Fighting a Dao King!
Chapter 561: Fighting a Dao King!
The ck-robed old man nced at Shun Long with a serious look, before he actually started tough a few momentster as he said
''''Hehe, kid. I''m not sure if it''s this old man that is lucky enough or if it''s you that is extremely unlucky. To have reached this far you probably already understand the difference between the Nascent Soul stage and the Dao King realm.''''
Although the old man didn''t say it explicitly, it was obvious that he was hinting that Shun Long''s chances were practically non-existent.
Shaking his head, Shun Long activated both of his ''Monarch''s Domains'', before he turned his eyes towards the ck-robed old man in front of him whose face was still blurry, making it impossible to discern his facial features before he said calmly a momentter
''''Old man, you sound very confident, but unfortunately for you, this isn''t the first time I''m fighting against a Dao King purely through Daoprehension.''''
The old man''sughter suddenly halted when he heard that, while his eyes narrowed dangerously into 2 slits as he looked at Shun Long.
Although he didn''t believe that he would actually meet with someone who could defeat a Dao King through their Daoprehension before they stepped into that realm themselves, since he clearly knew the difference between a Dao King and anyone who had yet to step into that realm, the ck-robed old man also knew that it wasn''t impossible.
There were plenty of monsters around the world, and he wouldn''t simply discard the possibility that the yellow-robed kid in front of him was one of them. The chances were low that Shun Long was such a monster but his words immediately made the old man stare at him seriously, as the gusts of wind around his body started to turn wild and unpredictable.
What Shun Long had said just now wasn''t a lie, since he had truly fought against a Dao King realm expert in the past purely through his Daoprehension.
It was Cui Guoliang''s soul incantation that Shun Long had faced inside the Vermilion realm when he had entered his pce toplete the final trial!
Although the conditions weren''t exactly the same since Shun Long was able to use martial skills back then if he wanted to, and he could also make use of his qi that was much purer than Cui Guoliang''s soul incantation as well as his qi reserves which were iparable to other cultivators at the same level as him, it was still a fact that back then he was fighting against the soul of a Dao King who was suppressing his cultivation.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t want the ck-robed old man to look down on him during the fight.
He wanted him to give it his all. Otherwise, there was no point in him training inside the Dao Tower.
The old man shook his head as the gusts of wind around him turned even more powerful, raising his body rapidly into the air, before the old man said
''''Fine kid. Since you want this old man to get serious then so be it!
I don''t want to waste my time with a greenhorn anyway! Let''s see if you are worthy to stand in front of me!''''
Pointing his hand forward, hundreds of wind des instantly appeared around the old man seemingly out of nothing, before he sent them all flying towards Shun Long,pletely blocking him from all angles!
There was no way for someone to simply run away from this attack.
This was the power of a Dao King!
With a wave of his hand, the old man could easilymand the element that he hadprehended, forcing the wind to bend under his will.
Understanding that this was just a probing attack and not one that went all-out, Shun Long ced his entire focus in his ''Monarch''s Domain''!
As the wind des entered inside Shun Long''s domain, the old man''s eyes widened as he saw that the wind des'' speed started to slow down drastically.
The closer they approached towards Shun Long, the slower the wind des became.
However, thanks to the old man''s own level ofprehension, his Dao of Wind was many levels higher than Shun Long''s Dao of Time, making Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'' unable to fully stop the flow of time around the wind des.
And yet, it didn''t matter in the slightest, as the speed of the wind des ended up being so slow when they reached a distance of just a few meters away from Shun Long, that even an earth grade cultivator would be able to effortlessly dodge them, let alone Shun Long who was augmented by his second ''Monarch''s Domain'' right now.
One by one, the hundreds of wind all mmed on the floor of the pce hall causing it to slightly tremble, as not even a single one of the wind des managed to touch Shun Long''s robes.
Despite his failed attempt, the old man didn''t send another attack and stared at Shun Long seriously for a few moments without moving as a single thought shed through his mind
''''What kind of Dao is that?''''
It was obvious that the old Dao King''s experience wasn''t enough to recognize Shun Long''s Dao of Time.
A momentter, the ck-robed old man reorganized his thoughts before he thought to himself
''''Regardless of the type of Dao that you haveprehended, the difference between a Nascent Soul stage cultivator and a Dao King can''t be covered so easily!''''
Closing his eyes, the old man ced his palms together in front of his chest, looking like he was praying, before the wind around his body started to calm down.
And yet, Shun Long not at ease after seeing the raging winds calming down, as a feeling of lethal danger sprouted in his heart, before his golden eyes lit up with a bright blue light barely a momentter.
At the same time, the figure of a an illusionary, enormous bull, that was more than 20m(65ft) tall started to materialize behind the old man.
Chapter 562: Time Siphon
Chapter 562: Time Siphon
This wasn''t a normal bull, but one made purely from the wind that was previously swirling around the old man''s body, and yet the feeling that the bull gave became even more real with every passing moment.
Barely a couple of seconds passed before the ''Wind Bull'' started to emit an aura simr to the old man and Shun Long, one that was at the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade!
Although Shun Long was standing opposite from the old man and the ''wind bull'', he seemed to have actually fallen into a trance, as his aura that was clearly at the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade had started to turn chaotic.
His golden eyes however were still staring at the ''wind bull'' behind the old man, that looked very much like a real magic beast, the only difference being its body that was made entirely from wind.
The old man simply smirked when he saw Shun Long standing still without moving a finger, obviously guessing that he must have felt terrified after seeing his ''wind bull'', before he said
''''Hehehe, kid, are you afraid? This is the difference between a Dao King and a Nascent Soul stage cultivator! A Dao King isn''t someone mere Nascent Soul stage cultivators canpare themselves with! I can trulymand my Dao! I am a true KING!''''
As the old man finished speaking, he pointed his hand forward, causing the ''wind bull'' behind him that had finished forming the rest of its body in just a few seconds to fly towards Shun Long at full speed, with its horns aiming at Shun Long''s heart.
And yet, Shun Long seemedpletely oblivious to all of this, as a dozen thoughts were shing through his mind as he stared at the iing ''wind bull'' whose horns were approaching ever-so-closer to his heart!
''''Time... it isn''t just the flow of time around my body or my opponents...
It isn''t just the speed of how fast something moves. Time exists inside everything. Even if you are just a mass of wind... you cannot escape the constraints of time!
...''Time...Siphon''!''''
Staring at the ''wind bull'' that was less than a meter away from him, Shun Long''s entire body lit up with a bright blue and golden light, before he mumbled 2 words
''''Time Siphon!''''
The ''Wind Bull'' in front of Shun Long that seemed to be made entirely from wind started to slowly disappear as it approached closer and closer towards him. The lighting from Shun Long''s body first epassed the gigantic bull''s horns along with the rest of its head, before it moved towards its back and the rest of its body.
The ck-robed Dao King stared at the scene in front of him with eyes filled with disbelief, as his enormous bull that was made purely from his Dao of Wind started to disappear right in front of his eyes.
In just a few moments, the gigantic bull hadpletely vanished from the pce hall, leaving behind a dumbfounded old man in ck robes, as well as Shun Long who was staring at the scene in front of him with a nk look on his face.
''''What...??''''
The old man''s almost inaudible voice resounded throughout the empty pce hall, as he stared at the yellow-robed young man in front of him with that same gaze that was filled with confusion and disbelief.
The ''wind bull'' was something that was formed entirely by his Dao of Wind using hisprehension and strength as a Dao King... and yet the brat in front of him had somehow destroyed it without even lifting a finger?
However, this wasn''t the end just yet, as Shun Long stared at the figure of the bull in front of him that hadpletely disappeared a few momentster, before he turned his attention towards the ck-robed old man in the sky.
The moment that the old man felt Shun Long''s gazending on him, a feeling of dread and terror overcame him as he hurriedly circted his Dao of Wind around him to the brim.
It was almost as if an invisible hand had touched his body the moment that Shun Long''s gaze hadnded on him, feeling as if the hand itself was trying to rob away his remaining lifespan!
The old man took a few steps back in the sky with a gaze filled with horror, before he turned his attention towards the unmoving yellow-robed young man on the ground who was still staring back at him.
''''What kind of fucking monster are you??''''
No matter how hard he tried to hide it, the old man''s voice wasced with hints of fear.
He knew that it was impossible for his body or even his soul itself to be seriously hurt inside the Dao Tower, and yet the feeling of Shun Long trying to rob away his remaining lifespan was so real, that the old man couldn''t help but doubt the capabilities of the Dao Tower for a second.
He felt that if he hadn''t protected himself with his Dao of Wind or if he wasn''t at the Dao King realm, he wouldn''t be able to fully protect himself and he would feel part of his lifespan slowly seeping away from his body.
Thankfully for the old man, the light around Shun Long''s body and his eyes onlysted for a few more moments before it disappeared, leaving behind a Shun Long whose aura instantly weakened.
However, the old man wasn''t surprised by this sight and he even heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing it.
He had used an enormous amount of his qi to form his ''Wind bull'', so if Shun Long could really use that terrifying move to destroy his bull without having to pay any price, the old man would truly give up and leave at that moment!
No, even now he was still considering if it was worth to keep fighting against this monster that was standing in front of him. Even though Shun Long was just a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the ck-robed old man didn''t feel safe after being touched by that ''invisible hand''. If it wasn''t for the fact that he could sense his Dao of Wind was enough to protect him, he would have really turned around and left.
The next scene that took ce inside the pce hall however truly pushed the old man into the depths of despair.
Chapter 563: Time Siphon (2)
Chapter 563: Time Siphon (2)
The old man''s eyes had a disbelieving look inside them, as he clearly sensed the weak auraing from Shun Long''s body increasing at an extremely rapid rate.
In the beginning, the old man could feel that Shun Long only had less than 30 percent of his qi left while the old man had a little more than 40 percent. Thus, with him being a Dao King realm expert and Shun Long having expended arger amount of his qi to take care of his ''Wind bull'', the old man knew that even if his fight with Shun Long wasn''t easy, he was still the one who had the upper hand right now.
However, the moment that his gazended on Shun Long''s body, the old man could clearly feel Shun Long''s weakened aura that was ''recovering'' extremely quickly.
In just a few moments, his aura which made it painfully obvious previously that Shun Long only had 30 percent of his qi remaining, quickly exceeded the old man''s without showing any signs of stopping.
Although both Shun Long and the ck-robed old man were still at the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade, anyone whonded their eyes on the 2 of them could feel that the amount of qi inside their bodies wasn''t the same.
In just a couple of seconds, Shun Long''s qi seemed to have recovered to more than 80 percent, leaving behind a dumbfounded ck-robed Dao King who was staring at him with a gaze filled with shock and even fear.
With both of his ''Monarch''s Domains'' still active around him, one of them increasing his speed while the other one was slowing down the old man, Shun Long instantly shot forward at full speed as he headed towards the old man.
There was no way that he would simply allow the old man to barrage him with his attacks without responding.
At that moment however, the old man simply gritted his teeth before he said in an angry tone
''''Brat, you better pray that you don''t face me the next time or I swear I will make you suffer!
...Damn! If I knew that my ''Raging wind bull'' wouldn''t be any effective I wouldn''t have wasted so much of my qi for it!''''
As he finished speaking, the old man didn''t wait for Shun Long to arrive in front of him before he decisively cut off the connection between himself and his token, causing his body to turn into motes of light that started to disappear from the pce hall!
Shun Long stared at the ''prideful'' Dao King who retreated so shamelessly with a dumbfounded gaze, before he sat back down on the floor a few momentster and observed the motes of light that were entering inside his purple token one after the other.
Sometimeter, he cut off the connection with his token as well, returning back to his dark, empty room inside the Dao Tower.
The moment that he cut off the connection with his token, Shun Long once again heard the deep, rumbling sounding from behind him, as therge door opened automatically.
Without any hesitation, he stood up as he walked out of the room, walking back towards the first floor, obviously having no more intentions to stay in the Dao Tower any longer.
Shun Long knew that he only had 2 more days until he met with Liu Mei and the rest in front of the Holy sect''s entrance, and he was curious to see how much stronger everyone else had grown as well during this past month.
It was better for him to spend the next 2 days cultivating inside an inn, and solidifying his advancement in hisprehension of his Dao of Time!
Naturally, his gains from the Dao Tower in the past 2 weeks were more than most people would get if they fought here continuously for months or even years!? Just thisst fight against the ck-robed old man was enough to make everything during the past 2 weeks worth it.
What the ck-robed Dao King didn''t know before he retreated from the pce hall, was that him creating the ''Raging wind bull'' through his Dao of Wind actually pushed Shun Long into a state of enlightenment and deeper understanding, allowing him toprehend his Dao of Time even further.
Otherwise, it was unknown if Shun Long would be able to increase theprehension of his Dao so quickly, even if he spent a full month inside the Dao Tower.
Entering a state of enlightenment wasn''t something that cultivators could do so at will! It was a chance that rarely came, and a cultivator needed to be lucky enough to grasp it!
With a joyous smile on his face, Shun Long headed towards an inn at the heart of the city and rented a small courtyard to spend the next 2 days.
Although hisprehension hadn''t reached the standard of a Dao King yet, it was now infinitely close to reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
However, what Shun Long was most excited about wasn''t just hisprehension of the Dao of Time that was increasing, but also the new skill that he hadprehended, the ''Time Siphon''.
This skill allowed him to absorb the ''time'' in everything else around him and use it for himself!
In essence, he could actually ''steal'' the time inside every living and non-living being, including the lifespan in a cultivator''s body.
This was the feeling that the ck-robed Dao King had felt that had made him horrified.
Shun Long''s ''time siphon'' was trying to steal his remaining lifespan!
If Shun Long had managed to do it sessfully, he could steal the lifespan of the old man and absorb it for himself.
The old man was extremely happy that hisprehension of his Dao of Wind was far above Shun Long''sprehension of his own Dao, so regardless of how strong Shun Long was or how peculiar his Dao was, he couldn''t casually steal the life of a Dao King without him retaliating!
As long as the old man protected himself with his Dao of Wind, Shun Long would find it almost impossible to break through his defense using his ''Time Siphon''.
Chapter 564: Returning to the Holy sect
Chapter 564: Returning to the Holy sect
Although the old man could protect himself from Shun Long''s ''Time Siphon'', the same couldn''t be said about the ''Raging wind bull'' that he had created.
Using the ''Time Siphon'', Shun Long sessfully stole the ''time'' inside the bull without any problem.
Since the bull was created purely from the old man''s qi, Shun Long easily absorbed all of its qi for himself, replenishing the qi that he had spent to use his ''Time Siphon'' while putting the old man in an extremely unfavorable situation at the same time.
Sitting inside the room with his eyes closed, Shun Long ced his full attention on his Dao of Time, and more importantly his ''Time Siphon'' for the next 2 days.
He knew that as he reached closer and closer to the Dao King realm, his Dao of Time itself would also experience significant changes, and Shun Long guessed that the ''Time Siphon'' that he hadprehended just now was only a single part of it.
Finally, 2 dayster, Shun Long opened his eyes and stood up from the meditative cushion that he was sitting before leaving the room of the inn, as he headed towards the gates of the Holy city.
Flying past the city gates, he turned his attention towards the enormous mountain in the distance.
Today was the day that Shun Long had promised to meet Liu Mei and the rest in front of the gates of the Holy sect.
Without any hesitation, he soared in the sky as he headed towards the Holy mountain''s peak.
20 minutester, the familiar white pce that had its gates wide open once again appeared in his eyes as he reached the peak of the mountain, with the 2 white-robed Elders standing guard in front of it just like thest time, almost as if they never moved from that ce.
Just like thest time, Shun Long could see many disciples entering and leaving the Holy sect at all times, with most of them either going toplete the missions that they had epted, or going towards the Holy city to purchase items or for some other reasons.
Taking a look around the city gates, Shun Long quickly spotted the familiar silhouette of a gorgeous young woman with ck hair, whose peerlessly beautiful face and her limpid ck eyes could ensnare the soul of both men and women alike.
Next to her was a stunning blond-haired young woman with enchanting green eyes and a bright smile on her face, whose features weren''t considered inferior to the ck-haired young woman''s at all.
A ck-haired young man with deep blue eyes and sword-like eyebrows was also standing next to the 2 women with a calm and gentle smile on his face.
The moment that Shun Long''s gaze fell on the 3 people, they all turned their attention towards him when they saw him walking in their direction.
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Brother Long!''''
Liu Mei was the first one to speak as she eximed out in a voice full of joy the moment that her eyes spotted Shun Long, while Xie Xingyi''s voice followed soon after, as the 2 women walked towards Shun Long at the same time.
The ck-haired Bai Longtian smiled gently as well, as he walked towards Shun Long and cupped his hands before he greeted him
''''Brother, it''s good to see you again.''''
Shun Long smiled and nodded his head at Bai Longtian and the 2 overjoyed girls, while even being somewhat surprised by their sudden increase in cultivation, before his eyes started to look around for Jiang Chen as well.
He was the only one missing from his group, but the day wasn''t over yet so he wasn''t surprised.
Besides, from their group, aside from him, Jiang Chen was most likely the strongest one when they left the Holy sect.
Even if he couldn''t use his bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' because the 3 month period had yet to pass since they joined the Holy sect, he was still strong enough to ensure his survival if something happened.
Liu Mei didn''t care about anything as she went forward and hugged Shun Long tightly, almost as if she wanted to feel his body scent that she had missed for the past month, before she affectionately held his arm and looked at him in the eyes.
Shun Long smiled gently and patted her head before he asked the 3 of them
''''How were the missions that you chose? Judging from how much your cultivation has increased during the past month, none of you probably had any trouble with it.''''
Of course, how could the 3 of them had faced much trouble when they werepleting D-rank personal missions, since their cultivation had already increased by leaps and bounds during this time?
The aura that Liu Mei was emitting was already that of an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, while Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi seemed to have reached the middle of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul and even looked like they were just a step away from the peak of rank 5 as well!
This made Shun Long extremely surprised, since before they had left the Holy sect, Liu Mei was still at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, while Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi were both at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul.
It was one thing for Liu Mei''s cultivation to increase explosively since she had most likely absorbed the qi, not just from the middle rank 4 and the peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage criminals that she had to deal with, but from other enemies as well, which was exactly what her ''Blood Absorption art'' was used for, but Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi''s cultivation increasing so quickly was extremely surprising.
After all, even if they had an entire month to cultivate in seclusion after returning back to the sect, they shouldn''t be able to increase their cultivation so quickly.
This wasn''t a matter of talent, but simply the difference between their cultivation techniques. In the end, Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art'' was one that Little ck had personally handed to her, and despite all of the drawbacks and risks it had, it was still one that allowed her to keep up with Shun Long''s speed of advancement.
Almost as if he had actually guessed what Shun Long was thinking about, Bai Longtian turned his gaze towards the Holy sect''s gates behind them before he said seriously
''''After Ipleted the ''master and disciple ceremony'' with my master, he gave me a high-grade rank 5 pill as a weing gift, and said that that pill would allow me to increase my cultivation by a full minor-rank, but that it''s only effective for cultivators who are in the middle stages of the Nascent Soul.
After consuming the pill, not only did I reach the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, but I even reached the middle of rank 5 soon after.''''
Xie Xingyi had a surprised look on her face when she heard Bai Longtian''s words, and turning her gaze towards Shun Long she nodded her head a momentter before she said
''''Brother Long... it''s actually the same for me. After the ''master and disciple ceremony'', master gave me a high-grade rank 5 pill as well with the same effects.''''
Shun Long looked at Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi with a look of surprise in his eyes, as he suddenly realized what was going on a moment after.
Of course, not every master would give their disciples their most rare and prized possessions like Elder Xuan did with Liu Mei, and Bai Longtian''s and Xie Xingyi''s masters were the same.
Despite the fact that they favored the 2 of them since they were extremely talented, and even epted them as personal disciples, they couldn''t afford to give their most important treasures to every single disciple that they epted.
Some Elders epted a handful of disciples at most like Elder Xuan, but others epted more than a few dozen personal disciples!
Even Elder Xuan who had given Liu Mei her personal pendant was actually unwilling to part with it in her heart. If it wasn''t for Liu Mei havingprehended the same Dao as her master, she wouldn''t have given it to her and would have most likely simply given her a pill like the one that Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian had received from their masters.
This was why it made sense for most of the Elders of the sect, to give the same weing gift to most of their disciples.
Compared to Xie Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s master, Liu Mei''s senior sister, Dong Ai had actually received aplete Saint middle-grade cultivation technique, its worth being simply iparable to a single high-grade rank 5 pill!
As for Liu Mei''s pendant, that was even rarer than that.
Although that single high-grade rank 5 pill was rtively rare and could increase one''s cultivation by a full minor rank, while in Xie Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s situations it had even increased their cultivation by more than that,paring it with a life-saving treasure that could take on the attack of even ate-stage Dao Emperor was at an entirely different level!
Even normal early and some middle-stage Dao Emperors would be willing to pay incredible prices to get their hands on Liu Mei''s pendant, forget about someone like Dong Ai.
Chapter 565: Jiang Chens fame
Chapter 565: Jiang Chen''s fame
Of course, Shun Long didn''t feel any jealousy towards Bai Longtian or Xie Xingyi for receiving such a pill from their masters.
He knew that the pill they had most likely obtained was the rank 5 ''Barrier piercing pill''.
Shun Long was already nning to concoct this pill and give it to Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian to consume it.
However, the version of the rank 5 ''Barrier piercing pill'' that he was nning to create was much more potent than the pills that Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian had consumed. His pill would allow evente-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to advance an entire minor tier upon consuming it, and wouldn''t be effective only for middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
The only reason why he hadn''t concocted the pill so far, was because even though it was just a rank 5 pill, the ''Barrier piercing pill'' required the essence blood and the beast core of a peak rank 5 magic beast to be concocted.
Thus, although Shun Long had already collected the medicinal herbs that he needed back in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' and he was onlycking a few supportive rank 5 medicinal herbs in the past, he couldn''t create the pill previously.
But now, not only had Shun Long gathered all of the supportive medicinal herbs that hecked from his journey in Yanzhu city as well as the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', but he also had the corpse of the peak rank 5 ''Red-furred bear'' inside the herb garden in the ''Stone of Time''!
Although Shun Long knew that the second ''Barrier piercing pill'' normally wouldn''t have any effects, he knew that his own version of the pill could help Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian breakthrough a second time in the future, but the pill''s effects would be greatly diminished.
''''Regardless, the effects should still be enough for Xingyi and Longtian to breakthrough at least half a minor realm upon consuming it.''''
At the same time that he reached this conclusion, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly spotted a yellow-robed young man flying from the direction of the Holy city, before he arrived in front of the entrance of the Holy sect a few momentster.
The young man immediately attracted a lot of attention the moment that he arrived on the Holy mountain''s peak, causing not just Shun Long, but everyone else present to also turn their eyes towards him.
From the ck wings on his back that were burning with dark red mes, even from a distance Shun Long could guess that this was Jiang Chen.
Although Jiang Chen wasn''t the only one in the entire Holy sect who was training in the ''Demonic Wings'', thanks to hisprehension of the Demonic Dao, when he activated the ''Demonic Wings'', the ck wings looked no different than real wings that truly belonged to him, instead of looking like a pair of wings that were formed from his qi.
''''Hey, isn''t that Jiang Chen?''''
''''Jiang Chen? The guy who pped senior brother Qian Kun?''''
''''What the hell? A newbie really dared to p senior brother Qian Kun?''''
''''Haven''t you heard yet? More than a month ago, Jiang Chen actually refused to join senior brother Qian Tao''s faction even when he was invited personally by senior brother Qian Tao! He even said that he would join the faction of another new disciple instead named Shun Long.
However, this isn''t the end.
Supposedly, more than a week ago, senior brother Qian Kun met Jiang Chen in the Holy city and threatened him that he would personally break his legs in a faction battle, if Shun Long''s faction ever dared to participate in the faction wars of the sect!
Apparently, not only was Jiang Chen not afraid after hearing this threat, even though it is known that Qian Kun is senior brother Qian Tao''s cousin, but he even pped Qian Kun in broad daylight inside the Holy city, even knocking out a few of his teeth in the process.''''
''''What? Isn''t Jiang Chen just a new disciple? How could he even fight against a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Qian Kun head-on, let alone p him?''''
''''I heard that Jiang Chen was actually lucky enough to be epted by Elder Yao Xuedong as a personal disciple. In just thest month, his cultivation is rumored to have even exceeded Qian Kun''s!''''
''''Tsk! No wonder! He probably received a ''Barrier piercing pill'' by Elder Yao. But still, to dare provoke senior brother Qian Tao''s faction like that, even if he is the personal disciple of an inner court Elder, it won''t save him from getting bashed in the faction wars by senior brother Qian Tao...''''
Shun Long could see that the crowd around him had instantly exploded into hushed discussions the moment that Jiang Chen appeared in the Holy mountain''s peak.
And yet, Jiang Chen didn''t seem to mind as he allowed the ck wings from his back that were burning with dark red mes to disperse in the wind, as he walked towards Shun Long without a change in his expression.
The crowd immediately parted whenever Jiang Chen appeared close to them, as they turned their eyes towards him to see where he was walking towards instead of entering the sect.
In just a few moments, Jiang Chen had already arrived in front of Shun Long and the rest, and after throwing a few looks towards Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi and nodded his head in greeting, he threw a mocking nce at Bai Longtian before he turned his eyes towards Shun Long and said
''''Sorry for beingte.''''
Shun Long simply smiled and shook his head.
Even though he hadn''t heard the crowd''s discussions since his eyes were entirely focused on Jiang Chen, how could he not guess from the crowd''s reaction that something big had happened already?
However, Shun Long didn''t really care too much about what had happened either.
As long as every one of them was safe that was enough.
A smile also appeared on Shun Long''s face when he noticed that Jiang Chen had actually stepped into the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul during this past month.
Chapter 566: Jiang Chens fame (2)
Chapter 566: Jiang Chen''s fame (2)
Turning around, Shun Long then turned his attention towards the huge pce behind him that was guarded by the 2 Elders of the Holy sect, before he led Liu Mei and the rest towards it.
''''Is everything alright?''''
As the 5 of them walked towards the Holy sect''s entrance, Liu Mei''s slightly worried voice sounded in the air as she looked at Jiang Chen, clearly having noticed the weird but also respectful gazes that the crowd was giving him.
Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian were no different as they looked curious to find out what was going on.
Only Shun Long didn''t seem too curious to know what was going to happen, as his mind was focused on the 5 D-rank faction missions that they had toplete as well as the single C-rank faction mission.
The moment that these requirements werepleted, his faction would be eligible to officially join the faction wars inside the sect!
Nodding his head, Jiang Chen looked at Liu Mei and the rest with a calm look on his face before he replied
''''It''s just a bunch of idiots that were trying to find trouble with me in the Holy city.''''
Turning his gaze towards Shun Long, Jiang Chen then continued
''''Actually, right after we entered the sect, a little more than a month ago, some idiot named Qian Tao approached me and tried to recruit me for his faction.? Naturally, I rejected him and told him that I would only join your faction.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes widened slightly when she remembered that she and Shun Long had experienced something simr as well.
Back when they had visited the Administration Hall for Shun Long to register his faction, the follower behind the ''Faction Registration counter'' had also tried to make Shun Long give up on creating his own faction and told him to join ''senior brother Qian Tao''s'' faction instead.
Jiang Chen seemed to have failed to notice the look in Liu Mei''s eyes that was starting to turn colder when she realized that this matter had something to do with that Qian Tao as well, and looking at Shun Long, Jiang Chen then continued
''''Judging from his aura alone, I could tell that this Qian Tao is somewhat strong. Although he was hiding his cultivation, it was obvious from the aura around his body that he had already reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul.
Regardless, after I rejected him, even though it was obvious that he was angry, he still didn''t bother me again.
However, around a week ago, while I was strolling through the Holy city, his idiot cousin and a few of his servants approached me and told me that as long as I dare to participate in the faction wars and happen to meet them, they would make sure to break my legs.''''
This time, it wasn''t just Jiang Chen or Liu Mei whose gazes had turned cold, but Shun Long''s too, as well as Xie Xingyi''s, and even Bai Longtian''s.
This waspletely different from a personal insult!
They were threatening Jiang Chen that as long as he participated in the faction wars in Shun Long''s faction, they would personally hunt him down.
This was aplete disregard to not just a member of their faction, but towards their entire faction instead.
Shun Long nodded his head before Jiang Chen continued
''''That idiot was lucky that we aren''t allowed to fight with other disciples of the sect outside the arena or during the faction wars, so I just knocked off some of his teeth and told him to scram. As for the threats that he hurled before he left... I couldn''t care less. The next time that he appears I will make sure to bash the rest of his face in as well!''''
Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi both nodded when they heard this while even Bai Longtian had wiped the usual warm smile from his face.
No matter what, things regarding their faction and their group were taken seriously by every single one of them.
Liu Mei was Shun Long''s wife while Xie Xingyi clearly had some intense feelings for him that Shun Long had yet to address, so how could the 2 girls not care about their faction?
As for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, their reasons weren''t any less intense than the 2 divine beauties.
They had both sworn to follow Shun Long for different reasons, so how could they simply ignore such a threat nonchntly?
Noticing the cold looks on everyone''s faces that were filled with killing intent, and had even scared off some of the surrounding outer disciples that were close to them, Shun Long simply shook his head and smiled before he said
''''There is no reason to get too worked up over this.
This is only the beginning.
How many factions do you think we will offend once we join the faction wars and start climbing in the faction rankings?
And that''s only for the lower-ranked factions.
Once we start fighting the top factions of the sect, things will be even more difficult!
Is there a reason to care about Qian Tao''s faction specifically?
However, since someone really dared to threaten Jiang Chen in public, make sure to break both of his legs in the future.''''
Although Shun Long''s tone was calm, everyone could hear the unconcealed anger in his tone when he said thest sentence.
Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian all nodded their heads at the same time, as they kept following Shun Long inside the sect.
Sometimeter, they finally arrived in front of a familiar huge building, where hundreds of outer disciples could be seening and going from its entrance.
Shun Long led everyone inside the Administration Hall, and walked directly towards the Exchange counter to hand in the missions that they hadpleted before he chose any faction missions toplete.
Just like thest time, the exchange counter seemed to have more than 30 outer disciples queueing up in front of it, all of them waiting to hand in their missions as well and obtain their sect points.
Chapter 567: A pitiful glance?
Chapter 567: A pitiful nce?
Half an hourter, Shun Long''s turn finally arrived, as he walked towards the yellow-robed young woman who was standing behind the counter and took out his sect identifying token.
The young woman who was an outer disciple of the sect as well had a cid look on her face as she looked at Shun Long and asked
''''How may I help you?''''
cing the golden sect identifying token on the counter in front of him Shun Long then said
''''I am here to hand in 2 missions.''''
Shun Long then mentioned the names of the missions that were still on the ''Mission board'' at the depths of the Assignment Hall.
The yellow-robed young woman behind the Exchange counter nodded her head and sent her servant to grab the missions from the ''Mission board''.
Once a mission waspleted by an outer disciple or if it had a certain time-limit where the disciples were allowed to ept it, the disciples of the Holy sect that were working in the Assignment Hall would take the missions off from the ''Mission board'' so that other outer court disciples wouldn''t waste their time with those missions.
A couple of minutester, the young man whom the young woman had sent over returned from the ''Mission board'' holding only a single scroll in his hands.
Since the first mission that Shun Long had epted, Ying Gui''s mission, had a time limit of 3 days before Ying Gui left the Holy city, the disciples of the Assignment Hall had already removed it a month ago.
Taking Shun Long''s golden-colored token in her hands, the yellow-robed young woman ced it right in front of her, before she activated the formations etched on the counter.
A dim white light instantly enveloped the entire counter, before certain scenes started to appear in the air,ing from Shun Long''s token, but for some reason, only Shun Long and the young woman from the Exchange counter could actually see them.
Of course, these were the scenes that were recorded inside the ''Memory recording formation'' while it was activated by Shun Long, so they only started to show what had happened from the moment that Shun Long entered the ''Blue Heaven inn'' in the Holy city.
The yellow-robed young woman didn''t watch the entire thing as she quickly used the formation etched on the counter to skip everything else, and only watched the very beginning when Shun Long met with Ying Gui inside the ''Blue Heaven inn'', as well as the end of the mission, when the 2 of them safely arrived in Yanzhu city with the 4 carriages carrying the peak rank 5 magic beasts beingpletely intact.
With so many people handing in their missions, how could the disciples working in the Exchange counter possibly look through every single mission from the beginning until the end? Some of those missionssted for more than a day, while otherssted for more than a week and maybe even a month.
Shun Long''s mission was the same as it went on for more than a week, so unless there was something extremely important going on during the mission that needed the Holy sect to take special note of it, such as a dispute between 2 disciples or some other matter, the disciples in the Exchange counter would avoid wasting their time seeing what happened in the missions and only verify whether it waspleted sessfully or not.
After taking a look at the mission, the yellow-robbed young woman nodded her head as she said seriously
''''Merchant Ying Gui has already reported that the mission''s difficulty was higher than what was originally listed and he has actually increased the reward from the original 80 sect points to 250.''''
Turning her eyes towards Shun Long, the young woman was surprised when she saw that he didn''t have much of a reaction, but she still transferred him the 250 sect points in his sect identifying token in the end, before she turned her attention towards the second mission that he had epted.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t care whether he obtained 80 or 250 sect points from a D-rank personal mission, since the reason why hepleted the missions was to obtain sect points, but to train himself andplete the quota of a single mission every 3 months.
Havingpleted 2 missions meant that he didn''t have to take on another D-rank personal mission for the next 5 months.
As for the sect points, unless he started toplete B or A-rank personal missions, Shun Long would still keep selling his pills if he happened to be in an urgent need of sect points.
In the end, after buying the Silverbark guqin thest time he was in the Golden Treasures Hall, as well as the peak rank 2 gold grade cauldron to upgrade his previous one, he was still left with 5000 sect points in the end.
The young woman behind the Exchange counter took a look at the second mission that Shun Long hadpleted when her eyes suddenly widened in shock.
Turning her gaze towards Shun Long she then looked at him with a look filled with incredulity before she asked in a disbelieving tone
''''Are you really the person who destroyed Dai Lim''s and Dai Hao''s shop?''''
Without waiting for a response, the young woman turned her attention towards the golden-colored token in her hands, before she once again activated the protective formations on the counter.
Another scene started to rey in front of her eyes, showing Shun Long standing right outside from the medium-sized ve shop in Yanzhu city.
The yellow-robed young woman suddenly shivered as she shot a pitiful nce at the young man in front of her, before her eyes started to roam around her, almost as if she was looking for a certain someone.
She knew that she had heard something about the missions in Yanzhu citytely, but it was only after reading the names Dai Lim and Dai Hao that she remembered what it was.
Chapter 568: The Yan familys revenge
Chapter 568: The Yan family''s revenge
Shun Long nodded his head upon hearing the yellow-robed young woman''s question before he said
''''Indeed, I am the one who destroyed Dai Lim''s and Dai Hao''s shop. Is there a problem?''''
After all, the mission clearly stated that toplete it, Shun Long had to kill the 2 ve traders andpletely destroy their shop.
The young woman shook her head with a rueful smile before she replied
''''You are simply too unlucky. For an outer disciple that doesn''t have any backing inside the sect, you shouldn''t have done what you did.''''
As she finished speaking, the young woman didn''t exin anything else as she continued to stare at the scenes that appeared from the ''Memory recording formation'' on Shun Long''s sect identifying token, but this time, she didn''t skip a single detail, as she watched attentively Shun Long entering inside the ve shop, as well as the scenes that followed after that.
Her face was filled with shock when she saw Shun Long moving so fast that even the 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul ve traders didn''t have enough time to react, as he appeared in front of the green-robed Yan Wen and grabbed him by his throat.
Shun Long was intentionally not hiding his cultivation inside the Holy sect, so she could clearly sense that he was just at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul.
Seeing Shun Long clenching his hand and snapping Yan Wen''s neck made the yellow-robed young woman close her eyes for a moment while her body shivered, before she shook her head a momentter and kept staring at the following scenes.
Shun Long managing to kill the 2 brothers was even more shocking for the young woman, as she focused her gaze towards him with aplicated look in her eyes.
In the end, she still shook her head a momentter and transferred 190 sect points in Shun Long''s sect identifying token before she handed it back to him. After struggling with herself for a few moments, she looked at Shun Long''s calm and unperturbed gaze and said seriously
''''You shouldn''t have killed that green-robed young man from the Yan family. You don''t know how much trouble that has brought to you.''''
The young woman looked around her and made sure that there was no one eavesdropping in their conversation before she continued, her voice turning even quieter than a whisper
''''Although the Yan family doesn''t have any Elders in the outer sect, and even if they did, Elders would still need to be impartial even if theye from one of the powerful families or ns, the Yan family still does have some connections inside the sect itself.
2 weeks ago, Elder Zhi from the Administration Hall came and inform us, that once the disciple who destroyed Dai Lim''s and Dai Hao''s shop in Yanzhu city came to im the mission, we should immediately let him know.
It is known that Elder Zhi and the patriarchs of the Yan and the Zhu families of Yanzhu city have been friends for many years, so it is only natural to assume that he was asked by the Yan patriarch to do this.
There is no need to worry too much about Elder Zhi since he can''t possibly harm you within the sect as it is against the rules, and even an Elder of the sect wouldn''t do something like that just to deal with a disciple that he has no rtionship with simply to please another family, but the Yan family can still make your life difficult.
However, this isn''t everything.
I also heard that Yan Xiang from the Yan family who is actually ranked in the top 800 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor, has already imed that he will find who killed his younger cousin and make him pay for it with his life.
After all, the Yan and the Zhu families are the overlords of Yanzhu city and they would never tolerate someone killing their descendants for whatever reason, regardless if they are right or wrong, or if you werepleting a sect mission during that time or not.
If you were part of a powerful family, the Yan family may be forced to drop the matter with just an apology since they can''t reallypare to any of the real powerful families or ns around the Holy sect, but judging from your cultivation this doesn''t seem to be the case.''''
Shaking her head, the young woman waved her hand and continued
''''Sigh, forget it. I only mentioned this to you since I would feel guilty informing Elder Zhi about this otherwise, without you knowing who is targetting you.''''
After thinking seriously for a moment, Shun Long nodded his head before he cupped his hands at the young woman in front of him and thanked her before he received his sect identifying token from her.
Regardless, in his eyes, the young woman in front of him didn''t have any obligation to tell him any of this, and she could simply inform Elder Zhi about this matter.
''''The Yan family huh? They must have at least 1 or 2 peak-level Dao Kings...''''
Shun Long knew that it was impossible for the current him to deal with even early-stage Dao Kings, let alone any peak-stage ones like the patriarch of the Yan family or Elder Zhi, but he still wasn''t afraid of the Yan family taking revenge despite having no backing inside the sect.
There was simply no way for them to kill a disciple of the Holy sect so easily even if they wanted to, and Shun Long wasn''t someone who could be killed just because someone was trying to kill him.
Even though he couldn''t fight against Dao Kings right now, escaping from them was an entirely different matter.
Especially after breaking through to the early fifth stage of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' and being able to use ''One with the World''.
At the same time, he could also feel that Little ck wasing closer and closer to breaking through to the early rank 7tely, as he was just a tiny step away from breaking through.
Forget about peak Dao Kings then, even average Dao Emperors would tremble in front of a ck dragon at the early rank 7.
As for that Yan Xiang who imed that he was looking to take revenge for his cousin Yan Wen, Shun Long didn''t give a shit about him regardless if that man was rumored to be in the top 800 of the Martial Roll of Honor.
Whether it was him or Liu Mei''s ''senior sister'', Dong Ai, Shun Long was nning to take care of them both.
Chapter 569: Accepting faction missions
Chapter 569: epting faction missions
A few minutester, Liu Mei and the rest had also finished handing in their missions and obtained their sect points, before they went and gathered around Shun Long.
With a curious look in his eyes, Bai Longtian looked at Shun Long and asked in a slightly eager tone
''''Are we going to choose faction missions now?''''
Everyone turned their eyes towards Shun Long who nodded his head and said
''''Let''s take a look at the missions on the ''Mission board'' first.''''
With Liu Mei, and the rest all following after him, Shun Long made his way towards the enormous ckboard at the depths of the Assignment Hall where all the missions of the sect were posted.
Skipping the personal D-rank missions, Shun Long''s eyes went directly for the faction missions.
''''D-rank faction mission: Kill the infamous bandit Lu Yong and eradicate his group that has killed and raped countless men and women. Since this is a faction mission and the bandit leader''s cultivation has reached the middle of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, a faction with at least 10 middle-stage Nascent Soul outer disciples are rmended to take on this mission.
Reward: 850 sect points''''
''''D-rank faction mission: Infiltrate the mansion of the city lord of Vast Ocean city and find out if the rumors of him abducting mortal girls and keeping them imprisoned in his home are true. Since the city lord''s cultivation has reached the early stages of the Dao King realm, extreme caution is required.
Reward: 900 sect points''''
''''D-rank faction mission: Hunt down a middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad'' from the ''Giant crane Forest'' 3000 miles away from the Holy city, and bring back its magic beast core.
Reward: 7000 sect points''''
After a quick look, Shun Long actually noticed that there were plenty of D-rank faction missions suitable for him and Liu Mei and the rest to ept, and most of them could even bepleted by a single person.
Of course, that was only for monsters like Shun Long and the rest of them who could fight people above their cultivation level, and even then, most of the missions could prove quite difficult toplete.
At the same time, Shun Long even noticed that there were some D-rank faction missions that gave as many sect points as some C-rank ones, like those missions that required the disciples to hunt down middle rank 5 magic beasts like the middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad''.
Normally, the beast cores of middle rank 5 magic beasts would be sold for 5000 sect points in the Golden Treasures Hall, but beast cores from specific magic beasts could fetch much higher prices, even reaching double the original price.
Turning his head to look at Jiang Chen and the rest, Shun Long then said
''''I was originally nning for us to take on the D-rank faction missions together, but it seems that there is no need for that.
With everyone''s current strength, each of us is able to take on a single faction mission alone.''''
Although Shun Long knew that something like this wouldn''t be easy even for geniuses like them, he knew that they could only push themselves if they wanted to reach the peak of strength in the Holy sect.
After all, even though they were all geniuses who weren''t inferior to anyone else in the sect and they could even bepared to some of the strongest geniuses of the outer court in terms of talent, it''s not like the other outer disciples would simply wait while they themselves get stronger.
Jiang Chen and the rest had serious looks on their faces when they heard Shun Long''s words, but they still nodded their heads in response.
Since every one of them had chosen to follow Shun Long, they had already decided that they would follow him regardless of what they had to do or if they had to put themselves in danger.
Besides, if Shun Long was willing to take on a D-rank faction mission by himself with his cultivation that was still at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, then how could they even think ofining when they were already at the rank 5 of the Nascent Soul right now?
Even though they all knew that Shun Long was a monster who couldn''t be judged usingmon sense, none of them wanted to be left too far behind him.
If they could breach the gap between them taking on these risks, then every one of them would immediately do so.
Without saying a word, each of them looked at the faction missions on the wall as they started to ponder over which one they would choose.
Finally, 20 minutester, Bai Longtian was thest one to finish choosing a faction mission as he turned his eyes towards Shun Long.
Seeing that everyone else was ready, Shun Long walked to the Mission counter to register their missions.
Half an hourter, when his turn finally arrived, Shun Long looked at the young man behind the mission counter and registered the 2 missions that he wanted to ept.
''''D-rank faction mission: Hunt down a middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad'' from the ''Giant crane Forest'' 3000 miles away from the Holy city, and bring back its magic beast core.
Reward: 7000 sect points''''
The young man was slightly surprised when he saw the contents of the first mission, reading it one more time to make sure that he wasn''t mistaken, before he once again looked at Shun Long in confusion.
His cultivation that was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul was truly too low for him to even think of participating in such a mission.
''''I wonder which faction actually took this guy in with such a low cultivation base.''''
Even though the young man was surprised by Shun Long''s first mission, he still nodded his head before turning his attention towards the second one.
The moment that he read the second mission''s description however, his eyes instantly widened, as he immediately turned to look at Shun Long with an incredulous look
''''C-rank faction mission: Travel to Tang city of the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region and infiltrate the royal pce of the Tang dynasty to assassinate the crown prince. This mission requires extreme caution as there is at least one early-stage Dao King who is protecting the crown prince in secret at all times.
Reward: 10.000 sect points''''
Chapter 570: Everyones determination
Chapter 570: Everyone''s determination
The yellow-robed young man behind the ''Mission counter'' could feel his mind nking out when he read the contents of the second mission, as he stared at Shun Long with a gaze filled with disbelief.
He couldn''t believe what he was seeing as he turned his gaze towards Shun Long for confirmation.
It was one thing for him to ept a D-rank faction mission since it meant that despite his low cultivation, the rest of his faction members may be strong enough to hunt down a middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad'' by themselves, but a C-rank mission was an entirely different matter altogether.
The young man behind the ''Mission counter'' stared at Shun Long for a few moments and thought to himself
''''I wonder which faction is crazy enough to take in someone with such a low cultivation base and even allow him to participate in a C-rank faction mission.
No, wait. Maybe he is just epting the mission for his faction but they won''t take him along during the actual mission.''''
As he reached this conclusion, the yellow-robed young man seemed to have realized that this was actually the most usible scenario, as he looked at Shun Long and nodded his head as he confirmed his choice before he said
''''If you don''t have a flying magic beast or a flying treasure, you can get to the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region through the sect''s Beast Tamer hall.
You can rent a flying magic beast that will carry you straight to the continent that you want to arrive in a short amount of time.
However, renting magic beasts isn''t free but you can do it for a certain amount of sect points. As for how much you will need to pay to get to the Northern region, you should ask the people in the Beast Tamer hall.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at the yellow-robed young man in front of him after registering his missions, while being surprised that the Holy sect actually had a ''Beast Tamer hall''.
However, thinking about it for a few more moments he realized that this was only natural. Since being a beast tamer was a profession that was just as rare and sought after as being an alchemist or a formation master, how could the Holy sect not have at least a few beast tamers and a Beast Tamer hall?
After all, not every outer disciple in the sect came from a powerful family or n like Liu Mei''s senior sisters, nor would everyone have flying magic beasts by themselves.
Most flying magic beasts were actually even more expensive than normal magic beasts at the same level precisely because they could travel faster and for longer distances, effortlessly traversing through any terrain.
Of course, although most magic beasts at the rank 3 and above could fly as well, their flight wasn''t used to crossrge distances, which was why they couldn''t bepared to magic beasts that could actually fly by themselves in this regard.
As for flying treasures, although Shun Long had heard about them, he had yet to see such a treasure for sale just yet.
As he registered the 2 missions, Shun Long waited for Liu Mei and the rest to finish registering their missions as well, as he closed his eyes and started to sense Little Silver''s location.
From the moment that he had seen Liu Mei waiting in front of the entrance of the sect, he could feel that Little Silver wasn''t too far away from her, and had simply hidden itself out of in sight.
Indeed, through their mental connection, Shun Long could feel that the ck panther was hidden in the clouds a few miles away from the Holy sect, while his sharp gaze was staring at the Holy sect''s entrance.
Of course, as a middle rank 6 magic beast, Little Silver wouldn''t carelessly approach too close to the Holy sect when it could clearly feel that there were 2 peak rank 6 Dao Kings guarding the sect''s entrance.
10 minutester, Jiang Chen and the rest all finished registering their missions as well, before they turned their gazes towards Shun Long who was waiting for them a few meters away.
Nodding his head with a serious look on his face Shun Long stared at Xie Xingyi and the rest before he spoke
''''Since we arepleting these faction missions alone, make sure to avoid taking any needless risks.
These are faction missions, and they aren''t meant to bepleted by a single person. If you feel that the difficulty or the danger of the mission is too high, give up.''''
The reason why Shun Long had said this, was because he had already seen that every single one of them, including Xie Xingyi and Liu Mei, had actually chosen the more difficult D-rank faction missions.
However, even though they all heard Shun Long''s words, none of them actually nodded their heads, indicating that they would give up.
Every one of them felt like they had to carry their own weight, or they would fall too far behind from the others.
This wasn''t like that just for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who werepeting among themselves, but for Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi as well.
None of them wanted to be left behind and feel like a burden in the future, so they could only push themselves to their limits, and this faction mission was everyone''s chance.
Jiang Chen was the first one to speak, as he looked at Shun Long with an equally serious look on his face and nodded his head before he said
''''If you can risk your life to be stronger, do you really think that we can simply wait and fall behind? If you canplete a faction mission by yourself with your current cultivation base, how can anyone else have the face to ask for someone''s help? If we don''t even dare toplete these missions by ourselves, we may as well die instead!''''
Bai Longtian had a determined look in his eyes as he too nodded his head when he heard Jiang Chen''s words, while Xie Xingyi and Liu Mei both nodded with serious looks in their eyes.
Chapter 571: Strengths and weaknesses
Chapter 571: Strengths and weaknesses
Jiang Chen''s determined voice resounded throughout the Assignment Hall, attracting the attention of many disciples around him, but he didn''t seem to care about any of it as he kept staring seriously at Shun Long.
Shun Long shook his head since he knew that it was impossible to change their minds.
At the same time, he also understood that Jiang Chen was right.
If he could take on a D-rank faction mission by himself, especially one that required him to take down a middle rank 5 magic beast, how could the rest of them try andplete the easier missions?
In the end, all 4 of them could be considered geniuses even in the Holy sect, and even if they weren''t monsters at the same level as Shun Long right now, they couldn''t simply allow themselves to fall behind him.
If Shun Long couldplete a faction mission by himself with his cultivation at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, how could the rest of them shy away from it when they were more than 2 minor ranks higher than him?
This was also the same reason why Liu Mei had epted the ''Blood Absorption art'' from Little ck.
She didn''t want to fall too behind from Shun Long, and she knew that that was the only way to keep walking by his side.
Besides, would the rest of the factions in the outer court really wait for them to gradually grow stronger? Which of the other disciples of the Holy sect wasn''t doing their best to grow as well? After all, the sect itself was no different than a hugepetition.
However, understanding which risks to take was still important. Although Shun Long understood Jiang Chen''s and the rest''s thoughts, he wasn''t nning on letting them needlessly risk their lives in the future.
''''Let''s go!''''
Shun Long''s calm voice resounded in everyone''s ears, as he turned around and left the Assignment Hall, heading towards the entrance of the sect.
When they arrived in front of the entrance of the enormous white pce at the peak of the Holy mountain, Shun Long turned around and looked at Liu Mei and the rest of his group before he said in a serious voice
''''No matter what, make sure to stay alive. I don''t care if you push yourselves to the limits or not, a month from now, I expect each of you to return safely here.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long stared at Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian for a few moments, before he turned his gaze towards Xie Xingyi and finally Liu Mei who was looking at him with a sweet gaze.
Shun Long clearly understood, that even though Jiang Chen was most likely the strongest one out of those 4 right now, he and Bai Longtian would be in the most danger during their missions, which was why he warned the 2 of them like this.
This was because both of them had actually chosen the same type of missions, to eradicate a den of thieves where the bandit leaders of those dens had much higher cultivation bases than them, while the bandit leaders'' subordinates were also said to be strong as well.
However, that wasn''t the only reason why Shun Long felt that the 2 of them were going to be in danger this timepared to Liu Mei and Xingyi.
After all, Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi had also chosen extremely difficult missions for their own levels, and their missions'' difficulty didn''t pale in front of Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s missions.
Instead, it was because Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian didn''t have any powerful ways to escape from their opponents if they ended up in a tough spot.
Shun Long knew that Liu Mei not only had the pendant that Elder Xuan had given to her as a wee present, but she was also wearing the peak rank 1 star-rank translucent armor beneath her robes, while Xie Xingyi actually had the Vanishing Shadows unique physique.
Xie Xingyi''s physique was not only suited towards stealth and assassination, but it was also perfect when she needed to escape from a dangerous situation. Although nothing was truly perfect and there were plenty of ways to counter that as well, Shun Long understood that it wasn''t easy to lock down someone who had the Vanishing Shadows unique physique if they were prepared.
However, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian werepletely different from the 2 girls.
Although each one of them also had a unique physique and they were also considered monsters in their own regards, they didn''t have a way to escape like Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi did.
Even though Jiang Chen''s attack, control, and speed were all at the peak of his level, especially when he activated both his ''Eternal Darkness physique'' and used his ''Demonic Wings'' to augment his speed, while Bai Longtian''s attack, defense, and speed were practically unmatched for cultivators at the same level, especially when he activated his ''Golden Buddha unique physique'', if they were caught in a bad situation and they didn''t try to escape in time, they truly may die.
However, Shun Long wasn''t willing to see either of them dying.
Almost as if they had guessed Shun Long''s thoughts, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both nodded their heads as they looked at him, before Jiang Chen''s lips actually formed a rare smile as his voice resounded in everyone''s ears
''''Don''t worry. I promise that even without my bloodline, I still won''t die to a bunch of trash regardless of their cultivation level. You shouldn''t die either.''''
''''Brother Shun, the same goes for me. My Golden Buddha unique physique isn''t that soft for me to die so easily. I am more worried about you instead.''''
Shun Long shook his head and smiled when he heard Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s determined tones as they spoke.
Shaking his head, he turned his eyes towards Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi who were looking at him from the side, and with a smile on his face he said
''''Alright, let''s go then. If any of you return before the 1-month period is over, you can go and take a look at the Dao Tower inside the Holy city. One monthter... we will take on the C-rank faction mission together!''''
Chapter 572: Lets see who can climb the highest
Chapter 572: Let''s see who can climb the highest
''''Long-ge, what is the Dao Tower?''''
Liu Mei asked in a confused voice as she looked at Shun Long, obviously having never heard of this name before.
Xie Xingyi had a curious look in her eyes as well.? For Shun Long to tell them to take a look at a certain ce when they have enough time, that ce must certainly have something extraordinary.
Nodding his head, Shun Long saw how everyone seemed to be curious about it as he started exining
''''The Dao Tower is an enormous tower at the center of the Holy city that allows one to train their own Dao.
One''s cultivation base, qi purity, unique physique, their martial skills and everything else are allpletely suppressed inside the tower, leaving you with nothing but your own Dao.
Inside the Dao Tower, you can fight with many other cultivators, not just from those inside the region of the Holy sect, but everywhere around the central region.
The more fights you win, the higher your rank will rise inside the tower, allowing you to fight with even stronger opponents.
Thousands of cultivators from the surrounding cities, and even the outer and inner disciples of the sect also go to train themselves there. So, if you finish your mission before the 1 month period is over, all of you should go and take a look at the Dao Tower.
The receptionists inside the Dao Tower will exin things to you in more detail when you get there.''''
A deep look shed through everyone''s eyes when they heard Shun Long exining the Dao Tower''s use, while Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s eyes seemed to be filled with fighting intent as they turned their eyes towards the Holy city at the foot of the Holy mountain.
It was too bad that the Holy city looked like nothing but a small dot in their eyes from the Holy mountain''s peak.
Jiang Chen also felt slightly regretful that he had spent 1 week inside the Holy city holed up inside an inn increasing his cultivation, instead of talking a walk around the Holy city.
He had been nning to take a look around the Holy city after he broke through to the peak of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, but by the time he finished his breakthrough, it was already the appointed time for him to meet with Shun Long and the rest at the peak of the mountain.
Liu Mei was the first one to return to her senses, as she looked at the small ck dot at the foot of the Holy mountain, before she turned her eyes towards Shun Long and hugged him tightly as she said
''''Long-ge... stay safe. I will be back in less than a month!''''
Shun Long smiled warmly and hugged Liu Mei back for a few moments, feeling her gentle breath on his neck.
Turning her attention towards Xie Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, Liu Mei shed a dazzling smile towards them before she said
''''I will see you guys in 1 month. Hehe, let''s take a look at the Dao Tower that Long-ge mentioned and see which of us can climb the highest.''''
Without even mentioning their missions, almost as if it was already assured that all of them would seed, Liu Mei''s eyes were filled with a rare look of fighting intent as she looked at Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, before she started flying towards the east.
A simr look appeared in Xie Xingyi''s eyes a momentter as she stared at Liu Mei''s figure that was flying on the horizon, before she turned her eyes towards Shun Long and shed him a smile that could cause the downfall of a kingdom, her blond hair waving behind her as she said
''''Brother Long... good luck! I will see you in 1 month!''''
Without waiting for a response, Xingyi then shot to the sky, as she flew towards the northeast.
Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both looked at the 2 girls, and unwilling to fall behind them, both of them looked at Shun Long and said
''''Don''t die! I will be waiting for you.''''
''''Brother Shun, stay safe!''''
Shun Long smiled as he saw Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both turning around and leaving at the same time, almost as if they werepeting against each other.
It had only been one month, but Shun Long could feel that it wasn''t just himself, but each one of them as well that were also growing stronger.
He could also feel that his faction was growing stronger at such a rate, that even some of the stronger factions inside the sect would be rmed if they knew about it.
After sensing Little Silver''s figure above the clouds that followed after Liu Mei secretly, Shun Long turned his attention towards the Holy city as he thought to himself
''''I need to buy a map first. Preferably one that covers the entire territory of the Holy sect!''''
Thus, without any hesitation, he flew straight towards the small ck dot at the foot of the Holy mountain.
Although he roughly knew the location of the ''Giant Crane forest'' that he had to travel to in order for him to hunt the ''Poison-tongued Toad'', since the mission on the ''Mission board'' described where the ''Giant Crane forest'' was located, in the end, it was only a rough description of the forest''s location.
Obtaining a detailed map to be aware of the most dangerous ces that one had to cross when traveling through the central region, like the ''me Lion''s'' canyon that Shun Long had crossed along with Ying Gui to get to Yanzhu city was extremely important.
Half an hourter, Shun Long had already entered the Holy city and arrived in front of the huge ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
After taking a look at the third floor, Shun Long eventually spent 50.000 middle-grade spirit stones buying an extremely detailed map of the central region.
''''50.000 middle-grade spirit stones for a single map... no wonder most cultivators don''t even know where they are heading to when they travel with merchants!''''
Although the map only covered the Holy sect''s territory, it was precisely what Shun Long needed. Despite the price being extremely expensive, Shun Long still felt that it was worth it after taking a look at the contents of the map.
Chapter 573: Investigate everything!
Chapter 573: Investigate everything!
The map itself covered a vast area of countless miles, showing more than a thousand cities within the Holy sect''s territory.
After locating the ''Giant Crane forest'' on the map and seeing that it was just a little more than 3000 miles away from the Holy city, Shun Long flew past the Holy city''s gates as he headed towards the west where the forest was located.
...
At the same time, inside the Holy sect, in a private room at the depths of the ''Administration Hall'', the yellow-robed outer disciple from the ''Exchange counter'' who had epted Shun Long''s mission, was now standing in front of a white-robed old man who had almost no hair left on his head.
The old man was staring at the young woman with a serious look on his face, before he asked in a solemn tone
''''Did you find him?''''
The yellow-robed young woman nodded her head seriously before she answered with a respectful bow
''''I did, Elder Zhi. His name is Shun Long and he handed in the D-rank personal mission around an hour ago. Just like Elder Zhi requested, I have already verified that he is the person who killed Yan Wen from the Yan family before he eliminated the 2 ve traders, Dai Lim and Dai Hao.''''
Elder Zhi stood up from his seat with a furious look on his face as he looked at the young woman in front of him, before he said angrily
''''Around an hour ago? Didn''t I tell you to inform me immediately as soon as you learned of that bastard''s name?''''
The yellow-robed young woman trembled when she felt the aura of the furious peak rank 9 Dao King boring down on her, making her unable to breathe.
A few momentster, after the pressure that Elder Zhi emitted started to ease, the yellow-robed young woman from the Exchange counter gasped for a few moments as she tried to regain her breath, before she responded
''''Elder Zhi, it''s because Elder Gao was in the Assignment Hall today that I couldn''te earlier. Elder Zhi should understand, that if Elder Gao saw me leaving my post for no reason, I would be punished heavily!''''
Indeed, although the young woman had informed Shun Long that Elder Zhi and Yan Xiang from the Yan family were both looking for him, she had only done that so that she wouldn''t feel guilty when she ratted him out.
She wouldn''t waste an hour before she informed Elder Zhi if there wasn''t a good reason for that.
Elder Zhi seemed to have calmed down significantly when he heard the words ''Elder Gao'', but he still snorted before he waved his hand, throwing a spatial ring towards the young woman.
Upon checking the contents of the spatial ring, the young woman was overjoyed as she hurriedly bowed and said
''''Thank you Elder!''''
''''Leave.''''
Elder Zhi''s cold voice was the only response that the young woman got, but she didn''t seem to mind it as she epted the spatial ring and left the Administration Hall without any dy.
After the young woman left the room, Elder Zhi took out a ck-colored sect identifying token and injected his qi inside it.
A few momentster, a yellow-robed young man entered the private room at the depths of the Administration Hall, and looking at Elder Zhi who seemed to be waiting for him, the young man hurriedly bowed before he asked
''''Master, did you ask for me?''''
Nodding his head, Elder Zhi stared at the young man in front of him and said
''''Changming, investigate an outer disciple named Shun Long. I want you to find out everything about him, including any faction that he may have joined, which people he hase in contact with, and if there is any family or n, or some other power that is backing him. I want you to find everything about him within the next 2 weeks!''''
The young man''s eyes widened at Elder Zhi''s sudden request, as he hadn''t even heard of a person in the outer sect named Shun Long, so how could his master who didn''t pay any attention to outer disciples know about a small fry?
His eyes however lit up a momentter as he remembered the young woman who had left his master''s room a few moments ago, before he asked in a tone that was filled with realization
''''Master, is this rted to Yan Xiang''s cousin, Yan Wen?''''
The yellow-robed young man clearly knew his master''s rtionship with the Yan and the Zhu families of Yanzhu city, so it wasn''t hard for him to put the pieces together and guess the reason behind his master''s sudden interest.
Indeed, Elder Zhi nodded his head with a solemn look before he said
''''He is the person who killed that little shit, Yan Wen. I still owe a favor to the Yan family''s patriarch, so find out everything about that brat and let me know at once.
If it''s not too hard, I may help them a bit, but if it''s too hard, they can solve their own problems by themselves. I will simply provide them with a name and they can do the rest by themselves.''''
The yellow-robed young man bowed when he heard his master''s words, as he hurriedly left the room.
He knew that although his master had a good rtionship with the Yan and the Zhu family patriarchs, he wouldn''t do anything that would risk his own life.
...
4 days soon passed before Shun Long who was flying at full speed finally saw the outline of a huge forest in the distance ahead.
The forest seemed to span for thousands of miles, with huge ck trees that reached more than 100 meters(330ft) in height.
As he approached closer and closer to the forest, Shun Long also noticed that tens of other cultivators that were gathered in groups were either entering or leaving the huge forest, or they had already set up camp a few hundred meters away from the forest''s entrance.
A minuteter, Shun Long had already arrived in front of the forest''s entrance, when his eyes suddenly widened as his gaze fell on a group of 6 that was walking out of the forest.
5 of these 6 people were dressed in yellow robes that were identical to his own, indicating that they were disciples of the Holy sect as well, but what surprised Shun Long the most, was the 3 familiar faces that he spotted in this group.
The moment that those 3 saw him, auras that were filled with killing intent exploded out of their bodies as they locked on Shun Long all at the same time!
Chapter 574: Warm attitude?
Chapter 574: Warm attitude?
The cultivators around them were startled when they felt the auras from the group of disciples from the Holy sect that were filled with killing intent, before they hurriedly opened up the distance between them, unwilling to be caught in the middle of a fight.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes as he looked at the 3 young men in front of him who were obviously emitting hostile auras filled with killing intent, and yet, he wasn''t in a hurry to make a move, as he simply observed the rest of their group for a few moments.
The spiky-haired young man as well as the chubby-faced silver-haired young man who was standing next to him at the very front of the group, along with the blue-haired young man who was standing a step behind those 2 and was actually the only one who wasn''t wearing the yellow robes of an outer disciple of the sect were allpletely ignored by Shun Long, as he focused his gaze towards the rest of their group.
Even a month ago when he was just at the peak of rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, Shun Long had never been wary of the prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang, or Zhong Fang, the ''young lord'' of the ''Mercenaries'' Association''.
Even when Sheng Huang had threatened him to hand over his ck, star-rank sword, right in front of the inner court''s entrance, Shun Long had never viewed him as anything else but an idiot. Of course, anyone who lusted over his treasures was bound to not have a good ending.
As for the blue-haired young lord of the ''Golden Exchange firm'' of the Night star continent, Hu Liu who was standing behind those 2, although Shun Long was surprised to see him here since he still remembered that Hu Liu was actually the first one to fail the Holy sect''s fourth test, after a moment of hesitation, a look of realization appeared in his eyes as he realized that Hu Liu had probably chosen to be a ''follower'' of either Sheng Huang or Zhong Fang, and follow them inside the Holy sect.
For a genius who was previously ranked 4th in the ''Night star continent''s'' rankings, to lower his head and be someone else''s follower, it was obvious how much allure the Holy sect held towards him.
''''Eh? A fellow disciple?''''
A young man''s surprised voice broke the silence in front of the ''Giant Crane forest''s'' entrance, as he looked at the 2 young men by his side who were emitting an intense aura filled with hostility towards the neer, before he spotted the yellow robes that Shun Long was wearing.
The young man wasn''t surprised that another outer disciple from the Holy sect would appear in this ce, since the ''Giant Crane forest'' was a ce that many disciples traveled to, either to hunt magic beasts or look for rare treasures or other medicinal herbs.
Instead, he was surprised by Sheng Huang''s and Zhong Fang''s sudden change in their attitudes. As for Hu Liu, the yellow-robed young man didn''t seem to care about him, as he looked at Sheng Huang and asked curiously
''''Junior brother Sheng, do you know him?''''
At the same time that the young man spoke, Shun Long turned his attention towards him as well, and looked at him seriously for a few moments.
Unlike Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang who had only recently advanced to the middle of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul, or Hu Liu who was still at the early rank 4, Shun Long could sense that the yellow-robed young man who had spoken just now was on an entirely different level, as he had clearly reached the middle of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, forcing even Shun Long to look at him seriously.
After all, an outer disciple of the Holy sect who had reached the middle of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, was definitely a genius who could easily fight against normal cultivators at the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul as well.
Aside from this young man, Shun Long also noticed a young woman standing next to him, who was actually at the early rank 6, as well as a robust young man who seemed to be almost as big as Zhong Fang himself, and his cultivation was at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul.
From the 6 people in their group, Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang, as well as Hu Liu, were definitely the 3 weakest.
Turning his eyes towards the young man who had just spoken Sheng Huang nodded his head, but he didn''t retract the hostile look from his eyes as he answered
''''Yes senior brother. His name is Shun Long! He is the person who has stolen something that''s mine and refused to give it back!''''
The young man''s eyes lit up when he heard the name Shun Long, as he inspected the yellow-robed young man in front of him seriously for a few moments. As for Sheng Huang''s im that Shun Long had stolen something from him, the young man didn''t seem to have even heard it.
At the same time, the young woman that was standing next to the young man looked at Shun Long with a renewed look of interest in her eyes before she said
''''Shun Long? Are you the person who rejected Qian Tao''s invitation only to form your own faction in the sect? Hehe, how cute.
Eh? Why can''t I sense your cultivation?''''
The young woman was even more surprised when she realized that she couldn''t sense any qi at alling from Shun Long''s body. Naturally, since he hadpletely retracted his aura, forget about an early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like her, even peak Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to sense the slightest bit of qi fluctuationsing from Shun Long''s body right now.
At the same time, Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang looked at Shun Long with gazes that didn''t conceal their killing intent, but they knew that they couldn''t do anything to him right now.
Since they hade to the ''Giant Crane forest'' for a mission, their senior brother had already activated the ''Memory recording formation'' on his sect identifying token, and they knew that they couldn''t simply attack a fellow disciple of the Holy sect in broad daylight.
Besides, even if they managed to persuade the yellow-robed young man, there were too many cultivators around them who would see that scene.
However, the yellow-robed young man didn''t seem to have even noticed Sheng Huang''s and Zhong Fang''s hostile gazes towards Shun Long as he kept inspecting him with a serious look in his eyes. A momentter, the young man suddenly smiled as he took a step forward forward and spoke in a warm tone, his next words stunning both Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang who turned to look at the yellow-robed young man with gazes filled with disbelief
''''Junior brother Shun Long huh? I heard that you and a kid named Jiang Chen both have immortal-grade bloodlines. How enviable. I suggest that you be careful inside the ''Giant Crane forest'', since there are many rank 5 and even rank 6 magic beasts lurking in this ce.''''
Without waiting for a response, the yellow-robed young man waved his hand, as he stepped past Shun Long and flew away, with the yellow-robed young woman and the robust young man following right behind him.
Chapter 575: Furious Sheng Huang
Chapter 575: Furious Sheng Huang
Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang, as well as Hu Liu, were all stunned when they saw their ''senior brother'' suddenly leaving along with the other 2.
A momentter, Sheng Huang gritted his teeth as he and Zhong Fang ignored Shun Long and followed behind them as well.
As for Hu Liu, he was the only one who stood there in a daze as he looked at Shun Long with an expression of disbelief on his face.
He had already heard about Shun Long from Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang, and he already knew that he had somehow managed to pass the test to enter the Holy sect with a cultivation at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul.
For someone like Hu Liu who had failed to pass the test with his cultivation that was at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, this wasn''t something that he could ept so easily, especially when it was done from someone from the same continent as him.
He could ept Sheng Huang, Zhong Fang, Bai Longtian, and even Xie Xingyi who had managed to pass the fourth test, since Xie Xingyi had a unique physique that she hadn''t shown to anyone for so many years, and Bai Longtian hadprehended the Dao of the Buddha which he had kept hidden from everyone as well, but a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator passing the test was an entirely different thing.
At the same time, the moment that he saw Shun Long''s face, Hu Liu''s eyes had instantly widened, as he recognized him as the person who was riding on the ''Silver-winged panther king'' back in the ''Golden Exchange firm'' in the Night star continent.
Although Hu Liu was someone arrogant who usually didn''t put almost anyone from the Night star continent in his eyes, he clearly remembered Shun Long''s face due to how rare the magic beast that he was riding on was.
After all, a peak rank 5 ''Silver-winged panther king'' was extremely rare, not inferior to rarity or strength when it waspared to his own ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'', and both magic beasts were actually at the peak of rank 5 as well, which made Hu Liu take a few more looks at the 2 people on the panther''s back.
And yet, it was still nothing but a few more looks in the end.
Even though Hu Liu had heard of Shun Long''s name from Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang already, and he knew that he was someone who also came from the ''Night star continent'' just like them, he had never expected that it would be the same person he had randomly met in the ''Golden Exchange firm'' and he had even bullied his magic beast!
Regardless of how unwilling he was to ept this though, Hu Liu knew that this abnormal situation was the truth.
Staring at Shun Long for a few more moments, he then snorted before he shot to the sky, chasing after Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang who had already started to disappear on the horizon.
Although he wanted topletely destroy Shun Long, Hu Liu knew that his identity as a follower of an outer disciple didn''t allow him toy a hand on another disciple of the Holy sect.
If he did so, forget about staying in the Holy sect, the disciples of the Enforcement Hall woulde to him and would personally take his life without any hesitation.
Besides, he had also clearly heard just now that Shun Long had an immortal-grade bloodline, and Hu Liu could easily guess that this was the reason why Shun Long had managed to pass the Holy sect''s test.
Additionally, although he didn''t want to admit it, Hu Liu knew that even if Shun Long was just at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul, he still wouldn''t be his match if Shun Long activated his immortal-grade bloodline.
''''No, perhaps even Zhong Fang wouldn''t be able to fight against him. If anyone, it''s most likely going to be just Sheng Huang who would be able to match him in terms of strength!''''
This thought appeared in the blue-haired man''s mind as he threw onest look at Shun Long, and chased after Sheng Huang at full speed.
At the same time, Shun Long had a cold look in his eyes as he stared at Hu Liu''s disappearing figure, without saying anything during the entire time.
Unlike Hu Liu who had never put that incident in the ''Golden Exchange firm''s'' entrance in his mind, Shun Long hadn''t forgotten about it or the injuries that the ''Blue-tailed thunder leopard'' had caused to Little Silver just for Hu Liu''s own amusement.
He could also clearly feel the intense hostilitying from Hu Liu''s body, that was only inferior to the hostility that Sheng Huang had towards him.
However, despite the fact that Hu Liu was just a follower and not an outer court disciple, Shun Long knew that he was still considered a member of the Holy sect.
''''It doesn''t matter. Even if you leave the Holy sect in the future, I will stille and find you myself.''''
Shun Long''s voice was practically inaudible, but the surrounding cultivators who had turned their gazes towards him all trembled when they felt the dense killing intenting from his body.
It was obvious that whether it was Sheng Huang or Hu Liu or even Zhong Fang, he wasn''t nning to let any of them live in the future.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long stopped staring at Hu Liu''s disappearing figure, as he turned around and flew towards the ''Giant Crane''s forest''s'' entrance.
The most important thing right now was still to locate the middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad'' andplete the mission.
At the same time that Shun Long entered the ''Giant Crane forest'', Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang had just caught up with their 2 senior brothers and their senior sister, when Sheng Huang turned to look at his senior brother in the lead, before his angry voice sounded in everyone''s ears
''''Senior brother Feng, I clearly told you that there is enmity between me and that bastard, and yet, not only did you not help me, but you even told him to be careful inside the ''Giant Crane forest''? Are you trying to insult me, or is it that you don''t care about my opinion at all?''''
Chapter 576: Senior brother Fengs anger
Chapter 576: Senior brother Feng''s anger
''Senior brother Feng'' snorted as he looked at the furious Sheng Huang, while the young woman who was at the early rank 6 and the robust young man who was at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul both looked at him with cold gazes.
Seeing that Sheng Huang wasn''t willing to back away until he received an answer, ''Senior brother Feng'' stopped activating his ''Memory recording formation'' on his sect token now that they were a distance away from the ''Giant Crane forest'', before he said in a cold voice
''''Junior brother Sheng, I think you have been too used to get everything happening the way that you want them to, that you clearly don''t realize what''s going.
Didn''t I just give you a chance to deal with junior brother Shun Long just now?
It''s you who wasted that chance by chasing after me and asking me for an exnation instead of stalking him when he enters the forest!
You have already lost your chance, because your pride made you think that everyone else needs to listen to your wishes.
However, this isn''t the ''Night star continent'', and you are nothing more than an ordinary new outer disciple of the sect! Know your ce!''''
As he finished speaking, senior brother Feng''s aura at the middle of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul exploded out from his body, forcing Sheng Huang to circte his cultivation to the fullest to try and resist it.
However, even when he used his Dao of Destruction along with his cultivation at the middle of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul to protect himself and resist the powerful auraing from ''senior brother Feng'', Sheng Huang realized that he was still unable to resist itpletely as he was actually being pushed back just from senior brother Feng''s aura alone.
Zhong Fang and Hu Liu were both terrified as they immediately stepped back, unwilling to get caught in all of this.
Senior brother Feng had only shown a gentle side so far, but it seems that his anger wasn''t something that they could deal with!
If even Sheng Huang who was known as the strongest genius of the Night star continent couldn''t resist this, then they wouldn''t fare much better than him either!
Taking a few steps forward in the sky, ''senior brother Feng'' kept pressuring Sheng Huang with his aura forcing him to step back repeatedly before he continued
''''You think I''m trying to insult you?
So what?
Do you want me to kill him in broad daylight in front of hundreds of other cultivators simply so that I can solve your so-called enmity with him?
Don''t forget, it''s you who has enmity with junior brother Shun Long, not me! Why would I offend him for no reason?
No, why would I offend someone with an immortal-grade bloodline for you in the first ce?
Even if you are stronger than him right now due to your cultivation and your Dao of Destruction, I heard that that kid isn''t inferior to you even in terms of the Dao that you have bothprehended, since he hasprehended the Dao of Space as well.
Do you understand now?
Your value in my eyes isn''t enough to make me help you against someone like that!''''
Sheng Huang''s gaze widened in disbelief as he looked at ''senior brother Feng'' who had finally stopped advancing towards him.
At that moment, the yellow-robed young woman who was at the early rank 6 in the Nascent Soul looked at Sheng Huang and said mockingly
''''Junior brother Sheng, you probably think that you are some genius who only appears once in every thousand years, but the truth is that you are not.
This is the central region, not your tiny Night star continent.
Although your Dao of Destruction is rare, there are far too many geniuses inside the sect who haveprehended rare Daos, some of which are actually far beyond your imagination!
The only reason we are traveling with you right now, is to help you get experience in faction missions since we are members of the same faction.
However, don''t be mistaken. You are nothing more than a slightly more talented junior brother in my eyes! Yourprehension of your Dao of Destruction isn''t enough yet to put you at the very top of the sect topete with the strongest disciples. Perhaps you may be able to do so in the future, but right now... hehehe, you need to start using your brain a little more.''''
Sheng Huang''s face was flushed red, unknown if it was due to anger or embarrassment, as he looked at his 2 senior brothers and his senior sister who were all staring at him with different looks in their eyes.
A momentter, the look in his eyes had turned cold as he suddenly shot forward all by himself, leaving the group of 5 behind him.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhong Fang followed after him as well, and Hu Liu did the same.
...
At the same time, Shun Long had already entered the ''Giant Crane forest'', as he spread his soul sense around him, looking out for any potential dangers.
He had already learned from the 2 years that he and Liu Mei had spent in the ''Ten-thousand beasts'' mountain range'', that the most dangerous things in these types of forests weren''t the magic beasts that were lurking around, but the groups of other cultivators instead.
As long as they met someone who they believed was carrying enough wealth to take such a risk, regardless of that person''s identity, those groups would immediately attack him.
Thus, Shun Long knew, that in this ce, his identity as a disciple of the Holy sect wouldn''t help him in the slightest.
After staying still and looking at the trees around him for a few moments, Shun Long mumbled to himself in a surprised voice
''''This ce is probably even bigger than the ''Ten-thousand beasts'' mountain range''. No wonder others find it almost impossible to locate specific magic beasts in this ce!''''
Chapter 577: Searching for the Poison-tongued Toad
Chapter 577: Searching for the ''Poison-tongued Toad''
With how big this forest was along with the huge ck trees that reached over 100 meters(330ft) in height andpletely blocked everyone''s vision, it was only natural that most outer disciples would struggle to locate specific magic beasts in this ce.
This was even more so for those disciples that had no idea about the environment that each magic beast chose to live in or the habits that those beasts naturally had.
They would most likely end up looking for days, or perhaps even weeks without finding the magic beast that they were looking for.
After all, hunting specific middle rank 5 magic beasts waspletely different from hunting any random middle rank 5 beast.
The first required knowledge of that certain magic beast, that was on par with that of most beast tamers'', and wasn''t something that any random disciple could do at a whim.
This was why those missions that required disciples to hunt certain magic beasts rewarded them with many more sect pointspared to other missions at the same rank, since the faction that epted that mission would require at least a talented alchemist who had plenty of knowledge about that specific magic beast, or a beast tamer to help guide them!
Taking a deep breath, Shun Longpletely suppressed his aura, not emitting the slightest qi fluctuations from his body while minimizing the area of his soul sense to the bare minimum, making sure that he wouldn''t be identally spotted by any powerful magic beast, before he headed deeper inside the forest.
As he carefully walked deeper inside the forest, Shun Long saw more than a few aerial peak rank 4 and early rank 5 magic beasts flying in the sky above him, but he avoided every single one of them as his eyes kept examining his surroundings seriously.
''''The Poison-tongued Toad'' prefers to live in environments close to water, since that''s its only way to hunt other magic beasts. As long as there is ake or a pond in this ce, the toad shouldn''t be too far away from it either.''''
Unlike most other outer disciples, Shun Long''s knowledge of the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' was more than sufficient for him to hunt down the magic beast.
The only thing that was restricting him, was his current knowledge of theyout of the ''Giant Crane forest''.
Regardless of whether he felt confident to even take on a peak rank 5 magic beast with the remaining bottles of poison from the ''Soul Poisoning hell grass'' that he had inside his herb garden, Shun Long also knew that there were chances for rank 6 magic beasts to live in this forest, so he wouldn''t carelessly head deeper inside if he could avoid that.
3 hourster, Shun Long''s eyes lit up as he spotted a smallke not too far away from his location.
However, he didn''t head towards theke right away, but instead, he climbed on top of one of the huge ck trees around it, before he started to carefully examine the area around theke instead.
A few minutester, Shun Long shook his head with a disappointed expression as he thought to himself
''''There are no traces of poison in this ce and even theke itself seems to be crystal clear. How unlucky...''''
Shun Long had been hoping for theke''s waters to have been tainted with a slight purple color or for a few of the trees around theke to have been affected by the toad''s poison and start to decay, since those were the signs of a ''Poison-tongued Toad'' living in this ce.
Once the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' hunted a magic beast, the poison from its tongue would spread through theke itself, and Shun Long knew that in that case, it was simply impossible for the waters of theke to be clear like this.
Knowing that the chances of a ''Poison-tongued Toad'' to live here were practically zero, Shun Long didn''t care if there was another rank 5 magic beast living inside theke, as he turned around and left without any hesitation, heading deeper inside the forest.
Even though he felt slightly disappointed, he knew that the chances of finding the toad so quickly were extremely low.
In the blink of an eye a week passed.
During these 7 days, Shun Long had walked through more than half of the ''Giant Crane forest''s'' outer region but he had yet to spot a single ''Poison-tongued Toad''.
At this point, he had already started to wonder whether there were really any ''Poison-tongued Toads'' inside the forest or if they had already been all hunted by others.
A few minutester however, Shun Long''s eyes abruptly lit up, as he spotted a few of the gigantic ck trees in the distance ahead of him that seemed different from the others around them, as they were slowly turning into a purplish color instead.
As he walked closer to the trees, Shun Long noticed that the ''corroded'' trees were surrounding a small pond whose waters had already turned into a deep purple color.
And yet, this purple color seemed to be extremely alluring for some reason, almost as if it was inviting everyone whoid his eyes on them to approach closer to them and enter the pond.
Even Shun Long was stunned for a moment, feeling as if something was trying to affect his spiritual sea and guide him to enter inside the small pond.
However, he simply snorted as his enormous spiritual sea easily dispersed the alluring effect of the purple waters without any issue.
What a joke!
Even if it was a middle rank 5 magic beast, it was simply impossible for it to bypass Shun Long''s mental defenses so easily and affect his spiritual sea like that, after Shun Long had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage in body his qi and his body refinement.
After all, his spiritual sea had already doubled in size, and if another Nascent Soul stage cultivator could actually see it, it was very likely that they would piss themselves from terror, since its current size was far bigger than the spiritual sea of any middle-stage Nascent Soul stage cultivator as well.
Staring at the small pond in front of him, Shun Long actually smiled before he mumbled to himself
''''Finally found you!''''
Chapter 578: Hunting the Poison-tongued Toad
Chapter 578: Hunting the Poison-tongued Toad
Although he couldn''t see the figure of the toad past the purple waters, Shun Long waspletely certain that there was a ''Poison-tongued Toad'' inside the pond in front of him.
With a deep look in his eyes, Shun Long first waved his hand and consumed a top-grade rank 5 ''anti-toxin pill'', and after circting his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', he actually flew straight towards the purple waters barely a momentter.
Perhaps if the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' was a middle rank 5 magic beast that focused on mental attacks, like the rank 5 ''Spellsinger bird'' that had attacked Shun Long and Liu Mei in the past, then it was possible for its mental attacks to pose some trouble to the current Shun Long, but with just the mental effect that its poison had on the water of the pond, it was simply impossible for the toad''s ''attack'' to seed.
Shun Long knew that the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' wasn''t directly attacking him just now, but that this was the way that it hunted its prey.
Any magic beast that entered the pond would immediately be affected by both its mental attack and the poison in the pond''s waters, before the toad appeared and attacked as well.
This terrifying killerbo could take care of even other unsuspecting middle rank 5 magic beasts without too much trouble!
A few momentster, Shun Long entered the purple waters, when he suddenly felt the alluring effect that the water had in his mind be even more intense.
However, he didn''t seem to mind as he headed deeper inside the pond! His spiritual sea churned the moment that he entered the pond, resisting the second wave of this mental attack almost effortlessly.
At the same time, Shun Long could feel the poison that had seeped inside the water that was now trying to slowly corrode his body, both from the inside as well as the outside.
His ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' however was strong enough to resist the effects of the poison from the ''Poison-tongued Toad'', as most of the poison couldn''t even break past his skin and entered his body. As for the tiny amounts of poison that sessfully entered his body, that was equally futile as well, since Shun Long''s top-grade rank 5 ''anti-toxin'' pill could even resist the poison from peak rank 5 magic beasts without any problems!
Even without consuming a top-grade rank 5 ''anti-toxin'' pill, Shun Long still believed that his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was strong enough topletely dispel the poison from the toad as well.
Suddenly, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up with a bright blue light, before another scene appeared in his mind.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long unhurriedly dodged to the side, only to see a long, dark purple tongue appearing in the spot where he was standing a moment ago.
The tongue had shot forward with extreme speed and so much power, that it could probably kill an early rank 5 magic beast in one hit, and yet, after failing to hit Shun Long, it retracted back at the speed of light.
Although he couldn''t clearly see the dark purple tongue that had mixed with the purple waters almost seamlessly, Shun Long knew that this was the tongue of the ''Poison-tongued Toad''.
Shun Long knew that the poison that covered the Toad''s tongue was strong enough to kill other middle rank 5 magic beasts as well, in less than a minute after it affected them.
Taking out the pitch-ck, star-rank sword from the ''Stone of Time'', he held it in front of him with his right hand as he headed deeper inside the pond.
A few momentster, another attack soon followed, as the long purple tongue appeared from the depths of the pond for the second time.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long didn''t dodge the tongue''s attack time, and instead, he grabbed the hilt of the ck sword with both of his hands before he injected his qi inside it.
The mysterious runes and patterns on the sword''s surface lit up at the same time, before a gigantic ck-colored sword sh emerged from the sword''s edge, heading towards the massive tongue in front of Shun Long!
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
Shun Long''s Saint low-grade martial skill erupted from the ck sword, colliding with the purple tongue head-on!
''''GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH''''
A cry filled with pain and rage resounded from the depths of the pond, as the dark purple tongue was instantly cut in half from Shun Long''s terrifying sh.
Blood spluttered from the dark purple tongue at the same time, making the water around Shun Long turn into a darker shade of purple, almost as if the poison around him had turned even more potent than before.
Shun Long however had a calm look in his golden eyes that were shining with a light blue light, as he headed deeper inside the pond even faster than before.
Although the tongue of the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' was its strongest weapon, its strength lied in the power it held behind its attacks as well as its poison. In front of Shun Long''s ''Thundergod''s sh'' and his star-rank sword, the Toad''s tongue was effortlessly cut in half.
As he reached the depths of the pond, Shun Long finally saw the silhouette of a magic beast that was more than 4 meters (13ft) tall, with a fat body and a mouth full of blood.
The ''Poison-tongued Toad'' instantly turned its 2 red eyes towards Shun Long and stared at him with a look of extreme rage and bloodlust, before it suddenly jumped towards him with itsrge mouth wide open, almost as if it was intending to eat him alive.
Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up with an azure light that was even brighter than before, as he mumbled to himself
''''Time Prison!''''
The giant toad was instantly frozen in ce, as Shun Long forcibly halted the flow of time around it, cing it in a temporary time prison.
Swinging the ck sword in his hand for the second time, the runes and patterns on the sword''s surface lit up once again, before a gigantic ck-colored sword sh that was even bigger than the first one emerged from the sword''s edge, and headed directly towards the toad''s neck.
Blood sttered in the depths of the purple pond, as the head of therge middle rank 5 magic beast was severed from its body with a single sword sh.
Chapter 579: A terrified Liao Changming
Chapter 579: A terrified Liao Changming
Shun Long watched as the ''Poison-tongued Toad''s'' headless body seemed to have lost its bnce, as it slowly floated upwards towards the pond''s surface, along with its severed head.
Just like that, a middle rank 5 magic beast that normally needed a whole group of outer court disciples of the Holy sect that were at least at the early rank 6 of the Nascent Soul in order to hunt it down, had actually died.
Not staying inside the pond any longer Shun Long first swam toward the surface. before he collected the body of the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' and removed its beast core.
''''Sigh, no wonder those faction missions reward so many sect points for those magic beasts. I had to look for an entire week just to locate a single ''Poison-tongued Toad'', and I only found one by luck in the end.''''
Staring at the beast core in his hands, Shun Long let out a long breath before he ced it in his spatial ring, as he then turned around and headed towards the forest''s entrance.
Even though he had spent the past week inside the ''Giant Crane forest'' looking for the ''Poison-tongued Toad''s'' location, he had mostly walked around the forest''s outer region and hadn''t gone too deep inside.
Otherwise, the risk of meeting with powerful magic beasts would be much higher, and even with the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', Shun Long wasn''t confident in taking care of those magic beasts.
In less than 4 hours, Shun Long had arrived back at the forest''s entrance, as he once again looked at the groups of cultivators that had set up camp outside the forest.
However, he wasn''t the only one who looked at them, as the cultivators who had set up camp around the forest stared at him with wide eyes!
''''Hey, did that person juste out from the forest by himself?''''
''''What? How is that even possible? This is the ''Giant Crane forest''! Even peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators would be careful to not wander too far by themselves in this ce. Don''t tell me that this person is actually a Dao King!''''
''''Wait! Look at his robes. Isn''t he a disciple of the Holy sect? But... I can''t seem to sense his cultivation at all!''''
Although Shun Long could hear the crowd''s discussions about him, he didn''t pay any attention to them as he headed straight towards the Holy city''s direction.
4 days quickly passed in the blink of an eye, as the outline of an enormous mountain finally appeared in Shun Long''s eyes, along with the huge, familiar city on the mountain''s foot.
Knowing that he still had 2 more weeks until he met up with Liu Mei and the rest in front of the Holy sect''s entrance, Shun Long entered the Holy city and rent a courtyard inside an inn, as he decided to enter seclusion and start cultivating.
He wanted to spend the next 2 weeks trying to reach the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage, as well as purify his qi balls.
Entering his room, Shun Long sat on the meditative cushion on the ground and closed his eyes, before he entered the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Taking out the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', Shun Long waved his hand, causing a mountain of middle-grade spirit stones to appear in front of him, before he let the enormous vine munch on hundreds of them all at once.
However, the Heaven Swallowing vine itself seemed to have been growing bigger and bigger as time passed, looking like it was also growing after eating so many spirit stones for so many years.
Of course, just like in the past, it didn''t seem to matter if Shun Long fed the vine with low-grade or middle-grade spirit stones, as the vine absorbed them all at a speed much faster than any cultivator possibly could before it turned the qi inside them into an even purer type of qi that filled the foggy space around Shun Long.
...
At the same time that Shun Long had entered the inn and was cultivating inside his room in the Holy city trying to increase his cultivation quickly, inside Elder Zhi''s private room in the depths of the Administration Hall in the Holy sect, a yellow-robed young man had entered inside and was standing in front of Elder Zhi with a fearful expression on his face.
Elder Zhi seemed surprised when he saw his disciple''s reaction.
Although he knew that his personal disciple, Lian Changming was always respectful in front of him, the fear that he exhibited right now wasn''t something that Elder Zhi was used to seeing, making him furrow his brows in confusion.
''''Liao Changming, what''s wrong? Do you have something to say or are you here to stare at me?''''
Elder Zhi''s angry voice resounded throughout the silent room, immediately bringing the yellow-robed young man back to his senses.
Naturally, Elder Zhi wasn''t used to his disciple staring at him and daydreaming, and neither was he interested in staring at his disciple''s face for so long either.
However, Liao Changming simply trembled as he looked at his master who seemed to be getting more and more displeased with him, before he took a deep breath and said in a grave voice
''''Master... 2 weeks ago, you told me to investigate an outer disciple named Shun Long, remember?''''
Elder Zhi nodded his head with a cold look in his eyes, before he asked in a serious voice
''''What about him? Are you really that afraid after investigating a single, outer court disciple who has entered the sect for less than 3 months? Don''t tell me that he has actually managed to join one of the top 100 factions in the outer court within just a couple of months of joining the sect. No, you still wouldn''t be this afraid if that was the case...''''
Elder Zhi seemed to have suddenly fallen into serious thoughts after seeing his disciple''s face that had turnedpletely pale, before he looked at him and asked with a curious look in his eyes a momentter
''''Could it be that that kid is actually backed by one of the big families and ns around the sect''s territory?''''
Chapter 580: A terrified Liao Changming (2)
Chapter 580: A terrified Liao Changming (2)
Shaking his head vehemently, the look of fear in Liao Changming''s eyes had turned even more intense as he looked at his master, before he took a deep breath and said a momentter
''''M-Master... it''s much worse than that!''''
''''Even worse?''''
Elder Zhi''s brows furrowed once again as he looked at his disciple, not understanding what was going on this time.
In his mind, Elder Zhi was already certain that he had already mentioned the worst-case scenario when he said that Shun Long was backed by one of the big families and ns around the Holy sect''s territory.
Especially if it was one of the families that was ranked much higher than the Yan and the Zhu families, Elder Zhi knew that the Yan family would face quite a lot of trouble getting rid of Shun Long.
However, Liao Changming''s words had given an uneasy feeling to Elder Zhi who turned to look at his trembling disciple with a cold look in his eyes, as the aura of a peak rank 9 Dao King burst out from his body before he said in a voice that shook the entire private room
''''Changming, just spit it out!''''
Liao Changming seemed to have regained his senses after feeling Elder Zhi''s aura that was on the verge of exploding, and after taking a deep breath to press down his fear, he looked at Elder Zhi and said in a hesitant manner, as if he couldn''t believe his own words
''''Master... from what I found out, that Shun Long isn''t backed by any powerful family or n around the Holy sect''s territory.
He is just a new outer disciple who joined the sect from the continents surrounding our central region 2 months ago... and he is just a rogue cultivator without any backing!''''
''''A rogue cultivator?''''
Elder Zhi mused to himself, bing even more susprised at how weak''s Shun Long''s background was.
However, Liao Changming didn''t stop, as he then continued speaking despite seeing Elder Zhi''s questioning gaze
''''Not only that, but he is not a member of any of the top 100 factions either! Forget about the top 100 factions, he didn''t even join the factions in the middle of the pack! He actually made his own faction instead, just a few days after he entered the sect...''''
''''Hahahaha!''''
Elder Zhi''s boisterousughter resounded throughout the room, as the white-robed Elder looked at Liao Changming and said in a mocking tone
''''A new disciple without any backing, and he simply decided to create his own faction after entering the sect for a few days? HAHAHAHA! What kind of problem could a brat without any background pose?''''
However, a momentter, Elder Zhi noticed that the look of fear hadn''t disappeared from Liao Changtming''s eyes and had only grown more intense instead. Liao Changming then took another breath to calm himself down before he continued speaking in a slightly hesitant manner, almost as if he didn''t know how to breach this subject
''''M-Master... I found out that when that Shun Long passed the fourth test and entered the sect 2 months ago, he was just a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!''''
Before Elder Zhi could interrupt him, Liao Changming ignored the surprised look in his eyes as he then continued
''''However, this is not everything! I heard that during the fourth test of the sect 2 months ago, that kid revealed an immortal-grade bloodline when he fought against a disciple at the peak of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul and even won against him!''''
Elder Zhi''s face instantly paled when he heard the words immortal-grade bloodline!
Even if most outer disciples didn''t know about it, Elder Zhi clearly knew that the number of disciples who had an immortal-grade bloodline within the Holy sect could be counted on one hand... and Shun Long was actually one of them?
''''No... it is certain that this will attract the attention of an inner-court Elder sooner orter! If that happens, things will be really bad. Forget about the Yan family, I may even lose my life if I am involved in this!''''
Elder Zhi seemed to have lost his usual calmness as his eyes finally showed hints of panic when he heard that Shun Long actually had an immortal-grade bloodline.
He knew that the inner-court Elders of the sect wouldn''t ignore someone with an immortal-grade bloodline for no reason.
Even if they hadn''t taken note of Shun Long yet, they were bound to do so sooner orter!
''''No wonder he didn''t care about the Yan family! As long as he reveals his bloodline and attracts the attention of an inner court Elder, the Yan family will truly be nothing! Things are tooplicated...''''
Elder Zhi seemed to have understood why Liao Changming was so afraid just now, as he looked at his disciple and nodded his head as he waved his hand, before he said seriously
''''I understand what''s going on. You can leave!''''
However, Elder Zhi''s thoughts seemed to be just the beginning of all this, as Liao Changming shook his head and said in a voice that could no longer contain his fear
''''Master... this is not everything!''''
Before Elder Zhi could berate him, Liao Changming actually continued speaking, while even his legs had started to shake as he continued his next sentence
''''Although that Shun Long created his own faction instead of joining another faction, his faction actually has 4 other members, and all of them are new outer disciples who entered the sect 2 months ago, just like him.
However, in these 2 months that they have been in the sect... all 4 of them have been epted by 4 inner court Elders of the sect as personal disciples!''''
Liao Changming''s next words were like a bomb that exploded inside the private room, making Elder Zhi''s eyes widen in disbelief.
Standing up from his seat, Elder Zhi''s face had turnedpletely pale as he stared at his disciple who was now kneeling in front of him, almost as if he was waiting for his instructions.
Chapter 581: A terrifying new faction
Chapter 581: A terrifying new faction
''''Changming... are you certain about this?''''
Elder Zhi''s voice had turned slightly hoarse as he asked this question, while his eyes stared at the yellow-robed young man in front of him intently while he waited for confirmation.
Nodding his head, Liao Changming looked at Elder Zhi with a serious look in his eyes that failed topletely hide his fear, before he said
''''Master, I am certain!
The first of them is Shun Long''s wife. Her name is Liu Mei and she came from the Night star continent just like him. Apparently, she is someone who has managed toprehend the Dao of Death, and a little more than a month ago, she was even epted by Elder Xuan Jiao as a personal disciple! Although I don''t know the specifics and neither did I dare to pry too much, I have heard that Elder Xuan is doting on this new disciple of hers very much!''''
''''Elder Xuan Jiao from the inner court...''''
Elder Zhi slowly slumped back to his chair when he heard the name of this terrifying Elder who instilled fear in everyone''s heart. Even though both of them were Elders of the Holy sect, the difference in status between an outer court Elder and an inner court one was extremely big. It was even bigger than the difference between an outer court disciple and an inner court one.
This was even more so for an inner court Elder like Elder Xuan, whose status was even above most other inner court Elders like Elder Cao Ling, the white-robed Dao Emperor with the unkempt appearance who was present during the fourth test of the Holy sect and watched Shun Long and the rest.
If such an Elder was doting on her new disciple, wouldn''t Elder Zhi directly offend her by messing with her disciple''s Dao partner?
Even if Elder Xuan didn''t take any measures against him, Elder Zhi knew that it would be akin to him sitting on pins and needles if an inner court Elder had suddenly targetted him!
''''No, perhaps it''s still possible to do it. No matter what, he is still nothing more than a new outer court disciple!''''
Elder Zhi tried to console himself as he looked at the young man who was still kneeling in front of him as he waited for him to finish exining what else he had found out.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning, as Liao Changming continued a few momentster, his every word mercilessly crushing Elder Zhi''s hopes
''''The second person from his faction is another beauty named Xie Xingyi. Apparently, she came from the Night star continent just like Shun Long and Liu Mei, and just like Liu Mei, she was also epted as a personal disciple from an inner court Elder.
I heard that it is the Elder responsible for the Refinement Hall in the inner court, Elder Mao Jing who has epted her as a personal disciple! That girl is rumored to have an extremely rare unique physique, the ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'', which was why Elder Mao Jing took her as her disciple!''''
It looked like Liao Changming hadn''t noticed the shock in Elder Zhi''s eyes that could no longer be hidden nor his pale face that was now as white as a sheet of paper, as the yellow-robed young man didn''t stop speaking, his voice being the only thing that resounded inside Elder Zhi''s private room.
''''The third one is a kid named Bai Longtian who hasprehended the Dao of Light, and just like the other 3-''''
''''Don''t tell me that he came from the Night star continent as well!''''
Elder Zhi finally interrupted him as he refused to believe that everyone in Shun Long''s faction came from the Night star continent as well!
Just what kind of shit continent was the Night star continent?
In so many years, it hadn''t produced even a handful of passable disciples, making the Elder even forget the name of the continent altogether, and yet in just a single batch, 3 people had managed to enter the sect and 2 of them had even be personal disciples of inner court Elders, and now there could even be another one?
Unfortunately for Elder Zhi, Liao Changming seemed to have turned as dense as a block of wood today, as he had beenpletely overwhelmed from the fear of the background of everyone in Shun Long''s faction that he even failed to notice the shock and fear in his master''s eyes.
Naturally, his master was an outer court Elder of the Holy sect so why would he be afraid of a few outer court disciples?
This was the thought inside Liao Changming''s head that managed to calm him down, as the yellow-robed young man nodded his head without any hesitation before he answered
''''Master is right! That kid is from the ''Night star continent as well. Apparently, not only has heprehended the Dao of Light, but in the fourth test to enter the sect, he even revealed that he hasprehended the Dao of the Buddha!
It seems that Elder He Kun has personally epted him as a personal disciple as well, making his status the same as Liu Mei''s and Xie Xingyi''s.''''
''''Elder He Kun? What the hell is going on with every single one of those monsters? Isn''t that old man He Kun from the same generation as the chief of the inner court Elders, Elder Sun Wen? I thought he wouldn''t be epting any more disciples in his life!''''
Unfortunately, Liao Changming didn''t give Elder Zhi any more time to daydream, as he took a deep breath and continued with a serious look in his eyes.
''''As for thest person, his name is Jiang Chen. Master, for some reason, I couldn''t find anything about him, not even which continent he came from.
I am not sure how that''s even possible, but I did find out, that during the fourth test of the sect he actually revealed his bloodline.
In the end... he is the same as Shun Long... a monster with an immortal-grade bloodline!''''
Chapter 582: I am awake
Chapter 582: I am awake
Elder Zhi''s heart started to beat wildly as he stared at the yellow-robed young man in front of him, with a look of realization, as well as horror in his eyes.
As soon as he raised his head, Liao Changming was stunned when he saw the look of fear in his master''s eyes.
Elder Zhi didn''t even question how there was another monster with an immortal-grade bloodline in Shun Long''s faction as he asked in a natural, but slightly trembling voice
''''Which Elder has epted him as a disciple?''''
Naturally, for a monster with an immortal-grade bloodline, it was only natural that the inner court Elders would fight to ept him as their disciple.
Although Elder Zhi didn''t know why the Elders of the Holy sect hadn''t turned their eyes towards Shun Long yet, and even though Liao Changming''s investigation hadn''t given him an answer about this either, this Elder of the Administration Hall who had been hoping to take care of Shun Long before he was noticed by the Elders now realized that it was all a fool''s dream!
He had been extremely naive from the beginning!
If Shun Long''s faction had 4 members, all of whom were personal disciples of the inner court Elders, how could the inner court Elders possibly not have noticed Shun Long already?
''''Something is definitely going on! I can''t get involved in this matter any longer!''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Elder Zhi looked at Liao Changming who nodded his head before he answered in a respectful tone
''''Master, it''s Elder Yao XueDong. He is the one who epted him as his personal disciple!''''
Nodding his head, Elder Zhi looked at his disciple who was kneeling in front of him, and without asking any further questions, he said in a serious tone that brought chills down Liao Changming''s heart
''''Changming, you will stop any further investigations regarding that kid and the people in his faction at once! If I find out that you keep doing that, you will receive punishment from me personally!''''
Elder Zhi''s cold voice and his sudden order made Liao Changming shiver in fear, as he lowered his head even further and said
''''Yes, master!''''
Although that was what Liao Changming had said on the outside, he was actually grumbling inwardly that his master was so unreasonable.
He was the one who ordered him to investigate everything, and yet now he acted like it was all Liao Changming''s idea?
Unfortunately, Liao Changming didn''t dare to say anything, as he simply nodded his head before he left his master''s room.
Standing all by himself inside the empty room, Elder Zhi first took out a deep breath to finally calm himself down, before he waved his hand, taking out a small ck-colored crystal ball from his spatial ring.
After staring at the crystal ball in silence for a few moments he ced his hand on top of the ball''s surface, before the voice of an old man sounded from the ball barely a few momentster, as it reverberated throughout the silent room
''''Zhi Xiuying, what took you so long, you old fart? Do you finally have any news for me?''''
''''Yan Gong... I suggest you give up. Things have gone beyond your control already.''''
...
At the same time that this conversation was taking ce in Elder Zhi''s room, in a private room inside a luxurious inn at the heart of the Holy city, Shun Long who had already entered the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' had no idea that 2 peak Dao Kings were discussing about him, as he kept cultivating with his eyes closed while the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' continued to fill the air around him with pure qi.
In the blink of an eye, 2 weeks had gone by as Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
A mountain of middle-grade spirit stones had covered his surroundings, but most of them seemed to have lost their luster and were just a few moments away from turning into dust.
Raising his head, Shun Long saw the 27 balls of qi that were floating above his head, all of them emitting the same light.
In the past 2 weeks, Shun Long had used more than 130.000 middle-grade spirit stones to reach the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, and fully purify every single one of his qi balls, bringing them all at the same level as the 27th qi ball.
Since today marked the end of the 1-month period where everyone had toplete their faction missions and meet up in front of the Holy sect''s entrance, Shun Long stopped cultivating and stood up from his usual seat, before he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
At that moment however, before he could actually return to his room inside the inn, Shun Long felt the air inside the foggy space suddenly turn heavy and stifling as a terrifying aura erupted from behind him.
This aura that was filled with endless majesty and bloodlust was much more powerful than anything that Shun Long had ever felt so far, and yet, it only caused a huge smile to break on his face, as Shun Long turned around and stared at the scene behind him.
At the same time that Shun Long turned around, Little ck''s eyes that had remained closed for more than 2 years suddenly opened, causing the powerful, chaotic aura that wasing from his body to be even more intense!
The air inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' turned even heavier, but Shun Long didn''t seem to feel the slightest bits of pressure from this, as he stared at the ck dragon in front of him with a relieved smile on his face.
This feeling onlysted for a single moment before the auraing from Little ck''s body instantly calmed down, causing the entire foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' to return to normal.
Staring at Shun Long with his bright blue eyes that seemed to hold a myriad of emotions inside them, Little ck''s spoke a momentter, his voice sounding directly inside Shun Long''s mind
''''Master, I am awake!''''
-
Author''s note: This chapter waste today since I have been feeling some pain in my wrist today and I didn''t want to rush it. It''s nothing serious so don''t worry. We are still getting another chapter in the next few hours as well.
Chapter 583: Little Black waking up
Chapter 583: Little ck waking up
Little ck stretched his head covering Shun Long''s body with it, before he asked in a curious tone
''''Master, how long have I been sleeping for?''''
''''A little more than 2 years.''''
Patting Little ck''s head, Shun Long answered with a smile on his face, obviously having missed his dragon''spany during this time.
Little ck stayed silent for a moment when he heard this, as he knew that the 2 years that Shun Long mentioned, only counted for the years spent in the outside world.
Since he had stayed inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' during this time, Little ck understood that he had spent more than 20 years asleep.
Naturally, for a magic beast like a dragon who could sleep for thousands of years without the need to wake up, sleeping for 20 years was nothing.
But for Little ck, things werepletely different.
He knew that every time that he fell asleep to advance his strength, he would be unable to wake up and help Shun Long if he really needed it.
Little ck also knew that after the first 2 years had gone by, Shun Long would participate in the Holy sect''s test.
Although Little ck didn''t know what the Holy sect''s tests entailed, he understood that even though Shun Long''s cultivation had yet to reach the Nascent Soul stage back then, he would certainly attract a lot of attention during the test.
''''Master''s talents are definitely not something that people from this mortal world canpare with. Even the biggest geniuses from the Immortal Dimension wouldn''t dare topare themselves with master if they were sent in this ce without any immortal-grade spirit stones.''''
As this thought appeared in Little ck mind, the enormous ck dragon first looked around him, and surprised that he didn''t find Little SIlver in this ce, he looked at Shun Long with a curious look in his eyes and asked
''''Master, can you tell me what happened while I was asleep?''''
Since Little ck had guessed that Shun Long had already entered the Holy sect, he wanted to know what Shun Long had experienced during this time.
Nodding his head, Shun Long sat back down on his seat before he started to narrate everything that he had experienced ever since Little ck had fallen asleep to absorb the Dragonstone, from his experience inside the ''Ten-thousand beasts'' mountain range'' with Liu Mei, to him entering the Holy sect and revealing his dragonic bloodline and forming his own faction.
He also told Little ck about Jiang Chen and his immortal-grade bloodline that came from the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'', as well as his background and the background of his mother, both of whom came from the Yu family of the ''Eternal Darkness world''.
Naturally, he also mentioned Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian, without missing even the slightest details.
From Liu Mei and the rest of his faction members epting the inner court Elders of the Holy sect as their masters, to the missions that he had epted during this time, and even mentioning the Dao Tower at the heart of the Holy city, Shun Long told Little ck who kept listening quietly.
Shun Long didn''t even skip the hostility that Sheng Huang had showed him after they had entered the sect, causing the ck dragon to narrow his eyes dangerously.
''''A brat from that Shengtian dynasty? The next time that we return back to the Deste East, I willpletely eradicate that dynasty then!''''
Little ck''s words didn''t have the slightest hints of mercy inside them, as he mentioned destroying a dynasty that had stood for almost a hundred thousand years like it was the most trivial thing, one that didn''t even need any further thought.
Shun Long however simply smiled, as he understood that Little ck was definitely strong enough to say something like that.
Before absorbing the dragonstone, Shun Long knew that Little ck was still at the middle of rank 6, but from the auraing from his body now, it was obvious that he had definitely exceeded the rank 6 already.
Even if he was at the peak of rank 6, Shun Long guessed that Little ck would still be strong enough to fight against early-stage Dao Emperors without any problem.
Peak Dao Kings like the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun, and even the hall master of the Demon Emperor Pce, Duan Zhu could no longer be mentioned in the same breath as Little ck!
But now that he had broken through to the rank 7, Little ck was at the same level as a Dao Emperor, the same level as the inner court Elders of the Holy sect!
A Dao Emperor could control an entire continent by himself, holding billions of life in his hands. It wasn''t something that peak Dao Kings like the Dao King from the Shengtian dynasty couldpare themselves with!
With a deep look in his eyes, Little ck ignored a ''worm'' like Sheng Jun, and staring at Shun Long he then said in a serious voice
''''Master, although I have never gone to the ''Eternal Darkness world'' with master in the past, for a family to possess the bloodline of a mythic-rank magic beast like the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' and still remain standing without being destroyed, even if their strength isn''t anywhere close to the peak of the Immortal Dimension, they are definitely not going to be weak either.''''
''''Mythic-rank magic beast?''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Little ck''s warning to not take them lightly, as he already knew that the Yu family wasn''t going to be easy to fight against.
However, what surprised Shun Long was the words ''Mythic-rank magic beast''.
Even though he clearly knew that the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' belonged to the upper spectrum of the stronger magic beasts in the ''Immortal Dimension'', even in the Holy sect, Shun Long had never heard of such a ssification of magic beast ranks.
Nodding his head, Little ck then started to exin
''''In the Immortal Dimension, magic beasts are split into different categories depending on their strength and how rare they are.
The lowest are the mon'' rank, followed by the ''rare'' rank and then the ''elite'' rank magic beasts.
However, in this mortal world that master is right now, there are probably only mon'' rank magic beasts and even ''rare'' rank magic beasts are extremely difficult to find. As for ''elite'' rank ones, I don''t think that there will be any in this ce.
After the ''elite rank'' is the ''mythic'' rank, and finally the ''legendary'' rank.
The magic beasts that stand at the peak of the ''legendary rank'' are even called Kings of magic beasts.
As for the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' that the Yu family has taken their bloodline from, it is a powerful ''Mythic rank'' magic beast.''''
Chapter 584: Little Black waking up (2)
Chapter 584: Little ck waking up (2)
Little ck knew that Shun Long had yet to fully regain his memories, so he knew that he had to exin the ranks of magic beasts in the ''Immortal Dimension''.
''''Although the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' doesn''t stand at the peak of the ''Mythic rank'', it is still among the 15 strongest ''Mythic rank magic beasts''! That Yu family is definitely extremely lucky to be able to obtain its bloodline like that!''''
After pausing for a moment, Little ck then continued
''''Of course, it doesn''t matter if it''s a ''Mythic rank'' or even a ''Legendary rank'' magic beast. In front of master, all of them will be able to only bow their heads in the end!''''
Shun Long simply smiled as he patted Little ck''s head, before he said a momentter
''''Little ck, there is a problem with Mei''er''s undead creatures. After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, her undead creatures have started to develop their own consciousness and they are no longer the soulless beings that they were before.
Even though they are now stronger than they were in the past after they developed their own consciousness, they are also more dangerous as well, since Mei''er has to use her soul sense to suppress them during a fight.
ording to the words that Mei''er''s grandmaster left behind, a cultivator of the Dao of Death shouldn''t treat their undead creatures as tools but rather see them as living beings, and use their soul sense topletely suppress the killing intent and all the negative emotions that they emit before a fight.''''
Little ck instantly understood what Shun Long was trying to say, and after staying silent for a while, almost as if he was recalling something, he finally shook his massive dragon head a few secondster as he looked at Shun Long with his bright blue eyes before he answered
''''Master... that is both wrong and right at the same time.
Master must have already realized by now that the Dao of Death is one of the most terrifying Daos in existence, both for those who haveprehended it as well as their enemies.
As soon as a cultivator who hasprehended the Dao of Death breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage, her undead creatures will naturally develop their own soul too as they be stronger!
Of course, since they are undead creatures that are summoned directly from the Death Abyss, they would never have any positive emotions, and instead, they will be filled with malice, killing intent, hunger, and countless other negative emotions.
This isn''t something that can be avoided by any cultivator who hasprehended the Dao of Death, since this is a trait thates from the depths of the souls of every undead creature.
It''s a risk that every cultivator who hasprehended this Dao must take care of by themselves.
However, ording to that family from the Immortal Dimension, it is wrong for a cultivator who hasprehended the Dao of Death to use their soul sense andpletely suppress their undead creatures or treat them like an army.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, you should allow your undead creatures to fully fight, using all their evilness and malice without holding back and only suppress the killing intent that they have towards you and those around you.
Only when they fight at their full strength without being suppressed, will the creatures from the Death Abyss be at their strongest.''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened slightly when he heard this, but a momentter he quickly understood that Elder Xuan hadn''t lied to Liu Mei, but it was simply her master''s insights in the Dao of Death that couldn''tpare to the those from a top family of the Immortal Dimension.
Although it seemed like a small detail, to either have Liu Meipletely suppress the killing intent from her undead creatures during her fights, or simply suppress it when it was targetted towards herself, Shun Long understood that the difference was massive for Liu Mei.
After chatting with Little ck for 2 more hours, Shun Long finally stood up from his seat and closed his eyes, as he imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' and return back to his room.
It was time for him to return back to the Holy sect and meet up with Liu Mei and the others, before they left for the ''Blue star continent'' in the ''Northern region'' toplete the C-rank mission.
Shun Long knew that as long as they managed toplete the mission, their faction would automatically be eligible to join the faction wars inside the Holy sect!
At the same time, Little ck had an overjoyed expression when he heard that Shun Long had unlocked another part of his memories after breaking through to the Nascent Soul a few moments ago.
Leaving the inn, Shun Long flew past the Holy city''s gates, but this time, he didn''t head towards the peak of the Holy mountain.
Instead, he flew towards the opposite direction of the Holy sect, and less than a minuteter, he had already arrived high above the clouds where a ck panther with silver wingszing around in the sky.
The moment that it sensed Shun Long''s presence, Little Silver immediately stood up from the cloud he was lying on and flew towards Shun Long without any hesitation.
After greeting Little Silver whom he hadn''t seen for thest 2 months, Shun Long patted the panther''s head warmly and ced him inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he flew straight towards the Holy sect a few momentster.
As soon as he arrived at the peak of the Holy mountain, Shun Long''s eyes instantlynded on a group of 4 young men and women who were standing a few meters away from the Holy sect''s entrance, as his lips slowly curved up into a smile.
Almost as if they sensed Shun Long''s presence, Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi who were chatting together, as well as Jiang Chen who was standing with his eyes closed and Bai Longtian who had his usual warm smile on his face, all turned their eyes towards him at the same time!
Chapter 585: Climbing the highest
Chapter 585: Climbing the highest
With the same smile on his face, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei who was the first one to approach him as she hugged him gently, before he turned his attention towards Xie Xingyi who was staring at him with a blush on her face, as well as Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who were standing a few meters away from each other as he then asked
''''How did everyone''s missions go?''''
''''Brother Shun, no one of us faced any problems. Everyone finished their missions within the first 2 weeks before we visited the Dao Tower in the Holy city.''''
Bai Longtian was the first one to answer, as he took out a deep-red colored token from his spatial ring and showed it to Shun Long.
Jiang Chen nodded his head in agreement after hearing Bai Longtian''s words, as he and Liu Mei, as well as Xie Xingyi, all took out their own tokens from their spatial rings.
Jiang Chen didn''t even nce at the red-colored token in Bai Longtian''s hand, but the moment his eyesnded on Liu Mei''s and Xie Xingyi''s purple tokens, he suddenly froze on the spot.
His own token was indeed a purple token, but he had just entered the purple-rank in the Dao Tower, while it was obvious that both Xingyi''s and Liu Mei''s tokens were a much deeper purple color than his.
Bai Longtian smiled warmly the moment that he looked at Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi''s tokens, before he congratted them without holding back
''''Sister Mei, sister Xingyi, congrattions. It looks like brother Jiang and I are no match for you in terms of our Daoprehension right now.''''
Bai Longtian wasn''t being humble when he said this, while even Jiang Chen ended up nodding his head in agreement with a serious look on his face.
It was obvious that although Bai Longtian''s token was a deep red color that was only a few steps away from entering the purple rank, while Jiang Chen''s token had already entered the purple rank instead, Xie Xingyi''s and Liu Mei''s tokens were already a much deeper shade of purplepared to theirs.
This was even more so for Liu Mei''s token that made even Shun Long''s eyes widen in response, as her ''Dao Tower'' token was almost identical to his own.
This meant that Liu Mei''sprehension of her Dao of Death had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage already.
As for Xie Xingyi''s token, although its purple color wasn''t as deep as Liu Mei''s Shun Long guessed that she was just a step away from her Dao of Shadows reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
Of course, this was only in terms of their Daoprehension.
It was unknown just yet which one of the 4 of them would be stronger if they fought with each other, since everyone had their own strengths.
Liu Mei''s Dao of Death was extremely terrifying, but the same could be said about Xie Xingyi and her Dao of Shadows, as well as her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique''!
However, although Bai Longtian''s and Jiang Chen''s daoprehension seemed to be slightly inferior to the 2 girls at this moment, this didn''t necessarily mean that the 2 of them were weaker than Xie Xingyi and Liu Mei, since they both hadprehended more than 1 Dao instead, and Jiang Chen''s ''Eternal Darkness physique'' as well as Bai Longtian''s ''Golden Buddha unique physique'' weren''t inferior to Xie Xingyi''s physique.
If anything, in terms of purebat ability, their physique was even stronger than Xingyi''s, since her Vanishing Shadows unique physique was more suited towards concealment, speed, survivability as well as surprise attacks, while Bai Longtian''s and Jiang Chen''s physiques were used to fight their opponents head-on.
Of course, it would be dumb for a natural assassin like Xingyi to fight her opponents head-on.
Killing your opponents with one swift strike was always the best choice for her, making her unique physique the best natural augmentation for her abilities!
Xie Xingyi and Liu Mei both smiled warmly at Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen who didn''t conceal their fighting intent in their eyes.
Originally, the 2 of them were only looking at each other as their own rivals, while in their minds Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi were Shun Long''s women.
Even if Shun Long had yet to ''seal the deal'' with Xingyi, based on the interest that Xingyi had shown so far and the fact that she was good friends with Liu Mei and that Shun Long didn''t seem to dislike her, in their eyes, it was only a matter of time before she became his woman.
However, after seeing themselves being left behind in their challenge in the Dao Tower, they both stared at the 2 girls with serious looks filled with fighting intent.
This was even more so after Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and even Xie Xingyi all remembered? Liu Mei''s words before they had split up toplete their faction missions!
''I will see you guys in 1 month. Hehe, let''s take a look at the Dao Tower that Long-ge mentioned and see which of us can climb the highest.''
Even Shun Long felt some excitement when he felt thepetitive spirit in the air around him, before he smiled and said a momentter
''''Let''s go to the Beast Tamer hall and rent a flying magic beast to get us to the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region then.''''
Liu Mei and the rest all turned their eyes towards Shun Long with both eager and excited, but also serious looks in their eyes.
This would be the first faction mission that they would bepleting together, but it was still a C-rank faction mission nheless.
Although every one of them hadpleted a D-rank mission sessfully by themselves, C-rank faction missions were an entirely different matter altogether!
The difficulty between each mission rank was more than a single level, making D-rank and C-rank missions simply iparable to each other.
This was even more so for a mission at the top of the C-rank, where there was even an early stage Dao King that was possibly involved in this.
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Chapter 586: Beast Tamer Hall
Chapter 586: Beast Tamer Hall
With a deep look in his eyes, Shun Long led Jiang Chen and the rest past the Holy sect''s gates, as he started to look for the Beast Tamer hall''s location.
Although Shun Long knew that he could save some of his sect points if he had Little Silver carry them all to the Northern region, he wasn''t nning on exposing Little Silver''s existence just yet.
Thus, he preferred to rent a flying magic beast from the Beast Tamer hall directly, and have it carry them all the way to the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region instead.
After walking for more than an hour, Shun Long finally arrived in front of arge building with the words ''Beast Tamer hall'' right above its entrance.
Even before he entered the building, Shun Long could clearly hear the asional roars of magic beasts that sounded from the inside, before he led Liu Mei and the rest past the building''s entrance.
After he entered inside, Shun Long found himself inside arge lobby with 20 other outer disciples, all of them waiting in front of the reception.
Behind the reception counter Shun Long saw 5 wooden doors, while each door was guarded by at least one outer disciple that had reached the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul.
''''So this is the Beast Tamer hall?''''
Xie Xingyi mumbled in a low voice as her stunning green eyes took in the details of this spacious room and the disciples queueing up in front of the reception counter.
Shun Long and the rest joined the queue for a few minutes, before their turn arrived sometimeter
''''Hello, how can I help you?''''? The yellow-robed young woman behind the counter asked with a smile on her face.
''''I want a flying magic beast to take us to the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region.'''' Shun Long voiced his request without any hesitation, as his eyesnded on the 5 wooden doors behind the reception counter.
He had already seen the disciples before him enter those doors after talking to the 2 girls in the reception counter, so he easily guessed that the magic beasts were all behind the doors.
''''Please follow me!'''' The young woman nodded her head and guided Shun Long towards the third door right behind the reception counter.
The disciple that was guarding the door naturally didn''t stop them, as the yellow-robed young woman opened the door and gestured for Shun Long and the rest to enter inside.
As soon as he walked past the door, Shun Long saw an enormous garden that seemed to span for more than 10 miles, with tens of flying magic beasts either sitting around in their nests, or flying around in the sky.
''''This is the ce where our Beast Tamer hall keeps the flying magic beasts. Unlike those magic beasts that live in the water or thend-based magic beasts who can live in any environment, we keep the flying magic beasts in this open space so they can enjoy some freedom.
Naturally, our beast tamers have made sure that each one of them are docile and won''t try to escape, so there is nothing to worry about.''''
The yellow-robed young woman could guess that it was Shun Long''s and the rest''s first timeing to the Beast Tamer hall, so she exined things with a smile on her face.
''''Is there a specific magic beast that you want to choose? Since you want to get to the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region, I suggest that you pick a peak rank 5 flying magic beast or above.
A middle rank 5 magic beast will need 6 months to take you to the Northern region and 6 more months to return, so the entire journey will take more than a year.''''
''''A year?'''' It wasn''t just Liu Mei who was surprised, as Shun Long and the rest all stared at the young woman in front of them with stunned looks on their faces.
A year just to travel to the ''Blue star continent'' and return back to the Holy sect?
The yellow-robed receptionist nodded her head matter-of-factly before she answered
''''Naturally, the distance between our central region and the northern region isn''t small, so a year is the minimum if you choose a middle rank 5 magic beast.
Of course, middle-rank 5 magic beasts are also the cheapest options, as each of them will only cost you 200 sect points, regardless of how long you rent them for until you return back to the Holy sect.
If you rent a magic beast to transport you during a mission, then it doesn''t matter if you leave the sect for a month or a year, you will still have to pay the same amount in the end.''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long rejected the option right away before he asked
''''What about peak rank 5 and rank 6 beasts?''''
Shun Long had no idea that the distance between the central region and the northern region was so big that it would take a full year just toe and go with a middle rank 5 magic beast.
He would much rather spend more sect points to choose a faster magic beast since that was the case. There was no way he would simply spend an entire year just traveling from the Holy sect to the northern region like this.
The yellow-robed young woman''s face bloomed with a bright smile when she heard Shun Long''s question, before she nodded and exined
''''A peak rank 5 magic beast will only need 4 months to take you to the northern region and 4 more months to return you back to the Holy sect after you have finished your mission. As for the price, it is 500 sect points.''''
Shun Long shook his head without any hesitation before he said
''''What about the rank 6 magic beasts then?''''
He had already decided that if the Beast Tamer hall didn''t have any early rank 6 flying magic beast, he would sell some pills in the Holy city and purchase an early rank 6 flying magic beast for himself.
Although the price would most likely exceed 1.6 million middle-grade spirit stones and could even reach more than 2 million if he was unlucky, in his eyes Shun Long knew that this was a much better option than spending more than half a year in a magic beast''s back.
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Author''s note: 2/3
Chapter 587: Arctic blue bird
Chapter 587: Arctic blue bird
Fortunately, the young woman''s face wasn''t downcast when Shun Long rejected picking a peak rank 5 magic beast, but instead, she smiled even brighter before she walked deeper inside the garden and said
''''Naturally, our Beast Tamer hall has rank 6 magic beasts, whose speed is simply iparable to the magic beasts that are still at the peak of rank 5.
A single early rank 6 magic beast will cost 2000 sect points, and it will only take 2 months to get your group to the northern region.
As for middle rank 6 magic beasts, they cost 5000 sect points, but they will only take 1 month to get you all to the ''Blue star continent'' in the northern region instead.
Naturally, we also have peak rank 6 magic beasts whose price reaches up to 20.000 sect points, and they will only take half a month to get you to the northern region!''''
Understanding that Shun Long wasn''t interested in the peak rank 5 magic beasts, she started to introduce the price of every single rank 6 magic beast, as well as the amount of time it would take for each beast to get Shun Long''s group to the ''Blue star continent''.
After falling silent for a moment, Shun Long nodded his head before he handed the young woman his sect identifying token and said
''''We will take a middle rank 6 magic beast.''''
The yellow-robed young woman was extremely surprised when she heard this, but she still nodded her head happily and epted Shun Long''s token before she deducted 5.000 sect points from it.
She knew that very few outer disciples would be willing to spend so many sect points just to travel from the Holy sect to another region.
As for a group like Shun Long''s where everyone aside from Shun Long seemed to be at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, such a group would normally do everything they can to preserve their sect points, even if that meant spending a year traveling.
After all, which outer disciple didn''tplete missions to gather sect points?
Even if Shun Long''s group was taking on a D-rank faction mission this time, even the toughest D-rank faction missions only gave a few thousand sect points at best.
With the strength of their group where even the strongest person, Jiang Chen, seemed to be at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul, the young woman believed that their mission wouldn''t give them more than 1000 sect points at best.
As for C-rank faction missions, that thought didn''t even cross her mind with their group''s current strength. Although she couldn''t sense Shun Long''s cultivation, the young woman was certain that it was impossible for them toplete a C-rank faction mission by themselves!
Regardless, she still looked at Shun Long with the same bright smile on her face before she said
''''Please follow me.''''
The woman then headed deeper inside the garden, and a few minutester, she arrived in front of a huge tree that was even bigger than the ck trees that Shun Long had seen in the ''Giant Crane forest''.
At the top of the tree, arge blue bird with icy-blue feathers seemed to be resting in its nest that waspletely encased in ice with its eyes closed, not even paying any attention to the rest of the magic beasts flying in the sky.
''''Oh? A middle rank 6 ''Arctic blue bird''?''''
The young woman turned around and looked at Shun Long with even more surprise in her eyes than before, as she nodded her head and said
''''Junior brother is very knowledgeable. I suppose I don''t have to exin things then.
This is indeed an ''Arctic blue bird'' that our Beast Tamer hall has found. It will take you less than a month to get to the ''Blue star continent'' riding on its back.
However, I must warn you that you can''t allow any strangers to approach it, nor can you carry anyone from the ''Blue star continent'' back to the Holy sect other than yourselves.
Only disciples of the Holy sect who possess a sect identifying token can approach the magic beasts from our Beast Tamer hall. If anyone else approaches them, the magic beasts will instantly attack that person.''''
Although Shun Long didn''t know about this, he still nodded his head in an uncaring manner.
He wasn''t nning on getting anyone from the ''Blue star continent'' back to the central region.
As for the ''Arctic blue bird'', Shun Long already knew that it was an ice element flying magic beast that used its feathers as its primary hunting tool when it hunted its prey.
Although its speed was barely above averagepared to most other rank 6 flying magic beasts, the ''Arctic blue bird'' had a very high endurance, so even traveling for 6 months straight wouldn''t be a problem for it, let alone the one month it needed to reach the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region.
Shun Long looked at the yellow-robed young woman and nodded his head, indicating that he was satisfied with the ''Arctic blue bird'' as well.
Although he had spent 5000 sect points for it, leaving him with only 440 sect points, he wasn''t worried since he could sell some pills to the Golden Treasures Hall anytime that he needed sect points.
Besides, he had yet to collect the 7000 sect points that he would obtain after handing in the beast core of the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' in the Assignment Hall.
Nodding her head, the yellow-robed woman took out her sect identifying token and raised it above her head, causing the ''Arctic blue bird'' to open its eyes.
Seeing it spread itsrge, icy blue wings and float downwards from the tree, the young woman turned her attention towards Shun Long before she exined
''''You don''t have to worry, even if you have never been to the northern region before.
Since our Holy sect is located towards the north of the central region as well, all you have to do is order the ''Arctic blue bird'' to fly towards the north, and it will take you to your destination by itself.''''
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Author''s note: 3/3
Chapter 588: Traveling to the Northern region
Chapter 588: Traveling to the Northern region
This time, it wasn''t just Shun Long, but Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, and the rest who were surprised upon hearing that the Holy sect was also located at the north of the central region.
''If a middle rank 6 magic beast needed a whole month to get to the Northern region from the north of the central region, then how long would it need to reach the eastern region or even the south?''
This thought appeared in everyone''s minds, but Shun Long still nodded his head as thanks to the yellow-robed young woman, before he was the first one to jump on the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back.
The bird itself was enormous and was even bigger than Liu Mei''s ''Death Eater'', with a height that exceeded 40 meters(131ft).
It could easily carry a dozen people on its back without it feeling cramped at all.
Once Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all climbed on the bird''s back, Shun Long patted the bird''s back lightly with his right hand, causing it to start pping its wings in response.
In just a few moments, Shun Long could see the Holy sect''s pce getting smaller and smaller in his eyes, as the ''Arctic blue bird'' flew towards the north at full speed.
...
Half a month passed by in the blink of an eye, as Shun Long who was still sitting with his eyes closed, trying to deepen his insights in his Dao of Time during the past month, finally opened them and saw that they were now flying above a city that was even bigger than the Holy city itself.
In the past half a month that they spent on the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back, Shun Long and the rest had already seen 2 more cities that were even bigger than the Holy city as well, and this city right below them was now the third.
Although they didn''t know the city''s name or which power it belonged to, Shun Long and the rest knew that they had already left the Holy sect''s territory long ago.
''''Brother Jiang, your father is from the central region, right? Do you know where we are then?''''? Bai Longtian asked with a look in his eyes that didn''t hide his curiosity.
Although he wasn''t present when Jiang Chen had narrated his story the first time in Shun Long''s room, he still found out about itter on. After all, since they were nning to stay together for a long time, they wouldn''t act as strangers.
Shaking his head, Jiang Chen answered coldly, almost as if he had suddenly remembered something extremely unpleasant
''''Although my father was a member of the Jiang family from the central region, that was a thing in the past. He has already severed all ties with them after they said they would expel him from the family so they wouldn''t have to face the Yu family''s fury!''''
Bai Longtian nodded his head and cupped his hands at Jiang Chen without asking anything else.
Although the 2 of them seemed to bepeting fairly often with each other, Bai Longtian still looked at everyone in their faction, whether that was Shun Long, Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, or Xie Xingyi, as both a rival and a friend, and thus, he felt extremely sorry after hearing about Jiang Chen''s paternal family expelling Jiang Chen and his father.
He had hoped that Jiang Chen would know some more things about the central region since his father''s family came from this ce, but clearly, that wasn''t the case.
After staring at the huge city below them for a few moments, everyone turned their eyes towards the distance ahead of them, at the enormous sea that appeared past therge city below them that didn''t seem to have an end.
''''Long-ge, is this the continental sea?'''' Liu Mei asked before she turned her gaze towards Shun Long who nodded his head in response.
''''Most likely. We have already spent 15 days traveling, so we must be at the northern-most part of the central region already.''''
Shun Long and the rest weren''t surprised when they saw the vast sea in front of them that seemed to have no end, and instead, serious looks had appeared in their eyes.
Although they didn''t know anything about the powers in the central region, they all knew about the name of the sea that surrounded the central region from all sides, making it look like an enormous ind that covered the vast majority of the cultivation world.
They knew that the ''continental sea'' separated every single continent from each other, and it also separated those continents from the central region. Thus, if one wanted to get to another continent from the central region, they had to cross the continental sea first!
Unlike the central region or the continents that surrounded it, it was said that the continental sea was inhabited purely by magic beasts, and its vast majority was still unexplored.
Although there were rumors of some extremely rare and unique treasures being found by some lucky adventurers inside the sea, rumor had it that even some of the strongest experts would be careful upon stepping foot in the continental sea, since extremely rare and dangerous magic beasts were said to be lurking inside.
Of course, this only applied to those people who were reckless enough to explore the sea itself and look for its treasures!
If it was someone who simply wished to cross past the sea and reach another continent, the danger usually wouldn''t be too high, unless they were attacked by a powerful magic beast beyond their capabilities.
As for Shun Long and his group, unless they were unlucky enough to be targeted by an extremely powerful middle rank 6 or an actual peak rank 6 magic beast, they would bepletely safe.
After all, the ''Arctic blue bird'' was strong and fast enough to defend against most predators at the middle of rank 6.
This was also why Shun Long had epted it as his ride without a second thought.
..
In the blink of an eye, 15 more days had passed, as Shun Long saw 5 gigantic continents slowly appearing in the distance ahead.
Chapter 589: The Blue star continent
Chapter 589: The Blue star continent
''''The northern region.''''
The same thought appeared in everyone''s minds the moment they saw the 5 huge continents that slowly appeared in the distance ahead of them.
Shun Long already knew that the northern region was the only region that was said to have 5 continents among the 4 regions. The eastern region had 3 of them, the Night star continent, the Martial star continent, and the Sun star continent, the southern region had 4, while the western region was the only one that had just 2 continents.
As the ''Arctic blue bird'' rapidly approached closer to the 5 continents, Xie Xingyi asked in a curious voice
''''Which one is the ''Blue star continent''?''''
''''The one at the center.''''
Jiang Chen was actually the first one to respond, his confident voice instantly attracting everyone''s attention.
Seeing that everyone had turned their gazes towards him, Jiang Chen calmly nodded his head before he pointed at the 5 continents that were shaping an X mark if one looked at them from the sky, as he then continued
''''Although my father came from the central region, I grew up with him in the ''Pr star continent'' in the northern region. Although I don''t know many things about the northern region itself, I do know some things about the strongest powers in every continent.''''
Shun Long smiled when he heard this and nodded his head as he epted his good luck, since knowing even a few things about the northern region was better than knowing nothing at all.
Patting the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back, he then ordered it to fly straight towards the continent in the middle that looked like it was surrounded by the other 4.
Even with its speed as a middle rank 6 magic beast, it still took a full day for the ''Arctic blue bird'' to cross the distance and arrive at the ''Blue star continent''.
A rtively big coastal city was the first thing that greeted Shun Long''s and the rest''s eyes as soon as they arrived in the continent.
After taking a look around this city from the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back and noticing that this was indeed the biggest city in the surrounding 500 miles, Shun Long had the ''Arctic blue bird'' descend right in front of the city gates.
The city guards and the people queueing up to enter the city were all terrified when they sensed the overpowering aura of a middle rank 6 magic beast looming above their heads, as they turned their attention towards the 5 neers on top of the bird''s back and looked at them with eyes filled with dread.
It didn''t matter if it was the hundreds of people queueing up to enter the city, the dozens of city guards in front of the city gates or those standing on the city walls, silence had immediately descended the moment that everyone felt the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' aura.
A guard dressed in silver armor that was slightly different from the rest of the guards could be seen running from the city walls, until he arrived in front of the enormous blue bird a few momentster.
Staring at the 5 young men and women on the bird''s back who looked like they were preparing to enter the city, the guard started to sweat profusely before he took a deep breath and bowed as he asked in a respectful tone
''''Young lords anddies, wee to the South blue city. I am the captain of the city guards, Meng Niu. Can I help you?''''
It was only natural for the captain of the city guards to feel fear upon seeing 5 people riding on a middle rank 6 magic beast and approach the city.
Although he didn''t know what Shun Long''s group wanted to do in his city, Meng Niu knew that even the city lord of the city was only a middle stage Dao King himself. If he had to fight a middle rank 6 magic beast, everyone could guess what the oue would be, as it wasmon knowledge that magic beasts were stronger than humans at the same level of cultivation.
Hence, although he was afraid, Meng Niu still gritted his teeth and approached the enormous blue bird before he asked Shun Long if he could somehow help them.
''''Where did those peoplee from? They are so young and yet all of them have reached the middle-stages of the Nascent Soul! They obviously aren''t members from the Tang dynasty. Did theye from one of the other 4 continents instead?''''
Although this thought appeared in everyone''s minds, neither the cultivators in front of the city gates nor the city guards dared to look at the neers group for too long, lest they end up identally offending them.
This was extremely hard for the young men among their group who had already had their eyes captured by Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s peerlessly beautiful faces.
At the same time, Shun Long had his attention fully ced on the captain of the city guards in front of him.
He understood that Meng Niu was asking him if he could ''help them'', simply because he wanted to avoid having them enter the city if he could.
Naturally, Shun Long understood that it was only natural for the captain of the city guards to look out for the city''s safety, and neither he nor Liu Mei and the rest seemed to mind, since the South blue city wasn''t the city they had to visit in the ''Blue star continent'' in the first ce.
The only reason why Shun Long had chosen to stop in this city was because this was the first big city that he had found and he wanted to purchase a map of the rest of the continent.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Meng Niu who seemed to still be waiting for his answer and cupped his hands before he said
''''We were nning to enter the city and purchase a map of the ''Blue star continent'' since this is our first time here. I wonder if captain Meng can help us.''''
Meng Niu heaved out a sigh of relief inwardly the moment he heard this, as he hurriedly nodded with a smile on his face and said
''''Of course! It seems that this is your first time in the ''Blue star continent''. Naturally, there is no need for you to enter the city for such a small matter. Please ept this map as a personal gift from me.''''
Meng Niu then took out a scroll from his spatial ring and tossed it in the air, allowing it tond right in front of Shun Long who caught it with his right hand.
After taking a look at the scroll in his hands, Shun Long took out a small pouch from his spatial ring and tossed it towards Meng Niu before he cupped his hands and thanked him.
Without waiting for a response, he then patted the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back for the second time, causing it to instantly p its beautiful light blue wings as it quickly soared in the sky.
Staring at the disappearing figure of the 40 meters tall blue bird, Meng Niu turned his gaze towards the small pouch in his hand and opened it almost out of reflex.
The moment that his eyes saw the 300 middle-grade spirit stones inside the pouch however, his heart started to beat in excitement.
Although 300 middle-grade spirit stones was nothing to Shun Long, it wasn''t a small sum even for a head of guards like Meng Niu, let alone the rest of the guards.
Even as ate-stage Nascent Soul cutlivator, every month Meng Niu only obtained 10.000 low-grade spirit stones, which tranted to 100 middle-grade spirit stones.
As for the map that he had given to Shun Long, its price wasn''t more than 2000 low-grade spirit stones.? Even the most expensive maps only costed around 6000 low-grade spirit stones at most, which tranted to 60 middle-grade spirit stones.
At the same time that the rest of the guards looked at their captain enviously, Shun Long was still guiding the ''Arctic blue bird'' towards the heart of the Blue star continent, to the ce where the Tang city was located.
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Happy voting.
Chapter 590: Tang city
Chapter 590: Tang city
''''Long-ge, how far away are we from Tang city?''''
Hearing Liu Mei''s question Shun Long nodded his head before he took a look at the map that he had gotten from Meng Niu.? After roughly calcting the distance he then said
''''With the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' speed we should be around half a day away from reaching it.''''
Everyone nodded their heads when they heard this while they were unable to conceal the gleams of excitement inside their eyes.
No matter what, this was the first actual faction mission that they were doing together as a faction!
..
As the ''Arctic blue bird'' flew across the ''Blue star continent'', Shun Long had already seen many big and small-sized cities on the ground, making him realize that the ''Blue star continent'' seemed to be even more popted than the Night star continent that he and Liu Mei were in the eastern region.
Finally, a little more than 11 hourster, a huge city that seemed to be even bigger than the Heaven''s Dome city in the Night star continent slowly appeared in the distance ahead, instantly attracting everyone''s attention!
''''The Tang city!''''
Judging from the time that had passed ever since they had left the ''South blue city'' and from the huge size of this city itself that was the biggest one that they had seen so far in the ''Blue star continent'', everyone could easily guess that the city in front of them was most likely their target, the Tang city.
Before they arrived closer to the city walls Shun Long turned around and looked at Liu Mei and the rest with a smile on his lips, before he waved his hand, taking out a pitch ck robe from the ''Stone of Time'' and wore it above his yellow robes.
Everyone instantly understood what Shun Long wanted to do, and without any hesitation, Liu Mei and the rest all smiled, as they took out simr ck robes from their spatial rings and wore them as well, instantly covering their yellow robes that indicated that they are outer disciples of the Holy sect.
in ck robes was one of the necessities that every cultivator always had with them along with them, along with high-grade ''anti-toxin pills'', ''healing pills'' and ''Qi replenishing pills''.
''''Brother Long is afraid that we will be discovered by the people from the Tang dynasty?''''
Xie Xingyi asked the same question that everyone had in their minds after shepletely covered herself with her ck robes.
''''Although most people won''t recognize our yellow robes, in the off-chance that the Tang dynasty actually does, our mission will be nearly impossible to seed. After all, 5 disciples of the Holy sect visiting the Tang city at the same time, will definitely end up rming them.''''
Suddenly, Shun Long changed their direction, and instead of heading straight towards the huge city in the distance, he had the ''Arctic blue bird'' fly towards a small forest not too far away from them.
The middle rank 6 magic beastnded on the forest a few momentster, before Shun Long and the others all got down from its back.
Holding his sect identifying token in his hand, Shun Long activated the ''Memory recording formation'' before he patted the bird''s head and ordered it to stay here for a few days.
Although Shun Long didn''t have a mental connection with the ''Arctic blue bird'' like he did with Little ck and Little Silver, as a middle rank 6 magic beast, the bird''s intelligence wasn''t inferior to an adult human''s and it could easily understand what Shun Long had said.
''''Keeew!''''
After letting out a small cry, the huge bird headed deeper inside the small forest, almost as if it was looking for a good ce to stay in.
''''Little ck, is there any other middle rank 6 magic beast in this forest?''''
Shun Long sent a mental message to Little ck who was still munching on a stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'' inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Although the rank 5 grass naturally didn''t have any effect on a rank 7 magic beast, Little ck seemed to still be enjoying its taste quite a bit.
Closing his eyes, Little ck then spread his soul sense around Shun Long''s body, before he answered a momentter
''''Master, don''t worry, that bird will probably be safe. The strongest magic beast in this forest is just a newly advanced early rank 6 wolf.''''
Shun Long nodded his head upon hearing Little ck''s confirmation, before he deactivated the ''Memory recording formation'' from his sect identifying token and turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and the rest.
Then, with a calm smile on his face he said
''''Let''s go to the Tang city!''''
As soon as he finished speaking Shun Long shot to the sky as he headed towards the city in the distance, with Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian all following right behind him.
The huge city was very close to the small forest where Shun Long had just left the ''Arctic blue bird'', and barely an hourter they had finally arrived in front of the city gates.
The moment that they arrived closer to the city gates, everyone noticed the words ''Tang city'' that were ted in gold and were written above the city gates in a bold manner.
Although the queue in front of the city gates was long, Shun Long noticed that it obviously couldn''t bepared to the bustling Holy city''s.
20 minutester, it was finally Shun Long''s turn to enter the city.
A city guard wearing a bronze armor with the words ''Tang dynasty'' took a step forward and approached him, before he stretched out his hand and said in a disinterested tone
''''3000 low-grade spirit stones for each person.''''
Waving his hand, Shun Long took out 15.000 low-grade spirit stones from the ''Stone of Time'' and handed them to the guard before he and his group stepped past the city gates and finally entered Tang city.
Even before he had started to walk on the streets of the city, after taking just a brief look at his surroundings, Shun Long quickly realized that Tang city was among the most bustling cities that he had seen so far, second only to the Holy city!
Even Yanzhu city couldn''t bepared to the amount of life and the sheer number of people that were walking on the streets of this city!
However, just as Shun Long finished taking a look at his surroundings, Little ck''s serious voice sounded in his mind a few momentster
''''Master, there is a Dao Emperor inside this city.''''
Chapter 591: Noble Tang restaurant
Chapter 591: Noble Tang restaurant
''''A Dao Emperor?''''
Shun Long''s body suddenly froze while his eyes widened the moment he heard Little ck''s voice inside his mind.
However, he still calmed down quickly barely a few momentster, after remembering what he had heard in the ''Alchemist''s Guild'' in Heaven''s Dome city 2 years ago.
The old woman from the ''Alchemist''s Guild'', Jin Wenling, had told him that at least one Dao Emperor needed to be present and control every continent around the central region.
Since Shun Long knew that there weren''t any Dao Emperors in the Night star continent, he had already forgotten about it, but it seemed like the Night star continent was simply an exception to this rule due to its poor qi that wasn''t enough to nurture any Dao Emperors.
''''It doesn''t matter, as long as we don''t expose the fact that wee from the Holy sect, it''s unlikely that a Dao Emperor will suddenly turn his attention to 5 Nascent Soul stage juniors for no reason. And even if he does, I doubt that he would dare to truly do anything to us anyway! Besides, if things really end up turning bad, I still have Little ck.''''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long no longer bothered with this matter as he turned his attention towards Liu Mei and the rest and said with a smile on his face
''''Let''s have a look at this Tang city first. Our mission can wait for a bit.''''
Everyone nodded as they all followed after Shun Long who had started to walk around the busy streets of Tang city.
Half an hourter, Shun Long''s group entered inside a big building named Noble Tang restaurant.
This was supposedly the best restaurant in the entirety of Tang city.
Rich merchants, people of high status within Tang city, nobles, and sometimes even people from the royal family were the ones who would normallye to eat in this ce.
Someone without enough spirit stones would never dare to step foot inside this building, since there were rumors that the royal family of the Tang dynasty was the force behind this restaurant.
A beautiful young woman dressed in a long red dress was the one to wee Shun Long and the rest inside as soon as they entered the building.
The young woman''s eyes instantly lit up the moment she saw the 3 extremely handsome men and the 2 kingdom toppling beauties enter the restaurant, as she skillfully bowed, slightly exposing some of her cleavage in the process, as she said in the most enticing voice she could muster
''''Young masters, youngdies, wee to the Noble Tang restaurant. What can I do for you?''''
Noticing that the first floor of the restaurant that only had 20 tables was almost fully crowded, Shun Long turned his eyes to the young woman in front of him and gave her 10 middle-grade spirit stones before he said
''''Give us a table on the second floor.''''
''''Of course! Please follow me, young master!''''
The young woman''s eyes instantly brightened upon receiving the 10 middle-grade spirit stones, before she led Shun Long and the rest to the second floor.
Her monthly sry was only 1000 low-grade spirit stones, and she had just received the entirety of it just now!
After Shun Long sat on the table with Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi sitting on his left and right respectively, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian sat next to them as well, the young woman in the red dress looked at Shun Long with her sparkling brown eyes and asked
''''Young master, what would you like me to bring you?''''
Shun Long didn''t even ask her for her menu as he said
''''I heard that your restaurant is famous for your ''royal Tang wine'' that only the royal family of the Tang dynasty can drink.''''
The young woman nodded her head with a somewhat proud look on her face as she responded
''''Young master is correct. In the entirety of Tang city, I can assure young master that you won''t find a better wine than the ''royal Tang wine'', and the only ce you can find it is our Noble Tang restaurant. However, I need to warn young masters that this wine is extremely expensive, with every single jug costing 1000 middle-grade spirit stones, while every person is only allowed to purchase at most 2 jugs of it every day.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he said
''''Bring us 5 jugs of it, as well as a dozen dishes of your restaurant''s best food.''''
5 jugs of their best wine and a dozen dishes of their best food!
The young woman stood there with a stunned expression, not knowing how to react.
This was an extremely expensive order that she wasn''t prepared to hear.
She was certain that upon hearing the expensive price, Shun Long wouldn''t be able to afford it and would opt out to choose something else.
A momentter she took a deep breath and asked gently with that same professional smile on her face
''''Young master, your order would be 9500 middle-grade spirit stones. Are you certain about it?''''
It was only natural for her to ask since 9500 middle-grade spirit stones wasn''t a small amount even for the scions of the richest families within Tang city!
Shun Long nodded his head before he waved his hand, causing a rumbling sound to fill the almost empty second floor of the Noble Tang restaurant, as the table in front of him was instantly filled with a small mountain of spirit stones.
The young woman and even the people sitting at the 2 other tables all stared at this scene with their mouths agape.
Although only rich merchants or people with high status would usuallye to eat in this ce, those who were rich enough to spend nearly 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones for a single meal could be counted on one hand within Tang city!
Chapter 592: Royal Tang wine
Chapter 592: Royal Tang wine
The red-dressed young woman''s eyes were filled with the sight of the spirit stones, before Jiang Chen coughed a momentter bringing her back to her senses.
''''My apologies young master!''''
The young woman bowed and apologized as she looked at Shun Long, and unknown if it was intentional or not, this time she exposed even more of her pale white skin.
After feeling the 2 displeased gazesing from Liu Mei and Xingyi, she then straightened her back and waved both of her hands, immediately gathering all of the spirit stones inside her spatial ring before she hurriedly left the second floor.
Liu Mei smiled when she saw this and gently held Shun Long''s arm, before she said in an enticing tone
''''It seems like everyone has their eyes set on my Long-ge.''''
Shun Long simply smiled and shook his head when he heard this, before he turned his eyes towards the other 2 groups on the second floor who had turned their attention towards him.
From the luxurious clothes they were wearing, Shun Long guessed that they weren''t merchants, but most likely nobles of the Tang city.
After seeing that Shun Long was looking at them as well, they simply nodded towards him in a friendly manner before they carried on eating. Since they didn''t know his identity, they weren''t going to offend him for no reason.
As for the red-dressed young woman, Shun Long didn''t care about her in the slightest.
Putting her appearance aside, Shun Long wasn''t someone who would go around collecting every random woman that he saw even if she was beautiful enough, let alone when it was a woman that was simply attracted to spirit stones like that red-dressed woman.
Such a woman would never enter his sights to begin with.
After all, Shun Long had yet to respond to Xingyi''s feelings even though he knew that she was interested in him while Liu Mei wasn''t against it either, so why would he pay attention to someone like this red-robed woman who was clearly inferior to her in every single aspect?
It only took 15 minutes for the woman in the red dress to return to the second floor, with 2 female waiters following after her, while their hands were all full carrying a dozen dishes as well as 5 jugs of wine.
After cing everything orderly on Shun Long''s table, the red-dressed woman and the 2 female waiters all bowed before they said
''''Young masters, youngdies, please enjoy your meal.''''
The woman in the red dress then added in
''''If there is anything else that you need please don''t hesitate to call me.''''
Without waiting for a response, she then led the 2 female waiters as they left the second floor.
Turning his eyes towards the food that had filled the table, Shun Long picked up one of the 5 jars of wine and removed its lid.
The moment that the jar''s lid was removed, a sweet scent immediately filled the entire second floor of the Noble Tang restaurant, causing the 2 other groups who had just started to eat their food to involuntarily turn their eyes back towards Shun Long''s table.
The royal Tang wine was indeed the best wine in the entirety of Tang city.
The scenting from it was pleasant but not overbearing, yet it still made one immediately want to taste it the moment they smelled it.
After taking just a single whiff of its scent, Shun Long instantly understood why this wine was so popr, as he said in a low voice
''''No wonder they sell a single jar for 1000 middle-grade spirit stones. The power behind this Noble Tang restaurant definitely isn''t a pushover.''''
The 2 other groups who had turned their attention towards Shun Long''s table all mocked Shun Long inwardly for trying to appear knowledgeable.
The power behind the Noble Tang restaurant isn''t a pushover?
Who didn''t know that already?
However, they still made sure to keep these thoughts in their minds for now.
''''Brother Long, is there something special about this wine?''''
Xie Xingyi asked in a curious voice, naturally not paying any attention to the 2 groups who were seated a few tables away from them, while Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were all looking at Shun Long as they waited for his answer.
Shun Long nodded and without even tasting the wine in his hands he answered
''''In a certain way, it is indeed special, since this wine was created by a mix of more than a dozen of rank 3 medicinal herbs as well as a rank 4 medicinal herb.
The main ingredient of this wine is a rank 4 herb called the ''Fragrant dew flower''. Among rank 4 medicinal herbs, the ''Fragrant dew flower'' is a rtivelymon herb, but it is extremely good when it is used to create wine.
However, that is not the main reason why this wine is good. Instead, it''s because a high-rank alchemist personally made this. At the very least, it''s a rank 1 gold grade alchemist if not a rank 2 one.''''
Jiang Chen, Xie Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all stared at Shun Long with looks of shock in their eyes.
Although they already knew that Shun Long was a genius alchemist, especially after tasting his wine back in the Holy sect, they hadn''t expected that he would be able to guess what the ''Royal Tang wine'' was made of after taking just a single whiff of its scent, since even peak rank 3 gold grade alchemists most likely wouldn''t be able to find out something like that so easily.
After all, alchemy was a long process that needed hundreds of years of experience, and regardless of how talented Shun Long was, this had already exceeded the realm of a ''genius''!
As for Liu Mei, a dazzling smile was formed on her lips as she wasn''t surprised in the slightest.? She knew that Shun Long''s knowledge on alchemy and medicinal herbs was already far above any rank 3 gold grade alchemist.
Perhaps even the alchemists above the gold grade would have a hard timepeting with Shun Long simply based on pure knowledge regarding pill concoction and medicinal herbs.
As for the people sitting at the 2 tables away from Shun Long''s, their expressions weren''t much different from Bai Longtian''s and the rest in the beginning, but scornful looks appeared on their faces a few momentster.
''''What a joke! Kid, you really are ignorant! You think you can find out the recipe of the Royal Tang wine after just smelling it once? Why don''t you say that you are already a star-rank alchemist?''''
A fat man couldn''t help but mock Shun Long loudly after eavesdropping in their conversation, not caring if he was going to offend them anymore, causing Xie Xingyi and the rest to furrow their brows in displeasure.
At that moment, Jiang Chen stood up with a cold look in his eyes, as he walked towards the fat man''s table without any hesitation, while his body was emitting a dense, unrestrained aura of killing intent.
Shaking his head, Shun Long didn''t even take a look at the fat man and his group of 3 who were startled after seeing Jiang Chen walking towards them before he said calmly
''''Jiang Chen, don''t kill them.''''
Nodding his head, Jiang Chen didn''t even turn around as he answered
''''Don''t worry. Even though I won''t kill them, I will make them wish they were dead.''''
Chapter 593: Special attention
Chapter 593: Special attention
The fat man and his group of 3 immediately stood up from their table and faced Jiang Chen with cold looks in their eyes.
Although they wanted to avoid offending Shun Long''s group due to their unknown identity, since they had already done so, they knew that a fight was impossible to avoid.
However, the 4 of them didn''t seem afraid in the slightest.
After all, aside from the middle-aged fat man who was just a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the other 2 middle-aged men and the old man in his group had all reached the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul.
As for Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, it was clear to them that all 3 of them were just early and middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivators!
As for Jiang Chen, even though he was emitting a dense aura of killing intent, it was obvious that his cultivation was still at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul!
''''Hehe, you said that you will make us wish we were dead? Brat, I don''t know which power youe from but it''s obvious that you are not from our Blue star continent. Aside from the Tang dynasty and a few extremely powerful individuals, no one else would be so daring to say such words in public without knowing who they are facing. Let this old man teach you a lesson personally so you will be more humble in the future! Hehe, don''t worry, I won''t kill you.''''
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the 3 peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators near the fat man suddenly stepped forward, appearing in front of Jiang Chen in a single instant.
Shun Long barely turned his head and nced at the old man in bright red robes who looked like he was about to punch Jiang Chen in the chest before his lips curved up into a mocking smile.
''''AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH''''
The people on the second floor of the restaurant didn''t even have enough time to react as they heard the loud cry that left the peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert''s mouth, before they saw his body being sent flying back like a cannonball.
The old man''s loud scream reverberated throughout the entire second floor of the Noble Tang restaurant and if it wasn''t for the noise-isting formations on this floor, his voice would have definitely be heard by the people on the first floor as well.
Silence soon filled the entire floor, as the fat man who had just started this fight, the other 2 peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators from his group, and even the people from the other group who were still sitting on their table and were watching everything calmly previously, all stared at Jiang Chen''s with mouths agape.
It had only taken a single punch for a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator to defeat someone who had already reached the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul?
''''Who the hell is this kid?''''
''''A monster! He is a monster!''''
Jiang Chen didn''t even pay any attention to the hushed discussionsing from the people of the other group who were all staring at him in shock, as he calmly retracted his fist in a cold manner, and after staring at the old man who had fallen on the ground and seemed like he had already lost consciousness after colliding with the wall, he actually didn''t stop, as he started to walk towards the fat man and the remaining 2 peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators from his group, who were now looking at him with hints of dread in their eyes.
The fat man looked like he could no longer endure this pressure as he suddenly took a step forward and looked at Jiang Chen before he said in a threatening manner
''''Brat, you better know when to stop. If you don''t, I will make sure that your life in Tang city bes a living hell! You have no idea who you are messing with!''''
Unfortunately for him, Jiang Chen didn''t seem to have cared about his threat at all as a pair of pitch-ck wings suddenly appeared from his back.
The next moment, the fat man''s body had already fallen on the ground, lying right next to the old man from before as well as the other 2 peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators from his group.
However, unlike the other 3, the fat man hadn''t lost consciousness, causing Jiang Chen to stare at him with an evil smile on his face as he stood less than a meter in front of him.
The terrifying demonic auraing from his body instantly made the fat man shiver before Jiang Chen''s voice resounded throughout the silent second floor the next moment
''''Next time, you should keep your mouth shut and not interrupt others when they are having a meal. Hmm, maybe I should rip that mouth of yours so you don''t get to speak again.''''
The fat man in red robes trembled upon hearing Jiang Chen''s calm voice but the only thing that could be heard on the silent second floor of the restaurant in the next few seconds was only the man''s screams.
A momentter, Jiang Chen sat back on the table with Shun Long and the rest, before he took off the lid of his wine jar in a nonchnt matter and actually took a sip.
''''Hahaha! Master, this brat is really interesting!''''
Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind the next moment, causing Shun Long to smile and nod his head in agreement.
It didn''t matter if it was Xingyi, Jiang Chen or Bai Longtian, all 3 of them had entirely different characters and yet they still fit with him and Liu Mei as well.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all nodded their heads before they started to either eat or drink without caring for what had happened just now, causing the people from the other group to stare at them with eyes full of shock, almost as if they were looking at 5 monsters.
What they didn''t know was that Shun Long wouldn''t pay any attention to that fat man and the other 3 people from his group in the first ce.
Although he was slightly concerned about being noticed by the royal family of the Tang dynasty beforehand which would make his n harder, he knew that it was simply impossible for the royal family to turn their attention towards him simply because of a single fight inside a restaurant in Tang city, unless the fat man was actually a member of the royal family himself.
However, based on the fat man''s attitude as well as his words from before that, it was obvious that this was not the case as he clearly wasn''t a member of the royal family.
Half an hourter, after they finished their meal, Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the rest left the Noble Tang restaurant under the terrified gazes of the other group on the second floor who hadn''t dared to move until now.
As for the fat man and his group, they would either lie on the second floor of the restaurant until they regained consciousness or until the staff of the restaurant found them.
Although Jiang Chen had made sure that the fat man and the rest wouldn''t die, the pain they would feel after waking up would truly make them feel like they wish they were dead. This was even more so for the fat man who had received ''special attention'' from Jiang Chen in the end.
After walking around the streets of Tang city for about an hour, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly narrowed as he had finally arrived in front of an enormous pce that was surrounded by hundreds of guards who were vigntly staring at their surroundings.
Chapter 594: Infiltrating the royal palace
Chapter 594: Infiltrating the royal pce
The pce itself seemed to have been coated by a bright silver metal, while countless protective formations that could be activated in an instant if someone was bold enough to attack it were engraved on its walls.
As for the hundreds of guards that were situated around the pce gate and were vigntly staring at their surroundings, they were there to make sure that no one would even think of sneaking inside the pce.
Surprisingly, every single guard had already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and even without approaching too close to them, Shun Long could feel that most of them were actively using their soul sense every now and then, making sure that no one was sneaking past them to enter the pce.
Naturally, even for Nascent Soul stage cultivators, using their soul sense too often was extremely draining and it would quickly exhaust them mentally as well.
At that moment, Shun Long noticed the look in Jiang Chen''s eyes suddenly turning serious, as Jiang Chen looked at him and spoke in a low, almost inaudible voice
''''Infiltrating this pce and killing the crown prince isn''t going to be easy for us.
Unlike the ''Pr star continent'' that I was living in with my father which is jointly governed by 2 peak powers, the ''Blue star continent'' is one of the continents that only has one peak power controlling the entire continent fully!
The royal family of the Tang dynasty is precisely the power that controls this continent.
After all, my father once told me that the continents around the central region all need to have at least one Dao Emperor realm expert governing them, so it is likely that the Tang dynasty will also have such an expert!
Since the crown prince of the Tang dynasty is going to be the next king of the Tang dynasty in the future while he is also protected by a Dao King ording to the mission, it''s very likely that he is rted to that Dao Emperor one way or another.''''
Shun Long''s eyes shed with a bright light, as he nodded his head barely a momentter, agreeing with Jiang''s Chen''s words before he actually fell into deep thought.
At the same time, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all nodded with serious looks on their faces the moment they heard that.
Liu Mei already knew about the matter of a Dao Emperor needing to control every continent since Jin Wenling had mentioned this to Shun Long in the ''Alchemist''s Guild'' in Heaven''s Dome city.
As for Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi, as the ''young white lord'' and the granddaughter of the old chief of the Xie family, they both knew about this matter already even though the Night star continent didn''t actually have a Dao Emperor expert overlooking it.
Naturally, Shun Long already knew from Little ck that a Dao Emperor was hidden inside Tang city the moment that he stepped foot inside the city itself.
This was why he wasn''t in a hurry to enter the pce and assassinate the crown prince.
Besides, with a Dao King protecting the prince in secret at all times the C-rank faction mission only became even more difficult.
After thinking seriously for a while, Shun Long turned his gaze towards Xie Xingyi and asked
''''Xingyi, can you sneak past the pce walls and take a look inside?''''
Although others couldn''t do it, Shun Long knew that Xingyi was an exception and could do this thanks to her Vanishing Shadows unique physique.
Nodding her head, Xie Xingyi shed an extremely beautiful smile at Shun Long before she answered
''''Don''t worry brother Long, leave it to me.''''
Xie Xingyi didn''t hesitate to agree before her body started to merge into the shadows,pletely disappearing from everyone''s vision.
This was what she naturally excelled at the most. Unless the difference between her''s and her opponent''s soul sense was too big, it was impossible for Xingyi to be found out if she was careful enough.
This was why Shun Long had asked her to do this, since he knew that despite the fact that the pce guards were asionally scanning the areas around them with their soul sense, they would be unable to spot her as long as she was careful.
Naturally, there was always a certain degree of risk of one of the guards having a soul sense much stronger than the rest, or a powerfulte-stage Nascent Soul guard or even a Dao King realm guard to appear, but Shun Long had already seen that most of the guards around the city walls were at the early stages, while less than a third of them had reached the middle stages.
Although there would definitely be some experts at thete stages of the Nascent Soul and perhaps even Dao King realm experts like the one who was rumored to guard the crown prince inside the pce, it was impossible for the Tang dynasty to have the Dao Kings work like the Nascent Soul stage cultivators and supervise the corridors of the pce.
If anything, the Dao Kings would only supervise the most important and sensitive ces within the pce instead.
Thus, unless Xingyi entered too deep inside the pce, Shun Long knew that she would most likely be safe.
..
5 hours had already passed by, before Shun Long and the rest all saw the familiar figure of a stunning, blonde-haired beauty in ck robes, appearing in front of them seemingly out of thin air.
Although her face was dripping with droplets of sweat due to her overusing her unique physique for so long, the gorgeous smile on her face only made her look even more beautiful than before.
After taking a moment to catch her breath, Xingyi smiled brightly as she said
''''Brother Long, there are more than 3.000 guards inside the pce, but most of them are in the early and middle stages of the Nascent Soul. As for those who have reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul, they shouldn''t be more than 200.
I could sense some powerful auras inside the pce that had definitely exceeded the Nascent Soul stage, but I couldn''t get too close to them. However, after looking around the pce for more than an hour, I finally found the crown prince''s chambers.''''
Chapter 595: Shun Longs first plan
Chapter 595: Shun Long''s first n
Shun Long, Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all stared at Xie Xingyi who had the same beautiful smile on her face with their eyes wide open.
With the sheer number of the more than 3.000 Nascent Soul stage guards around the pce gates, as well as the number of guards stationed inside the pce itself, everyone understood that infiltrating the pce like this was a nearly impossible endeavor.
As for the crown prince''s chambers that would most likely be guarded tightly, it would be even harder to get there.
This was why Shun Long had only asked Xingyi to simply sneak past the pce walls and take a look inside instead of entering the depths of the pce itself. The difficulty of doing thetter was enormous, even for someone like Xingyi who had a physique like the Vanishing Shadows unique physique.
From the droplets of sweat dripping from her stunningly beautiful face, Shun Long understood that this wasn''t easy for Xie Xingyi either, and she had most likely pushed herself way past her limits.
''''Xingyi you are amazing!''''
''''Junior sister Xie''s unique physique is truly extraordinary.''''
Liu Mei and Bai Longtian praised her without holding back their praise, while Jiang Chen nodded his head in agreement. However, it was natural that all of them were surprised by this, since the degree of danger for this mission was already off the charts!
After staying silent for a moment, Shun Long looked at Xie Xingyi''s enchanting green eyes that were fervently staring back at him, before he nodded his head and said with a smile on his face
''''Xingyi, good job. No one else could do this but you.''''
It was only a single sentence, and yet it still made a dazzling smile form itself on the stunning blond-haired young woman''s lips, while her face turned slightly red in response.
For a girl who had no prior experience of love in her life, being praised by the person whom she felt affection for made a sweet feeling appear in Xie Xingyi''s heart.
After taking a look at his surroundings and seeing that night had already fallen, Shun Long then said a momentter
''''Let''s find an inn to spend the night.''''
Jiang Chen and the rest all nodded their heads, as they continued to walk around the busy streets of Tang city.
Although night had already fallen, Tang city didn''t seem to be any less bustling, as the streets were still full of light and most of the shops remained open.
Half an hourter, Shun Long and the others had arrived at the entrance of arge inn, a couple of miles away from the royal pce of the Tang dynasty.
''''Hello, how may I help you?''''
The middle-aged innkeeper approached their group the moment they entered the inn and asked them with a gentle smile on her face.
After Shun Long asked her for a courtyard with at least 4 rooms and paid her 100 middle-grade spirit stones for the night, the innkeeper led them deeper inside the inn, stopping in front of arge, spacious courtyard, less than a minuteter.
With just a nce, Shun Long realized that the courtyard had plenty of protective formations that could block even an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from forcefully barging in.
After thanking the innkeeper, the 5 of them all entered the courtyard, before Shun Long turned around and looked at Xie Xingyi and said
''''Xingyi, you can go rest for a bit, at least until you replenish your qi.''''
Xie Xingyi didn''t decline as she was clearly at her limits already, and after saying goodbye she walked towards one of the 4 rooms. Her qi had been almostpletely depleted in the 5 hours that she had spent inside the royal pce of the Tang family, and Shun Long had already guessed that she had already consumed at least a couple of ''Qi replenishing pills'' or her qi would have depleted long ago.
''''Hehe, master, that little girl is really interested in you. She has really helped master this time.''''
Hearing Little ck''s voice in his mind, Shun Long calmly nodded his head with a smile on his face, as he watched Xingyi''s figure that entered inside one of the 4 rooms to cultivate and fully refill her nearly empty dantian with qi.
Indeed, Shun Long hadn''t expected that Xingyi would manage to find the crown prince''s chambers this time.
He knew that this was almost impossible, so he had already told Little ck about his first n that was for Xingyi to infiltrate the royal pce of the Tang dynasty and take a look inside to get a general idea of the pce''s interior before she rys it to Shun Long.
Shun Long would then open a space tear leading directly inside the pce bringing Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian all inside the pce.
Liu Mei would then summon her skeletons and have them go wild in the pce, instantly attracting everyone''s attention.
With more than 1000 skeletons at the peak of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul going wild, even the 3000 Nascent Soul stage guards would find it hard to stop them. After all, most of the guards were at the early stages of the Nascent Soul to begin with.
Although there were some guards at thete stages of the Nascent Soul as well, it was simply impossible for all of them to enter the royal pce and deal with Liu Mei''s skeletons while leaving the gates of the pcepletely unprotected.
Thus, Shun Long believed that as long as Liu Mei''s skeletons started to go wild, even the Dao Kings inside the royal pce would be alerted, forcing them to go towards Shun Long''s direction and find the source of the problem.
With everyone''s attention on Liu Mei''s undead army, Xingyi would then be able to roam around the pce almost freely looking for the crown prince''s chambers.
However, with Xingyi locating the crown prince''s chambers so quickly, things entirely changed!
Entering the biggest one of the 4 rooms, Shun Long, Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all sat down on the meditative cushions on the floor, before Bai Longtian looked at Shun Long and asked
''''Brother Shun, what are we going to do?''''
Chapter 596: The infamous crown prince
Chapter 596: The infamous crown prince
Shun Long fell silent after hearing Bai Longtian''s question before his mind fell into deep thoughts.
He clearly knew what Bai Longtian was trying to say.
After all, even if they knew the location of the crown prince''s chambers it would still be hard to assassinate him, since ording to the mission''s description, there was always at least one Dao King protecting him at all times.
Although everyone''s cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds in thesest 3 months since they had entered the Holy sect, dealing with a Dao King was simply impossible.
2 hourster, at the same time that Xingyi had finished replenishing her qi and entered Shun Long''s room, Shun Long''s eyes abruptly lit up before a smile slowly formed itself on his lips.
...
The night soon passed and daybreak arrived a few hourster, before Shun Long''s group left the inn and headed towards the direction of the royal pce.
Although no one was allowed to approach too close to the pce gates, there were plenty of restaurants and shops in the periphery of the pce itself.
Shun Long and the rest walked around the streets of Tang city for a little more than an hour, before they entered inside a restaurant that had a direct view of the pce, and sat by a table next to the window.
Even though it was still morning, the shops and the restaurants inside Tang city didn''t close for the night since they were operated by cultivators.? Even the waiters in most of the restaurants were at least Heaven grade cultivators, and they could go for at least a month without sleep and still be in peak condition.
As Shun Long stared at the gates of the royal pce that were still wide open and were guarded by the hundreds of Nascent Soul stage guards just like thest time, Liu Mei''s gentle voice sounded in his ears a momentter.
''''Long-ge, you and Xingyi have to be careful...''''
In the past few hours that they had spent inside the room back in the inn, Shun Long had already decided on a new n regarding the crown prince''s assassination.
However, although Liu Mei and the others all understood that Shun Long''s n was extremely dangerous to him and Xie Xingyi, they also knew that it was probably the only feasible way to pull it off.
Xie Xingyi simply shook her head with a smile on her face and said
''''Mei, don''t worry. Since brother Long will be with me, I will be alright. You should be careful too!''''
Shun Long patted Liu Mei''s head lightly and pulled her into a hug before he said
''''You shouldn''t worry too much about me when your mission isn''t any less dangerous.''''
Turning his eyes towards Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, Shun Long then continued
''''Be very careful. No matter what, our target is still guarded by a Dao King realm expert!''''
Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both nodded their heads with serious looks on their faces, as they understood that although Shun Long and Xie Xingyi would be facing the brunt of the danger this time, the parts that they had to y in this mission weren''t any less dangerous in reality.
Without saying another word, Shun Long turned his gaze towards the food that the waiters had started to bring, but his eyes would still asionally stare at the pce gates of the royal pce through the window.
A little more than 3 hourster, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly narrowed as he spotted a luxurious carriage that was being pulled by 2 peak rank 5 magic beastsing out from the royal pce.
Without even needing to guess, Shun Long heard the conversation of the people inside the restaurant that instantly exploded the next moment, as everyone else seemed to have also noticed the luxurious carriageing out from the pce.
''''Sigh... isn''t that the crown prince''s carriage? I wonder who the unlucky girl is going to be this time!''''
''''It''s the same thing every few days. Every time he onlyes out from the royal pce to pick a girl, and once he gets bored of her he just picks another one a few dayster! Those girls are truly unfortunate...''''
''''Unfortunate? They still get the chance to be the crown prince''s women so why are they unfortunate? Even if they be his concubines, their status will still skyrocket. After all, isn''t the Tang dynasty is the strongest power in our ''Blue star continent''?''''
A middle-aged man asked curiously after hearing the confusing conversations of the people around him.
He seemed to have heard some things about the crown prince, but his ignorant response only caused a barrage of snickers and mocking looks to be thrown at him.
''''Heh, you must be new to the royal city to be this naive! Do you really think that the profligate prince would take those women as his concubines? How naive. They are nothing more than his ythings that he discards after ying with them for a few days! Forget about giving them some status, he simply kicks them out of the pce a few dayster... heh, that''s for those who manage to survive his torture.''''
The middle-aged man was shocked when he heard this, as he stared at the luxurious carriage through another huge window of the restaurant with a look of shock in his eyes.
It was obvious that he had only just arrived in Tang city and didn''t know too many things about the infamous crown prince.
At the same time, Shun Long stared at the luxurious carriage with his eyes narrowed slightly, before he stood up from his seat and turned his gaze towards Xie Xingyi and the rest.
With a bright smile on her face, Xingyi stood up as well, followed by Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, as the 5 of them walked out of the restaurant.
It was time to start the n.
Chapter 597: Infiltrating the royal palace
Chapter 597: Infiltrating the royal pce
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t be waiting inside the restaurant blindly and simply hope that the crown prince was going to show up in front of him.
He had already found out a few things about the infamous crown prince of the Tang dynasty after registering the mission in the Assignment Hall of the Holy sect. After all, the Holy sect wouldn''t just ask its disciples to assassinate someone without a good reason and would always do a thorough research before issuing a mission.
Although most people in the Blue star continent didn''t know about it, how could the Holy sect not know anything about the profligate crown prince who didn''t like to cultivate and would visit Tang city every few days, picking every beautiful woman that caught his sight?
Everyone inside Tang city already knew that the crown prince of the Tang dynasty had only boosted his cultivation to the middle rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage thanks to the pills that he had consumed throughout his entire life, while hisbat prowess wasn''t even a match for normal early rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
And yet, despite all that, nobody dared to go against his wishes even though it was known that the crown prince didn''t discriminate againstmoners or nobles, picking any woman that he liked despite her status, before he forcibly brought her back to the royal pce.
Of course, it was only natural that nobody would dare to speak up against it. After all, not only did the crown prince have the backing of the entire Tang dynasty behind him, but every time that he left the royal pce, 2 powerful Dao Kings would apany him inside the city.
Even the experts who were strong enough to repel 2 Dao Kings from the Tang dynasty would have to think twice before doing so, lest they face the wrath of the strongest superpower in the entire ''Blue star continent''.
Staring at the 2 Dao Kings who were sitting on top of the crown prince''s carriage with their eyes closed but were still emitting their auras brazenly, scaring away all the passersby, Shun Long actually didn''t show any surprise, and instead he simply nodded his head.
In the past few hours, he had already discussed the possibility of assassinating the crown prince after leaving the royal pce, since it was only a matter of time until the infamous prince got bored of the women he had picked thest time and went out to pick some more.
However, since the mission clearly stated that they had to infiltrate the pce to assassinate their target, Shun Long understood that it was extremely likely, that more than one Dao King would be apanying the crown prince every time that he went out of the pce, making the mission simply impossible for them toplete.
After all, even a single Dao King protecting the prince in secret had already made this mission an extremely difficult C-rank faction mission that could even bepared with some B-rank faction missions.
Killing the crown prince with 2 Dao Kings protecting him at the same time was simply impossible.
Leaving the restaurant, Shun Long threw a nce at the luxurious carriage that was heading deeper inside the city, before he turned his attention towards Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian and said calmly
''''You guys can wait here, Xingyi and I will go ahead.''''
Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all nodded their heads with serious looks, before Shun Long raised his right hand and shed the air in front of him.
A human-sized space tear appeared in front of him a momentter, as he and Xingyi both entered inside.
Xingyi had already memorized the ces that were rtively safe inside the pce and those that were heavily guarded by the pce guards.
As for the space tear that Shun Long had just opened, it had led them directly inside the royal pce, in a spot that was outside of most guards'' vision.
After sessfully infiltrating the royal pce and making sure that there were really no guards around them, Shun Long turned his eyes towards Xie Xingyi and said
''''Xingyi, I''m counting on you.''''
Nodding her head, Xingyi smiled gently before she reassured him
''''Brother Long, leave it to me!''''
As soon as she finished speaking she activated her Vanishing Shadows unique physique, as her body melded into the shadows before she disappeared deeper inside the royal pce.
10 minutester, Xie Xingyi''s figure materialized in front of Shun Long and said
''''Brother Long, we can head deeper inside.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long shed the air in front of him for the second time, opening another space tear that led them deeper inside the pce.
The same scene repeated itself more than 5 times, before Shun Long and Xie Xingyi finally reached the pce''s core region, where the members of the royal family resided.
Shun Long''s n was to have Xingyi lead the way directly to the chambers of the crown prince.
Even though he already knew the rough location of the crown prince''s chambers thanks to Xingyi, Shun Long couldn''t open a space tear that would lead right towards it since if the guards happened to pass by the area at the same time, or he and Xingyi would be instantly discovered.
By then, forget about assassinating the crown prince, Shun Long and Xie Xingyi would have a hard time escaping the pce under the thousands of Nascent Soul stage cultivators and the Dao Kings who were hidden inside the pce.
Although the Tang dynasty had many members who lived inside the pce, only the direct descendants of the royal family were allowed to live inside the core region where Shun Long and Xie Xingyi were in front of right now.
As for those membered who were from the branches of the Tang dynasty and weren''t members of the royal family, although they were given ces within the royal pce as well, they weren''t allowed to live within the core region.
''''Sigh, I heard that the crown prince left a few hours ago. I wonder how many girls he is going to bring back this time.''''
''''Haaa, it must be really good to be born as the prince. Even if you don''t cultivate and justze around all day, you still get experts likemander Peng who will protect you at all times!''''
The 2te-stage Nascent Soul guards who were guarding the entrance of the core region of the pce started to talk to each other, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a nearly invisible shadow was heading in their direction.
And yet, the moment that Xingyi''s shadow entered a radius of 5 meters from the guards, the guard on the left suddenly narrowed his eyes, before he turned his gaze towards her direction and shouted in a loud voice
''''Who is there??''''
Chapter 598: Infiltrating the royal palace (2)
Chapter 598: Infiltrating the royal pce (2)
The guard on the right was stunned when he heard his friend''s loud shout, before both of them turned their attention towards Xie Xingyi''s direction and sent out their soul sense.
After scanning the area around her 3 times without finding anything, the guard on the right looked at his friend and said
''''Ha... there is no one there. What''s wrong with you? Are you really that tired? Besides, who would dare to enter this ce to begin with?''''
''''Sigh, you are right. Was I really mistaken?''''
Shun Long and Xie Xingyi both heaven out a sigh of relief when they saw this, before Xingyi headed past the 2 guards and entered the core region of the pce.
Even with her Vanishing Shadows unique physique, it wasn''t that easy for her to sneak past mostte-stage Nascent Soul guards. However, as long as there wasn''t a Dao King present, Xie Xingyi was confident that she wouldn''t be discovered as long as she was careful inside the pce.
A few minutester, Shun Long saw Xingyi''s body that had started to materialize itself in front of him, before Shun Long raised his right hand, once again opening another space tear, as he and Xingyi both stepped inside.
After exiting the space tear, Shun Long found himself standing in front of a pair ofrge wooden gates with Xie Xingyi standing by his side.
Although there were no guards in front of the wooden gates, from the protective formations that were engraved on them, Shun Long instantly understood that even early-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to force their way through and enter inside without permission.
''''Is this the crown prince'' quarters?''''? Shun Long looked at Xingyi and asked for confirmation.
Nodding her head, Xie Xingyi had a serious look in her eyes as she answered
''''Brother Long, I heard from the guards that were patrolling thest time, that this is where the crown prince stays. However, I couldn''t stay for too long thest time, since there was a Dao King in this area.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled lightly, before he ced his right hand around Xingyi''s small waist, causing her body to involuntarily tremble by his sudden touch before he said
''''Xingyi, remember to not move under any circumstances.''''
As soon as he finished speaking, spatial fluctuations started to ripple around Shun Long''s body, slowly expanding and covering Xie Xingyi''s body as well, before their bodies both vanished in the next second.
This was the technique that Shun Long hadprehended after breaking through to the early fifth stage in the Monarch''s Eternal body back in the Holy city, ''One with the world''!
In terms of concealment abilities alone, Shun Long''s ''One with the world'' was even better than Xingyi''s Vanishing Shadows unique physique.
Although Shun Long wasn''t certain if he could avoid detection from the soul sense of powerful Dao Kings while he was concealed itself with ''One with the world'', he knew that the chances of doing so sessfully were at least 40 to 50 percent.
As for Xingyi''s unique physique, although Shun Long knew that she could still avoid the detection from mostte-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, avoiding the soul sense of Dao Kings was an entirely different matter.
Of course, even though Shun Long''s ''One with the world'' was much better in terms of concealment, Xingyi''s unique physique allowed her to move while she had activated it as well, while also providing her with enhancedbat abilities at the same time.
Her survivability while she was using her unique physique would also shoot up by countless times, making it even tougher to harm her with normal attacks since it was impossible to lock on to her.
Seeing that she was keeping her lips tightly sealed, almost as if she was afraid to speak, Shun Long smiled and said a momentter
''''Xingyi, don''t worry, you can speak freely. No one should be able to hear us in this ce.''''
Xingyi''s face started to turn somewhat red upon hearing thest sentence that Shun Long had just said, since she could still feel his hand that was holding her from her waist.
Of course, infiltrating the pce like this was part of the n, making Shun Long heave out a sigh of relief upon reaching this stage sessfully.
Although this wasn''t the most dangerous part of the mission, if Shun Long and Xie Xingyi were discovered during this time, Shun Long knew that the n would bepletely ruined.
''''All we have to do now is wait. Hopefully, it won''t take too long.''''
Xingyi nodded her head gently as her eyes surveyed her surroundings with a gaze filled with wonder.
This was the first time that she was concealed in a separate space, and feeling that she was isted from the rest of the world with only Shun Long by her side, made her heart start beating faster involuntarily.
As for why Shun Long didn''t choose to bring Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian with him and conceal them with his ''One with the world'' just like he did with Xingyi, it was simply because his strength wouldn''tst him for even an hour even after breaking through to the early fifth stage of the Nascent Soul.
After all, with every second that he was concealed within the separate space, the strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was being rapidly depleted.
Bringing Xingyi in this ce was even tougher, but it was impossible for Shun Long to let her roam throughout the pce and hide herself while he had concealed himself here.
Besides, Xingyi''s abilities were still vital to the rest of his n on the crown prince''s assassination.
In the blink of an eye, 5 hours had already passed.
At this point, Shun Long could feel that more than 60 percent of his strength had been depleted already, but he and Xingyi still didn''t move a single step.
Finally, just as Shun Long was about to get depressed by his bad luck, a loudughter resounded from the distance ahead of him and Xie Xingyi, before the excited voice of a young man entered his ears
''''Hahaha! I thought I had plucked the entire Tang city of beautiful girls, but who would have thoughts that I had missed Baron Chen''s daughter! Quickly,mander Peng, bring her to my room!''''
A few secondster, a luxuriously dressed young man with a big nose appeared in Shun Long''s vision, followed by a tall man with spiky brown hair who was carrying a short-haired young woman on his shoulder.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly narrowed upon feeling the powerful but reserved aura of a Dao Kinging from the tall man with the spiky brown hair, before his gaze was focused on the luxuriously dressed young man with the big nose a momentter.
This was the infamous crown prince of the Tang dynasty, Tang Long!
Chapter 599: Fighting a Dao King
Chapter 599: Fighting a Dao King
Xingyi''s body instantly stiffened the moment she felt the aura that wasing from the tall man that was carrying the young woman on his shoulder before her gaze instantly turned solemn.
It was obvious that not only was this person a Dao King, but based on the auraing from his body, he was probably an experienced one at that. At the very least, he wasn''t a newly advanced early rank 1 Dao King realm expert, but someone who was at least at the peak of rank 1 in the Dao King realm, if not even higher.
Her heart started to beat faster with every passing second, as the powerful Dao King and the young man in front of him walked closer and closer towards the crown prince''s chambers.
She wasn''t certain if she and Shun Long would be discovered while they were concealed by Shun Long''s ''One with the world'' or if it could avoid the detection of a powerful Dao King.
Turning her head to the side, Xingyi turned to look at Shun Long, only to see that he was actually staring at her with a smile on his face, while his hand was still holding on to her waist as he asked
''''Xingyi, are you ready?''''
Xingyi''s worries instantly evaporated by more than half after hearing Shun Long''s calm voice, before she nodded her head in response.
At that moment, the look in Shun Long''s eyes turned serious as he first circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', causing his eyes to instantly turn golden, before he took out his golden-colored token from the ''Stone of Time'' and activated the ''Memory recording formation'' inside it.
At the same time, he no longer used his energy to maintain his ''One with the world'' causing spatial fluctuations to start rippling around his and Xie Xingyi''s bodies, before their figures appeared right in front of the crown prince of the Tang dynasty and the tall man behind him barely a momentter.
''''Wha-?''''
Before the crown prince, Tang Long could even finish his sentence, Shun Long saw the tall Dao King who was still carrying the young woman on his shoulder abruptly take a step forward, closing the distance between himself and Tang Long in a single instant!
Without any hesitation, the tall man whom the crown prince had called ''Commander Peng'' earlier, suddenly ced his hand on the prince''s robes and instantly took a few steps backward, pulling the crown prince along with him and opening up the distance between himself, Shun Long and Xie Xingyi!
Tang Long''s body rolled on the floor of the pce uncontrobly after ''Commander Peng''s'' forceful pull, but before he could re up, Commander Peng''s serious voice sounded in his ears in the next moment
''''Your Highness, step back!''''
Hearing the solemn tone in his voice Tang Long didn''t turn angry, as he turned his attention towards Shun Long and Xie Xingyi and asked
''''Who the hell are you? How did you get inside the royal pce?''''
Turning his attention towards Shun Long and Xie Xingyi, Commander Peng''s aura exploded from his body as he ignored Tang Long''s question and asked in a serious tone
''''Who are you? Why are you sneaking around the prince''s royal chambers?''''
Although Commander Peng was slightly wary of Shun Long and Xie Xingyi since he had actually failed to detect their presence until they finally revealed themselves, after sensing their cultivation that was only at the peak of rank 3 and the middle of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul, he heaved out a sigh of relief.
However, neither Shun Long nor Xie Xingyi looked like they wanted to answer him.
Raising both hands, Shun Long tore the space in front of him open, creating arge space tear, while Xingyi activated her Vanishing Shadows unique physique at the same time, as her body melded into the shadows.
Commander Peng''s eyes instantly narrowed upon seeing this scene, as he saw a gorgeous ck-robed young woman with long ck hair and 2 handsome young men in ck robes, alling out from the space tear, before they took a look at their surroundings.
This was precisely how Shun Long was nning to have Liu Mei and the rest enter the royal pce!
Since it was almost impossible for his energy to sustain hiding everyone with his ''One with the world'', he had chosen to simply hide himself along with Xingyi who was going to lead the way to the crown prince''s chambers.
As soon as the crown prince arrived, Shun Long had already told Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, that he would create a space tear which would lead them directly inside the royal pce.
Although Shun Long couldn''t create ''reverse space tears'' in the past that would lead straight to him, after breaking through to the fifth stage of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', it was practically effortless for him to do so.
At the same time that Commander Peng and the crown prince of the Tang dynasty, Tang Long were both looking at Shun Long with eyes filled with disbelief, Shun Long had already turned his attention towards Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian.
Without waiting for Shun Long to say anything, Liu Mei created a pitch-ck ball in her hands and allowed it to fall on the floor of the pce barely a momentter, opening up a huge portal.
In just a couple of seconds, 1000 jade-white skeletons and 60 undead knights, along with an enormous, 30 meter(100ft) tall monster had all emerged from the enormous portal, with Liu Mei standing right on top of the enormous monster''s back.
Jiang Chen nodded his head before an ever-expanding veil of darkness erupted from his body, slowly expanding towards his surroundings, while a pair of pitch-ck wings that were burning with dark red mes had also formed themselves on his back!
The veil of darkness was clearly Jiang Chen''s strongest skill from his Eternal Darkness unique physique, the ''Kingdom of Darkness'', while the ck wings were his ''Demonic Wings''!
Seeing both Jiang Chen and Liu Mei going all-out, Bai Longtian didn''t hide his strength any longer, revealing in public his Golden Buddha unique physique for the first time!
His body instantly turned into a 10 meter(30ft) tall giant golden buddha, whose eyes were staring at the shocked crown prince of the Tang dynasty without any emotions.
Chapter 600: Fighting a Dao King (2)
Chapter 600: Fighting a Dao King (2)
The veil of darkness that was slowly expanding around Jiang Chen''s body had soon turned into an enormous fist, as it followed after Liu Mei who was standing on the Death Eater''s back, as well as Bai Longtian who was using his Dao of Light to increase his speed even further, all of them heading straight towards the still stunned prince of the Tang dynasty!
With a smile on his face, Shun Long nodded his head before he waved his right hand, taking out the ck, star-rank sword from the ''Stone of Time''.
His eyes were still locked on the powerful Dao King from the Tang dynasty, before he turned his attention towards the crown prince who was standing behind him barely a momentter.
Injecting his qi inside the sword, Shun Long shed it forward without holding back, causing the mysterious runes and patterns on the sword''s surface to light up all at the same time, before a powerful ck-colored sword sh erupted from the sword''s edge heading directly towards the dumbfounded crown prince!
''''Hmph!''''
The powerful Dao King, Commander Peng snorted once he felt the auras of Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian that were only at the rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, before he tossed the young woman that he was carrying on his shoulder to the ground, no longer caring about her.
Instead, his eyes barely nced at the huge army of skeletons that were led by the 60 ck-armored undead knights, before his gaze was focused on the huge ck-colored sh that was crackling with sparks of lightning, the enormous Death Eater and Liu Mei who was standing on its back, Jiang Chen''s fist created from his ''Kingdom of Darkness'', and Bai Longtian''s gigantic ''Golden Buddha body'', all of whom were heading straight towards the crown prince who was standing a few meters behind him!
The crown prince trembled when he felt the 4 terrifying auras that wereing straight towards him, but Commander Peng had a calm yet serious look in his eyes as he took out arge bronze spear from his spatial ring and held it tightly with his left hand.
As soon as Shun Long''s Thundergod''s sh, Liu Mei''s enormous Death Eater, Jiang Chen''s ck fist made from his Kingdom of Darkness, and Bai Longtian''s gigantic ''Golden Buddha form'' all arrived in front of him, Commander Peng swept the bronze spear in his hand sideways as he shouted loudly
''''Scram!
Saint low-grade martial skill, Earth splitting sweep!''''
A huge crimson sh emerged from the bronze spear''s tip in the next moment, colliding with Shun Long''s Thundergod''s sh head-on!
This was the strongest martial skill that the Tang dynasty owned, the Earth splitting sweep!
Normally, only members of the royal family were allowed to learn this martial skill, but as the personal bodyguard of the future king of the Tang dynasty, Commander Peng was allowed to learn the first form of the Earth splitting sweep.
As soon as the huge crimson sh collided with the ck-colored sh, Shun Long''s Thundergod''s sh was destroyed in an instant, before Commander Peng''s Earth splitting sweep continued towards Liu Mei''s Death Eater!
The might of a Dao King wasn''t to be underestimated.
The early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage Death Eater''s body was instantly split in half the next moment, as the powerful crimson sh instantly tore through its body before it continued heading towards Jiang Chen''s ck palm!
Jiang Chen gritted his teeth when he saw this, but his enormous ck palm was no different when ced in front of Commander Peng''s powerful crimson sh, as it was split in half in a single instant.
The look in Bai Longtian''s eyes instantly turned serious when he saw this scene, and realizing that the crimson sh was about to hit him, he circted his Dao of the Buddha to its fullest, creating a small golden sphere around his body that enhanced his defense to its limits.
BOOOM!!
As soon as he met Commander Peng''s sweep head-on, Bai Longtian''s protective golden sphere crumbled almost instantly, before his enormous 10 meters(33ft) tall golden body was sent flying backward uncontrobly, only stopping after it collided with the pce walls.
Hundreds of Liu Mei''s skeletons and more than a dozen of her ck-armored knights were destroyed simply from the remnant attacks of the sh!
And yet, Commander Peng''s expression didn''t show the slightest hints of joy, but instead it turned even uglier, as he hurriedly turned around to look at the crown prince behind him, only to see the figure of a blond-haired young woman appearing right next to the crown prince.
Tens of shadow-like tentacles seemed to have emerged from the crown prince''s own shadow,pletely restricting his movements, as the gorgeous blond-haired young woman held a silver dagger in her hands, ready to plunge it in the crown prince''s throat.
This was precisely the final step of Shun Long''s n.
Knowing that it was impossible to defeat the Dao King who was protecting the crown prince, Shun Long had decided to avoid fighting him to begin with and sent a barrage of their most powerful attacks straight towards the crown prince.
Even a Dao King realm expert like Commander Peng would have to take theirbined attacks seriously or he wouldn''t be able to block every single one of them.
Of course, if Commander Peng went all-out and used his most powerful martial skill, Shun Long knew that even his Thundergod''s shbined with Liu Mei''s Death Eater, Jiang Chen''s Kingdom of Darkness, and Bai Longtian''s Golden Buddha form wouldn''t have a chance against it, but in that case, it would be impossible for Commander Peng to stop Xingyi''s perfectly timed attack.
However, just when Xie Xingyi was a moment away from shing the crown prince''s throat, a powerful silver light suddenly covered the crown prince''s body, before it headed straight towards Xingyi.
Xingyi didn''t even have a moment to dodge before she was hit by the silver light, causing her to fly back without any ability to resist, as her body collided with the pce walls, causing her to cough a mouthful of blood in the process!
Chapter 601: Escaping!
Chapter 601: Escaping!
At that moment, Shun Long, Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all saw a silver-colored pendant on the crown prince''s neck that was shining with a bright silver light, as it slowly turned into dust.
It was obvious that the pendant on his neck was a protective artifact that could protect the crown prince''s life when he was in danger, simr to the pendant that Liu Mei had received from Elder Xuan when she epted her as a disciple.
However, unlike Liu Mei''s pendant, the crown prince''s pendant could only be activated once before it lost its power, and the power behind it wasn''t anywhere close to Liu Mei''s that could protect her even from the attacks of ate-stage Dao Emperor.
Naturally, although it could only be activated once, its value couldn''t be measured with spirit stones as it had sessfully saved the crown prince''s life before it repelled Xingyi away, even managing to injure her in the process.
And yet, although Xingyi had clearly been injured by the silver light''s power, she still stood up with some difficulty, as she turned her eyes towards Shun Long and looked at him with a bright smile on her face.
Shun Long''s gaze was fully focused on the crown prince''s body from the moment that Xingyi had appeared next to him as the look in his eyes finally turned cold.
Seeing that Xingyi''s body was sent flying by the powerful silver lighting from the pendant, Shun Long''s entire body suddenly lit up with a bright azure and golden light, as he mumbled 2 simple words
''''Time Siphon!''''
Before Commander Peng could react, the light around Shun Long''s body suddenly exploded outwards, enveloping the crown prince in the next second.
''''Your Highness!''''
Almost as if he could sense what was going on, a horrified look appeared on Commander Peng''s face before his aura burst out from his body, as it instantly covered the crown prince, trying to expel the mix of gold and blue light from Shun Long''s ''Time Siphon'' that had now surrounded him.
As a powerful Dao King who had reached the early second stage in the Dao King realm, it only took a second for Commander Peng topletely expel Shun Long''s ''Time Siphon'' from the crown prince''s body, but the moment he did so, a horrifying scene appeared in his eyes.
The crown prince''s face had lost all signs of life, the look in his eyes having turned dull and lifeless.
His previously youthful face had was no longer there, as his cheeks were sunken in while wrinkles had covered his entire face. The crown prince''s arms and legs were no different than a corpse''s if it wasn''t for the almost non-existentyer of skin left on them, while his previously luxurious robes had actually turned into rags that seemed to have endured the passage of tens of thousands of years!
Commander Peng was no longer certain if the person in front of him was truly the crown prince of the Tang dynasty, Tang Long, as he stared at him with eyes filled with disbelief.
Even the young woman whom Commander Peng had thrown on the ground previously couldn''t help cover her mouth in shock as her eyes stared at what had remained from the infamous crown prince of the Tang dynasty.
Of course, how could the crown prince who was barely at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul withstand Shun Long''s ''Time Siphon'' for even a second when his cultivation was boosted purely by consuming pills?
His remaining lifespan was sapped in the blink of an eye, leaving behind nothing but a lifeless corpse.
Originally, Shun Long wasn''t nning on revealing his ''Time Siphon'' since he was still recording everything in his sect identifying token, but knowing that there was a chance for the crown prince to have a trump card that could save him from Xingyi''s ambush, he knew that he had no other choice if he wanted to kill the crown prince in front of a powerful early rank 2 Dao King realm expert!
Just as Commander Peng turned around and stared at Shun Long with a murderous look in his eyes, Shun Long didn''t wait for him to do anything as he raised his right hand, opening arge space tear, before Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and the injured Bai Longtian, all entered inside it.
''''Little Bastard! Stay right there!''''
Seeing that Shun Long was about to enter inside the space tear as well, Commander Peng shot forward at full speed, swinging his bronze spear towards the space tear''s entrance, unwilling to let Shun Long escape.
Unfortunately for him, Shun Long was already too close to the space tear, and after taking onest look at the furious Dao King, he entered inside it as he disappeared from the interior of the pce!
A momentter, Shun Long and the rest had all appeared just a couple hundred meters away from the royal pce, to the ce where Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were previously waiting.
After he deactivated the ''Memory recording formation'' from his sect identifying token, Shun Long turned his head to look at the injuries on Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s body, before the look in his eyes turned serious.
Although Xingyi didn''t seem to be injured, from the fact that she was having some difficulty standing up, it was obvious that her internal injuries weren''t light.
As for Bai Longtian, he had already reverted back to his original size from his ''Golden Buddha form'', but therge cut on his waist was still dripping with blood and it didn''t show any signs of stopping.
If he wasn''t a body refinement cultivator as well, Shun Long was certain that he would have already died from blood loss long ago.
''''Xingyi, Longtian, hold on for a few more minutes.''''
Without wasting any more time, Shun Long instantly opened another space tear that led directly towards the city gates of Tang city, before they all entered inside.
However, just as they appeared less than 200 meters away from the city gates of Tang city, Shun Long suddenly felt a chill in his heart as the sky above Tang city suddenly started to darken.
At that moment, a horrifying aura emerged from the depths of the Tang dynasty''s royal pce covering the entirety of Tang city in less than a second, before a furious voice that was filled with killing intent sounded in the ears of every single person within the city
''''To kill my great-grandson inside my own royal pce... regardless of who you are... you will die today!''''
Chapter 602: The Tang dynastys Dao Emperor
Chapter 602: The Tang dynasty''s Dao Emperor
The entire Tang city started to tremble after the furious voice resounded in the air, causing every single person in the city, regardless of whether they were qi condensation cultivators or powerful Dao Kings, to feel a terrifying pressure looming above their heads, making them struggle to even breathe.
A momentter, Shun Long''s eyes widened as he saw the figure of an old man dressed in golden-robed appear in the sky above him.
The old man had a frosty look in his eyes as he stared at Shun Long and the others, who felt like a mountain was about to crush them at any moment.
''''So you are the little bastards who dared to kill my great-grandson inside my own pce? Before I kill you, I will give you the chance to exin your actions. If your answer doesn''t satisfy me, it won''t be just you, but your families as well who will pay the price for your actions today!''''
The old man didn''t mince his words, directly threatening Shun Long''s and the rest''s families if their answer didn''t satisfy him.? It was obvious that he wanted to hear the reason why someone would dare to infiltrate his pce and kill his great-grandson.
Naturally, the old man wasn''t dumb!
How could he, a powerful Dao Emperor and the person behind the Tang dynasty not understand that someone else had instructed Shun Long''s group to do this?
Let alone that Shun Long and the rest couldn''t possibly have a feud with his great-grandson, even if they did, no one should have the guts to infiltrate the royal pce and pull off an assassination attempt like this!
The fact that they had seeded was even more terrifying.
After all, Shun Long, Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and the injured Bai Longtian weren''t evente-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, let alone Dao Kings!
Although he didn''t know how they had managed to kill Tang Long when he was protected by Commander Peng and he even had a protective pendant around his neck, the old man knew for a fact that Tang Long was truly dead since his life tablet had suddenly broken.
As the true ruler of the Tang dynasty in the dark, the old man had a life tablet of all the previous kings of the Tang dynasty and everyone else who was rted to him by blood.
The life tablet was directly connected to a person''s soul, and since Tang Long''s tablet was broken, it could only mean one thing;
That his soul was utterly destroyed!
''''Little ck, if I let you fight him, do you think you can win?''''
Shun Long sent a mental message to Little ck while his eyes were focused on the golden-robed Dao Emperor who was calmly floating in the sky above him.
He knew that Little ck had definitely broken through to the rank 7 after absorbing the dragonstone, but Shun Long didn''t know how strong the current Little ck really was.
''''Master, don''t worry! Although this old fart is a peak rank 4 Dao Emperor, in front of me he is not even worth a fart! To dare threaten to kill master in front of me, even destroying this entire Tang city isn''t enough to make him repent!''''
Little ck''s words were filled with endless majesty and fury, while his cold azure eyes were locked on the old man in the sky above his head.
Although Little ck knew that Shun Long didn''t want to expose his existence just yet since that would bring endless problems, there was no way that Little ck would simply stay still and allow anyone to kill Shun Long.
Shun Long nodded his head calmly, but he didn''t let Little ck out from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' just yet.
Instead, his eyes kept staring at the golden-robed old man in the sky, before he took a deep breath and said in a serious tone
''''We are members of the Holy sect from the central region.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long removed the ck robes that he was wearing, revealing the yellow robes of an outer disciple of the Holy sect that were hidden below them.
With a cold look on his face, Shun Long then continued
''''Senior should understand that your great-grandson had done more than enough to be wanted by the Holy sect. Abducting innocent women and defiling them whether they agreed or not is not something that the Holy sect would ignore.
Although I don''t want to threaten you, you should understand what would happen to your Tang dynasty if you really dared to kill a disciple of the Holy sect.''''
Shun Long''s tone was cold as his eyes kept staring at the old man in the sky.
As a Dao Emperor, Shun Long believed that the old man should understand what it would mean to kill 5 outer disciples of the Holy sect in a fit of fury.
This was why Shun Long hadn''t revealed Little ck''s existence just yet, waiting to see if the old man would back off after learning of their background.
And yet, the old man startedughing mockingly, hisughter shaking the entire Tang city while his eyes looked at Shun Long and the rest coldly before he said
''''The Holy sect? Just because you are disciples of the Holy sect you think you can just waltz into my pce and kill my own great-grandson?
Brat, you are too naive if you think you can threaten me with the Holy sect''s name! Even if I kill all of you, unless an inner court Elder of your Holy sect personallyes here, nobody would be able to even think of taking revenge for you! Even your outer court Elders would have to politely greet me if they saw me!''''
The old man''s lips curved up into a dangerous smirk while his eyes stared at Shun Long''s group as if he was looking at 5 corpses.
Taking out a long, golden sword from his spatial ring, the old man raised it above his head before he shouted in a cold tone
''''Now die!''''
shing the sword downwards, the old man sent a powerful sh towards Shun Long and the rest, a sh that could make even a newly advanced Dao Emperor despair.
At that moment, just as Little ck was about to jump out from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' and destroy the old man''s sh, Little ck suddenly halted his movements as his bright blue eyes instantly narrowed.
Before the golden-robed old man''s sword sh could even approach within 5 meters from Shun Long''s group, another powerful sh came from behind Shun Long, meeting the old man''s sword sh head-on!
Under Shun Long''s disbelieving eyes, the old man''s sh was instantly obliterated by the silver sh, but the silver sh that came from behind Shun Long didn''t stop, as it continued in the distance ahead,nding on the Tang dynasty''s pce the next moment.
BOOOOOM!!
The protective formations around the pce instantly lit up, and yet they couldn''t evenst for a moment before they were instantly destroyed by the silver sh that continued forwards, as arge part of the royal pce was annihted in the blink of an eye.
''''WHO IS IT?''''
The golden-robed old man asked in shock, as he turned his head to look at the city gates of Tang city, only to see a middle-aged man who was floating in the sky, his eyes staring at Shun Long''s group with a gentle smile on his face.
-
Author''s note: I''ll try to do a mini-mass release at the start of next month! <3
Chapter 603: Jiang Tianfang
Chapter 603: Jiang Tianfang
''''Hehe, Tang Wu, you really are growing more and more arrogant the older you get! I wonder... what would happen to your Tang dynasty if you suddenly died today?''''
The middle-aged man above the city gates walked calmly towards Shun Long''s group, standing right in front of them and facing the golden-robed old man from the Tang dynasty with an uncaring look on his face, almost as if he wasn''t facing the ruler of the Blue star continent, but an ordinary old man!
The golden-robed old man, Tang Wu, stared at the middle-aged man in front of him with a shocked gaze, before he asked in a disbelieving voice a momentter
''''Jiang... Tianfang?''''
The middle-aged man only had a single left arm that was holding what seemed to be an ordinary-looking saber, before he turned around and looked at Shun Long and the rest with a gentle smile on his face,pletely ignoring the previously furious Dao Emperor of the Tang dynasty, Tang Wu.
''''Father!''''
Jiang Chen called out with a smile on his face, and yet amidst the warmth and pride that he felt, a hint of pain could also be seen deep in his eyes as he stared at his father''s missing right arm.
For as long as he remembered his father''s right arm was always missing, but it was only a year before he participated in the Holy sect''s test that Jiang Chen had found out that his father''s arm was personally chopped off by the Elder of the Yu family!
Shun Long and the rest all understood what was going on when they saw the resemnce between the middle-aged man''s face who had appeared in front of them and Jiang Chen''s.
At the same time, everyone had heard Jiang Chen''s and they clearly remembered that he had mentioned how his father''s arm was chopped off by an Elder of the Yu family who made sure that he wouldn''t be able to regrow it in the future.
Naturally, how could they not understand who the middle-aged man in front of them was?
At the same time, Little ck''s voice resounded inside Shun Long''s mind a momentter, as Little ck said seriously
''''Master, this guy is ate-stage Dao Emperor but his aura is extremely weak. However, he should still be strong enough to kill the old fart in front of him if he wants to.''''
Shun Long was stunned when he heard Little ck''s words as he then stared at the middle-aged man in front of him with a curious look in his eyes.
The face of the Dao Emperor of the Tang dynasty had instantly turned paled when he heard Jiang Chen calling Jiang Tianfang ''father'', but Jiang Tianfang simply smiled at his son, and after his eyes inspected Shun Long and the rest seriously for a few moments, Jiang Tianfang then turned around and looked at the golden-robed old man of the Tang dynasty coldly before he said
''''Tang Wu, why don''t you try and kill my son in front of me?''''
Tang Wu''s face turned livid when he heard this, but after he stared at Jiang Tianfang for a few moments, the golden-robed old man took a deep breath and said angrily
''''Jiang Tianfang, do you think I''m afraid of you? Don''t push me! Those little bastards killed my great-grandson inside my own pce. Do you think I will just let this go?
Of course, if this was the ''great Jiang Tianfang'' from the past, the one who roamed around the central region and spread his name throughout the entire world, then naturally, I wouldn''t dare to fight you.
But now, the you who only has a single arm left and your dantian almost crippled, hehe I am not sure if you are really strong enough to fight me!''''
The more Tang Wu spoke, the more confidence he seemed to obtain, to the point where he seemedpletely unafraid of the middle-aged man in front of him.
And yet, Jiang Tianfang didn''t seem angry as he simply shook his head, and holding the ordinary-looking saber in his left hand he said
''''Tang Wu, even if I am injured, do you think that a weakling like you who has already reached the end of your lifespan can fight against me? Let me show you the difference between us then!''''
As he finished speaking Jiang Tianfang raised his left hand, causing the saber in his hand to lit up with a blinding light before a terrifying aura erupted from his body!
The look inside Jiang Tianfang''s eyes was calm, without the slightest hints of anger inside it, and with his eyes focused on Tang Wu, he casually swung his saber downwards.
The entire Tang city seemed to have fallen silent at that moment, as an ordinary-looking silver sh appeared from Jiang Tianfang''s saber, before it cut through the air heading towards Tang Wu.
Sensing the aura of ate-stage Dao Emperor erupting from Jiang Tianfang''s body, the look on Tang Wu''s face immediately changed, as he held his golden sword in front of him with both of his hands and shouted
''''Jiang Tianfang, let''s see which of us is stronger then! A nearly crippled brat like you should learn your ce!''''
Taking a deep breath, Tang Wu then mumbled to himself
''''Saint middle-grade martial skill, Cloud sword!''''
His aura instantly erupted, before runes and patterns on the surface of his golden sword started to light up one after the other.
It was obvious that Tang Wu''s sword was also a star-rank weapon!
Tang Wu didn''t hold back as he shed the golden sword in his hands sideways, creating a gigantic sword sh that looked like it could cleave the earth apart, as it collided with Jiang Tianfang''s saber sh a momentter!
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The entire Tang city shook as soon as Jiang Tianfang''s saber sh and Tang Wu''s sword sh collided, before Tang Wu''s eyes finally widened in fear.
His powerful Saint middle-grade martial skill had only managed tost for a single second before it was overpowered by Jiang Tianfang''s saber sh.
The ordinary-looking sh wasn''t slowed down in the slightest as it continued forward, colliding with Tang Wu''s golden sword head-on!
Without any suspense, the golden-robed Dao Emperor of the Tang dynasty was sent flying backwards like a meteor before he crashed inside the depths of his own royal pce, destroying arge part of the pce in the process.
And yet, the bystanders on the streets and those inside the surrounding shops hadn''t seen anything, since the moment that Tang Wu had appeared in the sky above Tang city and had pressured everyone with his aura of a Dao Emperor, everyone had immediately fallen on their knees due to their fear.
With a calm look on his face, Jiang Tianfang turned his gaze towards the royal pce of the Tang dynasty in the distance, before he spoke in a calm yet loud voice, that reverberated throughout the entire Tang city
''''Tang Wu, remember this. If you or anyone else from your Tang family dares to touch my, Jiang Tianfang''s son in the future, I will raze your entire Tang dynasty to the ground!''''
The entire pce of the Tang dynasty had already been alerted by the first silver sh that had instnatly destroyed the protective formations around the pce walls and had even destroyed a big part of the pce itself.
After seeing that a figure was sent flying towards the pce, everyone inside the pce had been ced on full alert, almost as if they were being attacked.
And yet, the moment that they heard Jiang Tianfang''s words and saw the golden-robed old man who was sent flying back inside the pce, the entire royal pce had instantly fallen silent.
Even if other people in the Blue star continent didn''t know about it, how could the members of the royal family not know of Tang Wu''s name and face?
Seeing the golden-robed old man who was struggling to stand up on his own 2 feet, nobody dared to even breathe loudly, as they all stared at the figure of the middle-aged man who was standing in the sky 200 meters away from the city gates with gazes filled with fear.
Jiang Tianfang no longer paid any attention to Tang Wu or the half-ruined pce of the Tang dynasty, almost as if it had nothing to do with him any longer, as he turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and the rest and smiled, before he waved his right sleeve.
In the next moment, Jiang Tianfang and Shun Long''s group of 5, all disappeared from Tang city.
Chapter 604: Healing Bai Longtian
Chapter 604: Healing Bai Longtian
A few momentster, a little more than 100 miles away from Tang city,
Shun Long''s group of 5 suddenly appeared in front of a smallke, only to see Jiang Tianfang kneeling on the ground gasping for breath heavily!
''''Father! Are you okay?''''
Jiang Chen called out in a voice filled with concern as he ran towards Jiang Tianfang to support him.
This was the second time that Shun Long and the rest had seen Jiang Chen''s cold expression melt and reveal some of his emotions.
The first time was when he had narrated his story back in the Holy sect, and this was the second time.
Liu Mei and the rest all followed after him as they approached the kneeling Jiang Tianfang who was barely managing to support himself using his left arm, just barely holding himself from copsing on the ground.
A momentter, after calming down and catching his breath Jiang Tianfang sat cross-legged on the ground and waved his hand as he said
''''I''m okay. I simply exerted myself too much this time. Even dealing with a weakling like Tang Wu brings me to my limits.''''
Jiang Tianfang then turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and said with a smile on his face
''''Chen''er, introduce your friends to me!''''
Jiang Chen nodded his head and turned his attention towards Shun Long before he said in a serious tone
''''Father, this person is my friend... no, he is now my brother... and he is also the person I have decided to follow. His name is Shun Long.''''
Jiang Tianfang''s eyes instantly narrowed when he heard this as his gaze inspected Shun Long seriously without saying anything.
His long ck hair started to flow naturally with the wind as his piercing ck eyes didn''t leave Shun Long''s body for even a moment.
Shun Long didn''t mind this and he even revealed his cultivation at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, before he cupped his hands and bowed slightly as he said
''''Senior, thank you for your help earlier.''''
Jiang Tianfang actually exploded inughter the next second, as he waved his hand and said
''''Your name is Shun Long right? I can see why Chen''er chose to follow you. There is no need for you to thank me. Since you are Chen''er''s brother you are no different than a son for me as well. Besides, back when you were facing Tang Wu, it seemed like you had something else to count on aside from me.''''
Shun Long simply smiled in response without saying anything, but the looks on everyone else''s faces were filled with shock.
''Something else to count on when facing a powerful Dao Emperor?''
A momentter, a look of joy appeared on Liu Mei''s face as she seemed to have guessed something, as Jiang Chen continued introducing everyone else
''''Father, this is Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi. Both of them are Shun Long''s women. As for that buddhist idiot, his name is Bai Longtian... but he is also a friend to me.''''
Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all cupped their hands and bowed to the powerful Dao Emperor in front of them.
Jiang Tianfang had a smile on his face as he nodded his head towards them, but the moment his gazended on Bai Longtian''s and Xie Xingyi''s bodies, the look in his eyes instantly turned serious.
It was obvious that the injuries they had suffered were much heavier than they looked.
Shun Long also nodded, and seeing that Bai Longtian was finding it difficult to even stand up and cup his hands at Jiang Tianfang, he walked towards him and said seriously
''''Longtian, sit down and close your eyes.''''
Shun Long then sat in front of Bai Longtian and ced his hand right above the cut on Bai Longtian''s waist that was still bleeding profusely, before he mumbled in an almost inaudible voice
''''Time Reversal.''''
A bright blue light hadpletely covered Shun Long''s hand the next moment, before it slowly expanded, enveloping Bai Longtian''s body as well.
Under Jiang Tianfang''s and the rest''s disbelieving gazes, Bai Longtian''s wound was actually closing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This was the power behind Shun Long''s ''Time Reversal''!
Although Shun Long could feel that his qi was being sapped at an extremely rapid rate due to it, he still didn''t stop, and less than 10 secondster, a stunning scene appeared in front of everyone''s eyes.
As the blue light from Shun Long''s hand faded, the wound on Bai Longtian''s waist waspletely healed, not leaving behind even the slightest scar. No, it wasn''t just the wound itself. Even his torn robes had returned back to their original appearance!
Naturally, reversing time itself, even if it was just in a small area to heal Bai Longtian, was something extremely taxing to Shun Long who had expended more than half of his qi this time, causing his forehead to be drenched in sweat.
''''Brother Shun, thank you!''''
Seeing the exhausted look on Shun Long''s face and feeling his wound that hadpletely healed, Bai Longtian was the first one to break the silence as he thanked Shun Long.
As a body refinement cultivator, Bai Longtian clearly knew that even his energy from his body refinement wasn''t enough topletely heal this wound that he had received from Commander Peng!
An all-out attack from a Dao King, even if it was weakened by Shun Long''s, Liu Mei''s, and Jiang Chen''s attacks, Bai Longtian knew that it was still enough to kill him.
After all, even Jiang Chen was only a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, while Bai Longtian himself was only at the middle of rank 5.
Even with Shun Long''s ''Thundergod''s sh'' and Liu Mei''s Death Eater, they had still failed to block Commander Peng''s attack!
If it wasn''t because he was in his ''Golden Buddha form'' and had fully circted his Dao of the Buddha to protect himself at thest moment, Bai Longtian knew that he wouldn''t have survived.
Even after expending all of his energy from both his qi and his body refinement, he was still left with a fatal wound that only top-grade rank 6 healing pills had a chance to cure.
Chapter 605: Can you heal him?
Chapter 605: Can you heal him?
And yet, Shun Long only took a moment to rest, before he waved his right hand, causing a bottle filled with orange pills to appear in front of him.
These pills were naturally top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'' that Shun Long had refined inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
After consuming a handful of them to restore some of his qi, he then turned his attention towards Xie Xingyi who was standing just a few meters away from him and said
''''Xingyi,e here.''''
Knowing that Shun Long was going to do the same for her, Xingyi didn''t refuse, as she sat down in front of Shun Long and closed her eyes.
This time, Shun Long didn''t use his ''Time Reversal'' right away like he did with Longtian, but he first activated his soul sense before hepletely covered Xingyi''s body with it.
Feeling the powerful soul sense that was about to enter inside her body, Xingyi tensed up in reflex, but she still rxed without a second thought a momentter, as she allowed Shun Long to do as he pleased.
Xingyi''s injuries were much trickier than Bai Longtian''s since they were internal injuries instead.
Although the silver light from the crown prince''s pendant wasn''t anywhere near as strong as the all-out attack from a powerful Dao Emperor like Commander Peng, it was still enough to severely injure Xingyi after taking the attack head-on.
After inspecting her body thoroughly, Shun Long ced his right hand on Xingyi''s stomach before a familiar azure light covered it a momentter.
Xingyi could feel a soothing sensation enveloping her entire body before it started to spread inside her. Every couple of seconds, Shun Long''s hand moved slightly around Xingyi''s abdomen, causing the refreshing feeling to spread throughout her body.
A few secondster, the bright blue light faded, revealing Xingyi who was still sitting on the ground with her eyes closed with a bright smile on her face, as well as Shun Long who waspletely exhausted.
Opening her eyes, Xingyi looked at Shun Long and said in a quiet voice
''''Brother Long, thank you!''''
Shun Long simply smiled at Xingyi and shook his head, before he closed his eyes and started to absorb the qi in the air around him as he started to refill his almost empty qi balls.
Even with the help from his top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pills'', using his ''Time Reversal'' twice to heal both Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi hadpletely exhausted Shun Long.
In the next 6 hours, Shun Long simply absorbed the qi in the air around theke before he finally opened his eyes.
The moment that he opened his eyes, the first thing that Shun Long saw was Jiang Chen staring at him with a serious look on his face as he asked in a hopeful voice
''''Brother... can you heal my father?''''
Silence instantly filled their surroundings as Liu Mei and the rest all stared at Shun Long without speaking as they waited for his answer.
Although Jiang Chen hadn''t mentioned it, after Jiang Tianfang had saved them from the Dao Emperor of the Tang dynasty, Shun Long and the rest all understood that Jiang Tianfang was heavily injured.
Besides, how could a genius like Jiang Tianfang who had spread his name throughout the entire central region in the past, suddenly give up on his wife and put all of his hopes on his son''s shoulders for no reason?
There was only one exnation for this;
His dantian was heavily injured and he couldn''t utilize his strength!
This was why Jiang Tianfang was so exhausted after merely using 2 saber strikes to fend off Tang Wu!
Shun Long stared at Jiang Chen without speaking, before he turned his gaze towards Jiang Tianfang with a deep look in his eyes.
And yet, contrary to everyone''s expectations, Jiang Tianfang was the first one to speak, as he looked at Jiang Chen with a warm gaze and patted his shoulder before he shook his head and said
''''Chen''er, it''s alright.''''
He then turned his attention towards Shun Long and continued with a kind smile
''''Little nephew Shun, don''t worry about it. My condition isn''t something that can be healed. I have asked for help from many star-rank alchemists in the past 40 years, but none of them could find a cure for it.''''
Shun Long ignored Jiang Tianfang''s words, and seeing the determined gaze that hadn''t left Jiang Chen''s face as he looked at him, he nodded his head a momentter, before he turned his attention towards Jiang Tianfang and asked
''''Senior, do you mind if I have a look?''''
Shaking his head, Jiang Tianfang had the same smile on his face as he said
''''Have a look then. Also, you don''t have to call me senior in the future, you can just call me uncle Jiang.''''
Shun Long didn''t decline as he stood up and walked in front of Jiang Tianfang.
Just like he did with Xingyi, Shun Long closed his eyes before he spread his soul sense outside of his body,pletely covering Jiang Tianfang, and focusing on the area around his dantian.
Jiang Tianfang didn''t put up any defenses, allowing Shun Long to have a look at his dantian directly.
This was an extremely dangerous approach that most cultivators wouldn''t allow others to do.
After all, allowing someone''s soul sense to enter your dantian without putting up any defenses, was no different than letting yourselfpletely unguarded in front of that person.
If Shun Long had any malicious intents, Jiang Tianfang knew that his cultivation could bepletely crippled in an instant.
And yet, he still allowed Shun Long to do so without any hesitation.
For a powerfulte-stage Dao Emperor to do this, it was unknown what thoughts were coursing through his mind.
After taking a deep look at Jiang Tianfang''s dantian, a shocked look appeared on Shun Long''s face the next moment, as he opened his eyes and stared at Jiang Tianfang without speaking.
However, Shun Long didn''t stop there, as he closed his eyes once again a momentter, before he sent his soul sense towards the area of Jiang Tianfang''s severed right arm.
Chapter 606: Can you heal him (2)
Chapter 606: Can you heal him (2)
Finally, a few minutester, Shun Long opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Tianfang who was still standing in front of him with a calm smile on his face, almost as if he had been through this situation hundreds of times already.
Even Jiang Chen and the others didn''t speak as they all looked at Shun Long silently waiting to hear what he had to say.
Turning his gaze towards Jiang Chen however, Shun Long shook his head before he said seriously
''''It''s impossible to heal his dantian using my ''Time Reversal''. At least not right now...''''
Shun Long then looked at Jiang Tianfang and continued
''''Uncle Jiang, you should understand that your problem is much deeper than just a half-crippled dantian.''''
Jiang Tianfang''s eyes widened when he heard Shun Long''s evaluation and saw the look on his face, before he nodded his head and said in a somewhat surprised tone
''''Nephew Shun is truly talented. I didn''t think that you would actually see through that so quickly.''''
Shun Long then turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and said with a deep look in his eyes
''''Although your father should still be considered young, he has at most 100 more years left to live right now. The person who severed his right arm didn''t just make sure that he wouldn''t be able to regrow it in the future, but the attack he used slowly corroded your father''s body from the inside as well.
Even right now, your father should be in a terrible mental and physical pain, almost as if thousands of bugs are gnawing on his dantian right now, almost as if they are slowly eating him from the inside.
In less than 100 years, your father''s dantian will bepletely corroded until he can''t even muster the slightest bit of qi... until he eventually dies.''''
Jiang Chen''s face instantly changed when he heard this as he turned to look at his father with a shocked look, but the moment he saw the rueful smile on Jiang Tianfang''s face, he understood that his father already knew about this.
With his eyes turning red, Jiang Chen''s cultivation at the peak of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul exploded outwards, as he then roared out in a voice that was dripping with killing intent
''''I swear! In the future, I will destroy the Yu family until there is nothing left!''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at the determined look on Jiang Chen''s face before he continued
''''However, although it''s impossible to treat the damage in his dantian right now, stopping the corrosion from expanding any further is still possible. Not only will uncle Jiang be able to live longer this way, but it will even allow him to regrow his right arm.''''
''''..''''
''''What did you say??''''
Jiang Tianfang was the first one to lose his cool, as he held Shun Long by his right arm tightly and looked at him with a gaze filled with incredulity and disbelief.
Of course, this reaction was only natural.
Jiang Tianfang had already visited some powerful star-rank alchemists, but they were all unable to do anything about his condition.
Forget about healing his dantian or stopping the corrosion inside his body from spreading any further, even making him live a few more years had already been deemed impossible by those old monsters.
And yet, a kid who looked to be the same age as his own son had just said that it was actually possible?
Although Jiang Tianfang didn''t want to get excited, how could he contain himself when he heard that he could even regrow his right arm back?? For a genius like him who had lost the primary arm that he used to hold his saber with, was not only a mark of humiliation, but it even affected his overall strength as well.
''''Nephew Shun... is it really possible?''''
Shun Long nodded his head before he pointed at the area around Jiang Tianfang''s dantian and continued
''''The truth is, that even uncle Jiang''s dantian can be cured in the future, and there is more than one ways to do it. However, right now it''s simply impossible to do so.
However, when I be a Dao Emperor in the future, I should be able to use the same skill that I just used on Longtian and Xingyi to heal you. By then, it shouldn''t be too hard for you to return to your peak strength!''''
Although Jiang Tianfang was a bit disappointed when he heard Shun Long mentioning bing a Dao Emperor, since Jiang Tianfang already knew that something like that would take at least a few hundred years if not more, and right now he himself only had less than 100 years left to live, if Shun Long could really stop the corrosion inside his body from spreading any further, then Jiang Tianfang would happily wait for as long as he had to.
After all, as long as he could live more meant finding more ways to heal himself!
Just the thought of returning back to his peak strength was something that he had dreamt for, nearly every single night for the past 40 years.
The look on Shun Long''s face turned serious as he then continued
''''Uncle Jiang, it will only take a month topletely stop the corrosion inside your body and help you regrow your right arm, but the pain you will feel will be thousands of times worse than what you are feeling right now.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head calmly before he surprisingly bowed his head and cupped his hands at Shun Long as he said
''''Nephew Shun, as long as you can help me, I will forever be in your debt.''''
A powerfulte-stage Dao Emperor, someone who would be at the peak of strength even inside the Holy sect, was actually bowing and thanking a small Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
And yet, Liu Mei and the rest all understood how Jiang Tianfang was feeling.
For an expert who had lost his strength, seeing hope in getting it back was a miracle.
Shaking his head, Shun Long didn''t have Jiang Tianfang to keep bowing at him, and after taking a look at his surroundings he suddenly asked
''''Uncle Jiang, do you have a flying magic beast?''''
-
Author''s note: 3/4
Chapter 607: Returning back to the Holy sect
Chapter 607: Returning back to the Holy sect
Jiang Tianfang was surprised by Shun Long''s sudden question, but he still nodded his head a momentter as he answered
''''I have a peak rank 6 ''me eagle'' that I tamed a couple of years ago. Although its speed is not very fast, it''s among the strongest flying peak rank 6 magic beasts when ites down to strength.''''
''''Then, uncle Jiang, do you want toe with us to the central region?''''
Seeing the look of surprise on Jiang Tianfang''s face, Shun Long then continued
''''Since it will take a month topletely stop the corrosion inside your body and help regrow your right arm, we can do it while we travel back to the Holy sect. Unless uncle Jiang wants to stay in the northern region by yourself, you shoulde with us to the central region.''''
Jiang Tianfang''s eyes lit up when he heard this, before he nodded his head calmly a momentter.
Indeed, he actually had no reason to stay in the northern region any longer.
The only reason he had stayed in this ce to begin with, was to raise Jiang Chen and live a calm life.
However, if he could really expel the corrosive power inside his body and even regrow his right arm back, Jiang Tianfang would be more than d to go back to the central region.
Of course, Shun Long wouldn''t forget the rules of the Holy sect that stated, that only a disciple or an Elder of the sect could ride the magic beasts from the Beast Tamer hall.
Since Jiang Tianfang didn''t have a sect identifying token, the ''Arctic blue bird'' wouldn''t allow him to ride on its back.
Of course, as ate-stage Dao Emperor, Jiang Tianfang normally wouldn''t need a peak rank 6 magic beast to carry him around. After all, the speed of ate-stage Dao Emperor when they are flying was simply iparable to that of any peak rank 6 magic beast.
Only rank 7 magic beasts and above would thus enter the eyes of a Dao Emperor!
However, due to the current condition of his dantian that was worsening with every passing day, Jiang Tianfang knew that he wouldn''t be able to fly for even half a day before he copsed down due to exhaustion.
Thus, having a peak rank 6 flying magic beast was still important to him.
Nodding his head, Shun Long turned his attention towards the outline of an enormous city in the distance.
Seeing the outline of Tang city ahead of them, Shun Long and the rest didn''t have to ask Jiang Tianfang where they currently were in, as Shun Long turned around and looked at Jiang Chen and the rest and said calmly
''''Let''s go. Let''s return back to the Holy sect.''''
After their group flew for a little more than an hour, they finally arrived at the entrance of a familiar small forest, not too far away from Tang city itself.
''''Keeeew!''''
The moment that Shun Long''s group stopped outside the forest, a loud bird cry resounded in the air, before a gigantic blue bird that was more than 40 meters(131ft) tall, with icy blue feathers and hazy blue eyes emerged from the depths of the forest, heading towards Shun Long''s group at full speed.
Seeing that the ''Arctic blue bird'' was still alright, Liu Mei smiled before she was the first one to get on its back.
Xie Xingyi was the next one to follow her, followed by Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw this scene, and with just a nce on everyone''s faces, he instantly understood what was on Liu Mei''s and the rest''s minds.
Of course, how could they not be excited to return back to the Holy sect now that they hadpleted the C-rank mission?
This meant that their faction was finally eligible to fight against the other factions in the sect in the faction wars!
They would finally be able to fight against the strongest geniuses of the Holy sect as well.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long was thest one to step on the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back, before he turned his attention towards Jiang Tianfang who was standing in the air a few meters away from them.
Jiang Tianfang then closed his eyes and whistled loudly, and just a few minutester, an enormous eagle that was even bigger than the middle rank 6 ''Arctic blue bird'' that Shun Long and the rest were riding on, appeared in the sky above the small forest.
The ''Arctic blue bird'' instantly tensed up when it felt the ''me eagle''s'' aura that was clearly even stronger than its own and had already reached the peak of rank 6, but the gigantic ''me eagle'' that was almost double the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' size only threw a disdaining nce at the blue bird, almost as if the ''Arctic blue bird'' itself wasn''t even worth its notice, before it continued flying forward and arrived in front of Jiang Tianfang barely a momentter.
Jiang Tianfang nodded calmly and satfortably on the ''me eagle''s'' back, before he patted its dark red wings, causing the eagle to soar in the sky and fly straight towards the south.
Although somewhat unwilling, after receiving Shun Long''s instructions, the ''Arctic blue bird'' soared in the sky as well, as it followed after the peak rank 6 ''me eagle'' and headed back towards the Holy sect.
As the 2 gigantic birds flew side by side and slowly left the ''Blue star continent'' behind them, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long and asked in a curious tone
''''Long-ge, is there another method to fully treat senior Jiang''s injuries before we reach the Dao Emperor realm?''''
Liu Mei''s question instantly attracted everyone''s attention, as Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, all stared at Shun Long curiously.
After all, since Shun Long had said that there was more than one way to treat Jiang Tianfang''s injuries, then there was definitely going to be another way as well.
Even Jiang Tianfang had a slightly expectant look in his eyes as he waited to hear the answer.
Shun Long nodded his head calmly as he said
''''Although there is another way, it is not really easier than the first. If anything, it is probably slightly harder.''''
Chapter 608: Returning back to the Holy sect (2)
Chapter 608: Returning back to the Holy sect (2)
Seeing that everyone was staring at him expectantly, Shun Long continued
''''The second way would be to have uncle Jiang consume an extremely rare pill called the ''Heavenly purity pill''. The ''Heavenly purity pill'' is an extremely rare rank 7 pill that will not only allow him to expel the corrosive power from his dantianpletely, but it will even allow his cultivation to soar even higher.''''
Jiang Tianfang''s heart started to beat wildly, as his attention was fully ced on Shun Long.
Although he had never heard of the name ''Heavenly purity pill'' before, if it was just a rank 7 pill like Shun Long had said, even if it was the hardest of the rank 7 pills, it should still be possible for him to acquire it!
After all, the central region had star-rank alchemists who were strong enough to concoct even rank 9 pills! How difficult would it be for those monsters to concoct a rank 7 pill?
Naturally, even Jiang Tianfang himself hadn''t met with an alchemist that could concoct a rank 9 pill in his life, since those were experts who were standing at the absolute peak of the central region, but it was still a fact that those experts truly existed.
Even if Jiang Tianfang couldn''t get in touch with one of those monsters, he should still be able to find an alchemist who had decent chances of concocting this pill sessfully!
And yet, Shun Long had a serious look on his face as he continued
''''However, I doubt that there are many alchemists who would be able to concoct this pill even if they had the recipe for it.? After all, the main ingredient for the ''Heavenly purity pill'' is a rank 7 medicinal herb called the ''Golden light flower''.
Uncle Jiang should also understand how rare a ''Golden light flower'' really is. Among rank 7 medicinal herbs, not only is it among the rarest ones, but it''s also one of the most difficult rank 7 medicinal herbs to extract its essence.
Even normal star-rank alchemists have a high chance to fail when extracting its essence.
However, even if an alchemist somehow manages to get their hands on a ''Golden light flower'' and the recipe for the ''Heavenly purity pill'', they will still be unable to refine the pill if they don''t own an earth me!''''
Jiang Tianfang''s hopes seemed to have instantly extinguished upon hearing thest sentence that Shun Long had said.
Indeed, this method wasn''t any easier than Shun Long himself personally bing a Dao Emperor.
Although Jiang Tianfang knew that normal people would never dare to im that they would be Dao Emperors, Shun Long was already a junior that Jiang Tianfang had failed to fully see through.
To dare assassinate the crown prince of the Tang dynasty and even stand up in front of a Dao Emperor like Tang Wu without any fear, was already shocking enough for Jiang Tianfang to look at him seriously.
However, finding the root of Jiang Tianfang''s injury with just a nce and even having a method to treat it was already something that even the star-rank alchemists that Jiang Tianfang had met in the past had failed to do!
Thus, Jiang Tianfang truly believed that Shun Long had at least some chances of sessfully bing a Dao Emperor in the future.
Of course, this was only some chances and nothing more than that.
After all, nobody knew better than him how dangerous it was to try and breakthrough to be a Dao King, let alone a Dao Emperor!
Even if Shun Long was talented enough, he couldn''t guarantee that he would be a Dao Emperor.
No, it was actually even harder for a genius to sessfully breakthrough and be a Dao King andter on even a Dao Emperor.
Jiang Tianfang could clearly remember the terror he himself had felt that day, nearly dying during his breakthrough.
And yet, Jiang Tianfang knew that the chances of Shun Long bing a Dao Emperor were probably slightly higher than finding an alchemist who could sessfully refine the ''Heavenly purity pill'' for him.
Putting aside the fact that he had never even heard the name of the pill before, just finding an alchemist who happened to have the pill''s recipe was probably going to be no different than finding a needle in a haystack.
Even if he searched throughout the entire central region, Jiang Tianfang didn''t know how many years it would take him to find such an alchemist.
That alchemist not only needed to be a powerful star-rank alchemist, but ording to Shun Long''s words, he needed to have absorbed an earth me inside his body as well!
Although some of the peak powers around the central region possessed an earth me or 2, just like the Holy sect who was rumored to have 2 earth mes, Jiang Tianfang knew that none of those powers would truly allow their alchemists to absorb the earth mes!
Even though it wasmon knowledge that an alchemist would be much stronger upon absorbing an earth me inside his body, and he would even be able to concoct pills with much greater sess, the moment that an alchemist really absorbed an earth me, then he would be the only person who could use the earth me.
Those peak powers would much rather have the earth mes in a ce where every single alchemist could make use of them, rather than having them in the hands of 1 or 2 of their alchemists then!
After all, if an alchemist who had absorbed an earth me died, the me wouldn''t stay inside the alchemist''s body and would patiently wait for someone to seal it, but it would return back to the earth, ''dying'' along with the alchemist.
Thus, Jiang Tianfang knew that only a handful of the extremely old monsters or some very lucky people had truly absorbed an earth me in their lives!
As for the ''Golden light flower'' itself, Jiang Tianfang actually knew that even though that one was probably the easiest thing to find among the 3, the difficulty to obtain this specific rank 7 medicinal herb wasn''t low even for an early rank 9 Dao Emperor realm expert like him.
Even locating the flower itself was an extremely difficult task.
Instead, Jiang Tianfang knew that he would be lucky if the flower was actually ced in an auction. Even though the price was very likely to be sky-high due to all the wealthy star-rank alchemists who would bepeting for it, the one thing that Jiang Tianfang didn''tck was actually money!
However, even if he managed to obtain the flower and the recipe for the ''Heavenly purity pill'', Jiang Tianfang knew that there was still a high risk for the pill concoction to fail.
Shaking his head, Jiang Tianfang didn''t say anything else, but in his heart, he still decided to exhaust all of his channels and have them search for the ''Golden light flower''.
After all, the risk for a pill''s concoction to fail was always there regardless of the pill itself.
..
In the blink of an eye 2 weeks had passed, as the ''Arctic blue bird'' had already crossed the enormous continental sea and had finally arrived at the edges of the northern part of the central region!
Chapter 609: Above the Dao Emperor realm
Chapter 609: Above the Dao Emperor realm
In these past 2 weeks, Shun Long had treated Jiang Tianfang twice every single day, using his ''Time Reversal'' on the area of his severed right arm.
Although there was no obvious improvement externally, Jiang Tianfang could clearly feel the corrosive effect that was preventing him from using the energy of his body refinement to regrow his right arm slowly disappear with every passing day, causing his face to be filled with endless wonder and joy.
He could clearly feel that with every day that passed, he wasing a step closer to regrowing his right arm, while the corrosive effect that was slowly spreading throughout his body and the rest of his dantian was finally being suppressed!
Although his dantian didn''t show any symptoms of getting better, just the fact that the malicious energy inside him was being suppressed and wasn''t expanding any further inside him was already more than what Jiang Tianfang had dreamed of in the past!
Every day, Shun Long had to rest for 6 hours after using his Time Reversal to treat Jiang Tianfang, since his qi would be exhausted every single time after the treatment.
In thesest 2 weeks, their journey through the continental sea to return back to the central region was peaceful, as there wasn''t a single magic beast that dared to attack them on the way.
Finally, as they arrived back in the central region, a huge coastal city that Shun Long and the rest had seen the first time once again appeared in their eyes.
Staring at the huge city that was even bigger than the Holy city itself and had thousands of cultivators queueing up in front of the city gates, Jiang Tianfang smiled and said in an easy-going tone
''''It looks like the Zhong n is still as prosperous as it was 50 years ago. Haha, I suppose it''s only natural!''''
''''The Zhong n?''''
Jiang Chen asked in confusion as he stared at the city in the distance with a look of curiosity in his eyes, while Liu Mei and the rest had all turned their attention towards Jiang Tianfang.
Even Shun Long who had just finished absorbing the qi in the air to refill his qi balls opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Tianfang curiously.
After all, none of them knew anything about the powers of the central region that were outside the Holy sect''s territory. Even the powers within the Holy sect''s territory were a mystery to neers like Shun Long and the rest.
As for this ''Zhong n'', it was clear that it was a n outside the territory of the Holy sect.
With a smile on his face, Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and exined
''''Indeed, the Zhong n is one of the rtively more powerful ns in the northern part of the central region.
Although they are nowhere near close to matching the strength of the true peak powers of the central region, they are still an extremely famous n in their own right, since they have 2 star-rank alchemists backing their n!
Rumor has it that the old n leader of the Zhong n has stayed in seclusion for more than a thousand years, preparing to advance to the realm above the Dao Emperor as well.
Of course, a thousand yearster, nobody really knows if he has sessfully advanced past the level of a Dao Emperor or not. However, if he has really seeded in his breakthrough... then the Zhong n will really be considered among the more powerful ns in the northern part of the central region!''''
Everyone sucked in breaths of cold air upon hearing this secret of the Zhong n!
Naturally, to have 2 star-rank alchemists meant that the Zhong n had at least 2 Dao Emperors inside the city!
After all, it wasmon knowledge that for an alchemist to reach the star rank, aside from his skill in alchemy itself, he needed to have a sufficiently strong spiritual strength that could support his pill refinement.
Thus, to refine rank 7 medicinal herbs and turn them into pills, an alchemist needed to have at least reached the average level of spiritual strength as that of a powerful rank 6 Dao Emperor.
As for the old n leader of the Zhong n... he was actually attempting to advance past the level of a Dao Emperor?
Shun Long could easily guess that at least in terms of experience, such an old monster would definitely be among the stronger 1-star alchemists!
''''Uncle Jiang, then, is the Zhong n considered to be at the same level as our Holy sect?''''
In thest 2 weeks, everyone had started to get more familiar with Jiang Tianfang as they traveled together, and since he was Jiang Chen''s father and didn''t put any airs with him despite being a powerful Dao Emperor, everyone had started to naturally call him uncle Jiang as well.
Jiang Tianfang looked at Bai Longtian and smiled, before he shook his head a momentter and said seriously
''''If the old n leader of the Zhong n has truly managed to breakthrough to the realm above the Dao Emperor, then I suppose the Zhong n can be considered to be slightly inferior in terms of strength whenpared to the Holy sect.
As for the strength of the Holy sect, it is actually much deeper than what it chooses to show on the surface.
Why do you think there are so many Dao Emperors among the powers that are subservient to the Holy sect and yet none of them dare to revolt? After all, every single one of their families has to pay tribute to the Holy sect every year if they want to remain within the Holy sect''s territory, and the tribute they are paying isn''t a small sum. Besides, who wants to have their head lowered towards another for their entire lives?
However, none of them even dare to think of revolting and they are more than happy to pay tribute to the Holy sect every year.
The reason behind that is simply the sect master of the Holy sect!
The sect master is an expert who managed to breakthrough to the realm above the Dao Emperor countless years ago! As for his current strength, nobody really knows about it!
Even if it wasn''t for the sect master''s power, the Holy sect still isn''t a sect that just any power would dare to mess with either. In the depths of the sect, there is also an old monster who has reached the peak of the Dao Emperor realm as well, and among the Dao Emperors that I personally know of, he definitely ranks in the top 5 in terms of strength! Even if he isn''t as strong as the Holy sect''s sect master, that old man is strong enough to protect the Holy sect all by himself!''''
It wasn''t just Bai Longtian, but even Shun Long, Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen were all stunned when they heard this piece of news.
Naturally, normal people wouldn''t be qualified to learn of the true experts behind the Holy sect, but who was Jiang Tianfang?
As an early rank 9 Dao Emperor whose name had spread far and wide throughout the central region in the past, he was more than qualified to know of the experts behind the Holy sect!
At that moment, Shun Long closed his eyes and asked Little ck in a curious voice
''''Little ck, what is the realm above the Dao Emperor realm called?''''
Little ck who had been drinking Shun Long''s new wine non-stop in the past 2 weeks with an excited look on his face, opened his bright blue eyes and looked at Shun Long''s spiritual projection in front of him before he answered in a serious voice
''''Master, above the Dao Emperor is the Sovereign realm!''''
Chapter 610: Jiang Tianfangs strength
Chapter 610: Jiang Tianfang''s strength
''''The Sovereign realm?''''
Shun Long mumbled to himself absent-mindedly, before he opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Tianfang who was leisurely staring at the Zhong n''s city below them.
Even Jiang Tianfang had a bright gleam in his eyes when he mentioned the old n leader of the Zhong n and the sect master of the Holy sect, one of whom was just a step away from the Sovereign realm while the other had long since stepped into that level.
It was obvious that Jiang Tianfang really wanted to join their ranks as well.
However, no matter what, Shun Long understood that for the current him, the Sovereign realm was too far away right now.
''''It''s okay. After we return back to the sect, I will first enter seclusion and try to breakthrough to the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, before I start fighting in the faction wars. Fighting against the strongest disciples of the sect should allow my cultivation to advance even faster!''''
As he reached this conclusion, Shun Long turned his gaze towards Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xie Xingyi, and smiled brightly.
He understood that it wasn''t just his own cultivation, but Xie Xingyi''s and the rest as well that would explode after they started fighting in the faction wars.
Only by pushing themselves and fighting against the strongest geniuses of the Holy sect would they be able to have a chance to advance even further!
As the peak rank 6 ''me eagle'' and the middle rank 6 ''Arctic blue bird'' flew past the city of the Zhong n, Xie Xingyi looked at Jiang Tianfang and asked in a curious tone
''''Uncle Jiang, I have a question. How did you manage to find us inside Tang city? Elder brother Jiang Chen said that you were living in the Pr star continent instead.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head calmly, and after putting aside the thoughts of reaching the Sovereign realm temporarily, he turned his attention towards the beautiful blonde young woman who was sitting on the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back and answered smilingly
''''Chen''er has a small pendant on his neck that has part of my soul sense sealed inside it.
Although it''s usually not very useful, I can still sense its location as long as it''s not too far away. With the Blue star continent being right next to the Pr star continent, how could I not know it when you arrived there?
Haha, of course, I didn''t expect you brats to kill Tang Wu''s great-grandson inside his own royal pce!''''
..
2 more weeks soon passed, and in the blink of an eye, the ''Arctic blue bird'' and Jiang Tianfang''s ''me eagle'' had already entered the Holy sect''s territory and were now less than a day away from the Holy mountain.
In thesest 2 weeks, Shun Long had increased the intensity of his treatment on Jiang Tianfang, but the results were finally showing.
Shun Long could feel that the corrosive power inside Jiang Tianfang''s body waspletely suppressed by now, while Jiang Tianfang could feel his body feeling much lighter.
As he stopped using his ''Time Reversal'', Shun Long looked at Jiang Tianfang with a smile on his face, and ignoring the beads of sweat that were dripping from his forehead he then said
''''Uncle Jiang, see if you can use the energy from your body refinement.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head with a solemn look on his face, before he closed his eyes and circted the energy of his body refinement inside his body.
An excited expression appeared on his face the next moment, as tears actually started to roll from the powerful Dao Emperor''s eyes!
For the first time in 40 years, Jiang Tianfang no longer felt the energy inside his body being heavy like it was being blocked by something, and he could now freely sense it circting inside him.
Barely a second had passed, and the spot in his right sleeve that was previously empty, now had a right arm appear out of nowhere and upy it.
This right arm with its well-defined muscles that looked almost identical to Jiang Tianfang''s left arm, caused Jiang Chen''s father to stare at it with eyes filled with disbelief.
Even Jiang Chen felt boundless happiness for his father, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and bowed deeply as he said
''''Thank you!''''
Naturally, although Jiang Chen was a cold person by nature, the affection he felt for his father and his mother wasn''t something that he took lightly.
And yet, Shun Long immediately took a step forward and appeared in front of him, before he pulled Jiang Chen up from his bowing position and said
''''If you truly consider me a brother you won''t bow to me like this. There is no need for you to thank me either.''''
Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long with a deep look in his eyes for a few moments, before he nodded his head and actually smiled a momentter.
Even Liu Mei and the others were stunned by this rare smile of his, but Shun Long simply nodded his head with a smile on his face as well.
''''Nephew Shun, I, Jiang Tianfang don''t owe favors to anyone else aside from you in my life. In the future, regardless of what you need, I swear that I will always be there!''''
''''Uncle Jiang, don''t worry about it. Just remember that although the corrosive power inside you is now suppressed, it is still inside your body. Although your strength won''t reach its peak until youpletely expel it, you should be able to utilize around 30 to 40 percent of your peak strength now.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head seriously since he could feel that Shun Long was right.
Indeed, right now although his body still had that poison-like power inside him that was still affecting his strength, he could now utilize a muchrger part of his cultivation than before.
The most important thing was that he could even use the energy from his body refinement as well!
Little ck had a calm look in his bright blue eyes as his voice sounded in Shun Long''s mind the next moment
''''Master, that man''s strength is really stronger than the average Dao Emperor at the same level as him. Although his strength still can''tpare to mine right now, by the time he expels the darkness qi inside him and bes a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor in the future, he may even be able to fight against some newly-advanced Sovereign realm experts!''''
Shun Long was slightly stunned by Little ck''s evaluation of Jiang Tianfang''s strength.
He knew that after Little ck had finished absorbing the dragonstone and had woken up, he hadn''t just reached the early rank 7 but he had actually reached the middle of rank 7!
This meant that Little ck''s strength was enough to eradicate most middle and evente-stage Dao Emperors!
For him to praise Jiang Tianfang''s current strength meant that Jiang Tianfang was truly stronger than the average Dao Emperor at the same level as him.
Of course, Little ck only threw a nce at Jiang Tianfang through the ''Stone of Time'', before he continued drinking Shun Long''s wine joyfully.
As for Little Silver, it would keep eating stalk after stalk of ''Dragonblood grass'' as he watched the greedy dragon hog all the wine for himself.
2 dayster, the ''Arctic blue bird'' finally let out a loud cry as it saw the familiar outline of an enormous mountain in the distance, before it flew towards it at full speed.
Chapter 611: Faction wars rules (1)
Chapter 611: Faction wars'' rules (1)
Seeing the ''Arctic blue bird'' fly towards the Holy mountain in the distance, Jiang Tianfang looked at Shun Long and the rest and smiled before he said
''''Since we have already arrived at the Holy sect, it''s time for me to leave.''''
''''Father, where are you nning to go?'''' Jiang Chen asked curiously as he stared at his father''s face who had already changed drastically in thest 1 month. Ever since Shun Long''s treatment had shown some results, Jiang Tianfang''s face could no longer hide the joy he felt.
This was even more so in thest 2 days that he had managed to regrow his right arm back.
Jiang Chen could remember his father missing his right arm for his whole life, forcing him to wield his saber with his left arm instead.
However, now that he had regrown his arm back and had the corrosive power inside his body fully suppressed, Jiang Tianfang looked forward roaming around the central region once again.
With a smile on his face, Jiang Tianfang then said
''''I will first go to the headquarters of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' in ''White Tiger city'' and see if I can find a ''Golden light flower''.
After all, the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' is the biggest tradingpany in the entire northern part of the central region. If even they don''t have a rank 7 ''Golden light flower'' in stock, then I can only try to look for it elsewhere.''''
Liu Mei and the rest nodded their heads as they looked at the determined Dao Emperor in front of them.
It was obvious that Jiang Tianfang still hadn''t given up on getting his dantian fully healed before Shun Long became a Dao Emperor if he could actually do so.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Jiang Tianfang and said seriously
''''Uncle Jiang, if you find a rank 7 ''Golden light flower'' bring it to me. I will do my best to help you by then.''''
Jiang Tianfang smiled nodded his head warmly before he said
''''Then, I will see you again after I find it. Until then, make sure to stay safe.''''
After he finished speaking, Jiang Tianfang looked at Shun Long''s group with that same smile on his face, before he patted the peak rank 6 ''me eagle''s'' back the next moment, causing the gigantic eagle to surpass the ''Arctic blue bird'' in speed, as it flew above the Holy mountain and past into the distance.
The 2 white-robed, peak rank 9 Dao Kings that were standing guard outside the Holy sect, immediately opened their eyes the moment they sensed the aura of the peak rank 6 ''me eagle'' approaching the Holy sect, but the moment they felt the unfathomably deep aura of the middle-aged man who was riding the eagle, their faces turned pale.
Jiang Tianfang simplyughed loudly as he urged the ''me eagle'' forward, and in less than a minute, the eagle had already flown past the Holy mountain as it slowly disappeared in the distance.
Feeling the aura of an unfamiliarte-stage Dao Emperor approaching the Holy sect, caused nearly every single one of the inner court Elders inside the sect to suddenly open their eyes and look at the sky. However, when they saw the face of the middle-aged man sitting on the ''me eagle''s back, those Elders couldn''t believe what they were seeing.
''''Is that Jiang Tianfang? He is actually back in the central region?''''
''''The monster from the Jiang n? He has managed to regrow his right arm? Could it be that this brat is actually healed now?''''
''''How is this possible? Wasn''t he injured by an Elder of ''that family''? He even asked for help from star-rank alchemists in the future, but no one could really help him regrow his arm!''''
The inner court Elders of the Holy sect all looked at Jiang Tianfang''s disappearing figure with eyes filled with shock.
The Jiang family was also located in the northern part of the central region, so nearly every peak power of the northern part of the central region was familiar with Jiang Tianfang in the past.
Naturally, they all knew his story as well, making it even more difficult for them to believe what they were seeing!
In the depths of the Holy sect, an old man in white robes suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the sky, as he mumbled to himself with a smile on his face
''''Jiang Tianfang, you little brat. It seems like you found a way to treat your right arm.? Unfortunately, your aura is still far too weak...
Haha, I''m still curious to see if the biggest genius of the Jiang n will shock the central region again in the future. Far too many monsters have started to appear amidst the peak powers of the central region in thest few years, causing even my own blood to start boiling..''''
The old man had an extremely profound look in his eyes as he stared at the sky above the Holy sect, before he slowly stood up and disappeared from the room the next moment!
...
After taking onest look at Jiang Tianfang''s disappearing figure, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xie Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all of whom had excited expressions on their faces as they looked at him, and nodded his head before he had the ''Arctic blue bird'' head directly inside the Holy sect.
In the ''Beast Tamer hall'', the beast tamers inside the hall who were taking care of the surrounding magic beasts, all had stunned looks on their faces when they saw the ''Arctic blue bird'' that had a look of terror and relief on its face after arriving back in the hall.
Normally, flying magic beasts would be excited to leave the Beast Tamer hall, since they felt trapped in this ce, but the ''Arctic blue bird'' only seemed happy.
Those beast tamers then all turned their gazes towards Shun Long''s group a momentter.
They couldn''t guess how a group of middle-stage Nascent Soul outer court disciples had managed to terrorize a middle rank 6 magic beast like the ''Arctic blue bird''.
Unfortunately for them, Shun Long didn''t seem to want to exin anything, and after lightly patting the gigantic blue bird''s back, he was thest one to get off its back, as he led his group out of the Beast Tamer hall.
Of course, how could the ''Arctic blue bird'' not be feeling afraid, when it had spent thest month flying side by side next to a peak rank 6 magic beast like the ''me eagle''.
After all, the ''me eagle'' was an extremely aggressive magic beast, and one of the strongest flying peak rank 6 magic beasts as well, making the ''Arctic blue bird'' want to fly at its highest speed and escape as far away from the eagle as possible!
Unfortunately, neither its speed nor its strength could match that of the ''me eagle'', forcing the ''Arctic blue bird'' to spend a month filled with terror next to the huge eagle that was almost double its size.
Leaving the ''Beast Tamer hall'', Shun Long''s group headed directly towards the ''Assignment Hall'' to hand in their missions.
After everyone handed in their missions, their faction would finally be eligible to join the faction wars of the Holy sect!
Chapter 612: Faction wars rules (2)
Chapter 612: Faction wars'' rules (2)
Entering inside the Assignment Hall, Shun Long and the rest walked directly to the ''Exchange counter'' to hand in their missions.
Just likest time, the Exchange counter in the Assignment Hall had arge line of disciples queueing up in front of it, making Shun Long and the rest join the queue as well.
Almost half an hourter, Shun Long''s turn finally arrived.
''''How can I help you?''''
Looking at the young woman with the robes of an outer court disciple behind the Exchange counter in front of him, Shun Long took out his sect identifying token and ced it on the counter as he mentioned the names of the 2 missions that he wanted to hand in.
The young woman nodded her head calmly as she walked to the ''Mission Board'' behind her and quickly found the 2 missions that Shun Long had mentioned, before she ced the 2 scrolls in front of Shun Long and asked him
''''Are these the 2 missions that you want to hand in?''''
''''D-rank faction mission: Hunt down a middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad'' from the ''Giant crane Forest'' 3000 miles away from the Holy city, and bring back its magic beast core.
Reward: 7000 sect points''''
''''C-rank faction mission: Travel to Tang city of the ''Blue star continent'' in the Northern region and infiltrate the royal pce of the Tang dynasty to assassinate the crown prince. This mission requires extreme caution as there is at least one early-stage Dao King who is protecting the crown prince in secret at all times.
Reward: 10.000 sect points''''
After taking a look at the 2 scrolls in front of him, Shun Long nodded his head in confirmation, before the young woman in yellow robes took his sect identifying token and ced it on a specific spot on the counter.
The formations etched on the counter were activated one after the other, before the scenes recorded inside Shun Long''s sect identifying token started to rey in front of Shun Long''s and the young woman''s eyes.
The young woman was surprised when she saw Shun Long venturing inside the ''Giant Crane forest'' by himself, since this was obviously a D-rank faction mission and not a personal mission, causing her to throw a curious look at Shun Long.
After all, a middle rank 6 magic beast was strong enough that it needed at least an entire group of outer court disciples led by an early rank 6 in the Nascent Soul to work together if they wanted to kill it.
Additionally, the woman also knew that it wasn''t too umon inside the Holy sect for some powerful disciples toplete faction missions by themselves.
However, the more she saw, the more surprised she became with every passing moment.
Seeing the scene of Shun Long beheading the immobilized middle rank 5 ''Poison-tongued Toad'' with a single sword sh made the young woman suck in a breath of cold air, as her eyes involuntarily nced at the name on the golden-colored token a momentter.
''''''Shun Long''... is this person a beast tamer? Howe I have never heard of his name before?'''' The young woman thought to herself as she watched Shun Long store the body of the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' inside his spatial ring before he left the toad''s pond.
From the familiarity that Shun Long had searched for the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' without stopping to fight any random magic beasts, the young woman naturally guessed that Shun Long was most likely a beast tamer or someone who happened to know a lot about the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' itself.
Naturally, after she confirmed that Shun Long hadn''t used any external help to kill the toad, she transferred 7000 sect points into Shun Long''s token, before she turned her eyes towards the next scenes that started to y in front of her.
If Shun Long hunting the ''Poison-tongued Toad'' had left the young woman surprised just now, then the next scenes that followed made her stare nkly at the air with a look of disbelief on her face.
The young woman saw Shun Long tear space open continuously as he infiltrated the royal pce of the Tang dynasty along with Xingyi, before he and Xingyi both hid themselves inside what seemed to be a space tear.
However, the most baffling scenes were actually the inexinable death of the target of the mission, the crown prince of the Tang dynasty, Tang Long, whose body seemed to have suddenly turned into a corpse, as well as the entire Tang city falling silent soon after, as Shun Long and the rest had barely managed to escape from the royal pce.
Naturally, Shun Long hadn''t recorded the scene of Jiang Tianfang beating the Dao Emperor of the Tang dynasty, since he was actually nning to let Little ck handle Tang Wu by himself.
Shun Long wouldn''t risk capturing Little ck''s image into his ''sect identifying token'', so he had stopped the recording formation at that moment.
Seeing that the scene had abruptly stopped there, the young woman at the Exchange counter suddenly felt the urge to ask what had happened next, since she could guess that a peak expert from the Tang dynasty had probably appeared after they had killed the crown prince, but Shun Long was somehow still standing in front of herpletely unharmed.
However, once she remembered that the mission itself only stated that they had to kill the crown prince, she suppressed her curiosity and transferred 10.000 sect points to Shun Long''s sect identifying token without asking anything else.
At that moment, Shun Long''s sect identifying token lit up with a bright golden light, as a series of golden letters formed a single word on the surface of his token
''Qualified''
The young woman behind the ''Exchange counter'' stared at the changes in Shun Long''s token for a moment, before her gaze fell back on Shun Long.
Indeed, after Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, had all handed in the D-rank faction missions that they hadpleted by themselves previously, the only one left was Shun Long.
Once the young woman behind the exchange counter had verified Shun Long''s missions, Shun Long understood that his faction instantly became qualified to participate in the faction wars of the Holy sect.
''''Congrattions. Your faction is now qualified to take part in the faction wars!''''
Although the young woman was surprised that the young man in front of her -whom she believed to be a beast tamer- hadn''t joined a big faction and instead had formed his own, she still congratted Shun Long a momentter with a smile on her face.
''''As per the sect rules, since your faction is qualified to join the faction wars, let me exin the rules of the faction wars within the sect.''''
Once a faction was deemed eligible to join the faction wars, the disciples from the ''Exchange counter'' in the ''Assignment Hall'' were the ones responsible for exining the rules of the faction wars to anyone who wasn''t familiar with them.
Thus, the yellow-robed woman looked at Shun Long before she continued
''''Every month, your faction will have topete at least once against another faction in the faction wars.
You will be notified before the matches through your sect identifying token, before you are instructed to proceed to the arena for the faction war.
No more than 10 outer disciples are allowed to be a part of your faction in every fight!
You are allowed to forfeit the match if you want to, but forfeiting in the faction wars is simr to forfeiting a fight in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' and will lower your faction''s ranking.
Of course, your faction is ranked at the bottom right now, so you don''t have to worry about dropping any further.
Additionally, every single faction ranked in the top 2000 within the sect will also receive resources from the sect every month, including sect points and spirit stones! However, factions below the top 2000 rankings won''t receive anything.
This means that if you really want to obtain resources, you should aim for the top 2000 spots, but no faction within the top 2000 is actually weak!
Naturally, the higher your ranking, the better the rewards!''''
The young woman''s monotonous voice turned somewhat excited upon reaching this moment as she then continued
''''The rewards that the top 1000 factions obtain are more than 10 times better than the factions ranked in the top 2000!
As for the top 100 factions... it is said that the rewards that they obtain are better than the rest of the top 2000 factions below thembined!
I have even heard that each of the top 100 factions possess their own territory within the sect as well!
Ah, but the rules to fight the top 100 factions are different from the rest of the fights among the faction wars.
Wars against the top 100 factions aren''t scheduled by the sect.
Instead, only the top 1000 factions are allowed to challenge the top 100 factions, but this ''challenge'' is much more brutal than the normal faction wars!
Since the top 100 factions have their own territory within the sect, any faction ranked within the top 1000 can attack their territory and challenge them at any time.
The top 100 factions have no choice but to ept the fight and start the war or they will thus lose their territory.
But of course, any faction within the top 100 rankings can only be challenged twice every day at most.
Naturally, during the faction wars, you are not allowed to kill or cripple another disciple, but everything else is allowed!''''
At the same time that the young woman finished speaking, Shun Long''s sect identifying token on top of the ''Exchange counter'' lit up for the second time, before another series of words appeared on its surface.
Chapter 613: Entering seclusion
Chapter 613: Entering seclusion
''''Faction wars:
Shun Long''s faction (rank 10824th) vs Lim Yu''s faction (rank 6523)
Match will begin at noon, 10 days from now. On the day of the match, proceed to the arena in the outer court.''''
It wasn''t just Shun Long and the young woman behind the ''Exchange counter'' who noticed this, but even Liu Mei and the rest who were waiting by the side that had all turned their attention towards Shun Long''s token at the same time.
Seeing that their first match was already decided, everyone had serious yet expectant looks on their faces.
This was the first time their faction was going to fight inside the sect against another faction!
At the same time, the young woman behind the ''Exchange counter'' handed Shun Long''s token back to him and said
''''Congrattions. Your first match has already been scheduled.? Fights between factions are fairly simple in their rules. As long as you can injure the leader of the enemy faction and make him unable to fight any longer, you will automatically win the match.''''
Shun Long cupped his hands and thanked the young woman behind the ''Exchange counter'', before he took his sect identifying token from the counter and walked towards Liu Mei and the rest.
Seeing that everyone had excited looks on their faces, Shun Long smiled and said
''''Let''s go back first. We still have 10 days until the match starts.''''
Jiang Chen and the rest all followed Shun Long as they walked out from the Assignment Hall.
They had all spent the past 2 months traveling on top of the ''Arctic blue bird''s'' back without a chance to cultivate, so every one of them was nning to spend the next 10 days entering seclusion and try to advance their cultivation.
After all, it was practically impossible to cultivate without a care when you were sitting on the back of a middle rank 6 magic beast that was traversing the continental sea at full speed.
Even Shun Long who was absorbing the qi in the air around him wasn''t doing so to cultivate, but he was merely replenishing the qi in his qi balls after he had finished treating Jiang Tianfang.
''''Then, brother Shun, I will see you again in 10 days.''''
Bai Longtian was the first one to bid farewell to Shun Long and the rest, before he walked back to his own courtyard.
Jiang Chen and even Xingyi did the same a momentter, as they left to return back to their own courtyards as well.
Everyone chose to go and cultivate in their own courtyards, since the qi inside Shun Long''s courtyard wouldn''t be enough for everyone to share.
Shun Long smiled as he and Liu Mei walked back to his own courtyard. It was obvious that everyone was nning to make the most out of these 10 days now that they had returned back to the sect.
After entering his courtyard, Shun Long first had Little Silvere out from the ''Stone of Time'', before he and Liu Mei entered inside the main room.
Since he was nning to enter seclusion again, Shun Long would always let Little Silver stay outside and keep Liu Meipany while she trained.
After all, Liu Mei didn''t need to cultivate normally since she was training in the ''Blood Absorption art'', but she needed to use her time to get even more familiar with her undead creatures even better.
In the past 2 months, Shun Long had already told Liu Mei about what he had learned from Little ck after the ck dragon had woken up.
Little ck had said that it was wrong for a cultivator who hasprehended the Dao of Death to use their soul sense andpletely suppress their undead creatures or treat them as an army.
Instead, he had said that Liu Mei should allow her undead creatures to fight freely using all their negative emotions, and that Liu Mei should only suppress the killing intent that they have towards her and those around her.
Since this was the way that a powerful family from the Immortal Dimension taught its descendants who hadprehended the Dao of Death, this was naturally the best way for Liu Mei to go at it as well.
After all, even Elder Xuan''s master, a powerful peak rank 9 Dao Emperor, didn''t know too much about the Dao of Death aside from her ownprehension.
Entering inside the room, Shun Long suddenly smiled as he walked forward and ced his hands around Liu Mei''s waist, holding her tightly.
Leaning slightly forward, he then whispered into her ear in a low voice
''''Mei''er, I missed you.''''
Liu Mei''s face turned red as she Shun Long''s hands removing her robes, before they started to roam around her body, but she still nodded her head gently and ced her hands around Shun Long''s neck, nting a big kiss on his face.
With that same smile on his face, Shun Long removed his own robes as well, as he took Liu Mei to the shower.
With the water naturally falling above his head from the formation etched on the ''shower'', Shun Long''s sucked in and even bit Liu Mei''s perfect, cherry-like nipples, causing moans of pleasure and ecstasy to escape from Liu Mei''s mouth, while his hands explored every nook and cranny of her perfectly sculptured body.
Starting from her neck, Shun Long''s right hand slowly slid downwards towards her chest, only to reach Liu Mei''s secret ce a few momentster.
Shun Long could feel a wet and warm sensation on his fingers, as Liu Mei ced both of her hands around his neck and let him do whatever he wanted to do.
Ragged breaths and moans filled with pleasure and excitement resounded throughout the room for the next few hours, before Shun Long finallyid down on the bed with Liu Mei lying on top of him.
A few minutester, Shun Long stood up and gently caressed Liu Mei''s stunningly beautiful face, and after putting his robes back on, he sat on his meditative cushion and closed his eyes as he entered inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Sitting cross-legged on his usual spot, Shun Long first patted Little ck''s head that was leisurely munching a few rank 6 medicinal herbs, before he waved his right hand, causing the corpse of an enormous red bear to appear in front of him.
Chapter 614: Barrier-piercing pill
Chapter 614: Barrier-piercing pill
Staring at the corpse of the peak rank 5 ''red-furred bear'' in front of him, Shun Long''s lips curved up as he waved his hand a second time, taking out a dozen medicinal herbs and an alchemy cauldron from his herb garden.
''''Even though I spent 2 years with Mei''er in the ''Ten thousand beasts mountain range'', I still didn''t manage to gather all the medicinal herbs that I needed to refine the ''Barrier-piercing pill'' back then. Thankfully, the pill shops in the Holy city had more than enough rank 5 medicinal herbs for sale.'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself as he stared at the dozen rank 5 medicinal herbs in front of him.
Indeed, the pill that he was nning to refine this time was precisely the rank 5 ''Barrier-piercing pill'' that Bai Longtian, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen, had all received from their masters after they were epted by them as personal disciples.
Shun Long had actually been nning on refining this pill for a while, but even though he had spent 2 years in the ''Ten thousand beasts'' mountain range'' with Liu Mei, he still hadn''t managed to find all the medicinal herbs that he needed.
It was only after he had taken a walk around the alchemy shops in the Holy city that he had found the rest of the medicinal herbs that he needed.
However, Shun Long''s version of the rank 5 ''Barrier-piercing pill'' was vastly different from the Holy sect''s.
Normally, the Holy sect''s version of the pill would only allow a middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to advance a minor tier upon consuming the pill, up to the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, but Shun Long''s ''Barrier-piercing pill'' could allow evente-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to advance an entire minor tier instead.
The difference between the middle and thete stages of the Nascent Soul was simply enormous, making Shun Long''s ''Barrier-piercing pill'' many times more valuable than the Holy sect''s.
If a single high-grade ''Barrier-piercing pill'' was being sold for 5000 sect points in the Golden Treasures hall, then Shun Long believed that his own pills could easily be sold for 20.000 sect points for every pill.
Additionally, it wasmon knowledge that a Nascent Soul stage cultivator could only consume a single ''Barrier-piercing pill'', while a second one wouldn''t have any effects, but Shun Long knew that his ''Barrier-piercing pills'' would allow Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, to breakthrough once again after consuming it!
Of course, the effect of the pill wouldn''t allow them to advance an entire minor tier after consuming it for the second time, but Shun Long knew that it was going to be more than enough for them to breakthrough past the barrier of thete stages of the Nascent Soul and enter the early or even the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, if they consumed the pill once they reached the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long first conjured some of his qi into qi mes and started to warm his cauldron, before he ced the medicinal herbs inside it one by one. Spreading his soul sense to fully envelop the cauldron, Shun Long then started to extract the essence from the medicinal herbs inside it.
In just 15 minutes, more than a dozen rank 4 and a handful of rank 5 medicinal herbs had their essence extracted, turning into a colorful liquid that swirled inside the cauldron.
Turning his attention towards the corpse of the ''red-furred bear'' next to him, Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned serious as he raised his right hand and plunged it inside the bear''s chest.
An illusionary, purple-colored de appeared on his hand, before it collided with the bear''s hide the next moment.
Surprisingly, even Shun Long''s spatial de was having difficulty cutting through the hide of the ''red-furred bear'' even though the bear had already died long ago, but Shun Long gritted his teeth as he kept cutting the hide with his right hand, while his left hand maintained the qi mes that kept heating the cauldron.
After all, although the ''red-furred bear'' was a peak rank 5 magic beast with extremely weak mental defenses, which was why it had died so easily to the poison from the ''Soul poisoning hell grass'', in terms of its physical strength and the strength of its body, it was actually among the strongest peak rank 5 magic beasts! Even after its death, evente-stage Nascent Soul cultivators would find it hard to cut through its body and obtain its beast core and its heart essence.
A few momentster, Shun Long cut through the bear''s hide and finally reached its heart, as he then grabbed the bear''s heart with his right hand and poured its blood essence into the cauldron.
The moment that the blood essence from a peak rank 5 magic beast met with the medicinal essence inside the cauldron, a sizzling sound resounded in the air.
10 minutester, the sizzling sound finally died down, while at the same time, an deep, fragrant scent started to waft from the cauldron, as it slowly filled the air inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Opening the lid of the cauldron, Shun Long saw the 5 green-colored pills inside it and heaved out a sigh of relief, as he mumbled to himself
''''All 5 of them have reached the top-grade. If it wasn''t for the blood essence of the ''red-furred bear'' being so potent, at most, only 3 of them would have reached the top-grade!''''
Compared to the time when Shun Long had refined the ''Dragonblood tempering pills'', refining the ''Barrier-piercing pills'' was truly much easier, but it was still aplicated process nevertheless.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long ced the 5 ''Barrier-piercing pills'' inside a pill bottle and stored it in his herb garden, before he turned his gaze towards the ''Heaven Swallowing vine''.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Shun Long then waved his hand, causing a mountain of spirit stones to appear around him, as he fed them all to the enormous vine by his side.
The Heaven Swallowing vine instantly consumed the middle-grade spirit stones, as it started to fill the air around Shun Long with its extremely pure qi.
...
Like this, 10 days quickly passed in the outside world, as the day of the faction war finally arrived.
Chapter 615: Faction war (1)
Chapter 615: Faction war (1)
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long inhaled deeply onest time, absorbing even thest bit of pure qi around him, before he finally opened his eyes.
Above his head, the figure of an invisible hourss was floating, with 33 bright balls of qi that were emitting a bright silver light.
Although 10 days had passed in the outside world, more than 3 full months had passed for Shun Long inside the foggy space.
In these 3 months, Shun Long had sessfully broken through the barrier of the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, bing an early and then a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Breaking through to the middle stages of the Nascent Soul wasn''t easy, as Shun Long had spent more than 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones in thest 3 months.
The qi consumption of his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' was truly immense, especially when it waspared to other cultivators at the same level.
Shun Long knew that a normal person would normally need around 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones to reach thete stages of the Nascent Soul from the peak of rank 3, but 200.000 middle-grade spirit stones were only enough for Shun Long to reach the middle of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul instead.
Naturally, this was the effect of an extremely high-grade cultivation technique like the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
How could the qi required to train in a technique like his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' bepared to other cultivation techniques?
After all, Shun Long clearly knew that the purity of his qi inside his qi balls couldn''t bepared to the qi inside the dantian of any other outer disciple within the Holy sect, at the same level as him.
Seeing the 635.000 middle-grade spirit stones that he had now left inside his herb garden, that had been depleted by one-fourth in a single cultivation session, Shun Long felt somewhat dejected in his heart.
''''At this rate, even if I robbed a Dao Emperor clean, his wealth probably wouldn''t be enough to allow me to reach even the peak of the Dao King realm, let alone be the Dao Emperor realm...
Unless I start selling some pills in the Holy city, I will have trouble even reaching thete stages of the Nascent Soul as well...
Maybe I should go to Murong city earlier than I was nning to.''''
Remembering the treasures that Huo Wuyi, the Dao Emperor who had created the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' in the Night star continent had hidden in a mountain outside Murong city, Shun Long started to consider whether he should go there sooner than he had been nning to.
The only reason why he was still hesitating, was because Shun Long now had a rough understanding of the approximate level of strength of the Murong family.
ording to Huo Wuyi''s memories, the Murong family wasn''t any weaker than the Holy sect itself.
Since the sect master of the Holy sect was a Sovereign realm expert ording to Jiang Tianfang, and there was even a powerful peak-level Dao Emperor hidden in the depths of the sect as well, Shun Long could roughly guess how strong the Murong family was.
Even with Little ck who had now reached the middle of rank 7 and was probably strong enough to fight off againstte-stage Dao Emperors, Shun Long couldn''t deny that the Murong family was still a behemoth that he couldn''t shake just yet.
Besides, even Huo Wuyi''s treasures weren''t worth it for Shun Long to risk Little ck''s safety just to obtain them.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long imagined himself leaving the foggy space as he appeared back in his room barely a momentter.
Seeing that the room was empty, Shun Long''s lips curved up ever-so-slightly, as he opened the door and walked to the courtyard outside, where Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, were all there, along with a huge ck panther who was lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
Shun Long had already decided to let Bai Longtian and the rest enter his courtyard when they arrived, so they could see Little Silver.
Since Shun Long was going to spend many years alongside them in the future, it was going to be a matter of time until they learned of Little Silver''s existence.
Afterpleting the C-rank mission and infiltrating the royal pce, Shun Long didn''t n to hide too many things from them any longer.
Indeed, although Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, had been surprised when they arrived in the courtyard earlier and saw a huge ck panther lying on the ground, once Liu Mei exined that Little Silver was Shun Long''s magic beast, everyone epted it without too much difficulty.
In their eyes, Shun Long''s secrets had already far exceeded his ability to ''smuggle'' a magic beast inside the Holy sect unnoticed.
Since they had all chosen to follow Shun Long, they were only feeling morefortable seeing that Shun Long was sharing his secret with them.
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Brother Long!''''
The moment that the door of the room opened, everyone turned their attention towards Shun Long, before Liu Mei and Xingyi excitedly spoke.
Shun Long smiled as he looked at Liu Mei and the rest, before he walked to Little Silver and patted its head, letting it return in the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Since Shun Long wasn''t hiding his cultivation, Liu Mei and the rest noticed that he had broken through to the middle of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul during his seclusion this time, shocking everyone in their hearts!
At the same time, Shun Long noticed that, although neither Xingyi, Bai Longtian, or Jiang Chen, had broken through during their cultivation session, it was obvious that they were just a step away from breaking through once again.
Seeing the excited looks that they all had on their faces, Shun Long smiled and said
''''Since we are all ready, let''s go to the arena.''''
Today was the first day that their faction would be fighting as 5, facing off against another faction of the Holy sect!
Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all nodded their heads, as they walked out of the courtyard and headed towards the north of the sect.
The arena was located in the north of the court as well, less than 200 meters away from the entrance of the inner court.
...
It only took half an hour for Shun Long''s faction to arrive in front of the entrance of the gigantic arena of the outer court.
Although Shun Long and the rest had yet to enter it, judging from how big the arena was, they could easily guess that the arena itself could fit more than 200.000 outer disciples inside it without any issue.
The arena didn''t seem to have too many people around it, but Shun Long knew that this was only natural.
He already knew that most outer disciples wouldn''t usually waste their time idling around this ce, unless there was a battle between 2 powerful factions near the top 100 rankings, or a battle between 2 geniuses ranked in the Martial Roll of Honor!
After all, nobody really cared about watching the lower-ranked factions fight against each other!
However, just as Shun Long and the rest were about to step past the arena''s entrance and enter inside it, 2 people dressed in yellow robes and a young man who wasn''t wearing the robes of the Holy sect suddenly blocked their path, causing Shun Long to furrow his brows upon seeing this, while Jiang Chen was the first one to step forward with an annoyed look on his face.
Chapter 616: Faction war (2)
Chapter 616: Faction war (2)
Aside from Jiang Chen who had never paid any attention to Sheng Huang, everyone else from Shun Long''s faction instantly recognized this spiky-haired prince from the Shengtian dynasty and the chubby, silver-haired young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'' who was standing next to him, along with the blue-haired young man who was also standing by their side.
Shun Long was slightly surprised when he noticed that the auraing from Sheng Huang''s body had actually reached the peak of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul!
As for Zhong Fang''s aura, it was still at the middle of rank 4, while the young lord''s of the Golden Exchange firm from the Night star continent, Hu Liu''s aura, it was the same since thest time that Shun Long had met him in front of the Giant Crane forest 3 months ago, still at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he saw that Sheng Huang was still looking at him with a cold look in his eyes that didn''t hide his killing intent, but a momentter, Sheng Huang actually snorted and turned his attention away from Shun Long, looking at Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian who were standing right behind him.
Staring at Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian with a serious look, Sheng Huang pointed at an empty spot next to the arena''s entrance and said in amanding tone
''''The 2 of you,e with me! There is something we need to discuss!''''
''''Scram!'''' Before Xingyi or Bai Longtian could even answer, Jiang Chen was the first one to speak, as he took another step forward and appeared right in front of Sheng Huang.
His cold, ck eyes, looked down on Sheng Huang, while his aura that was at the peak of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul made Sheng Huang involuntarily take a few steps back, before Sheng Huang looked at Jiang Chen with a disbelieving look on his face!
Although Jiang Chen may not have given a shit about Sheng Huang, how could Sheng Huang not know about the existence of this monster who had shown his immortal-grade bloodline during the fourth test of the Holy sect?
Jiang Chen and that red-robed young man named Jun Ren who had entered the Holy sect along with him, were the 2 people that Sheng Huang didn''t want to sh against at all.
Even with his Dao of Destruction, Sheng Huang knew that the chances of him beating Jiang Chen were practically zero if he used his immortal-grade bloodline!
''''Sheng Huang, what do you want?'''' Xie Xingyi''s voice didn''t hold the slightest hint of politeness as she addressed this former number 1 genius of the Night star continent.
Just the fact that Sheng Huang had been staring at Shun Long with a look of killing intent in his eyes and had even ''ordered'' her to follow him, made Xingyi furious in her heart.
Bai Longtian nodded his head towards Sheng Huang, but he didn''t move a step from his spot either, as his eyes simply stared at Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang without saying a word, almost as if he was waiting for him to speak.? Although he was someone who wouldn''t refuse to give others face, Bai Longtian wouldn''t insult his own friends just to be polite to his enemies.
He already knew that Shun Long and Sheng Huang were considered enemies, but Bai Longtian didn''t really care about Sheng Huang, and he knew that Shun Long didn''t care too much about him either.
The truth was, that if he wanted to, Bai Longtian could have simply revealed his ''Golden Buddha unique physique'' along with his ''Dao of the Buddha'', and be hailed as the number 1 genius of the Night star continent instead of Sheng Huang, but Bai Longtian wasn''t someone who cared about fame either.
But to have someone like Sheng Huang order him around wasn''t something that he was willing to ept.
At the same time, after sensing the 4 aurasing from Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang were unable to hide their jealousy!
This was even more so for Liu Mei, whom they had both met 4 months ago in front of the inner court''s entrance.
Back then, when Sheng Huang and Zhong Fang had blocked Shun Long and Liu Mei, they clearly remembered that Liu Mei''s aura was still below theirs, but now she had actually reached the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul!
As for Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian, when they had entered the sect, they were all peak rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, but now, Xingyi and Bai Longtian had already reached the middle of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul as well.
Of course, Sheng Huang had already heard that the 4 of them had been epted by inner court Elders as personal disciples, so he had already heard that they had been bestowed a ''Barrier-piercing pill'' from their masters.
''''How can the Elders ept them as personal disciples but ignore me? HOW AM I INFERIOR TO THEM? HOW??''''
When Sheng Huang had learned about this, he had actually gone in a violent fit of rage, destroying everything inside his own room.
The truth was, that Sheng Huang himself desperately wanted to purchase a ''Barrier-piercing pill'' for himself, but every pill was sold for 5.000 sect points in the Golden Treasures hall.
Putting aside the fact that he didn''t have enough sect points, since every personal D-rank mission only gave up to 200 sect points, even if he sold almost every single treasure of his, the ''Barrier-piercing pills'' were still extremely rare to appear in the Golden Treasures hall as well!
Staring at Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian, the prince of the Shengtian dynasty suppressed his frustration, while the look in his eyes turned solemn as he said
''''Since the both of youe from the Night star continent as well, I know that you understand the true problem of the continent, so I will get to the point.
In less than 3 years, the Demon Emperor pce will invade the continent.
Don''t tell me that you don''t understand what those vampires will do to our continent once they arrive there.? Are you willing to see innocent people die?
Since you have been epted by the Elders of the inner court as their personal disciples, I want you to talk to your masters and ask them to interfere.
Of course, I am not asking you to do this for free. As long as you agree, our Shengtian dynasty will give you 5 million middle-grade spirit stones.''''
Shun Long''s lips arched upwards as a mocking smile appeared on his face when he heard this. However, he didn''t interfere, as he simply waited to hear what Bai Longtian and Xingyi would say.
Although Shun Long and Liu Mei didn''te from a powerful family of the Night star continent and didn''t know too many things about the secrets of the continent or the Demon Emperor pce, Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian who came from the Xie and the Bai families already knew about this issue and they had already told everything to Shun Long.
Bai Longtian shook his head and cupped his hands in an apologetic manner as he said
''''Brother Sheng, I''m afraid I won''t be able to help you. I have already talked to my master about this matter, but he said that I shouldn''t interfere unless I have the strength to fight against the Demon Emperor pce by myself.
The Holy sect isn''t willing to interfere in this.
Master said that the Night star continent needs a Dao Emperor to preside over it, and since the Demon Emperor pce is willing to do so, the Elders of the Holy sect won''t fight them unless the Demon Emperor pce kills millions of innocent people.
However, brother Sheng, you don''t have to worry about this issue too much. Master said that the Demon Emperor pce won''t harm the continent, and instead, they may allow it to flourish even further in the future.
Additionally, as long as your Shengtian dynasty is willing to submit to the Demon Emperor pce, you will still be fine.''''
Bai Longtian didn''t seem to even care about Sheng Huang''s offer of 5 million middle-grade spirit stones from his Shengtian dynasty, as he rejected this in a heartbeat.
''''BULLSHIT! BAI LONGTIAN, YOU FUCKER!
Are you really willing to see the peak powers of the Night star continent get reced by those blood-sucking monsters? Do you really expect us to bend the knee and submit to them? My Shengtian dynasty has ruled the continent for tens of thousands of years!''''
''''Bai Longtian, think about this again! Your Bai family will also be affected by something like this.'''' said Zhong Fang as he looked at Bai Longtian with a serious look in his eyes.
At that moment, a cold smile appeared on Xingyi''s face as she looked at Sheng Huang and the silver-haired Zhong Fang, before she added in
''''Your Shengtian dynasty has ruled the continent for tens of thousands of years? This is precisely the reason why you don''t want the Demon Emperor pce to invade the Night star continent!
It''s not because you are afraid of the people who will die once the Demon Emperor pce conquers the continent, but instead, it''s because you know that the peak powers in Heaven''s Dome city will crumble!
It''s because your Shengtian dynasty is monopolizing all the resources in the continent that you are unwilling to lose this advantage of yours, and the same goes for Zhong Fang''s ''Mercenaries'' Association''!
You know that the Demon Emperor pce will force you to bend the knee that you are forced to ask for help from the Holy sect.
However, both the Bai family and my Xie family wouldn''t be affected too much by this to begin with.
The ones who will be affected the most, are those who monopolize the resources of the continent like your Shengtian dynasty!''''
Hearing Xie Xingyiy out the truth about his Shengtian dynasty like that made Sheng Huang furious, but he also knew that she was correct.
This was the reason why his Shengtian dynasty was willing to pay 5 million spirit stones to Xingyi and Bai Longtian to help them with this issue.
Actually, Sheng Huang could even offer a higher price, but from Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s tone, he understood that neither they nor the Holy sect was interested in meddling in this matter.
Indeed, it would be his Shengtian dynasty and the other peak powers in the Heaven''s Dome city who would be affected by this the most, while powers like the Xie family and Bai Longtian''s Bai family would barely be affected if the Demon Emperor pce conquered the continent.
But how could his Shengtian dynasty who was used to ruling the continent for tens of thousands of years, suddenly bend the knee and submit to the Demon Emperor pce?
This was why Sheng Huang was feeling depressed that he wasn''t epted by an Elder of the Holy sect as a personal disciple like Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian.
''''Now scram! Stop blocking the way!''''
Jiang Chen stared at Sheng Huang coldly as he spoke, not caring at all about Sheng Huang''s plight or the fact that his Shengtian dynasty would have to either bend the knee or disappear from the face of the Night star continent.
Sheng Huang had a look of disbelief on his face as he stared at Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian whopletely ignored him, as they followed after Shun Long and entered the arena.
...
After walking past the arena''s entrance and entering inside, Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the rest, all saw a huge hallway that led directly to the audience seats and a small corridor that led to the center of the arena, as well as 3 different counters ced not too far away from each other.
Shun Long then walked directly towards the counter for the faction wars.
ording to the young man behind the counter, there was less than one hour until their match started.
Although the arena itself was enormous, barely 500 outer court disciples were present today, making the ce look deste.
Finally, an hourter, a white-robed Elder who was standing in the center of the arena took out a ck-colored token from his spatial ring and raised it in the air above him, before he said in an uncaring, monotonous voice
''''Shun Long''s faction vs Lim Yu''s faction. The match will now begin!''''
Chapter 617: Faction war (3)
Chapter 617: Faction war (3)
Hearing the Elder''s voice, Liu Mei''s and the rest''s ears all perked up, as they followed Shun Long and stepped inside the small corridor that led directly towards the center of the arena.
Entering inside the arena, Shun Long noticed that the arena was actually massive, spanning for more than 800 meters in length, with countless trees surrounding it from all sides.
The trees were blocking everyone''s vision, not allowing the contestants to see for more than a few dozen meters ahead of them, but the center of the arena itself where the white-robed Elder was standing was clear from any trees.
The radius of 100 meters that the center of the arena covered, looked like a barrennd that was in sharp contrast to the rest of the arena.
At the same time that Shun Long and the rest entered the arena and arrived in front of the white-robed Elder, Shun Long saw another group appearing from the other side, approaching the Elder as well.
Shun Long guessed that this group that was filled with 6 others yellow-robed outer disciples, was most likely Lim Yu''s faction.
The person standing in the lead of this group was a young man who had reached the early rank 6? of the Nascent Soul, with short ck hair simr to Sheng Huang''s and deep ck eyes, while the other 5 people standing behind him, were either early stage, middle, orte stage rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivators.
As soon as Shun Long''s group appeared on stage, the few outer disciples who werezily sitting among the crowd seats instantly had their eyes lit up, as everyone''s gaze was suddenly focused either on Liu Mei or Xingyi.
''''Hey, who are these 2 beauties? Did Elder Teng just say that the name of this faction is ''Shun Long''s faction''?''''
''''Is this a new faction? Howe I have never heard of it before? Hmm, but their cultivation levels aren''t low... Aside from that short-haired young man in the middle, the other 4 all seem to be at the rank 5 of the Nascent Soul as well!''''
''''Right, even if they are weaker than Lim Yu''s faction, they probably aren''t that much weaker.''''
''''No, wait! I have heard about this faction! That ck-haired young man with a scar on his face is Jiang Chen! He is the person who pped Qian Tao''s cousin, Qian Kun, in the Holy city a few months ago!''''
A knowledgeable outer court disciple among the people in the crowd seemed to have recognized Jiang Chen, spreading his name to the rest of the disciples around him.
At the same time that the people in the crowd exploded in a feverish discussion, while Shun Long was inspecting this group in front of him, the people from that group stared at Shun Long''s group as well with serious looks on their faces.
Their eyes were entirely focused on either Jiang Chen, the 2 girls, or Bai Longtian.
Although the people in the crowd may not have known enough things about Shun Long''s faction, but Lim Yu''s faction would always do a thorough check on their opponents before a faction war started.
Thus, they all knew that the 4 people around Shun Long had not only been epted by the inner court Elders of the sect as personal disciples, but every single one of them wereplete monsters!
In the early rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivator''s, Lim Yu''s eyes, although Shun Long by himself was of no threat and could be taken care of extremely easily, since he was just a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator 4 months ago when he entered the sect, the other 4 from his faction were an entirely different matter altogether!
This was even more so for Jiang Chen who had not only reached the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul already, but he also possessed an immortal-grade bloodline as well just like Shun Long.
Among the people who had entered the Holy sect a few months ago, Jiang Chen was at the top of the list among the people whom they wanted to recruit!
As for Liu Mei and the terrifying monsters that she could summon, or Xingyi and her weird physique that allowed her to disappear, Lim Yu had already attached enough importance to them as well.
In his eyes, Bai Longtian who had simplyprehended a rare dao like the Dao of the Buddha, and Shun Long whose cultivation was still at the early-stages of the Nascent Soul, were the only people among his opponents that he didn''t have to worry too much about.
Elder Teng, the white-robed Elder standing at the center of the arena, looked at Shun Long and the young man with short ck hair who had reached the early rank 6 in the Nascent Soul and said
''''Give me your sect identifying tokens.''''
With a practiced motion, Lim Yu took out his sect identifying token and handed it to him, while Shun Long nodded his head and did the same a momentter.
After taking a look at the 2 tokens in his hands, Elder Teng turned his attention towards Shun Long''s group and said
''''I trust you already know the rules of the faction wars. All you have to do is defeat the enemy faction leader and you will win the war.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in confirmation, as he turned his gaze towards the early rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivator, Lim Yu, who was staring back at him.
''''Alright, take your positions.''''
Elder Teng spoke once more, before he floated upwards, to the sky above the arena, while his eyes stared at the 2 groups below him.
As Lim Yu''s group turned around and headed deeper inside the dense ''forest'' behind them, Shun Long''s group did the same as well.
After they arrived deep inside the forest, Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and asked
''''Should I take care of them?''''
Although their opponents consisted of a handful of rank 5 Nascent Soul stage outer disciples of the Holy sect, and their leader who had clearly reached the early rank 6, Jiang Chen was still confident that he could defeat everyone, including Lim Yu.
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei and the rest, and with a smile on his face he said
''''This time, you guys don''t have to do anything. I will take care of this faction war myself.''''
Chapter 618: Faction war (4)
Chapter 618: Faction war (4)
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, were all stunned when they heard this, but they all nodded their heads barely a momentter.
Shun Long had a confident smile on his face as he looked at them and said
''''Don''t worry, it won''t take too long.''''
Turning around, Shun Long first circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and spread out his soul sense, before he covered himself with his second ''Monarch''s Domain'' and sprinted towards the center of the arena at full speed.
By now, Shun Long''s soul sense was more than enough to cover the entire arena that only spanned for 800 meters.
In the blink of an eye, he immediately located 6 figures that were hurled together and seemed to be talking to each other at the other end of the arena.
''''Master really seems excited to participate in these faction wars.'''' Little ck mused to himself as he saw Shun Long running towards the direction of Lim Yu''s group at full speed with a smile on his face.
A few momentster, once the disciples among the crowd noticed that Shun Long was the only one heading towards Lim Yu''s faction while Liu Mei and the rest were all standing back, a flurry of discussions instantly erupted
''''What the hell?! The faction leader is heading towards the enemy faction all by himself? Doesn''t that Shun Long know the rules of the faction wars?''''
''''Is this guy crazy? He is just a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator! What is he doing?''''
''''But look at his speed... Isn''t he even faster than Lim Yu?''''
The moment that Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and finally revealed his cultivation, the disciples sitting in the audience seats were instantly shocked when they sensed that Shun Long was just a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul cultivator.
After all, even the weakest member from Lim Yu''s faction was at the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, while Lim Yu himself was an early rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivator.? The difference between him and Shun Long was almost 2 full minor ranks.
However, Shun Long''s speed right now had shocked those disciples as well, since it had already far exceeded the speed of an early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Lim Yu! It was probably evenparable to the speed of somete-stage rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivators.
At the same time that Shun Long was heading towards the center of the arena, he also noticed through his soul sense that the 6 figures from Lim Yu''s faction were doing the same, all of them heading towards the center of the arena as well.
''''Oh? You are approaching me?''''
Shun Long smirked as he instantly realized what Lim Yu was trying to do, causing a big smile to appear on his face.
Normally, the leader of a faction would stay far behind during the faction wars and be protected by a few of his faction members, while those who were suited to attack would try to take out the enemy leader.
However, since Lim Yu had the highest cultivation among everyone else in this faction war, he wasn''t nning on waiting until Jiang Chen and the others ambushed him, and was nning to personally attack by himself!
The disciples sitting in the audience seats could also see this scene from above, causing them to be stunned.
For one faction leader to do this was already extremely rare, but for 2 of them to have the same crazy thought at the same time was something that none of these disciples had expected.
The white-robed Elder in the sky, Elder Teng looked at Shun Long with a curious look in his eyes.
Although the disciples in the audience seats had failed to sense this, but how could an experienced Elder like him not notice that Shun Long''s soul sense had already epassed the entire arena.
Sensing Lim Yu''s movements and still running straight towards him made Elder Teng curious to see what Shun Long was nning to rely on to fight against him.
..
In just a few moments, Shun Long had actually crossed the first 300 meters, arriving right at the center of the arena.
Unlike the forest behind him, the center of the arena waspletely clear from any trees, giving the participants clear vision for the next 100 meters in front of them.
As soon as he arrived in this ce, Shun Long suddenly stopped running and turned his attention towards the forest ahead.
A few momentster, his lips finally curved up into a smile as he waved his hand, causing a pitch-ck sword to appear in front of him.
At the same time, from the forest ahead of him, Shun Long saw the silhouette of a young man dressed in yellow robes, being followed by 2 other outer court disciples, all of them heading towards him at full speed.
Indeed, since the distance that the forest covered was less than 300 meters, it only took a few moments for Lim Yu to cross it and arrive at the center of the arena as well.
At that moment, Lim Yu suddenly stopped in his tracks, and stared at Shun Long who was standing leisurely at the center of the arena with unconcealed shock and suspicion in his eyes.
''''Boss, what the hell is going on?''''
The young man and the young woman who were following behind Lim Yu were also stunned when they saw this scene, causing the young man to exim loudly in disbelief.
It was one thing for Lim Yu to personally head to the enemy faction''s territory since he was the strongest cultivator in this faction war, but for Shun Long to do the same was crazy!
Did this guy think he was stronger than Lim Yu?
Although Lim Yu was surprised by how Shun Long was a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he didn''t care about it that much as his eyes started to survey his surroundings, wary that Jiang Chen or Liu Mei and the rest would suddenly attack him.
In his eyes, whether Shun Long was at the early stages of the Nascent Soul or at the middle of rank 4 instead made little difference to him.
After all, Lim Yu himself was an early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
The only one who was strong enough to match him head-on in his eyes, was only that monster Jiang Chen who was at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul.
Bai Longtian simply had no way to threaten him, despite the extraordinarily powerful defense that he had through his Dao of the Buddha.
As for Liu Mei, even if she summoned her entire army of undeads, she was still just an early rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivator right now. Although she could prove to be a bit problematic since she could summon thousands of undead skeletons at the Nascent Soul stage, Lim Yu was still confident that there was no chance for him to lose.
At the same time, although Xingyi was said to have a rare unique physique and was suited extremely well for assassinations, as long as he was on his guard Lim Yu believed that he would still be fine.
But Shun Long? If Lim Yu didn''t count his immortal-grade bloodline, he believed that Shun Long was truly the weakest among everyone else in his faction.
Shun Long simply smiled when he noticed the look of disdain in Lim Yu''s eyes, as Lim Yu kept staring at his surroundings vigntly.
In just a few moments, the other 3 member from Lim Yu''s faction also emerge from the forest as they appeared behind him, all of them staring at the young man who was standing by himself at the center of the arena with curious looks in their eyes.
''''Will youe by yourself or do I have toe to you instead?'''' Shun Long looked at the 6 people in front of him and spoke a momentter.
Shun Long''s voice was calm as he stared at the 6 people in front of him with his deep golden eyes, but the hint of mockery in his tone it made Lim Yu''s face turn red from anger.
Indeed, what did he have to fear? Even if Jiang Chen and the rest wereying an ambush, Lim Yu knew that his entire faction was already here.
He didn''t think that he would lose against a newly-created faction.
''''Attack! Take down this kid!''''
Lim Yu took out a small ck dagger from his robes and held it tightly in his hand, as he was the first one to charge towards Shun Long.
The 5 outer disciples behind him immediately followed after him, as they took out their weapons and chased after him.
''''Come! I''m curious to see how strong an early rank 6 Nascent Soul outer disciple of the sect is as well.''''
Taking a step forward, Shun Long suddenly disappeared from the spot he was standing on, as he blinked right in front of the young man who was standing behind Lim Yu.
Lim Yu and the rest were all startled when they saw Shun Long suddenly appear in their midst. Although Lim Yu already knew about Shun Long''s Dao of Space, he hadn''t expected that Shun Long would really dare to appear in the midst of his entire faction.
Shun Long simply smiled as he looked at the young man in front of him, as he raised his left hand that wasn''t holding the ck sword, and pointing at the chest of the young man he mumbled in a low voice
''''Thunderbolt finger''''
Chapter 619: Thrasing
Chapter 619: Thrasing
A sudden bolt of lightning emerged from Shun Long''s finger, heading straight towards the young man''s chest.
The young man at the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul behind Lim Yu didn''t even have enough time to raise his sword and defend against it, before the powerful thunderbolt struck his chest.
The man copsed on the ground barely a momentter, as the charred smell of flesh burning instantly filled the air.
''''Junior brother Zhen!'''' A young man at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul shouted in fear when he saw the body of ''junior brother Zhen'' copsing on the ground.
Thankfully, his body was still twitching, despite the sparks of lightning that were still present on his chest which had yet to disappear.
It was obvious that although he was seriously injured, the young man was still alive.
Shun Long simply smiled, and without taking another look at ''junior brother Zhen'', he turned his attention towards the young man at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul who flew straight towards him.
During his attack, Shun Long had consciously reduced the power of his ''Thunderbolt finger'' to just 40 percent of the original. Although the ''Thunderbolt finger'' was just a Mystic high-grade martial skill, Shun Long knew that if he hadn''t held back, it was very likely that it would have taken this ''junior brother Zhen''s'' life.
After all, even 40 percent of the original had been enough to immediately take out an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like this ''junior brother Zhen''. As for the full power? It was very likely that it would have truly killed any early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Lim Yu narrowed his eyes when he saw this scene, but he ignored the young man on the ground after seeing that he was still breathing, as Lim Yu turned his attention towards Shun Long and flew straight towards him.
Shun Long''s golden eyes shed continuously with every passing second, his movements stunning not just the disciples sitting in the audience seats, but even the white-robed Elder Teng in the sky.
''''Who the hell is this guy? How can he fight against 5 people from Lim Yu''s faction all by himself?''''
''''Is he really just a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator? How is he so fast? Even Lim Yu can''t seem to match him!''''
The 5 people from Lim Yu''s faction, including Lim Yu himself, unleashed attack after attack at Shun Long, but Shun Long seemed to have known where every single attack woulde from, and he either avoided them or blocked them with his ck sword.
Even Lim Yu''s lightning-fast dagger attacks that could take any normal early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator by surprise had actually been blocked by Shun Long!
Even with his strength as an early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, Lim Yu realized that he was actually unable to overpower Shun Long!
As for Shun Long''s speed, that was even more terrifying. Even with his lightning-fast attacks, Lim Yu was actually having trouble even keeping up with him!
At the same time that Shun Long fought against the 5 people from Lim Yu''s faction, Liu Mei and the others were all waiting leisurely inside the forest, not even bothering to go and spectate the faction war.
Bai Longtian stared at the trees in the distance with a smile on his face as he said
''''I wonder how long it will take care for brother Shun to finish this faction war.''''
''''Hmph, that guy named Lim Yu was really arrogant. He didn''t even bother to take a look at Shun Long before the fight started. Wait until Shun Long trashes his entire faction all by himself!'''' Jiang Chen snorted coldly as he spoke with a cold look in his eyes.
As for Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi, they simply nodded their heads as they waited for the faction war toe to an end.
Since Shun Long had said that he would fight this by himself, none of them would intervene.
Besides, in their eyes, although Lim Yu would definitely be much stronger than average early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, even an early rank 6 Nascent Soul outer disciple of the Holy sect wouldn''t be enough to force Shun Long to go all-out.
...? BOOOM!!
A violent crash resounded throughout the entire arena, as a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage young man from Lim Yu''s group was buried to the ground, creating a human-shaped hole.
If it wasn''t for his limbs that were still twitching lightly, everyone would have assumed that this young man had died after taking on Shun Long''s punch head-on!
Whether it was the white-robed Elder Teng in the sky or the disciples sitting in the audience seats in the crowd, everyone stared at the ck-haired, golden-eyed young man who was holding a ck sword at the center of the arena with eyes filled with shock, as their excitement instantly filled the arena barely a momentter.
''''Are you serious? How strong is this guy?''''
''''He is a monster! His body cultivation has barely entered the fifth stage, and yet it only took a single punch for him to defeat a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Ming Bo!''''
The disciples among the crowd were almost unable to believe their eyes.
After all, most of them were at the rank 5 or rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, with less than a handful of them having reached the rank 7.
And yet they knew that for an early fifth stage body refiner to use only his physical strength to break past the qi defenses of a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator and knock him out in one punch was practically impossible!
Of course, although Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' was still at the early fifth stage, Shun Long knew that his physical strength alone was enough for him to destroy almost any middle fifth stage body refinement cultivators without any trouble!
After all, Shun Long had yet to find someone who could match his strength at the same level, even in terms of body refinement, to say nothing of his qi cultivation.
Even if he didn''t use his qi or his Dao of Space and his Dao of Time, Shun Long knew that there was almost no rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who would be able to stand in front of him, and the same went even for most outer disciples of the Holy sect at this level.
If Shun Long went all out using his Dao and his qi cultivation that was at the middle of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul as well, he was confident to fight against even ate-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, to say nothing of the people in Lim Yu''s faction.
Seeing that all 5 members of his faction were defeated and were lying on the ground unconscious while he was the only one left, made Lim Yu stare at the golden-eyed monster in front of him with a look filled with disbelief.
Lim Yu had originally thought that in this faction war, the only one he would have to pay some attention to would be Jiang Chen and perhaps Liu Mei, while he would simply have to be wary of Xingyi''s assassination attacks.
Although Bai Longtian was a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who hadprehended a rare Dao, Lim Yu believed that he wouldn''t be a threat either.
As for Shun Long? He was definitely the weakest one among his faction, someone whom Lim Yu didn''t even need to pay any attention to.
Even when he had found out that Shun Long had broken through to the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, even bing a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul cultivator, Lim Yu himself was a powerful early rank 6 Nascent Soul stage expert and he naturally wouldn''t put this in his eyes.
However, seeing everyone in his faction having fallen unconscious while Shun Long was now staring back at him with a smile on his face and those terrifying golden eyes of his, made Lim Yu involuntarily take a step backward.
''''No! I refuse to lose like this!'''' Lim Yu shouted angrily as he ced his small ck dagger back in his spatial ring.
With his eyes staring at the calm, golden-eyed young man who was leisurely standing in the sky, Lim Yu ced both of his hands in front of his chest and shouted angrily
''''Take this! Saint low-grade martial skill, Water spear!''''
Arge spear more than 10 meters long slowly started to take form in front of Lim Yu, before Lim Yu grabbed it with both hands and sent it threw it towards Shun Long using all of his strength.
The spear itself made the air around it tremble, as it flew towards Shun Long at a terrifying speed, aiming to pierce through his chest.
Even the white-robed Elder in the sky, Elder Teng narrowed his eyes as he looked at this, ready to interfere at any moment.
After all, it wasn''t umon for a Saint-grade martial skill to identally kill another disciple during a faction war.
And yet, Shun Long simply stared at therge, 10 meters long spear that was flying towards him with a serious look in his eyes, before he mumbled in a low voice
''''Disappear''''
Chapter 620
Chapter 620
Staring at the 10 meters long water spear in front of him, a bright blue light suddenly appeared from Shun Long''s eyes in the next moment.
The blue light from Shun Long''s ''Eternal Banishment''pletely enveloped Lim Yu''s water spear in a single instant, and under Lim Yu''s disbelieving eyes, as soon as his water spear was touched by this blue light, the tip of the spear started to fade into nothingness.
''''How is this possible?? What kind of martial skill is this?''''
Lim Yu watched with eyes filled with shock, as his strongest attack, the first form of a Saint low-grade martial skill, didn''t even manage to approach Shun Long before it finally disappeared in front of his eyes.
Even Elder Teng in the sky couldn''t believe what he was seeing, as his eyes stared solemnly at the bright blue lighting from Shun Long''s golden eyes that was slowly turning dimmer and dimmer.
Naturally, to deal with a Saint low-grade martial skill like this, was something that even Elder Teng, an Elder who had been overseeing the battles in the arena had never seen before.
The Holy sect has thousands of geniuses, especially those monsters in the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor as well as the inner court disciples and the even more terrifying core disciples, but in his eyes, none of them had such a bizarre skill like Shun Long''s ''Eternal Banishment''.
Elder Teng could even ept that Shun Long hadprehended an extremely rare Dao like the Dao of Space, but as a peak Dao King, how could he not sense that the blue lighting from Shun Long''s eyes had nothing to do with his Dao of Space?
''''What kind of Dao has this kid reallyprehended? This is definitely not the Dao of Space!''''
Shun Long waspletely unaware of the shock he had caused to the white-robed Elder of the sect in the sky, as he simply stared at Lim Yu seriously with his bright golden eyes.
Although he had sessfully used his ''Eternal Banishment'' to deal with Lim Yu''s ''Water spear'', Shun Long had used more than 60 percent of his qi this time.
Of course, the mental shock that this had caused to Lim Yu after seeing his strongest Saint-grade martial skill disappear into nothingness, was much more shocking than Shun Long simply expending more than half of his qi for it!
In the past, Shun Long knew that he would have been hard-pressed to deal with a martial skill like Lim Yu''s ''Water spear'' using his Eternal Banishment since Lim Yu''s cultivation was actually much higher than his.
If Shun Long was still at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul like he was 10 days ago, he would only be able to fight against Lim Yu''s water spear using his ''Thundergod''s sh'', and it still wouldn''t be that easy to deal with it.
But now, with his cultivation that had entered the middle stages of the Nascent Soul and hisprehension of his Dao of Time that had reached thete-stages of the Nascent Soul as well, Shun Long knew that unless Lim Yu''sprehension of his own Dao had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul already, it was actually possible to deal with the first form of a Saint low-grade martial skill like Lim Yu''s ''Water spear''.
Holding the ck, star-rank sword in his hand, Shun Long didn''t give a chance for Lim Yu to prepare another attack as he infused his qi into the sword, causing the mysterious runes and patterns on its surface to instantly lit up.
''''A star-rank weapon! That sword is definitely a star-rank weapon!''''
''''Are you serious? Even among the disciples in the top 100 factions, how many of them have star-rank weapons?''''
The disciples in the crowd immediately mored in shock and excitement when they realized that Shun Long''s sword was really a star-rank weapon.
Even among the disciples in the top 100 factions, those who owned star-rank weapons were still rare.
After all, star-rank weapons were usually wielded by Dao Emperors, so for a few Nascent Soul stage outer disciples to possess such weapons, unless they came from an extremely powerful background or they had somehow stumbled upon such a fortuitous opportunity, it would be practically impossible for them to get their hands on a star-rank weapon.
As the runes and patters on the ck sword lit up, Shun Long shed it forward without any hesitation as he said in a cold voice
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
An enormous, ck-colored sh, with sparks of lightning crackling around it emerged from the ck sword''s edge, flying straight towards the still stunned Lim Yu.
Lim Yu instantly shivered the moment he felt the terrifying aura that wasing towards him.
He could feel that he was already exhausted after using his ''Water spear'' and his speed wasn''t enough for him to dodge.
Holding the small ck dagger in his hand, Lim Yu''s aura at the early rank 6 of the Nascent Soul exploded outwards, as he gathered all of his qi in his dagger and thrust it forward!
BOOOOM!
The moment that the ck-colored sh collided with Lim Yu''s dagger Lim Yu''s eyes widened in horror, before his body was sent flying back uncontrobly barely a momentter.
The disciples in the crowd watched with mouths agape as Lim Yu''s body flew for more than 100 meters, until it reached the forest behind him, smashing on more than a dozen trees before the early rank 6 Nascent Soul Lim Yu finally copsed on the ground.
The web on his right hand was torn open with blood flowing from it unceasingly, but the most horrifying thing was therge wound on Lim Yu''s chest.
It was obvious that even after going all-out, Lim Yu hadn''t managed to resist the power from the ck-colored sh, causing it to strike his chest directly, creating a terrifying wound.
''''WHOAH!''''
''''He really won! He defeated Lim Yu''s entire faction!''''
The crowd instantly exploded with cheers of excitement barely a momentter, as everyone''s eyes had beenpletely captured by the terrifying sword sh just now.
Even the few rank 7 Nascent Soul outer disciples who were sitting in the audience seats, were now staring at Shun Long seriously upon feeling the power of his ''Thundergod''s sh''.
No matter what, whether it was the bizarreness of his ''Eternal Banishment'' that had managed to erase Lim Yu''s ''Water spear'' or the raw power of his ''Thundergod''s sh'' paired with his star-rank sword, each of them was enough to make even these rank 7 Nascent Soul stage cultivators look at Shun Long somewhat seriously.
Seeing that Lim Yu''s body was still twitching, the white-robed Elder Teng heaved out in relief, before he turned his attention towards the yellow-robed young man with golden eyes at the center of the arena and stared at him with aplicated look in his eyes.
For a middle rank 4 Nascent Soul stage cultivator to defeat someone at the early rank 6 like Lim Yu, this faction war was definitely going to spread throughout the entire sect.
With a smile on his face, Elder Teng waved his hand a momentter as he dered in a loud voice
''''Faction war:
Winner, Shun Long''s faction!''''
Hearing the cheers from the crowd, Shun Long simply smiled, as he turned around and walked towards Liu Mei''s and the rest''s location in the forest behind him.
Although the outer disciples in the crowd were all geniuses themselves, for someone who could battle above his level and defeat an entire faction by himself, they were definitely going to cheer for him.
After all, although all of them were geniuses, the reason they were in the arena was to enjoy themselves and see an interesting battle!
A few momentster, Shun Long arrived at the ce where Liu Mei and the others were waiting for him, all of them staring at him with smiles on their faces.
They had all heard Elder Teng''s voice just now, but to Jiang Chen and the rest, this was only natural.
There was no way that Shun Long was going to lose this faction war.
With the same smile on his face, Shun Long led everyone out of the arena as he walked back towards his own courtyard.
Although he had won the first faction war today, this was only the beginning.
..
In the blink of an eye, 5 months quickly passed, and less than a month was now left until the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
Chapter 621: The top 1000 factions
Chapter 621: The top 1000 factions
Today, nearly one-fourth of the arena was packed, with more than 50.000 outer disciples having already sat down in the audience seats ready to watch this faction war.
At the center of the arena, 2 groups were facing each other, while the white-robed Elder Teng stood in the sky overseeing everything silently.
Today''s faction war wasn''t a normal one, but a war between Peng Chao''s faction, a faction ranked in the top 300 in the faction wars, and the newest faction that had managed to enter the top 1000 rankings in less than 6 months!
A tall young man with long ck hair was surrounded by 6 more people as he stood at the center of the arena with his back straight, staring at Shun Long''s group that was right in front of him with his eyes narrowed.
Shun Long also stared at this young man seriously, but even after a few moments had passed neither of them spoke, as they simply looked at each other silently.
Shun Long knew that this long-haired young man in front of him was Peng Chao, a powerful outer disciple who had reached the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul already.
Shun Long could feel that the auraing from Peng Chao''s body was extremely powerful and unrestrained, much stronger than even some of the rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators that Shun Long had seen back in the Night star continent!
And yet, this Peng Chao only stared at Shun Long''s group silently without saying a word.
In the past 5 months, Peng Chao knew that Shun Long''s faction had skyrocketed in the faction rankings, reaching the top 1000 in less than a half a year.
This was a terrifying thing that hadn''t happened before in the past, spreading the name of Shun Long''s faction throughout the entire Holy sect!
Even those powerful factions at the top 100 rankings had finally started to ce some attention to this new faction that was rising through the rankings of the faction wars without a single defeat yet!
What had shocked everyone was that after the first faction war, Shun Long had never fought again in the faction wars, as Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, had all destroyed the enemy factions by themselves.
However, what was even more terrifying was actually the rate of growth that Liu Mei and the rest had.
The long ck-haired Peng Chao, stared seriously at the 5 people in front of him,pletely ignoring the excited cheers from the crowd that were waiting for the faction war to start.
Peng Chao could clearly feel the powerful aurasing from Liu Mei and Jiang Chen that had reached the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, while Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian seemed to be just a step away from that level as well.
In these past 5 months, Liu Mei''s and the rest growth of advancement had shocked everyone in the Holy sect, including their own masters!
The biggest bottlenecks for a disciple of the Nascent Soul stage, was firstly, breaking through to the middle stages of the Nascent Soul, and then breaking through to thete stages.
Breaking through to the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul wasn''t too surprising for normal geniuses after they experienced the trials of the sect for the first time, but reaching thete stages so quickly had alerted even the inner court Elders of the Holy sect!
After all, even if a disciple was a genius who took less than half a year to advance from the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul to the peak of rank 6, reaching the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul was an entirely different matter altogether.
Unlike the middle stage, breaking through the barrier of thete stage to reach the rank 7 of the Nascent Soul was something that could take anywhere from a year to tens of years of cultivation, but even the most extreme geniuses in the Holy sect would need at least one year to do this.
No one had ever heard of someone doing this in less than half a year''s time like Liu Mei and the rest did!
After all, to break through this barrier and reach thete stage of the Nascent Soul not only required a cultivator to umte enough qi in their dantian, but theprehension of their Dao and their spiritual strength also needed to have reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul as well!
Even if Liu Mei and the rest had been cultivating in the courtyards of their respective masters in the inner court and had managed to umte enough qi in their dantian for their breakthrough, managing to bring both theprehension of their Dao and their spiritual strength to thete stages of the Nascent Soul in this small amount of time was practically inconceivable!
Just as Peng Chao and the rest of the disciples among his faction were staring at Shun Long and his group, Bai Longtian and the others were also staring at their opponents seriously, before Elder Teng raised his right hand in the air, silencing the crowd, as he said in a booming voice that reverberated throughout the entire arena
''''Shun Long''s faction vs Peng Chao''s faction. The match will now begin.''''
Hearing Elder Teng''s voice, Peng Chao stared at Shun Long seriously for a few moments, before he opened his mouth and spoke for the first time
''''Shun Long, I admit that your faction has been rising extremely quickly, but it''s too early for you to fight against my faction. It''s time for you to learn that the top 300 factions are in apletely different league from the rest in the top 1000.''''
Liu Mei and Jiang Chen both narrowed their eyes as they stared coldly at Peng Chao, but the long-haired peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage expert didn''t pay any attention to them, as he turned around and led the members of his faction deep inside the forest behind him.
Some of the members of his faction threw challenging looks at Jiang Chen and the others, but they still followed Peng Chao inside the forest a momentter.
Shun Long didn''t say anything as he simply stared at Peng Chao''s back for a few moments, before he turned around and led Liu Mei and the rest into the forest behind him.
Chapter 622: Growth
Chapter 622: Growth
Seeing that the 2 groups had both entered into their respective forests and had taken their positions, Elder Teng spoke again for the second time, his loud voice instantly overpowering the excited cheers of the crowd as he said
''''Begin!''''
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all turned their attention towards Shun Long at that moment, before Xingyi asked with a gentle smile on her face
''''Brother Long, should we go with the usual n?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long said
''''Yes, there is no need to change. We will go with the usual battle formation.''''
Nodding her head, Xingyi had the same smile on her face as her body suddenly blended into the shadows.
At the same time, Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and simply nodded his head as he said calmly
''''Don''t worry about that Peng Chao, I''m going to make him suffer.
The top 300 factions are in a different league? Hmph, let''s see how long his faction is going tost then.''''
As he finished speaking, Jiang Chen''s aura at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul exploded out from his body, as Jiang Chen first spread out his soul sense and covered the entire arena, before he sped towards the center of the arena by himself.
Shun Long nodded his head at Jiang Chen as he saw him disappear inside the forest in front of him just like Xingyi did.
At that moment, Liu Mei turned her beautiful ck eyes and looked at Shun Long with a brilliant smile on her face as she said
''''Then, Long-ge, I''m going on ahead.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei who flew for approximately 100 meters forward until she came to a halt, not heading too close to the center of the arena like Jiang Chen and Xingyi.
Closing her eyes, Liu Mei gathered her qi between her hands, causing a pitch-ck ball of qi that was filled with the aura of darkness to appear in front of her before it slowly fell on the ground.
The familiar army of the 1000 jade-white skeletons and the 60 ck-armored undead knights leading them, along with the enormous Death Eater all appeared around Liu Mei, before Liu Mei allowed them to spread throughout the forest, not allowing anyone to sneak through them!
Even if the members from Peng Chao''s faction wanted to sneak past them, it would practically be impossible to do so with more than 1000 undead creatures that had filled the forest.
Liu Mei''s skeletons were no different than an undead army that had instantly filled arge part of the forest itself.
''''So this is the Death goddess, Liu Mei? This is the first time I''m seeing her! How beautiful...''''
''''She is too terrifying! All of those skeletons have an aura at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul! Even if they aren''t as strong as average cultivators at the same level, with 1000 of thembined, even normal cultivators at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul will have some trouble breaking past their defenses.''''
The crowd instantly erupted in discussions the moment they saw this scene.
Unlike the past, the auras of Liu Mei''s skeletons had not only grown stronger now that Liu Mei had broken through to the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, but they were also much more violent and bloodthirsty!
After receiving Little ck''s advice, Liu Mei had truly changed the way she acted with her undead creatures, and she no longer fully suppressed them, allowing their violent aura to truly show its full potential!
However, this wasn''t the end.
Just as everyone thought that this was the full extent of Liu Mei''s powers, Liu Mei finally showed something that she hadn''t shown in any of the previous faction wars.
Next to the Death Eater, 2 human silhouettes also appeared, shocking not just the 50.000 outer disciples in the crowd, but even the white-robed Elder Teng in the sky!
''''What? Humans? So it''s true that the Dao of Death can resurrect humans?''''
''''No! They aren''t alive! They are nothing more than puppets! But how can she control puppets stronger than herself? Isn''t her Dao too terrifying?''''
Indeed, the silhouettes next to the Death Eater belonged to a ck-robed old man and a young woman, both of whom had reached the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul!
Sitting on the gigantic Death Eater''s back, Liu Mei closed her eyes and spread her soul sense around her body, covering the entire arena in the blink of an eye. A momentter, the ck-robed old man next to the Death Eater shot forward as he flew towards the center of the arena, while 500 skeletons and 30 undead knights followed after him.
As for the ck-robed young woman at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul, she actually stood next to Liu Mei with her lifeless eyes staring at the forest ahead.
''''Haha, brother Shun, sister Mei seems to be going all-out this time. It seems like Peng Chao''s words really angered her and brother Jiang.''''
Shun Long simply smiled and shook his head as he looked at Bai Longtian who was smiling as he stood next to him, while they could both clearly feel the army of undeads that had appeared just 100 meters ahead.
Indeed, although most of the people in the crowd were shocked, those who had seen the previous faction wars among Shun Long''s faction already knew that this was exactly how Shun Long''s faction usually fought.
Shun Long would always stay in the back with Bai Longtian ''protecting him'' from any enemy attack. After all, Bai Longtian''s defense was truly the best one among everyone else in Shun Long''s faction.
As for Xingyi and Jiang Chen, they would always attack the enemy faction since their Daos and their attacks were really suited towards offense.
Jiang Chen was truly considered a monster powerhouse in terms of his speed and his offensive abilities that even early rank 8 Nascent Soul outer disciples had failed to stop, while Xingyi''s assassination attacks were even deadlier and more unexpected!
As for Liu Mei, she was the only one who had taken the role of both an attacker and defender.
Half of her undead army would attack the enemy faction while the other half would stay behind to protect Shun Long.
In the entire outer sect, only the top 100 factions would now confidently im that they could easily defeat Shun Long''s faction.
As for the rest? Even the arrogant Peng Chao had a serious look in his eyes as he remained in his own part of the forest protected by one young man and one young woman next to him, while the other 4 were all speeding towards the center of the arena just like Jiang Chen and Xie Xingyi!
Chapter 623: Growth (2)
Chapter 623: Growth (2)
At the same time that Jiang Chen arrived at the center of the arena, the 4 people from Peng Chao''s had also arrived as well.
Those 4 from Peng Chao''s faction weren''t weak, as even the weakest 2 of them were actually a young man and a young woman at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul while the other 2 young men were at the early rank 8 and the middle rank 8 of the Nascent Soul respectively!
Staring at Jiang Chen''s figure that was flying towards their own forest, the young man at the middle of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul and the one at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul both ignored him almost as if they didn''t even see him, as they flew towards Shun Long''s side of the forest.
However, the young man and the young woman who were at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul both nced at each other at the same time, before they actually moved to intercept Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen was slightly surprised by this, but hepletely ignored the early rank 8 and the middle rank 8 Nascent Soul young men who had entered the forest and were heading straight towards Shun Long''s direction, as he turned his attention towards the young man and the young woman who were blocking his path with a mocking smile on his face.
Normally, the faction wars had one offensive team and one defensive team.
However, even if the 2 offensive teams met each other, they usually wouldn''t waste their strength fighting with each other and would head directly towards the enemy faction leader.
Otherwise, if they spent all of their strength fighting against the enemy faction''s offensive team, they may not have enough strength to deal with the enemy defensive team!
Besides, each faction usually had enough confidence in the strength of their offensive and their defensive teams to deal with the enemy faction''s attacks.
This was why Jiang Chen was surprised when he was stopped by the young man and the young woman who were actually at the same cultivation level as him.
''''You really think the 2 of you can stop me? Even that guy at the middle of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul wouldn''t be able to stop me so easily!''''
With the same smirk on his face, a pair of pitch-ck wings that were burning with dark red mes sprouted from Jiang Chen''s back, as his speed suddenly increased explosively.
This was the second form of the Saint low-grade martial skill, ''Demonic Wings''!
In the past few months, Jiang Chen had already obtained the second form of the Demonic Wings from the Golden Treasures hall, making his speed nearly one-third faster than when he just used the first form of this martial skill.
Most martial skills at the Saint low-grade normally wouldn''t provide more than a 40 percent increase even if one had theplete martial skill, so for the Demonic Wings to really provide such a huge boost to Jiang Chen when he just used the second form was nearly unbelievable.
Of course, the only reason why Jiang Chen was able to have such arge increase in his speed when he used the Demonic Wings was thanks to his Demonic Dao and his immortal-grade bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness!
The young man and the young woman from Peng Chao''s faction were both startled when they saw Jiang Chen flying straight towards them, but they both took out their weapons and faced him head-on without faltering!
Although Jiang Chen was a genius, the 2 of them didn''t believe that they were inferior to him either.
After all, both of them were not only members of Peng Chao''s faction, a faction at the top 300 rankings in the Holy sect, but they themselves were also geniuses!
At the very least, since they were in the same level of cultivation as Jiang Chen, the young man and the young woman both believed that they should be able to at least push Jiang Chen back after they joined hands to fight against him.
Unfortunately, their thoughts were quickly shattered in the next moment, as a terrifying, baleful aura suddenly covered Jiang Chen''s body.
Jiang Chen didn''t even take out his saber as he punched the young man''s spear rip and the young woman''s dagger with his bare hands!
The 2 peak rank 7 Nascent Soul stage cultivators both stumbled back from the impact the next moment, while their eyes were filled with shock as they stared at the young man in front of them, not even noticing the hints of blood that had appeared on their lips.
Although the young man and the young woman from Peng Chao''s faction could clearly sense the terrifying aura around Jiang Chen which came from his Demonic Dao, the 2 of them couldn''t believe that they had both been injured after just a single exchange, when the person in front of them hadn''t even taken out his weapon yet!
However, Jiang Chen wasn''t nning on letting them go.
If they headed directly for the forest behind him, he would allow Bai Longtian to deal with them if they had somehow managed to get past Liu Mei''s terrifying undead army and reach Shun Long, but since they wanted to fight against him, Jiang Chen wasn''t going to let them go.
Indeed, it only took a few more exchanges for the peak rank 7 Nascent Soul young man and young woman to copse on the ground unconscious while their bodies were heavily injured before Jiang Chen flew deeper inside the forest ahead of him, heading straight towards Peng Chao''s direction.
Jiang Chen could feel that Peng Chao was less than 300 meters away right now, while 2 more people were around him to protect their faction leader.
As for Xie Xingyi, with her Vanishing Shadows unique physique even Jiang Chen himself couldn''t sense her right now, but he already knew that Xingyi was most likely approaching Peng Chao as well if she hadn''t already reached his location.
''''That guy is a monster! Both Ren Li and Ren Jin are at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul just like him, and yet they couldn''t even force him to draw his weapon!''''
''''That''s only natural. Even though Ren Li and Ren Jin can barely be qualified to be called geniuses, Jiang Chen''s talent is already above ''normal geniuses'' like them. Perhaps only the true monsters of the outer court would truly be able to defeat him at the same level!''''
At the same time that Jiang Chen headed deeper inside the forest, the 2 young men from Peng Chao''s faction who had entered inside Shun Long''s side of the forest both stopped, as a huge army of 500 skeletons and 30 undead knights, as well as an old man at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul suddenly blocked their path, making the crowd in the audience seats stare at the scene with endless excitement.
Chapter 624: Senior brother Wong vs Liu Mei
Chapter 624: Senior brother Wong vs Liu Mei
''''A puppet?'''' The young man at the middle of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul stared at the old man standing in the sky leading the army of 500 skeletons and the undead knights with eyes filled with disbelief.
Although the young man already knew about Liu Mei''s undead army, the problem that 1000 undead skeletons would pose to 2 rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivators like them wasn''t that big.
Even Liu Mei''s Death Eater wouldn''t be anything more than a slightly bigger ant in the young man''s eyes, as he was confident to take care of it without any problems.
However, seeing a puppet at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul appear in front of them finally made the young man raise his vignce for the first time in this faction war.
Up to now, their faction had only been slightly wary of Jiang Chen and Xie Xingyi''s attacks.
As for Liu Mei?
Although she was definitely strong and her Death Eater had even taken care of an early rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator during theirst faction war, in the young man''s eyes she wasn''t able to stop him if he wanted to charge forward and destroy Shun Long.
''''Senior brother Wong, it seems like those people may be a bit stronger than we originally thought. However, it still doesn''t matter. Senior brother, you can leave this ce to me. I will take care of this old man and this army of skeletons and ck knights by myself.''''
The young man at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul cracked his knuckles as he stared at the ck-robed old man in the sky and the army of jade-white skeletons and undead knights that had filled the forest below him, before he turned his attention towards the middle rank 8 Nascent Soul stage young man who was standing by his side.
''Senior brother Wong'' nodded his head calmly, and a momentter, the 2 young men suddenly shot forward at full speed, one of them flying towards the ck-robed old man while the other heading deeper inside the forest.
The young man at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul and the ck-robed old man both engaged in a fight right in the next moment, while ''senior brother Wong'' effortlessly tore a path open through the skeletons and the undead knights as he headed deeper inside the forest.
Of course, how could the skeletons that were still at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul possibly stop a middle rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like him? After all, their individual strength was even weaker than normal cultivators at the same level.
As for the ck-armored knights, although they were somewhat tougher than the skeletons themselves and their cultivation had even reached the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul instead, there were only 30 of them and only a handful of them were fast enough to block ''senior brother Wong''s'' path.
Naturally, every single one of them was destroyed without any hesitation, only slowing down ''senior brother Wong'' for a couple of seconds before he flew deeper inside the forest!
...
At the same time that ''senior brother Wong'' broke free from the skeletons'' and the undead knights'' entanglement and flew deeper inside the forest, on the Death Eater''s back, Liu Mei suddenly opened her eyes and looked in the distance ahead of her with a frosty look.
Although her vision was impeded by the dense cluster of the trees that had filled the forest in front of her, she could clearly sense through her soul sense that a figure was rapidly approaching her direction at an extremely rapid speed.
Barely a few momentster, ''senior brother Wong'' finally stopped as he arrived just a few meters away from Liu Mei.
Staring at the enormous undead army that was blocking his way, ''senior brother Wong'' only threw a nce at the 500 skeletons and the 30 ck-armored undead knights on the ground, and after looking at the ck-robed young woman who was standing by Liu Mei''s side seriously for a few moments, ''senior brother Wong'' finally focused his attention on Liu Mei who was still standing on the Death Eater''s back as he said in a tone filled with arrogance and contempt
''''Step aside! You are too weak to stand in front of me.''''
Liu Mei stared at the yellow-robed young man who was arrogantly floating in the sky without responding, but the look in her mesmerizing ck eyes turned colder as she pointed her left hand forward.
The 500 skeletons and the 30 ck-armored undead knights suddenly attacked ''senior brother Wong'' all at the same time, as they swarmed him from all directions.
Even an early stage rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator would feel fear seeing this scene of 500 jade-white skeletons at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul and 30 undead knights at the peak of rank 7 charging at him, but ''senior brother Wong'' merely snorted as he waved his right hand, taking out a red sword from his spatial ring.
With just a nce, Liu Mei immediately realized that this sword was a peak rank 3 gold-grade weapon.
In the next moment, mes covered not just the sword itself, but ''senior brother Wong''s'' entire body, before the mes slowly expanded to engulf the charging skeletons and the undead knights in the next moment.
The skeletons and the undead knights didn''t falter or feel any fear as they kept charging forward, while an aura of unrestrained bloodlust and killing intent wasing from their bodies, and in just a few moments, they had beenpletely submerged into ''senior brother Wong''s'' mes!
Silence had filled the forest that was now on fire, as the only sounds that could now be heard, was the sound of the skeletons or the undead knights charging forward, or the sound of the trees being burned and slowly turn into ash.
But despite being burned, the skeletons and the undead knights didn''t seem to stop their charge. Naturally, how could the skeletons or the powerful undead knights fear death?
''Senior brother Wong'' merely snorted as he turned his cold gaze towards the few undead knights that had managed to get past his sea of mes and appear in front of him, as he hacked them with his red sword one after the other.
With just a single sword attack, even the powerful undead knights saw their armor crack, while the second attackpletely destroyed them.
As for the skeletons, most of them couldn''t even get past the sea of mes as they were destroyed before they could even approach ''senior brother Wong''.
In just a few seconds, nearly 100 skeletons and 7 undead knights had turned into ash, but more and more of them kept going forward.
However, ''senior brother Wong'' no longer waited for the skeletons or the ck-armored knights to attack him, as he turned his attention towards the beautiful young woman on the enormous Death Eater''s back.
''Senior brother Wong'' clearly knew, that if he really had to deal with all the skeletons and the undead knights, although they wouldn''t pose any real danger to him, they would definitely deplete arge amount of his qi.
But his target wasn''t this undead army in this faction war, but the leader of the enemy faction deeper inside the forest, Shun Long.
Charging forward like a meteor, ''senior brother Wong'' shot towards Liu Mei at full speed, as he waved the red sword in his hand aiming to pierce through her chest.
At that moment however, the ck-robed young woman next to Liu Mei suddenly moved, as she took out a small knife from her robes and suddenly thrust it forward toward ''senior brother Wong''s'' neck.
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 625: Senior brother Wong vs Liu Mei (2)
Chapter 625: Senior brother Wong vs Liu Mei (2)
The look on ''senior brother Wong''s'' face suddenly changed as he immediately changed the trajectory of his red sword to sh with the ck-robed woman''s knife instead.
Although he knew that his sword was longer than the woman''s knife, in this scenario, it was clear that the young woman''s knife would end up truly piercing his neck if he kept trying to stab Liu Mei!
Even though deaths weren''t allowed during the faction wars, in fights between experts, it wasn''t umon for someone to die when they went all-out!
The sound of metal shing resounded clearly in everyone''s ears before the ck-robed young woman was sent flying for a few dozen meters, her body destroying tens of trees in the process until it finally came to a halt.
It was obvious that this young woman at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul wasn''t a match for ''senior brother Wong''.
Just a single attack had sent her flying for a few dozen meters, and even though there were no obvious injuries on her body, ''senior brother Wong'' was certain that her internal organs were definitely shaken right now.
Although the young woman was nothing more than a puppet, even puppets wouldn''t be able to move once they were injured too heavily.
However, at the same time that ''senior brother Wong''s'' sword met the young woman''s knife and sent her flying, the enormous, 30 meters(100ft) tall Death Eater also moved, as it opened its gigantic mouth and let out a huge roar before it ran towards ''senior brother Wong'' with its mouth still open, almost as if it was ready to devour him!
Feeling the terrifying aura filled with bloodlust, madness, and unrestrained killing intent that wasing from the Death Eater''s body, the look on senior brother Wong''s face finally changed.
With his left hand that wasn''t holding his red sword, he stretched it towards the Death Eater''s hideous mouth and shouted angrily
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, me axe!''''
A huge axe that was burning with bright orange mes and was more than 10 meters tall materialized in front of him, before it flew straight towards the Death Eater''s wide-open mouth.
The Death Eater''s mouth was soon enveloped in mes as the me axe entered inside it before it hacked its insides violently.
In less than 10 seconds, the Death Eater''s body was filled with countless cuts and holes, while its pitch ck but empty insides that were devoid of any internal organs, were clearly exposed for everyone to see, before it finally copsed on the ground.
''''I told you that you are no match for me. You should have retreated while you still could!'''' Staring at Liu Mei with his arrogant and cold gaze, ''senior brother Wong'' spoke in an indifferent tone as he stood in the air, before he suddenly shot forward in the next moment, his sword once again aiming to pierce through Liu Mei''s chest.
Even if Liu Mei''s puppet, the ck-robed young woman wanted to close the gap and block his sword attack again for the second time, she was now more than a dozen meters away and she wouldn''t make it in time.
Liu Mei''s lips however curved up as she saw this scene, and closing her eyes she simply infused her qi into the copsed body of the Death Eater below her feet,pletely ignoring ''senior brother Wong''s'' iing sword attack.
''''...What?''''
''''How is this possible?''''
In the next moment, it wasn''t just the crowd that was stunned by the scene that followed, but even the white-robed Elder in the sky, Elder Teng, who stared at the Death Eater''s body with a shocked look on his face.
The copsed body of the Death Eater that had been hacked to pieces previously by ''senior brother Wong''s'' me axe suddenly started to regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in just a few seconds, it was actually restored back to its original condition.
Even the yellow-robed ''senior brother Wong'' stopped his attack as he stared at the enormous beast in front of him with eyes filled with disbelief.
He had actually used a Saint-grade martial skill that used up more than 30 percent of his qi, just so he could quickly deal with the Death Eater and defeat Liu Mei quickly before he moved towards Shun Long, but the enormous, hideous monster in front of him, had actually regenerated in the blink of an eye while its aura didn''t seem to be even a single bit weaker than before!
It was only natural for ''senior brother Wong'' to be stunned by this.
Although others didn''t know about it and thought that the Death Eater''s greatest strength was its unmatchable strength, how could Liu Mei not know that the true strength of the Death Eater lied in its regenerative ability!?
As long as Liu Mei fed it with her own qi, the Death Eater would regenerate any wounds and be back in perfect condition!
Of course, nobody else knew about this aside from the members of Shun Long''s faction, since this was the first time that Liu Mei''s Death Eater had suffered injuries like this in a faction war.
However, ''senior brother Wong''s'' shock had just begun, as a dense aura of death suddenly erupted from Liu Mei, before a ball filled with death qi appeared in her hands.
Liu Mei allowed the ball filled with death qi to fall on the Death Eater''s body that was right below her, and the moment that the ball touched it, the Death Eater''s aura started to be even more terrifying!
Although its aura was still at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, ''senior brother Wong'', the white-robed Elder Teng in the sky, and even the people sitting in the audience seats could all sense how much more terrifying the current Death Eater was.
This was the second form of the Saint low-grade martial skill, Death''s Chant.
After she had obtained the second form of this martial skill from the Golden Treasures Hall, Liu Mei knew that once she used it, the Death Eater''s strength would explode.
With a cold look in her eyes, Liu Mei stared at the middle rank 8 Nascent Soul stage ''senior brother Wong'' in front of her who was now surrounded by her undead army, before she asked him in a calm voice
''''You want to defeat Long-ge... just by yourself? Even if I wasn''t here, I doubt you would be able to even get past Bai Longtian.''''
Chapter 626: Fighting Peng Chao
Chapter 626: Fighting Peng Chao
The look on ''senior brother Wong''s'' face changed as he charged towards the enormous, 30 meters(100ft) tall Death Eater without holding back.
He could clearly feel, from the terrifying aura that wasing from the gigantic beast''s body, that the current Death Eater was definitely a threat to him right now.
Seeing ''senior brother Wong'' fly towards it, the Death Eater opened its hideous mouth and weed ''senior brother Wong''s'' attack head-on!
BOOM!
However, aside from being pushed back a little, there were no injuries on the Death Eater''s body after receiving the sword attack,pletely shocking everyone who saw that scene.
''''How is this possible? Even a middle rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator like ''senior brother Wong'' can''t harm this monster?''''
''''It is definitely because of that ck aura that appeared around its body! After it appeared, that monster''s strength increased by many times! Even ''senior brother Wong'' will have trouble if he wants to kill it without using another Saint-grade martial skill now!''''
There were plenty of powerful disciples in the crowd who had already reached thete-stages of the Nascent Soul as well, and all of them instantly realized that the current Death Eater''s aura was much stronger than it was before, after Liu Mei had used the second form of the Death''s Chant.
Even without the Death''s Chant, the Death Eater that was at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul was already strong enough to destroy normal outer disciples who had reached the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul. Right now, even ''senior brother Wong'' would find it hard to damage it without using some powerful martial skill!
Of course, in terms of speed, the Death Eater was still much slower than ''senior brother Wong'' himself. However... this wasn''t a one-on-one battle to begin with.
The ck-robed young woman at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul who had been sent flying by ''senior brother Wong'' previously didn''t seem to have suffered any injuries, as she attacked ''senior brother Wong'' as well, instantly putting him into a passive position.
It was one thing to deal with the Death Eater that wasn''t any weaker by himself, but once that woman joined hands with it, ''senior brother Wong'' understood that things were turning bad.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Jiang Chen had already arrived at the forest''s depths, only to see a calm-looking young man with long ck hair waiting there leisurely, while a young man and a young woman were guarding him from his left and right.
Jiang Chen smiled coldly as his eyes stared at the long-haired young man whose aura had already reached the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul,pletely ignoring the 2 people by his side.
This person was clearly the leader of the enemy faction, Peng Chao.
As for the 2 people by his side, one of them was a young man at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, while the other one was a young woman who had actually reached the early rank 8.
Staring at the neer, Peng Chao didn''t seem to be any surprised as he stared at him with a calm smile on his face, but the young man at the peak of rank 7 and the young woman at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul started to look at their surroundings with serious looks in their eyes before they both spread out their soul sense around their bodies.
They knew that since Jiang Chen hade here, there was no way that he was alone. Most likely, Xie Xingyi was also here, but the looks on their faces soon changed when they realized that it was simply impossible for them to detect her presence even with their soul sense.
Although the people from Peng Chao''s faction didn''t take Shun Long or Bai Longtian as threats, they knew that Jiang Chen who had an immortal-grade bloodline and hadprehended both the Demonic Dao and the Dao of Darkness, Xie Xingyi who had a unique physique, and Liu Mei who hadprehended the Dao of Death were all extremely dangerous opponents.
Of course, being wary of them and treating them as powerful opponents didn''t mean that they feared them.
It only meant that Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, and Xie Xingyi, were simply worthy to be taken seriously by them.
Jiang Chen looked at the long-haired Peng Chao who was leisurely standing there and was staring back at him with that same calm smile on his face, before his aura at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul exploded out of his body.
The young man and the young woman next to Peng Chao responded in the same matter barely a momentter, as they let their aura sh with Jiang Chen''s head-on!
It was obvious that they weren''t willing to lose to Jiang Chen.
Peng Chao shook his head when he saw this scene as he said calmly
''''It looks like junior brother Jiang doesn''t like to waste time either. Unfortunately, your strength is simply too low right now.
Perhaps, if you had managed to breakthrough to the middle of rank 8 of the Nascent Soul then you would have a chance... but the current you? Unless you are willing to use your immortal-grade bloodline there is no way you can stand in front of me!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Peng Chao''s cultivation at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards,pletely overpowering Jiang Chen''s own aura.
''''Senior brother Peng Chao is right. Even if Jiang Chen is a genius, can he really stand in front of him right now? Even if senior brother Peng Chao was alone, there would be no way for Jiang Chen to defeat him!''''
''''Still, if Jiang Chen really decided to use his immortal-grade bloodline, Peng Chao will probably be in trouble.''''
The crowd watched the scene between Jiang Chen and Peng Chao who were facing off with rapt attention, as no one bothered to even watch ''senior brother Wong'' who was now barely managing to defend himself against Liu Mei''s Death Eater and her undead army any longer.
With a calm look on his face, Jiang Chen stared at the calm-looking Peng Chao as he took a step forward and said in a low voice
''''With the Martial Roll of Honor tournament being so close, there is no reason for me to hide it anymore.''''
The moment that he finished his words, a ck veil that looked like it was made by pure darkness itself appeared around his body, before it slowly expanded outwards.
At that moment, the young man and the young woman around Peng Chao, and even Peng Chao himself were all stunned, as a single thought that they didn''t want to believe suddenly appeared in their minds.
Chapter 627: Fighting Peng Chao (2)
Chapter 627: Fighting Peng Chao (2)
It wasn''t just Peng Chao and his group, but every single person in the audience seats and even the white-robed Elder Teng in the sky who were all staring at the yellow-robed Jiang Chen with eyes filled with shock, as the same 2 words appeared in their minds at the same time
''''Unique physique?''''
''''He really has a unique physique?''''
''''Impossible! There is no way that Jiang Chen can have a unique physique! This monster has an immortal-grade bloodline, I refuse to ept that the Heavens gave him a unique physique as well!''''
''''You refuse to believe it? What does it matter if you refuse to believe it or not? There are no qi fluctuations from that veil of darknessing from his body. What else can it be other than a unique physique?''''
There were a few disciples in the crowd who couldn''t ept that Jiang Chen had a unique physique on top of his immortal-grade bloodline, but most of them were experienced enough to understand what was going on at first nce, causing their eyes to turn extremely serious.
If one was going to ask the disciples in the crowd who were the 2 strongest people in Shun Long''s faction, nearly everyone would either choose Jiang Chen or Liu Mei.
In the past 5 months during the factions wars, it was either Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, or Xie Xingyi who had taken care of the enemy faction leaders, causing the rest of the disciples in the outer court to start paying attention to them.
However, since Xingyi was relying on her Vanishing Shadows unique physique and didn''t have any direct fights but was mostly using assassination attacks, it was hard for anyone to determine her true level of strength.
As for Jiang Chen, everyone had already heard that he possessed an immortal-grade bloodline that he had used during the fourth test of the Holy sect almost a year ago.
Among the rest of the outer court disciples in the Holy sect, there were only 3 more people who possessed immortal-grade bloodlines as well, and all of them were monsters at the top 100 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor.
However, not a single one of them was known to have a unique physique along with their immortal-grade bloodlines!
Naturally, bloodlines were only activated extremely rarely, but it was a fact that they were still a trump card that one could use during a life and death situation, making them extremely dangerous.
Possessing an immortal-grade bloodline along with a unique physique, was definitely something that even the peak geniuses of the Holy sect would be paying serious attention to from now on.
''''Jiang Tianfang''s son... what kind of monster is this kid? Howe he is following this Shun Long?''''
Even the white-robed Elder Teng couldn''t believe what he was seeing as he stared at Jiang Chen with a deep look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards the calm, short-haired young man at the depths of the forest who was leisurely standing there with Bai Longtian by his side.
Shun Long simply sat cross-legged on top of arge rock with his eyes closed, while Bai Longtian was standing next to him, not seeming too worried that someone would manage to get past Liu Mei''s defenses and attack Shun Long.
In thest 5 months, this had only happened once during thest faction war, and Bai Longtian only had to intervene once before the Death Eater ran towards him and destroyed the enemy early rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had managed to sneak past Liu Mei''s undead army to sneak attack Shun Long.
Of course, the question that Elder Teng had in his mind was the same question that every single person in the audience seats was thinking about as well, as they all stared at Jiang Chen at the center of the arena who seemed like a god of darkness!
Why was Jiang Chen following Shun Long? With his level of talent, even the top 10 factions would definitely ept him.
Unfortunately, it didn''t look like Jiang Chen was going to answer them as he kept walking towards Peng Chao one step at a time, as the veil of darkness around his body started to turn even thicker.
Peng Chao now had a serious look in his eyes as he stared at Jiang Chen, before he took out arge azure sword from his spatial ring.
Peng Chao had thought that even if Jiang Chen was strong, there was no way that he would be strong enough to fight against him, but after seeing the veil of darkness that had started to appear around him, this thought instantly vanished from his mind, causing him to look at Jiang Chen seriously.
He already knew that Jiang Chen was probably strong enough to fight against the second strongest member of his faction, ''senior brother Wong'' head-on. Even if Jiang Chen lost against ''senior brother Wong'', Peng Chao believed that Jiang Chen wouldn''t be much weaker.
However, now that he had revealed his unique physique, Peng Chao understood that Jiang Chen''s strength was most likely not much inferior to his own.
The young man and the young woman standing at Peng Chao''s sides both stared at Jiang Chen solemnly as well, as they tightly held their weapons.
Jiang Chen howeverpletely ignored them as he waved his sleeve, taking out arge, golden saber from his spatial ring and holding it with both hands.
This was Jiang Chen''s star-rank weapon!
Holding his golden saber tightly, Jiang Chen infused his qi inside it, causing the mysterious patterns on the golden saber''s surface to lit up one after the other, before an iparably dark aura erupted from inside the saber.
This aura that seemed to be almost identical to the veil of darknessing from his body seemed to have instantly strengthened the darkness around Jiang Chen by another fold, making it even denser than before.
Peng Chao who had been staying still and was waiting for Jiang Chen to make his move so he could counterattack suddenly felt a shiver run through his body, as a deep sense of danger appeared in his heart.
He could sense that Jiang Chen''s current aura was now extremely terrifying, making even a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage expert like him feel fear!
There was no way that Peng Chao would keep waiting until Jiang Chen took the initiative to attack him.
The look on Peng Chao''s face turned serious as he held his azure sword in front of him and infused his qi inside it, before he shed it forward barely a momentter, as he shouted
''''Saint low-grade martial skill, Sea-splitting sword!''''
Jiang Chen stared coldly at the gigantic sword sh that was flying towards him and looked like it could split a sea apart, before his calm yet cold voice resounded throughout the entire arena
''''Kingdom... of Darkness!''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 628: Jiang Chens Kingdom
Chapter 628: Jiang Chen''s Kingdom
The veil of darkness around Jiang Chen abruptly started to churn before it expanded even further, covering not just Jiang Chen''s body, butpletely submerging Peng Chao as well, along with the young man and young woman who were standing by his side.
In the blink of an eye, arge part of the forest had beenpletely submerged into darkness, turning into Jiang Chen''s Kingdom!
The outer court disciples in the audience seats were instantly thrown in disarray the moment that Jiang Chen''s figure disappeared into the darkness along with Peng Chao and the other 2, before anxious shouts soon filled the arena.
''''What happened to Peng Chao''s group? What is this ck dome of darkness? Is this thing Jiang Chen''s unique physique?''''
''''What kind of physique is this?''''
''''Who won? Elder Teng, let us see the fight!''''
Some of those disciples even tried to send their soul sense inside the arena to peer into Jiang Chen''s Kingdom of Darkness, but before their soul sense could even approach the ck dome that had appeared inside the forest, Elder Teng snorted coldly as he instantly suppressed those disciples'' soul senses.
It wasmon knowledge that no matter what happened, no one would ever try to meddle with a fight in the arena, whether that was a personal fight or a faction war!
Of course, although those disciples in the audience seats wouldn''t dare to truly interupt the fight, sending their soul sense to observe the fight was no different than challenging Elder Teng''s bottom line, causing the white-robed Dao King to personally take action against them.
After all, if even one of them had any intentions to secretly attack Jiang Chen or Peng Chao and his group through their soul sense, Elder Teng would be the one responsible.
After taking care of the disciples in the audience seats, Elder Teng turned his attention towards the ck dome of darkness below him.
He immediately understood that this was something created by Jiang Chen''s unique physique, and without any hesitation, he jumped inside it as well.
Although Elder Teng''s vision was fully suppressed inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'', the white-robed Dao King didn''t fight against it, and instead, all he did was just quietly spread out his soul sense to find out where Jiang Chen and Peng Chao''s were.
At that moment, Elder Teng ''saw'' through his soul sense the gigantic sword sh that Peng Chao had previously created, as it tore through the darkness almost effortlessly, as it kept flying towards the unmoving Jiang Chen!
Although Peng Chao and his group, and even the white-robed Elder Teng had their vision impeded inside the Kingdom of Darkness, how Jiang Chen not see what was going on in here?
Seeing the sword sh that was flying towards him, Jiang Chen had a serious look in his eyes as he clenched his right hand tightly, before he swung his golden saber towards it at full strength!
At the same time, the darkness around Jiang Chen started to quickly gather around his golden saber, forming the image of an enormous saber made of darkness that was more than 10 meters(33ft) tall, and a momentter, the enormous saber actually collided with Peng Chao''s ''Sea-splitting sword''!
BOOOOOOM!
A heaven-defeaning explosion could be heard from the center of the arena the moment that the saber and the sword collided with each other, while even the darkness inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' had started to spread outwards.
The crowd in the audience seats only saw a ripple in the outer-mostyer of the Kingdom of Darkness, before the veil of darkness soon returned to normal.
Despite the huge explosion that had happened, it was obvious that Jiang Chen''s Kingdom was still unaffected!
Jiang Chen stood at the center of the arena with his clothes tattered, but his expression was still calm as he stared at Peng Chao''s group that was less than 20 meters away from him.
At that moment, the expression on Peng Chao''s face suddenly changed.
Although he couldn''t see anything through the dense darkness around him, he could clearly sense the powerful explosion as well the moment his ''Sea-splitting sword'' had met with Jiang Chen''s saber, but his Saint low-grade martial skill had actually failed to seriously injure Jiang Chen!
Peng Chao was certain that if Jiang Chen had been critically injured, the Kingdom of Darkness would have disappeared by itself, or at least, Elder Teng himself would have intervened to save him.
However, it was obvious that neither of the 2 had happened.
Just as Peng Chao was about to fly upwards and escape out of the area that Jiang Chen''s Kingdom of Darkness covered, he suddenly sensed danger from both sides, as 2 enormous ck fists made from darkness itself attacked him from both his left and right, sealing all paths of retreat.
The young man and the young woman next to him seemed to have sensed the sudden attack as well, but even after joining hands, the 2 of them had only managed to block one of the fists before they were sent flying, while blood had had started to flow from their lips.
It was obvious that both of them had been seriously injured after they blocked Jiang Chen''s fist of darkness.
Peng Chao also understood that the 2 of them had been injured, but in his eyes, this was only natural.
Inside this Kingdom of Darkness, Jiang Chen''s strength wasn''t inferior to even his own.
How could the 2 of them block his attack and be unharmed?
Even Peng Chao knew that he would have a hard time blocking this fist head-on.
Peng Chao simply shook his head as he clenched the azure sword in his hand tightly and ced his full attention in the battle in front of him. He was confident that as long as he retreated out of the area that Jiang Chen controlled, he would be able to get the advantage then.
Sensing the second fist that had now appeared by his side, Peng Chao''s aura at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards without holding back.
He could clearly undestand that Jiang Chen wasn''t holding back either, as the power behind this fist was truly enough to seriously injured and even kill a normal peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like him if he wasn''t careful!
Waving his hand, Peng Chao shed his azure sword, as his sword met Jiang Chen''s fist head-on!
BOOOOM!
A second explosion sounded from the dome of darkness inside the forest, making the crowd in the audience seats turn even more frantic as? they couldn''t see what was going on.
Everyone could guess that Jiang Chen and Peng Chao were both going all-our, but aside from Elder Teng, no one else could see what was going on!
Inside the dome of darkness, the moment that Peng Chao''s sword met Jiang Chen''s fist of darkness, Peng Chao''s expression suddenly changed, as a sense of lethal danger sprouted in his heart.
Peng Chao could feel all the hair on his body standing up at the same time, almost as if death was approaching him from behind as well.
This had nearly caused Peng Chao to almost give up defending against Jiang Chen''s attack, as he nearly turned around to meet the attacker behind him as well.
However, the moment that he shed his azure sword forward, Peng Chao suddenly sensed a cool sensation on his neck, making him suddenly freeze where he stood.
At the same time, the indifferent voice of a young woman behind him entered his ears, as she only said 2 words
''''You lose.''''
Chapter 629: Will you participate?
Chapter 629: Will you participate?
Jiang Chen''s lips curved upon seeing this scene before the darkness around him started to disappear, allowing the crowd in the audience seats to see what was going on inside the forest.
The crowd was stunned once they saw the young man and the young woman from Peng Chao''s faction that were lying on the ground clearly injured, while Peng Chao himself was standing still at the heart of the forest while a small silver dagger was ced on his neck.
Xie Xingyi was standing behind him with an indifferent look on her face, almost as if she was waiting for Peng Chao to speak, while the white-robed Elder Teng simply shook his head without saying anything.
As a powerful Dao King, how could he not have noticed what had happened a few moments ago?
As soon as Peng Chao used the azure sword in his hands to block Jiang Chen''s fist of darkness, Xie Xingyi''s body suddenly emerged from the shadows behind him, as she then pointed her silver dagger towards his neck.
This had happened so quickly that even a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Peng Chao had been unable to dodge.
''''I give up.''''
Peng Chao''s somewhat unresigned voice resounded throughout the forest, as he then turned around and stared at the peerlessly beautiful blond-haired young woman who was standing behind him.
Xie Xingyi nodded her head calmly and retracted her silver dagger from Peng Chao''s neck, before her body disappeared into the shadows.
Peng Chao shook his head and ignored Xie Xingyi, as he turned his gaze towards the yellow-robed Jiang Chen who was standing a few meters away from him and said with a jeering tone
''''Jiang Chen, is that all you have? Do you not even dare to fight against me by yourself? What''s the point of having a unique physique if you are a coward?''''
Jiang Chen had a contemptuous look in his eyes as he stared at Peng Chao, as he turned around and left without even responding to him, leaving behind a dumbfounded Peng Chao.
''''WHOAAAH! Peng Chao really lost! He actually admitted defeat!''''
''''I want to know what happened inside Jiang Chen''s dome of darkness! As soon as it disappeared, Peng Chao was just standing there with Xie Xingyi''s dagger right above his neck! Isn''t Xie Xingyi just at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul? How can she ambush Peng Chao like that?''''
''''If she joined hands with Jiang Chen, even Peng Chao will have trouble defending against their attacks. Her unique physique is also terrifying! I heard that even soul sense can''t detect her that easily.''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up once he heard the loud discussions among the disciples in the crowd, as he opened his eyes and stared at the forest ahead of him.
At the same time, the middle rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator from Peng Chao''s faction, ''senior brother Wong'' -who had been bombarded by the attacks from Liu Mei''s Death Eater and the ck-robed young woman at the early rank 8, as well as the dozen remaining undead knights and 300 skeletons- seemed to have also heard those discussions, as he and Liu Mei stopped fighting at the same time.
And yet, the robes on ''senior brother Wong''s'' body had been tattered and on the verge of copse, while his body seemed to have been filled with countless sword wounds.
It was obvious that he had been wounded greatly during his fight with the Death Eater just now.
As for the Death Eater itself, the enormous 30 meter(100ft) tall monster didn''t have any obvious wounds on its body, and neither did the ck-robed young woman that was hovering in the air by its side.
Turning her attention to the other side of the arena, Liu Mei saw the white-robed Elder Teng in the sky who waved his hand, attracting everyone''s attention, before he dered in a loud voice that reverberated throughout the entire arena
''''Faction war:
Winner, Shun Long''s faction!''''
Shun Long smiled as the loud cheers of the crowd in the audience seats exploded in his ears, either discussing Jiang Chen''s Kingdom of Darkness or Xie Xingyi appearing behind Peng Chao forcing him to admit defeat.
''''Brother Shun, it seems like brother Jiang really went all-out this time.''''
Bai Longtian said with a smile on his face, but it was obvious that he had actually expected that already.
Shun Long nodded his head with a calm look on his face when the ground beneath his feet started to tremble, as the enormous Death Eater appeared in the distance ahead, tearing down the trees that blocked its path.
Liu Mei was the first one to return next to him, followed by Xie Xingyi''s body that appeared from the shadows a few momentster, andstly, Jiang Chen.
''''Brother Long, we won.'''' Xie Xingyi said in a slightly proud tone as she looked at Shun Long with her stunning green eyes, while Jiang Chen nodded his head calmly, but there was the same look of pride in his eyes as Xingyi''s.
Faction wars were extremely important to every faction in the sect, not just for the rewards that the factions obtained from the Holy sect every month, but for their faction''s prestige as well.
To Jiang Chen and the rest, their faction was no different from their own home by now.
Just as Shun Long was about to speak, a white blur tore through the sky as it appeared in the air above them barely a momentter.
The white-robed Elder Teng handed Shun Long his sect identifying token that he had taken from him before the faction war had started, as the white-robed Dao King stared at the group of 5 outer disciples below him with a bright smile on his face and said
''''Congrattions!''''
Shun Long and the rest all bowed and cupped their hands at the white-robed Dao King in front of them.
After staring at Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen for a few more moments, Elder Teng looked at Bai Longtian deeply for a while as well, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long.
At that moment however, the white-robed Dao King was stunned when he realized that he couldn''t probe Shun Long''s cultivation at all, almost as if there wasn''t even the slightest amount of qiing out from his body, making him furrow his brows.
''''I can''t detect this kid''s cultivation? How is this possible?''''
Although this thought appeared in his mind, Elder Teng didn''t show it in his expression as a smile appeared on his face as he looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Shun Long, do you n to participate in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament? I am sure that many people are curious about your current strength. 5 months ago, I remember that you were at the middle of rank 4 of the Nascent Soul. Hehe, even I am curious to find how strong you have be by now.''''
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Author''s note: There is a new voting system for Webnovel called Golden Tickets, and it will reset every month. You can get the Golden Tickets through spending coins (getting priv) or gifting a book with big gifts (500 coins+). If you don''t have it yet, make sure to update the Webnovel app.
Thus, to bribe you guys into voting with these tickets, I will give you 5 bonus chapters for every 250 golden tickets that we reach this month.
Happy voting.
Chapter 630: The top 1000?
Chapter 630: The top 1000?
Hearing Elder Teng''s question, Shun Long cupped his hands at him before he said
''''Elder tters me. However, you are right. All of us will participate in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament a month from now. As for whether we will manage to reach the top 1000 or not, that will be slightly more difficult.''''
''''The top 1000?'''' Elder Teng asked in a disbelieving voice as he stared at Shun Long with an incredulous gaze.
It was obvious that Shun Long had no idea how strong the people in the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor really were, making the white-robed Elder Teng simply shake his head and smile ruefully at him.
Even Peng Chao who was a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator wasn''t even close to the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor. After all, even the weakest person in the top 1000 rankings was, at the very least, an extremely powerful rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, while some of those monsters at the very top of the rankings were even rumored to have exceeded that level.
Although Shun Long and Jiang Chen were both rumored to have immortal-grade bloodlines, they could only use their bloodlines for a limited amount of time and most disciples usually wouldn''t even use their bloodlines during the Martial Roll of Honor tournament in the first ce.
''''The top 1000 is too difficult for you right now, but I still have faith that you can reach it in the next 3 or 4 years if you are lucky enough. As long as you reach the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul and you deepen yourprehension in the Dao of Space, I believe you will even have a chance to enter the top 500 rankings as well!''''
Elder Teng then threw onest look at Liu Mei and the others and nodded his head towards them, before he turned around and soared in the sky above the arena.
He understood that for a faction that had 4 personal disciples of the inner court Elders as its members, it was only a matter of time until it started to make waves within the Holy sect.
After today, now that Shun Long''s faction had entered the top 300, apart from those strongest factions at the top 20, every other faction within the sect would start paying attention to them.
After all, in Elder Teng''s eyes, it wouldn''t be more than 10 years until Shun Long''s group managed to challenge some of the factions at the top 100!? In the eyes of a peak-stage Dao King who had lived for tens of thousands of years, 10 years were nothing more than a single cultivation session.
Shun Long then turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and the rest and said
''''Let''s go back to the Golden Treasures Hall first. There is less than a month left until the Martial Roll of Honor tournament begins.''''
Liu Mei and the others all nodded their heads as they followed Shun Long out of the arena.
As their group left the arena, the eyes of the 50.000 outer court disciples in the audience seats were almost all focused on the yellow-robed Jiang Chen!
For an outer court disciple to have both an immortal-grade bloodline and a powerful unique physique, there was no doubt that his name was going to spread throughout the outer court, attracting the attention of plenty of powerful outer court disciples!
Of course, the reason why Jiang Chen had decided to reveal his Eternal Darkness unique physique today wasn''t a spur of the moment decision.
Jiang Chen had already talked with Shun Long about this matter the night before. It wasn''t just him, but Bai Longtian as well who was also nning to reveal his unique physique during this faction war... of course, that was only if ''senior brother Wong'' had managed to get past Liu Mei''s undead army and reach them.
Jiang Chen knew that even with his current strength, as long as he didn''t use his immortal-grade bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness and if he didn''t reveal his Eternal Darkness unique physique, it would be almost impossible for him and Xingyi to defeat Peng Chao.
After all, Peng Chao wasn''t just a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, but he was also someone ranked within the top 2000 in the Martial Roll of Honor rankings.? His strength was said to be above most peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and was even nearing the strength of some of the outer court disciples who had stepped into the early rank 9 of the Nascent Soul as well.
Even though he was ranked among the weaker outer court disciples in the top 2000 and was near the bottom of the rankings, Peng Chao was still strong enough to destroy a normal faction at the top 1000 all by himself.
With this thought in mind and since everyone knew that the top factions would be increasingly stronger as they move up in the faction rankings as well, Shun Long understood that Jiang Chen revealing his unique physique was going to happen sooner orter.
Besides, since they were all going to enter the Martial Roll of Honor tournament a monthter, there wasn''t much point for Jiang Chen to keep his unique physique hidden any longer unless he wasn''t nning to fight at full strength.
However, even with his unique physique and his immortal-grade bloodline, Jiang Chen knew that his chances of entering the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor were still going to be extremely low.
Sometimeter, Shun Long''s group arrived in front of a huge, luxurious building, that had its 2 golden doors wide-open, as countless outer disciples wereing and going from its entrance at all times.
With a smile on his face Shun Long stepped past the entrance as he entered inside the Golden Treasures Hall, while Liu Mei and the rest all followed behind him.
Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, all had excited looks on their faces, as they all knew the reason why Shun Long hade to the Golden Treasures Hall today!
Chapter 631: Song Yahui
Chapter 631: Song Yahui
As they stepped past the entrance and entered inside the Golden Treasures Hall, Shun Long led Liu Mei and the others in front of the entrance of a private room where a blue-robed young man was standing guard.
This young man''s cultivation was at the peak of rank 4 in the Nascent Soul, and from the clothes he was wearing, it was obvious that he wasn''t an outer court disciple of the Holy sect, but most likely a servant.
Shun Long was slightly surprised to see someone standing guard in front of Wan Zu''s private room since he clearly remembered that there wasn''t anyone here thest time, but he still didn''t mind as he kept walking towards the room.
The young man frowned when he saw Shun Long and the others walking towards Wan Zu''s room, as he took a step forward and extended his right hand a momentter before he said
''''Please stop. If you want to see senior Wan Zu you will have to wait. My young master is currently inside and is talking with him.''''
The young man''s words were polite, but the haughty tone in his voice couldn''t be concealed as he looked at Shun Long and the others while he blocked the path in front of the door.
Although he was just a peak rank 4 Nascent Soul cultivator, the young man could clearly sense that even the strongest people in Shun Long''s group were just Jiang Chen and Liu Mei, both of whom were at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul. This wasn''t a low level of cultivation, but in the outer court of the Holy sect that was filled with countless monsters, it was nothing much inparison.
At the same time that the blue-robed young man finished speaking, the door of the private room behind him also happened to open, before a young man dressed in yellow robes and a white-haired old man dressed in white both stepped out from it at the same time.
''''Eh? What''s going on?'''' The young man in the yellow robes eximed when he noticed themotion in front of Wan Zu''s room, as his eyesnded on Shun Long''s group.
Shun Long was somewhat surprised when he sensed the auraing from this person''s body that was actually at the middle of rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, and it was even among the stronger middle rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators that he had seen.
The blue-robed young man that was blocking Shun Long''s group instantly turned around when he heard the yellow-robed young man''s voice, but just as he was about to speak, Wan Zu''s eyes suddenly lit up at that moment, as he took a step forward and pushed the blue-robed young man to the side without any hesitation, before he eximed in a voice that was filled with surprise and joy
''''Brother Shun Long! Hahaha, what a surprise!''''
''''Shun Long?'''' The yellow-robed young man next to Wan Zu seemed to have been surprised when he heard this name, as his eyes stared at Shun Long with a curious gaze inside them.
It was only at that moment that Wan Zu remembered the yellow-robed young man standing next to him, as he smiled and looked at him before he said with a smile on his face
''''Ah, brother Song, I suppose you haven''t met each other yet. Let me introduce you. This is brother Shun Long, a genius whose faction has been rising extremely quickly in the faction wars during the past 5 months. In just 5 months, his faction managed to enter the top 1000 rankings.''''
Wan Zu then looked at Shun Long and smiled in a warm manner as he continued
''''Brother Shun Long, this is brother Song Yahui! You have probably heard of him as well. Brother Song isn''t just a member of one of the top 100 factions, but he is actually ranked within the top 1000 ranks in the Martial Roll of Honor as well.''''
The yellow-robed Song Yahui nodded his head, but after taking a look at the 4 people standing around Shun Long, his gazended on Shun Long''s body a momentter as he then said
''''Shun Long huh? I have indeed heard of you. Your faction has been rising quickly and it has even attracted the attention of some powerful factions even among the top 100 in the outer court of the sect, but it''s mostly because of that Jiang Chen and Liu Mei next to you. As for you... I heard that all you do is just sit back without even fighting your opponents. It''s surprising that anyone would ept you as a faction leader.''''
Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen, all narrowed their eyes when they heard Song Yahui''s words, as they shot cold looks at him.
Indeed, Shun Long wasn''t fighting by himself in the faction wars, but wasn''t every other faction leader the same? Aside from the wars among the top 100 factions that were rumored to be different from the normal faction wars, fights between factions inside the arena would always have the faction leaders stay behind and wait while they were protected by the rest of their faction.
It was obvious that Song Yahui didn''t have a high opinion of Shun Long as he looked at him with a superior look in his eyes as he waited for his answer.
And yet, Shun Long simply shook his head disdainfully, before he turned his attention towards Wan Zu and said
''''Song Yahui? I haven''t heard of him.''''
Song Yahui narrowed his eyes as he looked at Shun Long, but Shun Long simply stared at him with a cold look in his eyes, without taking a step back either, causing Wan Zu to start sweating bullets.
The white-robed elder then smiled as he took a step forward and got between the 2 groups, before heughed and said
''''Haha, let''s not fight inside my Golden Treasures Hall. The two of you, please give me some face.''''
After staring at Shun Long for a few moments Song Yahui nodded his head and said
''''Fine. Since senior Wan is asking for it, this Song will naturally give you face.
As for you, Shun Long, your tiny faction has just entered the top 1000 less than a month ago. You are lucky since if it wasn''t for senior Wan Zu, I would bury you to the ground today. Unfortunately, you are simply not worth it for me to deal with the Enforcement Hall disciples afterwards.''''
''''Your name is Song Yahui? I will remember it.''''
Surprisingly, just as Song Yahui turned his attention towards the blue-robed servant of his and was about to leave, Liu Mei''s icy-cold voice resounded in his ears, causing Song Yahui to turn his attention towards her.
Chapter 632: Song Yahuis invitation
Chapter 632: Song Yahui''s invitation
It wasn''t just Liu Mei, as Xie Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, were now all staring coldly at this expert of the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor in front of them.
Song Yahui was surprised, as he turned his gaze towards Liu Mei, but a momentter, he actually smiled and cupped his hands at her before he said in a much warmer voice
''''You must be junior sister Liu Mei. I heard that you are Elder Xuan''s personal disciple. I have nothing against you. I am simply surprised that all of you would willingly follow that Shun Long. You should know that for someone like you, even factions in the top 100 rankings would be happy to ept you.''''
Song Yahui then turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, and nodded his head as he continued
''''This goes for the rest of you as well. As long you want it, I can formally ept all of you in my faction today actually.
You should understand the difference between a faction at the top 100 rankings vs a faction at the top 1000.
You have only entered the top 1000 faction rankings a month ago. No matter how hard you try, you will need more than a few years until you have a chance to challenge the top 100 factions of the sect.
Joining a faction at the top 100 rankings right now will give you enough resources which will allow you to get stronger even faster.''''
Song Yahui stared at Liu Mei and the rest with a smile on his face as he waited for their answer, but it was obvious that he hadn''t heard of the faction war between Shun Long''s and Peng Chao''s faction earlier today. Naturally, what he had said just now was also true.
Joining a faction at the top 100 rankings would provide any outer disciples with plenty of resources for them to get stronger even faster.
As for geniuses like Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, whose cultivation base has been rising so quickly in the past 10 months that it has even attracted the attention of some of the powerful inner court Elders of the sect, their growth would truly be unimaginable once they get ess to the resources of the top 100 factions.
This was why Song Yahui was extremely surprised when he saw Shun Long just now and he was simply unwilling to miss this chance to recruit Jiang Chen and the rest.
Of course, Song Yahui wasn''t hoping to get all of them to join his faction.
Even a single one of them would be a huge win in his eyes.
After all, although Jiang Chen and the rest were still extremely weak in his eyes, all 4 of them were already disciples of inner court Elders of the sect, and in the future, they all had a high chance to reach the top of the rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor as well.
Although they probably couldn''t reach those monsters at the top 300 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor, reaching the top 500 or even the top 400 would still be possible for them in the future.
Unfortunately for Song Yahui, Liu Mei and the others all stared at him with disdainful looks in their eyes, before Bai Longtian was the first one to actually shake his head as he replied coldly
''''Senior brother Song, you should take your leave. If you stay here, I can''t guarantee your safety.''''
Song Yahui narrowed his eyes when he heard this, but a momentter he actually started tough loudly with a deep look in his eyes as he stared at the 5 people in front of him.
Although Bai Longtian''s words were polite, his tone clearlycked any signs of his usual warmness, not disguising his anger at all as he spoke to Song Yahui.
Trying to ''steal'' Liu Mei and the rest away from Shun Long''s faction, and in front of everyone''s eyes, made it clear that Song Yahui didn''t have even the slightest bit of respect for Shun Long. There was no way that Xie Xingyi and the rest would ept this.
Even Wan Zu himself frowned as he looked at Song Yahui.
Wan Zu had already mentioned that Shun Long was his guest, and yet Song Yahui had decided to not give him any face in the end.
But how could a middle rank 9 Nascent Soul stage expert who belonged to the top 1000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor be afraid of Bai Longtian and the rest?
Song Yahui simplyughed and shook his head as he looked at Bai Longtian and the rest, before he said with a smile on his face
''''You are simply too weak to understand the difference between us right now. You can''t guarantee my safety?
Don''t even think about challenging me if you can''t even reach the top 2000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor first, and this is only the requirement to get a chance to challenge me.''''
With the same smile on his face, Song Yahui stopped paying attention to Bai Longtian''s group, as he turned around and walked towards the entrance of the Golden Treasures Hall.
''''Brother Shun Long, I apologize.''''
Wan Zu shook his head and cupped his hands at Shun Long before he said in an apologetic tone, but he still looked at Song Yahui''s disappearing figure from the corner of his eyes.
Shun Long stared at Song Yahui''s disappearing figure for a few moments as well, before his lips curved up into a smile a momentter.
Shun Long already knew that it was only a matter of time before some people from the top 100 factions tried to ''steal'' Liu Mei and the others and get them to join their factions.
Liu Mei''s and the rest''s rate of growth was truly considered terrifying even among the top outer court disciples in the Holy sect.
However, nobody knew that the reason why Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, had all managed to breakthrough to thete stages of the Nascent Soul so quickly instead of having to spend a few years on the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, was mostly thanks to Shun Long''s ''Barrier-piercing pill''.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t pay too much attention to someone like Song Yahui since he had already expected for this to happen sooner orter. There was no way that the top 100 factions would ignore someone like Xingyi who had such a rare unique physique, Liu Mei who hadprehended the Dao of Death, or Jiang Chen who had both an immortal-grade bloodline and a unique physique.
The only one who hadn''t revealed his unique physique just yet was Bai Longtian.
However, although Shun Long wouldn''t pay too much attention to someone like Song Yahui, this didn''t mean that he would simply ignore him once Song Yahui tried to steal Liu Mei and the others away.
''''Middle rank 9 of the Nascent Soul? Let''s see how strong you really are. Perhaps I shouldn''t conceal my Dao of Time any longer either.''''
Almost as if he had guessed what Shun Long was thinking as he stared at Song Yahui''s figure, Wan Zu shook his head and said in a serious voice
''''Brother Shun Long, unless you reach the rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, you really shouldn''t challenge Song Yahui. Although he is arrogant, even among other middle rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, he is considered to be among the stronger ones!''''
Shun Long turned his gaze towards the white-robed Dao King next to him and nodded his head a momentter as he said in a calm voice
''''Thank you, senior Wan. However, I am not here for Song Yahui. I am looking for a certain medicinal herb, and I wonder if senior Wan can help me.''''
The white-haired Dao King''s, Wan Zu''s eyes lit up when he heard this, and after he allowed Shun Long and the rest to enter his private room, he gestured for everyone to sit before he said calmly
''''Brother Shun, please speak. Naturally, if I can help you, then I will of course do so. I wonder what kind of medicinal herb you are looking for.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes as he then answered
''''I am looking for a rank 6 ''five-elements grass''.''''
The white-robed Dao King''s, Wan Zu''s eyes suddenly widened when he heard this, as he stared at Shun Long with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
Chapter 633: Five-elements awakening pill
Chapter 633: ''Five-elements awakening pill''
''''A rank 6 ''five-elements grass''? The same ''five-elements grass that''s used to concoct a rank 6 ''five-elements awakening pill''?'''' Wan Zu asked, his voiceced with shock as he stared at Shun Long.
Shun Long nodded his head, causing the look on Wan Zu''s face to turn even more serious.
Shun Long wasn''t surprised by Wan Zu''s reaction since he already knew that obtaining the ''five-elements grass'' from him today wasn''t going to be easy.
Even if Wan Zu had more than one stalk of ''five-elements grass'', Shun Long understood that Wan Zu may be unwilling to sell it to him regardless.
After all, this was an extremely rare rank 6 medicinal herb that wasn''t for sale in any shop within the Holy city. Shun Long had searched the entire Holy city, but not even the White tiger chamber ofmerce had a ''five-elements grass'' on its third floor. As for whether they had one on the fourth floor, Shun Long didn''t know, since the fourth floor was restricted to peak level Dao Kings and above.
Shaking his head, Wan Zu looked at Shun Long and said with a serious look on his face
''''Brother Shun Long, what you are asking for is very difficult even for me. A single stalk of rank 6 ''five-elements grass'' is extremely rare in our Golden Treasures Hall.
The ''five-elements grass'' is one of the 2 main medicinal herbs needed to concoct the rank 6 ''five-elements awakening pill''. As an alchemist yourself, I am sure that you, brother Shun, also understand the value of a ''five-elements awakening pill''. Even in our Holy sect, there is no other pill that can allow someone to strengthen their physique other than the ''five-elements awakening pill''!
However, the sess rate of refining a single batch of ''five-elements awakening pills'' is less than 20 percent. Even powerful star-rank alchemists are rumored to have only 40 percent sess rate when they refine it.
Although our Golden Treasures Hall does indeed have 2 stalks of ''five-elements grass'' right now, only the peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemists working in the ''Refinement Hall'' in the inner court are allowed to purchase them. Thus, brother Shun, I apologize but I cannot sell even a single stalk to you.''''
Wan Zu had an apologetic look on his face as he looked at Shun Long and shook his head.
He already knew that the ''five-elements grass'' that Shun Long was looking for was one of the 2 main rank 6 medicinal herbs that an alchemist needed to refine the ''five-elements awakening pill'', but even in the Holy sect, that was an extremely rare pill.
How could Wan Zu just sell it to Shun Long just because he was asking for it?
Since the Holy sect only had a limited number of stalks of ''five-elements grass'', they would only allow the alchemists working in the Refinement Hall to purchase them, as the ''five-elements awakening pills'' would then belong to the sect.
Shun Long understood this as well, not needing Wan Zu to exin it to him.
He had already heard that any alchemist who wanted to earn sect points, could concoct pills for the Holy sect in the Refinement Hall and sell them directly to the sect.
Of course, working for the Refinement Hall had its own advantages as well, since those alchemists wouldn''t have to pay any fees to use the rooms inside the Refinement Hall while they make use of the 2 earth mes inside the sect, and they would also gain priority when they purchase certain ingredients from the Holy sect as well, such as this ''five-elements grass'' that Shun Long wanted.
However, Shun Long didn''t even consider bing a member of the ''Refinement Hall'' before he rejected the idea.
Although the alchemists of the ''Refinement Hall'' had their own advantages, they would be strictly monitored by the sect as well every time they concocted their pills, in case they tried to hide the pills they concocted and sell them off privately.
It was only natural that the Holy sect wouldn''t allow something like that.
However, when they are being monitored, it would not only expose their alchemy techniques for other experienced alchemists to see and learn from it, but certain pill recipes that they had painstakingly obtained would be viewed by others as well!
This was why many alchemists would consider it seriously before they joined the ''Refinement Hall''.
Although Shun Long wasn''t worried too much about others trying to steal his pill recipes, he was nning to use the Refinement Hall more than once in the future, and that would definitely risk him exposing the secret of his herb garden.
If he joined the Refinement Hall and the other alchemists overseeing his pill concoction noticed that Shun Long had suddenly started to produce endless amounts of the same ingredients every time he refined some pill, they would naturally start getting suspicious.
In his heart, Shun Long valued the herb garden just as much, if not even more than the Heaven Swallowing vine.
After taking a look at Bai Longtian, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen, who were all sitting around him, Shun Long simply smiled, before he turned his attention towards the white-robed Dao King sitting opposite to him.
No matter what, Shun Long couldn''t just let this opportunity go. He already had Jiang Chen and the others search for the ''five-elements grass'' in almost every single one of the 10rgest cities in the Holy sect''s territory in the past 5 months, but they hadn''t found anything.
This was why Shun Long had resorteding to the Golden Treasures Hall today.
With a serious look in his eyes, he then waved his hand, causing a white-colored flower and a dark-red tree branch to appear on the table in front of him, immediately attracting not just Wan Zu''s, but even Liu Mei''s and the rest''s attention.
''''A rank 6 ''white petal flower''? And... is this a ''heart branch'' from a rank 6 ''Red Parasol tree''? Brother Shun, what do you mean by this?''''
Wan Zu stared at the 2 items that had appeared on the table in front of him with a surprised look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long.
He had already guessed what Shun Long was intending which made him even more surprised.
''''Senior Wan Zu, I''m willing to trade both this ''white petal flower'' and the heart branch from the ''Red Parasol Tree'' for a stalk of your ''five-elements grass''. I assume you already know the value of these items so I hope you won''t try to haggle with me. This is already my bottom line today. Even though the ''white petal flower'' is slightly inferior whenpared with a stalk of ''five-elements grass'', the heart branch from the ''Red Parasol Tree'' is worth just as much.''''
Wan Zu instantly fell silent as his eyes stared at Shun Long seriously without responding straight away.
As a Dao King and the person responsible for the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, how could he not recognize the 2 items that Shun Long had taken out?
It was easy for Wan Zu to guess that Shun Long really needed the ''five-elements grass'', otherwise he wouldn''t have taken out both of those medicinal herbs to exchange for it.
After all, just the heart branch from the ''Red Parasol Tree'' was at the same level as the ''five-elements grass'' that Shun Long wanted.
Although the rank 6 ''white petal flower'' was the other main medicinal herb that an alchemist needed to concoct the ''five-elements awakening pill'', it was still considered a rtivelymon rank 6 medicinal herb and was much easier to findpared to the ''five-elements grass''.
But if Shun Long was willing to exchange both of those medicinal herbs for a single stalk, that was apletely different matter.
Of course, Shun Long clearly knew that in Wan Zu''s eyes he was making a loss from this trade, but unless he offered something like this, it was very likely that Wan Zu would still refuse to trade with him if he just took out the heart branch from the ''Red Parasol Tree'' instead.
After all, the Holy sect had a much vasterworkpared to Shun Long, and they could find practically any rank 6 medicinal herb, as long as they were willing to pay the price for it.
Wan Zu remained silent as he seriously observed the yellow-robed young man in front of him, before he finally spoke a few momentster
''''Young master Shun, since you are so determined, it would truly be rude of me to refuse. Please wait here.''''
Chapter 634: Refinement Hall
Chapter 634: Refinement Hall
As he finished speaking, Wan Zu stood up from his seat and left the private room, leaving behind just Shun Long and the others.
''''Brother Shun, we could wait until we found it elsewhere. I refuse to believe that the Holy sect is the only one who has a stalk of that ''five-elements grass''!'''' Bai Longtian said in a serious voice as he stared at Shun Long.
Although Bai Longtian and the others weren''t alchemists, they all understood that Shun Long was buying this stalk of ''five-elements grass'' for them and that he was paying a much higher price than normal to obtain it from Wan Zu.
However, Shun Long simply smiled as he looked at Bai Longtian and shook his head before he said
''''Longtian, don''t worry. It''s not the Holy sect who is gaining the most out of this trade. Besides, the ''five-elements grass'' is thest rank 6 medicinal herb that I need, to refine the ''five-elements awakening pill''.''''
Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all stared at Shun Long with looks of gratitude in their eyes.
Everyone remembered how the white-robed Dao Emperor, Elder Cao Ling, had said during the fourth test of the Holy sect that Xingyi would have a chance to strengthen her unique physique.
Naturally, this hadn''t attracted just Xingyi''s attention, but every single person who had a unique physique, including Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen.
However, it was only 3 months ago when they found out that the ''five-elements awakening pill'' that could strengthen their unique physique, was actually even more rare and expensive than the rank 5 ''Barrier piercing pill'' that they had received from their masters as a gift when they were epted by them as personal disciples.
The ''five-elements awakening pill'' was an extremely rare rank 6 pill that wasn''t for sale even on the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall.
Even powerful star-rank alchemists only had a 40 percent chance to sessfully concoct this pill.
Star-rank alchemists!
How expensive it would be for someone to ask a star-rank alchemist to concoct a pill for them?
Most likely, the fees just from the pill concoction itself would exceed a million middle-grade spirit stones. If one included the rarity of all the rank 5 and the rank 6 medicinal herbs that were needed, it wasn''t absurd for the price to reach 2 million middle-grade spirit stones!
And even if one had enough spirit stones, it wasn''t necessarily certain that they would be able to find a ''five-elements awakening pill'' either.
Thus, Jiang Chen and the rest all understood how difficult it was for anyone to get their hands on this pill, and how expensive it could be if they wanted to buy it even from the Holy sect, let alone from a power outside the Holy sect''s territory.
Unless one had connections with an extremely powerful alchemist and was lucky enough to sessfully concoct the pill on the first try, it would be extremely rare if not impossible to obtain it otherwise.
With a smile on his face, the white-robed Wan Zu returned to the room a few momentster, holding a jade box with a grass that had 5 different colors inside it.
''''Brother Shun Long, this is the rank 6 ''five elements grass''.''''
After opening the jade box and taking a look at the five-colored grass inside it, Shun Long nodded his head and handed the rank 6 ''white petal flower'' and the heart branch of the ''Red Parasol Tree'' to Wan Zu, before he stored the ''five-elements grass'' inside his spatial ring.
Without wasting any more time with Wan Zu, Shun Long stood up and cupped his hands at him before he said
''''Senior Wan Zu, I will take my leave.''''
Wan Zu seemed like he had something he wanted to say, but he still shook his head a momentter before he cupped his hands and answered
''''Of course brother Shun. You cane and see me anytime in the future as well.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long turned around and led Liu Mei and the rest out of the private room, as they walked out from the Golden Treasures Hall a momentter.
Turning his gaze towards Xingyi, Shun Long smiled and said
''''Xingyi, can you lead the way to the Refinement Hall?''''
Xingyi''s eyes instantly lit up as she nodded her head and answered
''''Of course! Brother Long, follow me.''''
Since her master was the Elder responsible for the Refinement Hall, Xingyi naturally knew the way to the Refinement Hall in the inner court.
An hourter, after getting past the 2 disciples guarding the inner court with Liu Mei''s and the rest''s help, Shun Long''s group arrived in front of a huge buidling that seemed to emitrge amounts of heat.
As they approached the building, before they could even enter inside, the scent of hundreds of medicinal herbs assaulted their senses, making Shun Long''s group suddenly freeze on the spot.
''''Junior sister Xingyi!''''
Just as Xie Xingyi was about to lead Shun Long and the others inside the Refinement Hall, her expression suddenly changed, as she saw a young man in yellow robes walk towards her with a smile on his face.
This young man had brown eyes, a hooked nose, and light blue hair, while an aura that had reached the peak of rank 8 of the Nascent Soul was radiating from his body.
Behind the young man were 2 young men at the peak of rank 7 and the early rank 8 respectively, each of them dressed in the yellow robes of an outer disciple as well.
The blue-haired young man approached Xingyi and smiled as he said
''''Junior sister, you haven''t visited master for such a long time. This senior brother has missed you dearly.''''
The look on Xingyi''s face turned into one of disgust as she looked at the blue-haired young man in front of her, while Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and even Shun Long, all stared at him with narrowed eyes.
Chapter 635: [Title hidden]
Chapter 635: [Title hidden]
The hooked-nose young man didn''t seem to mind Xingyi''s disgusted expression as he took a step forward and tried to grab Xingyi''s hands, but Xingyi simply snorted before her cultivation at the middle of rank 7 of the Nascent Soul exploded out of her body, as she then took a few steps backwards opening up the distance between herself and the hooked-nose young man.
Xingyi''s cold voice then resounded in the young man''s ears as she said
''''Senior brother Ma, I tried to be polite with you but you still don''t want to listen to me. I don''t want you to talk to me ever again!''''
This time, as she spoke, Xingyi didn''t have the usual friendly aura that she had while she talked to Shun Long and the rest, and instead, her body was radiating an aura of anger and killing intent, while the shadows from the ground beneath her feet seemed to have covered her body like thin tentacles.
''Senior brother Ma''s'' steps halted while the expression on his face finally changed. The smile that he had on his face instantly disappeared as his eyes kept staring at Xingyi in front of him, before his angry voice resounded in her ears barely a momentter
''''Junior sister Xingyi, why are you so insistent on refusing me? You clearly know how I have been feeling for you ever since the first time I saw you, ever since that day when master epted you as her disciple, and yet you always reject me!
Why? What do Ick?
Power? Status? Background?
I am a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, a genius in the top 2000 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor before I even became 200 years old!
My faction is ranked in the top 300 within the sect and I am even a personal disciple of an inner court Elder! TELL ME! WHAT DO I LACK?''''
The more the hooked-nosed young man spoke the angrier he seemed to be, while his aura at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards without any more restraint.
It was obvious that he wasn''t willing to leave today without getting an answer.
Although the Refinement Hall didn''t have many disciples who were entering inside itpared to the other important buildings within the Holy sect, like the Administration Hall, the Assignment Hall, or the Golden Treasures Hall, it still had 2 white-robed elders standing guard in front of its entrance.
The 2 elders responsible for guarding the Refinement Hall were instantly stunned when they saw the hooked-nosed young man getting so angry when he was clearly the one harassing the young woman in front of him, causing the 2 Elders to turn and look at each other.
Normally, the 2 Elders would intervene if anyone was bold enough to start making trouble in front of the Refinement Hall, but this time, they clearly hesitated since they recognized the hooked-nosed young man and Xingyi.
As the guards of the Refinement Hall, how could the 2 old men not know that the yellow-robed outer court disciples in front of them were both personal disciples of Elder Mao Jing?
Thus, they decided to simply close their eyes and act like they didn''t see anything.
At the same time, seeing Xingyi turn around and throw him a pitiable nce, Shun Long no longer remained there and wait for Xingyi to solve this matter by herself, as he took a step forward and instantly appeared in front of her, facing ''senior brother Ma'' and the 2 people behind him, before Shun Long finally said in a calm voice
''''It''s because Xingyi is my woman.''''
Silence instantly filled the area outside of the Refinement Hall, as ''senior brother Ma'' and the 2 young men behind him, as well as Xie Xingyi and the others, and even the 2 white-robed Elders who were guarding the Refinement Hall and were watching this scene, all turned their gaze towards Shun Long at the same time.
Xingyi''s eyes instantly widened when she heard Shun Long''s response, staring at him with a look of shock and disbelief in her eyes, while Liu Mei''s lips curved up into a brilliant smile.
''''Brother Long..''''
In the past 10 months that Xingyi knew Shun Long, although she had clearly showed that she was interested in him, Shun Long had yet to give her a response. How could she expect that Shun Long would openly say that she was his woman out of nowhere?
A sweet feeling instantly filled her heart as she looked at the back of the yellow-robed young man who was standing tall in front of her.
Meanwhile, Liu Mei simply smiled gently as her eyes were glued on Shun Long''s back at the same time.
Naturally, Liu Mei wouldn''t willingly share with Shun Long with anyone else, but during the first month that she had spent with Xingyi during the third test of the Holy sect, and had shared life and death with her, she hade to view her as a real sister.
Knowing that Xingyi liked Shun Long so much that she had given up joining any other faction in the Holy sect simply to follow him, had naturally made Liu Mei not be averse to Shun Long epting Xingyi as his woman.
After all, Liu Mei knew, that in the past 10 months that they had joined the Holy sect, Xingyi also had plenty of powerful outer court disciples who were chasing after her, but she hadn''t shown even the slightest bit of interest to any of them, regardless of their strength or background.
All this time, she had quietly waited for Shun Long''s answer.
As for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, both of them simply stared at this scene calmly without saying anything.
In their eyes, Xingyi had been Shun Long''s woman from the very beginning.
The only issue was that Shun Long had seemed reluctant to address this issue.
But since he had spoken out today, that ''senior brother Ma'' could only dream of taking away their brother''s wife.
Indeed, ''senior brother Ma''s'' eyes narrowed, turning simr to the eyes of a viper''s, and after taking a look at the people behind Shun Long, his gazended on Liu Mei''s body for a few moments, before he turned to look at Shun Long in front of him and said coldly
''''Shun Long, scram out of my sight! You dare im my junior sister as your wife?
You shouldn''t meddle on things that aren''t your business lest you offend someone you can''t afford to!
I heard that junior sister Xingyi has joined your faction, but even our master herself has said that junior sister''s yin essence is still intact, making her still a virgin.
Who do you think you are to im my junior sister as yours?
You better scram out of the inner court before I cripple your arms and legs myself!''''
Chapter 636: Shun Long making a move
Chapter 636: Shun Long making a move
Shun Long''s eyes instantly narrowed while a dense aura of killing intent appeared around him in the next moment as he stared at ''senior brother Ma'' in front of him.
Regardless of whether this person was also a personal disciple of Elder Mao Jing and was considered Xingyi''s senior brother, since he dared to tell him to scram out of the inner court or he would personally cripple his arms and legs was something that Shun Long wouldn''t tolerate.
Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all stepped forward as well the moment that they heard this, while their cultivation at the middle of rank 7 and the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul exploded out from their bodies at the same time, as they stared at the hooked-nosed young man in front of them.
''''Die!''''
Surprisingly, Xingyi was actually the first one to make a move as she looked at the hooked-nosed young man in front of her and shouted coldly, before the shadow-like tentacles around her body shot towards ''senior brother Ma'' at full speed.
And yet, ''senior brother Ma'' simply snorted as his cultivation at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards before he waved his hand, causing a wall of mes to appear around him,pletely enveloping his body and protected him from Xingyi''s shadows.
It didn''t matter how hard Xingyi''s shadows attacked the wall of mes, they were unable to pierce through it.
''''Tsk. Junior sister Xingyi would really attack me for this brat?''''
The look in ''senior brother Ma''s'' eyes turned even angrier as he stared at Shun Long who was actually walking towards him right now, not caring at all by Xingyi''s sudden outburst towards him.
It was obvious that ''senior brother Ma''s'' target was Shun Long.
''''Xingyi, step back. I will take care of this myself.''''
Shun Long''s cold voice resounded in everyone''s ears as he calmly walked towards ''senior brother Ma'' whose body was still enveloped in a wall of mes.
Xingyi nodded her head and retreated backwards, while her shadows returned back to her body.
Liu Mei and the rest all simply watched without interfering, but their eyes stared coldly at the peak rank 8 Nascent Soul young man who was standing in front of the Refinement Hall.
The 2 young men behind ''senior brother Ma'' looked at him, before one of them asked
''''Senior brother Ma Ming, should I take care of this kid?''''
Staring at Shun Long who was still approaching ''senior brother Ma Ming'' calmly, the young man whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul finally asked as he took a step forward.
But the hooked-nosed young man, Ma Ming shook his head and shouted
''''Back off!''''
Turning his attention towards Shun Long, Ma Ming had an evil smile on his face as he stepped forward as well, while his cold voice resounded in Shun Long''s ears
''''Since you don''t want to leave junior sister Xingyi''s side, I will personally teach you a lesson today!''''
The wall of mes around Ma Ming shook before it turned into countless fireballs that flew towards Shun Long at extreme speed,pletely surrounding him in the blink of an eye!
Ma Ming didn''t want to give Shun Long even a single chance to escape, as Shun Long''s body waspletely trapped by the bright red fireballs in a single moment.
Although these fireballs weren''t a powerful martial skill, every single one of them seemed to be strong enough to injure a peak rank 7 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
However, Ma Ming didn''t immediately attack Shun Long, and staring at him calmly he said
''''Shun Long, obediently kneel down and beg for forgiveness before promising that you will never approach junior sister Xingyi ever again!
Do that and I will spare you today. Otherwise, although I won''t kill you, the pain you will feel will be even worse than if you were to die!''''
''''Hahaha! First it''s Song Yahui then it''s you. You two idiots are both the same.? You want me to kneel down and beg for forgiveness while promising that I won''t approach Xingyi again?
With what qualifications? Just your peak rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivation? It seems that if I don''t beat you up today you won''t understand how to behave. Fine then!''''
Shun Long didn''t seem to care about the fireballs that were suspended in the air around him and were ready to crash on his body at any moment, as his furious voice sounded in everyone''s ears, including Ma Ming and even the 2 white-robed Elders who were watching this scene without interfering.
This time Shun Long was truly angry.
First it was Song Yahui who was trying to steal Liu Mei and the others from his faction right in front of his eyes, while this Ma Ming went so far as to tell him to beg for forgiveness and never dare to approach Xingyi again.
''''Die then!'''' Ma Ming didn''t hold back any longer as he shouted in a cold voice, before the hundreds of fireballs in the air around Shun Long all flew towards him one after the other, ready to bathe him in a sea of mes!
And yet, Shun Long simply closed his eyes before he said in a calm voice
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
Shun Long''s cultivation suddenly burst out, before the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, as the flow of time around him was forcibly halted!
Shun Long who had reached the early rank 7 in the Nascent Soul no longer hid his cultivation, allowing his ''Monarch''s Domain'' to forcibly stop the hundreds of fireballs before they could even approach his body.
The moment that they entered the radius of his ''Monarch''s Domain'', the fireballs were forcibly brought to a halt,pletely shocking not just Ma Ming himself, but even the 2 white-robed Dao Kings in front of the Refinement Hall who were staring at this scene with wide-open eyes.
Chapter 637: Destroying Ma Ming
Chapter 637: Destroying Ma Ming
''''You... how is this possible?'''' Ma Ming''s incredulous voice sounded as he stared at Shun Long with a gaze filled with disbelief.
The fireballs created by a powerful peak rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator like him were now suspended in the air, unable to move even an inch closer to Shun Long.
Ma Ming could faintly feel that an invisible power hadpletely surrounded Shun Long''s body, but he didn''t know exactly what it was.
However, what had shocked him the most was Shun Long''s cultivation that had reached the early rank 7 in the Nascent Soul!
Naturally, since he was interested in Xingyi, Ma Ming had done his fair share of research on Shun Long, and he clearly knew that when he first entered the Holy sect 10 months ago, Shun Long was nothing more than a peak rank 1 Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
In Ma Ming''s eyes, it was one thing for Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, to all reach thete-stages of the Nascent Soul considering that they were personal disciples of the inner court Elders and were allowed to cultivate in the courtyards of their respective masters where the qi was extremely pure and abundant, but Shun Long reaching thete-stages of the Nascent Soul so quickly was an entirely different matter.
''''This guy doesn''t even have an inner court Elder as a master and the qi in his courtyard is only ordinary. How can he be at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul already? This rate of growth is already no less than that of those terrifying monsters at the very top of the Martial Roll of Honor! But all of theme from powerful ns and families in the Holy sect territory... how can this guy possibly match them?''''
The look on Ma Ming''s face had turned extremely serious as he stared at Shun Long in front of him.
Of course, how could Ma Ming know, that to reach thete stages of the Nascent Soul, in the past 5 months, Shun Long had not only consumed a top-grade rank 5 ''Barrier-piercing pill'' but he had also spent more than 1 million middle-grade spirit stones?
The further he advanced in his cultivation, the more Shun Long noticed, that the amount of qi his qi balls needed continued to increase without stop.
Even with the Heaven Swallowing vine, the number of middle-grade spirit stones that he was using was already considered astronomical.
At the same time, even with his Heaven Swallowing vine and the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'', as well as the top-grade rank 5 ''Barrier-piercing pill'' that he had refined, Shun Long had only managed to reach the early rank 7 in the Nascent Soul in these past 5 months.
Although to others his rate of growth may seem extremely quick, Shun Long knew that condensing the next 24 qi balls to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul was probably going to need more than 2 million middle-grade spirit stones and an even longer amount of time.
If any other Nascent Soul stage cultivator said that they needed 2 million middle-grade spirit stones to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul, others would simplyugh in disdain.
After all, a normal Nascent Soul stage cultivator would usually not need more than 300.000 middle-grade spirit stones to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
Staring at the scene outside the Refinement Hall, even the 2 white-robed Dao Kings who were standing guard outside the building turned to look at each other with looks of disbelief in their eyes.
They had never seen anything like this before.
Hundreds of fireballs, each of whom could probably rival the full-powered blow of a peak rank 7 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, were now suspended in the air around Shun Long, while even the heating from them seemed to have been frozen.
''''How is this possible? What kind of Dao has this kidprehended? Young master Ma Ming''s fireballs are frozen?''''
One of the 2 white-robed Elders mumbled in a low voice, while the other one next to him simply stayed silent as he watched this scene.
At the same time, Shun Long stared at the peak rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator in front of him, before he shook his head and said
''''It''s my turn now!''''
Without waiting for Ma Ming to attack him a second time, Shun Long then took a step forward and his body immediately vanished. From the midst of the hundreds of fireballs, he appeared right in front of the still stunned Ma Ming in the blink of an eye.
Raising his right hand, Shun Long clenched his fist tightly, before he sent a powerful punch towards Ma Ming''s chest.
''''Senior brother Ma!''''
''''Be careful!''''
The 2 young men behind Ma Ming were instantly rmed when they saw this as they both shouted loudly in fear.
Shun Long''s movement had simply been too fast!
Even a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Ma Ming had been caught off-guard.
In the next moment however, the look on Ma Ming''s face suddenly changed, as another wave of mes swiftly sprouted from his body, covering him entirely like an armor of mes.
''''Haha! You actually dare fight me head-on? Die!'''' Ma Ming''s face behind the me armor resembled that of a devil''s, as an angry look soon covered it, and without holding back, his cultivation at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul erupted outwards, as he sent a punch of his own towards Shun Long.
Although this took a while to describe, it had actually happened in the blink of an eye.
Seeing Ma Ming''s punch that seemed to burn through the air itself as it moved towards his chest, Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he mumbled to himself
''''Too weak! Time Prison!''''
A bright blue light appeared from Shun Long''s golden eyes, before itpletely enveloped Ma Ming''s body, forcibly stopping the flow of time around him!
The 2 Dao Kings in front of the Refinement Hall as well as the 2 young men behind Ma Ming, all watched this scene with disbelieving looks in their eyes, as Ma Ming''s movements had suddenly halted before Shun Long''s powerful punch connected with his chest a momentter!
BOOOOM!
Everyone then watched, as the peak rank 8 Nascent Soul stage expert was sent flying backwards like a meteor, before his body flew past the 2 white-robed Elders guarding the entrance of the Refinement Hall and entered inside, leaving the 2 white-robed Dao Kings unable to act.
Chapter 638: Aftermath
Chapter 638: Aftermath
Complete silence had filled Shun Long''s surroundings, as everyone stared at the Refinement Hall in front of them, before the shouts of the receptionists instantly filled everyone''s ears a momentter.
It was obvious that they had also noticed Ma Ming''s body that crashed inside the Refinement Hall just now.
''''Y-You...''''
The 2 young men who were standing behind Ma Ming previously, now stared at Shun Long with a hint of dread in their eyes, not daring to approach too close to him.
Since he had destroyed a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator like Ma Ming with a single punch, how could the 2 of them who were only at the peak of rank 7 and the early rank 8 in the Nascent Soul dare to fight against him?
The scariest part was that none of them could even understand what kind of Dao Shun Long hadprehended, but the terrifying force that they had felt made their heart shiver in terror.
They could both feel that if they were in Ma Ming''s ce just now, neither of them would be able to resist that terrifying power either.
However, it wasn''t just the 2 of them who were astonished.
Even the 2 white-robed Dao Kings stared at Shun Long with eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t pay attention to any of them, as he turned around and looked at Xingyi who was staring at him with her stunning emerald eyes as she mumbled in a low voice
''''Brother Long...''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long took a step forward and held Xingyi''s hands before he said in an apologetic tone
''''Xingyi, I am sorry. I couldn''t bring myself to give you an answer before, even though I knew how you felt. However, I don''t want you to wait any longer.'''' The look on Shun Long''s eyes turned serious as he stared at Xingyi''s enchanting green eyes and continued ''''Xingyi, be my woman. You are the only other woman that I have cared for after Mei''er.''''
Xingyi was stunned when she heard this before a brilliant smile was soon formed on Xingyi''s lips in the next moment, enhancing her beauty even further as she nodded her head gently.
What she had been afraid from the very beginning was that Shun Long wouldn''t like her and that her love would end up being one-sided.
After all, every girl wanted the man that she loved to like her back.
A smile also appeared on Liu Mei''s face as she looked at this scene, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian simply nodded their heads.
Hearing the rowdy voices from inside the Refinement Hall however, the look on Xingyi''s face soon changed as she remembered what had happened just now.
No matter what, Ma Ming was also a personal disciple of Elder Mao Jing, just like her, while Shun Long wasn''t formally a disciple of an inner court Elder.
The only reason why he was allowed to enter the inner court today was only thanks to Liu Mei and the rest all being personal disciples of the inner court Elders, making the 2 Enforcement Hall disciples in front of the inner court to not dare block their group.
But Xingyi understood that this fight was definitely going to attract the attention of Elder Mao Jing. Even if Elder Mao Jing wasn''t informed right away about it, there was no way that Ma Ming was going to swallow this insult today.
Looking at Shun Long, Xingyi nodded her head and said gently, but with a firm look on her face
''''Brother Long, don''t worry. I will take care of it! There is no way that I am going to allow Ma Ming create any trouble for brother Long!''''
Without any hesitation, Xingyi entered the Refinement Hall, along with Shun Long and everyone else.
The 2 white-robed Elders outside the Refinement Hall didn''t bother their group, acting like they hadn''t seen anything.
Putting aside Shun Long''s terrifying Dao that had even made those 2 powerful Dao Kings look at him seriously, just the fact that this fight involved 2 disciples of Elder Mao Jing, made the 2 Dao Kings unwilling to participate in it.
''''Heh, if that guy really wants to create trouble, I don''t mind teaching him a lesson as well. Let''s see how many Elders he can ask to help him!'''' Jiang Chen''s eyes narrowed as he entered the Refinement Hall and looked at Ma Ming''s figure that was now lying on the ground inside the interior of the hall, while the 3 receptionists and 2 more yellow-robed outer disciples were now gathered around him.
Although Ma Ming hadn''t lost consciousness, it was obvious that he was in a very bad situation.
Thankfully, he had no life-threatening injuries which made the receptionists rx a bit.
''''Miss Xingyi...''''
One of the 3 receptionists instantly turned her attention towards the group that entered inside the Refinement Hall, before her eyesnded on Xie Xingyi''s figure.
Since Xingyi was a personal disciple of Elder Mao Jing as well, the receptionists naturally recognized her.
Xingyi nodded her head with a calm look on her face, and ignoring the look of fury and disbelief that Ma Ming was throwing towards her and Shun Long, Xingyi looked at the receptionist and said
''''There is no reason for you to do anything about today''s matter. I will personally inform master about ''senior brother Ma''s'' fight with me.''''
It was only now that the 2 receptionists realized that Ma Ming''s current situation was probably rted to Xingyi!
After all, they all knew that Ma Ming had been chasing after Xingyi without giving up for the past 10 months, even after Xingyi had rejected him, and he had even gone so far as to ask his master to help him.
Thus, the receptionists didn''t find it odd that Xingyi would be angry and would eventually be unable to tolerate this any longer.
''''But how is it possible for youngdy Xie to beat young master Ma? Young master Ma is ranked within the top 2000 in the Martial Roll of Honor, while miss Xie has only just reached the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul!''''
Although this question shed through the receptionists minds, they all nodded their heads and after one of them fed a pill to Ma Ming to help treat his injuried and carried him to a private room, the other 2 returned to their work.
Looking at the receptionists in front of her, Xingyi then said
''''Please give us a spacious private room suitable for pill refinement.''''
The receptionist nodded and answered respectfully
''''Miss Xingyi, a room for peak gold-grade alchemists will cost 5000 sect points for a day.''''
Shun Long nodded his head without any hesitation when he heard this, and transferred the 5000 sect points to the receptionist in front of them who then led them deeper inside the Refinement Hall.
The deeper they walked inside the hall, Shun Long could clearly sense his surroundings bing even hotter, almost as if he had suddenly entered inside a furnace.
Even with his current strength, Shun Long still couldn''t ignore the heat around him, while Liu Mei and Xingyi both had to circte their qi to resist this heat that was bing stronger with every step that they took further inside the Refinement Hall.
''''Haha, master, this little girl was right. I can sense that there truly are 2 earth mes hidden inside this ce.'''' Little ck''s joyful voice suddenly sounded inside Shun Long''s mind in the next moment, causing Shun Long to nod his head with a smile on his face.
Naturally, Shun Long had already guessed this as well.
Only the power of an earth me or another simr fire-element treasure could affect its surroundings like this, forcing evente-stage Nascent Soul cultivators like Liu Mei and Xingyi to circte their qi to resist the heat that it naturally emitted.
At the same time, the receptionist led their group past quite a number of private rooms, while the scent of medicinal herbsing from these rooms had already filled the air inside the Refinement Hall.
A momentter, the receptionist opened the door of a private room and led Shun Long and the others inside.
Sensing that Shun Long was the one leading this group, the receptionist turned her gaze towards him and said in a respectful manner
''''Young master, please remember that you only have 24 hours. If you want to extend your stay for more than a day, you will have to pay an extra 5000 sect points for every day you stay here.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and thanked the receptionist who bowed before she turned around and left the room.
However, before Shun Long could take a look at this room of the Refinement Hall in front of him, Xingyi''s voice suddenly sounded from his side, as Xingyi looked at him and said in a gentle but firm tone
''''Brother Long, I have to go meet my master.''''
Chapter 639: Mao Jing
Chapter 639: Mao Jing
Turning around, Shun Long saw the determined look in Xingyi''s eyes as she spoke, while Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, had also turned their attention towards her at the same time.
From the look on Xingyi''s face, it was obvious that this wasn''t going to be an easy issue to deal with, but she was still going to see her master right now.
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at Xingyi and said seriously
''''Xingyi, I''lle with you. No matter what, this is my responsibility. We will meet your master together!''''
''''Long-ge, I wille with you.''''
''''Brother Shun, you can also count me in!''''
''''I wille with you as well.''''
Just as Shun Long finished speaking, Liu Mei''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Jiang Chen''s voices also sounded in her ears a momentter, as everyone had turned their eyes towards the stunned Xingyi.
Xingyi looked at Shun Long and the others without speaking, but a momentter, a dazzling smile appeared on her face as she nodded her head and said
''''Then, let me lead the way.''''
Xingyi led Shun Long and the rest out of the private room, as she walked deeper inside the Refinement Hall.
She seemed to be familiar with the interior of the Refinement Hall, and a few minutester, after walking through a few twists and turns, she arrived in front of a huge ck door that seemed to be made from wood, while the scent of medicinal herbs had filled the air around her.
At the same time, Shun Long and the rest all noticed, that the heating from the interior of this wooden ck door was even more intense than the heating from most other rooms, while even Shun Long himself was just a step away from circting his qi to protect himself.
Stopping right in front of the wooden door, Xingyi took a deep breath, before she took out a golden-colored token from her spatial ring with the word ''Mao'' on it and held it in her hand, as she then bowed towards the door and said in a respectful tone
''''Master, your disciple wishes to see you.''''
A powerful burst of soul sense erupted from behind the door the next moment, as it swept past Xingyi''s body for a single second, and after scanning Shun Long''s and the rest''s bodies, Shun Long heard the calm voice of an old womaning from behind the door as it said
''''Xingyi...e in.''''
The ck wooden door then opened by itself, revealing the interior of the room behind it.
Shun Long then saw an old woman dressed in white robes, with long white hair that were flowing freely from her shoulders sitting in front of an alchemy cauldron, while her deep ck eyes stared at Xingyi with a rxed look inside them.
In front of the old woman was a cauldron that was a mix of ck and white, whileplicated silver-colored symbols had filled its surface.
The moment that his eyesnded on the cauldron, Shun Long could feel his heartbeat rising ever-so-slightly, as a single thought appeared in his mind
''''A star-rank cauldron!''''
His gaze was then focused away from the ck and white cauldron, as itnded on the powerful orange mes that wereing from the earth below the cauldron, making his heartbeat even faster than before.
At the same time, Little ck''s voice that had hints of excitement sounded inside Shun Long''s mind, as the ck dragon said
''''Earth me!''''
The orange mes below the cauldron were the mesing directly from the earth me!
At the same time that the wooden door opened, an even stronger wave of heat assaulted Shun Long and the rest, waking Shun Long up from his reverie and forcing him to start circting his qi to resist this heat, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had actually activated their unique physiques.
Jiang Chen''s body was soon covered with a veil of darkness while Bai Longtian had turned into a gigantic, 10 meter(33ft) tall golden buddha.
At the same time, Xingyi had also activated her unique physique as her body blended into the shadows while Liu Mei summoned a dozen of her undead knights who stood in front of her and Shun Long, blocking the heat that assaulted them directly.
It was only at this moment that Xingyi led everyone inside the room, and as she looked at the white-robed old woman in front of her, she bowed respectfully and said
''''Master, these are my friends.''''
The white-robed old woman, Xie Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing''s eyes swept past Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, before her gazended on Shun Long''s body for a few more moments without speaking.
After staying silent for a while, Elder Mao Jing looked at Xingyi and asked
''''Xingyi, what happened? You wouldn''te to meet me without a reason unless something actually happened.''''
Xingyi nodded her head seriously and kept bowing as she said
''''Master, it has to do with senior brother Ma Ming. Senior brother Ma Ming fought with brother Long because of me, and in the end he was heavily injured.''''
''''Eh?'''' The white-robed old woman, Mao Jing narrowed her eyes as she looked at Shun Long who was no longer hiding his aura at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, allowing her to clearly sense his cultivation.
Seeing Mao Jing narrow her eyes as she looked at Shun Long, a shiver ran through Xie Xingyi''s body as she hurriedly added in
''''Master, it is not brother Long''s fault. If you have to me someone, then me me or senior brother Ma!''''
However, Mao Jing didn''t respond right away, as her gaze didn''t move from Shun Long''s body , almost as if she was carefully inspecting him, while Shun Long was looking back at her calmly.
Although Shun Long had a calm look in his eyes, he was actually enduring a mountain-like weight pressure that wasing this Mao Jing in front of him, even though the old woman hadn''t revealed her cultivation at all.
This was the natural presence that a Dao Emperor had.
''''Hmph! That old woman is really arrogant. Master, if she dares to make a move, I will personally end her life! How dare a measly peak rank 6 Dao Emperor use her aura to pressure master like that?''''
Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind at the same time as he looked at Mao Jing from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''. Although Mao Jing hadn''t revealed her cultivation, how could she hide it from Little ck''s eyes?
Even though no one below the Dao Emperor realm could sense it, Little ck clearly knew that if a Dao Emperor didn''t suppress their natural aura, most Nascent Soul stage cultivators wouldn''t be able to even stand in front of them and they would be forced to kneel. Even Dao Kings would feel an enormous amount of pressure in front of someone like Mao Jing.
After all, the difference between a Dao King and a Dao Emperor was an insurmountable one.
As for Shun Long, it was clear that he was feeling this pressure as well, while even Liu Mei and the rest seemed to have started to notice it, as they frowned while they looked at the white-robed Dao Emperor in front of them.
It was clear that Mao Jing was intentionally targetting Shun Long.
A hint of surprise also appeared on Mao Jing''s eyes in the next moment as she looked at Shun Long, but before Xingyi, Liu Mei or anyone else had a chance toin, a calmughter suddenly sounded from the depths of the room, before a powerful suddenly erupted at the same time,pletely submerging Mao Jing''s aura in the blink of an eye.
Mao Jing''s expression immediately changed, but before she had a chance to speak, the voice of an old man sounded from the corner of the room behind her, making her heart suddenly freeze on the spot, while an incredulous expression appeared on her face at the same time
''''Hahaha, Mao Jing, is it really proper for a Dao Emperor like you to pressure a Nascent Soul stage outer disciple?''''
Chapter 640: The Grand Elders question
Chapter 640: The Grand Elder''s question
Shun Long immediately felt a gentle force thatpletely suppressed Mao Jing''s aura, while the expression on Mao Jing''s face turned into one of disbelief, as the white-robed old woman turned around and stared at the corned of the room behind her.
The figure of a tall, white-robed old man with long white hair could be seen standing there, while his profound ck eyes stared at Mao Jing with a calm smile on his face.
''''G-Grand Elder!'''' Mao Jing hurriedly stood up and bowed towards the white-robed old man as she called out in a respectful voice, while at the same time, the mes beneath her cauldron seemed to have lost their support and were instantly extinguished,pletely ruining the concoction inside the cauldron.
However, Mao Jing didn''t seem to have noticed this, as her eyes kept staring at the white-robed old man while waves of shock filled her heart.
This was the second most powerful person within the Holy sect, whose status was only below the Holy sect''s sect master, the Grand Elder of the Holy sect!
Mao Jing wasn''t surprised that she had failed to notice the Grand Elder''s arrival.
After all, who was the Grand Elder?
He was the second most powerful person in the Holy sect!
She simply hadn''t expected that the Grand Elder would suddenly visit her.
At the same time, Shun Long and the others were all stunned as they turned their eyes towards the white-robed Elder in the corner of the room.
Unlike how it felt to stand in front of Mao Jing, the Grand Elder gave Shun Long and the others a feeling as if he didn''t even exist in this ce, almost as if he had turned one with the room itself!
If he hadn''t spoken just now, no one would have noticed that he was present inside the room.
''''Master, this old man is powerful. He is much stronger than this old hag or even that Jiang Tianfang kid. Even I failed to sense how he appeared inside the room just now. Although he hasn''t reached the Sovereign realm just yet, he is only a step away from it, standing at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm.'''' Little ck''s bright blue eyes stared at the Grand Elder''s figure from inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' with a serious look.
For Little ck to say something like that, the Grand Elder''s strength wasn''t one to be triffled with.
Shun Long guessed that this person was probably at the same level as the current Little ck, if not even slightly stronger.
At the same time, Shun Long suddenly remembered Jiang Tianfang''s words as they were returning back to the Holy sect, causing his eyes to widen, as he stared at the white-robed old man in the corner of Mao Jing''s private room.
Jiang Tianfang had said that even in the depths of the Holy sect, there is an old monster who has reached the peak of the Dao Emperor realm and is strong enough to support the entire Holy sect by himself! Even among the Dao Emperors that Jiang Tianfang personally knew, that old monster was still strong enough to rank in the top 5 in terms of strength!
Shun Long instantly understood that the monster that Jiang Tianfang was referring to, was definitely this old man in front of him.
At the same time that Shun Long stared at this old man, the old man''s set of extremely deep ck eyes also turned to look at Shun Long, before a smile was actually formed on his old face.
Seeing the Grand Elder smile and nod his head at Shun Long, the white-robed old woman, Mao Jing felt her heart constrict, as she spoke out softly
''''Grand Elder...''''
The old man turned his gaze towards Mao Jing with the same calm smile on his face, but Mao Jing could only feel cold sweat running through her back when she saw that smile.
''''Mao Jing, I already know what happened. No matter what, for a Dao Emperor like you to bully an outer court disciple that is still at thete-stages of the Nascent Soul is extremely disappointing.''''
The white-robed old woman, Mao Jing looked at the white-robed old man in front of her and responded in an aggrieved tone
''''Grand Elder, this kid didn''t give me any face. Not only did he beat Ma Ming, but he did so right outside of my Refinement Hall.''''
The white-robed Grand Elder looked at Mao Jing and shook his head as he continued
''''Face? You have already lost it all by yourself the moment you lowered yourself to personally deal with an outer court disciple.''''
Xingyi''s master, the white-robed old woman Mao Jing, looked no different from a child getting berated, as she lowered her head and didn''t dare to speak.
The white-robed Grand Elder shook his head and sighed before he waved his hand and said
''''Then, let this all end here today.''''
''''Yes Grand Elder!'''' Mao Jing nodded her head hurriedly before she turned her gaze towards Xingyi and the others and said
''''Xingyi, you all can leave!''''
Mao Jing''s voice was somewhat impatient as she looked at Xingyi, before her gaze moved back to the Grand Elder behind her.
For the Grand Elder toe meet her today there was definitely a reason for that.
After all, Mao Jing knew that the Grand Elder had been in seclusion for tens of thousands of years inside the sect, so what was the reason for him to suddenly leave his seclusion?
Xingyi looked at her master and bowed slightly with a smile on her face before she said
''''Yes master.''''
Naturally, for Xingyi to have this matter dealt so easily meant that her master wouldn''t pursue this in the future.
Shun Long and the others all cupped their hands and bowed towards the Grand Elder at the corner of the room in thanks, but the Grand Elder simplyughed and waved his hand as he said
''''Haha, don''t be in a hurry.''''
The Grand Elder''s eyes were then focused on Shun Long, while the smile on his face turned even more pronounced than before as he continued
''''Your name is Shun Long right? Are you the one who healed Jiang Tianfang?''''
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Chapter 641: The Grand Elders question (2)
Chapter 641: The Grand Elder''s question (2)
It wasn''t just Shun Long who was startled when he heard this, but Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xie Xingyi, and Bai Longtian as well, as they all stared at the Grand Elder with disbelieving looks.
Aside from their group of 5 and Jiang Tianfang himself, no one else knew about Shun Long healing Jiang Chen''s father, so how could the Grand Elder know about it?
The white-robed old woman, Mao Jing couldn''t hide her shock either as she looked at the Grand Elder behind her, while a single thought shed through her mind
''''Is the Grand Elder joking? How could ate-stage Nascent Soul brat possibly heal someone like Jiang Tianfang? Even I couldn''t heal his injury back then!''''
Although Mao Jing was stunned, she didn''t dare to interrupt the Grand Elder, as her gaze was soon focused on Shun Long as well.
The look on Shun Long''s face slowly turned serious as he looked at the white-robed old man in front of him who still had that same, kind smile on his face as he waited for his answer.
Shun Long had the feeling that the Grand Elder wasn''t grasping at straws right now, but from the look on his face, he had a certain degree of confidence in what he was saying.
However, Shun Long was also certain that neither Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, or Bai Longtian would mention Jiang Tianfang''s situation to anyone. This came from the confidence and trust that he had towards them. As for Jiang Tianfang mentioning it by himself, that was equally as unlikely.
Almost as if he had guessed what Shun Long was thinking, the Grand Elder shook his head with the same amiable smile on his face before he continued
''''Tell me, how could I possibly not notice Jiang Tianfang flying above my Holy sect 5 months ago?
Although others may not know about it, there is no way that Jiang Tianfang would simply return back to the central region if his injury was in the same condition as it was in the past.
Haha, that kid is simply too proud to do that.
He would rather die all by himself than live a shameful life.
That day, I just happened toe out of my seclusion and I didn''t pay too much attention to it.
It was only today that I found out that Jiang Tianfang''s son is actually inside the sect, and he has even joined a newly created faction.
After taking a look at this faction I found that there was more to it than what meets the eye.
Everyone is following a single outer court disciple who hasprehended a small part of the Dao of Space, and even has an immortal grade bloodline.
Naturally, this would make this old man curious.
Of course, you don''t have to answer if you don''t want to.''''
The Grand Elder then sat down cross-legged and even took out a sk of wine from his spatial ring as he started to drink from it contently, causing his eyes to turn into 2 crescent slits.
Shun Long seemed to have understood what this legendary old monster from the Holy sect in front of him was trying to say, but he remained silent for a moment, almost as if he was contemting on his answer.
After all, Shun Long could sense that there were actually some things that the Grand Elder had chosen to hide from his story.
At that moment, Jiang Chen was actually the first one who took a step forward standing next to Shun Long, and as he stared at the white-robed Grand Elder he asked in a serious voice
''''Grand Elder, even if you were curious about me, do you really believe that it''s possible for Shun Long to heal my father?''''
Although Jiang Chen''s tone was respectful, the look in his eyes was extremely serious as he stared at the old man in front of him who was leisurely drinking his wine.
No matter what, Jiang Chen wasn''t going to ept the Grand Elder''s excuse either.
Turning his gaze towards Jiang Chen, the Grand Elder actually smiled and nodded his head before he answered
''''Haha, kid, you are right. Even if someone managed to heal Jiang Tianfang, I normally wouldn''t havee to the conclusion that it would be Shun Long. After all, in the past, Jiang Tianfang hade to our Holy sect to ask for help as well, but even 1-star alchemists like Mao Jing had failed to treat him, so how could ate-stage Nascent Soul outer court disciple possibly do so?''''
Xingyi''s master, Mao Jing nodded her head gravely as she agreed with the Grand Elder without any shame.
She still remembered how terrifying the poison inside Jiang Tianfang''s dantian really was, making her shiver just at the thought of it.
That day, Mao Jing had nearly died as that poison had almost ended up attacking her as well.
Back then, she had told Jiang Tianfang that it was impossible for any 1-star alchemist to heal him, and only 2-star alchemists could possibly do so.
After all, the difference between 1-star and 2-star alchemists was enormous, and even though it was extremely difficult for someone to normally ask for the help of a 2-star alchemist, it was still not impossible for an expert at the level of Jiang Tianfang to do so if he was willing to pay a heavy price.
The Grand Elder''s deep ck eyes shone brightly as he looked at Shun Long and continued
''''I am not sure what you did, but I am certain that you are somehow rted to Jiang Tianfang''s recovery. Although I wouldn''t believe it if it was another outer disciple in front of me, you are different.
After all...? you destroyed the ball of fate!''''
The Grand Elder had a solemn look once he said thest sentence, but a momentter, he suddenly started tough loudly, his boomingughter actually shaking the entire private room.
Looking at Shun Long, the Grand Elder''s smile turned even more noticeable as he finally said a momentter
''''Hahaha, it''s fine. You don''t have to answer if you don''t want to. After all, I didn''te here to ask you things regarding Jiang Tianfang. The reason I am here today is a different one.
Shun Long, tell me, are you willing to take me as your master?''''
Chapter 642: The Grand Elders favor
Chapter 642: The Grand Elder''s favor
The Grand Elder''s words were like a bomb that exploded on everyone''s minds, making not just Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and the others, but even the white-robed Mao Jing stare at him with eyes filled with incredulity and disbelief.
The reason why he hade here today was to actually ept Shun Long as his disciple?
Nobody knew how to react to this.
Even Shun Long stared at the white-robed Grand Elder in front of him with a stunned expression on his face.
In the past 10 months, not a single one of the inner court Elders had been willing to ept him as their disciple, even after Shun Long had revealed his bloodline during the fourth test of the Holy sect.
This had left Shun Longpletely baffled.
Even without showing his Dao of Time, just his Dao of Space or his immortal-grade bloodline should have normally been enough for at least a few of the inner court Elders to ept him as their disciple.
However, even though Shun Long had been surprised that no Elders of the Holy sect seemed to be interested in him, since Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian had all found their own masters, it didn''t make too much of a difference to him either.
After all, the main reason why Shun Long had been willing to ept a master was to obtain some backing within the Holy sect in the first ce.
''''Grand Elder, you... are you serious?''''
Mao Jing''s shrill voice resounded throughout the private room, but the white-robed old woman didn''t seem to care about it as she stared at the white-robed old man who was leisurely drinking his wine.
And yet, the Grand Elder didn''t pay the slightest bit of attention to her, as he kept staring at Shun Long with a smile on his face.
He could see that Shun Long had been pondering his offer seriously, which made the Grand Elder extremely happy.
Silence had filled Mao Jing''s private room as everyone waited for Shun Long''s answer.
Even Liu Mei had no idea what Shun Long was going to choose.
A few momentster, Shun Long looked at the white-robed old man in front of him and smiled brightly as he cupped his hands and bowed towards him, before his voice resounded throughout the silent private room
''''Grand Elder, thank you. However, I don''t n to ept a master right now. I hope the Grand Elder understands.''''
''''..''''
''''What?'''' The white-robed old woman, Xie Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing, looked at Shun Long with an expression of disbelief on her face, before her gaze was hurriedly turned towards the Grand Elder.
This was the Grand Elder! He was the second strongest person in the entire Holy sect other than the sect master himself. And yet there was an outer disciple who would dare to refuse him?
Mao Jing couldn''t believe this scene in front of her!
However, Jiang Chen and the others all nodded their heads calmly as they looked at Shun Long.
After all, this was within their expectations from the beginning.
''''Haha, although that old man is indeed strong for a Dao Emperor, he is still too far off if he wants to ept master as his disciple. Perhaps master would have agreed before I had woken up... but now? Hmph! Who else is more qualified than me to protect master?'''' Little ck''s calm voice resounded throughout the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', as the ck dragon watched this scene with a smile on his face.
Naturally, with Little ck''s current strength, there was virtually no Dao Emperor who would be able to threaten Shun Long! Only Sovereign realm experts would have that ability.
But would a Sovereign realm expert really lower themselves to deal with someone like Shun Long?
As for Little Silver, the ck panther seemed to have fallen asleep, not caring at all about Shun Long''s choice.
At the same time, the Grand Elder was actually stunned as he looked at Shun Long who was still bowing towards him.
Finally, a momentter, the Grand Elder sighed and waved his hand as he looked at Shun Long and said in a somewhat disappointed tone
''''Sigh, let''s not force it then. If you are unwilling, then so be it. Perhaps it wasn''t meant to be.''''
The Grand Elder then waved his hand, taking out a golden-colored token from his spatial ring and tossing it towards Shun Long.
The token slowly floated towards Shun Long, before it came to a halt in front of him, as the Grand Elder smiled and said kindly
''''I only have epted 2 disciples in my life. Although you are not my disciple, with this token your status will be no different than that of a personal disciple of mine. Haha, don''t refuse it. Consider it as a gift from this old man.''''
Staring at the Grand Elder''s deep ck eyes and the kind smile on his face, Shun Long actually nodded his head before he extended his hand, taking the golden-colored token in his hand and throwing a look at it.
The token only had a single word on it.
''Kang''
Mao Jing''s heartbeat had started to rise as she looked at the young man in yellow robes who had just received the golden-colored token in his hands, as well as the white-robed Grand Elder who was smiling towards him.
It was obvious how favorably the Grand Elder looked at Shun Long that he would even give him his personal token even after Shun Long had declined his offer to be his disciple.
Mao Jing understood, that with this token in his hands, Shun Long''s status couldn''t be considered inferior to any inner court disciple within the Holy sect.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long ced the golden token in his spatial ring, before he waved his sleeve, causing a medium-sized wooden barrel to appear in front of him.
Looking at the Grand Elder, Shun Long then waved his hand for a second time, causing a wave of his qi topletely envelop the barrel, before the wooden barrel actually floated towards the Grand Elder, stopping right in front of him.
The Grand Elder looked at the wooden barrel with a curious look in his eyes, before Shun Long''s calm voice sounded in his ears a momentter
''''I hope the Grand Elder will ept my gift as well.''''
Without waiting for a response, Shun Long bade farewell to the elder, before he turned around and led Xingyi and the rest out of Mao Jing''s private room, leaving behind only the Grand Elder and the wooden barrel in front of him, as well as Mao Jing herself.
Chapter 643: Using an earth flame
Chapter 643: Using an earth me
The Grand Elder looked at Shun Long''s disappearing back with a smile on his face, before he turned his attention to the wooden barrel in front of him and saidughingly
''''Let''s see what gift this kid decided to give me.''''
The Grand Elder didn''t use his soul sense to scan the wooden barrel, and instead, he decided to directly take off the barrel''s lid.
At the same time, Mao Jing simply shook her head and said in her heart with a disdainful tone
''''No matter what it is, how can any gift that that kid can produce, possiblypare with the Grand Elder''s personal token?''''
Although she said that, Mao Jing''s eyes were still focused on the wooden barrel in front of the Grand Elder.
And yet, the moment that the Grand Elder removed the barrel''s lid, an intoxicating scent suddenly wafted out from the barrel, before it quickly filled the private room, causing Mao Jing to be utterly stunned.
Even the Grand Elder seemed to have lost his words as the intoxicating scenting from the barrel in front of him kept assaulting his senses, making his steady and calm heart start beating wildly.
''''Wine? How can wine smell like this?'''' The Grand Elder looked at the wine barrel in front of him and mumbled to himself in a shocked voice while even his heart shuddered in excitement.
Even he, a powerful Dao Emperor who stood at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm and had roamed throughout the central region for many years had never smelled a wine like this before.
''''No! Even the Shu family''s wine is inferior to this wine in terms of scent alone!''''
As he finished speaking, the Grand Elder didn''t hesitate any longer, as he hurriedly took out a jade-like cup of wine from his spatial ring and filled it with the wine from the wooden barrel.
Under Mao Jing''s eyes that were filled with jealousy, he then took a light sip from the colorful red wine, before he emptied the rest of the jade cup at once!
...
''''Brother Shun, was that wooden barrel filled with the same wine that we tasted back in your room those months ago?''''
Bai Longtian looked at Shun Long and asked in a curious voice as their group of 5 walked back towards their private room.
Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, and Xingyi all looked at Shun Long who smiled as he nodded his head and said
''''Although I wasn''t nning to share this wine with anyone else, since the Grand Elder gave me his personal token I wouldn''t take advantage of him.''''
''''Pfft. Most likely, the Grand Elder won''t be able to enjoy another wine again in the future after drinking brother Long''s wine.'''' XIngyi''s voice had hints ofughter on her face, while Liu Mei simply smiled while Jiang Chen nodded his head in agreement.
Although they only tasted Shun Long''s wine rarely, the 4 of them understood that, in terms of winemaking, Shun Long''s wine stood at the very peak of the cultivation world.
Bai Longtian and the rest were confident that if Shun Long was willing to set up a shop and sell his wine in any city within the central region, experts would happilye and take it all regardless of the price.
A few minutester, Shun Long''s group arrived back to their private room.
As they all entered inside, Shun Long finally had a chance to take a look at this room that the Refinement Hall provided.
It was a rtively spacious room, around half as big as Mao Jing''s own private room, but the room itself was practically empty, aside from a single bronze cauldron that was ced in the center of the room.
Shun Long''s eyes instantly lit up as he moved towards the bronze cauldron right away. After all, he only needed a nce to realize that this was actually a peak rank 3 gold-grade cauldron.
Naturally, the Refinement Hall would have a peak rank 3 gold-grade cauldron inside every single room, while a few of the rooms may even have a star-rank cauldron inside them.
Of course, the price to rent such a room was extraordinary.
Sitting in front of the cauldron, Shun Long had a smile on his face as he let his soul sense enter inside the small hole on the floor of the room that was right beneath the bronze cauldron.
Soon, a wave of orange mes erupted from the small hole, immediately enveloping the entire cauldron and raising the temperature inside the room to a terrifying degree.
''''Earth mes!''''
This was the same thought that passed through everyone''s minds as they looked at the orange mes that enveloped the cauldron in the blink of an eye. The orange mes were identical to those that they had seen inside Mao Jing''s private room a while ago.
It was only that these mes were much weakerpared to the mes inside Mao Jing''s room.
Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian didn''t need to use their unique physiques to resist the heat of the earth mes, while Liu Mei barely used any of her qi to cover her body as well.
Of course,pared to when a Dao Emperor like Mao Jing was using the power of the earth me, Shun Long''s earth me was much weaker.
And yet, Shun Long had a big smile on his face as he started to control the earth me using his soul sense, without warming the cauldron right away.
Shun Long knew that the most important thing when using an earth me for the first time, was for the alchemist to familiarize himself with the earth me.
After all, earth mes werepletely different from qi mes created from a person''s qi.
Qi mes could be used without any restraint, but although it was exceedingly easy to control them, they couldn''t bepared to earth mes in terms of their power and their ability to help an alchemist refine pills.
In this regard, earth mes were truly in a league of their own.
This was why countless alchemists would do anything they could to get their hands on an earth me.
After all, with the power of an earth me, an alchemist''s ability to refine pill would truly rise to a terrifying level.
However, earth mes weren''t easy to control, which was why Shun Long wasn''t in a hurry to start warming the cauldron.
Instead, he allowed the earth me to take various shapes, sometimes taking the form of a snake, while a momentter it may take the shape of a lion.
A little more than an hourter, Shun Long sat cross-legged on the ground and first nted the rank 6 ''five-elements grass'' inside the herb garden.
After using his qi to elerate the flow of time inside the herb garden, Shun Long finally opened his eyes a few hourster, his gaze fully focused on the bronze cauldron in front of him.
It was time to attempt to refine the rank 6 ''five-elements awakening pill''.
Chapter 644: Refining the five-elements awakening pill
Chapter 644: Refining the ''five-elements awakening pill''
Shun Long closed his eyes and sent his soul sense inside his herb garden, before dozens of medicinal herbs appeared in front of him one after the other.
Even the lowest-ranked of them was actually a rank 5 medicinal herb, while a handful of them were actually rank 6 herbs.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Chen and the others all remained silent as they looked at Shun Long.
Aside from Liu Mei, this was the first time for Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, see Shun Long personally refine pills.
The look on Shun Long''s face was extremely solemn as he turned his attention towards the medicinal herbs that were scattered around him.
With the assistance of the orange earth me, it only took a few minutes for the bronze cauldron to be fully heated and be ready to refine pills, but Shun Long knew that refining the ''five-elements awakening pill'' wasn''t going to be easy at all.
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long then circted the qi inside his qi balls, causing his eyes to turn golden, before the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body,pletely enveloping the entire room.
57 silver-colored balls of qi were floating above his head, but aside from Shun Long, neither Jiang Chen nor the other could see them.
Extending his hand, Shun Long grabbed a handful of rank 5 medicinal herbs and threw them all inside the cauldron.
The moment that they entered the cauldron, under the terrifying heat of the orange-colored earth me, the rank 5 medicinal herbs were instantly turned into a puddle of medicinal essence, before Shun Long threw in another bunch barely a secondter.
An incense stick of time had passed before all rank 5 medicinal herbs turned into a puddle of colorful medicinal essence that swirled inside the bronze cauldron.
At that moment, as Shun Long used his soul sense to split the medicinal essence into 4 parts, his golden eyes suddenly turned extremely serious, as Shun Long suddenly threw in 4 rank 6 medicinal herbs inside the cauldron, all at the same time.
Among these medicinal herbs was also a single rank 6 ''white petal flower'', looking nearly identical to the flower that Shun Long had traded to Wan Zu for the stalk of ''five-elements grass''.
The only difference was, that the petals of this flower seemed to be slightly bigger than those of the flower that Shun Long had given to Wan Zu.
Of course, although this difference seemed to be negligible, an expert alchemist who knew enough about this ''white petal flower'' would immediately understand that this was already a rank 6 ''white petal flower'' that had matured for more than 5000 years, while the ''white petal flower'' that Shun Long had exchanged with Wan Zu was only a 3000-year-old ''white petal flower''.
Staring at the rank 6 ''white petal flower'' that was slowly turning into a white-colored liquid, but was clearly much harder to refinepared to the rank 5 medicinal herbs, Shun Long mumbled to himself in his heart
''''Although a single ''white petal flower'' is enough to refine 4 rank 6 ''five-elements awakening pills'', unless both the ''white petal flower'' and the ''five-elements grass'' have matured for more than 5000 years, it''s impossible for the quality of the ''five-elements awakening pill'' to reach the high-grade, let alone the top-grade.''''
As he stared at the ''white petal flower'' inside his cauldron, Shun Longmented on how tough it was to refine this.
The older a medicinal herb was, the more difficult it would be to refine it into medicinal essence.
As for this 5000-year-old ''white petal flower'' that he had grown inside his herb garden, Shun Long knew that without the assistance of the earth me, it would be impossible for him to refine it fully by himself.
Even though his spiritual strength was almost at the level of a peak Dao King right now and he was qualified to be considered a peak rank 3 gold grade alchemist, Shun Long knew that even with his extremely pure qi, his qi mes wouldn''t be strong enough to fully refine a rank 6 medicinal herb without the assistance of an earth me.
It wasn''t just him.
Shun Long knew that even powerful Dao Kings, and even peak Dao Kings who had reached the peak rank 3 gold grade as alchemists, wouldn''t be able to fully refine rank 6 medicinal herbs by themselves either.
Although they could refine a small part of the herbs, Shun Long knew that those peak Dao Kings would usually cause 70 percent of the medicinal essence to be wasted.
Shun Long''s spiritual strength surged, causing the power of the earth meing from the Refinement Hall to reach the limits of what he could use, before the ''white petal flower'' was fully refined into essence, turning into a mix of colorful white and green medicinal essence that was mixed into the puddle of medicinal essence inside the bronze cauldron.
And yet, at that moment, Shun Long could feel his soul sense shudder as a wave of pain suddenly filled his head.
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
Shun Long''s golden eyes had turned red from the pain, but he still called out furiously as he activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'', causing the flow of time around him to forcefully stop.
Shun Long knew that this wave of pain was caused because he tried to refine the essence of 4 rank 6 medicinal herbs simultaneously. However, Shun Long knew that if he didn''t refine the essence of the ''white petal flower'' and the other 3 rank 6 herbs at the same time before he fused them together, the chances of creating even a single top-grade ''five-elements awakening pill'' would be almost 0.
This was because, a small part of the essence of each one of those 4 herbs would naturally be dispersed, unless Shun Long refined them all together at the same time.
At that moment, as he activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long didn''t hold back at all, causing the flow of time around Bai Longtian and the rest to be stopped as well.
Even Jiang Chen and Liu Mei who had reached the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul couldn''t muster an inch of resistance in front of Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', as the flow of time around their bodies was forcefully halted.
At this point, Shun Long had failed to notice this detail, as his attention was fully focused on the bronze cauldron in front of him.
The pain from forcefully refining 4 rank 6 medicinal herbs at the same time was still assaulting his senses, and yet Shun Long knew that he couldn''t lose his focus.
Refining a peak rank 6 pill, especially a pill like the ''five-elements awakening pill'' that even star-rank alchemists only had a 40 percent chance to sessfully concoct, was truly extremely difficult.
Extending his right hand, Shun Long grabbed the stalk of a five-colored grass that he had ced right next to him, and without any hesitation, he tossed it right inside the bronze cauldron.
Chapter 645: Refining the five-elements awakening pill (2)
Chapter 645: Refining the ''five-elements awakening pill'' (2)
Shun Long knew that the ''five-elements grass'' needed to be added inside the cauldron as soon as the ''white petal flower'' was mixed with the other 3 rank 6 medicinal herbs.
As he ced the stalk of the rank 6 ''five-elements grass'' inside the bronze cauldron Shun Long retracted his ''Monarch''s Domain'', before a sizzling sound resounded throughout the private room.
Shun Long''s soul sense burst out for the second time as it entered the small hole below the bronze cauldron, drawing as much power as he could from the orange earth me below the Refinement Hall.
The temperature inside the room instantly went up by another level.
This was the current limit of what Shun Long''s soul sense could handle.
And yet, even though the earth me''s temperature had reached an extremely terrifying level, Shun Long could see that the ''five-elements grass'' was being refined at an extremely slow rate, while beads of sweat were already rolling from his forehead.
He was already nearing his limits in this pill refinement!
At the same time, Jiang Chen and the others all turned to look at each other with eyes filled with disbelief, before they turned their shocked gazes towards Shun Long barely a momentter.
Normally, it would be almost impossible for them to notice that they had been affected by Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', but since the 4 of them had their eyes focused on Shun Long this entire time as he refined the essence of the medicinal herbs, how could they not notice that the stalk of the rank 6 ''five-element grass'' that was right next to him had actually disappeared?
They all understood that this could only have happened if Shun Long had used his ''Monarch''s Domain'' during the pill refinement.
''''Just how strong is brother Shun right now if he goes all-out?''''
The same question appeared on Jiang Chen''s, Bai Longtian''s, and even Xingyi''s minds, as they all stared at Shun Long with disbelieving looks in their eyes.
Although they all knew that Shun Long was actually the strongest one among their group, the 3 of them hadn''t expected that they would actually be affected by his ''Monarch''s Domain'' without even realizing it.
After all, this situation waspletely different from the time that Shun Long had fought with Jiang Chen back in his courtyard and had used his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
From the look on Shun Long''s face that was entirely focused on the bronze cauldron in front of him and the beads of sweat that were rolling down from his forehead, it was obvious that Shun Long had ced his full attention on the pill refinement.
Of course, Jiang Chen and the rest didn''t know, that as long as Shun Long activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'', it didn''t matter if Shun Long''s target was the bronze cauldron in front of him or a bird in the sky, unless he had specifically chosen to avoid someone, everyone would be affected by his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
But how could Shun Long who had already reached his limit during the pill refinement possibly split his attention to control his ''Monarch''s Domain''?
The only one who was unperturbed about this situation was Liu Mei, as she looked at Shun Long with her beautiful ck eyes, while a gentle smile was formed on her lips.
Unlike Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, this wasn''t the first time that Liu Mei had witnessed the power of Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain''.
She knew that this was why Shun Long had been hiding his Dao of Time ever since he had entered the Holy sect.
It was truly his strongest trump card.
Paired with his extremely pure qi, Shun Long was most likely invincible at the same level of cultivation.
Unless Jiang Chen and the others had activated their unique physique, even they wouldn''t possibly be able to resist Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain''.
With his attention fully focused on refining the stalk of ''five-elements grass'', Shun Longpletely ignored everything else around him, including his entire body that was drenched in sweat, and activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', hastening the refinement process of the ''five-elements grass'' even further.
Half an hourter, the spiritual strength inside his spiritual sea was almost fully depleted, but Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to it as he stared at the five-colored essence that had now appeared inside the bronze cauldron.
This was the essence of the ''five-elements grass''.
This wasn''t just a small part of its essence, but the whole essence contained within a 5000-year-old stalk of ''five-elements grass''.
Closing the lid of the cauldron, Shun Long used his soul sense to guide the medicinal essence inside the cauldron to swirl before allowing the pills to slowly take shape.
A little more than an hourter, the lid of the bronze cauldron finally started to buzz, before Jiang Chen and the others could smell a weak fragrant scent that had started to waft from the cauldron as it slowly filled the room.
At the same time, Shun Long''s furrowed eyebrows finally rxed before his body, drenched in sweat, copsed on the floor behind him as Shun Long closed his eyes.
He could feel that he was utterly exhausted, while a head-throbbing headache had made his face go pale.
This time, Shun Long knew that he had truly spent himself.
Refining the ''five-elements awakening pill'' was much harder than he had originally expected.
''''No wonder even star-rank alchemists only have a 40 percent chance of sess when refining this pill. This pill truly depletes your spiritual strength. As for normal peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemists, it should be impossible for them to refine a stalk of a 5000-year-old ''five-elements grass'' unless they have actually fused with an earth me!''''
Shun Long knew that even his own spiritual strength was only at the level of a peak rank 3 gold grade alchemist.
If it wasn''t for his Dao of Time, Shun Long knew that he would have most likely failed during the pill refinement as well. Even now, his spiritual strength was almostpletely depleted.
Of course, if any ordinary Dao King heard that ate-stage Nascent Soul cultivator''s spiritual strength was actuallyparable to that of a peak Dao King''s, they would most likely spit at that person in disdain.
After spending an hour, sitting cross-legged on the ground to recover a small part of his spiritual strength, Shun Long could finally feel the pain in his head slowly easing, before he finally opened his eyes and turned his attention towards the bronze cauldron in front of him.
Chapter 646
Chapter 646
However, before Shun Long could open the lid of the cauldron, Liu Mei''s worried voice sounded by his side a momentter, as Liu Mei asked
''''Long-ge, are you alright?''''
Even Xingyi and the others were concerned when they saw the pale look on Shun Long''s face as he copsed on the floor.
They could tell that this sort of pill refinement was extremely taxing to Shun Long.
At the same time, waves of gratitude filled everyone''s hearts.
After all, Jiang Chen and the others knew that Shun Long was only doing this for them.
Neither he nor Liu Mei had a unique physique.
Nodding his head, Shun Long extended his hand and pulled Liu Mei into a hug before he said
''''Mei''er, don''t worry. I simply depleted my spiritual strength this time. This ''five-elements awakening pill'' was truly hard to concoct. No wonder there aren''t any ''five-elements awakening pill'' for sale in the Holy sect or anywhere inside the Holy city. Most likely, even the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall won''t have more than 2 of them.''''
As he said this, Shun Long turned his attention to the bronze cauldron in front of him with a curious look in his eyes.
Waving his hand, he then removed the heavy lid of the cauldron, causing it to slowly float upwards, before the same fragrant scent from before immediately erupted from the cauldron as it filled the entire room.
Liu Mei and the rest had all turned their eyes towards the cauldron as well.
Inside the cauldron, 4 colorful pills were lying next to each other, but the moment that Shun Long saw the 4 pills, the look in his eyes changed.
''''Only a single top-grade pill.''''
Shun Long sighed as he looked at the only pill that was emitting a five-colored light.
This was the only top-grade rank 6 ''five-elements awakening pill'' inside the bronze cauldron.
As for the other 3 pills, 2 of them were emitting a 4-colored light, making them high-grade rank 6 pills, while thest one was emitting a 3-colored light, making it obvious that it was just a middle-grade pill instead.
Hearing Shun Long''s sigh, Liu Mei simply smiled, while Bai Longtian and the rest pursed their lips.
Even 1-star alchemists would struggle to refine middle-grade ''five-element awakening pills'', while Shun Long wasining about getting only a single top-grade pill.
Of course, Shun Long understood that the difference in price between a single high-grade and a top-grade ''five-elements awakening pill'' was measured in the millions of middle-grade spirit stones.
Perhaps it could even exceed ten million middle-grade spirit stones.
Realizing that only one of them could take the top-grade pill while the others would have to take the high-grade pills instead, Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''''Brother, I don''t need the top-grade pill. You can give it to junior sister Xie or to that buddhist idiot. Perhaps his strength would finally reach mine by then as well.''''
Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian were both stunned when they heard Jiang Chen''s words, as they looked at him with eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.
Shun Long had already told them that every single person could only consume a single ''five-elements awakening pill'' in their lives, but Jiang Chen was willing to give up the top-grade pill for them.
It was clear that the difference between a high-grade and a top-grade pill wouldn''t be a small one.
Bai Longtian didn''t even care about being called a buddhist idiot, as he shook his head firmly and was ready to reject, while Xingyi also did the same without any hesitation.
However, before Xingyi or Bai Longtian could reject Jiang Chen''s offer, Shun Long was the first one to shake his head, as he took out 4 small pill bottles and stored the pills inside them, before he said seriously
''''I will refine another batch of pills first. If there aren''t 2 top-grade pills inside it, I will simply refine another one.''''
Closing his eyes Shun Long started to meditate right away, replenishing his spent spiritual strength, leaving behind Jiang Chen and the rest who stared at him with baffled looks on their faces.
He was going to refine another one?
Putting the rest of the medicinal herbs aside, Jiang Chen and the rest were certain that Shun Long only had a single stalk of ''five-elements grass'', which was the one he had taken from Wan Zu.
Without speaking, Bai Longtian and the others stared at Shun Long silently, waiting for him to replenish his spiritual strength.
Of course, there was no way that Shun Long was going to allow Xingyi and the rest to consume a middle-grade or a high-grade ''five-elements awakening pill''. After all, he clearly understood the difference between a high-grade and a top-grade pill.
After all, a person could only consume a single ''five-elements awakening pill'' in their lives, while the difference between a high-grade and a top-grade pill was simply iparable.
5 hourster, Shun Long had brought his spiritual strength back to its peak state, before he took out another batch of medicinal herbs from his herb garden, and spread them around him for the second time.
Thankfully, this time Shun Long was lucky, as the second furnace had 2 top-grade pills, 1 high-grade pill, and a single middle-grade ''five elements awakening pill''.
This time, neither Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, or Xingyi refused, as they all epted the top-grade pills, before their group left the Refinement Hall as everyone returned back to their own courtyard in the outer court.
After all, Xingyi and the rest had less than a month left to absorb the ''five-elements awakening pill'' so they couldn''t waste any time.
In the blink of an eye, a month soon passed, as the day of the Martial Roll of Honor tournament finally arrived.
Sitting cross-legged on his usual spot inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long finally opened his eyes and turned to look at the golden-colored token on the ground next to him, before his lips slowly curved up as he mumbled to himself with a smile on his face
''''Let''s see how strong I have be in thesest 6 months.''''
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Author''s note: These are the first 5 chapters of the mass release forst month. The rest will alle in the next few days as well, so look forward to it.
Chapter 647: Gathering in the arena
Chapter 647: Gathering in the arena
After taking a look at the white-colored words that had appeared on his sect identifying token, Shun Long closed his eyes with that same smile on his face as he imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Liu Mei who was sitting on the bed with her eyes closed seemed to have senses something as she suddenly opened them in the next moment, before a brilliant smile appeared on her face as she called out joyously
''''Long-ge!''''
Shun Long smiled as he walked towards Liu Mei and pulled her into a hug, before he asked her in a gentle tone
''''Mei''er, how are you feeling?''''
In thest month, Shun Long would often leave the foggy space of the ''Stone of Time'' and return back to his room to y the guqin for Liu Mei.
However, unlike the first time that he had done so, when he had yed the ''Silverbark guqin'' without holding back and had caused the sound of his music to escape past the protective formations of his courtyard and spread to the streets and the nearby courtyards, this time Shun Long made sure to control the music, allowing it to stay within the confines of his own courtyard instead.
The main reason why Shun Long had done this in the past month wasn''t to practice his skills with the guqin, but to help Liu Mei get rid of most of the negative effects of her ''Blood Absorption art''.
Shun Long clearly knew that the ''Blood Absorption art'' could affect Liu Mei''s soul if she ignored it, while its side effects had only grown more powerful in thest 5 months that Liu Mei had been increasing her cultivation.
Thus, Shun Long had told Liu Mei to spend this past month increasing her spiritual strength while Shun Long would also y the guqin for her every few days.
Liu Mei had naturally agreed to it without any hesitation.
Even if she didn''t have the need to increase her soul sense, since Shun Long had asked her to do this, she wasn''t going to refuse.
At the same time, Liu Mei knew clearly, that if she wanted to keep breaking through even further in the Nascent Soul stage in the future, the power of her spiritual strength couldn''t be much lower than her qi cultivation.
This was something that every Nascent Soul stage cultivator had to do, including Shun Long.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long and smiled brightly before she said
''''Long-ge, don''t worry. I don''t feel any difort.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and patted Liu Mei''s head gently, before Little ck''s calm voice sounded in his mind a momentter
''''Master, there is no need to worry.? After listening to master''s music, even thest remnants of the effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' inside that little girl will have beenpletely expelled. Until she attempts to breakthrough and be a Dao King, master doesn''t need to worry.''''
Shun Long nodded his head seriously as he pondered over Little ck''s words.
After all, he clearly understood what Little ck meant.
Although Liu Mei didn''t have a problem right now, when she attempts to breakthrough to the Dao King realm in the future, things may not necessarily be the same.
''''I will just deal with it when the timees. As long as I keep Mei''er by my side, it will be alright.'''' Shun Long said in his heart as he looked at the bewitchingly beautiful young woman in his arms who was staring back at him with an infatuated look in her ck eyes.
As he and Liu Mei left the room, Shun Long saw Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, who were all sitting cross-legged in the courtyard outside with their eyes closed.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up when he saw the dense darkness that was being emitted from Jiang Chen''s body, the golden lighting from Bai Longtian, as well as Xingyi''s body that was almostpletely covered in shadows.
At the same time, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all opened their eyes as they looked at Shun Long with excited smiles on their faces.
After all, today was the day of the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
''''There are actually so many people and everyone seems to be heading towards the arena as well.''''
As Shun Long''s group of 5 left the courtyard, they all saw thousands of outer disciples that had filled the streets, as they rushed towards the location of the arena, making Bai Longtian look at them and exim out in surprise.
This was the first time that Bai Longtian and the rest were seeing the streets of the Holy sect look so crowded.
''''What did you expect? Unless they are idiots, none of them wants to miss the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.''''
Jiang Chen nced at Bai Longtian sideways before he said seriously, while the look in his eyes couldn''t conceal his burning fighting intent.
Naturally, Jiang Chen was filled with excitement for this Martial Roll of Honor tournament as well.
This was where the strongest outer court disciples of the Holy sect fought each other.
Which expert didn''t want to spar with others and be stronger?
Walking through the crowded streets of the Holy sect, it took more than an hour for Shun Long and the rest to arrive in front of the arena that seemed to have an enormous queue in front of it.
By the time that Shun Long and the rest managed to find some seats, it was already noon.
Finally, as the seats in the arena seemed to have been almostpletely filled, a white-robed old man with clear wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead seemed to have appeared out of nowhere in the sky above the arena.
The moment that the outer disciples in the arena saw this old man, the buzzing arena immediately fell silent.
-
Author''s note: Just 1 chapter today, but we are getting another mass release tomorrow, so look forward to it.
Chapter 648: Elder Sun Wen
Chapter 648: Elder Sun Wen
Next to the white-robed old man who had suddenly appeared in the sky above the arena, another white-robed old man, as well as a beautiful woman with gentle facial features had both appeared by his sides barely a momentter, causing a single thought to appear in the minds of the disciples in the audience seats
''''Dao Emperors! Those 3 Elders are all Dao Emperors!''''
At the same time, although Shun Long and the others didn''t recognize the old man at the center of those 3, with just a nce, Shun Long had immediately recognized the bald old man with an unkempt appearance who was standing by his side, as well as the beautiful middle-aged woman with those limpid ck eyes.
This bald old man with a long white beard was the same person who had been responsible for Shun Long''s fourth test when they entered the Holy sect more than 10 months ago, the white-robed Dao Emperor, Elder Cao Ling.
Just like thest time that Shun Long had seen him, Cao Ling''s appearance hadn''t changed in the slightest, not caring about his looks in the least, but Shun Long had a very deep image of this old man.
''''Long-ge, what is master doing here? Could it be that she is responsible for this Martial Roll of Honor tournament?'''' Liu Mei looked at the beautiful middle-aged woman in the sky in surprise, before she turned her attention towards Shun Long and asked in a curious voice.
The beautiful woman in white robes in the sky was really Liu Mei''s master, Elder Xuan.
Hearing Liu Mei''s question, Shun Long shook his head in confusion.
He hadn''t expected for 3 inner court Elders to be present during this Martial Roll of Honor tournament either.
Although to Shun Long and the rest the Martial Roll of Honor tournament was considered important, in the eyes of these Elders, most likely, it shouldn''t be worth them personally making a trip to oversee it unless there was another reason behind it.
The 3 Elders in the sky looked at the nearly 200.000 outer court disciples gathered that had filled the arena, before the old man at the center of the 3 nodded his head, as his calm voice entered the ears of every single outer court disciple in the crowd a momentter
''''Most of you probably don''t know me so let me introduce myself. My name is Sun Wen and I will be overseeing the Martial Roll of Honor tournament today.''''
Hushed discussions instantly filled the arena within the next moment, as everyone stared at the white-robed old man in the sky.
''''This is Elder Sun Wen, the head of the inner court Elders?''''
''''Ah! I have only heard of Elder Sun Wen''s name but this is the first time that I am seeing him too. I have heard that he is the strongest of all the inner court Elders. Only our sect master and the Grand Elder are said to be stronger than Elder Sun!''''
The number of outer court disciples who had personally seen Elder Sun Wen was very small, but almost everyone knew of this head Elder who usually managed most of the affairs of the sect, causing the eyes of the disciples of the crowd to light up with admiration and fervor.
Since the Grand Elder was in seclusion and the sect master was rarely within the sect, Elder Sun Wen was the Elder who usually managed most of the affairs.
Even Shun Long who hadn''t heard almost anything about Elder Sun Wen had now learned from the discussions of the people around him, that this old man was actually the strongest of the inner court Elders in the Holy sect.
The white-robed Elder Xuan Jiao then waved her hand and the entire arena quickly fell silent for the second time.
Elder Sun Wen nodded his head, before he took out a pitch-ck token from his spatial ring and held it in his right hand before his gaze fell on the arena below him.
As soon as the pitch-ck-colored token appeared, Elder Sun infused his qi inside it before mysterious runes and patterns appeared on its surface.
At the same time that those runes appeared on the ck token, simr runes seemed to have also covered the surface of the arena as well, before the entire arena started to violently tremble barely a momentter.
Shun Long''s eyes widened in shock as he stared at the 8 huge tforms that were slowly emerging from the depths of the arena.
Even the trees in the forest region inside the arena seemed to have been pushed aside, as the huge tforms, each of whom was more than 100 meters wide appeared in the eyes of every single outer disciple.
Most outer disciples seemed to have already expected this scene and weren''t too surprised by it, but there were still plenty of people like Shun Long''s group who were stunned upon seeing this scene for the first time.
Elder Sun Wen smiled as he looked at the crowd and said calmly
''''These 8 arenas will be used for your fights today. Your sect identifying token will guide you to the arena that you need to enter before every fight.
The rules of the Martial Roll of Honor rankings are fairly simple. To win a fight, all you have to do is make your opponent to admit defeat or render them unable to keep fighting. The outer court Elders will also be observing your fights so they will be able to judge the fight as well. As long as you win a single fight, your ranking will be disyed on your sect identifying token.
However, remember that you are not allowed to intentionally kill or cripple another disciple. If any of you break the rules, you will be lucky if you are simply expelled from the sect. At worst, you may even lose your life.''''
Elder Sun''s voice had turned extremely serious as he said thest sentence, making some disciples in the crowd shiver while most of them simply nodded their heads.
Chapter 649: The rewards for the top 1000
Chapter 649: The rewards for the top 1000
''''Tsk! Although this Holy sect is still good for master right now, it will never truly reach the peak. Since it forbids its disciples from fighting against each other to the death, it will only restrict their growth. Only when one has a sense of danger during their battle and truly fights his opponent with everything he has, will that person have a chance to reach the peak. This Holy sect''s chances of producing a true genius are simply too low.''''
Little ck spoke with a disdainful tone as he stared at the white-robed Sun Wen from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
It was clear that in Little ck''s eyes, the Holy sect''s fights were nothing more than child''s y.
If it wasn''t because it gave Shun Long the ability to fight against its strongest geniuses, Little ck would have truly found no other use for the Holy sect.
Shun Long had a calm look on his face as he also understood that the Holy sect didn''t really allow its disciples to kill each other which was why Little ck was saying this.
Even when there was a deathmatch in the arena, the Elders would usually try to persuade those disciples against it, and only when there were unsolvable grudges between the 2 parties would the Elders of the Holy sect really permit those fights.
However, in the Immortal Dimension, ording to Little ck''s words, fights and killing each other were everyday urrences, but in the Holy sect, because the Elders wanted the disciples to be out of danger they wouldn''t allow them to kill each other.
But in Little ck''s eyes, this was nothing more than the way the weak lived.
The Holy sect wouldn''t possibly produce an expert behind closed doors.
As he looked at the disciples in the audience seats, the white-robed Sun Wen nodded his head before he then continued
''''Of course, you should still do your best and try to reach the top 1000. Those of you who manage to enter the top 1000 rankings and have your name appear in the Martial Roll of Honor will also be rewarded from the sect as well. Additionally, this year''s Martial Roll of Honor is somewhat specialpared to the previous years.''''
Elder Sun Wen had a mysterious smile on his face as he said this, while the eyes of most of the disciples in the audience seats lit up in excitement.
Many others were like Shun Long as well and they had also guessed that the appearance of Elder Sun Wen, Elder Xuan, and Elder Cao Ling, most likely had a special meaning today.
One young woman from the crowd couldn''t help but look at Elder Sun in excitement as she then asked in a voice that was filled with curiosity
''''Elder Sun, may I ask what are the rewards for those who reach the top 1000?''''
Although the young woman''s voice wasn''t loud, in the silent arena, it was heard loud and clear, making everyone around her hear it and turn their attention to her, including the white-robed Sun Wen.
Everyone looked at this young woman in the crowd whose cultivation was still at the middle of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul, before they all turned their eyes towards the white-robed Elder Sun in the sky.
Elder Sun nodded his head before he answered with a smile on his face
''''The rewards for the top 1000 will indeed be slightly differentpared to the previous years. Especially the rewards for the top 500!''''
With that same smile on his face, Elder Sun then continued
''''Those who manage to enter the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor will not only obtain aplete Saint low-grade cultivation technique or martial skill from the sect, but they will also be allowed to enter the second floor inside the Golden Treasures Hall! I am sure that most of you understand the difference in the quality of the items inside the first and the second floor in the Golden Treasures Hall so I don''t need to exin this!? At the same time, those who enter the top 1000 rankings will not have to pay a fee every time they enter the Dao Tower in the Holy city either!''''
Elder Sun''s words were like a bolt of lightning that struck the minds of every single outer disciple.
Indeed, the rewards this time were so much better than those from the previous years that many disciples couldn''t even believe this.
Those who entered the top 1000 in the previous years during the Martial Roll of Honor tournament would only be allowed to obtain aplete Saint low-grade cultivation technique or martial skill.
However, normally, only those disciples who had entered the top 100 in the Martial Roll of Honor, or inner court as well as the core disciples would be allowed to enter the second floor inside the Golden Treasures Hall.
Even the personal disciples of the inner court Elders weren''t allowed to enter the second floor until they reached the top 100 rankings or they became inner court disciples.
Even Shun Long was stunned by this, causing his eyes to light up.
He clearly remembered that when Wan Zu had given him that single stalk of ''five-elements grass'', he had most likely taken it from the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall.
Shun Long believed that even if there were no rank 7 medicinal herbs on the second floor of the? Golden Treasures Hall, even the rarest of rank 6 medicinal herbs would most likely be present there.
Of course, Shun Long also understood that their price would also be extremely expensive, but he didn''t mind that in the slightest.
After all, he wasn''t afraid of spending sect points or spirit stones.
What he was afraid of was not being able to buy the treasures that he wanted to buy.
Elder Sun seemed satisfied when he saw the reaction of those disciples in the crowd, while his lips curved up even further as he continued, his next words shocking not just the normal disciples among the crowd, but even those in the top 500 and those monsters who had reached the top 100 rankings, causing them all to stare at the white-robed Elder with disbelieving eyes.
''''However, those who manage to reach the top 500 rankings won''t just get those rewards. In addition to that... they will also obtain 1000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
Chapter 650
Chapter 650
''''1000 high-grade spirit stones!'''' The disciples in the crowd sucked breaths of cold air when they heard this, as they looked at the white-robed Elder Sun with unconcealed shock in their eyes.
After all, high-grade spirit stones were simply too rare. Usually, only the top experts would possess high-grade spirit stones and would use them they cultivated, like those inner court Elders of the Holy sect.
As for those outer court disciples and the inner court disciples, most of them would only use middle-grade spirit stones while only those who came from extremely powerful backgrounds would have some high-grade spirit stones in their possession.
Although 1000 high-grade spirit stones were only equal to 1 million middle-grade spirit stones, no one would possibly exchange 1000 high-grade spirit stones for 1 million middle-grade ones.
For the Holy sect to promise to give 1000 high-grade spirit stones to every single disciple who would reach the top 500, it meant that they would have to give out at least 500.000 high-grade spirit stones.
This equaled 500 million middle-grade spirit stones!
Even Shun Long was stunned when he calcted this enormous figure.
''''Most likely, evente-stage Dao Emperors would feel extremely strained taking out 500.000 high-grade spirit stones. Only Sovereign realm experts like the sect master would be able to take out such a sum easily.''''
While he came to this conclusion, Shun Long''s attention was still focused on the white-robed Elder Sun in the sky whose gaze scanned the disciples below him before he added in a momentter
''''As for those who reach the top 100, they will all obtain 2000 high-grade spirit stones instead.
As for those who reach the top 5... each of them will obtain a star-rank weapon as well!''''
As soon as Elder Sun finished speaking, the arena instantly exploded in shock and excitement!
''''Did I just mishear? Did Elder Sun really say that everyone in the top 5 will obtain a star-rank weapon?''''
''''Has the Holy sect gone crazy? How is this possible? Last time, the reward for the top 5 was only 1000 high-grade spirit stones! How can they give 5 star-rank weapons like that?''''
At the same time, the eyes of countless disciples, especially those who were in the top 100 rankings, all lit up with a bright light when they heard the words ''star-rank weapons''.
The number of disciples in the outer court who possessed star-rank weapons barely exceeded the number of fingers a person had in both hands.
Among 200.000 outer court disciples in the outer court, most likely less than 20 of them possessed star-rank weapons!
Since most of those disciples in the top 100 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor came from extremely powerful backgrounds, one could understand how rare star-rank weapons truly were.
Although those in the top 5 were rumored to already have star-rank weapons in their possession, they wouldn''t mind obtaining more and selling them back to their respective ns.
Perhaps the weapon they obtained from the Holy sect would even be better than their current weapons, and if it waspatible with them, they could use it instead.
''''This is probably fate. We haven''t even reached the peak of the Nascent Soul, let alone the Dao King just yet. It''s impossible for us topete against those at the top 100 rankings right now, let alone the top 5.''''
Bai Longtian spoke in a low voice as he stared at the white-robed Elder Sun Wen, while Jiang Chen and the rest nodded their heads.
Even Shun Long couldn''t help but agree in his heart that it was impossible for any of them to challenge those at the top 100 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor right now.
In the past 5 months, Shun Long and the rest had all heard that those in the top 300 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor were said to have all reached the Dao King realm! Additionally, none of them were weak on their own, otherwise, how could they reach the top of the rankings in the Holy sect?
Although Shun Long didn''t care too much about the star-rank weapons of the Holy sect since his ck sword and Liu Mei''s translucent armor were already peak rank 1-star weapons, he still wanted to obtain one for Bai Longtian and Xingyi if he could.
However, he knew that reaching the top 5 rankings this time was most likely going to be impossible.
''''Long-ge, what I am more curious about is the reason why the Holy sect is doing this. It''s not just master, but even this Elder Sun and Elder Cao Ling who are present today, and the rewards are also enough to even attract peak Dao Kings, let alone outer court disciples like us. Something big is probably going on.''''
Hearing Liu Mei''s voice, Shun Long nodded his head in agreement, while Xingyi''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s eyes had also turned serious .
There was no way that the Holy sect had increased their rewards to this level for no reason.
After all, even many peak Dao Kings didn''t have star-rank weapons, including the outer court Elders of the Holy sect.
For the Holy sect to give 5 star-rank weapons to those who reach the top 5, there was definitely a reason behind it.
Seeing that the 8 tforms in the arena had been fully raised, the previously silent white-robed Elder Cao Ling finally took a step forward and waved his sleeve, causing a gust of wind to fly out as it covered the entire arena.
As it sweeped through the bodies of the disciples sitting in the audience seats, those disciples noticed in their horror that they were unable to make sounds any longer.
It was almost as if they had suddenly lost their ability to speak. Although they opened their mouths, not a single sound woulde out!
Cao Ling ignored the horrified gazes of those outer court disciples, as he said in a calm voice
''''The Martial Roll of Honor tournament... will begin now!''''
As Cao Ling''s words rang out, 8 white-robed figures flew inside the arena at the same time, before theynded in front of every single one of the 8 tforms.
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Author''s note: These are the first 3 chapters for today. 2 more chapters wille in the next few hours. <3
Chapter 651: Liu Meis fight
Chapter 651: Liu Mei''s fight
Of course, those 8 white-robed figures naturally belonged to the outer court Elders who would be responsible for the 8 tforms.
At the same time that the white-robed outer court Elders appeared in front of the 8 tforms, 16 sect identifying tokens among the disciples in the crowd seemed to have lit up as well, and surprisingly, one of those tokens was actually Liu Mei''s token.
''''Mei''er, good luck!'''' Shun Long looked at Liu Mei and smiled before he spoke in a gentle voice.
Liu Mei shed Shun Long a bright smile in response before she flew towards one of the 8 tforms inside the arena.
''''Aren''t those people too weak? Even the strongest of them is only at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul...''''
Jiang Chen who had been observing the other 15 outer court disciples that had flown into the arena before Liu Mei, eximed out in surprise when he sensed those disciples'' auras.
Even the strongest of them was just at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul while the other 14 were either at the early rank 5 or the middle of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul respectively.
Although this level of cultivation would be considered above average in the outside world, inside the Holy sect it was truly considered extremely weak.
Xingyi and Bai Longtian both nodded their heads with some confusion in their eyes, while even Shun Long had a puzzled look on his face when noticed this.
Normally speaking, although Liu Mei''s cultivation was considered above average within the outer court, most of the outer court disciples should still be at the rank 6 or the early rank 7 in the Nascent Soul.
To see so many of them who were only at the early rank 5 or the middle of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul fight in the arena at the same time was weird.
At that moment, a bald young man at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul who was standing close to Jiang Chen, seemed to have overheard what Jiang Chen had said now, and turned to look at him with a weird look on his face before he said
''''Too weak? It''s your friend who is too strong! Don''t you know that the fights in the Martial Roll of Honor start from the weakest outer disciples to the strongest? Howe your friend is ranked at the bottom when she has entered thete stages of the Nascent Soul already? Did she go there to bully the others?''''
Shun Long, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all turned to look at this young man who was sitting next to Jiang Chen with looks of realization on their faces, as they suddenly understood what was going on.
Indeed, if someone had never fought in the Martial Roll of Honor before, it was only natural that their ranking would be at the very bottom during their first fight.
Shun Long''s group had entered the Holy sect just 10 months ago, but they had spent most of their time either cultivating in peace, taking on a few missions, participating in faction wars, or asionally visiting the Holy city and even participating in the battles inside the Dao Tower to increase their Daoprehension.
Neither Shun Long nor anyone else from his faction had bothered with the Martial Roll of Honor.
Since the Martial Roll of Honor tournament was taking ce soon, they would be able to fight against the strongest disciples in the Holy sect by then anyway, so until then, all they had to do was increase their strength as much as they could.
After all, everyone from Shun Long''s faction knew, that their biggest weakness within the sect was their low cultivation level.
Bai Longtian and the rest all believed, that as long as they could breakthrough to the peak of the Nascent Soul, or even the Dao King realm, they could fight against the strongest geniuses of the Holy sect as well.
At the same time that the bald young man''s voice sounded in Shun Long''s and the others'' ears, the crowd seemed to have exploded in discussions at the same time, as everyone was now looking at the yellow-robed Liu Mei who had justnded on one of the tforms.
''''Who is this girl? She has actually reached the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul but she is participating in the beginning fights? What is going on?''''
''''Hey, isn''t this Liu Mei?''''
''''It''s the death goddess from Shun Long''s faction, Liu Mei! No wonder she is ranked so low! This is probably her first Martial Roll of Honor tournament. I heard that those monsters from Shun Long''s faction only entered the sect 10 months ago after all!''''
Although most of them didn''t know Liu Mei, there were still plenty of outer disciples who recognized her as soon as they saw her peerlessly beautiful face appear on the tform.
Putting Liu Mei''s beauty aside, just from the faction war that Shun Long''s faction had against Peng Chao''s faction, less than a month ago, there had been plenty of outer court disciples present that day, and many of them recognized her with just a nce.
After all, the person who had created the most visual impact on those outer court disciples wasn''t Jiang Chen with his astonishing strength or Xingyi with her Vanishing Shadows unique physique, but this terrifying death goddess that could summon undead creatures and could even control the corpses of her enemies.
At the same time, the outer court Elder in front of Liu Mei''s tform was also somewhat surprised when he sensed Liu Mei''s cultivation, while the face of the young man in front of her instantly paled,
He was only a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivator but he had to fight against a peak rank 7 Nascent Soul opponent? How was this fair?
Unfortunately, there was no one to help him today, as the outer court Elder only inspected his and Liu Mei''s token for a moment before he dered in a cold voice
''''Begin!''''
A single, jade-white skeleton who was holding a bony sword appeared in the arena in the next moment, its eyes staring at the yellow-robed young man in front of it with hints of bloodlust inside them.
The skeleton''s light green embers in his eye sockets flickered once, before the dwarf-like undead creature ran straight towards the yellow-robed young man in front of it.
And yet, although the skeleton''s stature was short, its aura at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul was terrifying to the yellow-robed young man in front of it.
The fight onlysted for a single moment, before the young man in front of Liu Mei copsed on the ground and consciousness.
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Author''s note: 4/5
Chapter 652: Stepping on the stage
Chapter 652: Stepping on the stage
The outer court Elder sighed as he looked at the result of the fight that was exactly as he had expected, before he returned Liu Mei''s token back to her, as Liu Mei then flew back towards Shun Long under the stunned gazes of the crowd.
Standing in the sky above the arena, Elder Xuan had a bright smile on her face as she watched Liu Mei''s figure that was flying towards Shun Long''s direction excitedly.
At the same time, the white-robed Sun Wen seemed to have recognized Liu Mei as well, as he turned to look at Elder Xuan and asked curiously
''''Elder Xuan, I heard that you took a new personal disciple. Is it that little girl?''''
Elder Sun already knew that Elder Xuan''s master was a peak Dao Emperor who had alsoprehended the Dao of Death in the past, so it was only natural for Elder Xuan to want to take Liu Mei as her disciple.
The white-robed Cao Ling also turned his head to look at Elder Xuan, who nodded her head smilingly as she answered
''''Of course! Since little Mei hasprehended the same Dao as my master, who else in the Holy sect is more qualified to guide her than me?''''
The white-robed Cao Ling chuckled when he heard this while Sun Wen nodded his head calmly.
They all knew how deeply Elder Xuan loved her master who had treated her like her own daughter in the past, which was why no other inner court Elder had dared to fight with her for Liu Mei.
Of course, another part was due to Liu Mei''s terrifying fate.
Naturally, the inner court Elders would remember every single disciple with an immortal fate, while Liu Mei didn''t just have an immortal fate, but she had even cracked the ball of fate in the end.
It was only natural that Sun Wen would have a deep impression of her.
Even Cao Ling who was overseeing the fourth test of the Holy sect remembered Liu Mei due to the uniqueness of her Dao of Death.
Returning back to her seat, Liu Mei then continued to observe the rest of the fights.
She knew that this was only the beginning of the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
Fortunately, Jiang Chen and the rest didn''t have to wait too long for their own turn toe.
Just like Liu Mei, they had only joined the sect 10 months ago as well, making their ranking be at the very bottom among the outer court disciples.
None of their fights were any different from Liu Mei''s, as their opponents were only rank 5 Nascent Soul outer court disciples.
Brandishing his white sword that he hadn''t used for a long time since he had entered the Holy sect, Bai Longtian defeated his opponent with a single move, while Jiang Chen only needed an ordinary punch to send his opponent flying.
Both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian used their body cultivation during their fights, which had already reached the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement in thesest 5 months.
This was extremely shocking considering that Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had both broken through to the early fifth stage barely a year before they entered the Holy sect''s test, but no one from the spectating outer disciples knew about this.
The truth was that very few people knew about Bai Longtian''s progress since he almost never fought within the sect and kept his abilities hidden, while Jiang Chen didn''t have the opportunity to fight using the strength of his body for a good while.
After all, the strength of his qi cultivation was much higher than his body''s strength, and in fights against experts like Peng Chao who had reached the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul, using his body cultivation that was only at the middle of the fifth stage was actually useless.
Of course, the reason why Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian could both breakthrough in their body refinement cultivation so quickly after their previous breakthrough, was because they had both consumed more than 30 top-grade ''dragonblood tempering pills''!
In the past 5 months, Shun Long had obtained the cores of plenty of rank 5 magic beasts, allowing him to refine enough top-grade rank 5 ''dragonblood tempering pills'' for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian.
As for Xingyi who fought right after Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, she didn''t even have to activate her unique physique during her fight, as she defeated her opponent with a single chop on the neck after she appeared behind her.
Shun Long didn''t have to wait too long for his turn either, and half an hourter, as his sect identifying token lit up, he flew towards one of the tforms in the arena.
His opponent was a young man at the peak rank 5 of the Nascent Soul who cursed his bad luck the moment that Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' and revealed his aura at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul!
In thisst month that Shun Long had spent in seclusion, although he had only broken through from to the middle of rank 7 from the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, Shun Long''s biggest gains weren''t actually in the increase of his cultivation, but the enormous increase in the strength of his soul.
Shun Long could finally feel that the quality of his soul had reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul as well, making him feel much more confident during the fights.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t going to simply ignore the strength of the soul, since he was aware that there were some powerful outer court disciples who were actually specializing in soul-attacking techniques as well.
Although his spiritual sea was enormous and could be used to attack and defend as well, if the quality of his soul was low, Shun Long knew that he could really end up being in trouble against a peak Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
If Shun Long''s soul was only at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul in terms of its strength, then if he met a powerful opponent who specialized in soul attacks, he may not even have enough time to reach before he got caught off-guard and lost
At the same time, it was one thing to simply lose in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament, but Shun Long knew that outside of the Holy sect, there were plenty of experts who trained in the power of their soul, and Shun Long wouldn''t possibly risk his life.
He was lucky that he hadn''t met any such powerful expert just yet.
Of course, even if Shun Long didn''t want to, he would still have to train his soul to a the peak of the Nascent Soul stage or he wouldn''t be able to breakthrough ever again in the future.
After all, the main point of the Nascent Soul stage was to train one''s soul and increase their soul sense, not just increase one''s cultivation base alone.
This was the real difficulty of the Nascent Soul stage.
Only when one''s soul reached the peak would one be qualified to try and breakthrough to be a Dao King in the future.
As soon as the white-robed Elder in front of the tform said the word begin, Shun Long blinked as his body vanished, appearing right in front of the young man who was standing in front of him. The young man didn''t seem to have a chance to react, before Shun Long''s punch sent him flying.
Of course, how could a peak rank 5 Nascent Soul cultivator resist Shun Long''s punch?
After all, in thest 5 months, after consuming more than 100 top-grade ''dragonblood tempering pills'', Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had reached the middle of the fifth stage already!
After his breakthrough, Shun Long was confident that even most peak rank 5 magic beasts and peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn''t be his match if they dared to fight him head-on!
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Author''s note: 5/5
We are still getting more mass releases in the iing days so look forward to it.?Additionally if we get to top 10 in the Golden Ticket rankings we are getting more mass releases in the next month as well.
Chapter 653: Xingyis opponent
Chapter 653: Xingyi''s opponent
Retrieving his sect identifying token from the outer court Elder in front of the tform, Shun Long had a calm look on his face as he turned around and flew back to his seat.
''''That kid! Isn''t he the one who shattered the ball of fate those months ago?''''
At that moment, the white-robed Elder''s, Sun Wen''s eyes shed with a surprised light, as his gazended on Shun Long''s body that was flying towards his seat in the audience seats.
Sun Wen seemed to have recognized Shun Long with just a nce which had caused a look of surprise to appear on his face the moment he noticed him.
In his heart, Sun Wen was indeed somewhat curious about the power of this person who had destroyed the ball of fate.
''''Eh? It''s him?'''' Elder Cao Ling seemed to have also spotted Shun Long''s figure, as he immediately recognized him as well.
After all, Cao Ling had intentionally made things difficult for Shun Long and Jiang Chen during the fourth test of the Holy sect back then, since he had been certain that those 2 were hiding some secrets that had attracted Cao Ling''s attention.
And indeed, both Shun Long and Jiang Chen ended up possessing immortal-grade bloodlines! This had even exceeded Cao Ling''s own expectations, making him pay even more attention to them.
How could Cao Ling forget about them, when the number of disciples that possessed an immortal-grade bloodline within the outer court of the Holy sect didn''t even number more than 10?
Elder Xuan had actually noticed Shun Long''s figure in the arena long ago, but she simply smiled without saying anything.
After he returned back to his seat, Shun Long stared at the next few fights without too much interest in his eyes.
What he was eagerly anticipating was the fights in the top 2000 and above.
Additionally, Shun Long was also extremely curious to the reason why the Holy sect had increased the rewards so much this time.
And yet, in the second round of fights, as Xingyi stepped on the fighting tform for the second time, Shun Long''s eyes were suddenly drawn into her tform as well, as he stared at the chubby, silver-haired young man whom Xingyi was facing with a surprised look on his face.
''''It''s actually him?''''
It wasn''t just Shun Long who was surprised when he saw Xingyi''s opponent, but Liu Mei and Bai Longtian, and even Xingyi herself.
After all, her opponent was the ''third strongest genius'' from the Night star continent, the young lord of the ''Mercenaries'' Association'', Zhong Fang.
Zhong Fang also looked at Xingyi with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
In the House of Rankings back in the Night star continent, Zhong Fang had been the publicly acimed third strongest expert of the younger generation of the Night star continent, and he was only below Bai Longtian and Sheng Huang, while Xingyi herself was only ranked 5th.
However, after joining the Holy sect, Zhong Fang understood that Sheng Huang, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, had all been hiding their power while they were in the Night star continent.
Sheng Huang himself had been hiding his Dao of Destruction that he had secretlyprehended, while Bai Longtian had been hiding his Dao of the Buddha. As for Xingyi, she had been actually hiding a unique physique!
Zhong Fang understood that even Sheng Huang and Bai Longtian would have a hard timepeting against Xingyi if she had revealed her unique physique back in the Night star continent.
Most likely, in the Night star continent, Xingyi was the one who would have been ranked first in the House of Rankings if she had revealed her Vanishing Shadows unique physique.
However, Zhong Fang and Sheng Huang both understood why Xingyi hadn''t chosen to reveal it either.
No matter what, back in the Night star continent, Sheng Huang''s Shengtian dynasty was the unquestionably strongest power.
If they had ended up finding out about Xingyi''s Vanishing Shadows unique physique and started to consider Xingyi as someone who would be a threat to Sheng Huang, then considering the Shengtian dynasty''s influence in the Night star continent, if they started pressuring her Xie family, it was very likely that the Xie family would cave in to the Shengtian dynasty''s power while Xingyi wouldn''t have a way to protect herself.
Even if the Xie family wasn''t willing to bow their heads to the Shengtian dynasty, there was no way that they would be able to resist if the Shengtian dynasty truly considered Xingyi as a threat and wanted to deal with her.
After all, behind the Shengtian dynasty was one of the strongest experts in the entire Night star continent, the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun!
Sheng Jun''s power was said to be almostparable to peak experts like the outer court Elders of the Holy sect or the hall masters of the Demon Emperor pce! How could the Xie family resist him?
Xingyi''s eyes narrowed as she looked at Zhong Fang with an extremely cold look in her emerald eyes, before she turned her attention towards the outer court Elder in front of the tform who was about to start the fight.
Xingyi herself didn''t hold any positive feelings for Zhong Fang or Sheng Huang.
Since Zhong Fang had chosen to follow Sheng Huang and both of them had even showed their killing intent towards Shun Long, Xingyi and the others were only going to treat them as enemies.
Even Bai Longtian wasn''t willing to spare Zhong Fang or Sheng Huang, to say nothing of XIngyi, Liu Mei, and Jiang Chen.
At the same time, the look on Zhong Fang''s face had instantly changed into one of disbelief when he saw that Xingyi was the one who stepped on the same tform as him.
Sensing Xingyi''s aura that had reached the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, Zhong Fang''s face quickly turned unsightly.
After all, Zhong Fang himself was only at the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul, but Xingyi''s cultivation was so terrifying that most likely even the current Sheng Huang wouldn''t be a match for her, let alone he himself.
He couldn''t believe that Xingyi had actually advanced so quickly, to actually reach thete stages of the Nascent Soul in less than a year ever since they had entered the Holy sect!
Even with the extremely pure qi in the Holy sect, her rate of growth was still too abnormal.
In his heart, Zhong Fang also felt some envy towards Xingyi who had been so lucky to be chosen by an inner court Elder as a personal disciple due to her unique physique.
He had been certain that her horrifying rate of growth was definitely thanks to Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing!
Unfortunately, the white-robed outer court Elder in front of the tform didn''t give Zhong Fang too much time to think, as he waved his hand downwards and dered in a cold voice
''''Begin!''''
Xingyi''s body merged into the shadows barely a momentter, before she appeared behind Zhong Fang in the blink of an eye!
Without any hesitation, Xingyi''s hand shot forward like a bolt of lightning at a speed that Zhong Fang couldn''t even react to, before a silver dagger actually pierced through Zhong Fang''s back.
Bright red blood had stained the silver dagger in Xingyi''s hands, as Zhong Fang turned around with some difficulty and stared at the golden-haired young woman with a look of horror in his eyes.
Even the outer court Elder who was responsible for this tform suddenly narrowed his eyes as he looked at Xingyi with an extremely solemn look on his face.
Chapter 654: Jun Ren and Wu Tao
Chapter 654: Jun Ren and Wu Tao
''''Y-You...''''
Zhong Fang''s voice trembled as he looked at Xingyi, before he copsed on the ground barely a momentter with a look of horror in his eyes, as he lost consciousness.
The outer court Elder in front of the tform immediately flew inside and checked Zhong Fang''s vitals, and only when he sensed that Zhong Fang was still breathing and that his life wasn''t in danger did the white-robed Elder heave out in relief.
Xingyi''s dagger had pierced through Zhong Fang''s back but it hadn''tnded on his heart, so naturally, Zhong Fang wasn''t going to die.
After all, although Xingyi knew that Zhong Fang was her enemy, there was no way she was going to kill him in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
And yet, facing Xingyi''s speed that he couldn''t even react to, Zhong Fang had truly felt the sense of death this time.
The white-robed outer court Elder simply shook his head and handed Xingyi''s token back to her as he concluded the fight.
For a moment, the Elder had been afraid that Xingyi had actually killed Zhong Fang which had caused him to step on the tform.
But since Xingyi hadn''t broken the rules, the Elder didn''t care about Zhong Fang''s condition at all, as he handed Xingyi''s token back to her.
As long as one was alive and wasn''t crippled then that was enough.
Xingyi returned back to the audience seats while the fights on the 8 tforms continued.
The level of the fights had actually started to increase, as even the weakest of the disciples who stepped on the tforms were now at the peak rank 5 of the Nascent Soul.
However, Shun Long and his group weren''t the only dazzling stars among the disciples who participated in the earlier fights and had an abnormal level of strength.
A short young man with short, spiky ck hair who had reached the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul had also appeared, as well as a burly young man with nted eyes and a bald head, whose cultivation had actually reached the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul!
Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the rest, actually recognized the short young man with the spiky ck hair.
After all, this person had entered the Holy sect at the same time that Shun Long and the rest did, and he was also the only other person outside of Shun Long''s group who also had an immortal fate from their batch.
Shun Long remembered that this person''s name was Jun Ren.
Although Shun Long didn''t know what kind of Dao this Jun Ren trained in, he had actually defeated all 3 of his opponents so far with a single punch.
At the same time, Shun Long heard from the disciples in the crowd around him, that this Jun Ren was also a personal disciple of an inner court Elder.
As for the bald, burly young man with nted eyes, whose cultivation was at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul, the crowd was even more excited when he stepped onto the arena.
His name was Wu Tao and some people in the crowd even imed that he would easily enter the top 2000 in this Martial Roll of Honor tournament, and perhaps he could even enter the top 1000, even though his cultivation was only at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul.
Shun Long learned that this Wu Tao had actually only entered the sect 2 months before he and the others did, which was why he was also fighting in the earlier fights.
Even Sun Wen, Elder Xuan, and even the white-robed Elder Cao Ling in the sky above the arena were surprised that there were so many geniuses who were participating in the earlier fights in this Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
After all, for a single person or even a second genius to appear was one thing, but just Shun Long''s faction alone had 5 of those monsters, while Jun Ren and Wu Tao didn''t seem to be any weaker than them either.
This was even more so for Wu Tao, whom many outer disciples acimed that he was the strongest genius among this group of monsters.
However, there were plenty of outer court disciples who said that Jiang Chen and even Liu Mei weren''t any weaker than Wu Tao.
''''Heh, although this Wu Tao is indeed extremely strong and he can probably enter the top 2000, his chances of entering the top 1000 are practically none. Those kids don''t understand how difficult it is to enter the top 1000. Do they think that just because they are geniuses, those in the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor are weaklings?''''
Sun Wen snickered as he heard the discussions of the crowd, while his gaze was focused on the burly young man in one of the tforms who had just sent his opponent flying with a single fist.
This was Wu Tao''s fourth opponent so far.
Just like Shun Long''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Jun Ren''s opponents, Wu Tao''s own opponents couldn''t even take a single punch from him.
The white-robed old man with an unkempt appearance, Cao Ling nodded his head when he heard Sun Wen''s words, but almost as if he had suddenly remembered something, he turned his gaze towards the yellow-robed Wu Tao in the arena and said in a solemn tone
''''Elder Sun, this Wu Tao isn''t as simple as he looks. He is actually the second son of the Wu family''s patriarch!''''
Elder Sun seemed to be slightly surprised when he heard this, as he turned to look at Cao Ling next to him and asked
''''Are you sure?''''
Even Xuan Jiao turned her gaze towards Cao Ling who nodded his head and answered seriously
''''There is no mistake. I heard that this Wu Tao''s talent is said to be at the same level as his elder brother''s. If that''s true, then it''s notpletely impossible for this kid to enter the top 1000 this time...''''
-
Author''s note: Mass release again tomorrow
Chapter 655: Sheng Huangs threat
Chapter 655: Sheng Huang''s threat
Sun Wen and Elder Xuan both nodded their heads when they heard Cao Ling''s exnation, as their eyes stared at the burly youth in the center of the tform with serious looks in their eyes.
Sun Wen knew that just like Shun Long, Jun Ren, and the rest, this Wu Tao was also someone with had an immortal fate when he tested himself in the ball of fate almost a year ago.
Of course, having an immortal fate didn''t mean that one would certainly be an immortal in the future. It only meant that that person simply had enough potential to be one.
But in the cultivation world, one''s potential wasn''t everything.
Strength, background, willpower, luck, each of those factors was also needed if one wanted to survive.
Sun Wen himself had personally seen plenty of those geniuses who possessed immortal fates perish, one after the other, while some of those weaker geniuses who didn''t even have immortal fates had managed to be much stronger than those immortal fate geniuses who didn''t even have a chance to reach their peak potential.
But Sun Wen also knew that if those geniuses who possessed an immortal fate were allowed to grow in the future, they would definitely be powerful experts who would reach at least the Dao Emperor realm.
As for this Wu Tao, Sun Wen understood that if he was the second son of the Wu family''s patriarch and his talent was truly at the same level as his elder brother''s, then this was someone worthy paying attention to.
After all, the Wu family was one of the 5 strongest families and ns in the territory of the Holy sect, while Wu Tao''s elder brother was an extreme genius that even the inner court Elders of the Holy sect held in high regard.
As Sun Wen and the rest continued to observe the fights, Shun Long had stepped on the arena for the 6th time today, as he fought against a young man at the middle of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul.
Just like his previous 5 fights, Shun Long only needed a single punch to defeat the young man in front of him.
How could a middle rank 6 Nascent Soul cultivator resist Shun Long''s punch that wasparable to peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage experts?
Right at the same time that Shun Long ended his fight and was about to retrieve his sect identifying token from the white-robed Elder, his attention was suddenly drawn to a tform not too far away from him, where Bai Longtian was facing the figure of a ck-haired young man who was staring at him coldly.
As soon as Shun Long''s gazended on that person''s body, Shun Long''s eyes couldn''t help but narrow.
The young man in front of Bai Longtian was no one else than the ''strongest genius'' of the Night star continent, the prince of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Huang!
At the same time that Shun Long returned back to his seat, he also noticed that Liu Mei and the rest were all staring at Sheng Huang coldly while they waited for the fight to start.
Unlike Bai Longtian, Sheng Huang''s cultivation was only at the early rank 6 of the Nascent Soul, and he was actually among the weakest outer court disciples who were still fighting in the arena at this point.
But this was only natural. As the fights of the tournament progressed even further, the disciples that were left were only the strongest ones who could keep rising in the rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor.
And yet, although Sheng Huang hadn''t defeated his opponents with a single punch like Shun Long and the rest, even when he was faced with another early rank 6 Nascent Soul outer disciple during hisst fight, he had still managed to win rtively easily.
This was tantamount to his strength as well!
Staring at Bai Longtian in front of him who looked as calm as always, Sheng Huang''s eyes shed with a cold light as he said in a serious voice
''''Bai Longtian! My grandfather and your father have known each other for so many years and yet you chose to follow Shun Long as soon as you entered the Holy sect? I don''t mind telling you that the person behind Shun Long was the one who stole the most important treasures from the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' back in the Night star continent! Tell me, are you really willing to give the treasures that belong to our Night star continent to an outsider?''''
Sheng Huang''s eyes shed with a murderous light as he said the words ''treasures from the core region of the Dragon Lord''s vi'', while his eyes stared at Bai Longtian like a venomous viper as he waited for his answer.
And yet, Bai Longtian''s eyes only widened for a moment as he looked at Sheng Huang and answered in an angry tone
''''Sheng Huang, did you forget that brother Shun Long also came from the Night star continent, or are you implying that it is your Shengtian dynasty that should monopolize all the treasures from the heart of the vi? I heard that your Shengtian dynasty obtained more than 20 rank 3 gold grade weapons from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' that year and yet you still want more?
If it wasn''t for that hall master of the Demon Emperor pce clearing the way to the core region of the vi, how would your Shengtian dynasty be able to obtain so many treasures?
Now you want to steal brother Shun Long''s treasures as well?
I already know that brother Shun''s ck sword came from the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', but that has nothing to do with you! Sheng Huang, don''t test my limits! As for who I choose to follow, that has nothing to do with you!''''
Even Bai Longtian had finally turned angry as he stared at Sheng Huang in front of him.
Sheng Huang was truly greedy!
Not only did his Shengtian dynasty had taken most of the rank 3 gold grade weapons at the heart of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' for themselves, but Sheng Huang also wanted to rob Shun Long while iming that it was something that belonged to the Night star continent in the first ce.
Bai Longtian slowly turned even angrier as he looked at Sheng Huang since he suddenly understood that in Sheng Huang''s eyes, the Night star continent belonged to his Shengtian dynasty, so the treasures inside the Night star continent should also belong to him!
What about the others then? Were they members of the Night star continent as well or did the Night star continent belong to his Shengtian dynasty and the rest of the peak powers in the Heaven''s Dome city alone?
Sheng Huang''s arrogance had made even Bai Longtian who was usually calm and polite extremely furious.
After all, Bai Longtian''s father was a supreme expert in the Night star continent, one at the same level as even the old king of the Shengtian dynasty, Sheng Jun.
However, the Shengtian dynasty as a whole was much stronger than Bai Longtian''s ''White city'', while Bai Longtian''s father was someone who wanted to lead a peaceful life.
But, Bai Longtian also knew that the powers of the Heaven''s Dome city, and especially the Shengtian dynasty, monopolized most of the resources in the entire continent and kept it for themselves, including the 2 middle-grade spirit stone mines at the heart of the Night star continent, leaving the other powers outside of the Heaven''s Dome city with virtually nothing.
Middle-grade spirit stone mines were considered rare even in the central region that only strong powers at the level of the Demon Emperor pce would be qualified to control them.
And yet, Sheng Huang didn''t back down as he stared at Bai Longtian angrily and spat out
''''Shun Long? Which power of the Night star continent does he belong to?
Bai Longtian, I will only give you a single chance! I don''t care how you do it, but you will have Shun Long hand over the treasures he obtained from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', or I will make sure to raze your White city to the ground! Not just your White city! The Xie family of the silver mountain will be destroyed as well!''''
Chapter 656: Shun Longs opponent
Chapter 656: Shun Long''s opponent
The look on Bai Longtian''s face instantly changed while a murderous look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes.
Although there was a distance between his seat and the tform where Sheng Huang and Bai Longtian were standing, since Shun Long was paying attention to it and Sheng Huang didn''t care about others hearing him, Shun Long clearly heard this naked threat.
''''Sheng Huang! I will kill you!'''' Xingyi''s voice was filled with boundless killing intent as she stared at Sheng Huang''s figure, while Liu Mei and Jiang Chen had furious looks on their faces.
To dare threaten Bai Longtian and Xingyi that he would deal with their families if Shun Long didn''t agree to hand over the treasures of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' had truly made them angry.
Bai Longtian took a step forward while his cultivation at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul exploded out from his body without restraint.
The Elder had already told them to begin the fight a while ago, but Bai Longtian had waited to hear what Sheng Huang wanted to say.
This time however, Bai Longtian didn''t have any intentions to chat with Sheng Huang any longer, as a golden aura immediately enveloped his entire body a momentter, before he shot towards Sheng Huang at full speed.
The look on Sheng Huang''s face turned serious, as a metal armor covered his whole body in the blink of an eye, while at the same time, a bronze warhammer also appeared in his hands.
Staring at Bai Longtian''s figure that was flying towards him, Sheng Huang smirked when he noticed that Bai Longtian hadn''t taken out his weapon, before he suddenly swung the bronze warhammer towards Bai Longtian at full strength.
A ck aura had covered Sheng Huang''s body and spread towards the bronze warhammer in his hands, as the warhammer fell towards the iing figure of Bai Longtian.
Sheng Huang hadn''t held back at all as he used his strongest attack right away!
The ck aura was the aura of his Dao of Destruction that increased the might of his bronze warhammer even further, while the strength of his body that had reached the early fifth stage also augmented his attack even further.
Paired with his peak rank 3 gold-grade warhammer, as long as Bai Longtian didn''t go all-out, Sheng Huang was confident that he could injure him heavily despite the difference in their cultivation bases.
Unfortunately for him, the scene that followed made his eyes instantly bulge out in disbelief as Bai Longtian punched the bronze warhammer that was descending towards his head with a furious look on his face before he shouted out
''''Sheng Huang!''''
Sheng Huang couldn''t believe it but he still felt a terrifying force when Bai Longtian''s bare hand that was covered with ayer of golden light met his bronze warhammer head-on.
''''How is this possible?''''
Bai Longtian hadn''t even drawn his weapon but he had actually blocked the attack of his bronze warhammer with his bare hand.
Of course, Sheng Huang didn''t know that even though his Dao of Destruction had extremely strong offensive abilities, Bai Longtian''s Dao of the Buddha had an extremely strong innate defense as well.
In terms ofprehension in his Dao of the Buddha alone, Bai Longtian was also just a step away from reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage as well!
Shun Long watched as Sheng Huang''s strongest attack had only managed to stop Bai Longtian for a single moment, before Bai Longtian continued forward, and barely a momentter, he had actually arrived in front of Sheng Huang.
Bai Longtian''s palm was covered with ayer of golden light as he thrust it forward without holding back.
A look of horror appeared on Sheng Huang''s face when Bai Longtian''s palm touched his chest, before the irresistible force hidden behind Sheng Huang''s palm entered his body, sending him flying back uncontrobly!
The outer court Elder responsible for the tform saw Sheng Huang''s body copsing on the ground, while Bai Longtian walked towards him.
It was clear that Sheng Huang hadn''t lost consciousness yet, but he was unable to fight any longer.
The Elder''s eyes narrowed and he prepared to intervene in case Bai Longtian really tried to kill him.
Stopping right in front of the copsed Sheng Huang, Bai Longtian bent down slightly, but the look on his face had lost any signs of its usual warmness as he said in an emotionless voice that seemed to have been barely suppressing his fury
''''Sheng Huang, you have crossed my bottom line today. Although your Shengtian dynasty is considered strong, if you dare to attack my father''s White city or the silver mountain of the Xie family, you will definitely pay a big price for it. I am curious if your Shengtian dynasty really dares to do so with the Demon Emperor pce about to attack the Night star continent any time now.
And even if you attack them and you manage to destroy the White city and the Xie family, I don''t believed that your Shengtian dynasty will be bold enough to touch my father or junior sister Xie''s family! Otherwise, forget about the Demon Emperor pce, your Shengtian dynasty will be wiped out by the Elders of the Holy sect itself!''''
Sheng Huang knew that Bai Longtian was right, while his face quickly turned red from anger.
In the first ce, Bai Longtian''s father was someone at the same level as his grandfather.
How difficult would it be for the Shengtian dynasty to really kill such a powerful peak Dao King?
Although destroying the White city wasn''t too difficult, killing the White Lord was an entirely different matter.
Even if they went all-out, their chances of sess would be extremely low!
Besides, even if they could really kill him or the Xie family, would the Shengtian dynasty really dare to do so now that Bai Longtian and Xingyi were disciples of the inner court Elders?
Sheng Huang knew the answer in his heart.
They wouldn''t dare.
Although the Holy sect wouldn''t meddle if the Shengtian dynasty simply destroyed the White city or the SIlver mountain, touching Bai Longtian''s or Xie Xingyi''s family members would incur the anger of the inner court Elders!
By then, his Shengtian dynasty would be truly finished!
Sheng Huang hadn''t thought too deeply before he spat out his threat towards Bai Longtian earlier either.
After all, he hadn''t expected to be matched against Bai Longtian in the first ce, while the jealousy that he felt every time that he thought of Shun Long holding ''his star-rank sword'' while Bai Longtian and the rest were following him as well, had made Sheng Huang''s mind go ck from anger, which had led him to spit out that threat.
Bai Longtian only threw onest look at the copsed prince of the Shengtian dynasty in front of him, before he turned his attention towards the white-robed outer court Elder and received his sect identifying token, as he then flew towards Shun Long and the rest.
At the same time, as Xingyi turned her gaze towards him, Shun Long noticed that Xingyi''s body was brimming with killing intent as she looked at him and lowered her head before she said in a low but murderous voice
''''Brother Long, I will kill Sheng Huang!''''
Shun Long wasn''t surprised when he heard this while Liu Mei simply nodded her head in agreement.
Indeed, Sheng Huang''s threat was too big.
Even 10 monthster, he still hadn''t changed his mind.
His heart was set on obtaining the treasures from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' from Shun Long''s body.
Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at Xingyi, before he turned his eyes towards Bai Longtian who had just arrived.
...
Half a day passed, and soon, only the top 5000 were left.
Taking a look at his sect identifying token, Shun Long could see that his ranking was 4986th.
At this point, the battles in the tforms all had experts step in the arena, as only the most powerful outer disciples were left! Disciples who were at the middle stages of the Nascent Soul had already all lost.
Even those at the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul were rare, while those at the early and middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul were practically nonexistent.
Aside from Shun Long, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian who were the only middle rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivators left, and the short, spiky-haired Jun Ren who was still at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, the rest of the outer court disciples in the arena had either reached the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul or even the rank 8.
Naturally, Shun Long had started paying more attention to the battles as well.
At that moment, as Shun Long saw the bald genius, Wu Tao deal with another early rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator with a single punch, Shun Long suddenly felt his sect identifying token lighting up.
With a calm smile on his face, he then soared in the sky, flying towards the tform where his sect identifying token was guiding him.
But the moment he arrived in front of the arena and saw his opponent, Shun Long''s body suddenly froze, while his opponent seemed to be staring at him with a look of disbelief in her eyes as well.
''''It''s you? Hahahaha!''''
-
Author''s note: 2/5
Chapter 657: Shun Long vs Dong Ai
Chapter 657: Shun Long vs Dong Ai
The pretty young woman in front of Shun Longughed joyously as soon as she saw him, but it was clear that herughter carried obvious hints of mockery with it.
At the same time, Liu Mei''s brows furrowed when she saw Shun Long''s opponent as a look of displeasure appeared on her face.
That pretty young woman in yellow robes was no one else but Liu Mei''s own senior sister, Dong Ai.
At that moment, Liu Mei''s hands involuntarily touched the pendant on her neck as her eyes kept staring at her ''senior sister'' on the center of the tform.
Liu Mei still remembered how back in Elder Xuan''s residence, Dong Ai had thrown a fit of rage the moment she saw that her master had given her personal pendant to Liu Mei.
Of course, it was natural to feel some envy in one''s heart, since, ording to her master, the pendant on her neck was a true treasure that could block an attack from even ate-stage Dao Emperor two times.
What had made Liu Mei utterly furious however, was that Dong Ai had tried to vent her anger and jealousy on Shun Long and had even told him to leave Liu Mei.
Dong Ai''sughter quickly attracted the attention of plenty of the outer disciples among the crowd, and it even drew the attention of the 3 white-robed inner court Elders in the sky.
''''Haha, Elder Xuan, isn''t that your disciple?'''' It looks like she is fighting against that little monster, Shun Long. Hehe, I am really curious to see who is going to win!'''' The white-robed Elder with an unkempt appearance, Elder Cao Ling spoke with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Even the head Elder, Sun Wen had also turned his attention towards Shun Long''s tform with a look of curiosity on his face.
Up until now, Shun Long had yet to reveal his true strength, utilizing only the strength of his body refinement cultivation, as well as his Dao of Space.
And yet, although he had only used ''blink'' so far, none of his opponents had been able to react to it, as all of them were unable to take even a single punch.
''''Ai will probably lose! Even that Ma Ming, Mao Jing''s personal disciple couldn''t take a single punch from Shun Long when they fought a month ago. Although Ai should be slightly stronger than Ma Ming, she still shouldn''t be able tost more than a few exchanges.'''' Elder Xuan dered in a cold tone but her brows were furrowed as well.
Elder Sun Wen and Cao Ling were both surprised when they heard that as they turned to look at Elder Xuan next to them, but the 2 of them noticed that Elder Xuan''s eyes were still staring at Dong Ai''s figure at the center of the tform.
Naturally, the fight between Shun Long and Ma Ming had even reached the ears of some of the inner court Elders like Elder Xuan herself.
After all, for 2 outer court disciples to dare fight in the inner court was extremely rare.
Thus, although Elder Xuan could see that Shun Long''s cultivation was inferior to Dong Ai''s, she still understood that Dong Ai would probably lose this time.
''''How is this possible??''''
Indeed, Dong Ai''sughter was cut short a momentter when she suddenly sensed Shun Long''s cultivation at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul.
It was almost as if an explosion had gone off inside her mind, as the pretty young woman stared at Shun Long with a gaze filled with disbelief and asked
''''You... reached the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul from the early rank 3?''''
IT wasn''t surprising that Dong Ai would be shocked by Shun Long''s rate of advancement.
After all, to reach thete stages of the Nascent Soul from the early stages in just 10 months was practically unheard of!
This had caused even Dong Ai herself to involuntarily feel some dread, as her eyes stared at Shun Long with an extremely serious look inside them!
Even those monsters from the strongest families and ns within the Holy sect''s territory, who had ess to the best pills and even high-grade spirit stones, would find it difficult to reach the rank 7 of the Nascent Soul from the early rank 3 in just 10 months!
In these past 10 months, Dong Ai''s cultivation had also increased, but from the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul it had only reached the early rank 9 instead!
Although it was true that the higher one''s cultivation reached, the more difficult it became to advance further, Dong Ai understood that her rate of advancement in front of Shun Long''s was truly nothing inparison.
And yet, a momentter, Shun Long noticed that Dong AI seemed to have regained her bearings as the same mocking smile was formed on her lips.
''''So what if you are at the middle of rank 7 of the Nascent Soul? DO you really think that you can fight against an early rank 9 Nascent Soul stage expert like me?''''
As she came to this conclusion Dong Ai seemed to have found her confidence again, as she looked at Shun Long with her mocking gaze and spoke loudly, in a voice that even those disciples that were sitting in the audience seats could clearly hear
''''Haha, didn''t you say that you would squash me like a bug once you reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul? Why don''t you show me how you will squash me now? Let''s see if a rogue cultivator like you dares to fight against me.''''
As she finished speaking, Dong Ai''s cultivation at the early rank 9 of the Nascent Soul exploded from her body, as she looked mockingly at Shun Long who was staring back at her with his cold golden eyes.
A cold look also appeared on Liu Mei''s face as she looked at this ''senior sister'' of hers, while she understood that this was only happening because of the pendant on her neck. Otherwise, why would Dong Ai look to mess with Shun Long?
Hearing Dong Ai''s words, Shun Long simply nodded his head calmly as he kept flying towards the tform inside the arena.
Chapter 658: Shun Long vs Dong Ai (2)
Chapter 658: Shun Long vs Dong Ai (2)
Since Dong Ai''s been made her voice loud intentionally, even those people who weren''t paying attention to her tform previously, had now turned their gazes towards her.
''''Ah? Isn''t that the young miss of the Dong n? Someone dared to say that they would actually squash her?''''
''''Wait! Isn''t that guy Shun Long? Don''t tell me that Dong Ai has enmity with Shun Long!''''
''''Haha, this will be interesting!''''
Dong Ai herself was naturally famous as the young miss of the powerful Dong n, while Shun Long''s fame in the outer court in thest 5 months hadn''t been inferior to hers in the slightest, causing people to recognize the 2 of them extremely quickly, while even more and more people from the crowd were now paying attention to their tform.
''''Junior sister Ai? She really held a grudge against junior sister Mei... Eh? That guy reached thete stages of the Nascent Soul in less than a year?'''' Liu Mei''s third senior sister, Wei Yaling, seemed to have also noticed Shun Long''s and Dong Ai''s fight from the audience seats, but her attention was suddenly drawn on Shun Long who wasn''t hiding his cultivation at the middle of rank 7.
Wei Yaling still remembered how Shun Long had only been at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul less than a year ago, making her reaction almost identical to Dong Ai''s.
''''Hrm?'''' At the same time, somewhere in the audience seats, a young man with long blonde hair who was meditating suddenly opened his eyes, and stared at Dong Ai''s tform with a questioning look in his eyes, before his cold gaze was focused on Shun Long.
Many of the disciples around him seemed to have been looking at this blonde-haired young man, but the moment that he opened his eyes, everyone turned their gazes away.
After all, this person was even more famous than Shun Long and Dong Ai within the outer court.
This was Dong Ai''s elder brother, the son of the n leader of the Dong n and one of the strongest outer court disciples ranked in the Martial Roll of Honor, the leader of the 3rd strongest faction within the outer court of the Holy sect, Dong Cheng.
Almost as if he could sense an extremely cold gaze boring into his back, Shun Long turned around and stared at a specific location in the audience seats, as his eyes met with that pair of cold, violet eyes that were staring back at him.
Shun Long was surprised while with just a nce, he could tell that this person was extremely strong.
''''He is probably already a Dao King.''''
Looking at the blond-haired young man''s facial features that looked extremely simr to Dong Ai''s, Shun Long understood that this person most likely came from the same n as Dong Ai, and they probably had a close rtionship with each other.
However, Shun Long didn''t pay any more attention to him, as he turned around and looked at Dong Ai in front of him.
Dong Ai had that same smirk on her face as she asked Shun Long with a yful smirk on her face
''''What''s wrong? Are you scared? If you are you can simply kneel down and apologize. I may even forgive you!''''
Liu Mei''s cold ck eyes seemed to have lost any hint of warmth as she stared at Dong Ai''s figure, but Shun Long calmly shook his head as he handed his sect identifying token to the outer court Elder in front of the tform, before he turned his gaze towards Dong Ai and said
''''Scared? You are not qualified to make me scared.''''
Dong Ai''s eyes narrowed while the outer court Elder by the side of the tform simply waved his hand and said calmly
''''Begin!''''
As soon as the Elder''s voice trailed off, Shun Long saw Dong Ai waving her left hand, as a thin but long silver sword appeared in her hands.
This sword in her hands looked very simr to the sword that Bai Longtian had, but Shun Long noticed that Dong Ai''s sword was even thinner inparison, while the tip of the sword was shining with a faint golden light.
A gust of wind enveloped Dong Ai''s entire body in the next second before she suddenly shot towards Shun Long at full speed, the silver sword in her hands aiming to pierce through his chest.
''''So fast!''''
The crowd in the audience seats was truly surprised. Even among other early rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators, Dong Ai''s speed was extremely fast.
Some even wondered whether Shun Long would be able to react in time and dodge.
Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up, as he took a single step to the side, easily dodging Dong Ai''s sword sh, while his right fist was clenched tightly.
Dong Ai seemed to have expected that Shun Long would dodge her initial attack but her lips simply curved upwards. She could feel that her silver sword had barely grazed Shun Long''s yellow robes, but as her body was still in a forward motion, Dong Ai''s hand that was holding her silver sword suddenly moved in a weird manner, as Dong Ai suddenly shed her sword sideways.
This time, her sword sh wasn''t aiming to pierce through Shun Long''s chest, but his waist!
With the distance between them being so close, Dong Ai was confident that Shun Long wouldn''t have enough time to dodge.
Dong Ai was certain that Shun Long would lose! After all, her first sword attack had only been a bait to close the distance. This was her true killing move!
And yet, at the same time, Shun Long''s golden eyes suddenly emitted a bright blue light, as Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''Time Prison!''''
The blue light from Shun Long''s eyes suddenly enveloped Dong Ai''s body, as the flow of time around her was forcibly halted!
The disciples in the audience seats, the white-robed Elder in front of the tform responsible for the battle, and even the 3 white-robed inner court Elders in the sky, all watched with disbelieving eyes, as Dong Ai''s body was frozen in mid-air with that same smirk on her face.
Taking a step forward, Shun Long raised his clenched right fist in front of his chest, right above Dong Ai''s back, before his voice reverberated throughout the silent arena
''''I told you that you are not qualified to act arrogant in front of me. Fuck off!''''
Space itself trembled as Shun Long brought his hand downwards like a hammer, before his fist collided with Dong Ai''s body that was still under the effects of the ''Time Prison''.
BOOOOOM
Under the disbelieving eyes of the disciples in the audience seats, Dong Ai''s body mmed on the tform a momentter, causing the entire tform to violently tremble.
-
Author''s note: 4/5
Chapter 659: Sun Wens choice
Chapter 659: Sun Wen''s choice
The sound of the tform trembling was no different from a hammer striking everyone''s hearts, as the disciples in the audience seats watched Dong Ai''s body copse like a meteor.
Dong Ai''s eyes were wide open in disbelief, but she didn''t seem to have enough strength to raise her head and look at Shun Long, as she started to vomit blood uncontrobly barely a momentter.
Silence instantly descended in the arena, as even the outer court disciples on top of the surrounding 7 tforms that were previously battling, seemed to have turned their eyes towards Shun Long and Dong Ai by now.
It wasn''t just the outer court disciples or even the white-robed outer court Elders who were responsible for the battles on the 8 tforms, but even the 3 inner court Elders in the sky whose eyes were now staring at Shun Long and Dong Ai with looks of disbelief on their faces.
The white-robed Elder, Cao Ling seemed to have lost his usual calmness, as he hurriedly turned his head to look at Sun Wen next to him and said in a shocked voice
''''Senior brother Sun...''''
The look on Elder Xuan''s face had also changed as she turned her gaze towards the white-robed old man, Sun Wen as well.
Nodding his head, Sun Wen had an extremely serious look on his face as he looked at Shun Long''s figure that was standing in the center of the tform and said solemnly
''''This kid has gained insights into the Dao of Time...'''' No one else other than the 2 Elders who were by his side, Elder Xuan and Elder Cao Ling could hear Sun Wen''s voice, as the white-robed old man continued
''''I could actually sense the fluctuations in the flow of time around his body when he used thatst move against Dong Ai. This kid is truly terrifying!''''
Elder Xuan and the bald white-robed old man, Elder Cao Ling, could clearly hear the hints of dread inside Sun Wen''s voice as he said thest sentence, but in their minds, the words ''Dao of Time'' were still reverberating while their eyes were focused on the figure of the yellow-robed young man at the center of the tform.
Forget about the Holy sect, even in the entire central region, Xuan Jiao and Cao Ling had never heard of an expert who hadprehended the Dao of Time in the past! Although it was possible for one of those experts to exist and to have been hidden somewhere in the central region, it remained a fact that the Elders of the Holy sect had never heard of it.
Shun Long''sprehension of the Dao of Space was already astonishing enough to shock them, but there had been some supreme experts in the past, who had also gained insights in the Dao of Space as well, so Xuan Jiao and Cao Ling could still understand that.
Of course, Xuan Jiao and Cao Ling both knew, that none of those experts had used the Dao of Space as their foundational Dao for their qi refinement or their body refinement cultivation like Shun Long did, but there were 2 reasons behind that.
Firstly, those experts had gained insights into the Dao of Space far toote, and by the time that they did, they had already reached an extremely high level in their foundational Dao.
If they wanted to switch the Dao that they had used as a foundation for the Dao of Space, then they would first have to bring theirprehension of the Dao of Space at the same level as their foundational Dao.
But that was simply too difficult!
After all, the Dao of Space itself was extremely difficult to gain insights into in the first ce.
Those experts would naturally choose to spend more timeprehending their foundational Dao even further instead of trying toprehend the Dao of Space.
As for the second reason, even if those experts had truly managed toprehend the Dao of Space at the early stages of their cultivation, most likely, only an extremely small number of them would have dared to use it as their foundational Dao back then.
The reason behind that was, because, only those who were truly confident in reaching the peak of strength with a certain Dao would dare to use that as their foundational Dao!
Thus, most of those experts who understood the difficulty inprehending the Dao of Space would most likely not have dared to use it as their foundational Dao!
As for the Dao of Time? Considering that most likely, not a single expert in the central region had gained insights into it, Xuan Jiao and Cao Ling both understood, that it was even more terrifying than the Dao of Space that only those experts who already stood at the peak of the central region hadprehended. And yet, Shun Long had dared to use it as his foundational Dao.
Sun Wen took a deep breath as he looked at Shun Long, before he said in a solemn tone
''''It''s too bad that the sect master isn''t in the sect right now. No matter what, we must rope this kid into the sect! I have no other choice. I will have to disturb the Grand Elder!''''
''''Senior brother will really disturb the Grand Elder''s seclusion?'''' Cao Ling spoke out in a hesitant voice, but he knew that the matter today was something that would shake the entire Holy sect.
Cao Ling would be a fool if he didn''t understand that the talents that Shun Long had disyed so far couldpete not only with the strongest geniuses in the entire central region.
Even in the Holy sect, Cao Ling understood that the only ones who couldpare to Shun Long were less than a handful of core disciples!
Nodding his head, Sun Wen didn''t say anything else, as his body turned into a white blur of light that disappeared from the arena a momentter, as it headed straight towards the inner court.
Although this took a while to describe, the conversation between the 3 Elders had happened in the blink of an eye.
As for the arena, it was still filled with a deathly silence, as the disciples in the audience seats were now staring at Shun Long with different looks in their eyes.
''''Ai!'''' The silence was broken barely a momentter, as the figure of a blond-haired, violet-eyed young man shot towards Shun Long''s fighting tform from the audience seats like a bolt of lightning, arriving in front of Dong Ai barely a secondter!
-
Author''s note: 5/5 This is the 5th chapter for the mass release yesterday. Today''s chapters wille in a few more hours.
Chapter 660: Dong Chengs move
Chapter 660: Dong Cheng''s move
Dong Cheng parted Dong Ai''s lips open as he ced a small, crimson-colored pill in her mouth.
A few momentster, the pale look on Dong Ai''s face started to regain some of its color, but it was obvious that Dong Ai was still extremely weak.
The pill that Dong Cheng had fed Dong Ai was a high-grade rank 5 healing pill. For Dong Ai to be unable to move even after she had consumed that pill, one could guess how terrifying Shun Long''s attack had been.
Raising her head slightly, Dong Ai looked at the handsome, blond-haired young man who was holding her body and called out in an excited voice
''''Elder brother!''''
Dong Cheng nodded his head calmly at Dong Ai, before he turned his attention to Shun Long.
In the Holy sect, there had been no one who had dared to injure his younger sister, let alone do so in front of him!
As the daughter of the n leader of the Dong n as well as a personal disciple of an inner court Elder, the number of people who dared to injure Dong Ai within the outer court of the Holy sect could be counted on the fingers in a person''s hands.
Naturally, Dong Ai wouldn''t offend those terrifying monsters which made her safety virtually guaranteed!
Even if someone would end up fighting against her in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament in the past, they wouldn''t dare to really injure her, or they would risk offending both Dong Cheng, and the Dong n behind him.
The Dong n was a truly powerful n, even among the rest of the ns and powerful families in the Holy sect''s territory, and they could even be ranked within the top 5!
But this Shun Long in front of him had done so.
''''Your name is Shun Long right? Hahaha! To dare injure my younger sister... die!''''
The moment he finished speaking, Dong Cheng''s figure suddenly disappeared from the spot he was standing, as he shot towards Shun Long like a bolt of lightning!
Shun Long''s golden eyes suddenly lit up with a bright blue light, but his expression soon changed.
Fast!
Dong Cheng was simply too fast!
A bright blue light covered Shun Long''s entire body in an instant, but Shun Long only had enough time to barely take out his ck-colored sword from the ''Stone of Time'', before a fist that was burning with purple-colored lightning appeared in front of his face a momentter!
''''STOP!'''' Elder Cao Ling shouted furiously from the sky, as his body suddenly disappeared, shooting towards Dong Cheng at full speed.
The look on Elder Xuan''s face had also changed, as her body turned into countless flower petals that flew towards Shun Long''s tform.
Forget about the outer court Elder responsible for this tform or even the outer court disciples watching from the audience seats, even Elder Xuan and Cao Ling, those 2 inner court Elders hadn''t expected that Dong Cheng would suddenly attack Shun Long!
Unfortunately for them, the distance between Dong Cheng and Shun Long was simply too close.
At the same time, Dong Cheng was simply too fast, arriving in front of Shun Long in the blink of an eye.
Even with his second ''Monarch''s Domain'' that increased his speed by many times, Shun Long knew that he wasn''t a match for this Dong Cheng in terms of speed. After all, he could clearly sense that Dong Cheng was actually a Dao King, and he wasn''t a newly advanced Dao King!
Since he didn''t have enough time to dodge Shun Long circted the qi inside his 60 qi balls without holding back, as he raised the ck sword in front of him to meet with Dong Cheng''s fist!
Ignoring Elder Xuan''s and Cao Ling''s furious shouts, Dong Cheng smiled mockingly when he saw that Shun Long was trying to resist him, as the purple lightning bolts around his fist exploded with even more power.
BOOOOOOM!
Shun Long could feel the web on his hand that was holding the ck sword tearing apart, as the terrifying force behind Dong Cheng''s fist passed on the ck sword.
Just Dong Cheng''s strength of his body refinement was already terrifying enough, but this was only the first part of the attack.
As soon as his fistnded on the ck sword, arge amount of the purple lightning soon followed, as itnded on the ck sword as well!
Shun Long could feel that the power behind the purple lightning was even more terrifying than Dong Cheng''s fist, as the web on his hand waspletely destroyed.
Since he couldn''t resist this power, Shun Long could only allow the force behind Dong Cheng''s fist to send him flying backwards.
Although most of the purple lightning bolts hadnded on his star-rank sword and hadn''t managed to damage it in the slightest, Shun Long could feel that a small number of the lightning bolts had alsonded on his body, destroying a part of his yellow robes and even managing to pierce through the defenses of his Monarch''s Eternal body.
Shun Long could feel a numbing sensation as a terrifying force entered his body, causing him to shiver.
Unfortunately for Dong Cheng, those purple lightning bolts were only the weakest parts of his attack.
But even those lightning bolts, when paired with the power of Dong Cheng''s fist, had still been enough to send Shun Long flying to the edge of the arena, while a hint of blood could also be seen on Shun Long''s lips.
''''This little bastard! How dare he attack master like this?'''' The look on Little ck''s face inside the ''Stone of Time'' was brimming with endless killing intent, as the ck dragon was only a step away from leaving the ''Stone of Time'' and ripping Dong Cheng apart.
Shun Long was furious as well as he stared at the blond-haired Dong Cheng in front of him.
At the same time, Dong Cheng was extremely shocked in his heart as he stared at Shun Long, while a look of disbelief had also appeared on his face. Even though a he had taken this attack of his head-on, a middle rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator wasn''t on the verge of death but had only been slightly injured instead?
Dong Cheng couldn''t believe it as a serious look appeared on his face a momentter, while his eyes narrowed dangerously.
He wasn''t nning on killing Shun Long which was why he had held back.
And yet, Dong Cheng knew, that this previous attack of his would definitely end up injuring heavily any peak rank 9 Nascent Soul outer disciple, regardless of who it was.
''''Since you were strong enough to remain standing after that, then let''s see if you will survive this!''''
''''ENOUGH!'''' Cao Ling''s furious voice caused the entire arena to shake, as his figure descended in front of Dong Cheng with a look of unconcealed anger in his eyes.
Chapter 661: Backing
Chapter 661: Backing
A terrifying aura was carried along in the next moment, as Cao Ling''s body descended on the tform, while his deep ck eyes were angrily staring at the blond-haired Dong Cheng in front of him.
''''Dong Cheng, how dare you? I ordered you to stop and yet not only you broke the rules of the tournament by entering the arena and attacking another outer disciple, but you even ignored the orders of an inner court Elder!'''' Cao Ling''s voice was utterly furious as he shouted ''''Kneel!''''
Dong Cheng looked at Cao Ling fearlessly without responding. Although others may have been scared of this inner court Elder in front of him, he, Dong Cheng wasn''t afraid of Cao Ling in the slightest!
''''Hmph!'''' Cao Ling''s eyes narrowed when he saw this scene as he snorted angrily, before the terrifying aura of a Dao Emperor that came from his body soon enveloped the entire arena.
Even Shun Long could feel the powerful auraing from Cao Ling''s body as it pressed down on Dong Cheng, before Cao Ling shouted for the second time
''''Kneel!''''
The look on Dong Cheng''s face changed as the powerful aura of a Dao Emperor pressed down on his body, trying to force him into a kneeling position.
And yet, the moment that Cao Ling''s aura touched him, a powerful white light erupted from Dong Cheng''s chest as it covered his entire body in a single instant.
The look on the bald Cao Ling''s face turned ugly in the next moment, as he sensed that his aura was actually incapable of prating the white light around Dong Cheng.
''''Hahaha! Cao Ling, you dare to ask me to kneel? I, Dong Cheng, only kneel in front of experts at the same level as my father! As for you who is just an early-stage Dao Emperor... you are not qualified! If you want to punish me for breaking the sect rules go ahead, but you can forget about making me kneel!''''
At the same time, the crowd in the audience seats that was previously stunned after seeing Shun Long destroying Dong Ai with a single punch, seemed to have finally woken up after hearing Dong Cheng''s voice, as they erupted in frenzied discussions, while their eyes were either staring at the arrogant Dong Cheng at the center of the tform, the white-robed Cao Ling whose face had turned exceedingly ugly, or Shun Long who was calmly watching that scene.
''''So it''s true! Dong Cheng really has a protective artifact at the Dao Emperor level! But still, isn''t this too much? Not only did he break the rules, but he even dares to talk back to Elder Cao Ling like that! He will definitely not escape punishment this time.''''
''''What do you know? Only the heir of one of the top 5 ns like Dong Cheng would dare to act so arrogantly in front of an inner court Elder! The patriarchs and the n leaders of the strongest families and ns are definitely strong enough to rival in power the inner court Elders, while some of the most powerful ones even surpass the Elders in terms of power. Only the Grand Elder or the sect master himself can keep those powerful families and ns in check. But the normal Elders would avoid offending those powerful ns if they can. This is why Dong Cheng dares to act so arrogantly.
Considering that he is the heir of the Dong n and even has an immortal fate, it''s practically guaranteed that in the future, he will reach at least the middle stages of the Dao Emperor realm or perhaps even exceed that.
Thus, even powerful inner court Elders would be hesitant to really offend those disciples for no reason considering how strong they will be in the future. Even if they break the rules, the Elders will often act like they didn''t see anything.
I suspect that the only reason why Elder Cao Ling acted this time, was because Dong Cheng broke the rules in front of everyone else, and he even attacked that monster, Shun Long.''''
''''Things are now difficult for Elder Cao Ling. The protective artifact around Dong Cheng''s neck can take on even the full-powered attack of an early stage Dao Emperor once. It makes sense that Dong Cheng wouldn''t be afraid of an inner court Elder like him.''''
''''Right! Although Elder Cao Ling can destroy it, he would really have to go all-out to do so, and if he really does that, he will end up offending the Dong n. I heard that this is a protective artifact that the Dong n leader gave to Dong Cheng himself to save his life.''''
''''Who cares about this! What I want to know is what type of Dao that Shun Long hasprehended. He defeated Dong Ai with a single punch and he even took on Dong Cheng''s attack head-on!''''
Even though most of the disciples in the crowd didn''t seem to know what was going on or why Dong Cheng had dared to act so arrogantly in front of an inner court Elder, there were a few outer disciples who knew about some of the secrets of the sect.
But although most disciples had their eyes on Dong Cheng and Cao Ling, a number of extremely powerful outer court disciples were scrutinizing Shun Long with their gazes instead.
Previously, none of those disciples had cared about a middle rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator like him, but now... things were entirely different. The power that Shun Long had showed was enough to threaten even some of the peak rank 9 Nascent Soul disciples in the crowd.
Although it wasn''t nearly enough to match up against the power of a Dao King, they all knew that Shun Long was only a middle rank 7 Nascent Soul stage cultivator right now.
''''If he can threaten peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators now, then what will happen when he himself reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul instead?''''
As this thought appeared in their minds, even some of the more powerful experts in the rankings started to look at Shun Long solemnly.
No matter what, once he reaches the peak of the Nascent Soul, even some of them will feel threatened!
At the same time however, Cao Ling wasn''t paying any attention to those outer court disciples in the crowd, as his gaze was entirely focused on the smirking Dong Cheng.
Cao Ling knew clearly that Dong Cheng was only releasing a tiny hint of aura from the protective artifact on his chest to resist his own aura, and he would still be able to use it again in the future if he met a Dao Emperor. But if Cao Ling really attacked and broke it while forcing Dong Cheng to kneel, then the Dong n would really be offended once Dong Cheng lost a protective artifact at the Dao Emperor level.
This was why Cao Ling was now hesitant.
Although he wanted to punish Dong Cheng he didn''t dare to really destroy his protective artifact either.
Most likely, the Dong n leader had paid an enormous price to obtain it, and he would definitely have a lot of resentment against Cao Ling in the future.
At that moment however, a melodiousughter sounded from the sky above the arena, as the figure of a beautiful middle-aged woman appeared a few tens of meters above Dong Cheng
''''Little brat of the Dong n, you really are arrogant. What about me then? Am I qualified to make you kneel?''''
Although Elder Xuan''s voice was calm, the expression on Dong Cheng''s face quickly changed as he raised his head and looked at her figure in the sky above him with a disbelieving look on his face.
And yet, Dong Cheng didn''t even have enough time to open his mouth and speak, as along with Elder Xuan''s voice, a terrifying force also descended from the sky at the same time, as it collided with Dong Cheng''s protective white light in the next moment.
The protective white light around Dong Cheng''s body that could even take on the attack of an early-stage Dao Emperor without shattering seemed to have been nothing more than a weak bubble in front of Xuan Jiao''s aura, as it popped without any resistance, before Xuan Jiao''s aura continued to press down heavily on Dong Cheng''s body.
Dong Cheng hadn''t expected that Elder Xuan would meddle in this matter considering that she was the master of his younger sister and his sister had been injured by Shun Long just now.
Unfortunately, Elder Xuan didn''t seem to care about what Dong Cheng thought, as her aura instantly forced Dong Cheng into a kneeling position.
''''It doesn''t matter who you are, the rules of the sect aren''t for you to break them as you please. Remember, this is the Holy sect, not your Dong n!''''
Silence immediately filled the arena once again, as everyone stared at the white-robed figure of Elder Xuan in the sky with disbelieving looks in their eyes.? She had really dared to destroy Dong Cheng''s protective treasure without even a second thought!
-
Author''s note: Next chapter wille in a few hours. Mass release again tomorrow as well, so look forward to it.
Chapter 662: Fighting intent
Chapter 662: Fighting intent
''''You...''''
Raising his head, the look on Dong Cheng''s face had turned exceedingly ugly as he stared at Elder Xuan''s figure in the sky above him.
''''Master...''''
Dong Ai mumbled in a voice filled with disbelief and even some hints of anger as she stared at her master above the arena.
Elder Xuan had really attacked Dong Cheng and had even destroyed his Dao Emperor protective artifact while forcing him to kneel in front of her.
Dong Cheng had been confident that Cao Ling wouldn''t have dared to destroy his protective artifact which was why he was acting so unbridled.
Even if Cao Ling had decided to punish him for breaking the sect rules and attacking Shun Long, considering Dong Cheng''s status as someone ranked in the top 10 in the Martial Roll of Honor and the heir of the Dong n, it was unlikely that Cao Ling would dare to go too far.
But Dong Cheng knew that Elder Xuan waspletely different from Cao Ling.
Her status was already many times higher than Cao Ling''s, and even among the rest of the inner court Elders of the Holy sect, Xuan Jiao ranked within the top, just below the Grand Elder and the head elder of the inner court Sun Wen!
Even in terms of strength, Xuan Jiao herself was on apletely different levelpared to Cao Ling and was rumored to have reached thete stages of the Dao Emperor realm long ago.
Even Dong Cheng''s father, the n leader of the Dong n was inferior to her.
Thus, Dong Cheng knew that Elder Xuan wouldn''t be afraid of his Dong n nor would she have any reservations in acting against him.
Elder Xuan had a cold look in her eyes as she looked at Dong Cheng and said
''''It seems that all of you, the descendants of the big ns and families around my Holy sect''s territory have really grown bold. Consider this your punishment this time.
However, if you dare to break the sect rules in front of me again, it won''t matter if you are a descendant of the Dong n or the Yang family, I promise you that I won''t be so merciful next time!''''
Dong Cheng narrowed his eyes, but he didn''t dare to meet Elder Xuan''s piercing gaze head-on as he lowered his head angrily a momentter.
Although he had a bellyful of anger in his heart after having his protective artifact destroyed and even being forced to kneel in front of nearly every single outer disciple in the arena, Dong Cheng didn''t dare tosh out at Elder Xuan as he turned around and flew towards the audience seats without saying a word.
However, in his heart, Dong Cheng muttered
''''Xuan Jiao! Once I be ate-stage Dao Emperor as well, I will personally take revenge for today''s humiliation!''''
Elder Xuan''s words had even made some of the outer court disciples in the audience seats who belonged to those powerful ns shiver, while a few of them stared at her with serious looks in their eyes.
However, in front of ate-stage Dao Emperor like her, not a single outer disciple, regardless of which powerful n or family they came from, dared to speak loudly or question her words.
They all understood that Elder Xuan was different from Cao Ling.
It didn''t matter which family or n they came from as Elder Xuan didn''t have to give them face at all.
Even if she killed Dong Cheng for breaking the sect rules, the Dong n leader would only be able to swallow his anger.
But of course, Xuan Jiao wouldn''t kill someone at the top 10 of the Martial Roll of Honor for breaking the sect rules.
The current punishment he had received was already enough in her eyes to teach him a lesson.
Shun Long also understood that there was nothing else that Elder Xuan would do to Dong Cheng today, but Shun Long still stared at the golden-haired young man''s back with his golden eyes narrowed.
Even if Dong Cheng had lost a Dao Emperor level protective artifact and was forced to kneel for breaking the sect rules, Shun Long wasn''t going to simply forget about Dong Cheng''s actions against him.
Even Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, were all staring at Dong Cheng''s figure with eyes filled with killing intent from the audience seats.
Dong Cheng''s actions today had long since crossed their bottom lines.
Turning her gaze towards Shun Long, Elder Xuan then smiled lightly, her beautiful smile immediately capturing the hearts of countless outer disciples sitting in the audience seats.
Shun Long cupped his hands at her, as he saw Elder Xuan nodding her head at him in response, before she once again flew high above the arena.
The bald, white-robed Elder Cao Ling threw one angry look at Dong Cheng who had already returned back to the audience seats, before he followed Elder Xuan as well.
No matter what, an early stage Dao Emperor like Cao Ling would naturally be furious after being looked down upon by an outer court disciple, regardless if he was ranked in the top 10 of the Martial Roll of Honor or not.
Receiving his sect identifying from the outer court Elder responsible for his tform, Shun Long then flew back towards the audience seats, under the attentive eyes of the rest of the outer court disciples around him.
Shun Long could feel the curious and even the heated gazes of the disciples around him, who were either curious to find out what kind of Dao he hadprehended or they even wanted to fight against him.
Even the short, spiky-haired Jun Ren who had entered the sect at the same time that Shun Long, Jiang Chen and the rest did, was now also paying attention to Shun Long with a serious look in his eyes, while the burly giant who had attracted everyone''s attention previously, the early rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator Wu Tao had a heated gaze as he stared at Shun Long with eyes filled with fighting intent.
It wasn''t just them, as many powerful outer court disciples, even some who were in the top 1000 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor were now staring at Shun Long''s figure that flew back to the audience seats.
Although Shun Long had showed that he was strong enough to fight most peak rank 9 Nascent Soul experts, how could those geniuses be afraid of him?
They would naturally look forward to fighting him themselves!
Chapter 663: Supreme Dao
Chapter 663: Supreme Dao
The battles in the arena quickly resumed and in the blink of an eye, an hour had passed before only the top 3000 strongest outer disciples were left.
The excitement that the disciples in the crowd were feeling was slowly reaching its peak as the battles in the arena became even more intense.
Even some of the more powerful outer court disciples had finally started to take the stage, and soon, everyone understood that even the top 1000 outer disciples would show themselves in the arena as well.
At the same time that the battles in the arena continued, in the depths of the Holy sect, the white-robed head of the inner court Elders, Sun Wen, had a worried look on his face as he waited outside of the Grand Elder''s residence.
Although he had informed the Grand Elder through his sect identifying token that he had arrived, an hour had already passed but the Grand Elder had yet toe out and meet him.
''''This is weird. Even when the Grand Elder is cultivating in seclusion, he will still have his token by his side and will respond whenever there is an important matter. Don''t tell me that something has gone wrong with the Grand Elder''s cultivation session this time!''''
Sun Wen shivered as he thought of this possibility, but he quickly shook his head a momentter, immediately rejecting it.
The Grand Elder had already reached the peak of the Dao Emperor realm long ago.
Although Sun Wen knew that taking the final step from the Dao Emperor to the Sovereign realm was extremely dangerous and could even kill a peak Dao Emperor, if the Grand Elder had really attempted his breakthrough, there was no way that Sun Wen and the other Elders would have missed the tribtion lightning that would have descended from the heavens.
''''Haha, Sun Wen you little brat, why have youe to see me?''''
A joyousughter resounded in the sky as it suddenly interrupted Sun Wen''s train of thought, causing Sun Wen to hurriedly raise his head, only to see the figure of a tall old man with long white hair who was flying towards him from the distance with a smile on his face.
Sun Wen hurriedly bowed when he saw the familiar figure of the white-robed old man, before he called out in an excited voice
''''Grand Elder!''''
Although Sun Wen was surprised when he saw that the Grand Elder wasn''ting out from his own residence, he quickly understood that the Grand Elder had probably ended his cultivation session a while ago.
The Grand Elder nodded his head with that same smile on his face as he looked at Sun Wen and asked
''''Speak you brat. Why have youe to see me? Is there something in the sect that you can''t handle by yourself?''''
Sun Wen shook his head and answered seriously
''''Grand Elder, there is an important issue that made me toe and see you today.''''
''''Oh? An important issue?''''
Sun Wen nodded his head and answered seriously
''''An outer court disciple who joined the sect recently hasprehended an extremely rare Supreme Dao!''''
''''A supreme Dao? Haha, Sun Wen, you little brat, tell me, how many outer court and even inner court disciples haveprehended supreme Daos? Although they aren''tmon, there are at least 10 of them.''''
Sun Wen shook his head vehemently and stared at the white-robed old man in front of him whose aura was like a mountain before he answered in a hurried tone
''''No, Grand Elder, this time it''s different! This kid''s Supreme Dao is really terrifying! At the same time, he hasn''t simply gained insights into a single Supreme Dao but he had actuallyprehended 2 of them!''''
''''2 Supreme Daos?'''' The Grand Elder''s eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked at Sun Wen seriously, causing Sun Wen''s body to tremble slightly.
Indeed, Sun Wen clearly understood what havingprehended 2 Supreme Daos meant.
Even among the geniuses of the central region, those who hadprehended 2 Supreme Daos were extremely rare.
Even Sun Wen himself had only heard of a single person who was rumored to haveprehended 2 Supreme Daos, and he was an absolute genius whose strength was even stronger than Sun Wen''s!
''''Grand Elder... the main reason why I have to see you today isn''t just this. Both of those Daos that this kid hasprehended are extremely rare Daos even among Supreme Daos, but one of them is a Dao that has never been seen before!
Grand Elder... I am certain that it''s the Dao of Time.''''
The Grand Elder''s eyes had a look of disbelief as he stared at Sun Wen, before the Grand Elder then said seriously
''''Take me to see this kid!''''
Sun Wen nodded his head as his figure shot towards the arena in the outer court at full speed.
Sun Wen understood why the Grand Elder was so excited!
A genius who hadprehended 2 Supreme Daos, one of which has never even been seen before... that was truly terrifying!
In terms of the rarity of the Daos that he hadprehended, Shun Long was without a doubt ranked first within the entire Holy sect.
''''Unfortunately, he is simply too weak... If only there was enough time... his results there would have been truly stunning.''''
As Sun Wen thought of this, he kept flying towards the arena in the outer court at full speed with the Grand Elder trailing right behind him.
Meanwhile, in the sky above the arena, the white-robed Xuan Jiao and Cao Ling were staring at the fights in the arena with smiles on their faces.
Nodding his head, Cao Ling looked at the figure of a golden Buddha that was more than 10 meters(33ft) tall and spoke in a suprised voice
''''Even this brat has a unique physique? He Kun''s disciple really hid himself well!''''
Xuan Jiao nodded her head as they both saw Bai Longtian''s eye-catching figure that was standing tall at the center of the tform.
Chapter 664
Chapter 664
Bai Longtian''s opponent was a young woman with fiery red hair and eyebrows whose body was now covered in injuries.
Although her cultivation had reached the middle of rank 8 and was an entire rank higher than Bai Longtian''s, this young woman was in an extremely sorry state the moment that Bai Longtian had revealed his unique physique.
The attacks of her sword could barely pierce through Bai Longtian''s defenses since his golden Buddha body was extremely durable.
However, the young woman realized that as soon as he activated his unique physique, it wasn''t just Bai Longtian''s defense that became stronger. His power and speed had already surpassed hers as well, causing the young woman to only be able to dodge.
Although she managed to sneak some attacks in every now and then, Bai Longtian didn''t fear those attacks at all as he allowed them tond on his golden Buddha body.
Most of those attacks however didn''t even manage to pierce through his defense, causing the red-haired young woman to feel despair in her heart.
''''What kind of defense is this? Even junior sister Qiu''s sword is unable to harm that guy''s body!''''
''''That guy is really strong! Howe I have never heard of him? Most likely, even those outer court disciples who have reached the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul will have some trouble piercing through his defenses!''''
Some of the disciples in the crowd had also noticed how Bai Longtian held an absolute advantage in his fight against the red-haired young woman, causing many people to turn their attention towards him.
After all, his golden Buddha body was truly too eye-catching, so it was only natural that it would attract attention.
''''Hah, that buddhist idiot is really enjoying himself. After consuming the ''five-elements awakening pill'', his body really got even stronger than before. I am curious to see which of us is stronger right now.''''
As Jiang Chen said this, the look in his eyes was filled with fighting intent as he stared at Bai Longtian''s figure.
Indeed, after consuming the ''five-elements awakening pill'', Bai Longtian''s unique physique had gotten much stronger than before.
Shun Long and Liu Mei simply smiled when they heard this, while Xingyi turned to look at Shun Long with a bright smile on her face.
After all, it wasn''t just Bai Longtian''s body that had gotten stronger after consuming the top-grade ''five-elements awakening pills'' that Shun Long had made.
Jiang Chen''s unique physique had also be much stronger, while the same could be said for Xie Xingyi as well.
If it was the Bai Longtian from before, he would most likely have some trouble taking on the attacks of a middle rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator like the red-haired woman head-on, but now... most likely only the attacks of a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul outer disciple would be able to threaten him.
Of course, if he really allowed the red-haired young woman to attack him freely, then after tens or perhaps a hundred of consecutive attacks he would be injured, but Bai Longtian wasn''t dumb enough to do that.
A few momentster, the red-haired young woman could no longer resist Bai Longtian''s palm attacks and finally copsed on the ground.
At the same time, 2 white blurs streaked through the sky of the outer court, as they appeared above the arena barely a momentter.
Xuan Jiao and the bald Cao Ling both turned their attention towards the 2 neers, before their attention was focused on the tall old man with long white hair standing next to Sun Wen.
Xuan Jiao and Cao Ling both bowed as they called out in a respectful voice
''''Grand Elder!''''
Naturally, the Grand Elder''s arrival hadn''t just attracted the attention of the 2 inner court Elders, but the 8 outer court Elders as well, along with the disciples in the audience seats.
Although many of the disciples had never even seen the Grand Elder before today, after seeing the inner court and the outer court Elders in front of the 8 tforms greet him respectfully, everyone immediately understood this old man''s identity, causing many of the disciples in the audience seats to suck in breaths of cold air.
This was a true legend in the Holy sect''s territory, the second strongest person after the mysterious sect master himself!
''''What is the Grand Elder doing here? Don''t tell me that he hase to watch the fights for the Martial Roll of Honor! It''s even rare for the head Elder, Sun Wen toe.''''
''''Perhaps the Grand Elder heard about Elder Xuan punishing Dong Chen and decided to intervene. After all, Dong Cheng isn''t just a genius ranked 6th in the Martial Roll of Honor, he is also the heir of the Dong n. Perhaps the Grand Elder doesn''t want him to be too displeased.''''
''''Idiot! The head Elder had left the arena long before Shun Long''s fight with Dong Cheng! How would he know about Elder Xuan punishing Dong Cheng then? Besides, even if he knew do you really think that the Grand Elder would care about someone like Dong Cheng so much to personallye here?''''
The outer disciples had all started to wildly specte why the Grand Elder hade here.
At that moment however, the Grand Elder simply nodded at Xuan Jiao, Cao Ling, and the 8 outer court Elders, before he turned his attention to Sun Wen next to him and spoke in a hurried voice
''''Sun Wen, where is this kid?''''
Sun Wen''s eyes were scanning the arena already, and he quickly found Shun Long''s group in the audience seats.
The Grand Elder followed Sun Wen''s line of sight, and soon, his gaze alsonded on Shun Long''s figure among the crowd.
''''It''s him?! How is this possible?''''
The Grand Elder''s eyes widened as he looked at Shun Long with a look of disbelief on his face.
Actually, he had already investigated Shun Long before asking him to be his personal disciple a month ago, but he hadn''t found anything else other than Shun Long havingprehended the Dao of Space and possessing an immortal-grade bloodline.
At the same time, Shun Long and the rest had also noticed the Grand Elder''s arrival. Sensing the Grand Elder''s heated gaze that hadnded on him, Shun Long was somewhat surprised but he still nodded his head at him.
Although he was also curious as to why the Grand Elder hade here, Shun Long was still thankful to the Grand Elder for intervening with the matter regarding Xingyi''s master and even giving him his Elder token.
After staying silent for quite a while, the Grand Elder suddenly startedughing, his boomingughter shaking the entire arena.
Chapter 665: The Kings palace?
Chapter 665: The King''s pce?
Sun Wen and the other inner court Elders turned their head to look at the Grand Elder in surprise, but the Grand Elder had a bright smile on his face, as his body abruptly disappeared on the spot.
The Grand Elder''s speed was simply terrifying, and before anyone could even react, the Grand Elder had suddenly appeared in front of Shun Long''s group like a gust of wind, surprising Shun Long and even the other nearby outer court disciples.
However, the Grand Elder didn''t pay attention to anyone else, as his eyes were staring at Shun Long in front of him, and after he ced his hand on Shun Long''s shoulder, the Grand Elderughed joyously and said
''''You little brat, you really hid your power deeply. Quick, let me have a look!''''
''''Don''t tell me that the Grand Elder hase here for Shun Long? How can this be?''''
''''Could it be because of Shun Long''s Dao? It''s actually able to attract the attention of the Grand Elder?''''
''''I don''t believe this! Even if Shun Long''s Dao is a Supreme Dao, it shouldn''t be enough to make the Grand Eldere here personally!''''
Previously, there were still some outer disciples who hadn''t paid any attention to Shun Long, especially those who were ranked in the top 100.
After all, in their eyes, Shun Long was nothing more than a middle rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Even if he was strong enough to defeat Dong Ai in a single punch and even if he could really fight against peak rank 9 Nascent Soul outer disciples, in their eyes, Shun Long wasn''t a threat.
After all, which person in the top 100 of the Martial Roll of Honor rankings wasn''t an extreme genius with absolute confidence in themselves?
But now, virtually everyone, including those monsters ranked in the top 10, were now paying attention to him.
To cause the Grand Elder to personallye here, this meant that even among supreme Daos, Shun Long''s Dao was most likely extremely rare.
But of course, even if one hadprehended an extremely rare Dao, it wouldn''t mean that they would necessarily be strong.
At the same time, Shun Long''s eyes widened when he heard the Grand Elder''s words, but a momentter, a wry smile appeared on his face.
''''So the Grand Elder came here because of my Dao of Time.'''' Shun Long had actually expected this long ago so he wasn''t too surprised.
After all, he knew that as long as he revealed his Dao of Time in front of a Dao Emperor like Xuan Jiao or Sun Wen, it was very likely that that person would be able to sense the changes in the flow of time around him and realize that he hadprehended the Dao of Time.
Indeed, even though Sun Wen had never seen someone who hadprehended the Dao of Time before, how could he as a Dao Emperor not sense the changes around Dong Ai''s body earlier when Shun Long had fought with her?
With a smile on his face, Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', causing his eyes to instantly turn a deep golden color.
The invisible figure of an hourss immediately expanded from Shun Long''s body, only enveloping Shun Long''s group and the Grand Elder as Shun Long activated his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The Grand Elder had a dazed look in his eyes, but a momentter, he actually started tough as he said
''''Wonderful! Hahaha!''''
Then, almost as if he had suddenly remembered something, the Grand Elder''s expression changed slightly as he looked at Shun Long and said
''''Sigh, kid, I really wanted you to be my disciple... but if you aren''t willing, then so be it. In the Holy sect, you are no different from my own disciple anyway.''''
Amidst the silent arena, the Grand Elder''s words were akin to a bomb that exploded in everyone''s minds,pletely stunning not just the outer court disciples, but even the inner court Elders in the sky like Sun Wen, Cao Ling, and Xuan Jiao. Nobody could believe what they had just heard.
''''The Grand Elder wanted to take Shun Long as his personal disciple but Shun Long actually refused?''''
''''That kid, is he crazy? Even the heirs of the big families and ns would go crazy if the Grand Elder wanted to ept them as his personal disciples!''''
''''Hmph! It doesn''t matter! This Shun Long is definitely an idiot. Since he dared to refuse the Grand Elder, he will have no backer in the future inside the sect. If he had epted the Grand Elder''s offer, perhaps he would even have a chance to enter the King''s pce in the future... but now? His rate of growth will slow down dramatically after reaching the Dao King realm.''''
Many others nodded their heads when they heard this, while at the same time, looks of fervor had appeared in the eyes of the outer disciples who heard the words King''s pce.
And yet, the faces of most of those disciples who had mocked and cursed Shun Long just now didn''t hide their envy in the slightest.
Shun Long smiled at the Grand Elder while the words King''s pce also entered his ears. Unfortunately, Shun Long had no idea what the King''s pce was nor what significance it had.
The Grand Elder simply smiled before his figure suddenly turned blurry, disappearing on the spot and appearing in the midst of Sun Wen, Xuan Jiao, and Cao Ling in the next moment.
Little ck narrowed his eyes inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' as he stared at the Grand Elder, but the enormous ck dragon simply closed his eyes a momentter, not paying any more attention to him.
At the same time, the Grand Elder sat cross-legged in the sky above the arena as the fights finally continued.
Although the appearance of the Grand Elder had disrupted the tournament for a while, most of the disciples only threw onest look at Shun Long before they turned their attention to the fights in the arena.
Naturally, what mattered most today was the Martial Roll of Honor rankings!
Especially considering that the rewards this time were simply iparable to the previous times.
At the same time that the fights in the arena resumed, Jiang Chen turned his attention towards a young man sitting next to him and asked
''''Hey, you, what is this King''s pce that you were talking about?''''
-
Author''s note: 3 more chapters wille in the next 5 hours.
Chapter 666: The Kings palace (2)
Chapter 666: The King''s pce (2)
The young man next to Jiang Chen turned around and looked at Jiang Chen with a disdainful expression on his face, but the moment he noticed who the person who had asked him this question was, a brilliant smile appeared on the young man''s face as he nodded his head and answered smilingly
''''Ah, it''s senior brother Jiang! Senior brother Jiang, you don''t know about the King''s pce? Of course I can? exin then!
The King''s pce is an enormous pce situated near the heart of our central region. It is actually a miraculous pce that every single Nascent Soul cultivator in the central region wishes to enter. The reason behind that is because, entering the King''s pce will allow a person to be a Dao King much quicker than if they were to train in the outside world.''''
''''Be a Dao King faster than if they were training outside?''''
It wasn''t just Shun Long whose interest was piqued upon hearing this, but Liu Mei and the rest as well, as everyone stared at the young man next to Jiang Chen who nodded his head seriously and continued
''''But of course, the King''s pce isn''t a ce that anyone can enter just because they want to. The King''s pce opens only once every 10 years and only Dao Emperors or higher realm experts are allowed to bring their descendants or disciples inside.
However, even Dao Emperors have limitations and can''t bring with them as many people as they want to. Every Dao Emperor is allowed to bring with them only a single Nascent Soul cultivator who wants to enter the King''s Pce.
Even our Holy sect can only bring 10 Nascent Soul cultivators to enter the King''s pce every time the pce opens. So, only the top 10 strongest Nascent Soul outer disciples will be allowed to enter the King''s pce every time.''''
The young man then turned to look at Shun Long and continued
''''However, sometimes, certain inner court Elders will favor their personal disciples instead, and even if their disciples are weaker and aren''t among the top 10 strongest Nascent Soul outer disciples, they would still be allowed to enter the King''s pce.
This is why everyone couldn''t believe that Shun Long had declined the Grand Elder''s offer. After all, there is only a year left until the King''s pce opens again, and although Shun Long is strong enough to beat Dong Ai easily, he is still weaker than the strongest Nascent Soul outer disciples.''''
The young man took onest look at Shun Long and the rest before he turned around and started to observe the fights in the 8 tforms inside the arena.
At the same time, Shun Long and the others pondered over what they had just learned.
No wonder people were so jealous of the Grand Elder wanting to take Shun Long as his personal disciple. Just the King''s pce by itself would make virtually every single Nascent Soul outer disciple in the Holy sect agree without any hesitation.
Besides, the Grand Elder''s status was above that of most inner court Elders in the first ce. Who would dare to offend the Grand Elder''s personal disciple within the Holy sect?
''''I''m indeed somewhat curious to check out this King''s pce now. However, that guy wasn''t wrong either. My cultivation is only at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul. Although I could effortlessly beat someone at Dong Ai''s level, the strongest outer court disciples who have reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul will definitely be at apletely different level.
If there are any of them have also reached the Dao King realm in terms of their Daoprehension, then even if they haven''t broken through to be Dao Kings just yet, it will be practically impossible for me to win unless I use my ''ck Dragon bloodline''.''''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long looked forward to the battles for the top 1000 even more.
Only after bringing himself to his limits would he have a chance to breakthrough in his Daoprehension even further.
Right now, Shun Long had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage in terms of his Daoprehension alone. However, the difference between the peak of the Nascent Soul and the Dao King realm was too vast.
Others may only need a sudden sh of inspiration to breakthrough from the peak of the Nascent Soul to the Dao King realm in terms of their Daoprehension, but Shun Long knew that his Dao of Time was different.
It needed both a sudden spark of insight and to spend countless hours pondering the Dao as well.
As the battles on the tforms continued, Liu Mei and the rest also won their fights, but their fights also became increasingly more difficult.
Finally, as Jiang Chen stepped on one of the tforms, a short, spiky-haired young man flew towards that tform as well, immediately attracting the attention of many outer court disciples who were sitting in the audience seats.
After all, this was the person with the lowest cultivation base left, Jun Ren.
''''Hah, it''s finally Jun Ren''s turn to lose! The fact that an early rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator like him made it this far is already surprising.''''
''''I heard that Jun Ren is Elder Ying''s personal disciple. If he met a middle rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator he would probably have a chance, but against Jiang Chen, he will definitely lose.''''
''''Perhaps Jun Ren will beat Jiang Chen! Although Jiang Chen''s cultivation is at the peak of the rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, it doesn''t mean that Jun Ren will necessarily lose.''''
Although the vast majority of the disciples believed that Jun Ren would definitely lose, there were still some people who were rooting for him to win.
As Jun Ren stepped on the stage, his arrogant ck eyesnded on Jiang Chen who was simrly staring back at him with a lofty, cold gaze.
Surprisingly, Jun Ren was the first to speak, as he looked at Jiang Chen with a provocative look in his eyes and said
''''Jiang Chen huh? I saw your battle when we first entered the sect. Although you are somewhat strong, in my eyes you are nothing special. Unfortunately your cultivation is higher than mine, or I would have wiped the floor with you today.''''
Chapter 667: Jiang Chen vs Jun Ren
Chapter 667: Jiang Chen vs Jun Ren
Jun Ren''s words instantly attracted the attention of the crowd, as everyone stared at him with excited looks in their eyes.
Jun Ren was actually provoking Jiang Chen!
Everyone who knew a few things about Jiang Chen would confidently say that Jiang Chen was a true madman that very few people would dare to provoke!
In the faction wars, he had even dared to charge against the enemy faction leaders alone, even when those faction leaders had a higher cultivation base than him and they were even protected by 3 or 4 of their faction members.
Although Xingyi''s assassination attacks were also feared by the enemy faction leaders when Shun Long''s faction participated in the faction wars, Jiang Chen''s nature that was like a magic beast was even more terrifying.
When Jiang Chen fought he barely showed any mercy, beating most of his opponents to an inch of their death.
And yet Jun Ren dared to provoke him?
Liu Mei and Xingyi were both puzzled as the 2 young women turned their eyes towards Shun Long, as Xingyi asked in a low voice
''''Brother Long, is this Jun Ren an idiot?''''
The way Xingyi saw it, trying to anger Jiang Chen when Jun Ren was already weaker than him was no different from having a death wish.
Although Jiang Chen wouldn''t dare to kill him, he would definitely beat him without holding back.
Liu Mei had a curious look on her face as well as she stared at Shun Long, while a calm smile had appeared on Bai Longtian''s face.
At the same time, Shun Long smiled as well, as he turned his attention towards Liu Mei and Xingyi and said
''''Jun Ren is actually smart. After all, this is his only hope of beating Jiang Chen. Although his tactic is so simple that even a fool would see through it, Jiang Chen will definitely walk right into it even though he knows it''s a trap.''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw the looks of disbelief on Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s faces, as the 2 peerlessly beautiful women both turned their eyes towards the tform at the same time.
Although Liu Mei and Xingyi both understood what Jun Ren was trying to achieve, they didn''t think that he would really manage to rouse Jiang Chen since this tactic of his would only work on idiots or extremely arrogant people.
But Liu Mei and Xingyi had both forgotten that Jiang Chen by nature was extremely arrogant.
It was only when he was around Shun Long and the others that he would show his warm side. In his heart however he was extremely arrogant.
Why would he let someone like Jun Ren step on him?
Indeed, an extremely evil smile was formed on Jiang Chen''s lips as he looked at Jun Ren in front of him, before Jiang Chen suddenly started tough
''''Hahaha! You would have wiped the floor with me if we were both at the same cultivation base? Fine then! I also wanted to fight you when we entered the Holy sect 10 months ago. Today I will make you suffer!''''
As he finished speaking, under the astounded gazes of the crowd, Jiang Chen actually started to suppress his cultivation base until it reached the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, the same level as Jun Ren''s. Unless Jiang Chen intentionally broke this ''seal'' of his, his power would be no different from an early rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Jun Ren''s eyes lit up when he saw this scene before a mocking smile slowly formed itself on his lips.
Indeed, Jiang Chen was just as arrogant as he himself was.
Of course, only someone who had extreme confidence in himself and his own strength would intentionally lower his cultivation base to fight his opponent evenly.
The Grand Elder who was leisurely drinking from his wine sk suddenly turned his eyes towards Jiang Chen''s tform, before a smile appeared on his face as well.
''''Haha, Jiang Tianfang''s son isn''t any less arrogant than his father. This will be interesting. That Jun Ren brat isn''t weak either.''''
The white-robed Sun Wen and Xuan Jiao both nodded their heads, while Cao Ling stayed silent.
He had both watched Jun Ren and Jiang Chen when they entered the sect, but although he had seen Jiang Chen''s limits, Cao Ling had no idea what Jun Ren''s limits were.
Shun Long calmly watched as Jiang Chen lowered his cultivation base at the same level as Jun Ren, before he mumbled to himself
''''Although this Jun Ren is strong, unless he has something else to rely on aside from his Dao, there is no way for him to win.''''
As Shun Long saw it, for Jun Ren to have managed to breakthrough to the early rank 7 in the Nascent Soul so quickly all by himself, he most likely had a secret of his own.
After all, Jiang Chen and the others had consumed a second rank 5 ''Barrier piercing pill'' that Shun Long himself had refined, but Jun Ren had almost caught up to them.
However, in terms of strength, although Shun Long had already seen that Jun Ren hadprehended an extremely rare and powerful Dao, he was still inferior to Jiang Chen who also had the Eternal Darkness unique physique.
Even if they were at the same level of cultivation, Shun Long knew that Jiang Chen would win even before he had strengthened his physique with the ''five-elements awakening pill''.
''''Begin!'''' The outer court Elder responsible for the tform said in a loud booming voice.
A pair of ck wings that were burning with dark red mes sprouted from Jiang Chen''s back at that moment, as Jiang Chen shot towards Jun Ren without any hesitation.
Jun Ren smiled when he saw this and without any hints of panic on his face, he stretched out his hands in front of his chest, before an earthen yellow ball of qi appeared in the air in front of him.
Soon, a second, a third, a fourth... and in just a few moments, as Jiang Chen had managed to cross only half the distance between them, more than 1000 balls of qi were hovering in the air in front of Jun Ren.
With a mocking look on his face, Jun Ren looked at Jiang Chen''s iing figure before he shouted in a booming voice
''''Arise!''''
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Author''s note: 5/5
6th chapter isn''t ready but 2 more chapters wille in a few hours and another mass release will alsoe tomorrow so look forward to it <3
Chapter 668: Jun Rens trump card
Chapter 668: Jun Ren''s trump card
The 1000 balls of qi in front of Jun Ren suddenly trembled, before they rapidly expanded as they started to take on humanoid forms.
A momentter, 1000 warriors made from qi, each of them wearing an earthen yellow armor appeared in front of Jun Ren, all of them blocking Jiang Chen''s path.
Half of the warriors were holding deep yellow spears and shields while the other half were holding swords instead.
Neither Jiang Chen nor Shun Long or the others were surprised when they saw Jun Ren''s 1000 warriors appear in front of him as they barred Jiang Chen''s path. They had already seen this scene before, during Jun Ren''s previous fights. Everyone already knew that these warriors were all formed from Jun Ren''s Dao of War!
''''Haha, a brat who hasprehended the Dao of War. How interesting.'''' Little ck''s voice had a tinge of amusement in it as it sounded inside Shun Long''s mind while Shun Long simply nodded his head in agreement.
Indeed, Jun Ren''s Dao of War was extremely unique.
The only Dao that Shun Long had seen which could be considered somewhat simr to this, was only Liu Mei''s Dao of Death.
Seeing Jiang Chen approaching him at a terrifying speed that was even enhanced by his ''Demonic Wings'' even further, Jun Ren simply smiled as his 1000 warriors in front of him suddenly split into 10 groups.
And yet, Jiang Chen simply smirked as he took out a golden saber from his spatial ring, before he dove head-on towards the first group that was blocking his path.
BOOOM!
As Jiang Chen shed his saber horizontally, the bodies of more than a dozen warriors were instantly destroyed as their earthen yellow armor in front of their chest cracked before they turned to dust.
The rest of the 100 warriors however didn''t falter as they moved to surround Jiang Chen as well, all of them hacking towards him with their swords.
Jiang Chen either punched those swords with his fists that were enhanced by the power of his Demonic Dao, or he shed his golden saber towards them, and with every passing moment, dozens of Jun Ren''s warriors were being destroyed at an extremely fast rate.
Jiang Chen looked like a magic beast tearing through an army of mortals, unhindered by the warriors'' attacks.
And yet, Jun Ren''s lips simply curved upwards, as a momentter, the other 9 groups that were filled with 100 warriors each, all moved to reinforce the first group that was under attack.
''''Jun Ren''s warriors are probably slightly weaker than Mei''er''s skeletons if they were at the same level of cultivation, but they are more organized when they fight and even resemble an army, bringing out more of their strength this way. If they fought against Mei''er''s skeletons head-on, they would most likely win. However, if Mei''er''s undead knights also joined the fight, it''s uncertain who would win...'''' Shun Long mused to himself as he watched Jiang Chen tear through the defenses of Jun Ren''s warriors effortlessly.
''''Haha, master. Although that kid has really gained insights into the Dao of War, this is only the crudest, most simple way to utilize his Dao. Naturally, the Dao of War is suited towards both offense and defense, allowing a single person to control an army, while the Dao of Death is more suited towards death and destruction. However, this kid hasn''t found the true essence of the Dao of War just yet. If he were to fight against master''s wife, even if they were at the same level of cultivation, it would definitely be a one-sided ughter.'''' Little ck had the same amused look on his face as he looked at Jiang Chen effortlessly destroying Jun Ren''s army.
At that moment however, although Jiang Chen hadn''t stopped hacking his golden saber, he was actually unable to keep moving forward, as Jun Ren''s warriors had surrounded him from all sides.
It had to be said that even a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator would die if he was hit by the attacks of 10 peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage cultivators simultaneously. Although Jiang Chen was confident in himself, this was still a tough situation to be in.
Although he was still destroying Jun Ren''s army, Jiang Chen''s speed had slowed down dramatically after he waspletely surrounded.
At this point, more than 600 warriors d in earthen yellow armor were left, but Jun Ren simply smiled as he looked at Jiang Chen with a mocking look in his eyes and said
''''Since you were so arrogant to dive head-on and destroy them, then let me see how you n to escape now.''''
However, this wasn''t the end, as Jun Ren gathered his qi in front of his chest, causing another ball of qi to start taking form in front of him.
The looks on the faces of some of the outer court disciples watching from the audience seats suddenly changed, as everyone saw that a momentter, more than 300 warriors had once again appeared around Jun Ren!
Jiang Chen had managed to destroy a little more than 300 warriors so far, but more than 300 of them had once again appeared in front of Jun Ren in the blink of an eye.
It didn''t matter how fast Jiang Chen could destroy them, it was obvious that the speed at which Jun Ren could create those warriors was much faster than Jiang Chen''s.
Everyone understood that if this continued, then Jiang Chen''s qi would be depleted before Jun Ren had even used half of his own.
It wasn''t just Shun Long and the rest who had noticed this, but even Jiang Chen who was in the midst of the more than 600 warriors who had also managed to sense this through his soul sense.
''''Jiang Chen, you were too arrogant! Since you dared to lower your cultivation base against me, then let me send you on your way! You are the first person to see my true strength!''''
As he finished speaking, Jun Ren closed his eyes and ced both of his hands on the ground of the tform, as he started to infuse his qi, before arge pool made from a bright yellow liquid was soon formed in front of him.
At that moment, the tform itself started to tremble, before a giant more than 30 meters(100ft) tall emerged from the bright yellow pool of liquid, leaving the spectators utterly stunned.
Chapter 669:
Chapter 669:
Even Shun Long and Liu Mei stared at this scene with stunned looks on their faces.
Shun Long had originally believed that the 1000 warriors in the earthen yellow armor was his full strength, but now it was obvious that he had been holding back in his previous fights.
A gigantic humanoid creature with blurry, indistinct facial features appeared in front of Jun Ren, as it stared at Jiang Chen with its blurry golden eyes.
This giant was more than 30 meters tall and was d in a bright golden armor that covered both his chest area, as well as his arms and legs, while on his back he was carrying arge heavy sword.
Although this giant''s aura was only at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, the same as Jun Ren and the current Jiang Chen, everyone could feel that this giant was much stronger than the average early rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator.
The look on Jiang Chen''s face turned cold when he sensed this giant''s aura, as he shed his golden saber horizontally at full strength, creating an enormous saber sh that destroyed the bodies of more than 20 of Jun Ren''s warriors in an instant.
The earthen yellow warriors however didn''t have any fear of death, as they quickly closed the gap that had appeared in their midst and moved to attack Jiang Chen again.
The arena itself once more started to tremble, as the golden-armored giant only stared at Jiang Chen for a single moment, before his body moved towards him like a blur.
The golden-armored giant''s speed was even faster than the earthen yellow warriors, and in just a few moments, he had appeared in the sky above Jiang Chen before he drew his gigantic heavy sword and shed it at Jiang Chen!
The sky above Jiang Chen seemed to have been blotted out, as the enormous sword descended towards him at a terrifying speed.
Jiang Chen shed his golden saber against the attacks of the surrounding warriors who seemed to have attacked him at the same time as the golden giant, before he sent a punch of his own towards the sky, as his left fist met the giant''s sword head-on!
However, Jiang Chen''s body slightly trembled, before he was actually sent flying backward like a meteor under the disbelieving eyes of thousands of outer court disciples!
Jiang Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, while his left arm that was covered in blood now had a wound so deep, that those disciples could clearly see Jiang Chen''s bones.
Silence had filled the arena before those disciples in the audience seats erupted in discussions
''''That golden giant is too terrifying! Jiang Chen has clearly reached the middle of the fifth stage in his body refinement, but that golden giant''s attack was strong enough to destroy his arm! If he was slightly weaker he may had even died!''''
''''Don''t tell me that Jiang Chen will actually lose! Could it be that Jun Ren is actually stronger than him?''''
''''No way! Jiang Chen still has his unique physique! He is definitely strong enough to fight this golden giant.''''
Some of the disciples in the crowd were excited to see Jun Ren show his true strength that had even managed to send Jiang Chen flying and injure him heavily, but many of them knew about Jiang Chen''s unique physique and were even more eager to see Jiang Chen go all-out.
Shun Long had a deep look in his eyes as he stared at the wound on Jiang Chen''s arm, as he mumbled in a low voice
''''Indeed, this Jun Ren is even stronger than he looks. This golden giant is probably not much weaker, even whenpared to Mei''er''s Death Eater.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head in agreement, before a terrifying dark aura suddenly erupted from Jiang Chen''s body, immediately silencing the surrounding outer disciples.
This aura brought chills down to most of those outer disciples'' hearts, while even Jun Ren involuntarily took a step back when he sensed this, as a feeling of dread suddenly overcame him.
Jiang Chen had a cold look in his eyes as he stared at Jun Ren, as he no longer held back any of his strength, as a veil of darkness suddenly expanded from his body, immediately enveloping the entire tform in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Chen''s and Jun Ren''s figures, along with the 1000 earthen yellow warriors and even the 30 meters(100ft) tall giant, were all covered by Jiang Chen''s veil of darkness in an instant.
Even the outer court Elder responsible for the fights in the tform felt his body being covered by the dark veil.
At the same time, the Grand Elder in the sky suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'', as his lips curved up into a smile.
At that moment, Jun Ren had a feeling as if he had suddenly turned blind, while he could clearly feel that even his soul sense was restricted inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness''.
Jun Ren however didn''t panic, since he could still feel the position of his earthen yellow warriors and the golden-armored giant that weren''t too far away from him.
Without any dy, Jun Ren called for his army of 1000 warriors and the golden-armored to rush towards him at full speed.
Whether it was in terms of offense or defense, Jun Ren was confident that he was among the top of the Holy sect among those at the same level of cultivation.
Even back in his own continent, he was the undisputed strongest genius with no one elseing close to him.
The only reason he was weaker than others inside the Holy sect was his lower cultivation base.
Jun Ren was confident that upon reaching the Dao King realm, even the top 100 in the Martial Roll of Honor would be easy to aplish!
Staring at the 1000 warriors and the golden-armored giant that hadpletely surrounded Jun Ren, protecting him from any possible sneak attack, Jiang Chen simply wiped the hint of blood on his lips.
At that moment, the darkness around Jiang Chen''s body started to swirl, turning into an enormous ck fist that hovered above his head.
This fist of darkness was even bigger than the 2 fists of the golden-armored giant, as it suddenly moved towards Jun Ren''s direction.
Although Jun Ren couldn''t see anything and his soul sense waspletely restricted, he could feel the vibrations in the air around him and could feel that something was approaching him at a terrifying speed.
''''Attack!''''
Jun Ren shouted loudly before the golden-armored giant took a step forward and drew his heavy sword once again, before he shed it towards the enormous fist of darkness.
The air itself trembled the moment the gigantic ck fist and the golden giant''s sword met, before the golden giant was actually pushed back for more than a dozen steps.
The look on Jun Ren''s face changed when he sensed this.
The golden-armored giant was truly his strongest trump card but it was actually unable to fully resist Jiang Chen''s attack!
And yet, before Jun Ren could react, he could suddenly feel the air around him tremble once more, as another ck fist that was even bigger than the previous one descended above his head.
''''War god''s guard!''''
Jun Ren''s voice was cold as he shouted at his 1000 earthen warriors around him while the qi around his body exploded outwards. He could feel that the golden giant that had been pushed back more than a dozen steps just now wouldn''t be able to make it in time, so Jun Ren could only use his strongest defensive skill, the ''War God''s guard''.
The 1000 earthen yellow warriors all flew to the sky before they created a human-shaped wall, as they brandished their swords and spears at the enormous iing ck fist.
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Author''s note: Chapters were a bitte today (yesterday''s 2 extra chapters). We are getting another mass release today as well so look forward to it.
Chapter 670: Jiang Chens might
Chapter 670: Jiang Chen''s might
A glint shed through Jiang Chen''s eyes when he saw the human-shaped wall in front of Jun Ren, but his enormous ck fist didn''t slow down in the slightest, and instead, it sped up even further before it collided with Jun Ren''s ''War God''s guard''.
The ''War God''s guard'' was Jun Ren''s strongest defensive martial skill.
Jun Ren was confident that it could even resist the most powerful attack of a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul realm outer disciple head-on without too much trouble!
And yet, in front of Jiang Chen''s gigantic ck fist his ''War God''s guard'' only managed tost for a single second, before more than 50 of those warriors d in earthen yellow armor were disintegrated in an instant, as they turned to dust the moment that Jiang Chen''s ck fistnded on them.
And yet, the ck fist didn''t seem to have lost any of its power as it kept destroying the ''War God''s guard'', obliterating even more of Jun Ren''s warriors as it headed towards Jun Ren himself.
Jun Ren''s warriors shed their swords and stabbed their spears towards the enormous ck fist, but Jiang Chen''s fist of darkness didn''t show any signs of stopping.
''''Oh?'''' In the sky above the arena, the Grand Elder''s eyes lit up as he stared at the dark veil that had covered the tform, almost as if his own vision wasn''t impeded at all.
More than 400 yellow-armored warriors were destroyed in the blink of an eye, but Jiang Chen''s gigantic ck fist had only lost 20 percent of its power as it kept pushing forward.
The moment that thest warrior was destroyed, Jun Ren''s expression finally changed as he sensed the terrifying power that was descending from the sky towards him. Jiang Chen''s fist still had a little more than half of its power left, and without any ce for Jun Ren to dodge, the fist of darkness finallynded on Jun Ren''s body.
Rumble!!
The disciples in the audience seats couldn''t see what was going on inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'', but everyone clearly heard the rumbling sound that had caused the entire tform to shake, instantly attracting everyone''s attention.
Finally, the veil of darkness that had covered the tform slowly disappeared, revealing the scene inside.
Jiang Chen stood arrogantly in the air with a cold look on his face, as he stared at Jun Ren''s figure that had copsed on the ground.
Jun Ren''s body was lying unmoving while a pool of blood was formed around him.
The disciples in the audience seats sucked in breaths of cold air when they saw this scene.
From the power that he had showed previously, Jun Ren was definitely strong enough to fight against middle rank 8 Nascent Soul outer disciples head-on with his cultivation still at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul. And yet, barely a minute had passed since Jiang Chen had activated his unique physique, before Jun Ren was left lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Jiang Chen only threw onest cold look at Jun Ren who had seemed to have already lost consciousness, and after retrieving his sect identifying token from the outer court Elder responsible for the fights in the tform, he flew back towards Shun Long''s group in the audience seats.
''''I knew it! Jiang Chen is too terrifying! I bet he didn''t even use his immortal-grade bloodline against Jun Ren. Just his unique physique was probably enough!''''
''''Jun Ren wasn''t weak either. That golden-armored giant of his still managed to wound Jiang Chen''s arm! It''s just that Jiang Chen is too freakishly strong.''''
''''Still, I wonder who is stronger between those new disciples, Shun Long, Jiang Chen, or Wu Tao?''''
''''Probably Wu Tao... right? I heard that his talent is said to be at the same level as his elder brother''s. I don''t think Jiang Chen or Shun Long canpete with him yet.''''
Shun Long and the rest didn''t pay any attention to the disciples in the crowd, as they turned their attention to Jiang Chen who returned back to the audience seats.
Jiang Chen frowned when he sensed the blood dripping from his injured left arm, as he then closed his eyes for a moment.
The wound on his hand started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in just a few moments, it had already disappeared.
In just a few moments, his left arm had returned to its peak condition, almost as if it was never injured to begin with.
Naturally, for a body refinement cultivator, healing minor wounds on his body was only a matter of expending some of his energy through his body refinement cultivation.
''''Jiang Chen, how was it?'''' Shun Long looked at Jiang Chen with a smile on his face.
Nodding his head, Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and answered seriously
''''That kid isn''t weak. If he was born with a unique physique as well, perhaps I would have some trouble if I had faced him before consuming the ''five-elements awakening pill''.''''
Jiang Chen was honest as he answered Shun Long''s question.
Indeed, even if he hadn''t spent the past month absorbing the energy from the ''five-elements awakening pill'' and increasing the strength of his Eternal Darkness unique physique, the power of his fist of darkness when going all-out, would still have been strong enough to break past the defenses of Jun Ren''s ''War God''s guard''.
However, it wouldn''t be as easy and Jiang Chen estimated that he would have to attack Jun Ren for a third time or even a fourth time until he managed to do so.
After all, the first ''fist of darkness'' had sent Jun Ren''s golden-armored giant staggering back for more than a dozen steps, while the second had broken past the defenses of his ''War God''s guard''.
Shun Long nodded his head as he stared at Jun Ren''s figure that was carried away by the outer court Elder responsible for the tform.
Indeed, Jun ren was extremely strong. If his cultivation wasn''t only at the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, perhaps he would even have a chance to defeat a peak rank 8 outer court disciple. He had simply been too unlucky to be matched against Jiang Chen.
At the same time, in the audience seats not too far away from Shun Long''s group, a young man with long ck hair was staring at Shun Long''s group with a cold look in his eyes, before he said in a low voice
''''Those brats are stronger than I originally thought. But still, if they think that they can enter the top 1000 with their meager strength... heh, it will be fun!''''
If Shun Long and the rest had noticed this person''s gaze, they would quickly realize that this was the same person who was standing by Wan Zu''s side when they visited the Golden Treasures Hall, a genius who was ranked in the top 1000 and had his name on the Martial Roll of Honor, Song Yahui!
Chapter 671: Top 2000
Chapter 671: Top 2000
The fights in the arena continued, and soon, only the top 2000 were left.
At this point, there wasn''t even a single weak disciple left in the tournament.
Aside from those in the top 1000 who had yet to fight in the arena even once, those left were mostly disciples at the early rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, with a few exceedingly strong disciples who were still at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul.
As for those like Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and the rest, the only one left aside from Shun Long''s group was only the burly young man at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul, Wu Tao!
When Liu Mei stepped on the stage, her opponent was an early rank 9 Nascent Soul stage outer disciple.
However, even for Liu Mei, this fight was truly difficult.
Although she managed to win in the end, even after using the second form of the Death''s Chant which augmented the power of her undead creatures even further, Liu Mei still ended up sacrificing the corpse of the ck-robed old man during the fight.
The corpses of the old man and the ck-robed young woman that Liu Mei possessed were 2 of her strongest trump cards.
Although their cultivation was only at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul, their strength exceeded the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul and had even reached that of an early rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator once they were strength was increased by Liu Mei''s ''Death Chant''.
However, Liu Mei''s opponent was an outer court disciple that was much stronger than average early rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators.
Even when the old man and the beautiful young woman were working together, along with Liu Mei''s Death Eater, the young man that Liu Mei was facing still managed to destroy the corpse of the powerful old man before the ck-robed young woman sneaked in, as she finally ced her dagger on his neck.
Sensing the cold feeling of metal and seeing the hint of blood that wasing from his neck, although the young man was unwilling to lose to someone like Liu Mei who was much weaker than him, he still had to admit defeat.
As for Xingyi and Bai Longtian who were both at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, even after the increase in the power in their unique physique, their fights were extremely difficult.
They both had to face opponents who were at the early rank 9 of the Nascent Soul as well, and those disciples'' power was barely inferior to that of Liu Mei''s opponent.
However, as he watched the fights Shun Long understood that this was only natural. There were no weaklings among the outer disciples that were left, and those who won their next fights would even enter the top 1500.
After all, these were the fights between the top 2000.
It was normal that everyone would go all-out.
At the same time, Shun Long understood that the biggest weakness of Liu Mei and the rest was their low cultivation basespared to the opponents that were left.
But this was normal as well.
Even when someone was talented enough to be born with a unique physique like Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, how could they possibly bridge the gap in cultivation between themselves and those outer disciples who had lived in the central region their entire lives?
Even when Xingyi and the rest cultivated within their masters'' courtyards to make use of the extremely pure qi from the high-grade spirit stones that the Elders of the inner court used to fill their courtyards, the gap between them and the other powerful outer court disciples couldn''t possibly be bridged in less than a single year.
Their rate of growth was already astonishing enough.
If it wasn''t for the second ''Barrier-piercing pill'' that Shun Long had refined for everyone, most likely, they would all be either at the peak of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, trying to break through the barrier and enter thete stages, or they would be like Jun Ren, having just entered the early rank 7 of the Nascent Soul instead.
Bai Longtian''s opponent was a young man who was wielding a thin long sword and hadprehended the Dao of Lightning, but after going all-out with his Golden Buddha unique physique, Bai Longtian was slightly stronger and even faster than his opponent.
His opponent was focused on speed and stabbing his opponent using his lightning-fast attacks. His Dao of Lightning even increased the speed of his stabs even further.
However, Bai Longtian''s stronger trait in his Golden Buddha form was the strength of his body.
His defense was even slightly stronger than his strength and speed.
Unless the young man in front of him used more than 90 percent in every single stab, he wouldn''t be able to break past Bai Longtian''s defenses.
As for the young man''s Dao of Lightning, Bai Longtian was able to ignore most of the lightning sparks coursing through his body.
After refining the ''five-elements awakening pill'', Bai Longtian knew that the defensive ability of his body had increased even further. And yet, when the young man in front of him attacked with his full strength, even if Bai Longtian dodged or blocked the sword''s attack without holding back, the lightning attacks would still injure him internally.
His body however was still tougher than his opponent''s and Bai Longtian''s speed was higher as well, so for every blow that hended, his opponent had to deal with at least a single palm attack from the giant golden buddha in front of him.
Even with his cultivation at the early rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, the young man ended up coughing blood violently and copsing on the ground less than 10 exchangester.
As for Xingyi, her opponent was a young man who hadprehended the Dao of Water.
This person was rmed when he saw that Xingyi was his opponent.
The concealing abilities of Xingyi''s Vanishing Shadows unique physique was truly at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
Even most peak rank 9 Nascent Soul outer disciples would find it impossible to locate her once she merged herself in the shadows.
However, despite her assassination attacks, Xingyi found it extremely hard to break through her opponent''s nearly imprable defense.
Xingyi''s opponent had created a sphere of water and hid himself inside before he spread his soul sense around his body.
Every time that Xingyi would appear to attack him, the young man wouldunch countless water spears towards her.
However, in terms of attack alone, Xingyi''s strength was nearlyparable to Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s at the same level of cultivation.
Countless shadows appeared from the ground as they stabbed at full force towards the water bubble in the center of the tform.
This was the second form of the low-grade martial skill that Xingyi had chosen to train in, Creeping Shadows.
Eventually, the young man''s defense broke under Xingyi''s repeated shadow attacks, but Xingyi had nearly exhausted all of her qi as well.
Once they returned by Shun Long''s side, Bai Longtian healed his injured body while Xingyi sat down cross-legged and consumed a top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pill''.
Although Xingyi and Bai Longtian started to recuperate after their fights and everyone understood that they most likely wouldn''t challenge those in the top 1000, their results were enough to shock countless disciples who were previously not paying attention to them, attracting even the gazes of some of the geniuses among the top 1000 rankings.
They all understood that if Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s cultivation bases were just a bit higher, then perhaps even some of them would be threatened to lose their spot in the rankings.
But of course, this was only for those at the bottom of the Martial Roll of Honor rankings.
Those above the top 500 barely paid any attention to Xingyi and Bai Longtian, and even to Shun Long, Liu Mei, and Jiang Chen.
In their eyes, their true opponents were only those at the top of the rankings.
Jiang Chen''s fight was instead, much easier.
His opponent was a young woman who had reached the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul.
Although this woman was stronger than most other outer disciples at the peak of rank 8 in the Nascent Soul, she was still weaker than Liu Mei''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Xingyi''s opponents.
However, Jiang Chen still used his ''Kingdom of Darkness'' to trap her before the young woman finally gave up.
Naturally, this young woman was only at the same level as the previous faction leader that Shun Long and the rest had fought, Peng Chao.
Jiang Chen was confident that he was strong enough to defeat him even back then, let alone now.
Finally, thest one to step into the arena was Shun Long himself.
As for his opponent, it was a young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
However, Shun Long noticed that although this person was at the middle rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, he was barely stronger than the young man at the early rank 9 of the Nascent Soul that Liu Mei had just faced.
As the outer court Elder dered for the battle to begin, the young man in front of Shun Long took out arge saber from his spatial ring and kicked the ground, as he shot towards Shun Long at full speed without saying a word.
It was obvious that he was intending to win this fight as soon as possible.
Although he didn''t know what Dao Shun Long hadprehended, he had already seen Shun Long''s fight with Dong Ai.
He didn''t know if Shun Long needed time or not to use that weird attack, but the thought of standing still and allowing your opponent to hit you freely was terrifying.
Thus, he had been nning to catch his opponent off-guard.
Shun Long however simply stared at the young man in front of him who was closing the distance between them extremely quickly, before he mumbled to himself
''''Let''s see how strong my body is right now.''''
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Author''s note: 2/5.
3 more chapters wille in the next hours.
Chapter 672: How strong?
Chapter 672: How strong?
As he finished speaking, Shun Long simply took a step forward as his body suddenly disappeared, appearing next to the young man who was running towards him.
The young man was surprised but a look of exhration appeared on his face in the next moment, as he hurriedly swung his long saber sideways, aiming to chop Shun Long''s waist.
As long as he wasn''t hit by that weird move that Shun Long had used against Dong Ai, the young man was confident in his ability to defeat Shun Long with a single strike.
After all, if it wasn''t for that weird move, how could Shun Long possibly defeat Dong Ai with a single punch?
The young man believed that only because Dong Ai couldn''t defend herself was Shun Long able to defeat her like that.
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he saw the saber that was chopping towards his waist, as he suddenly extended his right hand, before an illusionary, purple-colored spatial de appeared in it.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long shed his spatial de towards the iing saber.
Sparks appeared the moment that therge saber met the illusionary purple-colored de, and under the disbeliving eyes of the crowd, the young man in front of Shun Long felt a terrifying force enter his arm, as he staggered back for more than a dozen steps.
''''What? How is this possible?'''' The young man stared at the web on his left hand that was previously holding his saber and was now torn, as blood was flying from it unceasingly. And yet, the young man didn''t seem to have noticed the sharp pain as he couldn''t believe that his hand was injured after a single exchange of blows.
This young man was the same as Shun Long, a dual cultivator who trained in both qi, and body refinement.
Just like Shun Long, the strength of his body had reached the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement as well... so how was the difference between them sorge?
Even after using a peak rank 3 gold grade weapon and infusing his qi in his saber during his attack, the young man was still on the losing end against Shun Long who had clearly not used an ounce of his qi and had only used his physical strength instead!
Shun Long''s lips curved up when he felt the power of his body as he went all-out.
Of course, how could this person in front of him know, that Shun Long had refined nearly 100 top-grade rank 5 ''dragonblood tempering pills'' just to reach the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement?
As soon as he broke through, Shun Long knew that the strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had reached a terrifying level.
Although it couldn''tpare to his qi cultivation that could easily destroy normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators if he used his ''Time Prison'', it was still extremely terrifying.
In terms of the strength of his body alone, Shun Long was confident that his body wasparable to that of most peak rank 5 magic beasts. If he fought at full strength and used his Dao of Space and conjured his spatial de, Shun Long was even confident to ughter most peak rank 5 magic beasts as well.
Even normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn''t dare to say that they could contend against peak rank 5 magic beasts by themselves.
After all, it wasmon knowledge that magic beasts were much stronger than humans at the same level.
Only those disciples who had reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul and theirprehension had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage as well, or it had even exceeded that level and were just a step away from entering the Dao King realm, would dare to fight peak rank 5 magic beasts by themselves.
Of course, some exceedingly powerful early rank 9 or middle rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators would also have the ability to fight peak rank 5 magic beasts head-on, but those people were so rare that they were practically impossible to find.
As for Shun Long, he was a freak of nature!
Even the crowd felt that this scene in front of them was too terrifying.
Although this young man in front of Shun Long wasn''t at the peak of his rank, he was still someone ranked in the top 2000 in the Martial Roll of Honor rankings.
For Shun Long to send him staggering with just a single sh and without even drawing his most powerful ck sword, how terrifying was that?
Even Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian stared at Shun Long with looks of surprise on their faces, while Liu Mei had a look of contentment and admiration in his eyes, while Xingyi''s beautiful emerald eyes were sparkling.
Naturally, which woman didn''t want their man to be powerful?
As for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, a single question had appeared in their minds.
''''How strong is he right now?''''
Indeed, after breaking through to thete stages of the Nascent Soul, no one had brought Shun Long to his current limits.
Whether it was Xingyi''s senior brother Ma Ming, Dong Ai, or anyone else that Shun Long had fought after breaking through to thete stages of the Nascent Soul, all of them were destroyed by a single punch as long as Shun Long used his Dao of Time.
However, even the strength of his body was now so terrifying, that it was only inferior to his abnormal qi cultivation.
And yet, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian only felt happy for Shun Long. After all, they had already decided to follow him, so the stronger Shun Long became, the happier they would be as well. Besides, how could they follow Shun Long if he wasn''t stronger than them? This was a feeling of pride that all experts had, as no one would ever follow someone weaker than them unless that person was too talented and was bound to exceed them in the future, or if they were hired by that person.
The crowd that was previously mmoring with excitement had now fallenpletely silent, as almost everyone''s eyes were now on the figure of the young man with the short ck hair on the tform.
Even some of the powerful experts in the top 1000 narrowed their eyes dangerously as they stared at Shun Long, finally admitting that his strength was indeed enough to threaten them.
''''This kid... How strong is he? Was he hiding his strength previously or is it that no one has brought him to his current limits yet? Haha, this will be interesting.'''' The Grand Elder mused as he stared at Shun Long''s figure, while in Elder Xuan''s face, a smile akin to a flower blooming had blossomed as well.
Although she had never expected that Shun Long would actually be this strong, since she already knew about Shun Long''s rtionship with Liu Mei, Elder Xuan only felt happy to see the young man in the arena actually be this powerful.
Chapter 673: The top 1000
Chapter 673: The top 1000
Although the young man in front of Shun Long staggered after taking on the illusionary, purple-colored de''s attack, he soon regained his bnce a momentter and raised his head to look at Shun Long.
Before the man could react however, Shun Long''s body disappeared from the spot he was standing on, appearing next to the yellow-robed young man once again.
The young man raised his saber in reflex as he saw Shun Long bringing down his spatial de towards his chest for the second time.
This strike was even more terrifying than the first, as the young man barely had enough time to raise his saber and block the attack from the spatial de, before a sharp pain filled his hand.
The web on his hand finally tore apartpletely a secondter, unable to resist the force behind the illusionary purple de, before therge saber was sent flying out of his hand.
At that moment, Shun Long had a rare smile on his face as he faced the young man in front of him, before he said calmly
''''You lose.''''
The young man''s lips twitched when he saw the smile on Shun Long''s face, but he still shook his head a momentter as he sensed the illusionary purple de that was still on his chest.
He knew that if this de could deflect the attack of his peak rank 3 gold grade saber head-on, there was no way that the toughness of his body could possibly resist it. If Shun Long pushed it in just a bit more, it could effortlessly tear through his defenses and pierce through his chest, before it destroyed his heart.
With an unresigned look on his face, the young man turned around and retrieved his token from the outer court Elder before he returned back to the audience seats.
Of course, the reason behind Shun Long''s good mood was that he could test the full strength of his body right now. Although it wasn''t a fight against a peak rank 5 magic beast, Shun Long could still urately judge the extent of his improvement after exchanging blows with the young man in front of him.
''''Master, your body is nowparable to most peak rank 5 magic beasts''. Aside from some extremely powerful peak rank 5 magic beasts, only rank 6 magic beasts and above could pose a threat to master right now.'''' Little ck''s voice was filled with unconcealed pride as the ck dragon had also observed Shun Long''s fight just now. Naturally, Little ck was extremely happy with every advancement Shun Long made in his cultivation as well.
Shun Long nodded his head with that same satisfied smile on his face as he heard Little ck''s joyous voice, before he flew towards the outer court Elder responsible for the tform and retrieved his sect identifying token.
As the crowd mored in excitement and disbelief while they stared at Shun Long who was flying back towards Jiang Chen and the others in the audience seats, a young man with bright red hair was also staring at Shun Long''s figure from a spot not too far away from Shun Long''s seat, as he eximed in a calm but somewhat surprised voice
''''This kid is extremely strong. Both he and Chen Fen are in the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement, but he managed to win without using the slightest bit of his qi. The strength of his body alone is probablyparable to some peak fifth stage body refiners...''''
The young man''s bright yellow eyes were staring deeply at Shun Long''s figure as he gave out his evaluation.
The young woman by his side seemed to have heard this as well, as she looked at the red-haired young man next to her and smiled as she asked yfully
''''Junior brother Zheng, could it be that you want that kid to join our faction? Hehe, I won''t object to it.''''
The red-haired young man looked at the gorgeous young woman by his side whose hair were a deep blue color that were matching her bright azure eyes, but he still shook his head and said seriously
''''I''m just a bit interested in his Daos, that''s all. For someone who dared to set a supreme Dao like the Dao of Space as the foundational Dao for his body refinement, it will naturally attract a bit of my attention. As for the Dao that he has set for his qi foundation, although I have some guesses I am notpletely certain.
However, he only qualifies to attract some of my attention, that''s all. Whether he manages to breakthrough to be a Dao King in the future or not, that''s apletely different story. Someone who isn''t even a Dao King naturally isn''t qualified to join our faction. Even if he did join, he would be nothing more than dead weight until he breaks through.''''
The beautiful blue-haired young woman nodded her head smilingly, while a yful glint could be seen deep in her eyes as she stared at Shun Long''s figure.
Indeed, for someone who wasn''t even a Dao King, he wouldn''t possibly be qualified to join one of the strongest factions in the entire Holy sect.
Although Shun Long''s potential was immense and he was strong enough to defeat normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators with the strength he had revealed so far, someone like that was useless to the strongest factions of the Holy sect if he didn''t manage to breakthrough to the Dao King realm.
After all, both the red-haired young man and the blue-haired young woman knew clearly, that the stronger that Dao you haveprehended and set as a foundational Dao was, the breakthrough to be a Dao King would be even more difficult instead.
As Shun Long flew out of the arena, the rest of the battles in the surrounding tforms also ended at the same time, before the white-robed head Elder, Sun Wen slowly descended from the sky as he stood right above the 8 tforms.
The buzzing arena instantly fell silent as the outer disciples all noticed this as well.
Shun Long saw Sun Wen sweeping his gaze past all of the disciples in the audience seats, before his calm voice echoed throughout the arena a momentter, as it entered Shun Long''s and the rest''s ears
''''Most of you can probably guess that this Martial Roll of Honor tournament has a much higher significance than the previous ones. However, I won''t exin this right now. All I will tell you is that you should do your best to enter the top 1000.
Now, those of you who are ranked in the Martial Roll of Honor... step forward.''''
As Sun Wen finished speaking, Shun Long''s eyes widened slightly as he noticed 1000 yellow-robed figures who flew inside the arena like blurs, as all of them stepped on the 8 tforms.
Chapter 674: The top 1000 (2)
Chapter 674: The top 1000 (2)
The surrounding outer disciples that had fallen silent just now seemed to have suddenly woken up, as they stared at the figures that had appeared in the arena at the same time before they started moring in excitement
''''Look at that bald man in the first tform! That''s Mao Lim who is ranked 7th in the Martial Roll of Honor! I heard that in thest tournament he was an early rank 3 Dao King! I wonder if he has reached the middle of rank 3 this time. Perhaps he will even be able to reach the top 5.''''
''''Wait! The person next to him is actually Luo Zhn who is ranked in 5th ce! He is even stronger than Mao Lim and even Dong Cheng who is ranked 6th!''''
''''The person ranked 2nd, Goddess Qiao Min has also appeared! That red-haired man next to her... is he Zheng Zihao who is ranked 4th?''''
Suddenly, the people in the crowd all turned their attention towards a stunningly beautiful blue-haired young woman and a red-haired young man who was standing close to her.
This was the same person who was talking about Shun Long just a few moments ago, the person ranked 4th in the Martial Roll of Honor, Zheng Zihao. As for the gorgeous blue-haired young woman next to him, she was the faction leader of the second strongest faction within the outer court, the person ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Qiao Min.
And yet, the yful look that Qiao Min had in her eyes a few moments ago had vanished, as she stared at the figure of a brown-haired young man not too far away from her.
This time, the look in Qiao Min''s eyes had turned as cold as an ice block as she looked at this person, but the handsome brown-haired young man who seemed to have sensed her gaze merely smiled as he looked at her.
The disciples in the crowd who followed Qiao Min''s gaze also noticed this brown-haired young man who was standing in the tform with a smile on his face, before they bursted in excitement barely a momentter
''''That''s the person ranked 1st in the Martial Roll of Honor, the number 1 genius of the Yang family, Yang Hui! Even goddess Qiao Min wasn''t strong enough to defeat him thest time. He is truly the strongest person in the outer court. I heard that Yang Hui''s power is evenparable to some of the inner court disciples.''''
''''Yang Hui''s talent is said to be even higher than the 2 inner court disciples from the Yang family. Only the strongest family in the sect''s territory, the Yang family would be able to produce 2 inner court disciples and a monster like Yang Hui.''''
Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and the others, all heard the discussion of the crowd as well, as they stared at the outer court disciples who had appeared in the arena.
Shun Long''s eyes in particrnded on the person who was rumored to be the strongest outer disciple in the entire Holy sect, Yang Hui.
This person was around 1.8meters (5.10ft) tall, with short brown hair and bright red eyes. However, what shocked Shun Long wasn''t the fact that Yang Hui''s aura waspletely retracted, but that the pupils in his eyes were extremely peculiar. The shape of his pupils seemed to have formed a triangle, while the bright red color of his eyes gave others a peculiar feeling.? And yet, his eyes didn''t seem out of ce, but instead, they lookedpletely natural.
A momentter, Shun Long''s lips curved up as he thought to himself
''''No wonder this guy is ranked first in the Martial Roll of Honor. Just his eyes are enough to let himpletely eclipse everyone else around him.''''
Shun Long was about to move his gaze from Yang Hui to the rest of the geniuses in the top 10 of the Martial Roll of Honor, when Sun Wen suddenly took a step forward and said in a serious voice
''''This time the rules will be the same as the previous years. Those of you who have entered the top 1500 will be allowed to challenge those at the top 1000 and rece them in the Martial Roll of Honor if you win. However, every one of you will only have a single chance so choose wisely. Once someone has been sessfully challenged, no one else can challenge that person again. Naturally, if you don''t want to challenge anyone then you can simply forfeit.''''
Most of the disciples nodded their heads calmly since they already knew the rules.
Indeed, the previous fights were meant to choose the strongest 500 outer court disciples who would be allowed to challenge those in the top 1000.
Shun Long stared at the white-robed Elder''s, Sun Wen''s figure in the sky as he understood the rules, before he turned his eyes towards his sect identifying token.
The words ''Shun Long, Martial Roll of Honor ranking: 1245'' had appeared on it after he had defeated the young man with the long saber.
As Sun Wen finished speaking, he threw onest look at the disciples below him, before he soared in the sky above the arena once again allowing the fights to continue.
At that moment, the geniuses from the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor turned their attention towards the disciples in the audience seats as well, as a stifling silence soon filled the arena once again.
A momentter however, a young man with long ck hair was the first one to move, as he shot out from the audience seats like a ck blur, arriving at the only tform that wasn''t upied.
The disciples in the top 1000 had filled 7 of the 8 tforms, but they had left a single one of them empty.
The long-haired young man stood at the center of the tform and took out his sect identifying token that had the words ''Zhao Yun, Martial Roll of Honor ranking: 1001, before he pointed his hand towards a young man who was carrying a sword on his back and said coldly
''''Feng Hao! Roll over here!''''
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Author''s note:5/5
2 more chapters will alsoe in the next few hours.
Chapter 675: The Grand Elders decision
Chapter 675: The Grand Elder''s decision
Shun Long looked at the young man with therge sword on his back, Feng Hao, and remembered that this was the name of the person who was ranked 1000th in the Martial Roll of Honor.
As for the person who had just challenged him, his name was Zhao Yun and he was ranked 1001st.
Feng Hao snorted when he heard Zhao Yun''s voice as he immediately shot to the sky, flying straight towards the empty tform where Zhao Yun was standing on.
Shun Long could sense that both Feng Hao and Zhao Yun were at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, just like the young man he had just faced in hisst battle, butpared to his previous opponent, he understood that Feng Hao and Zhao Yun were at apletely different level.
Just from the auraing from their bodies, Shun Long could sense that both of them were most likelyparable to most normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators that he had seen in the Night star continent or in the Holy city.
However, this was only natural.
How could those geniuses that could be ranked in the top 1000 or were just a step away from the top 1000, be at the same level as most average Nascent Soul cultivators?
As soon as Feng Hao stepped foot on the empty tform, he drew his sword without any hesitation. as his fight with Zhao Yun began.
Although none of the 2 were weak and both of them could be considered to be somewhat on par with each other, the young man with therge sword on his back, Feng Hao, still managed to win the fight in the end.
Zhao Yun had a dejected look on his face as his body was filled with countless sword wounds, but most of the pain came from the fact that he failed to enter the top 1000.
Feng Hao had an arrogant look on his face as he looked at Zhao Yun whose body had copsed on the tform, before he turned around and flew towards one of the other 7 tforms around it.
Naturally, since Feng Hao had just won a fight, no one else from the remaining 499 disciples in the top 1500 could challenge him again, and they could only challenge those higher in the rankings than him.
Almost as if in tacit understanding, the person who stepped on the tform right after Zhao Yun had finished his challenge was the person ranked 1002nd in the Martial Roll of Honor rankings.
He actually chose to challenge a young woman who was ranked 976th and he even managed to win his fight against her, drawing out mixed cheers and boos from the crowd.
After all, the main reason he had challenged that woman and he had even managed to win his fight against her, was mainly because his abilities happened to perfectly countered that young woman''s.
Of course, to get this far in the rankings, his strength was naturally not too far away from that young woman''s to begin with.
As the fights in the arena continued, more and more of those disciples who were ranked in the top 1000 stepped on the tform and fought, allowing those around them to gauge their strength.
''''Those ranked in the bottom 1000 are mainly at the middle rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, but there are some peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators among them as well. However, their actual strength should be even higher than the average peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.''''
Shun Long said in a low voice while Jiang Chen and the rest all nodded as they observed those disciples seriously without speaking.
They could sense that no matter who they chose, none of those disciples who were ranked in the top 1000 were easy to defeat.
As for those who were ranked at the top 800 and above, all of them were, without question, at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul at the very least.
In the sky above the arena, the Grand Elder merely nced at the battle that was taking ce on the tform below him, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and said smilingly with an extremely profound look in his eyes
''''Kid, I wonder if you can really enter the top 600 this time. Even this old man is curious to see how far you can go.''''
The head of the inner court Elders, Sun Wen, Liu Mei''s master, Xuan Jiao, and the bald Cao Ling, seemed to have heard these words as well, as they all turned their eyes towards the Grand Elder, unable to hide the looks of astonishment on their faces.
A momentter, Sun Wen took a deep breath as he looked at the Grand Elder''s smiling face before he said seriously
''''It seems like the Grand Elder really favors Shun Long quite a bit.
However, although Shun Long''s body is indeed not bad and his actual strength even surpasses that of most peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators, reaching the top 600 with his cultivation that''s only at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul is simply impossible!
Those disciples at the top 600 have all reached the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul long ago, both in terms of their Dao and their actual cultivation. Many of them have evenprehended their Daos even further, faintly touching the Dao King realm as well.
As for those who are at the top 500 and above, plenty of them have unique physiques as well.''''
As he finished speaking, Sun Wen took a look at the Grand Elder next to him, but he was surprised to see that the Grand Elder had a calm look on his face as he looked at him and said calmly
''''As long as Shun Long really enters the top 600, I''m going to make him the leader of the outer court disciples that enter the City of Immortals.''''
The Grand Elder''s voice was calm, but it was akin to a bomb exploding in the 3 inner court Elders'' minds!
The 3 inner court Elders all looked at each other with looks of astonishment and disbelief in their eyes.
They all knew why this Martial Roll of Honor tournament was so much more importantpared to the previous ones, and it was precisely because of this City of Immortals! But the Grand Elder had actually said that as long as Shun Long manages to enter the top 600, he would be the leader of the outer court disciples that enter the city?
''''Then... Grand Elder, what about that monster of the Yang family, Yang Hui?''''
The person who had just spoken was actually the bald old man, Cao Ling.
As for Sun Wen and Liu Mei''s master, Elder Xuan, they both looked at the Grand Elder as they waited for his answer.
No matter what, the Grand Elder''s decisions in the Holy sect were final. Even the sect master wouldn''t go against the Grand Elder''s choices without a good reason.
The Grand Elder snorted when he heard Cao Ling''s question, and after turning his eyes to look at the short-brown-haired young man with red eyes that were forming a triangle on the tform below him, he then turned his gaze towards Cao Ling and said coldly
''''Hmph, although that little bastard from the Yang family is indeed talented, he is too vile and he doesn''t care about anyone else but himself. Perhaps I would have chosen him to lead the outer court disciples if I didn''t have a choice, but now?''''
The white-robed Sun Wen, Elder Xuan, and Cao Ling all turned to look at Yang Hui on the tform below them as well, as they suddenly fell silent.
No matter what, although the Grand Elder was right and Yang Hui was indeed considered to be cruel, he was still considered to be the biggest genius in the outer court of the Holy sect, and his talent was even above that of many inner court disciples as well.
In the outer court, Yang Hui was indeed undefeated.
It didn''t matter who challenged him, Yang Hui hadn''t lost a single fight so far.
As the person ranked first in the Martial Roll of Honor and the leader of the strongest faction in the outer court, how could Yang Hui not be the leader of the outer court disciples that enter the City of Immortals?!
Sun Wen took a deep breath as he looked at the Grand Elder and asked cautiously
''''Grand Elder... won''t the Yang family be unhappy when they learn this? The position of the leader of the outer court disciples in the City of Immortals is too important...''''
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Author''s note: I was nning to finish 3 chapters yesterday but I had to take a small break so we only have 1 chapter. We are getting another mass release after this though so look forward to it.
Chapter 676: The Grand Elders decision (2)
Chapter 676: The Grand Elder''s decision (2)
The Grand Elder snorted for the second time, and as he looked at Sun Wen who was standing a few meters away from him, his eyes suddenly narrowed as a cold glint shed inside them, before he said in a domineering tone
''''The Yang family will be unhappy? Then let them be unhappy! So what if they are unhappy with my arrangements? If they have a problem, then let that little bastard, Yang Tiane here so I can give him a good beating instead. Does my Holy sect have to please a family like the Yang family?''''
It wasn''t just Sun Wen who shivered when he heard the Grand Elder''s tone that was turning furious with every passing moment, but even Liu Mei''s master, Xuan Jiao, as well as the bald Cao Ling both felt a cold feeling cover their hearts.
They knew that although the Grand Elder rarely showed this side of his, he was extremely arrogant in reality.
Although the Yang family was the strongest family among all the families and ns within the Holy sect''s territory, and their family patriarch, Yang Tian was an early rank 9 Dao Emperor realm expert who could pressure most of the inner court Elders to give face to his family, he was indeed inferior when he waspared to someone like the Grand Elder who was just a step away from breaking through to the Sovereign realm.
At the same time, Sun Wen and the rest knew, that the sect master was rarely in the sect as he usually traveled around since his mind was fully focused on his own training, the Grand Elder was actually the one who kept those powerful families and ns around the Holy sect''s territory in check.
Thus, they understood.
Why would the Grand Elder care for the Yang family? Indeed, even if they were displeased, so what?
The Grand Elder''s strength truly stood at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm. Even when he waspared to other powerful Dao Emperors, he was among the strongest ones. The only ones who were stronger than him were monsters like Xuan Jiao''s deceased master who had alsoprehended the Dao of Death.
As for early rank 9 Dao Emperors like the family patriarch of the Yang family, the Grand Elder had no reason to care about his displeasure, let alone give him any face.
The Grand Elder had turned even angrier as he stared at Cao Ling and continued speaking
''''Could it be that my Holy sect has to ask for permission from the Yang family before making a decision about anything?''''
Realizing that things would get out of control if the Grand Elder got truly angry, Sun Wen hurriedly bowed his head and apologized as he said
''''Grand Elder, junior brother Cao didn''t mean that. It''s simply that the Yang family has too many geniuses within our sect.? At the same time, his words were not without merit either. Although most of the outer court disciples may agree to follow Yang Hui when they enter the City of Immortals, it''s unlikely that they will agree to follow Shun Long who is just at thete stages of the Nascent Soul.
Besides... aren''t the rules of the City of Immortals such, that nobody below the Dao King realm will be permitted to enter inside? Although Shun Long is extremely talented, the Daos that he hasprehended are both supreme Daos. I don''t think that it''s possible for him to reach even the peak of the Nascent Soul stage by then, let alone the Dao King realm.''''
Cao Ling hurriedly nodded his head without speaking any further, as he cast a grateful nce at Sun Wen who had spoken on his behalf.
And yet, the Grand Elder simply nodded his head at Sun Wen as he then answered
''''This is why I''m nning to take Shun Long to the King''s pce a year from now. As long as he manages to reach the peak of rank 9 of the Nascent Soul by then, his chances of breaking through to be a Dao King would be much better.''''
Sun Wen and Xuan Jiao weren''t surprised when they heard this.
Although it was difficult to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul from the middle of rank 7 within just a year, it wasn''t impossible as long as a disciple had enough resources. The biggest problem was the Daoprehension itself, as well as the strength of the disciple''s soul that needed to have also reached the peak of the Nascent Soul as well.
At the same time, although they knew that the Holy sect only had 10 spots for the outer court disciples that would enter the King''s pce and those spots would go to the 10 strongest outer court disciples who had yet to breakthrough to be Dao Kings, they believed that although Shun Long couldn''t possibly match those 10 strongest disciples right now, by the time he reached the peak of the Nascent Soul, those disciples would most likely not be a match for him.
As for Shun Long defeating those disciples right now? They knew that that was pure foolishness.
Although Shun Long was extremely strong, enough to even cause those Elders to be in awe and even attract the attention of the Grand Elder who wanted to take him as his personal disciple, Sun Wen and Xuan Jiao both knew, that those 10 strongest outer court disciples could even defeat early rank 1 Dao Kings with their cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
However, it was only natural for the Grand Elder to look this favorably upon Shun Long. After all, once Shun Long reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul or even the Dao King realm, Sun Wen and Xuan Jiao couldn''t estimate how strong he would be by then.
''''The top 100, or..?''''
No, forget about the future. They didn''t even know what Shun Long''s current true strength was.
Meanwhile, Shun Long and the rest kept observing the fights in the arena, and more than 100 fights had quickly gone by before Liu Mei''s turn finally arrived. In the past 2 hours, Shun Long had noticed, that among the disciples who were ranked in the top 1500, nearly a third of them didn''t choose to keep challenging those at the top 1000 since they knew that their strength was insufficient right now, while less than half of those who issued their challenges managed to seed.
It had to be known that for those who seeded, they mainly did so because they could pick their opponents and their abilities mostly countered their opponents''. Very few had actually managed to win convincingly.
Surprisingly, Shun Long noticed that among those disciples who won their challenges was also the burly young man at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul, Wu Tao.
In his fight, Wu Tao had revealed his ''Giant Ape unique physique'' that turned his body into an enormous Giant Ape more than 15 meters(49ft) tall, as he won against an outer court disciple at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
Finally, as Liu Mei''s turn finally came, under the excited eyes of the surrounding outer court disciples in the audience seats, she flew straight towards the empty tform, before her gazended on the figure of a young man with long ck hair who was calmly standing on one of the 7 surrounding tforms, watching the previous battles with a disinterested look in his eyes.
Chapter 677: Liu Meis challenge
Chapter 677: Liu Mei''s challenge
Feeling Liu Mei''s gaze on his body, the long ck-haired young man narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, unsure if Liu Mei was indeed nning to challenge him.
And yet, his doubt vanished into a cloud of smoke a momentter, as Liu Mei took out her sect identifying token that had the words ''Liu Mei, Martial Roll of Honor Ranking: 1202'' and said in a cold voice
''''Song Yahui,e here!''''
Indeed, Liu Mei had challenged him without any hesitation.
Song Yahui narrowed his eyes before his cultivation at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul burst outwards, as his body turned into a blur as it shot straight towards the arena.
''''So fast!''''
Many of the surrounding outer disciples inthe audience seats couldn''t help but exim in their hearts when they saw Song Yahui''s speed.
His speed was indeed extremely fast, evenparable to some of the peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage outer disciples who were ranked in the top 800.
As for Song Yahui himself, Shun Long already knew that he was actually ranked 831st in the Martial Roll of Honor!
Staring at Liu Mei on the tform in front of him, Song Yahui had an extremely ugly look on his face as he narrowed his eyes into slits and said in a cautioning tone
''''Junior sister Liu, are you sure you want to challenge me? I don''t mind giving you some face and let you change your mind before we begin.''''
Although Song Yahui''s words were calm, the anger in his eyes wasn''t concealed at all as he looked at Liu Mei''s figure in front of him.
Indeed, he had offered to take Liu Mei, Jiang Chen and the rest in his faction a month ago, when he had met Shun Long and the rest at the Golden Treasures Hall, simply because he looked at their strength and future potential favorably, and because all of them were personal disciples of the inner court Elders.
Even after they had refused, Song Yahui wasn''t bothered in the slightest by it. They lost the opportunity he had offered them, so be it. But for Liu Mei to dare challenge him today was an entirely different matter.
Although Song Yahui didn''t want to offend Elder Xuan and be too harsh on Liu Mei, as long as she insisted on fighting him he wasn''t going to hold back.
No matter what, this was a fight for the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor.
Even Elder XUan wouldn''t be able to say anything, even if he ended up seriously injuring Liu Mei.
Liu Mei simply shook her head coldly as she looked at Song Yahui, directly rejecting his proposal to change her mind as she said calmly
''''Change my mind? There is no need.'''' Liu Mei then turned her attention towards the outer court Elder responsible for this tform, indicating for him to start the fight.
Shun Long shook his head with a smile on his face when he saw Liu Mei choosing Song Yahui as her opponent, while Jiang Chen calmly nodded his head with a cold look in his eyes, his gaze focused on Song Yahui''s body as well.
Jiang Chen was nning to challenge Song Yahui himself once his turn to fight came, but unfortunately, Liu Mei''s ranking was higher than his in the Martial Roll of Honor since she had defeated the person who was previously ranked 1202nd.
Xingyi who was standing next to Shun Long and was absorbing another top-grade rank 5 ''Qi replenishing pill'', as well as Bai Longtian who was still healing the wounds on his body, both opened their eyes when they heard Liu Mei''s voice, turning their attention to the fighting tform as well.
The outer court Elder looked at Liu Mei seriously for a moment, before he nodded his head and dered the start of the fight
''''Begin!''''
As soon as the outer court Elder''s voice sounded in her ears, Liu Mei gathered her qi in her hands, creating arge ball of ck qi that was hovering in front of her chest.
The ck ball of of qi was oozing with a terrifying aura of death, and a momentter, it slowly fell on the floor of the tform in front of Liu Mei, opening a ck hole that was emitting endless amounts of death qi.
The ck hole wasn''t too big in size, but tens of jade-white skeletons stepped out from it with every passing moment, quickly filling the area around Liu Mei.
However, Song Yahui wasn''t going to wait for Liu Mei to summon her entire undead army before he fought her.
He already knew what Liu Mei was capable of.
Although he was confident that he could defeat Liu Mei rtively easily, he knew that it would take some time if he had to get past the figure of that ck-robed young woman and the enormous monster that Liu Mei had summoned thest time, whose strength was actuallyparable to an early rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Besides, Song Yahui knew that he could end this fight in the blink of an eye.
After all, he could simply beat Liu Mei before she could summon her undead army.
The reason why nobody had done this before him, was because they weren''t fast enough to close the distance between themselves and Liu Mei.
But he, Song Yahui, waspletely different!
Without holding back, the moment that Liu Mei started to condense the ck ball of death qi in her hands, Song Yahui kicked the ground, as he suddenly shot forward.
His entire body was covered with a gust of wind, enhancing his speed even further, as Song Yahui turned into a blur, quickly crossing half the distance between himself and Liu Mei.
In just a few moments, just as the first batches of jade white skeletons started to appear from the ck hole on the ground, Song Yahui smashed through their group that was blocking his way, as he arrived in front of Liu Mei in the blink of an eye.
With a cold smile on his face, Song Yahui clenched his right fist, punching Liu Mei on her stomach without holding back.? His cultivation at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards, as his fist was covered with ayer of wind before it fell on Liu Mei''s stomach.
BOOOOM!
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Author''s note: 3 more chapters wille in the next 6 hours <3
Chapter 678: Liu Mei vs Song Yahui
Chapter 678: Liu Mei vs Song Yahui
Liu Mei was surprised by Song Yahui''s speed, but even after seeing his sudden attack that was about to hit her stomach, she didn''t attempt to defend and instead she closed her eyes, as she? kept her full focus on maintaining the ck hole open so more of her undead creatures would arrive.
Liu Mei knew that if she lost focus even for a while, the ck hole would close and her undead creatures would stop pouring out.
Of course, it wasn''t that Liu Mei didn''t want to defend or that she thought that Song Yahui was weak, but Song Yahui was simply too fast, causing her to not have enough time to defend.
Less than 200 skeletons hade out from the ck hole by now, and they had barely managed to slow down Song Yahui for a single moment before he effortlessly tore through their defenses and arrived in front of Liu Mei tond his attack.
Of course, Liu Mei wasn''t entirely to me for this either.
After all, this was the first time that someone had managed to cross the distance between them so quickly and manage tond a hit on her ever since she had started training in her Dao of Death.
In her previous fights in the Martial Roll of Honor, no one was as fast as Song Yahui who seemed to specialize on speed.
As for the personal missions that she hadpleted in the past 5 months, every time that Liu Mei had a target that she wanted to fight, she would summon her undead army before she begun the fight.
BOOOOM!
Shun Long''s eyes shed with a dangerous light the moment he saw Song Yahui''s attacknding on Liu Mei.
The moment that Song Yahui''s punchnded on Liu Mei''s stomach, a bright light suddenly covered Liu Mei''s entire body, before the faint outline of a translucent armor appeared on her body.
Runes and patterns lit up as they covered the entire area of the translucent armor in the blink of an eye, before Liu Mei''s body was sent flying backwards like a cannonball.
Liu Mei could feel a sharp pain on her stomach, but surprisingly, there was no visible wound on her body nor did she cough out any blood.
Although the pain was indeed intense, it was still within the limits of what Liu Mei could bear.
Shun Long heaved out a sigh of relief when he saw this scene and realized that Liu Mei was truly uninjured, while Liu Mei had a surprised look on her face.
She had nearly forgotten about this translucent armor that she was wearing.
She remembered that this was the same armor that Shun Long had snatched back from the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' in the Night star continent, a peak 1-star rank armor!
At that moment, it wasn''t just Song Yahui who was staring at Liu Mei with a gaze mixed with incredulousness and disbelief, but the rest of the outer court disciples in the top 1000 as well, including even those monsters who were ranked in the top 100.
They could clearly see that Liu Mei was wearing a star-rank armor, but none of them could actually believe their eyes.
But this was understandable.
Although most of those disciples who were ranked in the top 10 possessed star-rank weapons, there was not a single outer disciple who had a star-rank armor.
After all, star-rank armors were simply too rare and valuable.
A piece of star-rank armor was simply much more rare than a star-rank weapon at the same level.
Even Liu Mei''s master was staring at her disciple with wide-open eyes. She had never given Liu Mei a star-rank armor, which meant that she had most likely obtained it from someone else.
However, Liu Mei was only a rogue cultivator prior toing to the Holy sect. How could she possibly obtain a piece of star-rank armor?
''''Oh? This little girl actually has a star-rank armor? And it''s even at the peak of 1-star. How interesting.''''
The Grand Elder rested his hand on his beard as he stared at the translucent armor on Liu Mei''s body that had managed to negate most of the power behind Song Yahui''s attack.
Of course, to someone like the Grand Elder, procuring a piece of a 1-star armor, even a peak 1-star like Liu Mei''s armor was practically effortless.
After all, star-rank weapons and armor could only be made by powerful formation masters who were at least rank 6 Dao Emperors.
However, although it was easy for the Grand Elder who had lived for countless years and knew many powerful Dao Emperors, for the families in the Holy sect''s territory it was an extremely difficult task.
After all, in the central region, star-rank formation masters were at the same level as the powerful star-rank alchemists and star-rank beast tamers.
Asking those formation masters to create a piece of a star-rank armor, especially a peak 1-star, was at the same level as asking a powerful star-rank alchemist to create a high-grade or even a top-grade rank 7 pill, and an exceedingly difficult rank 7 pill at that.
High-grade and top-grade rank 7 pills were simply too difficult to produce, and the same went for star-rank armors.
Song Yahui stared disbelievingly at his right fist that was now bloodied. The moment that his punch hadnded on the translucent armor covering Liu Mei''s body, Song Yahui felt more than half of his energy being negated by the toughness of the armor, while the mysterious runes and patterns on the armor''s surface had somehow made 30 percent of his attack to be directed back to him.
Of course, this was the special effect of the translucent armor that Liu Mei was wearing.
Although it didn''t empower Liu Mei''s strength directly, once Liu Mei was struck by a physical attack, it reflected back more than 30 percent of the attacker''s strength back to him. Just this effect was enough for it to be called a peak 1-star armor.
Caughtpletely unprepared, Song Yahui felt a powerful force assaulting him, especially his attacking right arm that was jerked back violently and was now dripping with blood as it was clearly wounded.
And yet, the remaining 20 percent of his power was still more than enough to send Liu Mei flying back like a cannonball.
At that moment, the silence in the arena was suddenly broken, as a furious roar could be heard from the ck hole on the floor of the tform, before the figure of an enormous, hideous magic beast more than 30 meters(100ft) tall emerged from it, followed by the silhouette of a beautiful young woman in ck robes.
Chapter 679: Liu Meis full strength
Chapter 679: Liu Mei''s full strength
The ck-robed young woman who was clearly at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul stood in front of Liu Mei and looked at Song Yahui with her emotionless eyes, while the Death Eater was emitting an aura of unrestrained hunger and killing intent as it faced the only enemy it could sense on the tform.
Liu Mei understood that the Death Eater and her powerful reanimated corpses should be the first ones toe out from the ck hole when she summoned her undead creatures from now on.
After all, she may not necessarily be fast enough to summon her entire undead army in the future if she summoned her skeletons first, since her opponent may specialize in speed like Song Yahui andunch a sudden attack right from the start.
After the roar of the Death Eater had broken the silence in the arena, the outer court disciples in the audience seats who were previously watching the battle calmly, finally exploded in excitement
''''Is this really a star-rank armor? Don''t tell me that Elder Xuan gave her disciple a star-rank armor!''''
''''Of course! Who else aside from an inner court Elder would be able to obtain this? How many millions of spirit stones would one have to spend to buy something like this? Although some star-rank weapons could asionally appear in the auctions of the Holy city, I haven''t heard of a single star-rank armor appearing in any of the auctions.''''
''''Look! Song Yahui is actually injured. His hand is dripping with blood even though he was the one who attacked!''''
At the same time that the crowd burst in discussions, Song Yahui had a cold look on his face as he stared at his injured right fist, before he took out a high-grade rank 5 healing pill from his spatial ring and ced it in his mouth.
He had actually been injured!
The wound on his hand started to slowly heal, but it still seemed like it would need some time to heal the internal injuries as well.
And yet, Song Yahui didn''t seem to be in a hurry, as he stared at Liu Mei, allowing her to keep summoning more of her undead creatures while he focused on healing the wound on his arm instead.
In his eyes, Liu Mei''s undead creatures were nothing to him. Healing his injured right fist was much more important. At most, he would need to spend a few more seconds destroying those useless things that blocked his way.
Even the Death Eater and the ck-robed woman who wereparable to early rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators in strength when their power was increased by Liu Mei''s Death Chant, could only slightly dy Song Yahui for a while, but he would only need a bit more time to take care of them.
''''Hahaha, I didn''t expect that you would have a piece of star-rank armor on you, especially one so peculiar as this. It even managed to redirect some of the power behind my attack back to me. It seems that Elder Xuan favors you quite a bit.'''' Song Yahui said calmly as he focused on fully healing his arm, seemingly not in a hurry to make a move right away.
Liu Mei stared at the young man in front of her coldly without responding.
Although Song Yahui''s tone was calm, Liu Mei could clearly sense the hints of envy in his voice as he stared at her translucent armor.
Even the top 10 disciples in the Martial Roll of Honor were now moved by a treasure like this and were staring at Liu Mei seriously, let alone someone like Song Yahui who was ranked in the bottom of the top 1000.
Of course, Liu Mei had no reason to exin to Song Yahui that this translucent armor was something that Shun Long had snatched by himself under the noses of 2 peak stage Dao Kings.
In just a few moments, an army of 1000 jade white skeletons that were wielding their bony swords and 60 ck-armored undead knights who were holding their gigantic ck greatswords had appeared in front of Liu Mei, while the Death Eater had gone all the way to the back of the undead army as Liu Mei sat on its back.
And yet, this didn''t seem to be the end just yet, as the ck hole on the floor of the tform had yet to disappear.
Surprised, Song Yahui turned his attention towards the ck hole, before the figure of a middle-man dressed in a silver armor slowly emerged from it.
A smile appeared on Shun Long''s face when he saw this scene, while Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian weren''t surprised either as they looked at the figure of the stout middle-aged man who had appeared from the ck hole.
They knew that Liu Mei had another powerful puppet that she had yet to reveal.
The reason why Liu Mei had decided to sacrifice the corpse of the ck-robed old man at the early rank 8 of the Nascent Soul during her previous battle, was because she was unwilling to reveal this trump card of hers and keep it for this battle.
This was the most powerful puppet that Liu Mei had managed to obtain during the past 5 months, the corpse of a middle rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Indeed, the look on Song Yahui''s face changed in the next moment as he stared at the silver-armored middle-aged man with an extremely solemn look.
Although Song Yahui hadn''t paid any attention to Liu Mei''s undead army previously, this was because he knew that even when the ck-robed young womanbined her strength with the Death Eater, she still wouldn''t pose a threat to him.
Song Yahui had also paid attention to Liu Mei''s ck-armored undead knights previously, but he knew that even when Liu Mei used her Death''s Chant to strengthen them as well, the strength of the 60 undead knightsbined would barely be at the same level as the Death Eater.
Naturally, Song Yahui had no reason to fear them.
In his eyes, they would just be a bit more troublesome to deal with, which was why he decided to take Liu Mei out in the very beginning.
However, Song Yahui now knew, that this corpse of the middle-aged man who had just appeared was an entirely different matter.
If Liu Mei used her Death Chant on him, the silver-armored middle-aged man would probably beparable to a middle rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Although that wasn''t strong enough to threaten Song Yahui by itself, when it wasbined with the ck-robed young woman, the 60 undead knights, and even the hideous Death Eater, Song Yahui''s face couldn''t help but turn pale.
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Author''s note: 4/5
Chapter 680
Chapter 680
Shun Long stared at Song Yahui calmly, while in his heart he couldn''t help butugh when he saw his face turn pale.
The arrogant look had disappeared from his face as he looked at the army in front of him with a face that couldn''t hide his dread.
He knew that this battle had suddenly turned extremely difficult for him.
What Song Yahui didn''t know, was that a couple of months ago, when Jiang Chen had sparred with Liu Mei inside Shun Long''s courtyard, he was unable to even touch Liu Mei who was protected by this middle-aged man and the rest of her undead army.
Of course, back then, Jiang Chen had yet to consume the ''five-elements awakening pill'' and it was only a spar between them, so neither he nor Liu Mei went all-out. However, even after consuming the ''five-elements awakening pill'', Jiang Chen wouldn''t say for certain that he could defeat Liu Mei''s undead army inside his Kingdom of Darkness.
Although it was uncertain whether he was stronger or whether Liu Mei was stronger when they both went all-out, Jiang Chen was confident that Song Yahui''s chances of winning were extremely minuscule.
At the same time, Xingyi and Bai Longtian both felt resigned that they had yet to breakthrough to the peak of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul.
In the next moment, the Death Eater was the first one to move, as it suddenly ran towards Song Yahui who was only a few dozen meters away from it, causing the tform to start trembling in the process.
Covered in a dense aura of death that came from Liu Mei''s Death Chant, the Death Eater that was nowparable to an early rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator in strength caused the entire tform to start trembling, as it moved towards Song Yahui in front of it, while the aura of hunger and killing intent that came from its body intensified greatly.
The 1000 jade-white skeletons that were no longer restrained by Liu Mei''s soul sense followed after the gigantic, hideous beast as well, as they rushed towards Song Yahui from all sides.
The army of jade-white skeletons looked like a skeletal wave of white bones that was taking over the tform, as it swarmed Song Yahui from all sides.
The terrifying sight of 1000 skeletons at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul attacking him all at the same time, was enough to make Song Yahui feel all of the hair on his body stand up, before an enormous tornado of wind suddenly appeared around him,pletely covering his entire body.
Many of the disciples in the audience seats shivered when they saw this ghastly scene that looked like a wave of death descending on Song Yahui, while only those in the top 1000 could keep the calm and uncaring looks on their faces.
Song Yahui stood at the center of the tornado as he watched the skeletons jump on the tornado one by one.
Although they were repelled and their bones were slowly ground to dust, the skeletons had no fear of death, as they kept jumping into the tornado without stop.
Thankfully, Song Yahui knew that those skeletons only had the strength of an extremely weak middle rank 7 Nascent Soul cultivator and they had no Daoprehension, which made their strength inferior to any normal cultivator at the same level.
However, even if their strength was inferior to cultivators at the same level, just their sheer numbers alone were enough to force Song Yahui to expend arge amount of qi to defend against them.
Previously, Song Yahui would have simply ignored the skeletons and rush straight towards Liu Mei, but now, he wasn''t confident enough to do so.
If he failed to defeat Liu Mei quickly and was surrounded by the skeletons on top of the Death Eater, the silver-armored middle-aged man, the 60 undead knights, and the ck-robed young woman, he was guaranteed to lose.
He knew that since Liu Mei had summoned her entire army, his only choice was to let her attack him and try to defend while he looked for an opportunity to counter-attack.
Song Yahui was confident that as long as there was a single opening, then with his current speed he could definitely strike Liu Mei for the second time.
However, along with the skeletons, Song Yahui saw the gigantic body of the Death Eater soon enter his tornado as well.
The Death Eater was even bigger than the tornado itself that was only 20 meters(66ft) tall and 10 meters(33ft) wide, causing Liu Mei who was standing on its back to bepletely unaffected by it. The wind des inside the tornado constantly attacked the Death Eater, but all they managed to do was merely to slow down its speed.
As for the countless cuts on its body, the Death Eater didn''t seem to mind, as it kept rushing towards Song Yahui at the heart of the tornado.
Those cuts were nothing more than child''s y, barely scratching through the surface of the Death Eater''s body.
At the same time, the figure of the middle-aged man in silver armor, the ck-robed young woman, and the 60 undead knights, all entered the tornado as well, as they moved towards Song Yahui, while a dense aura of death qi had covered their bodies.
Song Yahui''s face turned cold as he raised his right hand, causing a massive sword made from wind to slowly appear in the sky above his head.
Hovering in the sky at the center of the tornado where he waspletely unaffected, Song Yahui looked like an ant holding a massive wind sword, before he focused his eyes on Liu Mei on the Death Eater''s back.
Staring at Liu Mei with his cold narrowed eyes that were now filled with killing intent, Song Yahui spat hatefully
''''Fine then! If you want to die, go ahead! Saint low-grade martial skill, Sword of Wind!''''
As he finished speaking Song Yahui swung his hand downwards without holding back, causing the enormous wind sword to move towards Liu Mei on the Death Eater''s back at full speed.
This was Song Yahui''s strongest Saint low-grade martial skill, the Sword of Wind.
The air howled as the Sword of Wind descended towards Liu Mei''s head at full strength.
And yet, Liu Mei only raised her head to look at the enormous wind sword, before 60 figures covered in ck armor raised their huge greatswords and swung them to meet the Sword of Wind head-on.
The 60 undead knights were extremely strong and theirbined attack temporarily managed to stop Song Yahui''s wind sword into ce,pletely shocking Song Yahui.
However, although the undead knights were working together, their strength was onlyparable to an early rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator.
There weren''t strong enough to resist Song Yahui''s all-out attack.
The bodies of the undead knights were either bisected by the Sword of Wind or they were sted backwards, as the sword continued descending towards Liu Mei a momentter.
However, it was obvious that arge part of the wind sword''s strength had been expended as well.
At that moment, the figures of the ck-robed young woman and the silver-armored middle-aged man both appeared above the Death Eater as well.
The middle-aged man didn''t hold a weapon and instead, he punched the iing Sword of Wind with his bare hands, while the ck-robed young woman took out her dagger and attacked at the same time.
As their attacks bothnded on Song Yahui''s Sword of Wind, the ck-robed young woman''s body trembled, before she was sent flying back to the ground barely a momentter.
As for the silver-armored middle-aged man, he managed tost even longer than the ck-robed young woman, but under Song Yahui''s attack, he was sent flying as well.
After all, this was a powerful Saint low-grade martial skill!
However, after taking on the attacks of the undead knights, the ck-robed young woman and the silver-armored middle-aged man, the gigantic Sword of Wind seemed to have lost all of its power as well, as it finally dispersed.
Song Yahui couldn''t believe that his strongest attack hadn''t even managed to touch Liu Mei.
However, at that moment, he felt like a hungry beast had suddenly locked its eyes on him.
The Death Eater that was just a few meters away from him just now, suddenly appeared in front of him in a single moment.
Song Yahui suddenly felt a bone-chilling sensation in his heart, almost as if a hungry beast had suddenly set its sights on him.
However, before he could turn around and flee, Song Yahui saw the Death Eater that was right in front of him raise its enormous leg that looked like a gigantic horse hoove, before it mercilessly stomped on him.
The crowd watched in disbelief as a genius in the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor rankings was mercilessly stomped by the terrifying ck beast, as the sounds of bones breaking resounded throughout the arena.
Song Yahui''s cries quickly died down as he lost consciousness before the Death Eater could stomp on him a second time.
The outer court Elder responsible for the tform heaved out a sigh of relief. He believed that if Liu Mei''s beast stepped on Song Yahui a second time, Song Yahui would most likely not survive.
Liu Mei only threw onest look at Song Yahui''s body, before she had the Death Eater and the rest of her skeletons return back to the ck hole, as she then walked towards the outer court Elder to receive her sect identifying token.
In the sky above the arena, the head of the inner court Elders, Sun Wen had an easy-going smile on his face as he looked at Liu Mei''s figure on the tform, before he said calmly
''''Haha, Xuan Jiao, your disciple really doesn''t show any mercy. I wonder if there is some enmity between her and that SOng Yahui kid.''''
Elder Xuan shook her head and said calmly
''''Senior brother, I''m actually surprised that Mei managed to win. As for showing mercy in this fight, I would be the first to scold her if she did so. However, there were even easier opponents for her to choose from aside from that Song Yahui, so there is probably some enmity between them.
Regardless, of why she chose him, it''s alright as long as she won. Even if she had lost, it wouldn''t have mattered too much either.''''
Sun Wen nodded his head calmly as he agreed with her.
At the same time, in the audience seats, Shun Long pulled Liu Mei into a hug who was happy to be praised after winning her fight.
Half an hourter, it was Jiang Chen''s turn to fight.
He chose a young man at the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, who was roughly at the same level as Song Yahui.
Shun Long saw that Jiang Chen''s fight wasn''t easy either, but he still managed to win once his opponent was dragged in his ''Kingdom of Darkness''.
After Jiang Chen''s fight ended, Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s turn to step on the tform quickly arrived, but after some serious thought, they didn''t challenge anyone in the top 1000. Shun Long knew that this was only normal. After all, they weren''t in their peak condition yet and were still recuperating.
2 hourster, Shun Long''s turn to step on the tform finally arrived.
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Author''s note: 5/5
Chapter 681: Shun Longs choice
Chapter 681: Shun Long''s choice
As soon as Shun Long stepped on the tform, thezy look instantly disappeared from the Grand Elder''s eyes, as he looked at the young man at the center of the arena with eyes filled with expectations.
The head Elder, Sun Wen, along with Elder Xuan and Cao Ling, were now also staring at the young man who was standing alone at the center of therge empty tform.
Even they were curious as to who Shun Long was going to pick as his opponent.
Normally, only the ''weakest'' 300 outer court disciples in the Martial Roll of Honor would be challenged by those who had reached the top 1500 during the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
After all, more than a third of the other disciples would either be injured from their previous fight, or they wouldn''t feel confident enough to challenge the top 1000 just yet, which left around 300 of those disciples fighting against the ''weakest'' 300 of the top 1000.
And yet, those ''weak'' 300 were only weak inparison to the rest of the geniuses ranked in the Martial Roll of Honor. Normal outer court disciples wouldn''t have a chance to evenpete against them.
In Elder Sun''s and the rest''s eyes however, Shun Long was probably strong enough to challenge even those in the top 600. Although he wouldn''t be able to win, he could probably give those disciples a good fight.
Xuan Jiao and Elder Sun believed that although Shun Long''s strength wasn''t enough to get him to the top 600, the top 700 was definitely possible.
In these Elders'' eyes, the top 700 was already extremely high considering that those in the top 800 and above had all reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul long ago.
As for those at the top 600, nearly every single one of them was only a step away from breaking through to the Dao King realm in their Daoperehension.
At the same time, some of those disciples ranked in the top 1000 and had yet to be challenged, suddenly turned tense the moment they saw Shun Long stepping on the tform.
Even the burly Wu Tao who had just won his fight and had also entered the top 1000 was now staring at Shun Long seriously from the audience seats.
Shun Long''s eyes scanned the disciples in the surrounding tforms with a serious look, while the arena had already turned silent.
Many of the outer disciples in the surrounding tforms felt Shun Long''s gaze that was no different from sharp daggers trying to slice through their bodies, while others met his gaze calmly with either uncaring looks or looks of contempt in their eyes.
Naturally, those disciples those who were ranked in the top 600 and above wouldn''t pay too much attention to a small middle rank 7 Nascent Soul stage cultivator right now.
Although Shun Long may indeed be worthy of their attention in the future after reaching the rank 9 of the Nascent Soul, at least for now, he wasn''t qualified.
Shun Long didn''t pay any heed to those gazes as he thought seriously for a while before choosing his opponent.
No matter what, the main reason he had decided to join the Holy sect instead of roaming around the central continent by himself and Liu Mei, aside from obtaining resources, was also because he would be able to fight with the best geniuses of the sect.
Only by sparring with the strongest disciples and pushing himself to his limits would he be able to be stronger even faster.
However, Shun Long also understood that challenging those outer court disciples who were ranked in the top 600 or the top 500 would be extremely difficult even for him.
After all, he already understood that every single one of those disciples had already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul long ago, while their Daoprehension was most likely just a step away from reaching the Dao King realm.
As for the strongest among those disciples, Shun Long estimated that even if they weren''t able to win, they would be able to fight against average early rank 1 Dao King realm experts without being defeated.
As for those at the top 400 and above, without question, every single one of them had already reached the Dao King realm.
Shun Long could sense the auras of more than 300 Dao King realm experts among those outer disciples on the surrounding tforms.
''''The top 600 huh?'''' As he mumbled this to himself, a bright smile soon appeared on Shun Long''s face, as his gaze finallynded on the figure of a thin young man with short brown hair.
Actually, even beforeing to the arena today, Shun Long had already thought about whom he wanted to challenge.
He then remembered that there was a certain type of cultivators that he had yet to fight even until today, and since information about most of the disciples who were ranked in the top 1000 rankings of the Martial Roll of Honor wasmon knowledge inside the sect, Shun Long knew that this young man that he was looking at was precisely the person that he had chosen to challenge this time.
The young man frowned when he saw Shun Long''s gaze stopping on him before a look of anger clouded his face a momentter.
He was clearly angry that Shun Long was even thinking of challenging him.
As for the disciples in the audience seats and even those among the top 1000 around the brown-haired young man, they all stared at Shun Long with disbelieving looks in their eyes.
''''Say... Shun Long wouldn''t really dare to challenge senior brother Qiu Yun, would he?''''
''''Probably not... Unless he doesn''t know who senior brother Qiu is that is...''''
At this moment, even the person ranked 1st in the Martial Roll of Honor, Yang Hui looked at Shun Long with an amused look in his eyes, as he said smilingly
''''How interesting.''''
Chapter 682: Qiu Yun
Chapter 682: Qiu Yun
Yang Hui was calm when he spoke, while the easy-going smile on his face made him seem as if he was watching a y, while his gaze was focused on the young man with short ck hair who was standing alone at the center of the tform.
At this moment, there was only a single person who dared to stand next to Yang Hui, while the others had all kept arge distance between themselves and this future family head of the Yang family, not daring to approach too close to him.
As for that person standing next to him, he nodded his head and said calmly
''''This kid could challenge anyone else among those 300 losers at the bottom of the rankings, but he looks like he intends to challenge Qiu Yun. This will be fun.''''
This person next to Yang Hui was over 2 meters(6.5ft) in height, with long ck hair that were reaching his sturdy back.
This young man was Yang Hui''s direct subordinate, while his fame in the outer court of the Holy sect was only inferior to Yang Hui''s and Qiao Min''s.
He was the person ranked 3rd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Zhang Jing.
Although he didn''t pay too much attention to those who were ranked below him, Zhang Jing actually knew about Qiu Yun''s strength.
Not only was Qiu Yun someone who trained in both qi and body refinement, but he was also ranked 568th in the Martial Roll of Honor.
However, although Qiu Yun had a cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul and was strong in his own right, this by itself wasn''t enough for someone like Zhang Jing, the person ranked 3rd among everyone else in the outer court to remember his name.
There was another reason why Zhang Jing knew about him.
It was because Qiu Yun also had a special identity... he was also a beast tamer.
Beast tamers were naturally allowed to bring their magic beasts along with them during their fights since they were considered part of their strength, and the fights in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament were no different.
Although Qiu Yun was just a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator, in the central region, the status of a beast tamer was the same as that of a powerful alchemist or a formation master expert at the same level.
Even experts from powerful families had to be courteous to powerful beast tamers.
This had made Qiu Yun extremely famous in the outer court of the Holy sect.
Thus, it was natural for people to know of his name.
At that moment, the Grand Elder had a brilliant smile as he stared at Shun Long''s figure at the center of the empty tform, but he didn''t actually speak, almost as if he was afraid that Shun Long would change his mind and challenge someone else.
Although the Grand Elder didn''t know that Qiu Yun was a beast tamer, he had already heard from the rowdy disciples in the audience seats below him that Qiu Yun was actually ranked in the top 600.
Even though the Grand Elder had said that he would take Shun Long to the King''s Pce if he managed to defeat a disciple at the top 600 and enter the peak rank 9 of the Nascent Soul before the next time the pce opens, in reality, the Grand Elder only had a faint hope that Shun Long would really challenge someone in the top 600.
''''Brat, what are you looking at? Don''t tell me that you really want to challenge me. Hahaha!''''''''
On the tform opposite to Shun Long''s, the thin young man with short brown hair, Qiu Yun, looked at Shun Long and burst intoughter as he said thest sentence, but the murderous look in his eyes showed that he was onlyughing from fury, while in reality, he truly felt insulted that Shun Long would dare to fight him.
Shun Long nodded his head and said calmly
''''You are Qiu Yun, right? Come here then.''''
The look on Qiu Yun''s face froze, before it turned even uglier a momentter when he heard Shun Long''s casual tone, while the disciples in the crowd were filled with excitement since Shun Long confirmed that he was really intending to challenge Qiu Yun.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all watched calmly as they waited for the battle to begin.
They all knew that since Qiu Yun was a beast tamer, his actualbat strength would be much stronger than normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators.? It was also extremely likely that he would have a peak rank 5 magic beast as well.
Qiu Yun contained the surge of anger that had bubbled inside him as he flew towards the fighting tform.
After he handed his sect identifying token to the outer court Elder responsible for the arena, Qiu Yun smiled coldly as he looked at Shun Long and said
''''You knew that I''m a beast tamer and yet you still chose to fight me? Brat, are you crazy? Now even want to see what gave you this confidence.''''
At this moment, Qiu Yun had already realized that since Shun Long already knew of his name, then he must also know that he was a beast tamer.
However, not only were beast tamers not weak in terms of theirbat strength, but they were actually much stronger than average cultivators at the same level.
Thus, the number of people who would willingly challenge a beast tamer were very few.
Before the outer court Elder had dered for the battle to begin, Qiu Yun turned his eyes towards a certain location at the sky above the Holy sect and whistled, before a white blur shot towards the arena at an incredible speed that clearly surpassed the speed of most peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators, arriving in front of Qiu Yun in the blink of an eye, as it slowly turned its attention towards Shun Long.
Shun Long immediately recognized the magic beast that had appeared in front of Qiu Yun.
It was a peak rank 5 ''Winged white tiger''.
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Author''s note: We are getting a mass release of 5 chapters tomorrow (approximately 16 hours from now)
Chapter 683: Qiu Yun (2)
Chapter 683: Qiu Yun (2)
The ''Winged white tiger'' was an extremely rare peak rank 5 magic beast that could reach the early rank 6 once it matured and reached adulthood.
It was a magic beast that was even stronger than an average ''Silver-winged panther king'' like Little Silver which could normally only reach the peak of rank 5, or in some extremely rare cases the early rank 6.
After taking a look at the ''Winged white tiger'', Shun Long immediately understood that this tiger had yet to fully mature, and most likely, this Qiu Yun in front of him had obtained it while it was still a newborn cub.
After all, it was much easier for beast tamers to tame magic beasts while they were still in their infancy state.
The bond of the beast tamer and the magic beast would also increase exponentially in that case.
Unfortunately, it was far too rare and difficult for even an early stage Dao King to obtain the cubs of a ''Winged white tiger'', let alone someone like Qiu Yun who was still a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Although the ''Winged white tiger'' would be much weaker after it has given birth to its cubs and its strength would be inferior to normal early stage Dao Kings, Shun Long knew that a male ''Winged white tiger'' would also be present to protect its partner.
The strength of a male ''Winged white tiger'' vastly exceeded that of a female''s, making even a group of a few early stage Dao Kings be unwilling to approach it.
Qiu Yun had yet to speak, but Shun Long could clearly see the look of pride in his eyes as he stared at his ''Winged white tiger'' in front of him.
Unlike humans, a magic beast like the ''Winged white tiger'' needed more than 500 years to reach maturity and evolve into an early rank 6 magic beast that wasparable to powerful early stage Dao Kings.
By then, Qiu Yun was confident that even if he couldn''t reach the top 5 in the Martial Roll of Honor, he would definitely be ranked in the top 10 with an early rank 6 magic beast like the ''Winged white tiger''.
Although 500 years was a lot to someone like Qiu Yun who had yet to reach that age himself, he wasn''t impatient in the slightest when he remembered how quickly ''Winged white tigers'' maturedpared to some other magic beasts.
The cubs of most ''Winged white tigers'' were born as early rank 4 magic beasts,parable to most early stage Spirit realm cultivators at birth. To those magic beasts, reaching the peak of rank 5 and even the early rank 6 was something that was bound to happen naturally, as long as they spend enough time growing.
This was after all, part of their natural strength.
Qiu Yun himself had also obtained this ''Winged white tiger'' by a stroke of luck when it was still just a newborn cub, long before he joined the Holy sect.
When he was just a beginner beast tamer, he was adventuring in a massive forest, when he happened to find the corpses of 2 adult early rank 6 ''Winged white tigers'' along with the enormous corpse of a gigantic beast that looked like a purple centipede.
The corpses of the adult ''Winged white tigers'' were filled with injuries, but they were still protecting their cave and their newborn cub.
Qiu Yun understood with a single nce that the 2 adult tigers had exchanged their lives to fight against the gigantic centipede that had attacked their territory.
Of course, although Qiu Yun considered himself extremely lucky to find the corpses of 3 early rank 6 magic beasts lying on the ground, he knew that his biggest gain was still the newborn cub inside the cave.
To any beast tamer, a future early rank 6 magic beast was much more valuable than the corpses of even middle rank 6 magic beasts, let alone early stage ones.
This was why, even though Qiu Yun was only ranked 568th in the Martial Roll of Honor, his true strength was actually nearing the top 500 instead.
This was also why many powerful outer court disciples were paying attention to him despite his low ranking.
By the time that his ''Winged white tiger'' had reached maturity, even some of those geniuses in the top 10 who didn''t have a star-rank weapon would feel threatened by the white tiger. Combined with Qiu Yun''s identity as a beast tamer, many powerful families were interested in roping him in.
ROOAR!
The winged-white tiger let out a roar of anger as it looked at Shun Long, understanding that this was most likely his master''s opponent.
Seeing this tiger that had appeared in front of him, Shun Long actually smiled a momentter, stunning the surrounding outer court disciples who saw this scene.
He was actually smiling?
Even some of the female outer disciples felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw that smile.
Shun Long had only shown his emotionless or his cruel side during his previous fights, especially when he fought against Dong Ai and mercilessly punched her.
Those disciples had never seen such a smile appear on his face before.
After all, only those close to Shun Long like Little ck, Liu Mei, and the others, would see him joke and smile with them.
As for others, they only regarded him as aplete mystery.
They knew nothing about him aside from the fact that he hadprehended 2 supreme Daos and had extremebat power, while he was also rumored to have an immortal-grade bloodline.
Naturally, the reason why Shun Long had suddenly smiled, was because he could see how the ''Winged white tiger'' was positioning itself between him and Qiu Yun.
This was precisely the reason why Shun Long had decided to challenge Qiu Yun in the first ce! To take a look at how beast tamers like him normally fought.
The outer court Elder responsible for the tform raised his hand a momentter, before he said in a loud voice
''''Begin!''''
Before the echo of his words could even dissipate, the peak rank 5 ''Winged white tiger'' spread its wings, as it shot like a blur towards Shun Long.
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Author''s note: 1/5
Chapter 684: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun
Chapter 684: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun
The tiger''s speed was at the peak of its rank, surpassing that of most other peak rank 5 beasts as well, as it managed to cross the distance between itself and Shun Long in the blink of an eye.
As soon as it arrived in front of him, Shun Long saw the ''Winged white tiger'' raising its right paw, before it sent out a w attack towards him.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he saw the white tiger''s astonishing speed that had already reached its peak after spreading its wings. He could clearly sense that this w attack was strong enough to heavily wound him, even if it couldn''t outright kill him.
It was obvious that this Qiu Yun wasn''t holding back at all.
Clenching his right fist, Shun Long sent a powerful punch in response, as his fist met the white tiger''s paw head-on.
Qiu Yun smirked coldly when he saw that Shun Long was intending to meet his ''Winged white tiger''s'' ws with his bare fist.
Even he, a peak fifth stage body refiner wouldn''t dare to take the white tiger''s attack with his bare hands like that.
And yet, the grin on his face suddenly froze in the next moment, as Qiu Yun saw the scene that followed.
Shun Long only felt a small sting in his hand when his fist met the white tiger''s sharp ws, before both he and the peak rank 5 ''Winged white tiger'' stumbled back a few steps.
Qiu Yun couldn''t believe what he was seeing.
He knew better than anyone else how sharp his ''Winged white tiger''s'' ws were.
If he was the one to take on its attack, even if he hadn''t lost his entire arm, Qiu Yun knew that his fist would be severely hurt at the very least.
And yet, Shun Long was actually fine after taking the tiger''s attack head-on like that.
Not only was his own fist that had punched the tiger not crippled, but the tiger''s sharp ws had barely managed to get past Shun Long''s defenses as they sliced his skin open, creating nothing more but a small wound.
Blood had started to drip from Shun Long''s hand, but it was obvious that the attack hadn''t even reached his bones, before Shun Long used the energy of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' to quickly heal this small ''wound'' on his fist.
Shun Long only took a single look at his fist that was already restored back in perfect condition barely a momentter, before he turned his attention towards the white tiger in front of him.
He actually knew that the ''Winged white tiger''s'' ws were only the second strongest part of its body. The strongest part was without a doubt its sharp fangs that could effortlessly tear through the bodies of other peak rank 5 magic beasts without any issue.
In his heart, Shun Long was also surprised that the ''Winged white tiger'' had managed to get past the defenses of his body with just its w attack. After all, he already knew that the strength of his body was already strong enough to match the defenses of an average peak rank 5 magic beast.
''''This ''Winged white tiger'' is probably close to reaching adulthood already.''''
Shun Long only needed a moment toe to this conclusion before the invisible figure of an hourss suddenly expanded from his body, covering the entire tform in the blink of an eye.
His second ''Monarch''s Domain'' had already suppressed the ''Winged white tiger''s'' speed by nearly 30 percent.
At the same time that Shun Long activated his ''Monarch''s Domain'', a new scene appeared in his golden eyes, before the ''Winged white tiger'' abruptly shot towards him once again barely a momentter.
The ''Winged white tiger'' appeared in front of Shun Long almost instantly, but this time, it didn''t attack with its ws, and instead, it opened its mouth as it tried to bite Shun Long directly.
This was themand it had received from Qiu Yun after all.
Qiu Yun knew that even if Shun Long could resist the tiger''s ws head-on, resisting its fangs was entirely impossible.
Even an early rank 6 magic beast would suffer a bit if it was bit by the ''Winged white tiger'' directly, let alone Shun Long.
Shun Long understood this even better than Qiu Yun himself.
If his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had reached the peak of the fifth stage, he wouldn''t be afraid of letting the ''Winged white tiger'' bite him, but now, he wasn''t going to let it do something like that.
As soon as the tiger opened its mouth and bit down violently, Shun Long''s body suddenly disappeared, appearing right behind the white tiger barely a momentter.
An illusionary purple-colored de appeared on his right hand, as Shun Long shed the de towards the defenseless tiger''s back.
Shun Long knew that the tiger wouldn''t have enough time to dodge this from such a close distance, especially now that its speed was lowered by nearly a third of its usual speed.
And yet, Qiu Yun''s eyes lit up when he saw this scene, as he smirked coldly and said
''''You really dare to ignore me?''''
At the same time that his voice rang out, sharp rocks suddenly emerged from the ground beneath Shun Long at an astonishing speed, all shooting towards him at the same time.
The rocks came from every direction and although they were affected by Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', causing their speed to be less than half of their original, they still blocked Shun Long''s path towards the white tiger, as well as his path of retreat.
Qiu Yun had been waiting precisely for this moment.
He knew that Shun Long had that ''blink'' ability of his that he hadprehended thanks to his Dao of Space, and he would most likely use it to dodge the ''Winged white tiger''s'' most lethal attack.
In case that Shun Long didn''t do anything to dodge the tiger''s attack, Qiu Yun wouldn''t mind it, since he would be more than happy to see the tiger''s most powerful attack deal with his opponent. Qiu Yun was confident that the tiger would definitely maim Shun Long if it managed tond its fangs on him.
But if Shun Long really tried to dodge, then this was the best chance for Qiu Yun to use his own attack as well.
Qiu Yun was truly prepared for every scenario.
Chapter 685: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun (2)
Chapter 685: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun (2)
Shun Long''s golden eyes suddenly lit up, while he could also feel a sense of lethal dangering from the sharp rocks beneath him, before he immediately abandoned his attack towards the ''Winged white tiger'' without a second thought.
Shun Long could tell that if he really continued, the sharp rocks would pierce through his body the moment that his spatial dended on the white tiger''s body as well.
Turning his gaze towards the sharp rocksing from the ground below him, Shun Long''s body was then covered with a bright blue light as he activated his second ''Monarch''s Domain'', augmenting his speed even further.
Qiu Yun was surprised when he saw the explosive increase in his opponent''s speed the moment that Shun Long''s body was covered with that bright blue light, but he still smirked coldly a momentter.
Shun Long had already fallen into his trap and he wouldn''t escape from it that easily.
At this moment, Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to Qiu Yun, as his entire attention was fully focused on the countless rocksing from the earth below him.
The sharp rocks attacked him from every possible angle even after he had shot backwards and opened up the distance between himself and the ''Winged white tiger''.
These rocks were even faster than arrows, as they bombarded Shun Long from every direction, not giving him any chance to leave their radius.
Shun Long''s body moved between the rocks'' bombardment evading their attacks, while the purple-colored spatial de in his hands shed repeatedly as it hacked those rocks that he couldn''t avoid.
And yet, even with his golden eyes that were predicting the trajectory of every single rock, Shun Long still had to go all-out, as he hacked the illusionary purple de in his right hand without stop.
There were simply too many of those rocks, instantly trapping Shun Long in their midst.
''''Haha, brat, do you regret challenging me now? Too bad that it''s toote. This is how a real beast tamer fights! Did you think that you only had to deal with a single magic beast and a normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator if you challenged me? Hahaha!''''
Qiu Yun started tough madly while his gaze was still focused on Shun Long who was trapped inside his rock array. Qiu Yun kept using his qi without any restraint in order to keep Shun Long trapped inside, not nning to give him even a single chance to escape.
As soon as the rock array appeared it had immediately started to expand, and in just a few moments, it had actually covered nearly the entire tform. Even if Shun Long used ''blink'' for the second time, he would still be in the radius of the rock array, unless he arrived in the area right in front of Qiu Yun.
This was the terrifying might of aplete Saint low-grade martial skill, the ''Thousand Rocks Array''.
Shun Long''s body shed repeatedly as he dodged the rocks'' attacks. He understood from the power of this rock array, that Qiu Yun had not only mastered it, but he most likely had used the Dao of Earth as his foundational Dao as well, otherwise this ''Thousand Rocks Array'' wouldn''t be so strong.
At the same time, Shun Long also realized Qiu Yun''s battle n.
It was a simple but extremely effective n.
Qiu Yun was nning to have his ''Winged white tiger'' entangle his opponent before he trapped him inside his ''Thousand Rocks Array''.
Qiu Yun was confident that the number of outer court disciples below the Dao King realm who could escape his ''Thousand Rocks Array'' once they were trapped inside was definitely less than 10.
This was why although Qiu Yun was only ranked in the top 600, this time he was confident enough to enter the top 500 of the Martial Roll of Honor instead.
''''Shun Long doesn''t have a chance. Who would expect that senior brother Qiu Yun would have mastered the third form of the ''Thousand Rocks Array'' as well?''''
''''Even without the array, his ''Winged white tiger'' is simply too strong. Now that he also has the array and a peak rank 5 magic beast to protect him, he is nearly invincible below the Dao King realm.''''
Most of the disciples in the crowd shook their heads, as if the battle was already over.
They could see that even if Shun Long tried to resort to a sneak attack against Qiu Yun to break his focus and disrupt the ''Thousand Rocks Array'', the ''Winged white tiger'' would definitely interfere and block it.
Even the Grand Elder in the sky frowned when he saw the perilous position that Shun Long was in.
''''Is this his limit?'''' The Grand Elder mumbled to himself with furrowed eyebrows.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, also looked worried as they stared at Shun Long who was utterly trapped inside the rock array.
They could see that although Shun Long wasn''t injured, he didn''t have a chance to counterattack unless he managed to somehow break the array.
However, with the ''Winged white tiger'' standing at the edge of the array as it protected its master, unless Shun Long used the power of his bloodline, it would most likely be impossible for him to win.
Shun Long however wasn''t nning on using his bloodline.
In this extremely tense situation where both his mind and body were strained and brought to their limits, he tried to think of any possible way to break Qiu Yun''s ''Thousand Rocks array''.
Shun Long knew that although Qiu Yun was using a lot of his qi to sustain this array, even if he waited until Qiu Yun run out of qi, Shun Long would also be left with at most 20 or 30 percent of his qi as well.
By then, although dealing with Qiu Yun himself would be easy, dealing with the ''Winged white tiger'' who was still in perfect condition would be extremely difficult.
At that moment, Shun Long stared at Qiu Yun in the distance ahead of him before he suddenly stopped moving,pletely stunning the surrounding outer disciples who were watching the fight.
If he stopped moving wouldn''t his body be riddled with holes from the sharp rocks of the ''Thousand Rocks Array'' from below?
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to be paying any attention to the iing rocks that were flying towards him any longer, as he stared at Qiu Yun in front of him and muttered in a low voice
''''Time Siphon!''''
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Author''s note: 3/5
The next 2 chapters will be a bitte and wille together with tomorrow''s chapters in a few hours from now.
Chapter 686: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun (3)
Chapter 686: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun (3)
A rain of blood suddenly filled the tform, as tens of rocks that were shooting upwards from the ground quickly pierced through Shun Long''s body, instantly filling it with wounds.
The disciples in the audience seats were stunned when they saw this scene.
Had Shun Long decided to give up?
''''Long-ge!''''? Even Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, were all stunned when they saw this scene, as Liu Mei eximed out in fear for the first time.
None of them could understand why Shun Long had suddenly gone still and let the rocks to bombard his body like that.
Although Shun Long was having trouble escaping this ''Thousand Rocks Array'', he could still defend against the rock attacks without too much trouble.? These rocks'' attacks were notparable to the fangs of the ''Winged white tiger'', but they were still stronger than the tiger''s ws.
Additionally, there were hundreds of rocks, and tens of them had instantly pierced through Shun Long''s body.
The Grand Elder in the sky squinted his eyes as if he couldn''t understand what was going on either.
However, unlike Liu Mei and the others, the Grand Elder noticed something that made his expression change into one of shock barely a momentter.
Although Shun Long had indeed been injured, and his arms, legs, and even his chest were now filled with wounds from the rocks'' attacks, not a single one of the rocks hadnded on a vital spot.
It was almost as if the rocks that hadnded on Shun Long''s body had just happened to miss all of his vitals instead!
Shun Long didn''t have the time to pay attention to the crowd.
At the same time that he had gone still, his entire body suddenly emitted a bright blue light as he used his ''Time Siphon''.
Surprisingly, the blue light shot towards Qiu Yun at a speed so fast, that even the peak rank 5 ''Winged white tiger'' didn''t have enough time to react, before the light hadpletely enveloped its master''s body in the blink of an eye.
Qiu Yun suddenly shivered as a horrified expression appeared on his face.
A feeling of dread and terror had filled his heart when he sensed the irresistible powering from this blue light around him.
Without any hesitation, Qiu Yun decisively abandoned his ''Thousand Rocks Array'' as he stopped infusing his qi to sustain it, before an earth armor quickly covered his entire body in the next moment.
And yet, Qiu Yun''s face turned pale when he saw that his earth armor was actually disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye, while the blue light was about to touch his body directly.
Qiu Yun could only grit his teeth as he injected more and more of his qi into his earth armor to reinforce his armor''s power. He could feel the scent of deathing from this blue light around his body and wasn''t willing to let it touch him.
At the same time, Shun Long could sense the ''Thousand Rocks Array'' around him disappear since it was no longer sustained by Qiu Yun''s qi.
Although his body was now bleeding heavily after taking on the attacks of tens of rocks, the pain was still within the limits of what he could handle.
Shun Long knew that once he had gotten trapped into Qiu Yun''s ''Thousand Rocks Array'', it was extremely difficult to escape from it since the array''s range covered the entire tform.
Even if Shun Long wanted to attack him while he kept injecting his qi into the array, even if he used his ''Thunderbolt finger'' or even the ''Thundergod''s sh'' to disrupt Qiu Yun''s focus, the ''Winged white tiger'' would probably take the attack for its master.
This is why Shun Long decided to first use his golden eyes and allow those rocks that would miss his vital spots to hit him, while he focused on activating his ''Time Siphon''.
The disadvantage of the ''Time Siphon'' was that Shun Long had to put his full focus on it in order to use it.
This is why he had no other choice but to let those rocksnd on his body.
However, the effects of the ''Time Siphon'' proved to be lethal even to a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator like Qiu Yun.
As Qiu Yun focused on defending himself using his qi to create even moreyers of his earth armor to slow down the ''Time Siphon'', the peak rank 5 ''Winged white tiger'' roared angrily before it shot towards Shun Long once again.
As a magic beast that was just a step away from the Dao King realm, the ''Winged white tiger''s'' intelligence wasn''t any lower than that of a human''s.
It knew that the reason why it''s master was in a dangerous spot and had to ce his full focus on defending himself was because of this blue light that wasing from his enemy''s body.
Thus, without any hesitation, the ''Winged white tiger'' spread its wings and flew towards Shun Long once again.
Opening its mouth, the white tiger used the sharpest and most destructive part of its body to attack Shun Long, its fangs.
This time, Shun Long didn''t hold back either as he took out the pitch ck sword from the ''Stone of Time'' and held it with both hands, before he started to infuse his qi inside it.
The mysterious runes and patterns on the sword''s surface intertwined with each other, as they all lit up at the same time, before sparks of lightning started to crackle around the sword''s surface.
ROOOARR!
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed dangerously as he saw the powerful peak rank 5 magic beast arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye, as it opened its mouth and bit directly at his head.
The killing intenting from the white tiger''s body was almost palpable, making even Little ck inside the ''Stone of Time'' open his eyes and stare at the tiger, as the ck dragon started to emit a dangerous aura.
Little ck could sense that this attack could indeed pose a danger to Shun Long''s life.
shing his sword horizontally, Shun Long didn''t hold back in the slightest as a ck sword sh that was crackling with sparks of lightning met the tiger''s fangs head-on!
''''Thundergod''s sh.''''
Chapter 687: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun (4)
Chapter 687: Shun Long vs Qiu Yun (4)
The moment that his ck sword met the white tiger''s all-out attack, Shun Long''s hand instantly started to bleed as the ck sword was nearly sent flying away from his hand.
The force behind the tiger''s attack was truly terrifying.
At the same time however, the tiger''srge body was sent flying back uncontrobly barely a momentter.
The arena had fallenpletely silent and even Qiu Yun who had barely managed to defend himself against Shun Long''s ''Time Siphon'', stared at the scene in front of him with eyes filled with shock and incredulity.
Shun Long had actually overpowered his ''Winged white tiger''!
His tiger was a peak rank 5 magic beast, one that stood almost at the peak even among other peak rank 5 magic beasts as far as he was concerned.
Once it matured fully and reached the early rank 6, its potential was enough topete even with some middle rank 6 magic beasts.
And yet, it had actually been overpowered by Shun Long''s attack!
Although Qiu Yun didn''t want to ept it, he knew that he couldn''t space out, as he prepared himself to activate his ''Thousand Rocks Array'' for the second time.
At that moment however, Qiu Yun saw Shun Long''s body suddenly vanish, before a sense of danger came from his side a momentter, making all the hair on his body stand on edge.
Indeed, Shun Long wasn''t nning to let Qiu Yun use his ''Thousand Rocks Array'' for the second time.
Clenching the sword hilt with both hands, Shun Long then shed his ck sword sideways, sending a powerful sword sh towards Qiu Yun''s waist.
Qiu Yun immediately gave up on using his ''Thousand Rocks Array'', as anotheryer of earth armor immediately covered his entire body, before he raised both of his arms to hurriedly defend.
Although Qiu Yun had only managed to get rid of the effects of Shun Long''s ''Time Siphon'' thanks to his earth armor and his understanding of the Dao of Earth that was a level higher than Shun Long''s Dao of Time, Qiu Yun already understood how terrifying Shun Long''s attacks really were by now.
Even he wasn''t confident in taking those sword attacks head-on.
However, he still knew that as long as he could dy for a while until his ''Winged white tiger'' came to help him, he wouldn''t be in such a precarious position any longer.
Crack!
As soon as the ck sword met with his earth armor, an expression of disbelief appeared on Qiu Yun''s face before his earth armor actually started to crack.
A momentter, the terrifying force behind Shun Long''s sword only had 30 percent of its original power left as itnded on Qiu Yun''s body directly.
Shun Long then saw Qiu Yun stumbling back for more than a dozen steps before he regained his bnce.
And yet, Shun Long wasn''t too surprised by this.
He hadn''t expected that Qiu Yun would be defeated with a single attack.
Although Qiu Yun''s advantage lied in the physical defense of his ''Winged white tiger'' that vastly surpassed most other disciples at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul while he himself attacked from the distance with his ''Thousand Rocks Array, in the end, Qiu Yun himself was also a body refiner who had also reached the peak of the fifth stage.
The strength of his body wasn''t inferior to any other peak rank 9 outer court disciple.
Thus, it was simply impossible for him to be so weak that he couldn''t even take on a ''casual'' sword blow like that.
However, Shun Long''s sword attack was still enough to destroy his earth armor and even send him stumbling backwards.
From the fact that it had managed to break past Qiu Yun''s earth armor alone, one could guess how much power that sword sh was carrying with it.
And yet, as he regained his bnce, not only did Qiu Yun not seem panicked in the slightest, but he actually smirked coldly as he said
''''I got you! Soul Sword!''''
At that moment, a dim purple light that was shaped like a sword suddenly emerged from Qiu Yun''s eyes, as it shot towards Shun Long''s head at a speed that was impossible to react.
The sword-shaped purple light appeared in front of Shun Long almost instantly, and looking as if it waspletely unaffected by material defenses, it effortlessly pierced through the space between Shun Long''s eyebrows as it entered his head.
Qiu Yun smiled even wider when he saw this scene.
This was the biggest trump card that he had, a Saint low-grade martial skill that targetted his opponent''s soul, ''Soul Sword''!
Qiu Yun''s biggest strength didn''t lie in his material defenses or his ranged attacks like the ''Thousand Rocks Array''.
It was actually his enormous spiritual strength that easily surpassed most other peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators.
Qiu Yun could confidently im that among those outer disciples who had yet to enter the Dao King realm, he definitely ranked in the top 3 in terms of the power of his spiritual strength!
After all, to be a powerful beast tamer and subdue magic beasts, a beast tamer''s soul needed to be strong enough to overpower those beasts as well and force them to submission, or it would be impossible to create a master and servant bond.
Qiu Yun didn''t think that he would have to use his strongest trump card against Shun Long but he didn''t regret it.
Seeing that Shun Long had suddenly gone still once the purple-shaped sword entered his body made Qiu Yun rx slightly. He understood that Shun Long had been affected by his ''Soul Sword''.
However, Qiu Yun wasn''t willing to take any risks either. He wasn''t going to underestimate Shun Long any longer, so the moment he saw the dazed look in his eyes, he suddenly shot forward at full speed as he sent a powerful punch towards Shun Long''s head!
Qiu Yun''s fist was covered with an even thickeryer of earth armor, as he crossed the distance between himself and Shun Long almost instantly.
And yet, right before his fist was about to collide with Shun Long''s head, Qiu Yun noticed that Shun Long''s eyes seemed to have regained their rity, before 2 words entered Qiu Yun''s ears in the next moment, causing his body to suddenly turn rigid
''''Time Prison!''''
Shun Long could feel more than 40 percent of his qi being sapped from his qi balls in a single instant, as the flow of time around Qin Yun was forcibly halted.
Clenching his right fist tightly, Shun Long let go of his ck sword as he gathered the full strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', before he sent a powerful punch towards Qiu Yun''s ribs without holding back.
Crack!
The sound of bones cracking resounded throughout the arena along with the sound of Qiu Yun''s earth armor crumbling, as everyone saw Qiu Yun who was sent flying, before his body copsed at the edge of the tform barely a momentter.
-
Author''s note: 2 more chapters wille in the next 4 hours
Chapter 688: Sudden visitors
Chapter 688: Sudden visitors
All of this happened so quickly, that the ''Winged white tiger'' was still struggling to shake off the effects of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' that had made it almost lose consciousness, before it found that its master had suddenly copsed not too far away from it.
Seeing that Qiu Yun had ended up losing consciousness, the ''Winged white tiger'' let out a roar of anger and unwillingness as it stared at its master''s opponent.
Considering that its intelligence wasn''t any lower than that of a human''s and its mind was also connected with Qiu Yun''s through a master and servant contract, the tiger could clearly understand that its master had lost the fight.
A few moments ago, it had sensed how Qiu Yun had felt as if a hammer had suddenly struck his ribs just as he was about to deal the final blow and win the fight.
Qiu Yun couldn''t understand how Shun Long could possibly shake off the effects of his ''Soul sword'' and even manage to hit him first, when he had been the one to attack first.
But those disciples in the crowd, including those in the top 1000 who were standing in the surrounding tforms, and even the inner court Elders in the sky above the arena had all clearly seen what had just happened.
Shun Long had used the same move he had used against Dong Ai earlier, causing Qiu Yun''s body to be frozen in mid-air before Shun Long sent a terrifying punch towards his left ribs.
Of course, Shun Long knew that the effect of his ''Time Prison'' would be much weaker on Qiu Yun whose cultivation was at the peak of the Nascent Soul and his Daoprehension was also half a step away from breaking through to the Dao King realmpared to the effect it had on Dong Ai.
At the same time, Shun Long knew that he could effortlessly trap Dong Ai inside his ''Time Prison'' for more than an hour if he wanted to, but the effect it had on Qiu Yun was only enough to sustain the ''Time Prison'' for less than a second.
However, that one second was enough to judge the entire fight.
''''Am I dreaming? Qiu Yun actually lost?''''
''''I don''t believe it either! How can his ''Soul Sword'' fail to have any effect? That Shun Long didn''t seem to be affected by it at all. Even I am not capable of resisting that attack from Qiu Yun without suffering any aftereffects.''''
This time, it was the disciples among the top 1000, and even some of the disciples who were ranked in the top 600 and the top 500 who felt bewildered at the scene they had just witnessed.
Most of those disciples were already familiar with Qiu Yun and knew that his spiritual strength was definitely ranked among the top 3 of the outer court disciples who had yet to breakthrough to the Dao King realm.
But somehow, a spiritual attack that was carrying the full force of his spiritual strength had actually failed to harm Shun Long even a little bit..
Even the Elders in the sky stared at Shun Long with clear looks of astonishment, unable to understand how he had managed to stay unaffected after being hit by Qiu Yun''s attack.
It was one thing for Shun Long to haveprehended 2 supreme Daos which made him nearly invincible at the same level of cultivation and even allowed him to fight with others who were even stronger than him. Those Elders could even ept Shun Long having trained in an extremely powerful body refinement cultivation technique that had made his body capable of fighting peak rank 5 magic beasts while at the middle of the fifth stage in body refinement.? However, Shun Long didn''t seem to be affected even by soul attacks now.
''''Does this guy even have any weaknesses?'''' This question appeared in the inner court Elders'' minds, as the 3 of them stared fervently at Shun Long on the tform below them.
What these Elders didn''t know was that someone like Qiu Yun didn''t have a single chance to harm Shun Long using soul attacks.
The moment that Qiu Yun decided to resort to soul attacks, he was doomed to lose.
Shun Long''s spiritual sea was simply too terrifying while the power inside it had already exceeded the Nascent Soul stage long ago.
Right now, although Shun Long was still at the middle rank 7 of the Nascent Soul, his spiritual strength had already reached a level equivalent to the peak of the Dao King realm!
This meant that Shun Long''s spiritual strength right now wasn''t any weaker than that of a peak Dao King''s.
Thus, Qiu Yun''s soul attack was no different from a rock being dropped in an ocean, stirring up practically no ripples within Shun Long''s spiritual sea.
After all, how could QIu Yun harm a peak Dao King with his spiritual strength that was still at the Nascent Souls tage?
Even Shun Long had been surprised when he saw the sword-shaped soul attack that came from Qiu Yun''s body and was immediately extinguished by his spiritual sea. He hadn''t expected that he would be this resistant against soul attacks, to the point that he wouldn''t be harmed at all.
Of course, Shun Long understood that this didn''t mean that he could fight against a peak stage Dao King even if he learned a martial skill like Qiu Yun''s ''Soul Sword''.
However, if it was purely in terms of the defense of his soul, not even peak Dao Kings would be able to break past Shun Long''s soul defenses and harm him so easily, let alone someone like Qiu Yun.
After he received his sect identifying token from the outer court Elder, Shun Long flew back towards the audience seats under the respectful gazes of the crowd.
He had actually entered the top 600 in the Martial Roll in one go.
Many outer disciples were unwilling to ept this result, but there were plenty of them who looked at Shun Long with awe at this moment.
Defeating someone like Qiu Yun was indeed an aplishment that deserved their respect.
This was even more so considering the fact that Qiu Yun was rumored to be strong enough to enter the top 500 this time.
He had simply been too unfortunate to be challenged by Shun Long before he could issue his own challenge to someone ranked in the top 500 instead.
Of course, Shun Long knew that his biggest benefit from this battle was learning how a beast tamer like QIu Yun usually fought.
Indeed, Qiu Yun''s fighting style waspletely different from anyone else that Shun Long had fought against so far.
Although Qiu Yun had a rtively ''weak'' physical defensepared to his long-range attacks like the ''Thousand Rocks Array'' or his spiritual strength, he was still an extremely powerful peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator on his own.
When one factored that his only weakness was also covered by a powerful peak rank 5 magic beast that was just a step away from evolving to be a rank 6 beast, Qiu Yun could be considered to be extremely strong among other peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators, even by the Holy sect''s standards.
At the same time, as the fights for the Martial Roll of Honor in the arena continued, a few thousand miles away from the Holy city, an old man and a young woman who were both dressed in purple robes were sitting on the back of an enormous ck bird that resembled a crow, as they flew directly towards the Holy mountain that was barely visible in the distance ahead of them.
The purple-robed young woman had short, jade-like hair and a pair of matching light green eyes that seemed to be staring directly towards the faintly visible mountain in the distance ahead. A momentter, the young woman turned her almond-shaped eyes towards the old man by her side and asked curiously
''''Uncle Mo, does this Holy sect have anyone who is worthy of my time?''''
Chapter 689: Sudden visitors
Chapter 689: Sudden visitors
The purple-robed old man opened his eyes and looked at the young woman by his side who had just called him ''uncle Mo'', before he answered with a light smile on his face
''''Princess, although this Holy sect is a medium-sized sect in our northern region and it can only be considered as small in the entire central region, their sect master Ye Hong isn''t weak, so you shouldn''t underestimate this sect.''''
''''Oh? Uncle Mo, you seem to hold that person in high regard. Is he even stronger than you then?''''
The young woman teased with a smile on her face.
Much to her surprise however, the purple-robed old man, ''uncle Mo'' nodded his head seriously as he continued
''''Indeed, that Ye Hong can be considered to be slightly stronger than me, princess. Although it''s not by much, I do have to admit that I would probably be in a passive position if we really fought seriously against each other.
Additionally, I heard that in this Holy sect of his there is also a so-called genius named Yang Hui. Since the princess is looking for suitable talents to help her, perhaps that kid can prove to be of help as well once the princess enters the City of Immortals in the future.''''
The purple-robed young woman nodded her head with a somewhat absent-minded look on her face.
She had only been joking earlier when she had said that the Holy sect''s sect master, Ye Hong was actually stronger than her ''uncle Mo'', but surprisingly, uncle Mo actually agreed and confirmed this.
Although ''uncle Mo'' wasn''t the strongest warrior that she knew, the purple-robed young woman had a very deep understanding of the actual level of strength that her ''uncle Mo'' was at.
''Uncle Mo'' was a Sovereign realm expert, and a rtively powerful one at that, otherwise, she wouldn''t be traveling around the central region with him as her only guard.
In the central region, Sovereign realm experts were extremely powerful experts, who were qualified to rule over a vast expanse ofnd.
For the Holy sect''s sect master to be as strong as her uncle Mo, or perhaps even a bit stronger ording to uncle Mo''s words, this wasn''t something that the purple-robed young woman would take lightly.
As for that genius of the Holy sect called Yang Hui, although the purple-robed woman was a bit intrigued to hear that he was considered talented even by her ''uncle Mo''s'' standards, the young woman barely showed some slight hints of interest.
The battles for the top 1000 continued, and at this point, only a few more fights were needed for the top 1000 rankings to be decided.
At that moment however, the Grand Elder who was leisurely sitting cross-legged in the sky above the arena suddenly narrowed his eyes, as he abruptly turned his gaze towards the south.
Sun Wen, Xuan Jiao, and the bald old man, Cao Ling, seemed to have also sensed something as well, as they turned their eyes towards the south barely a momentter.
The figure of a ck crow that was more than 100 meters(328ft) tall appeared in the sky above the Holy sect, before a terrifying aura erupted from the crow''s body which was clearly felt by every single person inside the Holy sect.
It wasn''t just the outer court disciples who felt suffocated upon sensing the horrifying aura of the ck crow. Even Sun Wen, Xuan Jiao, and Cao Ling were clearly under a lot of pressure as the expressions on their faces had changed into ones of horror.
Even though they had failed to identify what kind of magic beast this crow was, they could clearly sense that the aura of this ck crow was even stronger than their own auras.
Although Cao Ling was only an early stage Dao Emperor, Elder Sun Wen and Xuan Jiao were bothte-stage Dao Emperors.
For a magic beast to be even stronger than the 2 of them, there was only one exnation.
It had to be a peak rank 7 magic beast!
Sun Wen and the others had already noticed those 2 people sitting on the ck crow''s back, before a single question appeared in their minds.
What kind of status did one need to have to travel on the back of a peak rank 7 magic beast?
Even though they were all experienced Elders of the inner court, the 3 of them couldn''t help but feel some fear as they looked at the 2 purple-robed figures on the ck crow''s back.
Although Sun Wen and the others couldn''t recognize the gigantic magic beast in the sky, Shun Long had a look of surprise on his face as he instantly identified the ck bird with a single nce
''''A peak rank 7 ''Hellfire Crow''!''''
Shun Long knew that Hellfire Crows were extremely rare magic beasts that could even reach the eighth rank once they matured. After all, ''Hellfire Crows'' were rumored to possess a small hint of the bloodline of the ''Golden Crow'', a legendary rank magic beast.
Although this Hellfire Crow in the sky was emitting an extremely powerful aura that seemed to want to suppress every single living being inside the Holy sect, Shun Long understood that it was, at most, a peak rank 7 magic beast that had yet to mature.
This was because once a ''Hellfire Crow'' matured and reached adulthood, not only would it be a magic beast of the eighth rank, but its size would expand to thousands of meters from the mere 100 meters that it covered now, while hellfire would start to naturally swirl around its wings every time the crow pped them.
At this moment, the previously calm Grand Elder had now narrowed his eyes dangerously as he looked at the 2 purple-robed figures on the Hellfire Crow''s back, before he asked in a cold voice
''''The 2 of you, who are you? What are you doing in my Holy sect?''''
Although the Grand Elder could sense the powerful auraing from the ''Hellfire Crow'' in the sky that was enough to even match his own aura, the Grand Elder didn''t even look at the ck crow for more than a few seconds, as his gaze was soon focused on the purple-robed old man on the crow''s back.
The Grand Elder could sense a terrifying auraing from that person''s body, an aura that vastly surpassed his own.
Immediately, the Grand Elder understood, that this old man was at the same level as the sect master, a Sovereign realm expert!
Chapter 690: Bai Liuxian
Chapter 690: Bai Liuxian
At the same time that the Grand Elder''s voice died down, countless protective formations sprung from the heart of the Holy mountain, covering not just the Holy sect at the mountain''s peak, but the entire Holy mountain in the blink of an eye.
These were the protective formations of the Holy sect that had been carved by many star-rank formation masters thousands of years ago.
Even if arge group of rank 9 Dao Emperors assaulted the Holy sect, these protective formations would stand strong without any issue.
But the Grand Elder knew, that in front of this purple-robed old man on the ''Hellfire crow''s'' back, it would need at most a couple of attacks before the Holy sect''s protective formations were destroyed.
The purple-robed young woman''s lips curved upwards when she saw these protective formations that could be destroyed even by the Hellfire crow she was standing, let alone the old man next to her.
At the same time, the old man shook his head and didn''t pay any mind to these protective formations around the Holy sect, as if they were nothing but child''s y in front of him, before he turned his gaze towards the Grand Elder behind them.
He could feel that this old man was the strongest person present in the Holy sect, a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor.
Although peak rank 9 Dao Emperors could travel through the central region unhindered and they would be considered high-level experts as well, in front of this purple-robed old man, Dao Emperors were nothing more than a bunch of children.
In the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck who was previously lying on the ground with his eyes closed suddenly opened them a momentter, before he said in a solemn voice
''''Master, that old man on the ''Hellfire crow''s'' back is a Sovereign realm cultivator.''''
Shun Long had a look of surprise sh inside his eyes as he stared at the gigantic ck crow in the sky. He could also guess that a group that would naturally strut around inside the Holy sect''s territory and sit on the back of a peak rank 7 magic beast like the ''Hellfire crow'', most likely belonged to -at the very least- an extremely powerful peak-stage Dao Emperor who was probably even stronger than the Grand Elder himself.
However, Shun Long hadn''t expected that the old man on the bird''s back was a Sovereign realm cultivator.
This was the first Sovereign realm expert that Shun Long had seen so far in the central region.
Whether it was the inner court Elders of the sect, Jiang Chen''s father, Jiang Tianfang, or even the Grand Elder himself, none of them had managed to breakthrough to the Sovereign realm yet and be Sovereign realm experts.
From this fact alone, it wasn''t hard to guess how difficult it really was for someone to be a Sovereign realm expert.
From the experts that most people in the Holy sect''s territory knew of, only the sect master of the Holy sect was rumored to have reached the Sovereign realm.
And yet, this purple-robed old man was an expert at the same level as the sect master.
The purple-robed old man, ''uncle Mo'', smiled as he looked at the Grand Elder, before he said in a calm voice
''''It looks like Ye Hong isn''t present here today. It doesn''t matter, you will do as well. My youngdy is named Bai Liuxian, and shees from the Bai n of Starmist city. I heard that your Holy sect has quite a few geniuses while my youngdy just happens tock some followers to take with her in the City of Immortals.''''
The Grand Elder stared at the old man in front of him with a look of astonishment on his face, before he turned his gaze towards the beautiful, purple-robed young woman who was sitting a few meters away from him.
Previously, he hadn''t paid any attention to this young woman since he could sense that she was nothing more than a small, Dao King realm cultivator, but now, the Grand Elder had a serious look on his face as he looked at her.
Seeing the word ''Bai'' on the young woman''s robes, the Grand Elder turned solemn while the 3 inner court Elders behind him all sucked in breaths of cold air.
Naturally, the Grand Elder wasn''t surprised that someone like this purple-robed old man would know of the sect master''s actual name. After all, the Grand Elder had already verified that this old man in front of him was also a Sovereign realm expert.
But the words ''Bai n'' were enough to make the Grand Elder look especially solemn.
The surname ''Bai'' wasn''t too umon within the central region, and it wasmon for plenty of families and ns to share the same surname.
However, the Grand Elder knew that there was only a single Bai n in Starmist city.
It was one of the oldest, richest, and most powerful ns in the entire central region.
The Bai n was one of the true superpowers in the central region. Even Sovereign realm experts wouldn''t dare to go against this n. It wasn''t a power that the Holy sect couldpare to.
The Grand Elder didn''t know Bai Liuxian''s status within the Bai n, but from the fact that she had a Sovereign realm expert following behind her, he knew that she wasn''t someone that others would want to offend unless there was a serious reason.
Bai Liuxian didn''t pay much attention to the Grand Elder, as she turned her head to look at the Holy sect below her and noticed, that nearly every single disciple within the sect was gathered in the arena in the outer court.
''''Eh? It seems that there is something going on in your Holy sect today?''''
The Grand Elder nodded his head as he looked at this purple-robed young woman, but the ugly look on his face indicated that he understood, that Bai Liuxian''s visit today was most likely going to be bad news.
Chapter 691
Chapter 691
Waving his hand, the Grand Elder lowered the protective formations around the sect, allowing the ''Hellfire crow'' to enter inside, before he looked at the purple-robed Bai Liuxian and answered
''''There is a tournament going on to select the top 1000 outer disciples. If you want to, you are free toe and spectate, but the tournament is nearing its end already.''''
The purple-robed old man, ''uncle Mo'' smiled as he looked at Bai Liuxian and said
''''Princess, since we are already here why don''t we have a look? Perhaps there will be someone who can prove to be of use to you.''''
Bai Liuxian nodded in response before she stood up and patted the back of the ''Hellfire crow'' gently a momentter.
The enormous bird that was more than 100 meters long let out an intimidating cry towards the Grand Elder and the disciples of the Holy sect below it, before it shot to the distance a momentter, leaving Bai Liuxian and ''uncle Mo'' behind.
The 3 inner court Elders all hadplicated looks on their faces when they heard that Bai Liuxian was looking for followers who would help her in the City of Immortals.
They didn''t particrly mind that the disciples of the Holy sect would have a chance to follow someone from a powerful n like Bai Liuxian.
Instead, that could prove to be a boon to some of those disciples.
The problem was the influence of the Bai n itself.
They were afraid that the bnce of the sect would be disrupted if Bai Liuxian happened to take an interest in an outer court discipleing from the powerful families and ns around the Holy sect''s territory.
After all, if one of those powerful families and ns happened to obtain the backing of the Bai n, then they would have no reason to fear the Holy sect any longer.
Even the sect master of the Holy sect wouldn''t want to offend the Bai n and would most likely be forced to look the other way.
Seeing the Grand Elder and the 3 inner court Elders behind him escort Bai Liuxian and the purple-robed ''uncle Mo'' towards the arena, the disciples in the audience seats who had already noticed the eye-catching sight of the ''Hellfire crow'' arriving earlier, all started discussing in low voices
''''Who are these people? Even the Grand Elder is escorting them personally...''
''''That woman is so beautiful but I have never seen her before! She probably doesn''t belong to a power within our Holy sect''s territory. I wonder which family she belongs to.''''
''''They definitelye from some extremely powerful family or n. Didn''t you see that the Grand Elder activated the protective formations around the sect earlier? They are probably strong enough to pose a threat even to the Grand Elder, or the Grand Elder wouldn''t have activated them.''''
''''Right! The auraing from that ck bird also made me shiver when it let out that cry earlier. Even Elder Sun Wen''s aura isn''t this terrifying.''''
It wasn''t just the disciples in the audience seats who were paying attention to the 2 neers, but even those who had entered the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor and were standing in the surrounding tforms, as they had now turned their eyes towards Bai Liuxian and the purple-robed old man in the sky.
The Grand Elder seemed to have noticed this change, as he snorted angrily and he said in a displeased tone
''''What are you brats looking at? These 2 guests are here to have a look at the Martial Roll of Honor. Who told you to stop the tournament?''''
The outer court disciple whose turn was to step on the fighting tform and challenge someone, as well as the outer court Elder responsible for the tform both started to sweat as they continued the fights without any dy.
They could sense the Grand Elder''s anger and they didn''t want to be the ones whom the Grand Elder would vent his frustration on.
The fights in the arena continued and they seemed to be even more heated than before.
Although the outer court disciples didn''t know the reason behind those people''s visit since they couldn''t hear the conversation between the purple-robed old man and the Grand Elder just now, they could sense that this peculiar visit made this Martial Roll of Honor tournament different from the previous ones.
This, along with the increased rewards for the top 1000 made the disciples in the arena fight with even more fervor than before.
However, just as the second battle ended, Bai Liuxian seemed to have lost her interest as she said in a disappointed tone
''''Is this the best that your Holy sect has to offer? This level is simply too low.''''
The Grand Elder didn''t respond, but Sun Wen smiled gently as he looked at Bai Liuxian and said
''''Miss Bai, these are only the fights for the top 1000 among the outer court. It''s only natural that they won''t attract your interest. However, if you wait for a while, you will fight the fights among the top 100 or the top 10 more interesting.''''
Bai Liuxian was displeased, but she still nodded her head and agreed, as she decided to watch the tournament until the end since she was already here.
No matter what, she hade here in hopes of finding followers but she knew that her standards were simply too high.
Aside from that person named Yang Hui that her ''uncle Mo'' had mentioned, she knew that the chances of finding someone else who could attract her interest were simply too low.
Even that Yang Hui may not be good enough to be epted by her, let alone the others.
Finally, a little more than an hourter, the fights for the top 1000 were finished as the spots for the top 1000 had all been decided.
Looking at the outer court disciples in the audience seats below him, Sun Wen took a deep breath before he said in amanding tone
''''Those who have entered the top 1000... step on the tform!''''
Chapter 692: Change of plans
Chapter 692: Change of ns
The disciples who had entered the top 1000 were surprised by Sun Wen''s sudden order, but they still flew towards the empty fighting tform all at once.
The tform was obviouslyrge enough to easily hold more than a few thousand people in it, let alone just a thousand of them.
Shun Long led Liu Mei and Jiang Chen and flew towards the tform as well, as they joined the rest of those disciples who were in the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor.
Sun Wen nodded his head once he saw the 1000 outer court disciples gathered on the tform, before he spoke loudly a momentter, his voice entering the ears of every single disciple in the arena
''''The fights between the top 1000 will start now. The rules will be the same-''''
''''There is no need for this.''''
Before the white-robed Elder Sun Wen could finish speaking, the Grand Elder''s voice suddenly interrupted him, causing everyone, including Shun Long and the other disciples around him, and even the purple-robed Bai Liuxian and the old man by her side who were standing in the sky above the arena, to turn their attention towards the Grand Elder all at the same time.
The Grand Elder shook his head and turned his attention towards the outer disciples on the tform below him, before he said in a calm voice
''''There is no need for that. Let''s start the fights between the top 100 right away.''''
The disciples on the tform were all stunned when they heard this.
Skip the battles between the top 1000 and go directly to the top 100?
Forget about those disciples standing on the tform who were about to fight, even those disciples in the crowd were unwilling to see this.
After all, the fights between the top 1000 were the most exciting ones. Although the battles between the top 100 were even more exciting instead, those disciples still wanted to see who would move up and down in the rankings.
However, a single word from the Grand Elder was enough to change all of this.
''''Grand Elder, are you sure?'''' The white-robed Sun Wen asked somewhat hesitantly as he stared at the Grand Elder, but the powerful peak Dao Emperor nodded his head calmly, and as he stared at the disciples on the tform below him, the Grand Elder said in a serious voice
''''I am sure that many of you have already guessed that this Martial Roll of Honor tournament is different from the previous ones. Sun Wen was going to be the one who would exin this to you when the tournament ended, but things have changed, so listen carefully to what I have to say.
In a little more than a year from now, a mysterious city will open its entrance, attracting the attention of virtually every strong power throughout the entire central region.
This city is named the City of Immortals.
Countless treasures and legacies can be found within that ce, but along with treasures, that city also holds countless dangers inside it as well.
It''s not just our Holy sect that''s nning to enter the City of Immortals, but virtually every single strong power throughout the central region that will have its eyes set on the city''s opening!
However, not just anyone can enter this ce either. If you want to enter inside, you will need to have reached the Dao King realm at the very least.
Since there are less than 2 years left until the city''s opening, our Holy sect decided to increase the rewards for this Martial Roll of Honor tournament, to help those of you who will enter the ''City of Immortals'' be even stronger.''''
The Grand Elder paused for a moment, allowing the disciples in the audience seats and those standing on the tform below him to digest this information.
''''City of Immortals?'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in confusion before he sent a mental message to Little ck asking him if he knew anything about this City of Immortals.
However, Little ck simply shook his head and answered uncertainly
''''City of Immortals? Any city within the Immortal Dimension can be considered as a city of Immortals, but outside of the Immortal DImension or the other powerful dimensions, it''s impossible for a city of Immortals to exist.''''
Understanding that Shun Long was surprised, Little ck then continued
''''Master, let me exin. Once someone breaks through in their cultivation to be a true immortal, thews of the Immortal Dimension will naturally pull that person away from this mortal world and to the Immortal Dimension. This is why it''s impossible for a city of Immortals to appear in this mortal world.''''
Shun Long had a look of realization on his face after hearing Little ck''s exnation.
However, this exnation made Shun Long even more curious about this City of Immortals that the Grand Elder had just mentioned.
At the same time, it wasn''t just Shun Long and his group who were confused and surprised by the Grand Elder''s words.
Even geniuses who were ranked in the top 100 in the Martial Roll of Honor seemed to have been confused and surprised when they heard the Grand Elder''s words.
At the same time, a few hidden glints that no one seemed to have noticed shed inside the eyes of several disciples who were ranked in the top 10 in the Martial Roll of Honor.
Whether it was the person who was ranked 1st, the genius of the Yang family, Yang Hui, the tall young man who was standing by his side and was ranked 3rd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Zhang Jing, or the young woman who was ranked 2nd, Qiao Min, they all seemed to have excited looks in their eyes when they heard the Grand Elder''s words.
The Grand Elder looked at the disciples below him, before he turned his attention towards Bai Liuxian and the purple-robed ''uncle Mo'' who were standing in the sky a few meters away from him and continued a momentter
''''Since we have 2 esteemed guests here today who happened to visit us from the Bai n of Starmist city, we will start directly with the fights between the top 100.''''
Many of the disciples were confused when they heard the Grand Elder''s exnation, not understanding what these people''s visit had to do with the Martial Roll of Honor rankings.
Of course, those disciples didn''t know what significance the name ''Bai n of Starmist city'' held in the central region.
It was only the disciples from the most powerful ns and families, like the Yang n''s, Yang Hui, and the other disciples of the powerful families, who stared at the purple-robed old man and the beautiful young woman by his side with gazes filled with shock.
The Bai n? Who among them didn''t know that this was one of the most ancient and powerful ns throughout the entire central region?
Those disciples who belonged to the powerful families and ns around the Holy sect''s territory all knew, that even a strong sect like the Holy sect was nothing in front of an enormous entity like the Bai n.
Many disciples however, especially those who were aiming to enter the top 500 and knew nothing about the Bai n were indignant when they heard this sudden change.
If only the top 100 fought amongst themselves, then wouldn''t that mean that those disciples in the top 1000 would lose their chance to challenge those in the top 500?
After all, the rewards between the top 500 and the top 1000 werepletely different.
A young man couldn''t help but grit his teeth and raise his head to look at the Grand Elder when he thought of this, before he asked after a moment of hesitation
''''Grand Elder... then what about those who are ranked in the top 1000? Will they lose their chances to challenge those in the top 500?''''
The Grand Elder snorted as he looked at the young man who had asked this question, before he shook his head and answered coldly a momentter
''''Since I have changed the rules, the rewards for the top 1000 and the top 500 will change as well.
Everyone among the top 1000 will also obtain 1000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
How could the Grand Elder not understand that many of those disciples in the top 1000 would drool over the 1000 high-grade spirit stones that the top 500 would obtain?
The young man lowered his head when he heard this, but he was still satisfied in his heart.
OF course, the only thing that mattered were the rewards.
As for the ranking?
He could challenge someone at the top 500 anytime he wanted as long as he came to the arena.
Bai Liuxian who was standing next to the Grand Elder wasn''t surprised when she heard that the fights between the top 1000 would be skipped and the top 100 would start directly.
She understood that the Grand Elder was most likely giving her face so she wouldn''t have to watch more of those boring fights between those weaklings.
It was only natural that the most talented ones were those who were ranked the highest.
No one had managed to notice the hidden nce that the Grand Elder had shot towards a certain person in the arena below him before he came to this decision.
Chapter 693: Seen through?
Chapter 693: Seen through?
Sun Wen seemed to have also realized what the Grand Elder''s intentions were, but just as he was about to dere the start of the fights between the top 100, the purple-robed old man next to Bai Liuxian frowned and said coldly
''''Wait!''''
Sun Wen, the Grand Elder, and Liu Mei''s master, all turned their gazes towards him, before Bai Liuxian asked curiously in the next moment
''''Uncle Mo, what''s wrong?''''
The purple-robed old man threw a look at the disciples on the tform below him before he answered seriously
''''Princess, you are probably thinking that no one below the top 100 is important to you. After all, those who are talented would already be ranked in the top 100, right?''''
Bai Liuxian nodded her head somewhat hesitantly.
She didn''t understand what ''uncle Mo'' was hinting at, but she knew that there was probably a reason for him to suddenly ask this question.
Indeed, the purple-robed old man sighed when he received Bai Liuxian''s answer before he shook his head and said
''''Princess, you are too inexperienced. Could it be that you really think, that no one below the top 100 can be talented enough to be of help to you? Perhaps there will be a few geniuses who were only restricted by their cultivation bases and couldn''t enter the top 100 just yet.''''
The Grand Elder''s eyes twitched while Sun Wen''s face turned slightly pale.
Sun Wen knew that the reason why the Grand Elder was moving up the fights, was to avoid exposing a few certain disciples like Shun Long.
However, the purple-robed old man seemed to have already seen through this n, as he pointed directly at the crux of the matter.
A look of realization shed past Bai Liuxian''s bright green eyes as she turned her gaze towards the Grand Elder in the next moment and said coldly
''''In that case, let''s continue with the fights between the top 1000. It''s just a few more fights left, I can afford to wait this long.''''
Although the Grand Elder felt angry at themanding tone that Bai Liuxian had used when she spoke to him, almost as if she was ordering around a servant, he still didn''t re up once he remembered the Sovereign realm expert who was traveling by her side.
The disciples on the tform were all surprised when they heard these 2 neers ordering around the Grand Elder and even having a say in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
Even Yang Hui and the other high-ranking disciples from the powerful families were stunned upon seeing this scene.
They had originally thought that Bai Liuxian and the purple-robed old man just happened toe to the Holy sect today, and they were simply interested in spending some time watching the fights between the top 100 in the Martial Roll of Honor since they were here.
However, there seemed to be an even more important reason behind that instead, since the purple-robed young woman seemed to be looking for some people to help her.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, the Grand Elder looked at this princess of the Bai n who was standing next to him and said calmly
''''Princess, I do admit that there are some talented outer court disciples who haven''t yet entered the top 100 in the Martial Roll of Honor.
However, only those who are ranked in the top 100 can possibly catch your attention. Of course, if you really want to, I don''t mind having those at the top 400 and above fight as well.
You should understand that only those in the top 400 and above have entered the Dao King realm, and most of them are rank 1 Dao Kings as well.
As for those below the top 400, they are all at the Nascent Soul stage. I''m sure that the princess isn''t interested in Nascent Soul stage outer disciples.
After all, no one below the Dao King realm can enter the City of Immortals in the first ce.''''
As he said thest sentence, the Grand Elder had turned his eyes towards the purple-robed old man next to Bai Liuxian.
The old man stared at the Grand Elder seriously without responding straight away.
He could feel that something was off about all of this, but the Grand Elder''s words had merit as well.
No matter what, the princess wouldn''t be interested in Nascent Soul stage outer disciples whom she couldn''t bring with her to the City of Immortals.
Although the purple-robed ''uncle Mo'' wanted to argue, in the end, he decided to stay silent, or it would seem like a Sovereign realm expert like him was trying to steal a bunch of Nascent Soul stage outer disciples from the Holy sect.
Besides, in thest 5 months, the old man had already visited plenty of ces with Bai Liuxian but the number of geniuses he had found was pitifully low.
It would already be a miracle if he could find a single person in this Holy sect who could be worthy enough to follow his princess, let alone more of them.
Seeing that the purple-robed old man didn''t disagree, Bai Liuxian looked at the Grand Elder and spoke calmly
''''In that case, let''s start with the fights between the top 400.''''
The Grand Elder nodded his head, while inwardly he heaved a sigh of relief without showing any of it in his expression, afraid that the purple-robed old man would change his mind.
The Grand Elder then ordered those below the top 400 to return to the audience seats while those in the top 400 would remain in the surrounding tforms.
Shun Long had an odd look in his eyes as he looked at the Grand Elder and the purple-robed young woman in the sky next to him, before he led Liu Mei and Jiang Chen back towards the audience seats where Xingyi and Bai Longtian were waiting for him.
Shun Long was paying attention to this powerful Sovereign realm expert from the very beginning, and it wasn''t hard to guess, that he and the purple-robed young woman by his side hade to the Holy sect with a certain goal in mind.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all understood this as well, but they decided to remain silent.
Although they were all interested in this City of Immortals as well, they knew that even reaching the Dao King realm in a couple of years when the CIty of Immortals opened was extremely difficult, nearly downright impossible.
Since the Grand Elder had said that only disciples with a cultivation at the Dao King realm or above would be allowed to enter, no one doubted his words.
As for the sudden visit from this green-haired young woman from the Bai n, naturally, it had nothing to do with any of them.
Even Shun Long who had the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' wasn''t confident in his chances of reaching the Dao King realm in just 2 years.
After all, Shun Long knew that the hardest part when breaking through wasn''t the process of gathering sufficient qi to purify his qi balls, but increasing hisprehension in the Dao of Time even further.
Just to increase his Daoprehension from the peak of the Spirit realm to the Nascent Soul stage, Shun Long had spent nearly 2 years in the ''Ten thousand beasts mountain range'' in the Night star continent, and most of that time had been spent inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' which equaled to almost 20 years.
As for the breakthrough to the Dao King realm, he was certain that it was going to be even more difficult.
Shun Long could sense that there would be tremendous changes in his Dao of Time once he broke through to be a Dao King.
A few minutester, the fights between the top 400 started.
Indeed, every single disciple who stepped on the tform had reached at least the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm, and Shun Long understood that each of them was strong enough to easily fight many average Dao Kings at the same level.
At least an average early rank 1 Dao King from the powers around the Holy sect wouldn''t be able tost more than a few exchanged against these outer court disciples who were ranked in the top 400.
And yet, the purple-robed princess of the Bai n had a dark look on her face, feeling as if she had been wasting her time.
It was obvious that none of these disciples had managed to attract her attention.
Time soon flowed by and in the blink of an eye, 2 hours had passed.
Although Bai Liuxian wasn''t interested in these fights, the situation among those disciples sitting in the audience seats waspletely different as excitement had filled the arena.
Of course, this was only natural.
Most of the disciples in the top 400 were either at the early rank 1 or the middle rank 1 of the Dao King realm, but as the fights continued, the disciples who stepped on the tform were even stronger than those before them.
As those disciples fought, Shun Long finally found their true level of strength.
Those in the top 300 were almost all at the peak of rank 1 or the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm, while those in the top 200 were either middle rank 2 or peak rank 2 Dao Kings.
As for those at the top 100, they were all at the early rank 3 of the Dao King realm at the very least!
Even when the top 50 stepped on the tform, Bai Liuxian was still uninterested and unmoving, as if she was a block of ice.
It was only once the top 10 stepped on the tform, that Bai Liuxian finally showed a change in her expression.
Chapter 694: Top 10
Chapter 694: Top 10
The excitement in the arena had finally reached its peak as a bald young man with a burly build stepped on the tform and turned his gaze towards a red-haired young man who was standing on one of the surrounding tforms.
This bald young man was no one else other than the person ranked 7th in the Martial Roll of Honor, Mao Lim.
As for the red-haired young man whom he was staring at, he naturally attracted a lot of attention himself.
After all, not only was this red-haired young man standing right next to Qiao Min, the goddess who was ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor, but even Shun Long and the others all had heard of his name as well plenty of times.
This was the person who was ranked 4th in the Martial Roll of Honor, one of the 5 strongest outer court disciples of the Holy sect, Zheng Zihao!
''''Hey! Senior brother Mao is intending to challenge Zheng Zihao again? Is he serious?''''
''''I knew this would happen. In thest Martial Roll of Honor tournament, Mao Lim didn''t manage to make it to the top 5 only because of senior brother Zheng who defeated him with one punch! He naturally wants to take revenge!''''
''''How is he nning to take revenge? Thest time, senior brother Mao was only an early rank 3 Dao King while Zheng Zihao had already reached the peak rank 3 in the Dao King realm.''''
''''If I was Mao Lim I would challenge Luo Zhn to get into the top 5 instead of challenging senior brother Zheng. It should be easier to beat the person ranked 5th than the person ranked 4th.''''
''''Idiot, do you think senior brother Luo is weak? Even if he is weaker than Zheng Zihao, it shouldn''t be by too much. It''s better to challenge an opponent you are already familiar with than someone that you have never fought before.''''
While he listened to the discussions from the disciples in the crowd around him, Shun Long had already focused his attention towards the bald young man who was standing on the tform.
Mao Lim had his aura retracted inside his body, not leaking out even a little bit of it.
He was calmly staring at the red-haired Zheng Zihao with a gaze filled with fighting intent.
Next to Zheng Zihao, Qiao Min looked at him and smiled as she said
''''Junior brother don''t lose, or you will cause me to lose face as well.''''
Zheng Zihao looked at Qiao Min calmly and shook his head without saying anything, before he turned his gaze towards Mao Lim on the tform.
Without any hesitation, his body suddenly shot towards the arena like a red blur, crossing the distance between them and arriving right in front of Mao Lim in less than a second.
''''Eh? That kid is a bit faster than most other rank 3 Dao Kings. I guess this fight may be a bit interesting after all.''''
For the first time in a while, the green-haired Bai Liuxian who had a sulky mood previously finally spoke, as she stared at Zheng Zihao on the tform below her.
Indeed, none of the previous fights had managed to catch her interest in the slightest.
Even those disciples in the top 50 could only be considered below average or average at best in her eyes.
As for this Zheng Zihao, it seemed that speed was his greatest strength.
The purple-robed ''uncle Mo'' next to her didn''t speak, as he simply stood there and looked at the fighting tform in the arena with an uncaring look on his face.
He knew that although the princess seemed to be interested, it was only because the previous fights had been too boring for her.
In the past 5 months that he had been traveling around the central region with her, he had seen plenty of talents simr to this Zheng Zihao and even stronger than him, but none of them were strong enough to attract his princess'' attention.
Bai Liuxian had only chosen only 4 geniuses so far, and every single one of them was far stronger than this Zheng Zihao, whether it was in terms of talent or strength.
In ''uncle Mo''s'' eyes, Zheng Zihao''s famed speed would only put him at the bare minimum to stand on the same stage as those geniuses.
As for his strength, it would need to be at least a few levels higher than his speed if he wanted topete against them.
As the outer court Elder called for the battle to begin, Mao Lim didn''t hide his cultivation base any longer, revealing that he had actually reached the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm.
Many outer disciples were surprised by this, including Dong Ai''s elder brother, Dong Cheng who was ranked in 6th ce, right above Mao Lim.
Dong Chen was previously certain that he could defeat Mao Lim effortlessly, since he had also reached the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm before the Martial Roll of Honor tournament started... but now, he felt slightly uncertain.
Dong Cheng had been confident previously that he could beat either Zheng Zihao or Luo Zhn and earn a spot in the top 5, but now he understood that Mao Lim was most likely not any weaker than him.
''''Hmph, it doesn''t matter. I have a star-rank weapon while Mao Lim only has that pair of gloves at the peak of rank 3 in the gold grade. Even if we fought against each other again, I would be the one who woulde out on top!''''
As he remembered his biggest advantage against Mao Lim, a surge of confidence bloomed in Dong Cheng''s heart before he turned his attention towards a young man who was standing a few tens of meters away from him.
This was Dong Cheng''s target this time, the person ranked 5th in the Martial Roll of Honor, Luo Zhn!
Even though Luo Zhn also had a star-rank weapon like him, Dong Cheng was confident in his chances of winning.
In his heart, he had at least a 50 percent chance to enter the top 5 this time.
On the fighting tform, the fight between Mao Lim and Zheng Zihao was extremely heated.
Mao Lim fought with his pair of gloves while Zheng Zihao took out arge yellow hammer that was more than 2 meters(6.5ft) tall, with many mysterious runes covering itpletely.
Although Mao Lim''s attacks were extremely fierce and his speed was actually only a bit lower than Zheng Zihao''s own speed, Zheng Zihao''s hammer attacks were truly horrifying, leaving Mao Lim pale-faced against them.
Mao Lim had to dodge most of the hammer attacks, and those few that he didn''t manage to avoid in time ended up sending him stumbling back, as they caused hints of blood to appear on his lips.
In the past, Zheng Zihao hadn''t used his hammer when he fought against Mao Lim, using only a single fist to defeat him.
But this time, he had to go all-out.
Although Zheng Zihao had the advantage in this fight, Mao Lim''s attacks weren''t weak either.
Finally, a few minutester, Mao Lim''s body was sent flying from the sky as it crashed on the tform below him, creating a small crater in the process.
Zheng Zihao was panting for breath as he stood in the sky above the tform looking downwards with a look that was filled with fighting intent.
Indeed, Mao Lim was weaker than him and he had won, but Zheng Zihao knew that he couldn''t underestimate him any longer.
He understood that if Mao Lim had a star-rank weapon as well, Zheng Zihao would find it much more difficult to win.
Cheers filled the arena as Mao Lim stood up a few momentster and looked at Zheng Zihao in the sky unwillingly, before he carried his battered body away and left the tform.
Zheng Zihao flew back towards Qiao Min, before another fight between the top 10 started.
Dong Cheng finally challenged the person ranked 5th, Luo Zhn.
Liu Mei and the others all stared at Dong Cheng with cold looks filled with killing intent.
After all, everyone had seen how he had suddenly stepped on the arena and attacked Shun Long after his fight with Dong Ai.
Although Dong Cheng hadn''t tried to kill Shun Long since the Elders of the sect would have definitely punished him heavily and even killed him for killing another disciple openly like that, his attack had been strong enough to heavily injure any normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Luo Zhn faced Dong Cheng calmly, before he took out a huge silver sword that he held in front of his chest with both hands.
This was Luo Zhn''s weapon, a star-rank heavy sword!
Dong Cheng had been confident that he could win the fight since he had already fought with Luo Zhn in thest Martial Roll of Honor tournament as well, but once the fight actually started, Dong Cheng was stunned when he shed with Luo Zhn head-on for the first time.
The moment that his ck saber collided with Luo Zhn''s heavy sword, Dong Cheng stumbled back for more than a few steps until he regained his bnce.
The web on his hand that was holding his saber almost tore apart as Dong Cheng? realized that Luo Zhn''s attacks were much stronger than thest time.
Dong Cheng who was most confident in his own offense finally understood that Luo Zhn wasn''t any weaker than him either in this regard.
As for his defense, it was actually much weaker than Luo Zhn''s.
Although Dong Cheng was slightly faster and could hold his own, he was unable to hold on for too long and was defeated.
Surprisingly, after this fight ended, the person ranked 3rd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Zhang Jing didn''t step forward.
Instead, silence filled the arena, as a beautiful young woman with blue hair and a pair of sapphire-like eyes stepped on the empty tform, and turned her gaze towards the strongest outer disciple on the outer court, the person ranked 1st in the Martial Roll of Honor, Yang Hui.
Chapter 695: Yang Huis strength
Chapter 695: Yang Hui''s strength
Yang Hui smiled as he looked at Qiao Min, and under the eager and excited gazes of the disciples in the crowd, he took a step forward as he appeared above the fighting tform almost instantly.
Many outer disciples gasped at this speed.
Even Zheng Zihao who was ranked 4th in the Martial Roll of Honor and was famed for his speed narrowed his eyes when he saw this scene.
He knew that Yang Hui was even faster than he himself was.
Yang Hui''s body was engulfed in orange mes as he stood in the sky above the tform, his eyes peering down on Qiao Min who was waiting for him in silence.
''''Uncle Mo, is this the kid you were talking about? Indeed his speed at least can be considered above average even among peak rank 4 Dao Kings. However, just this isn''t enough to allow him to follow after me in the City of Immortals. If that''s all he has then I will be disappointed by this Holy sect.''''
The purple-robed old man nodded his head without saying anything, while the Grand Elder''s eyes twitched when he heard Bai Liuxian''s words.
One of the things that the Grand Elder didn''t want to see, was the Yang n striking up a rtionship with the Bai n.
The Yang n was already the undisputable strongest n among the powerful families and ns in the Holy sect''s territory.
If Yang Hui really followed Bai Liuxian, then once the Yang n obtained the protection of the Bai n, even the sect master would have to think twice about offending them.
However, the Grand Elder knew that there was nothing he could do about this either, so he could only remain silent.
With a smile on his face, Yang Hui looked at Qiao Min and said a momentter, with that same unchanging smile on his face
''''Junior sister Qiao, do you really intend to challenge me again? I thought you learned your lesson thest time.''''
Qiao Min snorted as she looked at Yang Hui in the sky who was arrogantly looking down on her as if he was a me god who could easily decide her life and death, before she answered coldly
''''Yang Hui, you are too arrogant. Do you think that you are actually invincible? I did lose thest time but don''t think that things would remain like that forever!''''
As she finished speaking, Qiao Min allowed her cultivation base to surge wildly, while snakes made from water started to appear in the air around her.
However, the peculiar thing was, that these water snakes seemed to have been formed from a type of ck water.
''''Eh? Something is wrong with senior sister Qiao''s snakes... Don''t they seem too real? It''s almost as if they are actual magic beasts.''''
''''Idiot! Look at senior sister''s cultivation base instead! She has broken through once again!''''
Surprised exmations filled the arena when people saw the ck water snakes, while those disciples in the top 10 were actually even more surprised when they sensed Qiao Min''s cultivation.
Even Yang Hui was stunned briefly before he looked at Qiao Min and said in surprise
''''You broke through to the early rank 4 of the Dao King realm? Hah, how interesting.
It also seems like your water snakes are a bit different from thest time. Perhaps this will be a bit fun then.''''
Although Yang Hui was slightly surprised, that calm smile hadn''t vanished from his face even for a single second, as he slowly descended from the sky,nding on the tform and standing opposite from Qiao Min.
Those disciples who were staring at Yang Hui suddenly thought that they saw an evil smile form itself on his lips, before Yang Hui''s cultivation exploded outwards as well.
The confident smile on Qiao Min''s face froze in the next moment when she sensed Yang Hui''s cultivation base that was actually at the same level as hers... the early rank 4 of the Dao King realm!
''''Heh, junior sister, did you think that you were the only one who managed to breakthrough? Even with your unique physique, you should understand that you are no match for me at the same cultivation level. No, it should be said that at the same cultivation level, no one in the entire sect is my match!''''
Yang Hui sneered as he looked at Qiao Min contemptuously, waiting to see her surrender.
In his heart, Yang Hui truly disdained to fight against Qiao Min.
Even the inner court disciples of the Holy sect weren''t enough to catch his attention.
The only people who were his match, were the few core disciples of the sect, or the peak geniuses around the central region who belonged to the superpowers that ruled the central region.
This was why Yang Hui spent most of his time inside the Dao Tower in the Holy city fighting against those geniuses, or he stayed inside his Yang n, fighting against the Dao Emperor realm experts of his n.
The arena that had yet to calm down from Qiao Min''s surprising breakthrough before it was filled with mor once again, as the disciples sitting in the audience seats excitedly cheered
''''Senior brother Yang Hui has broken through as well! He is now a middle-stage Dao King just like senior sister Qiao!''''
''''Sigh. After seeing senior sister''s Qiao''s breakthrough, I actually thought that she would take first ce in the Martial Roll of Honor this time, but who would expect that senior brother Yang would breakthrough as well? Is senior sister doomed to stay in second ce forever?''''
''''Tsk! What do you know? Senior sister Qiao is only 40 years old and she is already a middle-stage Dao King! She even became a Dao King when she was just 35 years old! Her talent is truly at the top of the entire sect, and perhaps even when it''spared to the central region as a whole. Even if there are stronger geniuses out there, I doubt that they will be faster in their cultivation speed by much.
As for senior brother Yang, he is already 70 years old. Although he is very fast as well and he is extremely young, he is much older than senior sister Qiao herself. In the future, senior sister will definitely be the strongest person in the sect.''''
Some disciples nodded while others fell silent when they heard this.
There were many disciples in the sect who debated whether Yang Hui or Qiao Min was more talented.
Without a doubt, Qiao Min''s cultivation speed was faster than Yang Hui''s, but in thest Martial Roll of Honor tournament, both Qiao Min and Yang Hui were at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm, and yet Yang Hui had effortlessly defeated her.
This time, things didn''t seem to go any different, since both of them were at the same cultivation level again.
Few people believed that the result would actually change.
Shun Long shook his head when he heard the discussions of the crowd around him, while Jiang Chen simply snorted coldly when Yang Hui arrogantly said that he is invincible at the same level of cultivation.
''''Just wait until we reach the middle stages of the Dao King realm as well. We will then see if that guy is really invincible at the same level of cultivation.''''
Xingyi then turned her bright emerald eyes towards Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Brother Long, is there something special about that Yang Hui?''''
Liu Mei and the others all looked at Shun Long curiously.
They could see that he had a look of interest in his eyes as he stared at Yang Hui.
Shun Long nodded his head and answered with a calm smile on his face
''''That guy is strong. Both he and Qiao Min are at the same level of cultivation, but even though Qiao Min has consumed a ''five-elements awakening pill'' to increase the strength of her unique physique even further, she still isn''t a match for Yang Hui just yet.''''
Bai Longtian and the others were stunned briefly when they heard this, but they still regained their bearings soon after.
Although they were surprised that Shun Long would be able to see through something like Qiao Min consuming a ''five elements awakening pill'', they knew that it wasn''t too crazy considering his level of talent in alchemy.
In their eyes, since Shun Long was able to concoct top-grade rank 6 pills like the ''five-elements awakening pill'' that even star-rank alchemists only had a 40 percent chance to concoct sessfully, his level of talent probably exceeded that of a star-rank alchemist already.
If it wasn''t because Shun Long was still a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, Bai Longtian and the others all believed that Shun Long would even be able to concoct rank 7 pills if his spiritual strength was strong enough.
Since Shun Long had been able to see through Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s unique physiques when they were intentionally hiding them, it was only natural in their eyes that he would be able to see through Qiao Min''s secret of consuming as ''five elements awakening pill'' as well.
With a deep look in his eyes, Shun Long stared seriously at Yang Hui and Qiao Min who were both about to fight, before he continued
''''Although Qiao Min''s unique physique isn''t weak, it''s differentpared to Jiang Chen''s, Xingyi''s, or Longtian''s unique physiques. Her unique physique is called the ''ckwater unique physique'' and it doesn''t enhance herbat strength as much. Instead, it allows her to cultivate more quickly.
As for that Yang Hui, he is strong because of that pair of triangle-shaped eyes of his. After all, those eyese from a ''mythic rank'' magic beast, the Fire Qilin!''''
-
Author''s note: Next chapter in a few hours
Chapter 696: Fire Qilins eyes
Chapter 696: Fire Qilin''s eyes
The Fire Qilin!
Stunned looks appeared on Jiang Chen''s and the rest''s faces when they heard the words ''Mythic rank magic beast''.
They had already heard from Shun Long about the ssification of magic beasts in the Immortal Dimension, so they all had a general idea of how rare a ''Mythic rank'' magic beast was considered to be, even in the Immortal Dimension.
Virtually every single magic beast in the cultivation world was considered a mon rank'' magic beast, with an exceedingly low number of ''rare rank'' beasts existing among them.
As for ''elite rank'' magic beasts, these magic beasts were rare even in the Immortal Dimension, and most of them were exceedingly difficult to capture. Even high-leveled experts in the Immortal DImension would have a hard time getting their hands on an ''elite-rank'' magic beast.
As for ''Mythic rank'' magic beasts... those were top-rate magic beasts at the same level as the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' where Jiang Chen''s bloodline originated from. Even an entire immortal city may perish if it was attacked by a single ''Mythic rank'' magic beast.
From this fact alone, it was enough to understand how terrifying ''Mythic rank'' magic beasts really were.
Although there were other disciples who possessed Immortal-grade bloodlines within the Holy sect, possessing the bloodline of a ''Mythic rank'' magic beast was an entirely different matter altogether.
After all, it wasn''t just the bloodlines of magic beasts that cultivators could inherit.
There were other types of immortal-grade bloodlines as well.
If one''s ancestor was an extremely powerful expert who had even be an immortal and had managed to have a child in the cultivation world right before ascending to the Immortal Dimension, then that expert''s bloodline would also be considered an immortal-grade bloodline.
This was the mostmon type of Immortal-grade bloodlines in the Immortal Dimension as well.
Of course, those situations were extremely rare in the cultivation world, but they still existed nheless.
A momentter, Liu Mei was the first one to reign in her surprise as she looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Long-ge, then, does this Yang Hui also have an immortal-grade bloodline from a ''Mythic rank'' magic beast?''''
Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all looked at Shun Long as well.
The same question had appeared in their minds at the same time, while Shun Long was the only one who seemed to have any knowledge regarding those mysterious bloodlines and the powerful magic beasts from the Immortal Dimension.
From the moment that Yang Hui had shown his face, everyone had seen that those triangle-shaped red-colored eyes of his hadn''t disappeared at all.
The one who was the most curious about this was actually Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen knew that his own body and even Shun Long''s body would both change when they activated their immortal-grade bloodlines, but once they stopped activating them or their blood essence ran out, their bodies would go back to normal as they needed to replenish their lost blood essence.
But Yang Hui didn''t seem to have any issue like that.
Was it possible for someone to use their immortal-grade bloodline for so long?
Shun Long shook his head confidently as he looked at Liu Mei and answered
''''He doesn''t have the bloodline of a Mythic rank magic beast in his body but he doesn''t need it either. In a certain sense, the strength that he gets from the Fire Qilin''s eyes isn''t any weaker than the strength that he would get from any powerful unique physique.
The Fire Qilin''s eyes allow one to control the element of fire to an astonishing degree.
This is why those orange mes around Yang Hui''s body are so strong. Although Qiao Min''s ckwater unique physique is also rare, it can''tpare to the eyes of a Mythic rank magic beast.''''
Little ck nodded his head after hearing Shun Long''s exnation to Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, about the Fire Qilin''s eyes and said calmly
''''Master is right. Although the Fire Qilin isn''t the strongest among other Mythic-rank magic beasts of the fire element, in terms of its control over fire, very few magic beasts can actuallypare with it.''''
At the same time that Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind, on the fighting tform in the arena, Qiao Min looked at Yang Hui with a frosty look in her eyes, before the outer court Elder responsible for the tform signaled for the fight to begin.
Qiao Min then waved her hands, causing a dozen of her ck water snakes, each of them more than 10 meters (33ft) long, to fly towards Yang Hui who was leisurely standing there, almost as if he was waiting for her to attack first.
It wasn''t until the water snakes arrived right in front of him that Yang Hui finally moved.
Yang Hui''s demeanor suddenly changed at that moment, as his triangle-shaped red eyes were suddenly filled with a bloodthirsty look, almost as if he was a hungry magic beast that was craving blood.
At the same time, the orange mes around his body burned with even more intensity than before, and before Qiao Min''s water snakes could even have a chance to touch his body, they were instantly evaporated.
The crowd in the audience seats was filled with excitement as they watched this fight in the arena.
This was the power of the strongest outer court disciple of the Holy sect, the person ranked 1st in the Martial Roll of Honor, Yang Hui!
Qiao Min gritted her teeth as she waved her hands, causing more and more of her water snakes to lunge themselves towards Yang Hui.
And yet, Yang Hui simply started walking forward as he approached closer towards Qiao Min,pletely ignoring those water snakes that failed to even get past his me armor.
Every time that a ck snake would approach his body, Yang Hui''s eyes would only stare at it for a moment, before the mes around him would attack it directly.
This was the power of the ''Fire Qilin''s'' eyes!
It was almost impossible to attack Yang Hui while he was covered in his me armor!
A look of despair appeared on Qiao Min''s face when she saw this scene.
She knew that each one of her water snakes that was created through her ckwater unique physique was enough to severely injure and even kill an average early rank 4 Dao King realm cultivator, and yet a dozen of those snakes weren''t enough to even break past Yang Hui''s defenses.
Just as Qiao Min decided to grit her teeth and give up, Yang Hui''s body suddenly blurred, arriving in front of her almost instantly, and before Qiao Min could even respond, a violent look shed inside Yang Hui''s eyes as he chopped his right arm downwards without holding back.
Blood spurted through the air like a fountain, as Qiao Min''s left arm was severed from her body under her disbelieving gaze.
A deathly silence filled the arena in the next moment, as everyone watched Yang Hui clutch Qiao Min''s throat and raise her in the air with his left hand, before he spoke with a bloodthirsty smile on his face that was filled with killing intent
''''Junior sister, you are not qualified to stand in front of me. The first time I gave you face and simply injured you, while today, I only took an arm as a punishment. However, if you dare to fight against me again in the future... I will definitely take your life then.''''
Chapter 697: Bai Liuxians offer
Chapter 697: Bai Liuxian''s offer
Qiao Min shivered while cold sweat drenched her back when she saw the cruel look inside Yang Hui''s eyes.
At this moment, Yang Hui didn''t look like a human but like a hungry magic beast that could barely restrain itself.
Without waiting for a response, Yang Hui flung Qiao Min to the side, as he sent her flying, andpletely ignoring his right hand that was still dripping with the blood from Qiao Min''s severed arm, Yang Hui raised his head to look at the inner court Elders in the sky above the tform.
The Grand Elder snorted inwardly but he didn''t say anything about Yang Hui severing Qiao Min''s left arm.
ording to the rules, as long as one didn''t kill or cripple his opponent, the Grand Elder wouldn''t say anything.
Although a severed right arm was a problem for someone like Qiao Min who wasn''t a body refiner, there were plenty of pills and medicinal herbs that could allow her to regrow her right arm.
Of course, those types of pills and medicinal herbs were naturally extremely expensive, but the Grand Elder knew that this was nothing to a big n like the Qiao n where Qiao Min came from.
At the same time that Yang Hui raised his head to look at them, Bai Liuxian also nodded calmly, as she looked at Yang Hui and said seriously
''''Your name is Yang Hui, right? Although your cultivation is weak, you barely qualify to follow me inside the City of Immortals. Come with me.''''
A sharp light shed inside Yang Hui''s triangle-shaped red eyes when he heard themanding tone that Bai Liuxian used to speak to him, while the orange mes that had yet to dissipate around his body suddenly burned with even more intensity than before, as he said
''''Follow you? What makes you think that I want to follow you?''''
Bai Liuxian narrowed her eyes when she heard Yang Hui''s arrogant tone that held no hints of respect.
At that moment, the purple-robed old man by her side, ''uncle Mo'' chuckled as he looked at Yang Hui and said
''''Kid, the princess naturally won''t force you to follow her. You are merely qualified to do so, but whether youtch on to this chance or not is up to you.''''
Yang Hui toned down his arrogance when he saw that this powerful expert -that even the Grand Elder was wary of- spoke to him, but he didn''t answer straight away. Instead, he simply looked at Bai Liuxian who snorted coldly and said
''''Yang Hui, isn''t your Yang n nothing more than a small n in the Holy sect''s territory? In the central region as a whole, you can be considered wholly insignificant. A small n that experts can snuff out as they please.
You should understand that as long as a n doesn''t have a Sovereign realm expert backing them, they will never be able to gain a footing for themselves in the central region or they will run the risk of being eradicated by others.
ns like your Yang n stand at the very bottom of the central region.
However, my Bai n is different.
If you follow me wholeheartedly inside the City of Immortals, I will give you a chance to reach the Sovereign realm in the future.
Now, think carefully before you give me your answer.''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened slightly when he heard Bai Liuxian''s words, while the disciples around him seemed to have gone crazy when they heard the words ''chance to reach the Sovereign realm''.
The Sovereign realm was the realm above the Dao Emperor, and in the Holy sect''s territory, only the sect master of the Holy sect had reached this level.
As for the others, the second strongest person was the Grand Elder, who was rumored to be stranded in the Dao Emperor realm for more than 100.000 years.
A chance to reach the Sovereign realm... forget about Yang Hui, every single one of the patriarchs and the n leaders of the major ns and families around the Holy sect, including even Yang Hui''s own father, Yang Tian, would definitely go crazy to obtain this chance.
Countless disciples, including even Qiao Min who had just lost an arm, as well as the rest of those disciples who were ranked in the top 10 in the Martial Roll of Honor, were now all staring at Bai Liuxian with disbelieving looks in their eyes.
At the same time, the Grand Elder''s eyes twitched when he heard Bai Liuxian''s offer, but he simply remained silent.
Nobody knew more than him, how alluring an offer to reach the Sovereign realm really was.
Everyone watched as Yang Hui stared at Bai Liuxian with a serious gaze, almost as if he was trying to verify whether she was saying the truth or not.
A momentter, Yang Hui took a deep breath to calm himself down before he asked solemnly
''''Are you sure about this?''''
Bai Liuxian simply sneered in disdain as she looked at him and said
''''Do you think I would lie to you? Although the Sovereign realm isn''t easy to reach, as long as you possess the slightest bit of talent and can train in an immortal-grade cultivation technique, then it''s not impossible for you to reach it.
Of course, that''s only if you manage to survive the heavenly tribtion.
Your Holy sect doesn''t have any immortal-grade cultivation techniques, but do you think that my Bai n is the same?''''
As she finished speaking, Bai Liuxian waved her hand, causing a golden scroll to appear in front of her.
The scroll was folded, leaving only the words at the very top visible to Yang Hui and the rest.
The moment that Yang Hui, the Grand Elder, the 3 inner court Elders, and the outer court disciples close to Bai Liuxiannded their eyes on the words on top of the golden scroll, everyone could feel their heart rates speeding up uncontrobly.
''Immortal-grade cultivation technique, Tree of Immortality''
Bai Liuxian merely smirked when she saw Yang Hui''s reaction, before she ced the golden scroll back inside her spatial ring and said calmly
''''Now make your choice.''''
-
Author''s note: Reminder that if we make it to the top 10 in the Golden Ticket rankings by the end of the month, we are getting a 10 chapters mass release on the first day of next month, and many more mass releases in the middle of the month as well.
Chapter 698: High-grade spirit stones
Chapter 698: High-grade spirit stones
Yang Hui fell silent for a moment as he looked at Bai Liuxian, before he finally cupped his hands a few momentster and said
''''Fine then. I will follow you when you enter the City of Immortals, but you better keep your promise!''''
Bai Liuxian nodded her head calmly and said
''''I guess this trip wasn''t in vain after all. Although your Dao of Fire is just amon Dao, your strength isn''t much weakerpared to someone who hasprehended a supreme Dao.''''
''''A supreme Dao? Even those who haveprehended supreme Daos aren''t my match!''''
Yang Hui answered with a look of unrestrained confidence and arrogance as he stared at Bai Liuxian in the sky above him.
And yet, Bai Liuxian simply chuckled in response before she said
''''Those with supreme Daos aren''t your match? Hahaha! Perhaps that is so in your tiny sect but that''s only because you haven''t fought against a real genius who hasprehended a supreme Dao just yet.
When we enter the City of Immortals, you will find out that you are even weaker than some people who haveprehended unique Daos, let alone supreme-level ones!''''
Yang Hui merely snorted inwardly but he didn''t say anything to rebuke Bai Liuxian.
It was true that outside from the disciples of the Holy sect, he had yet to fight against someone who had trulyprehended a supreme Dao.
Even in the Dao Tower in the Holy city, Yang Hui knew that he would probably have to reach the top levels to fight against the strongest geniuses who hadprehended supreme Daos.
After all, supreme Daos were simply too rare.
Even unique-level Daos were rare in the Holy sect, let alone supreme-level ones.
As for those who hadprehended supreme Daos, in the entire outer court of the Holy sect, there were less than 10 of those disciples.
After all, bing a Dao King through a supreme-level Dao was extremely difficult.
The more powerful one''s Dao was, the more difficult it would be to survive the Heavenly Tribtion upon breaking through to the Dao King realm.
Bai Liuxian then turned to look at the purple-robed old man next to her and said calmly
''''Uncle Mo, let''s go.''''
''''Yes, princess!''''
The purple-robed old man nodded his head with a gentle expression on his face, before he turned his gaze towards Yang Hui and said coldly
''''Brat,e here.''''
The enormous silhouette of a bird that was more than 100 meters (328ft) long blotted out the sky above the arena in the next moment, as it appeared above the Holy sect for the second time.
Sitting on the back of the peak rank 7 ''Hellfire crow'' with the purple-robed old man sitting next to her and Yang Hui sitting behind him, Bai Liuxian threw onest look at the Holy sect below her, before the enormous silhouette of the ''Hellfire crow'' suddenly shot into the distance, as it disappeared from everyone''s eyes.
The Grand Elder wasn''t angry that Bai Liuxian didn''t pay him any attention, and instead, he simply heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, before he shot a covert nce towards a certain group of disciples in the audience seats.
Although it was a disaster for the Holy sect to have Yang Hui strike up a rtionship with Bai Liuxian, the Grand Elder knew that this wasn''t something that could be avoided either way.
Instead, the Grand Elder was afraid that Bai Liuxian would also take a fancy to Shun Long and would forcefully take him from the Holy sect.
If that Sovereign realm expert intended to do something like that, even the Grand Elder would be powerless to resist him.
In the Grand Elder''s eyes, Shun Long''s importance was much higher than Yang Hui''s.
After all, Yang Hui came from one of the vassal powers of the Holy sect, and his Yang n would always hope to usurp power and rece the Holy sect as the strongest power in this region.
But Shun Long didn''t belong to any of the powerful families and ns around the Holy sect''s territory.
Additionally, the Grand Elder knew that Shun Long hadprehended 2 supreme Daos, and one of them had never been seen before in the entire central region.
The Grand Elder believed that if Bai Liuxian knew about this, then she would definitely do everything in her power to take Shun Long away from the Holy sect, even if she had to bribe him or use force against the Holy sect.
Even if Shun Long couldn''t enter the City of Immortals with her, the Bai n would do everything they could to steal him away from the Holy sect.
After all, even in the central region, the number of geniuses who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos was almost nonexistent.
The Grand Elder only knew of one more genius who had done so, and he belonged to one of the absolute strongest powers of the central region, a power that was even stronger than Bai Liuxian''s Bai n.
Even if there were others who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos aside from ''that person'', the Grand Elder knew that those people could be counted on the fingers of 2 hands.
For a genius who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos, his talent would definitely ce him in the top 10 of the younger generation throughout the entire central region.
Since his Holy sect was lucky enough to get someone like Shun Long, the Grand Elder wasn''t going to hand him over to Bai Liuxian no matter what.
Of course, the Grand Elder also knew that Bai Liuxian would be extremely dissatisfied with his Holy sect as well, since it was only a matter of time until word spread about Shun Long havingprehended 2 supreme Daos.
After all, Shun Long had just fought in front of 200.000 outer disciples.
Even if the Grand Elder wanted to keep this news hidden, there was no way that he could do so.
''''I hope Ye Honges back quickly or we will be in trouble...''''
While countless thoughts shed inside the Grand Elder''s mind at this moment, Shun Long who was the main cause of those thoughts waspletely oblivious to all of it, as he instead stared at the head of the inner court Elders, Sun Wen, who led Elder Xuan and Cao Ling on the tform below him.
On this tform, Qiao Min was sitting cross-legged, with her severed arm lying right next to her.
She had already consumed a healing pill the moment that her fight with Yang Hui ended, and she was now trying to absorb the pill''s energy to heal herself.
However, Sun Wen didn''t care too much about this young woman who was ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor.
His mood was already extremely foul after seeing Bai Liuxian take Yang Hui away.
He knew that in the near future, and perhaps even before Yang Hui returned from the City of Immortals, the Holy sect would have to suppress the Yang n once again.
A Yang n that had the support of the Bai n... Sun Wen didn''t know if the Holy sect would be able to deal with their n without the sect master present.
Shun Long had also noticed the sudden change in the attitudes of the 3 inner court Elders, along with everyone else in the audience seats who had also noticed it, but Shun Long didn''t care about it either.
Instead, he was looking forward to the 1000 high-grade spirit stones that he would be getting now.
Although he didn''t know how much his cultivation speed would increase after he started to cultivate using high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long was certain that the effects would be iparable to when he used middle-grade spirit stones.
Indeed, Sun Wen then called the outer court disciples who had made it to the top 1000 and started to distribute their rewards.
Shun Long noticed that Sun Wen seemed to have a peculiar look in his eyes as he looked at him, before he handed him a yellow-colored spatial ring.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t too surprised by this either. He knew that the inner court Elders would probably start paying attention to him now that he had revealed his Dao of Time along with his Dao of Space.
Sending his soul sense inside the spatial ring, Shun Long noticed the 1000 pure-white spirit stones that formed a small mound.
Each of these spirit stones was more than 10 times bigger than a normal middle-grade spirit stone.
''''High-grade spirit stones!''''
Shun Long could feel his heart rate rising when he saw these high-grade spirit stones.
To any Nascent Soul stage cultivator, high-grade spirit stones were priceless treasures.
After throwing a few more looks at the 1000 pure-white, high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long turned his gaze towards a golden token that was ced right next to them inside the spatial ring.
He understood that this was the token that he could use to enter the Dao Tower inside the Holy city without paying any middle-grade spirit stones.
As for theplete Saint low-grade cultivation technique or martial skill that he could also choose, Shun Long decided to wait until he visited the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall first.
Chapter 699: The Grand Elders visit
Chapter 699: The Grand Elder''s visit
Shun Long was about to take Liu Mei and the rest and leave the arena, but just as he stepped past the arena''s entrance, the figure of a tall, white-robed old man with long white hair suddenly appeared in front of him.
Shun Long and the others were all surprised to see the Grand Elder appear in front of them like this, but the Grand Elder simply smiled as he looked at Shun Long and said in an amiable tone
''''Kid,e with me a bit.''''
The Grand Elder then stretched out his right hand, opening up arge space tear.
Shun Long could feel an irresistible forceing from the space tear in front of him, one that he couldn''t even resist with his Dao of Time or his own Dao of Space.
''''The Grand Elder''s attainments in the Dao of Space don''t seem to be low either.''''
As he reached this conclusion, Shun Long didn''t try to resist this pulling force, allowing his body to step inside the space tear.
Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, all closed their eyes as well, as they allowed the pulling force of the space tear to pull them inside, before their bodies all disappeared from the arena''s entrance.
Surprisingly, as he opened his eyes, Shun Long found himself inside a familiar courtyard.
There were even stalks of ''dragonblood grass'' on the ground that Little Silver usually ate.
Waving his hand, the Grand Elder then took out a bunch of meditative cushions from his spatial ring, and after sitting on one of them himself, he ced the rest around Shun Long, Bai Longtian and the others and said
''''Have a seat.''''
Shun Long nodded as he sat on one of the meditative cushions as well, before he turned his gaze towards the Grand Elder.
Naturally, he wasn''t surprised that the Grand Elder would be able to ignore the restrictions of the courtyards and enter Shun Long''s courtyard.
Even if he wasn''t the Grand Elder, Shun Long guessed that this was a piece of cake for any peak rank 9 Dao Emperor realm expert.
Instead, Shun Long was slightly surprised that the Grand Elder had alsoprehended the Dao of Space.
Opening up a tiny space tear was something that even average Spirit realm cultivators could do without too much trouble, but creating a space tear and utilizing it properly were 2pletely different matters.
Shun Long could sense that the Grand Elder''s attainments in the Dao of Space were much higher than his own.
Almost as if he could guess Shun Long''s thoughts, the Grand Elder smiled and said
''''Although I have alsoprehended a bit of the Dao of Space as well, it''s only a secondary Dao to me. My level ofprehension in it has barely reached the level of a peak Dao King.
It may look impressive on the outside, but it''s actually useless for me to try and use the Dao of Space to fight against other Dao Emperors.
Instead, my most powerful Dao is my Dao of Ice. Unfortunately, the Dao of Ice is considered to be a rare Dao, making it much harder for me to get past the final stretch and break through to reach the Sovereign realm.''''
The Grand Elder sighed as he said thest sentence, while his eyes seemed to have turned slightly hazy.
''''A rare Dao?'''' Shun Long was surprised to hear that Daos were actually ssified like that. Although he had heard back in the arena the other outer court disciples saying that he hadprehended a supreme Dao, Shun Long had thought that the reason behind that was because those disciples couldn''t discern what Dao he had trulyprehended.
Nodding his head, the Grand Elder looked at Shun Long and answered seriously
''''Right. Every Dao is different after all, and Daos themselves also have different grades.
Certain Daos like the Dao of Water, the Dao of Fire, the Dao of Earth and the Dao of Wind are only considered to bemon Daos, while Daos like my Dao of Ice, the Dao of Lightning, the Dao of Metal and others at the same level, are considered to be rare Daos.
Above rare Daos are the unique Daos, like the Dao of Destruction, the Demonic Dao, the Dao of Darkness, the Dao of Shadows and others, while even higher than the unique Daos are the Supreme-grade Daos. Supreme Daos like the Dao of Life, the Dao of Death, the Dao of Space and others, are extremely powerful Daos that very few geniuses manage toprehend in their lives.
Of course, even unique level Daos are extremely difficult toprehend let alone supreme-level ones.
Although supreme-level Daos are very difficult toprehend, each of those Daos is much stronger than other Daos at the same level.
However, the more powerful a Dao is, the harder it bes to advance further in your cultivation.
As for my Dao of Ice, it''s just a rare Dao, and yet I have been stuck to the peak of the Dao Emperor realm because of it, for almost 100.000 years.
This is why cultivation techniques that belong to the same element as one''s foundational Dao are important.
If only I had an immortal-grade cultivation technique, especially one that used the Dao of Ice, this old man would have been able to breakthrough to the Sovereign realm long ago...''''
The Grand Elder was vexed as he said thest words.
He had been looking for immortal-grade cultivation techniques for far too long, but even a power like the Holy sect didn''t have immortal-grade cultivation techniques.
In the entire Holy sect, there was only a single core disciple who was said to possess an immortal-grade cultivation technique, and that disciple had only managed to obtain that technique after he obtained the legacy of a powerful expert who had died long ago.
As for that immortal-grade cultivation technique, it was one that was recorded inside a high-grade memory jade and it could only be taught to a single person before the memory jade turned to dust.
Once that disciple learned the cultivation technique, the memory jade was destroyed.
This was actually the mostmon way that experts used to pass down their legacies. The memory jade that Shun Long had obtained from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' that Huo Wuyi had created was the same as well.
And yet, as soon as the Grand Elder finished exining the ssification of the Daos to Shun Long, Little ck who was drinking another barrel of wine snorted before his voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind in the next moment
''''Master, that old man isn''t wrong, but he isn''t right either. The countless Daos are much moreplicated than that. In reality, every Dao can be considered just as strong as the others. Although certain Daos are inherently much more difficult toprehend that others, this doesn''t mean that those Daos are inferior to others.
Perhaps someone who hasprehended the Dao of Water will have weaker offensive abilitiespared to someone who hasprehended the Dao of Ice, but this doesn''t mean that the Dao of Water is inferior to the Dao of Ice. Instead, a cultivator who hasprehended the Dao of Water will have much better defensive capabilities instead.
The only thing that''s important is one''s own understanding of his Dao.
After all, 2 people may haveprehended the Dao of Fire, but each of them may have entirely different ways to utilize it.''''
Shun Long was stunned momentarily when he heard Little ck''s words, while a look of realization seemed to have appeared in his eyes.
At the same time, Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all looked at the Grand Elder without interrupting him.
The fact that cultivation techniques could affect one''s own understanding of the Dao and even increase theirprehension level was something that none of them knew.
Even Shun Long didn''t know about this matter, but it didn''t matter either.
After all, Shun Long knew that his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' was a cultivation technique that came directly from the ''Stone of Time''.
Even peak-level experts from the Immortal Dimension would kill to get their hands on the ''Stone of Time''.
There was no way that other cultivation techniques could possiblypare with it.
Although Shun Long needed to spend an enormous amount of spirit stones to absorb qi and fill his qi balls every time,pared to other cultivators at the same level, Shun Long knew that his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' was perhaps of an even higher grade than those immortal-grade cultivation techniques that the Grand Elder spoke of.
Even the Immortal grade cultivation technique that Bai Liuxian had taken out, the ''Tree of Immortality'' couldn''t possiblypare to his ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shaking his head, the Grand Elder looked at Shun Long and smiled as he then continued
''''This old man didn''te here to exin the ssifications of the different Daos. After all, most of this is alreadymon knowledge to those disciples of the powerful families and ns. There is another reason why I came to find you today. Since you have entered the top 600 in the Martial Roll of Honor... I have decided to personally take you to the King''s Pce.''''
-
Author''s note: We are going back to 2 chapters a day again starting tomorrow.
Chapter 700: The secret behind the Kings Palace
Chapter 700: The secret behind the King''s Pce
''''The King''s Pce?'''' Shun Long was somewhat surprised when he heard this, before a surge of interest sprouted in his heart.
He would actually be lying if he said that he wasn''t interested in this ''King''s Pce''.
He had already heard that the Holy sect would take 10 peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage outer disciples when the pce opened, and those disciples would have a very high chance of breaking through to the Dao King realm inside the pce.
The Grand Elder nodded his head when he saw Shun Long''s reaction before he continued
''''Of course, you should try to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul stage before the King''s Pce opens a year from now, or it would be pointless for you to go there.''''
Shun Long fell silent when he heard this as he pondered seriously over whether he could really reach the peak of the Nascent Soul stage in a year.
Although he was already at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul, and a year in the outside world would mean that 10 years would have gone by if he cultivated inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long knew by now how tough it was to progress in thete stages of the Nascent Soul.
The qi that his qi balls needed was increasing even more than before, and every subsequent ball of qi that Shun Long created was even harder to enter inside his ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Additionally, Shun Long knew that he would also have to purify all 81 balls of qi after he reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
The quality of his soul would also need to reach the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul stage by then.
At this point, Shun Long wasn''tpletely certain if he could reach the peak of the Nascent Soul within a year.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long looked at the Grand Elder and asked
''''Senior, what exactly is the King''s Pce?''''
Curious expressions appeared on Liu Mei''s and the other''s faces as they looked at the Grand Elder as well.
The Grand Elder had a solemn look on his face as he looked at Shun Long and answered seriously
''''This is actually a secret that only Sovereign realm experts are privy to, but I guess there is not much harm in telling you. The King''s Pce was actually the abode of a powerful peak expert in the past.
That expert had even surpassed the Sovereign realm and was one of the absolute top experts in the entire central region.
He was rumored to be an extreme genius who had evenprehended a supreme Dao, while his strength was unmatched!
Single-handedly, that expert could dominate even the most ancient and powerful ns like the Bai n and the others, while even the strongest powers in the entire central region wouldn''t dare to offend him.
That person could even be considered one of the strongest experts in the history of our entire Cultivation world, and he was only a step away from breaking through and bing a true immortal!''''
The Grand Elder''s eyes seemed to have turned extremely deep and profound as he stared at Shun Long, before he continued
However, the Heavens are always fair, and the more powerful and talented a person is, the more difficult a tribtion he would have to face to be a true immortal and possess an unlimited lifespan.
The day that that person attempted his breakthrough to the immortal realm, the Heavens throughout the entire Cultivation world were said to have dimmed before a terrifying Heavenly Tribtion descended to his abode.
Unfortunately, that expert failed his breakthrough and eventually perished under the Heavenly Tribtion, while his residence turned into a terrifying ce that was covered with terrifying lightning all year long.''''
The moment the Grand Elder said that such a genius who hadprehended a supreme Dao had failed his Heavenly Tribtion and had perished, everyone could feel waves of shock and even uneasiness in their hearts.
After all, they would all attempt their breakthrough to the Dao King realm soon, and everyone would have to face the Heavenly Tribtion as well.
Even Shun Long was no different.
Shun Long had yet to meet another person who hadprehended a supreme Dao aside from himself and Liu Mei who hadprehended her Dao of Death, but he already understood what it meant for one of the strongest people in the central region to have perished like that.
An expert whom even the strongest powers throughout the central region feared and showed respect to had failed his breakthrough and had died.
For someone who hadprehended a supreme Dao to have died under the Heavenly Tribtion, it obviously showed that that expert wasn''tcking in talent but probably luck.
After all, how could someone who hadprehended a supreme Dao becking in talent?
At this point, Shun Long was also slightly worried about his own Heavenly Tribtion when he tried to breakthrough to the Dao King realm.
After all, not only had heprehended 2 supreme Daos, one of which was the Dao of Time, but Shun Long also had the ''Stone of Time'' merged with his soul.
He didn''t know what his Heavenly Tribtion would be like, but he was certain that even reaching the Dao King realm would probably be terrifying.
After all, the Grand Elder had said just now that ''the Heavens were always fair, and the more talented a person was, the more terrifying their Heavenly Tribtion would also be''.
The Grand Elder didn''t seem to have noticed Shun Long''s and the others'' changes in their expressions, as he continued exining a momentter
''''Although that powerful expert failed in his breakthrough and perished, his pce somehow turned into a holy ce for cultivation,? where the existence of Daos could be sensed even betterpared to the outside world.
As long as peak Nascent Soul cultivators and even Dao Kings enter the King''s Pce, their chanced to breakthrough will increase exponentially.
Of course, whether they will seed in their breakthroughs or not is apletely different story.
However, it is rumored that even experts who have surpassed the Sovereign realm and are only a step away from bing true immortals can''t get past the lightning around the King''s Pce and forcefully enter that expert''s abode.
It is only once every 5 years that the lightning around it turns weak enough to allow experts at the Dao Emperor realm or above to get past it and enter the pce.
Of course, even ordinary Dao Emperors will have trouble getting past the lightning and entering inside.
At most, a single Dao Emperor can only carry 2 people inside the King''s Pce.''''
Chapter 701: Exchange
Chapter 701: Exchange
After hearing the Grand Elder''s words, Little ck nodded his head seriously, before his voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind in the next moment
''''Master, such a scene is actually umon even in the Immortal Dimension. Even if an expert who hasprehended a supreme Dao perishes during his breakthrough, it''s actually quite rare for such a ce to be formed.
It seems that when that person failed his Heavenly Tribtion, thews inside that King''s Pce were most likely affected, allowing cultivators to sense the existence of the Daos in that ce with more ease. If master went to that ce, master would probably be able to sense the existence of the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space in this mortal ne more easily!''''
Although the Grand Elder and even the top experts of the cultivation world didn''t know the reason behind the changes in the King''s Pce, how could someone like Little ck who had spent tens of thousands of years in the Immortal Dimension not understand what was going on?
Little ck felt excited in his heart that Shun Long would be able to enter such a ce that was considered to be rare even in the Immortal Dimension.
Nodding his head, Shun Long felt silent for a moment as he sunk in his thoughts, before he asked Little ck a momentter
''''Little ck, do you have any immortal-grade cultivation techniques that are suitable for the Grand Elder like that ''Tree of Immortality''?''''
Little ck sneered before he said in a disdainful tone
''''Master, how could those techniques be considered immortal techniques? In the Immortal Dimension, only the poorest of people will cultivate using those techniques. Of course, I know quite a few ice-element techniques that would be suitable for this old man.''''
Little ck then closed his eyes, before he sent a stream of information towards Shun Long''s mind.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t say anything about this to the Grand Elder right away, and after a moment of serious thought he then asked
''''Then senior, what about the City of Immortals?''''
Although Shun Long was more interested in the King''s Pce that could allow him and Liu Mei and the rest to potentially breakthrough to the Dao King realm, considering how much importance the Grand Elder and the powerful ancient ns like the Bai n attached to the City of Immortals, Shun Long understood that that ce was most likely just as important as the King''s Pce itself.
However, the Grand Elder simply shook his head and said in an uncertain tone
''''Even I don''t know too much about that ce... Actually, the City of Immortals is an extremely mysterious city that appeared in our central region countless years ago, but it has only opened twice in the past.
It''s a ce that is filled with countless mysteries, along with extremely valuable treasures and dangers.
The previous 2 times that the City of Immortals opened was countless years ago, and it remained open for 10 years before it closed.
Nobody knows what those people experienced inside, but supposedly, one of the experts who entered inside thest time managed to find a treasure that allowed him to breakthrough to the Sovereign realm from the peak of the Dao King realm in less than 100 years!''''
The Grand Elder''s voice was filled with jealousy when he said the words ''Sovereign realm'' while Shun Long and the others were all filled with shock as well.
Breaking through to the Sovereign realm from the peak of the Dao King in 100 years was practically unheard of.
The Grand Elder himself had spent nearly 100.000 stuck at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm and had yet to seed, but someone had reached the Sovereign realm in just 100 years instead.
It was obvious that that person had consumed an extremely rare and valuable treasure.
After a moment of serious thought, a smile was soon formed on Shun Long''s face as Shun Long looked at the Grand Elder and said
''''Senior, do you want an immortal-grade cultivation technique?''''
The courtyard instantly descended into silence while the previously calm andposed Grand Elder stared at Shun Long with wide-open eyes.
It wasn''t just the Grand Elder, even Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian were all staring at Shun Long with disbelieving eyes.
Shun Long actually had an immortal-grade cultivation technique and he was willing to give it to someone else?
Although Jiang Chen had originally assumed that Shun Long may have ties to a powerful force from the Immortal Dimension that could even be simr to his mother''s Yu family, Jiang Chen still believed that immortal-grade cultivation techniques were something that Shun Long wouldn''t be able to pass to anyone else, even if he had one of them.
And yet, he had just offered to give one to the Grand Elder.
Actually, Shun Long had already asked Little ck for cultivation techniques for Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian as well, he just had yet to give it to them and was nning to do so after the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
The Grand Elder looked at Shun Long with a disbelieving look on his face.
A momentter, the powerful peak Dao Emperor took a deep breath and asked solemnly
''''Are you... serious?''''
Shun Long nodded his head, before he took out an empty piece of paper from the ''Stone of Time'' and started writing down something.
A few momentster, a detailed cultivation technique had appeared on the previously empty scroll.
Shun Long rolled the cultivation technique and showed half of it to the Grand Elder.
The Grand Elder''s body instantly trembled when he read the first part of the cultivation technique, while his eyes stared fervently at the name of the cultivation technique at the top of the scroll, almost as if he was looking at a priceless treasure that he had been searching for, for his entire life.
''''Immortal grade cultivation technique, Ice Kingdom!''''
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, the Grand Elder barely managed to suppress some of his excitement before he looked at Shun Long''s deep ck eyes and asked solemnly
''''Kid, tell me, what do you want in exchange for this?''''
Chapter 702: The Grand Elders offer
Chapter 702: The Grand Elder''s offer
Even though the Grand Elder tried to calm himself down, he still couldn''t stop the trembling in his voice froming out as he said thest words, while his eyes were fervently staring at the scroll in Shun Long''s hands.
The Grand Elder knew that since Shun Long had taken out this cultivation technique, it was very likely that he was willing to trade it with something elder
No matter what he wanted, the Grand Elder was willing to give it to Shun Long in exchange for this cultivation technique.
After all, the Grand Elder had been searching for an immortal-grade cultivation technique for far too long, and this Ice Kingdom was even an ice element cultivation technique.
Shun Long smiled as he looked at the Grand Elder and said calmly
''''In that case, I hope that senior can help me with a few things. First, I hope that senior can allow Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen to the King''s Pce along with us a year from now.
Secondly, I am in need of high-grade spirit stones. The more the better. I hope that these 2 requirements aren''t too hard for senior.''''
The Grand Elder looked at Shun Long and nodded his head without any hesitation, as he waved his hand and said hurriedly
''''The first requirement of yours is easy. Even if these kids haven''t reached the peak of rank 9 of the Nascent Soul by then, I will still bring them along to the King''s Pce. As for the second one...''''
A somewhat troubled expression appeared on the Grand Elder''s face in the next moment, before he took out a spatial ring from his white robes and handed it to Shun Long as he then said
''''I only have 200.000 high-grade spirit stones. Although this may not be enough to trade for this immortal-grade cultivation technique of yours, you can consider it as me, Kang Wen, owing you a favor in the future.''''
Kang Wen stared at Shun Long solemnly as he said thest sentence, while in his heart, he was afraid that Shun Long would decline, which was why he added in thest thing in his offer.
A favor from a peak Dao Emperor realm expert who was on the cusp of breaking through to the Sovereign realm was no small thing.
Experts at the Grand Elder''s level of cultivation would very rarely owe someone else a favor, let alone someone much younger and weaker than they were.
Even if Shun Long asked the Grand Elder something absurd, such as the eradication of the powerful family in the Holy sect''s territory, or have the Grand Elder kill another Dao Emperor for him, as long as it wasn''t something that would harm the Holy sect or it would bring certain death to the Grand Elder, then the Grand Elder would do his best to satisfy Shun Long''s requirement.
After all, the Grand Elder knew, that a normal immortal low-grade cultivation technique could fetch up to 1 million high-grade spirit stones if it was sold in a high-grade auction in the central region where many peak powers would ferventlypete for it, but the Grand Elder only had 200.000 high-grade spirit stones on him.
Of course, the Holy sect could take out 1 million high-grade spirit stones from its treasury under normal situations, but this time it was different.
The Grand Elder had already gone all-out previously, handing out 1.500.000 high-grade spirit stones in total to the disciples in the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor, to help them increase their strength before the City of Immortals opened.
Thus, the Grand Elder knew that the finances of the Holy sect would be strained if he took out another million high-grade spirit stones in such a short amount of time.
Besides, this was a cultivation technique that the Grand Elder was nning to keep for himself, which was why the 200.000 spirit stones that he gave to Shun Long was what he had left in his possession right now.
Of course, earning high-grade spirit stones wasn''t too hard for a peak Dao Emperor like the Grand Elder.
But 200.000 high-grade spirit stones wasn''t a small sum even to him.
Shun Long thought seriously for a while, before a smile appeared on his face as he nodded his head towards the Grand Elder who heaved a sigh of relief.
200.000 high-grade spirit stones were equal to more than 200.000.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Right now, Shun Long only had a little more than 2 million middle-grade spirit stones inside the ''Stone of Time'', and he was uncertain if it would be enough until he reached the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
After all, not only did he have to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, but Shun Long also knew that he would be spending an enormous amount of spirit stones to purify all 81 of his balls.
Relieved, the Grand Elder handed Shun Long the spatial ring in his hands that was filled with 200.000 high-grade spirit stones, before he received the scroll with the immortal-grade cultivation technique, the ''Ice Kingdom''!
Liu Mei and the others saw the Grand Elder tremble with excitement as he unfurled the scroll in his hands and took a look at the cultivation technique in front of him.
The more he read, the more excited the Grand Elder seemed to be, to the point that he could no longer sit still.
Turning his eyes away from the scroll, Kang Wen looked at Shun Long and said hurriedly
''''Kid, I will take my leave now. Remember, that if you want to find me, you can use my personal token toe to the inner court. As long as you inject your qi inside it, you cane straight to my courtyard.''''
Waving his hand, the Grand Elder then opened a space tear, before he entered inside and disappeared from Shun Long''s courtyard.
Shaking his head, Shun Long didn''t pay any more attention to the Grand Elder who had already left his courtyard, as he turned around and looked at Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, and said
''''Jiang Chen, now it''s your turn.''''
Chapter 703: Cultivation techniques
Chapter 703: Cultivation techniques
Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long confused, but Shun Long simply closed his eyes.
A momentter, Jiang Chen''s expression changed as he sensed a stream of information entering his mind.
He knew that Shun Long was using his qi to transmit a cultivation technique to him which left him momentarily bewildered, before a crazy thought appeared in his mind a momentter
''''Don''t tell me that he has another immortal-grade cultivation technique!''''
Indeed, this was the technique that Shun Long had asked Little ck to give him, one that was suited for Jiang Chen.
Shun Long didn''t write things down on a scroll this time, but instead, he sent the cultivation technique directly into Jiang Chen''s mind through his soul sense.
Shun Long knew that this cultivation technique that Little ck had chosen for Jiang Chen was named ''Darkness Veil''!
This cultivation technique was countless times moreplicated than the immortal-grade cultivation technique that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder.
These 2 techniques couldn''t even be considered to be on the same level with each other, as the ''Darkness Veil'' was leagues above the Grand Elder''s ''Ice Kingdom''.
This was why Shun Long didn''t write it down on a scroll, and instead, he chose to pass it mentally to Jiang Chen.
Even if he ignored howplicated this cultivation technique was, Shun Long knew that it would take far too long to record this cultivation technique down, and it would need more than a few dozen scrolls to do so.
The always impassive look on Jiang Chen''s face had turned into a look of astonishment and disbelief as he learned more about this cultivation technique that Shun Long handed to him.
He could sense that not only was this ''Darkness Veil'' a cultivation technique that was suited towards his Dao of Darkness and his Eternal Darkness unique physique extremely well, but Jiang Chen could even sense hints of the Demonic Daoing from it as well.
This was a perfect cultivation technique for him, and its level was countless times higher than the Saint middle-grade cultivation technique that he was training in.
Suppressing his astonishment, Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and said in a solemn tone that was filled with gratitude
''''Brother, thank you...''''
''''There is no need for thanks between us.''''
Shun Long simply smiled and waved his hand before he turned his gaze towards Bai Longtian.
Bai Longtian could also guess what was going.
Indeed, a moment after recollecting himself, Shun Long closed his eyes before he sent his soul sense towards Bai Longtian''s mind.
Naturally, Bai Longtian didn''t put up any resistance either, allowing Shun Long''s soul sense to enter his spiritual sea.
This was something extremely dangerous that most cultivators would never do. Only those who trusted another person fully in their hearts would allow that person to enter their spiritual sea without any resistance.
After all, someone who had entered another person''s spiritual sea could easily destroy one''s soul if that person didn''t have his soul defense up.
Bai Longtian had closed his eyes just like Shun Long, but the look on his face was no different from the one that Jiang Chen had just now.
He could sense that the cultivation technique that Shun Long was transmitting to him through his soul sense was extremely profound, and was one that was perfectly suited towards him.
Shun Long knew that the name of this cultivation technique was ''Buddha''s light''.
Little ck had already told him that this cultivation technique was perfect for cultivators who trained in the Dao of the Buddha, while those who hadprehended the Dao of Light were also suited to train in this cultivation technique. For Bai Longtian who also possessed the ''Golden Buddha unique physique'', it was almost as if this cultivation technique was tailor-made for him.
Shun Long opened his eyes and looked at Bai Longtian, but a wave of exhaustion filled him a momentter, while even his face had turned slightly pale.
Transmitting 2 extremely high-grade cultivation techniques like this in a row was simply too taxing to Shun Long, while more than half of his spiritual strength had already been depleted.
Considering that Shun Long''s spiritual strength was at the same level or it had even slightly exceeded the spiritual strength of peak Dao Kings, one could guess how difficult of a task this was.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long looked at Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian and said seriously
''''Jiang Chen, Longtian, don''t let anyone know anything about these cultivation techniques.''''
Shun Long''s tone was solemn as he said this.
After all, he had already heard from Little ck that these cultivation techniques were considered top-grade even in the Immortal Dimension, and were only slightly inferior to Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art''.
Even powerful ns in the Immortal Dimension would do anything to get their hands on such cultivation techniques, let alone the powers from the cultivation world.
Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen both nodded seriously.
They both understood how extraordinary these cultivation techniques were, but Shun Long''s warning wasn''t needed to begin with.
After all, none of them was nning to divulge this secret in the first ce.
Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both decided to leave a few momentster, to give Shun Long some time with Liu Mei and Xie XIngyi.
Everyone already knew how Xingyi had felt for Shun Long, and even Shun Long seemed to have epted her, but due to the Martial Roll of Honor tournament, they never had any time for themselves.
None of the 2 girls spoke, as they allowed Shun Long to sit cross-legged on the ground as he replenished his spiritual strength.
An hourter, Shun Long opened his eyes and turned his gaze towards the beautiful blonde-haired young woman with the bright emerald eyes in front of him and said
''''Xingyi, it''s your turn.''''
Without waiting for Xingyi to speak, Shun Long closed his eyes and sent his soul sense inside her spiritual sea.
Chapter 704: Shun Long and Xingyi
Chapter 704: Shun Long and Xingyi
Xingyi was stunned, but she still allowed Shun Long''s soul sense to enter her spiritual space.
A momentter, an extremely powerful cultivation technique that was no weaker than that of Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s appeared inside Xingyi''s mind as well, causing her stunningly beautiful face to be filled with surprise and shock.
The name of this technique was ''Hidden Shadows'', and Xingyi could easily tell that this was a cultivation technique that far exceeded anything she had ever seen before.
Even the Saint low-grade cultivation techniques in the Barrier of Knowledge inside the Holy sect couldn''t bepared with this technique at all.
A few momentster, Xingyi closed her eyes and sat cross-legged on the ground as well, as she started to absorb the knowledge of this cultivation technique.
She could clearly feel that this cultivation technique that Shun Long had just given her was perfectly suited for her Dao of Shadows and her Vanishing Shadows unique physique.
Shun Long closed his eyes and sat on the ground as well, as he replenished his spiritual strength.
Half an hourter, Xingyi opened her eyes and looked at Shun Long, before she said in a grateful, and even somewhat shy voice
''''Brother Long... thank you.''''
Shun Long opened his eyes and looked at the beautiful blond-haired young woman in front of him, before he shook his head and said smilingly
''''Xingyi, just like Jiang Chen and Longtian, you don''t have to thank me. Besides, I have already told you that you are my woman now, so how could I go back on my word?''''
Xie Xingyi blushed as she lowered her head slightly, while her stunning emerald eyes held a myriad of emotions inside them, as she darted them around, involuntarily avoiding Shun Long''s gaze.
Her eyes were filled with joy, surprise, panic, fear, excitement, anticipation, and love. It was the bashful eyes of a kingdom-toppling beauty who was in love.
After all, which woman didn''t want to hear such words from the person she was in love with?
Xingyi blushed and looked at Liu Mei from the corner of her eyes, before she said hesitantly
''''Mei...''''
Xingyi had always been on good terms with Liu Mei from the very beginning, but she didn''t know how to face her right now.
And yet, as she turned around to look at Liu Mei, Xingyi was suddenly stunned while even her own gaze froze for a moment, when she saw the brilliant smile on Liu Mei''s face.
It was the same soul-stirring smile that Liu Mei always had when she was alone with Shun Long, but this time, Liu Mei was looking at Xingyi instead.
Taking a step forward, Liu Mei appeared in front of Xingyi and looked her in the eyes without speaking, before she said calmly with that same soul-stirring smile on her face a momentter
''''Xingyi, I wouldn''t share Long-ge with anyone else, but if it''s with you... then I think it should be fine.''''
Xingyi looked at Liu Mei stunned for a few moments, before an equally beautiful smile blossomed on her face as well as she whispered softly
''''Mei... thank you.''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up, as he stepped forward and cing his arm around Liu Mei''s small waist, pulling her into a hug.
Surprisingly, Liu Mei wasn''t ashamed that Xingyi was right in front of them, as she gave Shun Long a kiss that was full of love, making Xingyi''s ears heat up and turn red.
Shun Long was surprised, but tasting the sweet scenting from Liu Mei''s mouth made his body heat up even more, as he ced his right hand on Liu Mei''s butt and his left hand on her right breast.
At that moment, even Liu Mei herself felt somewhat abashed, as she took a step backward while panting for breath.
Looking at Shun Long with her starry-like ck eyes, Liu Mei first calmed herself down before she darted a nce at Xie Xingyi who was standing next to her and said a momentter
''''Long-ge should take Xingyi first. Since it''s Xingyi''s first time with you, I will wait here this time.''''
At that moment, Xingyi raised her head to look at Liu Mei and then Shun Long who was right in front of her, before her face that had already started to blush previously turned even redder.
She understood what Liu Mei meant, and although she was already prepared mentally, she couldn''t help but feel her heart speeding up, as it started to beat more wildly.
Turning around, Shun Long didn''t notice Xingyi''s ever-increasing heartbeat, but he could see the look in her eyes that was filled with love, fear, and some anticipation.
Taking a step forward, Shun Long tasted the sweet scent from Liu Mei''s rosy red lips once again, before he looked at Xingyi who had her head lowered and grabbed her hand, as he whispered in her ear
''''Xingyi, are you ready?''''
''''Mm.''''
Xingyi raised her head and looked at Shun Long with her reddened face, before she nodded slightly as she let out a muffled sound of acknowledgment.
Shun Long smiled as he swept her off her feet and flew towards the main room.
Inside the room, Shun Long ced Xingyi on the bed, before he lowered himself to have a taste of her lips as well.
He could sense that Xingyi''s lips had a different taste from Liu Mei''s, and yet their sweet scent was just as intoxicating as Liu Mei''s.
Shun Long could feel that Xingyi had no prior experience with this, as her mouth was closed tightly in the beginning, but as he led her around using his tongue, Xingyi began to respond to him soon after.
Shun Long could see that Xingyi''s enchanting green eyes seemed to have been spellbound at this moment, as an expression of unrestrained love and ecstasy filled her face.
With his own chest pressing on hers, Shun Long could clearly feel Xingyi''s beating heart that was beating even faster than his own.
Stretching out both of his hands, Shun Long parted Xingyi''s robes open revealing her wless body, before he ced his right hand on her left breast and her pink-colored nipple that was already hard.
Xingyi''s entire body suddenly shivered, while an indescribable sensation that she had never felt before, filled her body from head to toe.
It was almost as if Shun Long''s touch was electrifying.
And yet not only did Shun Long not stop, but his right hand even started to fondle her breast as he kept tasting the sweet nectar from her mouth, while his left hand slowly moved downwards towards her undergarment.
As soon as his hand reached inside her undergarment and touched Xingyi''s private ce, Shun Long could feel a wet sensation on his fingers, while Xingyi opened her mouth as she let out a gasp.
Shun Long could feel her irregr, hot breath, while her entire body was trembling from his touch.
His hand touched her secret ce for a few moments before his finger entered inside Xingyi''s body.
A wet and yet tight sensation gripped Shun Long''s finger, while the sound of water drops sshing could be heard throughout the entire room.
Soon, it wasn''t just Xingyi, but Shun Long who could no longer restrain himself either.
Removing his robes and throwing them to the side, Shun Long ced his hard and erect dragon that was on the verge of exploding, right in front of Xingyi''s entrance.
Slowly pushing it inside, Shun Long''s body soon connected with Xingyi''s.
At this moment, Shun Long could feel a gripping sensation on his lower body as well, while the expression on Xingyi''s face was filled with love and satisfaction, as she looked at him with her stunning emerald eyes.
A few momentster, Shun Long after he made sure that Xingyi was alright, Shun Long no longer held back as he moved his body back and forth without stop.
Shun Long''s ragged breaths and Xingyi''s moans filled the room in the next few moments, along with the sound of Shun Long''s body connecting with Xingyi''s own over and over again.
During this time, Xingyi could also feel a nourishing energying from Shun Long''s body and enter inside her, while Shun Long could also feel the same.
This was the dual cultivation technique that Shun Long had gotten from Cui Guoliang''s treasury, back in the Vermilion realm.
Although Shun Long understood by now that this was only amon dual cultivation technique, this cultivation technique could also benefit Xingyi as well.
It was only 3 hourster that the sounds of moans and hard breathsing from the room finally stopped, as Xingyi''s body copsed on Shun Long''s while gasping for breath herself.
Shun Long could see the lovestruck look on Xingyi''s face that was filled with tenderness and affection, even though her energy was spent and she was all out of breath.
A few momentster, a peerlessly beautiful yellow-robed young woman entered the room as well, her stunning ck eyes staring at Shun Long and Xingyi, before Liu Mei stepped towards the bed.
Soon, a year had gone by since the day the Martial Roll of Honor tournament had ended.
-
Author''s note: Mass release tomorrow
Chapter 705: One year
Chapter 705: One year
At the west of the Holy sect was arge number of courtyards that weren''t protected by any defensive formations that most courtyards in the Holy sect had.
It almost looked like any outer disciple could just barge in, and im one of these courtyards for themselves if they wanted to.
Additionally, the qi inside each of these courtyards was much purer than the qi inside the normal courtyards of the Holy sect.
And yet, no normal outer disciple would dare to enter those courtyards without permission.
After all, this was the ce where the top 100 factions of the Holy sect fought.
Every single one of the top 100 factions ''owned'' one of these courtyards that spanned for more than a mile in radius, and considered it their own territory.
If a faction below the top 100 wanted to stay in one of the courtyards, they could only do so by challenging one of the top 100 factions for their ''territory''.
In the end, this challenge was nothing more than simply attacking that faction.
Whether they sneak attacked that top 100 faction when night had fallen or not, it didn''t matter.
After all, the battles between the top 100 factions took ce inside their own territories.
As long as the enemy faction leader was captured or he was forced to retreat from his territory, then that was when the faction war ended.
Once the attacking faction won, they could rece the enemy faction in the top 100 rankings, and even obtain their territory.
Naturally, the battles between the top 100 factions were much crueler than the normal, predetermined battles inside the arena.
The top 100 factions needed to have one eye open at all times, to be wary of an enemy faction''s sneak attack.
Inside one of these courtyards, in a building that had more than 10rge rooms, Xingyi was sitting cross-legged on a meditative cushion with her eyes closed, while shadows had sprung from the ground and had nearly covered her entire body.
It was almost as if those shadows were madly absorbing the qi in the air around her, sending it straight towards her dantian.
A few momentster, Xingyi let out a breath that was filled with foul qi, while the shadows around her soon dispersed into nothingness before she slowly opened her eyes.
Surprisingly, the aura around Xingyi seemed to have reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul already!
Opening her eyes, Xingyi looked at Liu Mei who was sitting on the bed with her eyes closed, while a dense medicinal fragrance wasing from her body.
Almost as if sensing Xingyi''s gazend on her, Liu Mei opened her eyes, before she asked with a smile on her face
''''Xingyi, you reached the peak of rank 9?''''
Nodding her head, Xingyi smiled somewhat proudly as she answered
''''Mmm! It''s impossible for me to absorb any more qi in my dantian right now. Unless I breakthrough into the Dao King realm, it will be impossible for me to do so. Mei, what about you?''''
Liu Mei shook her head as she looked at Xingyi and replied
''''Although my cultivation is already at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, my soul still needs a few more days to reach that level as well.
I wonder if Long-ge is done by now...''''
As she finished speaking, Liu Mei''s eyes darted towards a certain meditative cushion that was now empty.
Xingyi turned to look at th¦Å cushion as well, before she said somewhat worriedly
''''There is less than a week left until we leave for the King''s Pce.''''
In the past year, Xingyi and Liu Mei had be even closer than real sisters.
Naturally, Xingyi had also learned about Shun Long disappearing every time he entered seclusion to cultivate.
However, there was now less than a week left until the time that the Grand Elder had set for Shun Long and the rest to prepare themselves for the King''s Pce.
In this past year, it wasn''t just Xingyi and Liu Mei who had reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, but Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian as well.
Liu Mei was actually the first one, while Xingyi was actually the slowest.
Jiang Chen had entered the peak of the Nascent Soul a month ago, while Bai Longtian reached it just 2 weeks ago.
Of course, under normal circumstances, it was impossible to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul in just a year.
Even the Grand Elder didn''t favor Liu Mei''s and the rest''s chances to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul so quickly, unless they happened to consume some kind of miraculous pill.
After all, theter stages of the Nascent Soul were much more difficult to reach than the early stages.
In the Grand Elder''s eyes, it was one thing for one of them to find some kind of miraculous pill that could boost them all the way to the peak of the Nascent Soul within a year, but could all 5 of them do so?
He knew that the chances of something like that happening were extremely unlikely.
And yet, the Grand Elder didn''tpletely dismiss this possibility either.
Whether it was the immortal-grade cultivation technique or the heavenly wine that he had gotten from Shun Long, the Grand Elder hade to understand that Shun Long had many secrets of his own.
Even if he had 5 pills that could allow him, and Liu Mei and the rest to all reach the peak of the Nascent Soul, the Grand Elder could still ept it in his heart.
However, although Shun Long did indeed have the ability to refine another pill that could forcefully bring his cultivation, as well as Jiang Chen''s and the rest''s all the way to the peak of the Nascent Soul, he didn''t refine that pill.
After all, Shun Long understood, that since both he and Liu Mei had already consumed a top-grade rank 5 ''Barrier piercing pill'' to breakthrough to thete-stages of the Nascent Soul, while Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen had consumed 2 of them, if they didn''t increase their cultivation naturally this time and increased it forcefully through the consumption of pills, they could havetent problems in the future in their cultivation.
Besides, Shun Long knew that there was no reason for him to refine that pill in the first ce.
After all, there was another way for Bai Longtian and the rest to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul within a year, and it was a way that no other faction in the entirety of the Holy sect could do!
Chapter 706: One year (2)
Chapter 706: One year (2)
Shun Long''s way involved the ''immortal-grade'' cultivation techniques that Shun Long had given to Bai Longtian and the rest.
Of course, Liu Mei herself had no need to absorb qi, and she could naturally reach the peak of the Nascent Soul just by killing other cultivators and absorbing their energy.
However, Liu Mei had also found out that she couldn''t do that too recklessly, or the negative effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' would probably start affecting her.
Thankfully, Shun Long was already prepared about this and wasn''t nning to let Liu Mei be affected by the Blood Absorption art.
The melodious sound of a guqin would often fill the room, immediately expelling any negative emotions that tried to bubble inside Liu Mei along with the blood energy that she had absorbed and slowly influence her personality.
With Shun Long''s guqin and as long as Liu Mei didn''t go overboard, the ''Blood Absorption art'' was a miraculous cultivation technique with no drawbacks!
As for Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, now that they all had unique immortal-grade cultivation techniques as well, reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul within a single year wasn''t an issue for them.
But Shun Long knew that just that by itself wasn''t going to be enough.
He knew that even if he, and Jiang Chen and the rest, all reached the peak of the Nascent Soul within the next year, they would still be unable to breakthrough to the Dao King realm even if they went to the King''s Pce with the Grand Elder.
After all, there were 3 things that one had to fulfill before even thinking of breaking through to be a Dao King.
Not only did a person''s cultivation needed to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, but theirprehension of their Dao as well, along with the quality of their soul had to have reached that level.
Shun Long knew that even if they all reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul within a year, in reality, they had simply been cultivating for far too short of a duration.
Compared to the other outer court disciples of the Holy sect, Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and the rest, were all simply too young.
There was no way that the quality of their souls would reach the peak of the Nascent Soul within a single year.
Even if they were given 10 years, it would still be unlikely that they would reach that level by themselves.
However, Shun Long knew that there was a way to solve this issue.
There was a specific rank 5 medicinal herb that he needed to refine a rare rank 5 pill, called the ''Soul Purifying flower''.
Although Shun Long had plenty of rank 5 medicinal herbs inside his herb garden, he had yet to find even a single rank 5 ''Soul Purifying flower'' that he needed in order to refine the ''Soul Purifying pill''.
He knew that practically every rank 5 medicinal herb that could affect a cultivator''s soul was considered extremely rare even in the central region, and would be sought after by other Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Even if a ''Soul Purifying flower'' appeared, it would only be found in a few auctions throughout the Holy sect''s territory, and other Nascent Soul stage cultivators would do anything they could to get their hands on it, even if it meant paying exorbitant prices for it.
Although Shun Long was confident that he could easily win an auction to obtain the flower, since he didn''tck spirit stones at this point, the issue was that even if he attended an auction, it would be up to luck whether he could really find a ''Soul purifying flower''.
As for the Night star continent, he was uncertain if any ''Soul Purifying flowers'' even existed in that ce.
But there was one ce that Shun Long knew that he could probably find the ''Soul Purifying flower'' in... the Golden Treasures Hall.
Since the Holy sect was the overlord of the region it governed, it was extremely likely that it would have at least one ''Soul Purifying flower'' inside the Golden Treasures Hall.
After all, it was just a rank 5 medicinal herb.
Dao Kings had no use for such a medicinal herb.
Of course, although the ''Soul Purifying flower'' was just a rank 5 medicinal herb, it was still considered to be an extremely rare rank 5 herb that even exceeded some rank 6 medicinal herbs in rarity alone.
Even if the Holy sect had any ''Soul Purifying flowers'', they wouldn''t put them on the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, but on the second floor instead.
Previously, Shun Long couldn''t enter the second floor since he wasn''t ranked in the top 1000 of the Martial Roll of Honor nor did he belong to any of the top 100 factions.
But after entering the top 600 in the Martial Roll of Honor, he had naturally gained ess to the second floor and could purchase the items there.
Indeed, on the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall there was a pair of ''Soul Purifying flowers'' that outer court disciples could exchange their sect points for, but a single flower costed 50.000 sect points!
This price was almost as much as Shun Long''s ''Silverbark guqin'' and it had already exceeded even the price of some rank 6 medicinal herbs.
And yet, Shun Long still bought it without any hesitation.
To others, a single rank 5 ''Soul Purifying flower'' may not have been worth the price of 50.000 sect points, aside from those few outer court disciples who had already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul but were still slightlycking in the purity of their soul.
But to Shun Long, this flower was extremely important.
Besides, this was only the first part of Shun Long''s n.
After using his sect points to exchange for a ''Soul Purifying flower'', Shun Long left the Golden Treasures Hall, as he headed straight towards the west of the Holy sect, towards a certain courtyard that belonged to one of the top 100 factions.
Chapter 707: One Year (3)
Chapter 707: One Year (3)
After the Martial Roll of Honor tournament ended, Shun Long was confident that his faction could easily rece one of the top 100 factions.
After all, most of the faction leaders of the factions that were ranked in the lower half of the top 100, were either middle rank 9 or peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators at best.
With Shun Long''s own strength, only the top Nascent Soul stage outer disciples that were just half a step away from breaking through to the Dao King realm could pose some trouble to him.
Indeed, after challenging the faction that was ranked 80th, Shun Long and the rest took over their territory quite easily.
Bing one of the top 100 factions was the final thing that Shun Long needed for his n.
Naturally, Shun Long had a reason for choosing to upy the territory of one of the top 100 factions.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn''t have bothered with something like this, especially when the top 100 factions could be challenged by other factions at any time, which could interrupt Liu Mei''s and the rest''s cultivation.
After all, it wasn''t umon for other factions to sneak attack the top factions during night in order to gain an advantage.
However, Shun Long still decided to do so despite these drawbacks, and the reason behind that were the formations that were engraved within the top 100 courtyards.
Every courtyard in the Holy sect contained certain formations that could absorb spirit stones and extract their energy, before they filled the air in the courtyard with pure qi.
Shun Long knew that this function of those formations was simr to the way his ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' worked, but naturally, the effect of those formations couldn''tpare to the effect of the vine at all.
Still, this was much more efficient than cultivating by one''s own self.
As for the courtyards that the top 100 factions upied, they were rumored to have much better formationspared to the normal courtyards like the one that Shun Long stayed in.
These top 100 courtyards were said to be at the same level as the courtyards of the inner court Elders.
Shun Long knew that in his own courtyard, if he wished to do so, he could add more middle-grade spirit stones into the refining formation so that the qi in the air around his courtyard would be even denser, but it was impossible to add any high-grade spirit stones.
The refining formation of the normal courtyards wasn''t strong enough to refine any high-grade spirit stones.
But the courtyards of the top 100 factions were different!
They could easily refine hundreds of high-grade spirit stones in a single day and increase the cultivation speed of those disciples.
If one had enough high-grade spirit stones, they could even cultivate like the inner court Elders did.
After obtaining 200.000 high-grade spirit stones from the Grand Elder, Shun Long had more than enough spirit stones for his own cultivation and could easily afford to fuel an entire courtyard with high-grade spirit stones.
Thus, Shun Long had already decided to let everyone cultivate inside this courtyard, while consuming ''Soul Purifying pills'' that would bring the purity of their soul to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
Although ''Soul Purifying pills'' were considered to be extremely rare rank 5 pills, Shun Long knew that it wasn''t too hard to concoct them.
The most difficult part was finding the ''Soul Purifying flowers'' themselves, which wasn''t an issue for Shun Long with the god-like abilities of his herb garden.
Of course, there was only a year left until the opening of the King''s Pce, and Shun Long knew that even with the ''Soul Purifying pills'', if Xingyi and the rest had to split their focus and try to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul in both their cultivation bases and the purity of their souls, 1 year wouldn''t have been enough under normal circumstances.
However, if their courtyard was filled with the pure qi from the high-grade spirit stones, then things would bepletely different.
Cultivating inside this courtyard was even better than cultivating inside the courtyards of the inner court Elders.
After all, although the inner court Elders would often allow their disciples to cultivate inside their courtyards, in reality, the Elders themselves would absorb more than 90% of the qi in their courtyards, leaving only the rest for their disciples.
This was only natural since Dao Emperors needed much more qi for their own cultivation, and there couldn''t possibly be enough for their own disciples as well.
But the courtyards of the top 100 factions were different.
Cultivating inside these courtyards and absorbing the qi from the high-grade spirit stones directly was much faster than cultivating inside the courtyard of an inner court Elder.
Like this, a year had passed, and indeed, after consuming hundreds of top-grade rank 5 ''Soul Purifying pills'', Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage in terms of their quality of the soul, while their cultivation bases had also reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
As for Liu Mei, she still needed a few more days until her soul reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage as well.
Time continued to pass, and 3 dayster, Liu Mei''s soul finally reached the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul stage as well, but Shun Long had yet to return to the room.
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long was still sitting cross-legged on his usual seat with his eyes closed, looking like he hadpletely forgotten about the passage of time, as he kept absorbing the pure qi around him to purify his qi balls.
81 silver-colored balls of qi were hovering in the air above his head, like the stars that illuminated the night sky.
Most of the qi balls were shining with the same bright silver light, but some of them were slightly dimmer than the others, showing that they hadn''t beenpletely purified.
An enormous vine was eating the small mound of high-grade spirit stones that were ced in front of Shun Long without any signs of stopping, turning it into pure qi that filled Shun Long''s surroundings.
The Heaven Swallowing vine had been doing this for almost 10 years, consuming tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones, and by now, its surface seemed to have changed slightly as well.
1 more month passed like this, before Shun Long''s eyes finally opened.
Chapter 708: Breakthrough
Chapter 708: Breakthrough
As he opened his eyes, Shun Long looked at the 81 silver-colored qi balls that were hovering above his head, all of which were shining with the same silver light, before he exhaled out a breath of foul qi.
At this moment, Shun Long had not only reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, but he had also purified all 81 of his qi balls, while the quality of his soul had also reached the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul stage as well.
During this time, a full year had passed in the outside world, but almost 10 years had gone by inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
In these past 10 years that he had spent in seclusion, Shun Long had not only reached the peak of the Nascent Soul in just his qi cultivation, but he had also consumed nearly a thousand top-grade ''Dragonblood tempering pills'' before he reached the peak of the fifth stage in his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
Although he had yet to test out his strength, Shun Long believed that even an early rank 6 magic beast wouldn''t be a match for him right now.
Taking a look at the ck dragon who was joyfully drinking an entire barrel of wine, as well as Little Silver who was sleeping soundly, Shun Long closed his eyes as he imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
In these past 10 years, Shun Long very rarely left his own room, while he didn''t step out of the Holy sect even once.
The only times he left his room were only when he had to visit the Golden Treasures Hall to buy some things.
A year ago, Shun Long had purchased the magic beast cores of a few peak rank 6 wind element magic beasts from the Golden Treasures Hall, the same element as Little Silver.
After letting Little Silver consume a handful of those beast cores, Shun Long saw the ck panther that had been stuck in the middle of rank 6 finally breakthrough once again, and a monthter, it had be a peak rank 6 magic beast.
This was the only way that Little Silver could breakthrough even further and surpass its natural limits... to consume the beast cores of even stronger magic beasts of the same element.
A momentter, Shun Long''s surroundings changed as he appeared back in his room, before Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s voices entered his ears in the next moment
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Brother Long...''''
Shun Long had a warm look in his eyes as he looked at the joyful and relieved looks on the Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s faces, before he pulled them into a hug.
It wasn''t surprising that the 2 girls would be relieved once they saw Shun Long.
After all,? there was less than a day left until the Elders of the Holy sect left for the King''s Pce.
Although the Grand Elder had promised that he would take Shun Long and the others to the King''s Pce, if Shun Long didn''t show up in time, the Grand Elder woulde searching for him.
Seeing that both Liu Mei and Xingyi had reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul in both their qi cultivation and the quality of their soul, Shun Long''s lips curved up as he led the 2 girls out of the room.
Shun Long had actually formed the 81st ball of qi and had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul just 4 months after the Martial Roll of Honor tournament ended.
Of course, these 4 months were equivalent to nearly 4 years inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
However, reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul in terms of the quality of his soul was almost just as hard, if not even harder.
Shun Long had to refine thousands of top-grade ''Soul Purifying pills'' to bring his soul to the peak of the Nascent Soul as well.
This process by itself took 5 full years!
The easiest part was actually purifying his qi balls, and bringing all of them at the same level as the 81st ball of qi, but even then, Shun Long had spent another year and had only finished just now.
However, at this moment, with his 81 purified balls of qi, his peak fifth stage ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', and the quality of his soul that was at the peak of the Nascent Soul, Shun Long was confident that his strength had reached the absolute pinnacle of the Nascent Soul stage.
Normal rank 1 Dao Kings couldn''t possibly stand in front of him, while even rank 2 Dao Kings would be defeated almost effortlessly.
Even if he had to take on another blow from Dong Ai''s elder brother, Dong Cheng, who was ranked 6th in the Martial Roll of Honor, it wasn''t certain if Shun Long would be the one on the losing side this time!
Since there was less than a day left until the appointed time with the Grand Elder, Shun Long left his room with Liu Mei and Xingyi in tow, to meet up with Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen as well.
Jiang Chen had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul a month ago, in both his qi cultivation and his body refinement.
The only way to be stronger was to increase hisprehension in his Demonic Dao or his Dao of Darkness even further, and breakthrough to be a Dao King.
However, it wasn''t that easy to be a Dao King.
Aside from Yang Hui and Qiao Min who were ranked 1st and 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor respectively, and had both reached the Dao King realm before the age of 100, practically every single other outer court disciple in the Holy sect that had reached the Dao King realm had taken at least 150 years to do so.
Even Yang Hui had only managed to reach the Dao King realm after he had received the full support of his Yang family and he had entered the King''s Pce himself nearly 10 years ago.
As for Qiao Min, it was only thanks to her ckwater unique physique that had let her reach the Dao King realm so quickly.
However, although others didn''t know about it, Shun Long already knew that Qiao Min''s unique physique would only allow her to reach the Dao King realm.
Her cultivation speed would no longer be as fast as it was in the past.
Whether she could breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm, that would be up to her.
Chapter 709: Invitations
Chapter 709: Invitations
Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen were both waiting in the courtyard outside for Shun Long to finish his seclusion.
Bai Longtian was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, while a golden light had covered his entire body, while Jiang Chen''s body was emitting a dark, demonic aura that he didn''t bother suppressing.
Bai Longtian had also reached the peak rank 9 in the Nascent Soul as well, while his body refinement cultivation had also reached the peak of the fifth stage.
After consuming nearly 300 top-grade ''Dragonblood tempering pills'', it wasn''t hard for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian to breakthrough again in their body refinement.
At the same time that Shun Long opened the door of his room, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both opened their eyes and stopped their cultivation, before Bai Longtian said warmly
''''Brother Shun, it seems you have finished your seclusion as well!''''
Since Shun Long wasn''t hiding his aura, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian could also sense, just like Liu Mei and Xingyi did, that Shun Long had already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul as well.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian and said
''''Since everyone is ready, let''s go to the inner court.''''
Taking out the Grand Elder''s golden-colored token, Shun Long injected his qi inside it, before he led Liu Mei and the rest towards the inner court.
A thin, invisible line of qi appeared from the Grand Elder''s token the moment that Shun Long sent his qi inside it, showing the way to the Grand Elder''s residence directly.
The Enforcement Hall disciples in front of the inner court''s entrance recognized the token in Shun Long''s hands and didn''t bar him from entering inside it.
Of course, even if they didn''t recognize the Grand Elder''s token, there were very few outer court disciples who wouldn''t recognize Shun Long within the Holy sect any longer.
In thest year, after the Martial Roll of Honor tournament ended, even the powerful families and ns around the Holy sect''s territory had started to pay attention to Shun Long.
A genius who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos and was even rumored to have an immortal-grade bloodline?
Such a person even had the potential to surpass even Yang Hui, the person ranked 1st in the Martial Roll of Honor, the greatest genius of the Yang n who was born with the ''Fire Qilin''s'' eyes!
After word got out, many of the patriarchs and the n leaders of the powerful families and ns had decided to do everything in their power to rope Shun Long into their ns.
Even the patriarchs of the 2 strongest ns within the Holy sect''s territory, the Yang and the Qiao ns were no different, as they ordered their disciples and their descendants to covey their goodwill and invite Shun Long for a meeting.
Unfortunately for them, Shun Long was in seclusion, and Jiang Chen and the rest would mercilessly refuse anyone who wanted to meet Shun Long, no matter who it was.
Even when the person ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor, the blue-haired goddess, Qiao Min herself arrived to have a chat with Shun Long a month ago, she was mercilessly rejected by Jiang Chen without a second thought.
Although dissatisfied, Qiao Min still left without raising a fuss.
After all, she had here to invite Shun Long, not to stir up trouble because she wasn''t given any face.
Surprisingly, it wasn''t just Shun Long himself who received offers from those powerful ns, but Bai Longtian and the rest as well.
In the beginning, Bai Longtian and the others who hade from the Night star continent, were considered to be nothing more than country bumpkins.
However, after the Martial Roll of Honor, nobody dared to belittle them anymore.
Even those powerful families and ns decided to extend an invitation to them.
Everyone understood that it was only a matter of time before Shun Long''s faction rose to the very top of the entire outer sect.
Some people even believed, that by the time that Shun Long broke through to be an early rank 1 Dao King, he would even be able to enter the top 10 in the Martial Roll of Honor directly.
Although many people snorted when they heard this while some even scorned the people who had made those ims, in the past 1 year, Shun Long''s fame had even surpassed that of Qiao Min''s in the outer court of the Holy sect, and was only below Yang Hui''s.
Since Yang Hui left the Holy sect to follow the ''princess'' of the Bai n inside the City of Immortals, many people imed that it was only a matter of time until he became a Sovereign realm expert!
Although the Holy sect was either excited or worried about the emergence of a possible Sovereign realm expert and the Yang n''s rise, Shun Long and the rest hadn''t been paying any attention to any of that.
After entering the inner court, Shun Long and the rest walked for almost an hour, before they arrived in front of arge courtyard that had its gates wide-open.
Seeing that this was the Grand Elder''s residence ording to the golden-colored token in his hands, Shun Long''s group walked past the enormous wooden gates as they entered the courtyard.
As soon as they stepped foot inside the courtyard, Shun Long, Jiang Chen and the rest could all feel the tens of gazes that were focused on them, almost as if they had be the center of attention.
10 outer court disciples dressed in yellow robes could be seen sitting on the ground, all of them turning their attention towards this group of neers with shock in their eyes.
At the same time, a group of disciples that were dressed in blue robes seemed to have been surprised as well, as they turned to look at Shun Long''s group with questioning gazes.
It wasmon knowledge that only 10 outer court disciples and 10 inner court disciples would enter the King''s Pce every time it opened, and there had never been any exceptions!
Chapter 710: Leaving the Holy sect
Chapter 710: Leaving the Holy sect
''''Let''s go.''''
Shun Long ignored the curious gazes of the disciples around him, as he led Liu Mei and the rest to sit towards an empty spot in the courtyard.
No matter what, since the Grand Elder had promised that he would take them to the King''s Pce, this was something for the Grand Elder himself to solve.
Of course, only the 10 strongest outer court disciples who had yet to breakthrough to the Dao King realm would be allowed to enter the King''s Pce in the past, but this didn''t matter to Shun Long.
The Grand Elder had already promised that he would let them all enter the King''s Pce, but even if that couldn''t be done, Shun Long was still confident that everyone from his group could easily enter the top 10 among the other outer court disciples.
At the same time, as he looked around him, Shun Long could see the wariness and shock in the eyes of some of the 10 yellow-robed outer court disciples.
After all, everyone could now sense that Shun Long and the rest had already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul!
''''How is this possible? Weren''t they all just rank 7 Nascent Soul rookies, just a year ago?! How can they reach the peak of rank 9 in just one year?''''
''''As long as they are not here for the King''s Pce, it will be fine.''''
Many of those disciples didn''t hide their hostility as they stared at Shun Long and his group.
Naturally, none of them was willing to give up their spot to enter the King''s Pce!
And yet, although they were clearly hostile, all 10 of them were somewhat wary of the young man who was leading this group.
They all knew that a year ago, Shun Long was already strong enough to defeat Qiu Yun who was a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage beast tamer, while Shun Long''s own cultivation was only at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul back then.
Now that he had broken through to the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, none of them knew how strong Shun Long really was, but none of them felt confident fighting against him!
Even Jiang Chen and the others were monsters of their own!
''''Hah, I wonder if those brats will have topete with each other for these 10 spots! This will be interesting!''''
One of the blue-robed young men said as he looked at the scene in front of him with an amused look on his face.
At the same time, Shun Long also looked at those 10 blue-robed young men and women.
In the Holy sect, only the inner court disciples would wear blue-colored sect robes.
It was unknown if it was intentional or not, but barely half an hour had passed since Shun Long''s group had arrived, before a group of 10 white-robed Elders appeared in the sky above the Grand Elder''s courtyard.
Every single one of these white-robed Elders was emitting the aura of a Dao Emperor, making it obvious that they were all inner-court Elders.
At the same time that those Elders arrived, a gigantic bird that resembled an eagle blotted out the sky above the courtyard, as it attracted everyone''s attention.
Shun Long could see an old man with long white hair standing on the eagle''s back, looking at the disciples in the courtyard below him with an amiable smile on his face.
''''Greetings to the Grand Elder!'''' The 10 blue-robed inner court disciples called out simultaneously, as they bowed towards the Grand Elder on the giant eagle''s back.
The Grand Elder waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for them to stand on ceremony, as the giant bird descended on the courtyard below.
With just a nce, Shun Long could immediately recognize the magic beast that the Grand Elder was riding on.
It was an early rank 7 ''Darkness Eagle''.
It was a rtively powerful flying magic beast, that very few other early rank 7 magic beasts could harm.
After all, the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' defense was ranked at the top among early rank 7 magic beasts, while its flying speed was evenparable to some of the weaker middle rank 7 magic beasts.
Although it wasn''tparable to a peak rank 7 magic beast like the ''Hellfire crow'' which Bai Liuxian had been riding on when she came to the Holy sect a year ago, it was still a rare early rank 7 magic beast that could easily kill most early-stage Dao Emperors without much trouble.
The Grand Elder''s eyes scanned the disciples around him, before his gazended on Shun Long''s group.
The shocked expression on his face soon turned into a brilliant smile as he said in a voice full of praise
''''Brats, you really managed to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul in just a year! Hahaha! This old man is really surprised.''''
Shun Long smiled as he looked at the Grand Elder but he didn''t offer any exnation.
He knew that the Grand Elder would most likelye to the conclusion that they had consumed some rare pills to do so, but Shun Long didn''t mind.
It was only natural toe to this conclusion, since, even with an immortal-grade cultivation technique like the ''Ice Kingdom'' that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder, it would still be impossible to advance so rapidly in just a single year.
As the Darkness Eaglended on the courtyard, the Grand Elder looked around him, before his gazended on the 10 inner court Elders in the sky, as he said calmly
''''Since everyone is here, let''s leave now. There isn''t much time until the opening of the King''s Pce!''''
As he finished speaking, the Grand Elder patted the Darkness Eagle''s back, making the enormous magic beast spread its wings.
The eagle''s size was more than enough for 50 people to sitfortably on it.
And yet, the inner court Elders in the sky seemed somewhat hesitant as they looked at Shun Long''s group, before one of them looked at the Grand Elder and said
''''Grand Elder, this...''''
''''Hmm?'''' The Grand Elder frowned as he looked at the old man who had just spoken, before he seemed to have realized what was going on.
Waving his hand, the Grand Elder then answered
''''Don''t worry. I personally invited those kids. Each of you will take care of a single outer court disciple and one inner court disciple. As for those 5, I will take care of them myself!''''
The old man who had just spoken was shocked when he heard this, as he looked at the Grand Elder and asked in a voice filled with surprise
''''What? Grand Elder, you are alsoing with us?''''
Among the Elders in the sky, this old man was among the highest in seniority, only second to Xingyi''s master, Mao Jing!
However, Mao Jing wouldn''t question why Shun Long''s group was here in the first ce.
Any hatred that she had for Shun Long for beating up her personal disciple outside of the Refinement Hall had long since vanished the moment she learned that the Grand Elder intended to take Shun Long as his personal disciple.
Mao Jing had seen the Grand Elder handing his personal token to Shun Long and understood immediately that Shun Long was being viewed extremely favorably by the Grand Elder.
The Grand Elder nodded his head in response, before the inner court Elders all sat on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back one by one, no longer questioning the Grand Elder''s decision.
The Grand Elder patted the spot next to him and looked at Shun Long and the rest, indicating for them toe sit next to him.
Looks of jealousy could be seen on the faces of the inner court disciples as they stared at Shun Long''s group, before they sat on top of the eagle as well.
A few momentster, once everyone had sat on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back, a yellow-robed young woman asked in a curious voice
''''Grand Elder, are we going to fly all the way to the King''s Pce? I heard that the King''s Pce is close to the center of the central region.''''
The Grand Elder smiled and shook his head, before he answered with a slight smile
''''Fly there? Even with this ''Darkness Eagle'', it would still take more than a year for us to reach the King''s Pce this way!''''
As soon as the Grand Elder finished speaking, his entire courtyard started to tremble, almost as if an earthquake had suddenly hit it, before countless runes and patterns started to emerge from the ground beneath the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' feet.
In the blink of an eye, those runes and patterns had covered the entire courtyard, making the courtyard resemble a single, enormous formation.
A momentter, Shun Long''s body suddenly shuddered as he could sense the space in front of him ripple violently, looking like it was about to be torn apart.
At the same time, the power from the mysterious formation below the ''Darkness Eagle'' seemed to havee together, tearing open a gigantic space tear more than 300 meters long.
The enormous space tear appeared right in front of the ''Darkness Eagle'', instantly swallowing the early rank 7 magic beast whole.
In the next moment, Shun Long could feel the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations enveloping his body, before his figure disappeared from the Grand Elder''s courtyard.
-
Author''s note: 6/10
I couldn''t finish the mass release earlier, so the next 4 chapters willeter today.
Chapter 711: Ambush
Chapter 711: Ambush
Shun Long could feel that he was traveling inside the space tear for more than an hour, covering an immense distance in the process, before his blurry surroundings finally started to turn clear.
The courtyard of the Grand Elder hadpletely vanished, as the disciples of the Holy sect found themselves in the midst of a huge forest, with massive trees that were towering in the skies being present everywhere around them.
As soon as it left the space tear, the ''Darkness Eagle'' raised its head proudly towards the sky and let out a deafening screech, thatpletely terrified the surrounding magic beasts inside the forest.
The entire forest seemed to have fallen silent, as the aura of the early rank 7 ''Darkness Eagle'' made the magic beasts around it instantly shiver in fear.
However, this silence onlysted for a few moments, before another terrifying roar erupted from the depths of the forest in the next moment, as an aura that was even more powerful than that of the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' came along with it.
The Grand Elder''s expression immediately changed when he sensed this overpowering aura, as a serious expression appeared on his face.
The ''Darkness Eagle'' could feel that this aura was hundreds of times stronger than its own, causing its natural instincts to quickly kick in.
pping its wings, the ''Darkness Eagle'' immediately took to the sky, transforming its body into a mass of darkness as it tried to leave the forest as quickly as possible!
Shun Long knew that this was the natural ability of the ''Darkness Eagle''.
It allowed the eagle to increase its defense and speed to the level of a middle rank 7 magic beast for a short duration of time.
As a magic beast, the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' senses far exceeded that of a human''s.
It knew which enemies it could fight against, and it could clearly sense that the entity in the depths of this forest was extremely terrifying, and was far beyond the level of what it could handle.
However, the ''Darkness Eagle'' had only managed to fly for a thousand meters in the sky, before a wind de that was more than 100 meters long suddenly emerged from the depths of the forest, flying towards the eagle at an unbelievable speed.
The enormous wind de managed to effortlessly chop all of the gigantic trees that blocked its way in half, as it appeared right behind the ''Darkness Eagle''.
The ''Darkness Eagle'' screeched for the second time as it tried to increase its speed and get out of the range of this wind de.
It could clearly feel the sensation of death that it hadn''t felt for countless years boring down on its neck.
It wasn''t just the ''Darkness Eagle'' itself, but the outer court disciples and even the inner court disciples who were sitting on its back that could also feel this sensation.
At the same time, the look inside Shun Long''s eyes turned serious as he prepared to summon Little ck from the ''Stone of Time'', to take him, along with Liu Mei and the rest away from this ce.
Shun Long could feel that the auraing from this attack was so much stronger than the ''Darkness Eagle''s'', that it had probably even exceeded the standard of a middle rank 7 magic beast and had most likely reached the peak of rank 7, if not even the early rank 8!
This meant that this attack was equivalent to the full-powered blow of either a peak-stage Dao Emperor, or even a Sovereign realm expert''s!
Even the pendant that Liu Mei had received from Elder Xuan most likely wouldn''t be enough to protect her from such an attack.
At that moment however, the Grand Elder''s body suddenly disappeared from Shun Long''s side, appearing right behind the ''Darkness Eagle'', and in front of the gigantic wind de.
''''GET LOST!''''
The Grand Elder roared angrily, as he took out a small, wooden-like shield from his spatial ring and raised it in front of him.
The Grand Elder''s shield looked old and damaged, but at that moment, the countless runes and patterns on the shield''s surface lit up one after the other, before the terrifying aura of a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor erupted from the Grand Elder''s body and entered the shield.
The wooden shield immediately expanded, covering an area of more than 100 meters that made it look like it could easily block the enormous wind de.
Indeed, although the Grand Elder was pushed back for a few dozen steps, he had actually managed to block the 100-meter long wind de!
And yet, just as the disciples and the few inner court Elders on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back were about to rejoice, expressions of terror covered their faces in the next moment.
Another wind de that was simr to the first one appeared from the depths of the forest, heading towards the Darkness Eagle as well.
By now, the Darkness Eagle had already managed to cross a distance of more than 1000 miles and was close to the forest''s exit, but it still wouldn''t make it in time if it wanted to leave the forest.
The Grand Elder''s face turned extremely serious, as he raised his shield with a grave expression and moved forward to block the second wind de.
Although this shield in the Grand Elder''s hands looked old and half-broken, it was actually the Grand Elder''s strongest weapon, a 2-star shield.
2-star weapons could only be made by formation masters whose cultivation had reached the Sovereign realm, and their might was simply iparable to 1-star weapons.
Infusing his qi inside his shield for the second time, the Grand Elder roared once again, as his shield collided with the gigantic wind de.
Expressions of horror appeared on the faces of the disciples and even the inner court Elders who were sitting on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back when they saw the following scene.
The projection of the Grand Elder''s shield instantly shattered, as the Grand Elder was sent flying backward like a meteor, before the wind de kept heading towards the ''Darkness Eagle''!
Shun Long saw that the eagle barely had enough time to turn its body to the side slightly, before the wind dended on its back, causing a fountain of blood to spurt through the air, as the enormous trees below it were dyed a bright crimson color.
Chapter 712: Wind Dragon?
Chapter 712: Wind Dragon?
The ''Darkness Eagle'' let out a painful screech as it tried to keep itself in the sky and fly forward, while a huge gash could be seen on its back near its left wing.
The wound was actually so deep, that even the eagle''s bones could be seen clearly, and if the eagle hadn''t moved to the side in the final moment, its heart would also have been shed by the wind de.
However, the eagle knew that if it stopped even for a moment, the monster inside this forest would send out another wind de, and the eagle definitely wouldn''t be able to survive a second attack.
The ''Darkness Eagle''s'' intelligence wasn''t any lower than that of a human''s. It already knew that the only reason it had managed to survive the first wind de, was thanks to the Grand Elder''s shield that had blocked more than 90 percent of the power behind the attack.
And yet, that ''weakened'' wind de had still been enough to pierce through the eagle''s defenses, even after it had activated its natural ability that had raised its defense to the level of a middle rank 7 magic beast.
Indeed, there wasn''t enough time for the entity inside the forest to send out another attack, before the ''Darkness Eagle'' flew past the forest''s entrance at full speed!
It was only then that the inner court Elders and the disciples on the eagle''s back finally heaved out a sigh of relief.
A few momentster, the Grand Elder''s figure could be seen flying out of the forest as well, as it appeared on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back as well.
The Grand Elder sat right next to Shun Long, and although there weren''t any wounds on his body, from his pale face one could easily guess that blocking those 2 wind des wasn''t easy even for someone like him.
If he didn''t have his wooden shield, the Grand Elder wasn''t confident in blocking even a single one of those wind des, despite the fact that he was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor!
From this, one could guess how terrifying the strength of the entity inside that forest really was!
Turning around, the Grand Elder took a look at the forest behind him that was turning smaller and smaller in his eyes, before he said in aining and yet relieved tone
''''We were really unlucky this time. I was hoping we would have teleported closer to the Northern Sovereign''s city, but we ended up in the Wind Dragon''s forest instead...''''
As he finished speaking, the Grand Elder took a look at the old wooden shield in his hand, before he stored it back inside his spatial ring.
Although the projection of the shield had shattered after taking on the second wind de, the wooden shield itself wasn''t damaged in the slightest by the attack.
It was only its projection that was created by the Grand Elder''s own qi that had been shattered from that second wind de.
''''Wind dragon?''''
Shun Long asked in surprise as he looked at the Grand Elder.
Shun Long had clearly noticed the fear inside the Grand Elder''s eyes as he looked at that forest, but his mind instantly focused on the words ''Wind dragon''!
Nodding seriously, the Grand Elder kept staring at the forest in the distance before he exined in a serious voice
''''Indeed, inside that forest is a Wind dragon. No... it is more urate to say that it''s not really a true dragon but a ''Wind wyrm'' instead!
However, even though it''s not a true dragon, its strength is too terrifying and has reached the peak of rank 7 long ago.? Although it''s just a peak rank 7 magic beast, there are extremely few magic beasts who can fight against it on the same level.
As for Dao Emperors... even a peak Dao Emperor won''t be able to take more than few blows from that Wind wyrm without a star-rank weapon!''''
The Grand Elder''s voice was solemn as he exined this while Shun Long nodded his head in understanding.
If there was a true dragon in the central region, most likely every peak power in this region would have done its best to hunt it down.
Dragons were exalted magic beasts, but even in the Immortal Dimension, only those dragons who came from the Dragon Realm or those who were protected by members of their senior generation would dare to stroll freely around the world.
Those few dragons who happened to be born without any protection, like Little ck, would either be hunted down and be enved, or they would be killed for their precious body parts.
As for those dragon sub-species like a ''Wind wyrm'', Shun Long knew that although they were considered to be rare magic beasts as well, their strength or the preciousness of their bodies were nowhere close to that of a real dragon''s.
Of course, that was only when the wyrms werepared to actual ''Legendary rank'' magic beasts like real dragons.
In reality, even Bai Liuxian''s peak rank 7 ''Hellfire crow'' would only be at the same level as a Wind wyrm.
At the same time, Shun Long also understood why the Grand Elder seemed to have struggled so hard, that he was only able to take on 2 attacks from the Wind wyrm.
No matter how thin the wyrm''s bloodline was, it still contained small hints of the bloodline of a real dragon.
Most likely, this Wind wyrm that was already at the peak of rank 7, had enough strength to fight off even an early rank 1 Sovereign realm expert!
The Grand Elder then took out a bottle of medicinal pills from his spatial ring, before he tossed a handful of pills inside the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' mouth.
Although these pills weren''t enough to fully heal the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' injuries, they were still enough to stop its bleeding and allow the eagle to keep flying forward.
A momentter, as Shun Long kept staring at the huge forest behind him that had turned into a small dot that had almost disappeared into the distance, Little ck''s calm voice sounded inside his mind
''''Master, the beast core of the Wind wyrm is probably the only thing that can allow that panther to reach the rank 7.''''
Chapter 713: The Kings Palace
Chapter 713: The King''s Pce
Shun Long was stunned for a second, before he nodded his head calmly a momentter.
The same thought had appeared in his mind as Little ck''s when the Grand Elder said that a Wind wyrm was living inside that forest.
Shun Long knew that to the current Little ck, the beast core of a peak rank 7 magic beast was useless.
Even if it was the beast core of a peak rank 7 Wind wyrm, the difference was practically nonexistent.
However, to Little Silver, this was probably its only chance if it wanted to reach the rank 7 in its life.
Reaching the early rank 6 was already the limit of what a ''Silver-winged panther king'' could normally reach.
Even though the current Little Silver was a peak rank 6 magic beast and had already surpassed its normal limits, reaching the rank 7 was going to be nearly impossible.
After all, what Little Silver needed to breakthrough even further, was the beast core of a powerful rank 7 magic beast of the wind element with a powerful bloodline.
The beast cores of most other magic beasts, even those of most peak rank 7 magic beasts wouldn''t be enough to allow Little Silver to breakthrough to the rank 7.
Only the beast cores from magic beasts that had the potential to reach the early rank 8 or above, like the Wind wyrm, could possibly allow Little Silver to reach the rank 7 in its life.
After all, the ancestor of the Wind wyrm was most likely a Wind dragon, allowing the wind wyrm to have some of the bloodline of the Wind dragons inside it.
Even if its bloodline was extremely thin, the Wind wyrm could reach at least the early rank 8 in the future.
However, even if Shun Long wanted to obtain the Wind wyrm''s beast core right now, he knew that it was nothing more than a fool''s dream.
The Wind wyrm had already reached the peak of rank 7 and had even managed to send the Grand Elder flying with just 2 attacks.
Unless Little ck broke through to the peak of rank 7, there was no way to deal with a magic beast that was even stronger than peak Dao Emperors and had the strength of an early rank 1 Sovereign realm expert!
Shun Long decided to put the matter of the Wind wyrm''s beast core to the back of his mind for now, and wait until Little ck reached the peak of rank 7 as well.
By then, killing a peak rank 7 magic beast would be extremely easy.
The ''Darkness Eagle'' continued to fly forward, covering arge amount of distance with every p of its wings, and finally, 3 hourster, the outline of an enormous city could be seen in the distance.
The Grand Elder smiled lightly as he looked at the huge city ahead of them, before he turned to look at Shun Long and said calmly
''''This is the Northern Sovereign''s city, the biggest and most influential city in the north of the central region. This city can be said to be the true cornerstone of the northern region and is the ce where the Northern Sovereign usually lives as well!
Originally, this is where the teleportation formation was supposed to take us, but unfortunately, the location where we appear will always change every time we use the formation. Thankfully, that location will never be more than 100.000 miles away from the city. Unfortunately, this time wended in the midst of the ''Dragon Wind''s forest''...''''
At that moment, everyone understood why their situation ended up being so dire after using the teleportation formation.
No wonder they appeared inside the ''Dragon Wind''s forest''.
So the ce where they were teleported to was up to luck.
Looking at the Grand Elder, Bai Longtian asked curiously
''''Senior, who is the Northern Sovereign?''''
Liu Mei and the others looked at the Grand Elder as well.
Everyone had the same question in their minds as they had never heard anything about the Northern Sovereign''s city before.
''''The Northern Sovereign... she is the strongest person in the entire northern part of the central region.
In reality, the central region itself is simply too enormous and is actually split into 5 parts. The northern part, the eastern part, the southern part, the western part. and finally, the central part. Those 5 parts together make the whole of the central region.
The powers living in the center of the central region are usually the strongest powers in the entire region.
Ancient and powerful ns like the Bai n also have their base in the central part of the central region.
As for the other 4 parts, among all the powers in the northern part of the central region for example, the strongest power would definitely be the Northern Sovereign''s city.
The Northern Sovereign''s city is also the city that''s closest to the ''King''s Pce''!''''
As the Grand Elder finished speaking, the ''Darkness Eagle'' changed its course slightly, flying towards the south of the ''Northern Sovereign''s city!
Shun Long stared at the outline of the enormous city in the distance, with a somewhat curious look.
He was indeed interested in taking a look at this Northern Sovereign''s city where countless experts would most likely gather there, but the opening of the King''s Pce was the most important thing right now.
Indeed, the Grand Elder didn''t look like he had any intention to stop at the Northern Sovereign''s city, as the ''Darkness Eagle'' kept flying forward.
An entire day had passed as Shun Long''s group traveled on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back, before everyone''s eyes seemed to have lit up simultaneously.
Shun Long and the rest didn''t need the Grand Elder to tell them that they had arrived in their destination, as everyone stared at the unique scene ahead with wide-open eyes.
Everyone could feel their heartbeats that had started to rise uncontrobly, as their gazes allnded on the pitch-ck thunderclouds that had blotted out the sky in the distance in front of them.
Purple sparks of lightning were crackling around the ck thunderclouds, while thousands of lightning bolts seemed to be descending from the sky every few seconds, all of themnding on the dpidated ck pce below them that seemed on the verge of copse!
Chapter 714: The Kings Palace (2)
Chapter 714: The King''s Pce (2)
The ck thunderclouds had blotted out the sky as they covered a distance of more than 1000 miles around the ck pce.
And yet, despite being struck by the purple bolts of lightning over and over again, the half-destroyed ck pce still stood tall in the midst of the unending thunderstorm.
It was a bizarre sight that Shun Long and the rest had never seen before.
The lightning didn''t seem to let up for even a moment, looking as if it was determined to destroy the pce.
The ''Darkness Eagle'' hesitated for a moment, but it still moved forward as it flew towards the ck pce soon after.
Of course, that was mostly because the purple lightning seemed to be concentrated towards the depths of the pce, otherwise, the eagle wouldn''t dare approach this region even if it was a peak rank 7 magic beast!
The Grand Elder sighed as he looked at the ck pce ahead of them, before he said in a low voice
''''It looks like it will still take a few more days until the lightning around the entrance of the King''s Pce fully weakens. The other powers should have already arrived by now, while we are probably among thest ones to get here.''''
The ''Darkness Eagle'' seemed to have received an order from the Grand Elder as it suddenly increased its speed, entering the region of the ck thunderclouds without any hesitation.
Shun Long and the others could see the terrifying purple lightning bolts that descended from the sky as theynded on the ground around them.
Each lightning bolt was thicker than an adult human''s thigh while their destructive power had left the ground charred. And yet, none of those lightning bolts managed to hit the ''Darkness Eagle'', as the gigantic eagle agilely avoided them all and kept flying towards the King''s Pce!
Less than a minute had passed before the eagle had already crossed the distance, and had arrived just 300 meters away from the ck pce''s entrance.
However, as soon as it reached this area the ''Darkness Eagle'' abruptly stopped, as it didn''t dare to move forward any longer.
Although the distance between the Holy sect''s group and the ck pce was just 300 meters, these 300 meters couldn''t even be passed by peak rank 7 magic beasts, let alone the ''Darkness Eagle''.
The purple lightning bolts that were raining down from the sky hadpletely sealed off the area around the King''s Pce!
''''Grand Elder, it looks like the lightning bolts here have yet to weaken. This is probably the deepest part that anyone can reach right now.'''' The white-robed old woman, Elder Mao Jing looked at the Grand Elder and said in a solemn voice.
The Grand Elder nodded his head seriously as he stared at the area in front of him for a few moments, but just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, as he quickly narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze towards the west.
The figure of an old man dressed in ck clothes could be seen streaking through the sky, as he headed towards the Holy sect''s group at an unbelievable speed.
It was obvious that this old man''s speed had far exceeded the speed of the ''Darkness Eagle'', and was more than just a single level above it.
Even when the ''Darkness Eagle'' had used its innate technique to escape from the Wind wyrm''s attacks earlier, its speed was many times lower than this old man''s.
In the next moment, everyone from the Holy sect''s group could clearly see the figure of the ck-robed old man standing in the sky above them, as he stopped just a few meters away from the ''Darkness Eagle''.
It was a bald old man whose height had exceeded 2 meters (6.5ft) and was even taller than the Grand Elder himself.
This ck-robed old man who had no hair on his head stood in the sky, and examined the Holy sect''s group calmly.
Everyone could sense a terrifying auraing from this person''s body that made even the ''Darkness Eagle'' unwilling to fight him.
The old man''s eyes scanned the Holy sect''s group, and a momentter, his gazended on the Grand Elder before a stunned look appeared on his face.
The old man suddenlyughed as he looked at the Grand Elder, before he called out in a voice full of joy
''''Hahaha! Kang Wen, it''s really you? You old fart, you finally decided toe out from your seclusion?''''
The Grand Elder looked at the ck-robed old man in front of him and his expression finally rxed as he nodded his head and said
''''Han Xu, I haven''t seen you in a while. It seems that you have managed to reach the peak of the Dao Emperor realm as well in these past 20.000 years.''''
The ck-robed old man named Han Xu smiled and nodded his head proudly as he said
''''Indeed, among the Dao Emperors in the northern part of the central region, I can now im to be among the top 5 in terms of strength!''''
Shun Long and the rest of the outer court disciples and even the inner court disciples had no idea who the person in front of them was, but the inner court Elder of the Holy sect who were sitting on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back all recognized this ck-robed old man and stood up to pay their respects.
After all, this old man in front of them was even stronger than their head Elder, Sun Wen, and was now at the same level as the Grand Elder!
Looking at Han Xu, the Grand Elder asked curiously
''''Han Xu, what are you doing here?''''
Shaking his head, Han Xu looked at the Grand Elder and said calmly
''''Haha, I sensed the aura of an early rank 7 magic beast approaching, so I came here to check which sect had arrived.''''
Han Xu then pointed towards the direction he had juste from and continued
''''Kang Wen, the Northern Sovereign, and the other seniors all waiting over there. It''s probably best if you go and greet them as well. After all, we will all enter the King''s Pce together and there are many seniors present here this time.''''
The Grand Elder thought seriously for a moment, before he nodded his head and said
''''Alright. Han Xu, you lead the way.''''
Han Xu''s lips twitched slightly, but he still nodded his head as he led the way for the Grand Elder''s group, while the ''Darkness Eagle'' followed behind him.
Although Han Xu believed himself to be one of the top 5 Dao Emperors in the northern part of the central region, he still had a lot of respect for the Grand Elder.
After all, the Grand Elder of the Holy sect had made his name in the central region thousands of years ago, and was considered to be among the top 3 Dao Emperors in the northern part of the central region!
A few momentster, Han Xu had led the Grand Elder''s group to an area around 500 meters away from the entrance of the ck pce.
After they arrived here, a huge group of people dressed in different clothes appeared in Shun Long''s and the rest''s eyes, as most of them were either sitting on the ground, cultivating with their eyes closed, or they were talking to each other.
Of course, although this seemed to be onerge group of more than 3000 people, in reality, the people in this ce were split into many different groups as well.
It was just like how the members of the Holy sect sitting on the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back were considered to be one group, but they were also split into outer court disciples, inner court disciples, and the inner court Elders.
Even the outer court and the inner court disciples of the Holy sect were split into their own groups, let alone this group of people that all came from different sects and powers throughout the central region.
''''Kang Wen, senior Northern Sovereign, and the others are all here. Come with me.'''' Han Xu said as he turned around and looked at the Grand Elder, before he pointed his hand towards a certain group of people far ahead.
It was arge group of more than 10 people that no one dared to approach carelessly.
Nodding his head, the Grand Elder first had the ''Darkness Eagle''nd on the ground in arge, empty space on the ground, before he turned around and looked at the outer court and the inner court disciples on the eagle''s back and said seriously
''''You are free to do whatever you want for the next few days, but remember to avoid offending others for no reason. This isn''t our Holy sect''s territory any longer.
Although our Holy sect isn''t afraid of trouble, there are many people whoe to the King''s Pce, not just from the northern part of the central region, but from the powerful forces throughout the entire central region as well!''''
The outer court and the inner court disciples nodded their heads seriously as they got down from the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back, and most of them sat on the ground to cultivate.
The Grand Elder then threw one look at Shun Long and said smilingly
''''Brat, don''t create too much trouble while I''m gone. I wille find you in a while and tell you a few more things that you need to know about the King''s Pce. Wait for me to go and greet senior Northern Sovereign first.''''
As he finished speaking, the Grand Elder looked at Han Xu and said
''''Han Xu, let''s go.''''
Han Xu was surprised as he looked at the Grand Elder, before a deep look appeared in his eyes as he stared at Shun Long curiously.
''''Is this kid Kang Wen''s personal disciple? I should pay more attention to him then.''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Han Xu took onest look at Shun Long, before he nodded his head and turned around, as he led the Grand Elder towards a certain group in the distance.
Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the rest stared at their surroundings curiously as they got down from the ''Darkness Eagle''s'' back, before Xingyi looked at Shun Long and asked curiously a momentter
''''Brother Long, where should we go?''''
Shun Long smiled as he looked at Xingyi and the others and said
''''Let''s enjoy ourselves a bit until the King''s Pce opens.''''
Chapter 715
Chapter 715
Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to the Elders or the disciples of the Holy sect around him, as he led Liu Mei and the others towards an empty spot not far away from the ''Darkness Eagle''.
Waving his hand, 5 small meditative cushions appeared in front of him, along with 5 small wooden jugs of wine.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all sat down on the meditative cushions around Shun Long and took a jar of wine each, without any hesitation.
After spending nearly 2 years within the Holy sect''s territory, Jiang Chen and the rest all knew by now, that Shun Long''s wine was indeed the best wine in the entire Holy sect.
Thus, every time they had a chance to drink together, they would always be looking forward to drink Shun Long''s wine.
In reality, nobody knew that to create a single barrel of wine, Shun Long needed to use dozens of rank 6, as well as more than a hundred rank 5 and rank 4 medicinal herbs and blend them together, before he left the wine inside his herb garden for more than 500 years.
Every single medicinal herb had been blended together seamlessly, drawing out their most fragrant and potent qualities.
Of course, neither of those conditions were hard for Shun Long, but it would be impossible for anyone else to replicate this.
Even if someone knew the medicinal herbs required to make this wine, it would still be impossible to create it unless their level of understanding in alchemy had exceeded Shun Long''s own.
Indeed, as soon as the lids from the 5 wooden jars were removed, an intoxicating fragrance spread out from the jars, assaulting Liu Mei''s and the others'' senses.
At the same time that Shun Long and the rest started to drink, the ''Darkness Eagle'' that was sitting on the ground with its eyes closed seemed to have sensed something, as it turned its attention towards Shun Long''s group.
Normal eagles had an almost non-existent sense of smell, but how could the senses of an early rank 7 ''Darkness Eagle'' bepared to that of normal animals?
The eagle stood up and started to walk towards Shun Long''s group a momentter, attracting the attention of the inner court Elders and the disciples who were sitting a few meters away from it.
''''Eh? What is the ''Darkness Eagle'' doing?''''
''''It looks like... it''s heading towards Shun Long''s group!? Could it be that the Grand Elder sent an order to it?''''
The eagle arrived in front of Shun Long and the others in the blink of an eye, and stared at the wine jars in their hands as if it was looking at a treasure that it had never seen before.
Its eyes glimmered for a few seconds before it turned its gaze towards Shun Long, and surprisingly, the early rank 7 magic beast suddenly let out a pleading whimper.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen were all surprised when they saw this scene.
An early rank 7 magic beast... was pleading right in front of them?
Magic beasts were famed for their cruel and bloodthirsty natures, so how could the ''Darkness eagle'' act like a puppy in front of them?
However, although Liu Mei and the others were all surprised, the inner court Elders felt as if an explosion was taking ce inside their minds at that moment.
They knew that the Grand Elder''s ''Darkness Eagle'' was an extremely arrogant magic beast that didn''t even look at early stage Dao Emperors as its equals.
It didn''t even respect middle stage Dao Emperors wince it could escape from them at any time using its innate technique.
If it wasn''t because of the Grand Elder, a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor taming it, the ''Darkness Eagle'' wouldn''t have even allowed the Elders of the Holy sect to sit on its back while they traveled.
And yet, this very same ''Darkness Eagle'' was pleading an outer court disciple for the wine in his hands?
At the same time, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck opened his bright blue eyes and stared at the eagle with a cold look of displeasure.
If the eagle could see the look inside the eyes of the ck dragon, it would be unknown if it would have copsed on the ground trembling in fear, or if it would have directly lost consciousness.
Nodding his head, Shun Long patted the eagle''s beak and said with a calm look
''''Alright. Consider it as thanks for letting us travel on your back then.''''
Another jar of wine appeared in Shun Long''s hands in the next moment, before Shun Long ced it in front of the gigantic eagle.
The eagle immediately lowered its head and stretched out its tongue, allowing it to bathe inside the jar and taste the bright red wine inside, before letting out a cry of pleasure.
This time, it wasn''t just the Elders and the disciples of the Holy sect who were startled by this, but even some of the surrounding powers not far away from the Holy sect once they heard the excited cry of an early rank 7 magic beast.
At the same time, the old man who was second in seniority from the inner court Elders present opened his eyes and looked at the ''Darkness Eagle'', before he asked in a low voice
''''Is that kid''s wine really that good? Even the Holy city''s best wine, the ''hundred-herbs wine'' isn''t that alluring to magic beasts of the 5th rank, let alone rank 7 magic beasts!''''
While the inner court Elders and the outer court disciples who had yet to smell this fragrance had started to question what was going on with the ''Darkness Eagle'', Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing let out a regretful sigh in her heart as she looked at Shun Long.
Indeed, he had more of that wine, and not only was he drinking it along with Xingyi and the others, but he even gave a jar to the Grand Elder''s magic beast.
Elder Mao Jing had smelled the fragrance of this wine before, from that wooden barrel that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder as a gift when they were all back in her room inside the Refinement Hall, and just the fragrance of the wine alone had even made a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor like her swallow her saliva.
Mao Jing wanted to desperately taste that wine, but after taking a single sip from the barrel, the Grand Elder had refused to give her even a single drop.
Of course, Mao Jing knew that she could ask for a jar of wine from Shun Long, but she didn''t have the face to do that.
She knew that Shun Long most likely hated her after how she had treated him that day in her room, and it wouldn''t be surprising if he refused to give her even a single jar.
A few hours had passed, and Shun Long and the rest had emptied more than a couple jars of wine as they waited for the King''s Pce to open.
During these past few hours, a few of the inner court Elders wanted to approach Shun Long and ask for a jar of wine, but the murderous look they received from the ''Darkness Eagle'' gave those Elders second thoughts.
The truth was, that the Holy sect had more than 20 inner court Elders, which meant at least 20 Dao Emperors!
However, from the Elders who had tagged along this time, aside from the Grand Elder, the strongest one of them was Mao Jing, while the other powerful Elders like the head Elder, Sun Wen, or Liu Mei''s master Xuan Jiao, as well as Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s masters, they had all stayed back in the Holy sect.
Since the Grand Elder was going to leave the Holy sect to visit the King''s Pce, the rest of the powerful Elders needed to be present in case anything important happened back in the sect.
Thus, from the Elders who hade to the King''s Pce with the Grand Elder this time, most of them were just early-stage Dao Emperors, and they were actually afraid of an early rank 7 magic beast like the Grand Elder''s ''Darkness Eagle''.
Although the eagle wouldn''t really really kill any of them since it was the Grand Elder''s magic beast, none of them wanted to risk losing face by irritating it and getting beat up in front of everyone else present.
At the same time, in these past few hours, a few lightning bolts had alsonded in this ''safe area'', causing the inner court Elders of the Holy sect to take action quite a few times, saving the outer court and the inner court disciples by dragging them away from the area where the lightning was about to strike.
Only the inner court Elders were fast enough to react and protect anyone from those purple lightning bolts.
Even those blue-robed, inner court disciples of the Holy sect who had reached the peak of the Dao King realm, would have probably died if it wasn''t for the inner court Elders saving them just in time.
Thankfully, none of the lightning boltsnded near Shun Long''s group, allowing them to keep enjoying the wine in the midst of the never-stopping shes of purple lightning around them.
Of course, if a bolt of lightning really threatened Shun Long''s group, the ''Darkness Eagle'' would be more than enough to protect them.
Finally, just as night was about to fall, the Grand Elder''s figure could be seen flying from the distance, as he headed towards Shun Long''s group with a proud smile stered on his face.
Surprisingly, next to the Grand Elder, the figure of an extremely beautiful woman in silver robes could also be seen, as she calmly flew towards Shun Long''s direction as well.
Chapter 716: Meeting the Northern Sovereign
Chapter 716: Meeting the Northern Sovereign
A momentter, the Grand Elder and the silver-robed woman had already appeared in the sky above Shun Long''s group, before the Grand Elder looked at Shun Long andughed loudly, as he said with a smile on his face
''''You little brats, it seems that you were enjoying yourselves while this old man was gone.''''
The Grand Elder had caught a whiff of the wine''s scenting from the wooden jars as soon as he arrived, and immediately understood, that this was the same wine that he had gotten from Shun Long as well.
Although the Grand Elder was joking when he spoke just now, he truly felt a little bit of envy in his heart towards Jiang Chen and the others, for being able to enjoy the wine like that.
After tasting Shun Long''s wine that night inside the Refinement Hall, the Grand Elder couldn''t bear to drink the rest of it, despite having an entire barrel of it.
After all, to an expert like the Grand Elder who could enter seclusion for a few thousand years in one go, a single barrel of wine wasn''t going to be enough tost him even for a thousand years, even if he drank it sparingly.
However, before the Grand Elder could speak again, the silver-robed woman by his side took a look at the group of 5 outer disciples in front of her, her gaze eventuallynding on Shun Long, as she then asked curiously
''''Kang Wen, is this the genius of your Holy sect who hasprehended 2 supreme Daos?''''
The stunning silver-robed woman had naturally noticed the changes in the Grand Elder''s expression when he had spoken just now.
She could easily notice that although the Grand Elder seemed to be speaking to the entire group of 5 in front of him, his eyes would always end up focusing on the short-haired young man in the middle at the very end.
The Grand Elder was quickly brought back to his senses once he heard the silver-robed woman''s voice, as he looked at her and nodded his head seriously, before he answered in a somewhat proud voice
''''Senior Northern Sovereign is right. This kid is the biggest genius that my Holy sect has seen in thest 100.000 years! In terms of potential, I am certain that even Chen Kang can''tpare with him!''''
''''Ohh?'''' The Northern Sovereign eximed in surprise as she looked at Shun Long with a renewed look of curiosity.
Although she didn''t know much about the disciples of the Holy sect, the Northern Sovereign knew of Chen Kang''s name.
After all, Chen Kang wasn''t a nobody, but an extreme genius who had already reached the Dao Emperor realm a while ago.
Within the northern part of the central region, Chen Kang had already made a name for himself, and he was even rumored to have inherited an immortal-grade cultivation technique that suited him greatly.
Although others weren''t clear whether that was just a rumor or not, the Northern Sovereign knew that it was the truth.
Many Dao Emperors and even some Sovereign realm experts from the northern part of the central region also believed, that with an immortal-grade cultivation technique and the supreme Dao he hadprehended, as long as he didn''t perish, Chen Kang would definitely be one of the strongest Sovereign realm experts in the northern part of the central region in the future.
Perhaps he could be even stronger than the sect master of the Holy sect himself.
Even the greatest genius of the Yang n, Yang Hui who was ranked 1st in the Martial Roll of Honor, took Chen Kang to be his only opponent within the Holy sect.
In Yang Hui''s eyes, only someone like Chen Kang would be strong enough to fight him in the future.
Unfortunately, Yang Hui didn''t have a chance to spar with this greatest genius of the Holy sect just yet, since Chen Kang was already a core disciple whose status was even higher than that of most inner court Elders.
Naturally, Yang Hui who was just an outer court disciple couldn''tpare with him.
Besides, Yang Hui himself was just an early rank 4 Dao King!
However, Yang Hui believed that after obtaining an immortal-grade cultivation technique from Bai Liuxian, things would bepletely different.
After breaking through to the Dao Emperor realm himself, Yang Hui was confident that even Chen Kang wouldn''t be strong enough to defeat him.
The Northern Sovereign already had a general idea of the geniuses in the Holy sect, which was why her interest was so piqued after hearing the Grand Elderpare Shun Long to Chen Kang.
In reality, the Holy sect could only be considered a medium-sized sect within the northern part of the central region, and it wasn''t a power that would normally warrant the attention of a powerful figure such as the Northern Sovereign''s.
However, the Northern Sovereign had known the Grand Elder for more than a hundred thousand years, which was why she was familiar with the inner workings of the sect.
After hearing that a genius who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos had appeared in the Holy sect, the Northern Sovereign had decided toe and take a look personally.
Shun Long and the rest were also surprised when they heard that the silver-robed woman next to the Grand Elder was actually the Northern Sovereign.
They had all heard from the Grand Elder about the Northern Sovereign and understood, that this beautiful silver-robed woman in front of them was truly considered to be the overlord of the northern part of the central region.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t surprised that the Grand Elder admitted so readily that Shun Long hadprehended 2 supreme Daos.
Shun Long was already prepared for it after revealing his Dao of Time in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament.
He knew that sooner orter, people would find out about him, and something like that was effortless for a figure like the Northern Sovereign.
The Northern Sovereign had a profound look in her eyes as she looked at Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the rest, as she suddenly said a momentter
''''I heard from Kang Wen that you are nning to enter the City of Immortals after breaking through to the Dao King realm.''''
Shun Long looked at the Northern Sovereign and nodded his head calmly, before he cupped his hands and answered
''''Senior is right. We are indeed nning to enter the City of Immortals after we finish our breakthroughs.''''
At that moment, the Northern Sovereign took a step forward and appeared in front of Shun Long so fast, that it looked like she was even faster than Shun Long''s ''blink'', before she said in an extremely grave voice
''''Forget about the City of Immortals! Stay inside your Holy sect and cultivate for a few thousand years! By then, as long as you are sufficiently talented, you will even have a chance to be a Dao Emperor without too much trouble.
I can guarantee you that, if you enter the City of Immortals before reaching at least thete stages of the Dao King realm, it won''t matter if you haveprehended 2 supreme Daos or not, you will definitely die before even reaching the ''immortal trials''!''''
Chapter 717
Chapter 717
The Northern Sovereign''s words made everyone around her descend into silence.
''''Senior...''''
The Grand Elder looked at the Northern Sovereign with a somewhat troubled gaze, but the Northern Sovereign simply waved her hand and said dismissingly
''''I won''t say anything more. Whether these kids really want to enter the City of Immortals or not is up to them. I will naturally not hinder them if they want to die.
This was merely a warning due to my rtionship with your Holy sect. What you choose to do from now on is none of my business.
However, Kang Wen, you should also have a certain degree of understanding over the dangers inside that ce. Anyone below thete-stage Dao King realm is simply an ant there, while only peak-stage Dao Kings will have a chance of surviving in the depths of the City of Immortals!''''
The Grand Elder nodded his head solemnly without speaking.
Just like the Northern Sovereign had just said, the Grand Elder indeed knew a few things about the dangers inside the City of Immortals.
However, he wasn''t nning on saying anything to Shun Long and the others about it, before they finished their breakthroughs to reach the Dao King realm.
Besides, the Grand Elder himself was also a bit scared in his heart whether Shun Long could really seed in his breakthrough.
Havingprehended 2 supreme Daos was indeed enough to allow Shun Long to be called a monster, but the Grand Elder knew that the Heavens were always fair.
The higher one''s talent was, the harsher the Heavens would be on them!
Every single one of those monsters who had appeared throughout the central region and hadprehended 2 supreme Daos in the past, were said to have faced terrifying Heavenly Tribtions.
The Grand Elder only knew of a single genius who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos and had survived his Heavenly Tribtion!
Whether Shun Long could really achieve the same feat... was actually uncertain!
The Northern Sovereign threw onest look at Shun Long and the others, before she waved her hand and said
''''I have other matters to attend so I will leave you to it.
Kang Wen, I will see you inside the King''s Pce!''''
The Northern Sovereign''s silver robes fluttered with the wind, and without another word, her figure suddenly disappeared from the spot she was standing on, almost as if she had never been there in the first ce.
After a few moments of silence, the Grand Elder finally regained his senses, as he stared at the Northern Sovereign''s figure that had already disappeared and said in a low voice
''''Perhaps she is right. Perhaps the City of Immortals is indeed too dangerous.''''
Shaking his head, the Grand Elder turned his eyes towards Shun Long and the rest, and his expression quickly returned to normal as he said to himself
''''It doesn''t matter. Let''s focus on the King''s Pce for now. The matters of the City of Immortals willeter! Although it is a good opportunity, it is not worth dying for it.''''
Waving his hand, the Grand Elder then took out a small meditative cushion from his spatial ring and said on it, before he said to Shun Long and the rest
''''You brats! Sit down! I will exin to you how the King''s Pce works.''''
After Shun Long and the others all sat down on their meditative cushions, the Grand Elder took a deep breath and said
''''Just like I told you thest time, the King''s Pce is a miraculous ce that allows one to sense the existence of the Daos even clearerpared to the outside world.
Forget about Nascent Soul stage cultivators like you, even Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, and even Sovereign realm experts can benefit after training inside this ce.
Once you enter the pce, you will immediately be able to sense the existence of the countless Daos around you.
Additionally, the deeper inside the pce you manage to get, you will be able to sense the existence of the Daos around you even more clearly than before.
However, no matter what you do, don''t get too close to the depths of the King''s Pce!
The closer you get to the core of the pce, the more concentrated the purple lightning bolts will be in that ce.
It''s not umon for even Dao Emperors to die after being struck by those lightning bolts, and have their souls disperse!
Additionally... there is one more important thing that you have to take note of.
This time, a few powerful geniuses from the central part of the central region will also enter the King''s Pce along with everyone else.
Among them is a certain youngdy, whose status even exceeds that of the Northern Sovereign''s.
In the past few hours, I saw that even the Northern Sovereign herself was acting respectful to that young woman and didn''t want to displease her.
After asking senior Northern Sovereign, she told me that that youngdy is the personal disciple of an old monster who has exceeded the Sovereign realm, and is only a step away from bing a true immortal!
That person is a true expert who stands at the peak of the central region and the cultivation world.
Even the Northern Sovereign is wary of that senior and doesn''t want to offend his personal disciples!
No matter what you do, you must not offend that youngdy or even I will be unable to protect you!''''
The look inside the Grand Elder''s eyes was extremely grave as he said thest sentence, almost as if he was cautioning and pleading Shun Long at the same time.
After a few moments of silence, Shun Long cupped his hands and bowed slightly towards the Grand Elder, as he said in a sincere voice
''''Thank you, senior!''''
No matter what, Shun Long had an extremely favorable impression of the Grand Elder.
The Grand Elder had done everything he could to keep Shun Long and the rest safe.
Nodding his head, the Grand Elder didn''t say anything else, as he sat down cross-legged with his eyes closed, as he waited next to Shun Long and the rest for the King''s Pce to open.
Finally, 5 dayster, the lightning around the pce''s entrance seemed to have thinned out so much, that the King''s pce could finally be seen clearly.
Chapter 718: Entering the Kings Palace
Chapter 718: Entering the King''s Pce
As the bolts of purple lightning around the entrance of the King''s Pce disappeared, the figure of a beautiful woman dressed in silver robes appeared in the sky above everyone else, before the Northern Sovereign''s cold voice entered everyone''s ears in the next moment
''''The King''s Pce is now open! Since all of you are already familiar with the rules, I won''t exin anything this time. Remember that you only have 1 year to stay inside the pce. Let''s go!''''
The surrounding experts from the many powers throughout the central region all nodded gravely when they heard the Northern Sovereign''s warning.
They all knew that a year after the opening of the King''s Pce, they had to leave the pce whether they were in the middle of a breakthrough or not, or their lives would be in danger.
The lightning around the King''s pce would definitely reach its peak state a year after the opening of the pce, and by then, even experts who were just a step away from bing true immortals could lose their lives if they forcefully stayed inside the pce instead of leaving.
Even the Northern Sovereign who was a peak level Sovereign realm expert didn''t have any confidence in surviving these bolts of purple lightning.
Shun Long and the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect had already heard about this matter from the Grand Elder, and knew that they could only spend a year inside the King''s pce.
As soon as she finished speaking the Northern Sovereign threw onest look at the experts below her, before her figure shot towards the entrance of the King''s Pce at an astonishing speed.
However, to the experts below her, it was clear that this wasn''t the Northern Sovereign''s full speed, as she was still wary of the random lightning bolts that would descend from the sky every now and then and strike the area around the pce.
Although the King''s Pce would no longer be considered a sealed region for the next 1 year that would follow, the danger of the purple lightning bolts wasn''t any lower than before and was still enough to instantly kill even Sovereign realm experts, forcing even the Northern Sovereign to tread carefully.
After all, it was only because of the lowered intensity of the purple lightning bolts, that the many powers throughout the central region dared to step foot inside the King''s Pce and even bring their disciples and descendants along with them.
The Grand Elder turned to look at the outer court and the inner court disciples of the Holy sect behind him, before he said in a serious and somewhat solemn tone
''''The Elders will protect you all until we enter the King''s Pce, but after that, you will have to rely on yourselves. If your luck isn''t good enough and you end up being struck by the purple bolts of lightning, you can only me yourselves.''''
The outer court and the inner court disciples all nodded gravely in response, while a serious look had appeared on Shun Long''s face as he looked at the Grand Elder.
Everyone understood that the inner court Elders wouldn''t stay by their sides to protect them after they entered the King''s Pce. If someone was unlucky enough to get struck by one of the purple lightning bolts, then that person would surely die without question. Even the inner court disciples who were already at the peak of the Dao King realm weren''t exceptions to this rule, since they wouldn''t be able to react in time and protect themselves.
Only Dao Emperor realm experts like the inner court Elders could possibly save them from those purple lightning bolts.
However, the inner court Elders needed toprehend their own Daos as well after entering the King''s Pce. How could they find the time to babysit these outer court and inner court disciples?
After a moment of silence, the Grand Elder suddenly threw a nce at Shun Long who was standing next to him before he continued
''''There are no specific rules that you need to follow after entering the King''s pce. Whether you want to stay in the outer region or try to approach the inner region, it is up to you. Of course, the deeper inside the pce you head, the better you will be able to sense the existence of the Daos around you. There is only one thing that you need to take note of after entering that ce... no matter what, don''t try to reach the core region of the pce!''''
Shun Long and the rest, as well as the other outer court disciples around them, were all stunned when they heard the Grand Elder''s solemn warning, while the inner court disciples and the Elders of the Holy sect all nodded their heads seriously as they looked at the Grand Elder.
For those inner court disciples who had been to the King''s Pce in the past, as well as the inner court Elders, this was alreadymon knowledge.
Even the inner court Elders wouldn''t dare to approach the core region of the King''s Pce, and they would only stay in the inner region instead along with the inner court disciples.
Seeing that everyone had heard his warning, the Grand Elder nodded and looked at the inner court Elders behind him before he said calmly
''''Since everyone is ready, follow me!''''
Without saying another word the Grand Elder then shot to the sky before he waved his hand, causing a wave of his qi to surround Shun Long''s body, as well as Liu Mei''s, Xingyi''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s bodies, before the 5 of them started to fly towards him uncontrobly.
Without any hesitation, the Grand Elder carried the 5 of them, as he flew towards the dpidated ck pce in the distance.
-
Author''s note: Apologies. I have been very sick the past few days which was why there were no chapters. I will make it up to you guys with a few mass releases very soon.
Chapter 719: Inside the palace
Chapter 719: Inside the pce
The Elders of the Holy sect all nodded their heads, as each of them carried an outer court and inner court disciple with them before they followed after the Grand Elder.
As for the early rank 7 Darkness Eagle, the Grand Elder had ordered it to stay behind and not approach any closer to the King''s Pce.
BOOOM
BOOOM
BOOOM
The sound of the purple bolts of lightning descending from the sky entered everyone''s ears, as the group of Elders from the Holy sect approached closer and closer to the entrance of the King''s Pce.
It was only at this moment that the outer court disciples of the sect understood, why Dao Emperors were the only ones who could approach the ck pce in front of them.
The closer they got to the entrance of the pce, the more concentrated the purple lightning bolts around them seemed to be.
The moment that the Grand Elder had arrived just 100 meters away from the entrance of the King''s Pce, Shun Long and the others all saw more than a dozen of purple lightning bolts striking down towards them from every direction.
Whether one wanted to advance or retreat, the purple lightning bolts seemed to have blocked off every direction.
The group of inner court Elders behind the Grand Elder were already struggling to protect the 2 outer court and inner court disciples that they were carrying with them, as they did their best to hurriedly dodge the purple lightning bolts that wereing in their direction while slowly advancing forward.
However, the Grand Elder didn''t seem to be having too much trouble as he easily protected Shun Long''s group of 5, and a few momentster, he had already arrived in front of the gates of the dpidated ck pce.
The entrance of the King''s Pce had clearly been bombarded by the purple lightning bolts for countless years and had already been destroyed, allowing anyone to enter inside as they pleased.
A few momentster, once they entered inside the pce, stunned looks appeared on the faces of the 10 outer court disciples who were carried by the 10 inner court Elders, while even Shun Long and the rest were all rooted in ce as they stared at their surroundings inplete silence.
The interior of the King''s Pce was in an even worse situation than its exterior as the walls of the pce looked to be on the verge of copse, and yet, nobody paid any attention to this.
The moment that the Grand Elder had carried them past the entrance of the King''s Pce, Shun Long and the rest could sense as if they had entered apletely new world.
Shun Long could feel that his surroundings werepletely different from the outside world, and without even meditating, he could still sense the countless Daos that were present everywhere around him.
This was a natural feeling that he had never felt before, one that filled his heart with excitement.
The Grand Elder nodded his head with a smile on his face when he saw Shun Long''s and the others'' reactions, before he said in a calm voice a momentter
''''This ce can be considered the outermost region of the King''s Pce. Whether you want to stay and cultivate here or head deeper inside the pce, that''s up to you.''''
As the Grand Elder finished speaking, he threw onest look at the outer court and inner court disciples in front of him, before his body turned into a blur as he headed deeper inside the King''s Pce.
The inner court Elders looked at each other and nodded their heads before they followed after the Grand Elder, leaving the outer court and the inner court disciples behind.
The truth was that in this outermost region of the King''s Pce, the purple lightning bolts that could be seen everywhere previously were now almost nonexistent.? Aside from a few sparse lightning bolts that would rain down from the sky every now and then, this area was indeed much safer than the area outside of the King''s Pce.
The inner court disciples nodded their heads soon after the Elders had left, before they too headed deeper inside the King''s Pce.
This wasn''t the first time for these inner court disciples inside the King''s Pce as each of them already knew their way around the ce.
These inner court disciples clearly understood, that staying in the outer region of the King''s Pce wouldn''t be enough for them if they wanted to breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm!
Soon, only Shun Long''s group of 5, as well as the rest of the outer court disciples of the Holy sect were left behind.
And yet, even though the Elders and the inner court disciples had already left, Shun Long wasn''t in a hurry to make a move just yet, as he observed his surroundings calmly without speaking.
Just like the Elders of the Holy sect, there were many other Dao Emperors from the various powers of the central region who had left their descendants or disciples in the outer region of the King''s Pce, while they themselves headed deeper inside.
After a few moments of silence, Shun Long turned his gaze towards Liu Mei and the rest and said with a smile on his face
''''Let''s go. Since we are already here, we should have a look at the inner region of the King''s Pce as well.''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Shun Long immediately circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' without any hesitation, causing his eyes to instantly turn golden.
This action startled the few outer court disciples around him who had yet to leave, but Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to them, as he led Liu Mei and the others deeper inside the King''s Pce.
Although most other Nascent Soul cultivators and even Dao King realm experts wouldn''t be able to react to the bolts of purple lightning that would attack them from the sky in time, sneak attacks like that were thest thing that Shun Long feared.
With his golden eyes, Shun Long had enough confidence to walk inside the King''s Pce unhindered, almost as if he was taking a stroll in his own garden.
-
Author''s note: 2 chapters tomorrow, and mass releaseing the day after tomorrow.
Chapter 720: Breakthrough?
Chapter 720: Breakthrough?
''''Hey, look at those people! Have they gone mad?''''
''''Which power do theye from? Don''t tell me they aren''t afraid of the lightning here!''''
''''Ignore them! If they have a death wish, leave them be!''''
Shun Long''s group attracted quite a bit of attention as they headed deeper inside the King''s Pce.
This was only natural since most groups would walk slowly and would stare at the sky above them in trepidation, afraid that the purple lightning bolts would annihte them at any moment. Even the groups of peak Dao Kings, like the inner court disciples of the Holy sect, would have to be careful of the purple lightning, but Shun Long didn''t seem to care about that at all, as he led Bai Longtian and the others deeper inside the pce.
Shun Long could sense that the deeper inside the King''s Pce he entered, the clearer he could now sense the myriad of Daos around him.
However, Shun Long had also noticed, that with each step he was taking towards the depths of the pce, he could also feel a faint invisible pressure that wasing from his surroundings as it bore down on his body.
This natural pressure was extremely bizarre and it seemed to have originated from the very Daos themselves, hindering anyone from walking any further.
Naturally, it wasn''t just Shun Long who was feeling this pressure, but everyone else who had entered inside the King''s Pce as well.
With every step that they took towards the depths of the pce, Jiang Chen and the rest could all feel the ever-increasing pressure that was blocking their way, slowly bing even stronger.
However, it still wasn''t enough to stop Shun Long''s group.
After all, even normal peak Nascent Soul cultivators would be able to resist this level of pressure easily, let alone Xingyi and the rest.
...
Just an hour had passed from the time that Shun Long''s group had entered the King''s Pce, before Liu Mei''s body suddenly trembled, as she abruptly stopped in her tracks.
Xingyi and the others all noticed this sudden change as well, as everyone else halted their steps and turned their attention towards Liu Mei.
''''Mei''er.''''
Shun Long was the first one to move, as his body immediately vanished, appearing right next to Liu Mei almost instantly.
However, just as he was about to touch Liu Mei''s body, a sense of lethal danger filled Shun Long''s heart, as he quickly retracted his hand without any hesitation.
At the same time, a pitch-ck aura erupted from Liu Mei in the next moment, instantly stunning Xingyi and the others.
''''Brother Shun... don''t tell me that...''''
Bai Longtian''s words were stuck in his throat as he looked at Liu Mei with a look of clear disbelief in his eyes.
Jiang Chen and Xingyi were equally shocked when they saw this scene in front of them, while Shun Long nodded his head before he answered
''''Right! Mei''er is breaking through!''''
Liu Mei''s condition attracted quite a few envious looks from the nearby disciples who were walking close to Shun Long''s group and were also heading towards the depths of the pce.
Everyone who saw this scene could easily guess that Liu Mei had suddenly gained insights and was already breaking through to the Dao King realm! For someone to have a breakthrough just an hour after the opening of the King''s Pce, it was only natural that it would attract the envy of the people around them.
''''Master, this isn''t surprising. Cultivators of the Dao of Death don''t struggle too much in their Daoprehension. The real question is whether she can survive the Heavenly tribtion or not.''''
Little ck''s voice had turned somewhat serious as he stared at Liu Mei from the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Although Shun Long was slightly surprised by the sudden changes around Liu Mei, he knew that Little ck was right.
Since Liu Mei''s cultivation, the purity of her soul, and her Daoprehension had all reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, she wouldn''t have too much trouble taking the final step to begin her breakthrough to the Dao King realm.
After all, the Dao of Death was different from most other Daos, and was rather special in terms of its Daoprehension.? For Liu Mei to gain insights into the Dao of Death, all she needed to do was absorb the death aura around her.
Although there was no dense aura of death in this outer region of the King''s Pce, Liu Mei who was already half a step away from breaking through had managed to obtain a spark of insight and had now reached for the door of the Dao King realm.
No matter whether she wanted to or not, her breakthrough was about to begin.
Seeing Liu Mei unconsciously move her body and sit on the ground with her eyes closed, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he sat down in front of her and waved his hand, as he took out a wooden, silver-colored guqin from the ''Stone of Time'' and held it with a serious look in his eyes.
Shun Long knew that Liu Mei''s breakthrough to the Dao King realm wouldn''t just involve the Heavenly Tribtion, but the negative side-effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' as well.
During her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage from the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, Liu Mei had almost died back then, when she and Shun Long were both participating in the third test of the Holy sect.
Naturally, Shun Long was already aware of the dangers of the ''Blood Absorption art'' and wasn''t going to leave things to luck this time.
Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all moved as well, as they spread around Shun Long and Liu Mei, forming a triangle-shaped formation around them.
Although the chances of someone interrupting Liu Mei during her breakthrough were extremely low inside the King''s Pce, especially considering that Liu Mei didn''t have any enemies outside the Holy sect, if someone really had any malicious intentions, the 3 of them weren''t going to let that person get close to Liu Mei and ruin her breakthrough.
Chapter 721 - 721 Breakthrough? (2)
Chapter 721 - 721 Breakthrough? (2)
Liu Mei''s breakthrough attracted quite a bit of attention from the disciples around them, due to how umon it was for someone to have a breakthrough within just an hour after the opening of the King''s Pce.
However, most of those disciples only stayed to have a brief look at what was going on, before they headed deeper inside the pce a few momentster.
This was only natural since every person who had entered the King''s Pce considered themselves to be a genius. Even if they were surprised by Liu Mei''s breakthrough, it wasn''t as if something like this had never happened before and warranted their attention.
Besides, those disciples didn''t have the luxury to wait either. There was only a single year until the King''s Pce closed again. They didn''t have any time to lose, or they would have to wait another 5 years until the next opening.
Shun Long ignored those disciples around him, as he ced his full attention on the Silverbark guqin in front of him.
Ting~ ;
A melodious sound came from the silver guqin in his hands as Shun Long pulled the first string gently, causing a heavenly note to fill everyone''s ears.
Thest few disciples that were about to leave were suddenly rooted into ce, as they stared at the young man in front of the silver guqin with stunned looks.
Shun Long''s full attention however was on the Silverbark guqin, as his fingers pulled the second and the third string a moment after.
Ting~
Teng~
Those surrounding disciples felt their minds entering a trance, as they sat down cross-legged on the ground and closed their eyes without a second thought.
More than 10 of those disciples were now gathered around Shun Long''s group, and yet absolute silence had filled the area, as not even the sound of their breathing could be heard.
The only sounds that filled the air were the sounds of the heavenly notesing from the silver guqin as Shun Long''s fingers plucked its strings, as well as the sound of the bolts of lightning striking down from the sky every now and then, as they pierced through the half-destroyed ceiling of the King''s Pce.
Shun Long didn''t open his eyes, but he could feel that the violent death qi around Liu Mei had started to calm down ever so slightly.
Her creased eyebrows started to smoothen as the expression of pain that had covered her face a few moments ago had already started to vanish, before a brilliant smile appeared on Liu Mei''s face in the next moment.
By now, even Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, who were standing around Shun Long and Liu Mei had failed to notice that they had also fallen into a trance.
The effects of the guqin had involuntarily affected them as well, making them close their eyes and sit on the ground, as they listened to the heavenly music that entered their ears.
And yet, the sound of the silverbark guqin didn''t seem to stop, as Shun Long''s fingers kept plucking the guqin''s strings again and again.
It was only a full hourter that the sound of the guqin slowly died down, before Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
However, Liu Mei and the others were still sitting on the ground with their eyes closed, looking like they were still in a trance.
At that moment, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck who had also been relishing in the sound of the guqin suddenly snapped his bright azure eyes open, before he said in a serious voice a momentter
''''Master, be careful. That little girl''s Heavenly Tribtion ising!''''
The look on Shun Long''s face turned serious when he heard Little ck''s voice, as he turned his attention towards the sky above his head.
Among the pitch-ck thunderclouds that had filled the sky that surrounded the King''s Pce, a huge white cloud had also appeared, looking like a swan that was proudly standing inside a sea of crows.
The white cloud seemed small and harmless inparison to the countless ck thunderclouds around it, and yet the surrounding ck thunderclouds seemed to have consciously avoided it, almost as if they didn''t dare to sh with it directly.
The white cloud slowly expanded, covering an area of more than 300 meters above the King''s Pce.
400 meters... 500...600...
In the blink of an eye, the huge white cloud hadpletely pushed off the surrounding ck thunderclouds away, as it covered an area of more than 900 meters!
At this moment, Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, and the others, as well as the surrounding disciples that had also fallen into a trance previously, seemed to have all sensed something at the same time, as everyone opened their eyes and turned to look at the sky above the King''s Pce.
Seeing the gigantic white thundercloud that had appeared above their heads made the surrounding disciples all turn pale from fear!
''''Flee! The Heavenly Tribtion ising!''''
It was unknown who had shouted this, but the surrounding disciples all scattered as far away as they could in just a few seconds.
Those disciples had been so entranced by the sound of the guqin, that they had almost forgotten that the Heavenly Tribtion was about to descend.
However, they all knew that if they forcefully tried to stay in the radius of someone else''s Heavenly Tribtion, the heavens themselves would punish them without mercy, while there was even a chance that they would affect that person''s Heavenly Tribtion.
Shun Long heaved a sigh of relief when he saw everyone else clearing the area around Liu Mei, before he turned around to leave as well, along with Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen.
BOOOOM
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Barely a momentter, the seemingly peaceful white thundercloud started to rumble violently, as sparks of pure white-colored lightning had also started to appear around its surface.
-
Author''s note: Mass release in the next 24 hours.
Chapter 722 - 722 Liu Meis Heavenly Tribulation
Chapter 722 - 722 Liu Mei''s Heavenly Tribtion
BOOOOM
BOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The white thundercloud in the sky above the King''s Pce kept rumbling with even more intensity than before, as the sparks of white lightning around its surface started to coalesce together, as they slowly took the shape of an enormous bolt of lightning.
This lightning bolt however, waspletely different from the purple-colored lightning bolts that had filled the area around the King''s Pce. It was a lightning bolt made from pure white lightning!
The disciples around Liu Mei who raised their heads to look at the sky, all felt a sense of trepidation and awe as theyid their eyes on the massive white thundercloud above them.
This was Liu Mei''s Heavenly Tribtion!
Naturally, the more talented a person was, and the more powerful the Dao that that person hadprehended was, the more terrifying their Heavenly Tribtion would be!
A Heavenly Tribtion that spanned for more than 900 meters had already exceeded the ''normal radius'' that a person who hadprehended a supreme Dao would have to face.
At this point, Liu Mei could feel better than anyone else, how terrifying the pressure that was looming above her head really was!
She could feel that this white bolt of lightning was more than enough to exterminate her body and soul all at once!
Even though she had already resolved all the negative side effects from the ''Blood Absorption art'' inside her body a few moments ago, Liu Mei wasn''t feeling confident in the slightest in taking on this white bolt of lightning.
A few momentster, the white bolt of lightning seemed to have finished storing its power and had finally reached its peak, as it suddenly shot downwards, heading straight towards Liu Mei!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The sky itself shook as the gigantic pure white lightning bolt descended from the sky at a terrifying speed, as it headed straight towards Liu Mei''s head!
Shun Long and the rest could all feel their hearts clenching, but they could only observe the scene in front of them without interfering.
Helping someone else during their Heavenly Tribtion would not only mean risking your own life, but there was a chance that you could cause that person to die as a result as well!
Suppressing the fear in her heart, Liu Mei didn''t hesitate for even a single second, as she conjured a ball of death qi between her hands and allowed it to fall on the ground, before the enormous silhouette of a hideous beast that was more than 30 meters(100ft) tall appeared in front of her.
The Death Eater didn''t even have enough time to roar out in fury, before the gigantic, white-colored lightning boltnded on its back.
The white bolt of lightning effortlessly pierced through the Death Eater''s massive body, splitting it in half, as it continued to descend towards Liu Mei below it without any dy.
Although the lightning bolt seemed to have shrunk considerably as half of its power had been expended after dealing with the Death Eater, Liu Mei didn''t have any time to react before the rest of itnded on her head and entered her spiritual sea.
Liu Mei''s body shuddered violently, while solemn looks had appeared on Xingyi''s and the others'' faces when they saw this scene.
''''Is it over already? Did she really die? How useless...''''
''''What''s going on? I heard that those people who haveprehended supreme Daos have to face at least 3 lightning bolts during their Heavenly Tribtions. Don''t tell me that she actually died from just the first lightning bolt. What a joke!''''
''''You may not fare much better than that girl when it''s your turn to breakthrough either, so you should be a bit more humble. Unless you haveprehended a unique or a supreme Dao, you will have to face just a single lightning bolt, but are you that confident in surviving it?''''
As the disciples around Liu Mei started to chat among themselves, a sudden burst of killing intent erupted from a yellow-robed young man not too far away from them, making all the hair on their bodies stand on end.
Those disciples who were animatedly discussing Liu Mei''s death all turned their attention towards Shun Long, only to freeze on the spot when they saw the look of unrestrained killing intent in his eyes, as Shun Long barked out coldly
''''Shut your mouths!''''
The aura of a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator erupted from Shun Long''s body at the same time, while Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian immediately followed suit, as they furiously red at those people around them.
Of course, none of those disciples were actually afraid of Shun Long and his group, since everyone inside the King''s Pce was at least a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator if not even a Dao King, but after a moment of thinking, those disciples chose to remain silent.
Although they weren''t afraid, they didn''t have a reason to offend Shun Long''s group and sh with him either.
At the same time, it wasn''t surprising that Shun Long would be angry and would curse at those disciples. He already had a bellyful of anxiety in his heart after seeing Liu Mei''s body turning rigid after she was struck by the bolt of white lightning, and the insults of those disciples only served to make Shun Long''s fury re up even further.
If he wasn''t afraid that it would disrupt Liu Mei''s breakthrough, Shun Long would have already beaten those people to the ground.
Surprisingly, even though Liu Mei had yet to move after she had been struck by that bolt of white lightning, the white thundercloud in the sky didn''t disappear, and instead, it started to rumble violently once again, barely a momentter.
Sparks of white lightning started to crackle on the cloud''s surface once again, but this time, it wasn''t a single white-colored lightning bolt that seemed to be taking form, but 2 of them!
-
Author''s note: I still need a few more hours toplete the mass release, but I''m giving you guys the first chapter for now so you don''t have to wait for too long without any chapters.
Chapter 723 - 723 Liu Meis Heavenly Tribulation (2)
Chapter 723 - 723 Liu Mei''s Heavenly Tribtion (2)
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The 2 white bolts of lightning quickly took form, before they descended from the sky a momentter, as they both headed towards the immobilized Liu Mei!
Everyone''s face instantly changed when they saw this scene, but at that moment, Liu Mei''s body finally moved.
Her eyes quickly regained their rity as Liu Mei raised her head to look at the sky, before an army of 1000 jade-white skeletons and 60 undead knights emerged from the ck hole in front of her.
The jade-white skeletons whose eyes were glowing with the green wisps of ember raised their bony swords all at the same time, as they moved to block the second lightning bolt that was descending from the sky.
The 60 undead knights followed suit as well, as they drew their greatswords and threw themselves towards the same lightning bolt that the skeletons were about to face.
At the same time the Death Eater whose body had beenpletely destroyed previously seemed to have already regenerated itself, as it opened its hideous mouth and let out a terrifying roar before it jumped towards the third bolt of white lightning all by itself!
However, Liu Mei still knew that this wasn''t going to be enough.
Even with the protection of her entire undead army, Liu Mei understood that it was very likely that she would die today.
Gritting her teeth, a ck aura started to ooze out from her body as she used all of her qi to activate the second form of the Death''s Chant!
The ck aura instantly spread out from Liu Mei''s body, as it moved towards the Death Eater, as well as the undead knights and the army of 1000 skeletons, increasing their strength even further.
This was truly the strongest force that Liu Mei could presently muster!
The surrounding disciples all took a few steps back, as they stared at Liu Mei with looks of shock and disbelief on their faces.
They could all sense that the jade white skeletons had all reached the middle of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, while the undead knights and the Death Eater had reached the peak of rank 9!
Even an average rank 1 Dao King wouldn''t be able to face thebined might of this undead army and get out unscathed.
And yet, the moment that the jade white skeletons met the bolt of white lightning, the sound of the skeletons'' bones being crushed resounded in the air, before the white lightning kept descending towards Liu Mei without any signs of stopping.
The army of 1000 skeletons and the 60 undead knights that could shock even some rank 1 Dao Kings were akin to an army of ants in front of the Heavenly Tribtion, as the white bolt of lightning effortlessly tore through their ranks.
At the same time, the Death Eater opened its mouth and tried to swallow the bolt of the Heavenly Tribtion in front of it, but the white lightning bolt pierced through its defenses almost immediately, as it once again tore the Death Eater''s body into half before it arrived in front of Liu Mei.
The second and the third bolts of lightning pierced through Liu Mei''s head, as they entered her spiritual sea as well.
Seeing this scene, none of the surrounding disciples dared to speak or let out any insults this time, as they all stared at the peerlessly beautiful yellow-robed young woman inplete silence.
The strength that Liu Mei had showed just now had already surpassed the limits of what most peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators could reach, and had already reached the standard of a weak Dao King!
If she really ended up seeding in her breakthrough, those disciples all understood that she would most likely be an extremely powerful Dao King!
At that moment, the massive white thundercloud above the King''s Pce seemed to have used up all of its energy as it started to slowly disappear.
And yet, Liu Mei had yet to recover after she had been struck by the 2 bolts of lightning head-on. Instead, her aura had actully started to weaken at a rapid rate as her life force had begun to slip away from her body.
Shun Long knew that he could do nothing other than watch and wait.
Although the other outer court disciples of the Holy sect may not have any idea about how the Heavenly Tribtion really worked, Shun Long already knew the secrets behind it.
Shun Long knew that in reality, the Heavenly Tribtion wasn''t simply a punishment from the heavens, but it was also a bout of good fortune that was necessary if one wanted to breakthrough to the Dao King realm and above.
Every bolt of Heavenly Tribtion didn''t just have a pure destructive force inside it, but it also possessed a nourishing energy that helped to heal and strengthen a cultivator''s body and soul.
If one could endure the destructive force that came along with it, the nourishing energy from the Heavenly Tribtion would then enter the cultivator''s spiritual sea and assist them in their breakthrough.
Of course, whether a person could really endure this or not was an entirely different matter.
After all, it was simply impossible for someone topletely expel all the destructive energy inside the Heavenly Tribtion and only absorb the nourishing part inside it.
Even Liu Mei''s undead creatures had only managed to deal with half of the destructive energy inside the white lightning bolts, before the rest of it entered her spiritual sea.
A few momentster, Shun Long and the others could suddenly sense a change in Liu Mei''s aura.
Liu Mei''s soul that had been extremely weak and was on the verge of copse just now, suddenly started to strengthen itself at a terrifying rate, while the aura of death around Liu Mei''s body became even more powerful.
At this moment, Liu Mei''s cultivation that couldn''t progress any further previously seemed to have broken past the restraints of the Nascent Soul stage, finally entering the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm!
-
Author''s note: 2/5
Chapter 724 - 724 What Do You Want?
Chapter 724 - 724 What Do You Want?
''''She... seeded?'''' A young man dressed in red robes whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul couldn''t help but ask in surprise, as he stared at the peerless beauty who was sitting in the midst of the undead corpses.
The bones of the 1000 skeletons and the undead knights, as well as the Death Eater''s corpse, were all sprawled around Liu Mei as they covered her surroundings, while Liu Mei herself was still sitting in their midst with her eyes closed.
No signs of pain could be seen on her face any longer, while her aura was still rising at an rming rate.
With every passing moment, the surrounding disciples could all feel the aura of death around Liu Mei''s body bing even stronger. This was the qualitative change that cultivators would go through after reaching the Dao King realm!
A few momentster, Liu Mei''s cultivation and aura had both stabilized at the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm, as she finally opened her eyes.
Looking at the soul-stirring smile that appeared on Liu Mei''s face, Shun Long heaved out a sigh of relief, before his body vanished on the spot, appearing right next to her.
At the same time, smiles appeared on Bai Longtian''s and Xingyi''s faces as well, after seeing that Liu Mei had truly seeded in her breakthrough, while Jiang Chen nodded his head calmly.
''''Mei''er, how are you feeling?'''' Shun Long asked in a concerned tone.
Although he could see that Liu Mei was alright now, he had clearly sensed her soul weakening earlier, teetering on the verge of copse.
Shaking her head, Liu Mei took a step forward and hugged Shun Long affectionately before she answered
''''Long-ge, I am fine now. I simply didn''t expect the Heavenly Tribtion to be this terrifying. After the first bolt of lightning entered my spiritual sea, I could feel my spiritual space shaking and it almost copsed.
Thankfully, the energy inside the first lightning bolt healed my spiritual space and allowed me to wake up... but if my soul had been any weaker, I don''t think I would have survived.''''
Shun Long nodded his head with a grave expression on his face when he heard Liu Mei''s words, while serious looks appeared on Jiang Chen''s, Xingyi''s, and Bai Longtian''s eyes soon after.
Liu Mei''s spiritual strength had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage before her breakthrough, and she was even superior to most other cultivators at the same level.
Only monsters like Shun Long would be stronger than her in terms of the soul.
Even the peak rank 9 Nascent Soul beast tamer that Shun Long had faced during the Martial Roll of Honor tournament, Qiu Yun, wouldn''t be stronger than Liu Mei in terms of the strength and the purity of his soul either!
For Liu Mei to have nearly died during her breakthrough, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all understood that they probably wouldn''t fare much better than her either during their own breakthroughs.
Although Liu Mei was the only one among them who hadprehended a supreme Dao, making her Heavenly Tribtion extremely powerful, it was very likely that Xingyi who hadprehended a unique Dao and possessed a rare unique physique as well, wouldn''t have a much weaker Heavenly Tribtion either.
Naturally, the same went for Bai Longtian who hadprehended the Dao of Light and the Dao of the Buddha, 2 unique Daos, and was also born with a rare unique physique too.
As for Jiang Chen, not only had heprehended 2 unique Daos as well, the Demonic Dao and the Dao of Darkness, but he also possessed a unique physique and he was even born with an immortal-grade bloodline.
Most likely, Jiang Chen''s Heavenly Tribtion would be even stronger than Liu Mei''s!
However, everyone understood that the most terrifying Heavenly Tribtion was probably going to be Shun Long''s.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all turned their gazes towards Shun Long at the same time.
If it was purely in terms of talent, Jiang Chen and the rest were all certain, that Shun Long would be standing at the peak of the cultivation world, and very few people would be able topare with him in this regard.
Although Shun Long wasn''t born with a unique physique, Jiang Chen and the rest all knew that the body refinement cultivation technique that he was training in, had made Shun Long''s body even more terrifying than other unique physiques.
Even Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian didn''t want to spar with Shun Long since they couldn''t break past the defenses of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' and injure him.
Adding in the fact that Shun Long hadprehended 2 supreme Daos and even had an immortal-grade bloodline as well, it was unknown how many people would be able to be mentioned in the same breath as him even throughout the entire central region.
Although Jiang Chen and the others didn''t know how talented the strongest geniuses of the central region really were, they guessed that those who would be able topete with Shun Long would most likely be counted on the fingers of one hand.
However, one thing was for certain. Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion would really shake the King''s Pce!
A momentter, Shun Long suddenly turned his gaze towards 2 young men who were stealthily leaving the area while Liu Mei was talking to him, before a cold look shed in his eyes.
Under Liu Mei''s astounded eyes, his body instantly disappeared, appearing right in front of the long-haired young man and the stout, bald man who were about to leave.
The bald man and the long-haired young man were both surprised by Shun Long''s sudden action, but they reacted extremely quickly as they took a few steps back, opening up the distance between themselves and Shun Long, before the long-haired young man asked coldly
''''What do you want?''''
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Author''s note: 3/5
Chapter 725 - 725 Pushing Things Too Far
Chapter 725 - 725 Pushing Things Too Far
Although Liu Mei didn''t recognize the 2 men in front of Shun Long, she still noticed the cold looks inside Xingyi''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s eyes as they stared at them.
How could they not be angry?
After all, those 2 were the same people who had mocked and insulted Liu Mei earlier when she was on the verge of dying to the Heavenly Tribtion.
Although Shun Long didn''t dare to fight with them previously since he had been afraid that he would disrupt Liu Mei''s breakthrough, he didn''t have those concerns any longer.
Staring at the long-haired young man in front of him who seemed to be putting up a brave front, Shun Long simply snorted without concealing the look of killing intent in his eyes.
Even though the Grand Elder had advised the disciples of the Holy sect to avoid looking for trouble inside the King''s Pce, there was no way that Shun Long was going to let those 2 go like that.
Since they had dared to mock and insult Liu Mei in front of him, they had to pay the price, regardless of which power they came from.
The long-haired young man and the bald stout man both shivered when they sensed the unrestrained killing intenting from Shun Long''s body.
They both understood that this matter was going to be troublesome.
In reality, the 2 of them weren''t afraid of Shun Long in the slightest since they could sense that he was nothing more than a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator, just like them.
Even if Shun Long joined hands with Jiang Chen and the rest, in the long-haired young man''s eyes, he and the bald man would still be able to escape quite easily, even if they were surrounded by 4 peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
However, Liu Mei''s strength was apletely different story.
Not only had she broken through to the Dao King realm already, but she had alsoprehended a supreme Dao as well.
Although she had broken through just now and could only be categorized among the weakest Dao Kings, the bald man and the long-haired young man didn''t have any confidence escaping from a Dao King who hadprehended a supreme Dao!
Cultivators who hadprehended supreme Daos were simply monsters in human skin!
If the 2 of them really kept trying to escape, it was very likely that neither of them would seed.
Besides, running recklessly inside the King''s Pce would only lead to a single oue... death.
Even an expert at the Sovereign realm wouldn''t dare to run around the King''s Pce recklessly, let alone 2 peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Realizing that their situation was turning bad, the bald man gritted his teeth and took a step forward, standing next to the long-haired young man, before he stared at Shun Long and said coldly
''''Brat, you want to kill us over just a few words? Do you know which power Ie from? You should let bygones be bygones and forget about today. Naturally, I am willing topensate you so you better not push things too far!''''
The bald man was about to take some spirit stones out from his spatial ring and hand them over to Shun Long, certain that Shun Long wouldn''t push the issue too far after that, but it was at this moment that Shun Long''s body suddenly blurred, appearing right in front of him in a single instant.
The bald man didn''t even have enough time to react, as he barely managed to see the faint outline of a fist hitting him in the stomach, before his body was sent flying backwards like a meteor.
Under the long-haired young man''s and the surrounding disciples'' disbelieving eyes, the fat man''s body copsed on the ground a momentter, as he immediately lost consciousness.
Silence instantly filled the area around Shun Long, as the surrounding disciples all stared at the short-haired yellow-robed young man in front of them with incredulous looks.
Even the 2 peak Dao Kings who were spectating the fight out of boredom were now staring at Shun Long seriously with solemn looks in their eyes.
He had only thrown a single punch to defeat someone else at the same level of cultivation.
However, the most shocked out of everyone was the long-haired young man next to Shun Long, who took a few steps back in fear.
He knew that the bald man next to him hadprehended 2mon Daos and was both a body, and a qi refinement cultivator, while the long-haired young man himself was a qi refinement cultivator who hadprehended a rare Dao instead.
In terms of strength, the long-haired young man knew that he was only slightly stronger than the bald man and could definitely not defeat him so easily!
Since Shun Long could defeat the bald man so easily, it was likely that he could do the same to him.
Shaking his head, Shun Long didn''t seem to have the slightest bit of mercy in his eyes as he looked at the long-haired young man in front of him and said in a cold voice
''''Don''t worry, I won''t kill you. But whether you survive or not will be up to you.''''
Seeing the long-haired young man''s movements and realizing that he was about to turn around and flee, Shun Long''s body blinked for the second time, appearing right next to him, before he clenched his fist, sending a full-powered punch towards the man''s ribs.
Now that Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' had reached the peak of the fifth stage, his punch wasn''t something that a peak Nascent Soul stage cultivator who wasn''t a body refiner could withstand.
Crack!
Crackk!!
Crackkk!!!
The sound of bones being crushed were heard in the next moment, before the long-haired young man''s body was sent flying for more than 100 meters, as it smashed on the walls of the King''s Pce.
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Author''s note: I see that there has been some confusion regarding the mass release so let me exin one thing. The mass release happened the day when the chapters were originally posted.. I didn''t bother deleting the author''s notes but it seems that it has caused some confusion so I have to rify things.
Chapter 726 - 726 Half A Year
Chapter 726 - 726 Half A Year
Shun Long didn''t have the slightest bit of shame on his face as he removed the 2 men''s spatial rings and stored them inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Since he had decided to beat those guys, he wouldn''t hesitate to take their spatial rings.
After throwing a look at the surrounding disciples who shot him weird looks, Shun Long simply shook his head and ignored them before he flew back to Liu Mei and the rest.
Of course, in Shun Long''s eyes, today''s result was only natural.
After reaching the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, Shun Long was confident in battling even early-stage Dao Kings. As for the long-haired young man and the bald man, if they hadn''t decided to court death, he wouldn''t have even bothered with them in the first ce.
Seeing that Shun Long didn''t have any ns to stay in this ce any longer and was now heading deeper inside the King''s pce with Liu Mei and the rest, the surrounding disciples decided to split up as well.
...
An hourter, Shun Long''s group eventually came to a halt, as Liu Mei looked at Shun Long and the others and said in a low voice
''''Long-ge, I won''t go any further than this.''''
Shun Long was slightly surprised when he heard this, but a momentter, he actually nodded his head in agreement as he said
''''Alright.''''
Indeed, Liu Mei had no reason to go deeper inside the King''s Pce right now.
She had justpleted her breakthrough and had yet to truly stabilize her cultivation base and familiarize herself with the changes that she had experienced after reaching Dao King realm.
After all, Dao King realm experts were in an entirely different levelpared to Nascent Soul cultivators.
Thus, staying here, in the outskirts of the outer region of the King''s Pce where the pressure of the Daos wasn''t that strong and the purple lightning bolts weren''t that frequent, was actually the best choice for Liu Mei.
Since practically all of the Dao King realm cultivators had gone deeper inside the King''s Pce and had already entered the inner region, there was nothing that could threaten Liu Mei in this ce other than the purple lightning bolts that would asionally descend from the sky.
''''Mei, you should still be careful!'''' Xingyi said in a slightly worried voice as she looked at Liu Mei. Regardless of how ''safe'' the outskirts of the King''s Pce seemed to be, in reality, the King''s Pce was still an extremely dangerous ce.
Liu Mei nodded her head before she conjured a ball of death qi between her hands and allowed it to fall on the ground barely a momentter.
The tall figures of 8 undead knights dressed in ck armor all appeared from the ck hole, as they stood in front of Liu Mei and the others.
The 8 undead knights looked exactly the same as they were in the past, but the only difference was, that their aura had already reached the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm, the same as Liu Mei!
Since Shun Long and the others were most likely going to split as well, Liu Mei had decided to let 2 of her undead knights apany them and protect them in case they needed it.
Naturally, Shun Long had no reason to refuse since the undead knights would indeede in handy as they entered deeper inside the pce.
Besides, Shun Long suspected that after breaking through to the Dao King realm, Liu Mei would obtain another trump card aside from the Death Eater, so losing 8 undead knights temporarily wouldn''t make much of a difference to her.
...
In the blink of an eye, half a year had already passed since the opening of the King''s Pce.
In the outskirts of the inner region of the pce, Shun Long watched Jiang Chen as he sat cross-legged on the ground, while the sky above him rumbled violently as a white-colored thundercloud that covered an area of more than 1000 meters had appeared above the King''s Pce.
Xingyi and Bai Longtian hadpleted their breakthroughs to the Dao King realm a month ago and 2 months ago respectively, while Jiang Chen and Shun Long were the only ones who had yet to breakthrough.
And today, Jiang Chen felt that he could finally reach the Dao King realm as well!
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Jiang Chen had already stimted the bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness inside his body, as 2 pitch-ck wings that resembled the wings of a ck crow had sprouted from his back.
However, this wasn''t the end of it, as Jiang Chen stared at the white thundercloud above his head with a grim look on his face, before he also used the power of his Eternal Darkness unique physique a momentter, as a dense ck aurapletely covered his body along with the rest of his surroundings.
Jiang Chen could see that the white thundercloud in the sky was slightly bigger than Liu Mei''s Heavenly Tribtion as well, which made him go all-out to face it.
Shun Long nodded his head when he saw this, but there was still a serious look in his eyes.
In the past 2 months, he and Jiang Chen had both witnessed Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s Heavenly Tribtions as well.
Their level of difficulty was roughly on par with Liu Mei''s Heavenly Tribtion, as each of them had to face 3 bolts of white lightning.
The only difference was that Xingyi''s bolts of lightning descended one after the other, in a rtively orderly manner, while Bai Longtian''s Heavenly Tribtion was almost identical to Liu Mei''s, as the second and the third bolts of lightning descended simultaneously.
Although Jiang Chen was confident in his ability to survive it, he had to admit that the Heavenly Tribtion was truly terrifying.
The sky rumbled for a few moments, but before Jiang Chen or the surrounding disciples could react, 3 enormous bolts of white lightning simultaneously descended from the sky, as they effortlessly destroyed Jiang Chen''s Kingdom of Darkness and headed for his head.
-
Author''s note: 5/5
Chapter 727 - 727 The Last One
Chapter 727 - 727 The Last One
Shun Long watched with a solemn look in his eyes, as the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion that were as thick as an adult''s man''s waist easily broke past the defenses of Jiang Chen''s Kingdom of Darkness and headed for his head.
Jiang Chen''s eyes had turned a bright crimson color as he let out an angry roar, before his cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards in the next moment.
Jiang Chen didn''t wait for the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion to hit him, as he decided to make the first move.
Taking out his golden saber from his spatial ring he raised it above his head, before the pitch-ck wings on his back pped once as he shot straight towards the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion.
At the same time, the remaining energy from the ''Kingdom of Darkness'' around him coalesced together, forming an enormous, almost corporeal ck hand, that shot towards the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion as well.
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
Even though this took time to describe, it had actually happened in the blink of an eye, as the 3 bolts of pure white lightning appeared in front of Jiang Chen.
The enormous ck fist that was created from Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' only managed tost for a single moment in front of the bombardment of the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion, before it disintegrated into nothingness soon after.
Infusing all of his qi inside the golden saber in his hands, Jiang Chen shed it forward as he roared loudly
''''Earth splitter!''''
An earth-colored sh emerged from the surface of the golden saber in the next moment, as it collided with the 3 white-colored lightning bolts head-on.
This was theplete Saint middle-grade martial skill that Jiang Chen had picked from the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, the ''Earth splitter''!
Normally, disciples who entered the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor would be allowed to choose aplete Saint low-grade cultivation technique or martial skill for themselves, but Jiang Chen''s master had allowed him to choose aplete Saint middle-grade martial skill instead.
The ''Earth splitter'' was one of the strongest Saint middle-grade martial skills on the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, and although Jiang Chen''s attack was still just the second form of this martial skill, its power was nothing to scoff at!
Jiang Chen''s present state was truly his strongest state.
Having activated his bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' inside his body as well as his Eternal Darkness unique physique, along with the ''Earth splitter'' and his golden saber that was already a 1-star weapon, even peak rank 1 Dao Kings would hesitate to take this attack from Jiang Chen head-on.
''Pfffttt!''
The scene that followed howeverpletely stunned Shun Long who was watching from the side, as well as the surrounding disciples who had gathered in the distance.
The earth-colored sh from the ''Earth splitter'' was destroyed in an instant, as the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtionnded on Jiang Chen''s golden saber and entered his spiritual sea soon after.
Jiang Chen spat out a mouthful of blood as his body shot downwards at a terrifying speed, creating a human-shaped hole on the ground below him.
A few momentster, an extremely pale Jiang Chen opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings, while the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion above his head started to vanish, allowing Jiang Chen to heave out a sigh of relief.
''''Who is this guy? He had to face 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion all at the same time, just to breakthrough to the Dao King realm? Even geniuses who haveprehended a supreme Daos don''t have such a terrifying Heavenly Tribtion...''''
''''Right! Even youngdy Niu may not have to face a more difficult Heavenly Tribtion than this!''''
''''Hey, do you even know who youngdy Niu is? How dare you talk about her like that?''''
Shun Longpletely ignored the discussions of the surrounding disciples, as he flew straight towards Jiang Chen.
He could sense that although Jiang Chen had sessfully managed to breakthrough to the Dao King realm, his spiritual sea was shaken heavily after taking on 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion head-on!
Of course, this was only natural.
Among Nascent Soul stage cultivators, Jiang Chen''s Heavenly Tribtion was definitely ranked among the most difficult ones.
Normally, even geniuses who hadprehended a supreme Dao wouldn''t have to face 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion simultaneously, and would usually face them one after the other.
As for Liu Mei''s Heavenly Tribtion, that was already an exception.
Although Liu Mei hadprehended a supreme Dao as well, she still had to face the second and the third bolts of Heavenly Tribtion at the same time.
Shun Long guessed that the reason behind that was the ''Blood Absorption art'' that she was training in.
As for Xingyi and Bai Longtian, their tribtions were most likely increased in difficulty as well because of the cultivation techniques that they were training in.
Since those cultivation techniques came from the ''Immortal Dimension'' and increased their potential and theirbat strength even further, the Heavenly Tribtions that they would have to face would naturally be iparable to other cultivators at the same level!
At that moment, Jiang Chen opened his eyes and looked at Shun Long who was flying towards him, before he waved his hand and took out a bottle of pills from his spatial ring.
This was a top-grade rank 5 pill that Shun Long had refined in bulk for everyone a few months before they left for the King''s Pce, the ''Soul mending pill''.
Although ''Soul mending pills'' were considered to be rtivelymon alchemy pills that couldn''t be used to increase the spiritual strength or the purity of a person''s soul, they were still extremely sought after since they were perfect to heal the injuries in one''s soul as well as the spiritual sea.
The price of a single top-grade ''Soul mending pill'' could easily reach the 100.000 middle-grade spirit stones mark inside the Holy city!
A few moments after consuming a couple of ''Soul mending pills'', Jiang Chen opened his eyes and looked at Shun Long, before he said in a reassuring tone
''''I am fine.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long patted Jiang Chen''s shoulder without speaking, as he turned his gaze towards the depths of the King''s Pce.
By now, he was the only one who had yet to breakthrough to the Dao King realm, but he could clearly feel that the pressure in the outskirts of the inner region of the King''s Pce wasn''t enough to stimte his potential and allow him to breakthrough.
''''It seems that I have to head even deeper inside.''''
Chapter 728 - 728
Chapter 728 - 728
As if guessing what Shun Long was thinking, Jiang Chen stood up and looked at him seriously, before he said in a solemn tone
''''Brother, be careful this time.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at Jiang Chen, while the look in his eyes had also turned serious.
Naturally, Shun Long understood why Jiang Chen was so worried, since he had nearly died from his own Heavenly Tribtion as well, and Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion was bound to be even more terrifying that his.
In reality, even Shun Long couldn''t guess what his Heavenly Tribtion was going to be like after witnessing Jiang Chen''s and the rest''s.
Shaking his head, a resolute look appeared in his eyes soon after, as Shun Long took a step forward and walked deeper inside the King''s Pce.
Regardless of how dangerous the Heavenly Tribtion was going to be, it was still something that he would have to face in the end, and nobody could truly avoid it.
Since that was the case, the only thing that Shun Long could do, was to really go all-out this time.
The 2 undead knights that Liu Mei had sent to follow Shun Long were still walking behind him as they vigntly stared at their surroundings.
The 2 undead creatures looked even more alert and perceptive than they were in the past, when Liu Mei was still at the Nascent Soul stage.
After breaking through to the Dao King realm, the undead knights gave Shun Long the feeling that they were actual living beings, while the wisps of red ember inside their eye sockets flickered brightly, giving one the sensation that they were real eyes instead.
At the same time, the deeper he walked towards the inner region of the King''s Pce, Shun Long could sense the pressure of the Daos around him bing even heavier and more solid than before.
At this point, he had yet to see another Nascent Soul stage cultivator so deep in the inner region, while the only disciples he encountered were actually peak Dao Kings.
Of course, Shun Long entering so deep in the inner region of the King''s Pce naturally attracted the attention of those Dao Kings, but after a few moments of observing him, those people soon closed their eyes and focused on gaining their own insights as well.
In reality, Nascent Soul stage cultivators would very rarely step foot into the inner region of the King''s Pce, and most of them would only walk around the very outskirts and wouldn''t go too deep inside, which was why Shun Long''s presence here had attracted so much attention.
After all, the pressure of the Daos in this ce made it nearly impossible for normal Nascent Soul stage cultivators to even stand in this ce, and yet those Dao King realm cultivators could all see, that Shun Long looked barely affected by it as he kept advancing even deeper inside.
Half a dayter, Shun Long''s footsteps suddenly came to a halt as he noticed a big crowd gathered in the distance ahead of him.
The leader of this crowd was a young woman who was dressed in white robes, whose cultivation was surprisingly at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, just like Shun Long''s, while next to this young woman was a red-robed middle-aged man, as well as a few peak rank 9 Dao Kings who were following after her.
The young woman was struggling to keep going, her body was even trembling slightly as she endured the pressure of the Daos, but what attracted Shun Long''s attention was actually the aura of the red-robed middle-aged man by her side.
This man''s aura was clearly many times stronger than the Grand Elder''s own aura, and was actually on par with the purple-robed old man who was guarding Bai Liuxian when she visited the Holy sect!
Just as Shun Long was about to ignore the group in front of him and keep advancing deeper inside the King''s Pce, a familiar rumbling sound came from the sky above him, as it immediately attracted his attention.
As he gazed past the broken ceiling that had been riddled with holes from the purple bolts of lightning after the passage of countless years, Shun Long could see an enormous white cloud slowly that was pushing the surrounding ck thunderclouds away.
The cloud of Heavenly Tribtion that was just as big as Jiang Chen''s Heavenly Tribtion, covering a radius of more than 1000 meters up in the sky, quickly attracted everyone''s attention, as the gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings quickly fell on the white-robed young woman who had now closed her eyes and was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
''''It''s youngdy Niu! Youngdy Niu is breaking through to the Dao King realm! Look at how big her Heavenly Tribtion is!''''
''''Is this really the Heavenly Tribtion of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator? Can youngdy Niu even survive this?''''
''''Fool! Close your mouth! If senior Feng hears you, you are dead meat!''''
The man who had just been berated suddenly felt a shiver in his spine as he hurriedly closed his mouth and turned his attention towards the red-robed, red-haired Sovereign realm expert in the distance.
Thankfully, the red-robed middle-aged man didn''t seem to have heard him, as he kept staring at the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion in the sky above the white-robed young woman with a solemn look in his eyes.
Sparks of white lightning had started to crackle around the white-colored thundercloud, before 3 enormous lightning bolts were slowly formed around its surface.
At the same time, a golden bell that was more than 10 meters long and 4 meters wide appeared in the sky above the white-robed ''youngdy Niu'', before itpletely covered her body, seemingly intending to protect her from the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion.
The Dao Kings around youngdy Niu barely had enough time to get away from her, afraid that they would be affected by her tribtion, before 3 gigantic pure-white lightning bolts descended from the sky, as they allnded on the golden bell above her head.
The golden bell trembled and barely managed tost for a single second before it disappeared, as the 3 lightning bolts pierced through ''youngdy Niu''s'' head.
The red-robed middle-aged man and the surrounding Dao Kings all stared with bated breaths, anxious to see whether youngdy Niu had managed to survive her tribtion or not.
And yet, nobody seemed to have noticed that Shun Long had closed his eyes at that moment, as he suddenly took a step forward and walked deeper inside the King''s Pce.
Chapter 729 - 729
Chapter 729 - 729
''''Aaaaahhhhh!!''''
A miserable cry that was filled with indescribable horror and pain left youngdy Niu''s mouth a momentter, before her body turned limp.
''''Youngdy!'''' The red-robed, red-haired middle-aged man shouted in concern, as his body disappeared on the spot, appearing right next to the white-robed young woman almost immediately.
At the same time, the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion above her head seemed to have disappeared after firing off the 3 bolts of white lightning, leaving behind an extremely stifling atmosphere.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, one of the surrounding peak Dao Kings couldn''t help eximing in a low voice
''''Don''t tell me that youngdy Niu really died...''''
''''I hope not. Youngdy Niu''s master is ''old freak Gao'', one of the top masters in the central region who is just a step away from ascending and bing a true immortal! If she really died, I can''t even imagine how angry her master will be.? I heard that ''old freak Gao'' dotes on youngdy Niu so much, that he even ordered senior Feng to follow after her and keep her safe, so you can guess how important he considers youngdy Niu to be.''''
''''I know about this matter as well. It''s because youngdy Niu hasprehended a supreme Dao along with a unique Dao, that ''old freak Gao'' looks at her so favorably. There is even a chance that ''youngdy Niu'' can surpass her master in the future and possibly be a true immortal!''''
''''But look at the expression on senior Feng''s face! Things don''t look too good right now.''''
Indeed, the look on the red-haired Sovereign realm expert''s face was extremely ugly to behold.
Senior Feng could feel the life force inside youngdy Niu''s body seeping away uncontrobly, while her face had also turned pale, without a single hint of blood inside it.
In the midst of this deathly silence, the sound of footsteps could suddenly be heard from the distance behind him, causing the red-haired middle-aged man to frown.
As he turned his head around, senior Feng noticed a yellow-robed, short-haired young man walking towards his direction with his eyes closed.
''''Eh? Who is this kid? A peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator can actually make it here?'''' A surprised look shed inside senior Feng''s eyes as he stared at Shun Long, who didn''t seem to be obstructed by the pressure of the surrounding Daos in the least as he walked inside this inner region of the King''s Pce.
It wasn''t just senior Feng who was surprised upon seeing this scene.
The surrounding Dao Kings who were waiting to see whether youngdy Niu had survived or not were also stunned when they noticed that another Nascent Soul stage cultivator had actually made it in this ce.
Even someone like youngdy Niu who hadprehended a supreme Dao as her foundational Dao for her qi cultivation, along with a unique Dao for her body refinement cultivation, had only managed to make it this far inside the King''s Pce, and was clearly struggling with each step she took, and yet someone else at the same cultivation level could walk around this cepletely unhindered?
For a moment, everyone seemed to have forgotten about youngdy Niu who was on the verge of death, as they stared at the ck-haired young man in yellow robes who was walking towards the depths of the King''s Pce with a frown on his face.
Shun Long waspletely unaware of the attention he had attracted as he walked past senior Feng and youngdy Niu, as well as the group of Dao Kings that had surrounded them, and headed even deeper inside the King''s Pce.
Everyone was extremely curious about Shun Long''s identity since they hadn''t heard of any other disciple who was at the same level as youngdy Niu entering the King''s Pce this time around.
Even if such a person had entered, the Northern Sovereign should have been aware of it, and she would have definitely informed bigshots like ''senior Feng'' as well as the representatives of the big sects.
''''Could it be that the Nothern Sovereign intentionally hid this information from me?''''
For a moment, senior Feng wanted to follow after Shun Long and see how far he could go, while he also wanted to find out more about Shun Long''s background, but it was at that moment that a series of violent coughings attracted his attention.
Youngdy Niu''s lips were tainted with a crimson color as she coughed blood without stop, before she finally opened her eyes a few momentster.
''''Youngdy, how do you feel?''''
Senior Feng asked in a relieved tone when he saw that youngdy Niu had opened her eyes, before he took out a crimson-colored pill from his spatial ring and fed it to the white-robed young woman.
Regardless of how injured she was, as long as she wasn''t dead and could still regain consciousness, it meant that youngdy Niu had managed to survive the Heavenly Tribtion andplete her breakthrough.
It was unknown what kind of pill the red-haired Sovereign realm expert had fed her, but a few moments after consuming the pill, the beautiful white-robed young woman had regained enough strength to move her body by herself, as she struggled to sit cross-legged on the ground.
A few momentster, after she managed to stabilize her breathing, youngdy Niu turned to look at the sky above her and said in a relieved yet still fearful tone
''''I didn''t expect the Heavenly Tribtion to be this terrifying! Even after using a Saint high-grade martial skill, I still nearly died from it..''''
Senior Feng nodded his head calmly without speaking.
Indeed, youngdy Niu had been extremely lucky to survive her Heavenly Tribtion.
In reality, youngdy Niu hade even closer to dyingpared to Jiang Chen when he had faced his Heavenly Tribtion half a day ago.
Of course, the reason behind that was the difference in their defensive abilities.
Although youngdy Niu''s ''Golden Bell'' came from a Saint high-grade defensive martial skill, the bell''s defensive abilities were far inferior to Jiang Chen''s when he activated his bloodline of the Demonic Crow of Darkness.
After all, the Demonic Crow of Darkness was a Mythic-rank magic beast from the Immortal Dimension, and was even considered to be one of the stronger ones.
It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that after using his immortal-grade bloodline, Jiang Chen could probably shatter youngdy Niu''s ''Golden Bell'' with just a couple of punches.
This was why even though the 2 of them had practically faced an almost identical Heavenly Tribtion, youngdy Niu had ended up in a much worse situationpared to Jiang Chen.
Seeing that youngdy Niu seemed to have recovered somewhat, senior Feng took a deep breath, before he said in a solemn tone
''''Youngdy, there is something that you need to know. Just now, when you were undergoing your Heavenly Tribtion.... a young man at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage passed by, and headed towards the depths of the King''s Pce!''''
Chapter 730 - 730 Silver Door
Chapter 730 - 730 Silver Door
''''What did you say?'''' Youngdy Niu looked at the red-robed Sovereign realm expert next to her with a look of disbelief stered on her face as she asked in an incredulous voice.
How could someone else other than her still in the Nascent Soul stage possibly make it this far inside the King''s Pce? After all, this ce was already considered to be almost halfway inside the inner region of the pce, and only Dao Kings should be able to reach it.
Even a genius who hadprehended a supreme Dao would struggle to make it here without being crushed by the natural pressure of the Daos around them, and yet from the red-haired middle-aged man''s tone, youngdy Niu understood that that person most likely wasn''t having too much trouble heading even deeper inside the King''s Pce.
''''Uncle Feng, did you recognize that person?'''' After a moment of hesitation youngdy Niu couldn''t help asking the red-haired middle-aged man next to her.
Shaking his head, the red-haired Sovereign realm expert answered solemnly without any hesitation in his voice
''''Unfortunately, I couldn''t recognize him, youngdy. I am certain that I have never met that person before, or there is no way I would simply forget about him.
Naturally, I wanted to ask him about his identity earlier, but since that person seemed to be in a trance and wasprehending the Daos as well, I didn''t want to risk offending him by interrupting him and breaking his concentration.
However, I am nning to go to the core region and ask the Northern Sovereign herself about this matter.? Considering the youngdy''s status, even if the Northern Sovereign is unwilling, she should still be forced to reveal a few things about that person.''''
Youngdy Niu nodded her head as she turned her gaze towards the depths of the King''s Pce as well.
For such a genius to have appeared in the King''s Pce along with her, it was only natural that it would attract her attention.
Although she was slightly surprised that the Northern Sovereign hadn''t mentioned that such a person had also entered the King''s Pce along with them, youngdy Niu understood that a person with such strength in the Nascent Soul stage couldn''t be a nobody and was most likely already famous in the central part of the central region as well.
Youngdy Niu even believed that this person''s status in the central region was on par, or perhaps it even slightly exceeded even her own, which was why the Northern Sovereign had chosen to remain silent and not reveal anything.
Even though youngdy Niu was the personal disciple of ''old freak Gao'' and whether it was in terms of talent or status, she was considered to be extremely talented, in her heart she knew clearly that there were some geniuses in the central part of the central region whose talent and status far surpassed even her own.
Those people were mostly the heirs or the personal disciples of the strongest experts of the central region, and even youngdy Niu had to admit that she looked up to them.
After a moment of deliberation, youngdy Niu looked at ''senior Feng'' and said seriously
''''Uncle Feng, there is no reason to try and probe too deeply about this matter. It''s enough to find out that person''s name, or at least which power he belongs to. However, if the Northern Sovereign is unwilling to reveal too much, then uncle Feng shouldn''t push it either.
I suspect that the reason why the Northern Sovereign didn''t say anything in the first ce was because that person told her to keep his identity a secret. If that''s the case, we don''t need to look too deeply into this matter.
...But of course, if the Northern Sovereign is willing to introduce us to that person, then naturally, we won''t mistreat her.''''
The red-haired Sovereign realm expert''s eyes lit up when he heard this, as he nodded his head in understanding.
He understood that youngdy Niu wanted to acquaint herself with that person, and the best person to help her would clearly be the Northern Sovereign.
Nodding his head, senior Feng''s figure disappeared, as he headed towards the location where the Northern Sovereign and the others would be, the core region of the King''s Pce.
At the same time, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the attention he had attracted, as he kept walking towards the depths of the King''s pce all by himself.
His footsteps were calm and steady as he kept walking even further inside the inner region of the pce, his presence naturally attracting the attention of some of the nearby Dao Kings.
However, those Dao Kings only threw a few more nces at Shun Long before they once again closed their eyes, as they continued toprehend their Daos.
Although Shun Long''s presence in this ce had surprised them, those Dao Kings didn''t have too much time to think about this since they had to focus on their own breakthroughs instead.
After all, there was less than half a year left until the King''s Pce closed again.
At the same time, the deeper inside the pce Shun Long walked, the more frequent the purple lightning bolts around him seemed to be.
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck had already spread his soul sense around Shun Long''s body,pletely covering an area of 300 meters around him.
If one of the purple lightning bolts truly threatened Shun Long''s life, Little ck was ready to jump out from the ''Stone of Time'' and save him, even if it meant attracting the attention of the nearby Dao Kings and even the Dao Emperors and the Sovereign realm experts inside the King''s Pce.
...
3 dayster, Shun Long''s speed had yet to slow down, as he arrived in front of a gigantic, half-broken, silver door.
This door that was more than 10 meters(33ft) tall had clearly endured the strikes from the purple bolts of lightning for countless years and was already on the verge of copse, but somehow a portion of it was still standing.
Anyone whoid their eyes on this door would instinctively understand, that behind this door was the core region of the King''s Pce.
And yet Shun Long''s footsteps didn''t pause for a single moment, almost as if he didn''t know that the silver door even existed in the first ce, as he walked past it and stepped into the core region of the King''s Pce!
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 731 - 731 Golden Skeleton
Chapter 731 - 731 Golden Skeleton
A vast, majestic hall was situated behind the silver door, while the scene inside it would surely shock any Dao King whoid their eyes on it.
Inside this core region of the King''s Pce, the Northern Sovereign, the Grand Elder of the Holy sect, and a dozen other high-level experts were all gathered together, as they surrounded arge bronze throne that was ced in the depths of this hall.
Surprisingly, the figure of a golden skeleton could be seen sitting on this bronze throne, emitting a terrifying pressure that forcibly kept everyone else away.
Even the Northern Sovereign and the other high-level experts were unable to step any closer to the golden skeleton.
At the same time, bolts of purple lightning continuously descended from the sky, as they bombarded the golden skeleton on top of the bronze throne without stop.
It was almost as if the figure of the golden skeleton was the true target that the purple-colored lightning bolts had been trying to destroy from the very beginning.
And yet, it didn''t matter how many bolts of lightningnded on the bronze throne, the figure of the golden skeleton seemed to bepletely unaffected by them!
At the same time, as soon as he stepped foot into the core region of the King''s Pce, Shun Long suddenly felt a powerful, irresistible pressure boring down on his body, almost breaking his concentration and nearly forcing him out of his trance.
However, although this pressure was strong, it was still within the limits of what Shun Long''s body could endure.
''''Eh? Who is there?'''' An old man dressed in purple robes let out a surprised cry the moment he sensed someone else entering the core region, his voice immediately attracting the attention of the nearby experts around him as well.
The Northern Sovereign, the red-haired Sovereign realm expert that was previously guarding youngdy Niu, senior Feng, the Grand Elder of the Holy sect, and the other high-level experts, all turned to look at the person who had suddenly appeared in this ce, before looks of disbelief colored their faces shortly after.
''''What? A Nascent Soul stage brat has made it here? How is this possible?'''' A middle-aged woman dressed in green robes eximed out in shock as she stared at Shun Long who was calmly walking towards their direction with his eyes still closed.
''''How could it be him?'''' The same thought had appeared inside the Northern Sovereign''s, senior Feng''s, and the Grand Elder''s minds all at the same time as they stared at Shun Long''s figure.
3 days ago, senior Feng had personallye here to ask the Northern Sovereign about Shun Long''s identity, but the Northern Sovereign had said that she had no idea what he was talking about, displeasing senior Feng who believed that the Northern Sovereign wasn''t willing to give him an honest answer.
After pressuring the Northern Sovereign for 3 full days only to receive no answer, despite being angry, senior Feng had decided to give up and return to the inner region to protect youngdy Niu.
As for finding out more about this matter, he couldn''t do anything if the Northern Sovereign refused to cooperate.
Besides, the Northern Sovereign was indeed much stronger than him, so the red-haired Sovereign realm expert couldn''t possibly bully her with his strength even if he wanted to.
After all, the Northern Sovereign was indeed an expert who stood at the peak of the Sovereign realm.
How could senior Feng have guessed that just as he was about to leave, Shun Long would appear in this ce and he would even manage to step foot inside the core region of the King''s Pce?
Even among the geniuses of the central region, as far as senior Feng knew, such a feat was unprecedented. Even peak Dao Kings couldn''t enter the core region of the King''s Pce, let alone Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
At that moment, senior Feng turned his head to stare at the Northern Sovereign next to him with a cold look, only to see the same bewildered look appear on her face.
''''Eh? That kid is wearing the Holy sect''s robes? Don''t tell me that he is really a member of the Holy sect?''''
''''Wait! I heard that there was a genius from the Holy sect who hasprehended 2 supreme Daos. Old man Kang Wen, is it really this kid?''''
''''Supreme Daos? Even when the other geniuses who hadprehended 2 supreme Daos entered the King''s Pce, they still didn''t reach this ce! How did this kid make it here?''''
The nearby experts either discussed among themselves, or they stared at the Grand Elder curiously as they waited for his answer.
What these experts didn''t know, was that the Grand Elder hadn''t even heard them just now as his attention was fully focused on Shun Long.
Although he knew that Shun Long was a monster with unprecedented talent, even in his wildest dreams, the Grand Elder hadn''t expected to see him step foot inside the core region of the King''s Pce.
Before they had entered the King''s Pce, the Grand Elder had even warned the disciples of the Holy sect that no matter what they did, they shouldn''t attempt to enter the core region under any circumstances.
It wasn''t because those disciples weren''t allowed toe to this ce, but because the pressure inside the core region of the King''s Pce could kill everyone below the peak Dao Emperor realm.
Even the inner court Elders of the Holy sect were only staying in the inner region of the King''s Pce and didn''t dare to step foot inside the core region.
In fact, even the Grand Elder himself felt slightly ufortable under this pressure.
How could he ever imagine that a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would be able to make it all the way here?
The nearby experts watched as Shun Long''s footsteps didn''t slow down in the slightest as he continued to walk even deeper inside the core region, coincidentally heading towards the figure of the golden skeleton that was still bombarded by the purple-colored lightning bolts.
Chapter 732 - 732 Heavenly Tribulation
Chapter 732 - 732 Heavenly Tribtion
The Northern Sovereign and the others all fell silent as they watched the scene in front of them.
They could all sense that Shun Long was close to his breakthrough, but with every step he took, he was approaching even closer to the dangerous area of the bronze throne.
At this point, the Grand Elder gritted his teeth and slowly took a step forward in a determined manner.
He had decided that as long as Shun Long got too close to the area of the purple lightning, then the Grand Elder would interfere and save him even if it meant ruining his breakthrough.
However, just as Shun Long stepped within 100 meters from the bronze throne, his body suddenly trembled and turned rigid, before a bright blue light erupted from the depths of his spiritual sea.
This bright blue light was like a cocoon thatpletely covered Shun Long''s body.
Shun Long who was still in a trance hadn''t noticed, that from the moment he had begun to gain insights into the Dao King realm 3 days ago, the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space had started to vibrate and emit a deep blue light that was slowly seeping inside his spiritual sea and had started to transform it.
Inside the core region of the King''s Pce, Shun Long''s mind was fully focused on his breakthrough as he sat cross-legged on the ground, before the sky above his head soon started to rumble.
The Northern Sovereign and the rest of the nearby experts all shivered when they felt the terrifying pressure that was gathering in the sky above them, as they all raised their heads to look at the ck thunderclouds above the King''s Pce.
The massive thunderclouds that covered an area of more than 10.000 meters were being pushed aside for the first time, as a massive white-colored thundercloud had started to appear in their midst.
''''What...is this thing?'''' A purple-robed old man whose aura was simr to senior Feng''s, at the early stages of the Sovereign realm, couldn''t help but mutter in disbelief as he stared at the gigantic snow-white thundercloud that had appeared in the sky.
It wasn''t just this purple-robed old man, as simr expressions of shock had also appeared on the faces of the Northern Sovereign and the other experts.
''''This... can''t be a Heavenly Tribtion! Forget about Dao Kings, even my tribtion to the Sovereign realm wasn''t this big.'''' A green-robed middle-aged woman said in a horrified voice as she stared at the massive white-colored thundercloud above the King''s Pce.
However, the most shocked out of everyone else was the Northern Sovereign.
As an expert at the peak of the Sovereign realm, the Northern Sovereign was the strongest person out of everyone else present and she could clearly understand certain things much better than the rest.
She could see that the white-colored thundercloud had nearly reached a radius of 30.000 meters by now, and it had already covered the entirety of the King''s Pce.
The Northern Sovereign knew that the green-robed woman was right. Forget about Dao King realm cultivators, even the Heavenly Tribtion of Sovereign realm experts wouldn''t be this big.
And yet, the most terrifying thing was that the white thundercloud was still growing and absorbing even more energy! Clearly, this wasn''t the full extent of Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion! This thought made even the Northern Sovereign herself feel some fear in her heart.
In reality, it wasn''t just the experts in the core region who could see this massive white thundercloud in the sky, but everyone else who was inside the King''s Pce as well.
Regardless of whether it was the inner court Elders of the Holy sect or the Elders from the other sects who were inside the inner region of the pce, or Jiang Chen, youngdy Niu and the rest, everyone raised their heads at the same time to look at the apocalyptic scene in the sky above them!
As youngdy Niu looked at the massive white-colored thundercloud, she couldn''t help but mumble to herself
''''Don''t tell me that the Northern Sovereign finally managed to take the final step...''''
At the same time, Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all stared at the white cloud in the sky with solemn looks in their eyes.
They weren''t certain if this was really Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion, but a feeling of uneasiness had filled their hearts, telling them that this was most likely the case.
This thought made Xingyi and the others feel even more uneasy.
They could all sense how horrifying the energy inside this white thundercloud really was, and they could clearly feel that even after breaking through to the Dao King realm, their chances of surviving it were close to zero.
A few momentster, the faces of the experts inside the core region of the King''s Pce all paled when they saw the scene that followed, as they all turned their gazes to look at the Northern Sovereign soon after, before one of them asked
''''Senior... what should we do?''''
Although many among them had reached the Sovereign realm, those experts all knew that the Northern Sovereign was the true person who was in charge of the King''s Pce, so she was the one who had to make the decision.
The Northern Sovereign had a serious look in her eyes as she stared at the thundercloud of Heavenly Tribtion that was exactly 99.999 meters long, and after a moment of silence she dered in a cold voice
''''Leave the pce for now! Unfortunately, that kid is dead already...''''
Senior Feng, the Grand Elder, and the surrounding experts were all surprised by the Northern Sovereign''s choice, but after a moment of silence, they understood what was going on.
With how massive the thundercloud of Heavenly Tribtion really was, anyone who stayed within the King''s Pce would certainly be affected by it!
Even Sovereign realm experts like the Northern Sovereign didn''t have any confidence to survive this, so they had to leave this area as far as they could.
After throwing onest look at Shun Long, the Northern Sovereign shook her head and turned around to leave the King''s Pce, carrying with her the Elders and the disciples of the various powers who were still within the inner and the outer region.
It didn''t matter whether those people were close to breaking through or not, the Northern Sovereign carried them all with her as she left the pce.
If those people really stayed there, they would definitely be caught inside the Heavenly Tribtion and die for nothing.
The other experts followed after the Northern Sovereign, while thest one to leave was the Grand Elder.
After throwing a reluctant look at Shun Long, the Grand Elder opened a space tear and left the core region of the King''s Pce, leaving behind just Shun Long who was still sitting there with his eyes closed.
Chapter 733 - 733 Shun Longs Heavenly Tribulation Descends!
Chapter 733 - 733 Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion Descends!
For the first time since the death of the supreme expert who had created it, the sky above the King''s Pce had turned into a pure white color, as the ck thunderclouds had all been forcefully pushed aside by the enormous thundercloud of the Heavenly Tribtion.
A few momentster, there was no one else left inside the King''s Pce other than Shun Long.
The Northern Sovereign and the powerful experts who were following behind her had all escorted everyone else outside of the pce, afraid that they would end up getting caught in the Heavenly Tribtion as well.
BOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOM!
''''What kind of Heavenly Tribtion is this? How much longer is it going to store power for?'''' One of the experts who was standing next to the Northern Sovereign couldn''t help butment as he stared at the massive white-colored thundercloud above the King''s Pce from the distance.
Sparks of white lightning had already appeared around the white-colored thundercloud as they crackled with terrifying power, and yet the Heavenly Tribtion had yet to descend. Instead, it seemed like it was still storing its power, as the natural qi in the air around the King''s Pce had turned into a giant vortex that was being absorbed into the white thundercloud of the Heavenly Tribtion.
It was almost as if he had finally sensed the disturbance in the qi around him, as Shun Long finally opened his eyes and raised his head to look at the sky, where 3 enormous, white bolts of lightning entered his vision.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
It was nearly at the same time that Shun Long had opened his eyes, that the 3 gigantic bolts of lightning descended from the sky simultaneously, as they aimed to pierce through his head.
The destructive power inside these 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion seemed to have reached its peak, and was even slightly stronger than the 3 lightning bolts that Jiang Chen and youngdy Niu had faced during their own Heavenly Tribtions, causing even space itself to ripple.
And yet, Shun Long had a calm look on his face as he looked at those 3 bolts of white lightning above his head, before he mumbled to himself in an almost inaudible voice
''''...Monarch''s Domain!''''
Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned golden as the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body, before the flow of time around him forcibly came to a halt.
This was the first time that Shun Long was testing his full strength ever since he had reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul.
The 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion that were even thicker than an adult''s man''s waist immediately slowed down the moment they entered inside his ''Monarch''s Domain'', as they ended up losing more than half of their speed. And yet, the 3 bolts of lightning didn''t stop but were only slowed down, as they kept descending towards Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long could sense that the power behind these 3 bolts of lightning was still enough to destroy the soul of nearly every single peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Even he would be severely injured if he took this attack head-on.
Waving his hand, Shun Long took out the ck sword from the ''Stone of Time'' and held it in front of him, before he shed it forward a momentter!
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
The runes and patterns on the ck sword''s surface all lit up at the same time the moment that Shun Long infused his qi inside the sword, before a ck-colored sh that was crackling with sparks of lightning left the sword''s edge and collided with the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion that were now just a few centimeters(inches) away from his head.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The bolts of Heavenly Tribtion trembled momentarily the moment that they collided with the ''Thundergod''s sh'', before the ''Thundergod''s sh'' was almost instantly destroyed.
Even after losing more than half of their strength after entering Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion were still strong enough to easily destroy his Saint low-grade martial skill.
Shun Long didn''t have enough time tounch another attack, as the 3 bolts of lightning appeared in front of him and pierced through his be, entering inside his spiritual space.
Shun Long could feel feeling a sharp pain the moment that the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion pierced through the space between his eyebrows and entered his spiritual space, causing his body to turn rigid.
And yet, a surprising thing happened the moment that the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion entered Shun Long''s spiritual space.
Shun Long''s spiritual sea that had undergone some changed and was now shining with a mix of a blue and golden color instantly rumbled the moment that it sensed the existence of the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion, as a gigantic wave of spiritual strength swallowed the 3 white lightning bolts.
Although Shun Long felt a wave of pain momentarily affecting his soul, a soothing feeling followed soon after as the 3 waves of Heavenly Tribtion disappeared from his spiritual space, turning into a gentle stream of energy that entered his spiritual sea.
Shun Long could feel both his soul and his spiritual sea being strengthened extremely quickly as they absorbed the energy of the 3 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion!
Shun Long already knew that every bolt of Heavenly Tribtion carried with it a terrifying destructive energy that could obliterate a person''s soul, but it also had a wave of energy that nourished a cultivator''s soul and allowed them to be even stronger.
However, just as Shun Long was about to relish in this feeling of enjoyment, as he felt his soul and spiritual sea strengthening themselves, a sudden feeling of danger sprouted in his heart, causing him to hurriedly open his eyes and turn to look at the sky above him.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck who had stayed silent for so long stared at the sky above Shun Long''s head, before the ck dragon said in a grave voice
''''Master.... be careful!''''
Chapter 734 - 734 Shun Longs Heavenly Tribulation Descends! (2)
Chapter 734 - 734 Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion Descends! (2)
''''Are you serious? How is this possible?''''
''''A full set of nine? A Nascent Soul stage cultivator has to face a full set of nine bolts of Heavenly Tribtion?''''
At the same time that Shun Long had raised his head to look at the sky above him, the experts around the Northern Sovereign who were standing a good distance away from the King''s Pce, all stared at the 6 snow-white lightning bolts that were being formed around the cloud of the Heavenly Tribtion with bbergasted looks on their faces, unable to believe the situation in front of them.
Indeed, along with the previous 3 lightning bolts that Shun Long had to face, these 6 pure-white bolts of lightning that were being formed in the sky right now made a full set of nine bolts of Heavenly Tribtion!
A middle-aged man dressed in purple robes with a cultivation simr to the Grand Elder''s, at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm, turned to look at the Northern Sovereign who was standing a few tens of meters away from him, and asked in a tone that couldn''t fully hide his shock
''''Senior, what is going on? This is the first time that I see 9 bolts of lightning appear in the Heavenly Tribtion of a Nascent Soul stage brat.''''
The surrounding experts all turned their gazes towards the Northern Sovereign as well, as they waited to hear her answer.
Although all of those experts who were allowed to stand close to the Northern Sovereign were high-level figures of their respective territories within the central region, it was indeed the first time for them to witness such a scene as well.
Nodding her head, the Northern Sovereign kept staring at the massive thundercloud in the sky above the King''s Pce, before she answered in an extremely solemn tone
''''That kid''s talent is truly terrifying. What a shame!
It''s true that normally, a full set of nine bolts of Heavenly Tribtion will only descend when Dao Kings who haveprehendedmon or rare Daos face their own Heavenly Tribtions to reach the Dao Emperor realm.
However, although I haven''t witnessed it myself, I have heard that in the past, there have been geniuses who had to face a full set of nine bolts of Heavenly Tribtion during their breakthrough to the Dao King realm as well!
Of course, throughout the entire history of our central region, I have only heard of 8 such geniuses who had to face such a Heavenly Tribtion... and in the end, only 3 of them managed to survive!''''
The Northern Sovereign''s voice had hints of pity and amazement inside it as she looked at the massive white thundercloud that had now covered a distance of 99.999 meters.
As an expert who had lived for more than 500.000 years and ruled the northern part of the central region, the Northern Sovereign was naturally privy to some of the secrets of the central region.
She had never expected that today, she would be seeing one of those Heavenly Tribtions with her own eyes.
Naturally, the Northern Sovereign could sense that this Heavenly Tribtion that Shun Long was undergoing, was very different from the tribtions that most Dao Kings had to face when they broke through to the Dao Emperor realm.
The Northern Sovereign knew that although these lightning bolts may be weaker than the bolts that those peak Dao Kings would have to face, the level of danger far surpassed anything that Nascent Soul stage cultivators could endure.
Even though it was said that the Heavens were always fair and would always leave out the slightest bit of chance for someone to survive, in the Northern Sovereign''s eyes, facing such a Heavenly Tribtion as a Nascent Soul stage cultivator was no different from death.
As for the 3 geniuses who had managed to survive, the Northern Sovereign knew that they had only survived thanks to their good luck, and with extremely serious injuries to their souls that they needed more than a thousand years to heal.
If those geniuses hadn''t managed to absorb the energy inside the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion in time, before their spiritual seas were fully destroyed, they would have also joined the other 5, turning into nothing but dust, with their names buried through the annals of history of the central region.
The Grand Elder''s expression was exceedingly ugly to behold, and thest spark of hope in his heart was forcefully snuck out.
From the moment that he had seen the size of Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion, the Grand Elder had started to despair, feeling that Shun Long had almost no chance of surviving.
He knew that Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion was bound to be extraordinary.
And yet, in his heart, the Grand Elder still hoped that Shun Long could somehow pull a miracle and survive this ordeal.
However, after seeing the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion that had appeared in the sky and hearing the Northern Sovereign''s words, thest bit of hope in his heart was slowly crushed into nothingness.
At the same time, in the core region of the King''s Pce, Shun Long was staring at the 6 bolts of white lightning in the sky above him with a serious look.
He was already prepared for his Heavenly Tribtion to be much worse than Jiang Chen''s and the rest''s.
Although a full set of nine bolts was indeed extremely dangerous, Shun Long knew that it wasn''t entirely hopeless to resist this.
Shun Long''s gaze was like a sharp sword as he stared at the 6 bolts of lightning in the sky that had almost reached their full strength by now, before he spoke in a serious voice that reverberated throughout the core region of the King''s Pce
''''Time... Siphon!''''
The qi inside his 81 silver-colored balls of qi was being sapped at an rming rate, before a bright blue light with hints of gold inside it covered Shun Long''s body like a cocoon.
Chapter 735 - 735 Shun Longs Heavenly Tribulation Descends! (3)
Chapter 735 - 735 Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion Descends! (3)
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Just as Shun Long''s body was covered by the azure and golden light, the enormous white thundercloud above the King''s Pce rumbled for the second time, before the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion simultaneously descended from the sky!
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all stared at the apocalyptic scene above the King''s Pce with bated breaths.
They had already undergone their own Heavenly Tribtions and they already knew how dangerous facing 3 bolts of lightning really was, let alone 6 of them.
Although they couldn''t see Shun Long''s figure that was still inside the core region of the pce, all they could do was hope that he woulde out of this alive.
''''There is no need to worry too much. Even if it''s 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion, brother Shun will definitely survive! At least in the Nascent Soul stage, I have yet to meet someone who can be a match for brother Shun.'''' Bai Longtian was the first one to break the silence as he spoke in a confident voice a momentter.
''''Right. Although this will be dangerous, I don''t think that 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion will be enough to take his life.'''' Jiang Chen nodded his head in agreement as he stared at the 6 bolts of lightning that were headed towards the core region of the King''s Pce.
Liu Mei and Xingyi were both extremely worried in their hearts, but they knew that there was nothing they could do.
Meanwhile, inside the core region of the pce, Shun Long watched as the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion entered inside his ''Monarch''s Domain'', losing more than half of their speed.
And yet, just like thest time, the ''Monarch''s Domain'' wasn''t enough to contain the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion that continued to descend towards Shun Long, heading straight towards his head.
At the same time, the blue and golden light around his body that resembled a cocoon finally erupted outwards, as it moved to block the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion.
Shun Long could feel the qi inside his qi balls being depleted extremely quickly as the Time Siphon met the 6 bolts of white lightning head-on, causing the space within the core region of the King''s Pce to violently ripple!
The Time Siphon was, without a doubt, the strongest move that Shun Long could use right now, its strength far surpassing even that of the ''Thundegod''s sh''!
Of course, the drawback that the ''Time Siphon'' had, was that Shun Long needed some time to gather his qi in order to use it and that it depleted nearly half of his qi, but its effects were simply too powerful to ignore.
Shun Long was certain that after reaching the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul and purifying his qi balls, even early rank 2 Dao Kings would almost instantly die if they were affected by his ''Time Siphon''!
The 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion slowed down even further the moment they collided with the ''Time Siphon'', but even then, they didn''te to a halt. Instead, they continued descending towards the core region of the King''s Pce, as they inched closer and closer towards Shun Long''s head.
Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, could feel that his ''Time Siphon'' was forcefully stealing the ''time'' inside every one of the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion for himself, but it was almost as if there was a limitless amount of ''time'' inside those bolts of lightning.
Of course, if he had enough time, Shun Long was confident that he could seed, but this Heavenly Tribtion wasn''t that easy to survive. After all, he wasn''t just facing just 1 bolt of white lightning but 6 of them.
The 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion forcefully endured the effects of the ''Time Siphon'', as they pierced through Shun Long''s be and entered inside his spiritual space for the second time.
Shun Long could feel a sharp pain in the center of his brows that caused his entire body to violently tremble and shiver.
Although more than half of their strength was depleted, the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion had more than enough strength to destroy the soul of any peak Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Just like thest time, Shun Long''s spiritual sea that was on the verge of transforming seemed to have sensed the intrusion of the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion that entered Shun Long''s spiritual space, before waves after waves of spiritual strength were raised, as they intended to swallow the bolts of white lightning.
Shun Long could feel a sharp pain in his soul, asrge amounts of his spiritual strength were being depleted continuously without stop, while the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion were being forcefully swallowed by his spiritual sea.
Just as he felt that he was finally reaching his limit, Shun Long suddenly sensed a wave of energy inside his spiritual sea, slowly nourishing him and alleviating some of the pain, allowing him to heave a sigh of relief.
Indeed, the 1st of the 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion had used up all of its destructive energy, leaving only the nourishing energy inside it that slowly started to strengthen Shun Long''s soul along with his spiritual sea.
The second and the third bolts of Heavenly Tribtion soon followed suit, and half an hourter, thest of the 6 bolts had been sessfully refined as well.
Shun Long could still feel a sharp pain in his soul, as more than half of the spiritual strength inside his spiritual sea had been spent this time, but he could sense his soul being strengthened at an extremely rapid rate.? Of course, this was only natural since he had just absorbed the nourishing energy of an entire set of 9 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion!
However, for some reason, Shun Long still felt a wave of uneasiness in his heart.
He could feel that he had yet to truly breakthrough to the Dao King realm.
''''Master... how... is this possible?''''
It was at that moment that Little ck seemed to have lost hisposure, as he stared at the sky above the King''s Pce with an incredulous look in his deep azure eyes.
Chapter 736 - 736 Sparks Of Red Lightning
Chapter 736 - 736 Sparks Of Red Lightning
At the same time that Little ck''s surprised voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind, the Northern Sovereign and the rest of the experts around her who were standing a distance away from the King''s Pce, all stared at the sky above the pce with clear looks of disbelief in their eyes.
''''This... is this real?'''' The Northern Sovereign was actually the one who asked this question while the Elders around her all remained silent, as none of them could believe the scene in front of their eyes.
The massive white-colored thundercloud that covered a distance of 99.999 meters around the King''s Pce had actually started to change, as sparks of red lightning started to appear around its surface.
''''Senior, what''s going on? Why hasn''t the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion disappeared yet?'''' The Grand Elder looked at the Northern Sovereign and asked in a distressed voice.
Although he had been certain that Shun Long''s chances of surviving the barrage of the previous 6 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion were practically nonexistent, the Grand Elder still wanted to see Shun Long''s body at the very least.
However, from the looks of things, it seemed like Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion wasn''t over yet, making the Grand Elder unsure of how to act.
''''Wait! Since the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion has yet to disappear, does this mean that that kid had actually managed to survive the first set of nine bolts of white lightning?'''' One of the old men who was standing the closest to the Northern Sovereign couldn''t help voicing out his suspicion as he stared at the massive white thundercloud above the King''s Pce that seemed like it was actually preparing to strike for the third time.
Looks of realization suddenly appeared on the faces of the surrounding experts who had actually forgotten about this detail.
Indeed, unless the person who was undergoing the Heavenly Tribtion truly died and had their soul disperse, or they finished undergoing their Heavenly Tribtion andpleted their breakthrough, the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion wouldn''t disappear.
Nodding her head, the Northern Sovereign answered in a serious voice
''''Since the Heavenly Tribtion has yet to disappear, it can only mean that that kid has indeed managed to survive it and is somehow still alive. Throughout the history of the entire central region, at least as far as I know of, he is only the 4th person to do this.''''
The Northern Sovereign''s words were like a hammer that struck the hearts of the high-level experts around her. Although many of them had guessed that Shun Long was probably still alive since the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion had yet to disappear, hearing it directly from the Northern Sovereign was apletely different matter. Even youngdy Niu and the red-haired Sovereign realm expert who was following after her, senior Feng, had all turned silent as they waited for the Northern Sovereign to continue.
Indeed, a momentter, the silver-robed Northern Sovereign kept staring at the sky above the King''s Pce before she continued
''''However, even I have never of heard of something like this happening before. Normally, red lightning will only appear when Dao Emperors breakthrough to the Sovereign realm.
Although it''s not unheard of for peak Dao Kings who haveprehended supreme or unique Daos to create such a scene when they breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm, in the history of the entire central region, there has never been a Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had to face red lightning!''''
The Northern Sovereign was unable to hide the shock in her voice as she stared at the sparks of red lightning that seemed to be gathering towards the center of the white cloud of the Heavenly Tribtion.
However, the most astonished out of everyone wasn''t the Northern Sovereign or the other high-level experts around her, but Little ck.
Shun Long who was still in the process of absorbing the nourishing energy from the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion inside his spiritual sea, seemed to have opened his eyes the moment he heard Little ck''s voice in his mind, before he turned his attention towards the sky above him.
The moment his eyesnded on the red sparks of lightning that were quickly taking the form of a huge, crimson lightning bolt, Shun Long suddenly felt his heart turning cold, as a sense of lethal danger overcame him. He could sense that even though it had yet to fully form itself, the energy inside this red bolt of lightning far exceeded even thebined energy of the 9 bolts of white lightning that he had just faced!
Little ck who could sense Shun Long''s emotions said in a grave voice
''''Master, this is bad. Although I knew that it would be different, even I didn''t expect that master''s Heavenly Tribtion to be a Dao King would be this terrifying!''''
Shun Long could sense from their mental connection, that Little ck was truly worried this time.
After a moment of hesitation, Little ck then continued
''''Master, in reality, the Heavenly Tribtion that mortal cultivators have to face is split into 3 different levels.
The first is the white-colored Heavenly Tribtion.
Normally, Nascent Soul stage cultivators who breakthrough to the Dao King realm will only face a single white bolt of Heavenly Tribtion during their breakthrough. But of course, it''s possible for them to face 2 or even 3 bolts of lightning depending on their talent.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he already understood this matter.
He knew that the reason why Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian had all faced 3 white bolts of lightning were due to their talent and the Daos they hadprehended.
''''However, in the Immortal Dimension, there are some monstrous geniuses whose talent is so terrifying, that during their breakthrough to the Dao King realm they will have to face a full set of 9 bolts of lightning.
In the past, long before master became the lord of ''Heaven Trampling city'', I heard that master also had to face a full set of 9 bolts of white lightning to be a Dao King!''''
Chapter 737 - 737 Crimson Lightning!
Chapter 737 - 737 Crimson Lightning!
Shun Long was momentarily stunned when he heard Little ck''s words before he fell silent. He had always been curious about his past life, but he didn''t want to ask Little ck about it, since he was bound to find everything by himself sooner orter, once his memories returned back to him.
After a brief pause, Little ck then continued speaking
''''Of course, geniuses like master who have to face 9 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion are extremely rare, and don''t appear once every thousand years, even in the Immortal Dimension.
After all, even Dao Kings who breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm will only face a single set of 9 bolts of white lightning during their breakthrough.
Of course, this only applies to those Dao Kings who haveprehendedmon or rare Daos and have used them as their foundational Daos.? As for those Dao Kings who haveprehended unique, or even supreme-level Daos... once they attempt to breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm, their Heavenly Tribtion will be much worse, and they will have to face crimson lightning instead!
Master, the crimson lightning is the 2nd level of Heavenly Tribtion, and the destructive power inside a single bolt is simply iparable to even 9 bolts of white lightning.
However... bolts of crimson lightning have never appeared during the Heavenly Tribtion of a Nascent Soul cultivator!
Even in the Immortal Dimension, it''s unheard of for a Nascent Soul cultivator to face a bolt of crimson lightning during their breakthrough to the Dao King realm!''''
This time, Little ck was truly worried.
It was one thing for Shun Long to face a set of nine bolts of white lightning during his breakthrough, but a bolt of crimson lightning was an entirely different matter.
Even peak Dao Kings who hadprehended unique and supreme-level Daos could perish in such a situation!
At the same time that Little ck was mentally speaking to Shun Long, Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, who were standing a distance away from the King''s Pce, all stared at this scene in the sky above the pce with grave looks in their eyes.
Although they didn''t know what the red lightning represented, even from a distance away, they could still feel the terrifying pressure that was gathering in the sky above the core region of the King''s Pce.
They could all sense that this growing pressure had already far surpassed that of the nine bolts of white lightning that Shun Long had just faced!
''''Brother Long, you have to be fine...'''' Xingyi said in a voice full of concern, while Liu Mei and the rest all stared worriedly at the dipitated ck pce ahead of them.
Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion had already exceeded what a Nascent Soul cultivator should be normally facing!
Meanwhile, Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground inside the core region of the King''s Pce hadpletely focused his attention on the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion above his head.
The crimson bolt of lightning still needed some time to bepletely formed, as it kept absorbing the qi around the King''s Pce at a horrifying speed.
The sparks of red lightning were gathering towards the center of the massive white thundercloud all at the same time, slowly forming a crimson lightning bolt that seemed to be just as big as the white lightning bolts that Shun Long had just faced a few moments ago.
However, the difference in the aura of this crimson lightning bolt and the white bolts of lightning was simply iparable.
Even the surrounding peak Dao Kings whoid their eyes on this crimson bolt of lightning could feel their hearts palpitating after sensing its aura.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long''s cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul exploded outwards once again, as a bright blue and golden light covered his body for the second time, before Shun Long mumbled in a cold voice
''''Crimson lightning? Hasn''t been done before? So what? In the end, it''s still nothing more than Heavenly Tribtion. How can I possibly die from this?
Time... Siphon!''''
The light around Shun Long''s body started to turn even brighter as the remaining qi inside his 81 silver-colored balls of qi was sapped in an instant, once again forming a protective cocoon around his body.
Staring at the crimson bolt of lightning that was just a few moments away from being fully formed, Shun Long narrowed his eyes and said a single word
''''Come!''''
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
It was almost as if the Heavens suddenly responded, as a powerful, defeaning sound was heard from the gigantic cloud of Heavenly Tribtion above the King''s Pce, before a crimson lightning bolt that was even thicker than an adult man''s waist descended from the skies, heading straight towards Shun Long''s head.
The Grand Elder, the Northern Sovereign, and the rest of the surrounding experts, along with the disciples of the major powers of the central region all watched this scene with bated breaths, as the crimson lightning bolt entered the core region of the King''s Pce.
A momentter, Shun Long could feel a wave of heavenly pressure approaching him from the skies, before the crimson lightning bolt entered inside his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
However, Shun Long noticed that unlike the white-colored bolts of Heavenly Tribtion, this crimson lightning bolt was barely affected by his ''Monarch''s Domain'', as it kept descending towards him at a terrifying speed.
At that moment, the blue and golden light around Shun Long''s body that resembled a cocoon finally erupted outwards, as it moved to block the crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion.
The red bolt of Heavenly Tribtion indeed slowed down for a brief second the moment that it collided with the ''Time Siphon'', but a momentter, the crimson bolt of lightning actually ignored the restraints of the ''Time Siphon'' as it arrived right in front of Shun Long and pierced through his head, forcefully entering inside his spiritual space.
Chapter 738 - 738 Dire Straits
Chapter 738 - 738 Dire Straits
Shun Long''s body trembled violently the moment the crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion pierced through his head, before a wave of indescribable pain assaulted him.
As soon as the red lightning bolt entered his body, Shun Long''s entire spiritual space shook and was almost instantly brought to the verge of copse, as the crimson lightning bolt plunged directly inside his spiritual sea.
Shun Long could feel a soul tearing pain ripping him apart, as his spiritual sea didn''t even have enough time to raise waves of spiritual power to attack the crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion before he was attacked directly.
Shun Long could sense his vast spiritual power that had even exceeded that of a peak rank 9 Dao King''s being depleted at a terrifying rate, as the crimson lightning bolt wreaked havoc inside his spiritual sea.
Forget about the fact that Shun Long only had 50 percent of his spiritual power left intact since he had already dealt with the previous set of 9 bolts of white lightning previously, even if he was at his peak state, the chances of surviving the assault of this crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion would have been less than 10 percent!
Inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck and Little Silver could both sense Shun Long''s predicament, but both the ck dragon and the silver-winged panther remainedpletely silent, as they endured with red eyes.
The slightest distraction could easily push Shun Long to his own death.
However, there was nothing that the 2 magic beasts could do, as with every passing moment, Shun Long''s situation became even grimmer and grimmer.
His aura was rapidly turning weaker while his spiritual power was being ''eaten'' away by the crimson lightning bolt.
A few momentster, Shun Long''s spiritual sea was only left with less than 20 percent of his spiritual strength, but the crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion that had already endured the ''Time Siphon'' and the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' previously, had more than 70 percent of its original power left.
''''Master... if you die today... I swear on my life that I will definitely ascend to the Immortal Dimension and kill old man Ji myself before Ie to apany you! Together in life, together in death!''''
A horrifying aura of anger and killing intent erupted from Little ck''s body at that moment, making Little Silver who was watching the ck dragon from afar tremble in terror.
Shun Long could hear Little ck''s indistinct voice in his head, but he couldn''t hear what the ck dragon was saying clearly, since his head felt muddled from the pain.
His spiritual power inside his spiritual sea was finallypletely depleted, allowing the crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion to directly attack his soul.
Forget about the soul of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, even a peak Dao Emperor''s soul would instantly crumble the moment they were attacked by a bolt of Heavenly Tribtion directly!
The crimson bolt of lightning was like a hungry magic beast that had finally smelled blood, as it arrived in the center of Shun Long''s ''empty'' spiritual sea almost instantly, heading straight towards his soul.
Without the spiritual power inside Shun Long''s spiritual sea to block its way, there was nothing else to stop the red bolt of Heavenly Tribtion as it collided directly with Shun Long''s soul.
Shun Long could instantly feel his soul being shaken by a nearly unstoppable power, as a soul-tearing pain that was even worse than before filled his mind.
However, it was at the same time that the crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion had touched his soul, that the ''Stone of Time'' inside Shun Long''s spiritual space suddenly reacted.
The ''Stone of Time'' trembled momentarily, before a blinding blue and golden light exploded outwards and covered Shun Long''s spiritual space in the blink of an eye.
Shun Long could feel the pain in his soul disappear almost instantly, as the terrifying power of the crimson lightning bolt seemed to have suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed in the first ce.
Instead, of pain, Shun Long could feel a wave of nourishing energy appear within his spiritual space, as it started to quickly strengthen his soul even further.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Meanwhile, the moment that the crimson lightning bolt disappeared from Shun Long''s spiritual space, the enormous white cloud of Heavenly Tribtion above the King''s Pce started to rumble once again, almost as if it had just been provoked.
This time the rumbling sound was much worse than before, as countless sparks of purple lightning started to appear on the surface of the white thundercloud, rapidly converging together as they quickly formed 9 gigantic bolts of purple lightning!
''''P-P-Purple lightning?'''' A young man who had just broken through to the Dao King realm a while ago and was now standing behind the Northern Sovereign and the other experts, couldn''t help mutter in a disbelieving voice as he stared at the scene above the King''s Pce.
Neither the Northern Sovereign nor any of the experts around her dared to speak at that moment, as they all stared at the 9 bolts of purple lightning with looks of incredulousness and even fear in their eyes.
It was almost as if the Heavens could no longer permit Shun Long to live and had decided to exterminate him today.
At that moment however, the ''Stone of Time'' inside Shun Long''s spiritual space seemed to have reacted to this as well, as a horrifying aura that was even more powerful than the 9 bolts of purple lightning exploded outwards from the depths of Shun Long''s soul, as it shot to the skies to meet the 9 bolts of purple lightning!
Under the Northern Sovereign''s and the other experts'' disbelieving eyes, the 9 bolts of purple lightning seemed to tremble, before the massive thundercloud of Heavenly Tribtion quieted down, as it started to slowly disappear from the sky above the King''s Pce.
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Author''s note: 4 more chapters areing in the next 12 hours.
Chapter 739 - 739 Golden Skeleton?
Chapter 739 - 739 Golden Skeleton?
At the same time that the enormous white cloud of Heavenly Tribtion started to disappear from the sky above the King''s Pce, within the core region of the pce, Shun Long was sitting cross-legged on the ground when he felt his aura rising rapidly without any signs of stop.
Shun Long could feel that the nourishing energy from the bolts of Heavenly Tribtion inside him wasn''t just increasing the strength of his soul, but it also increased his cultivation, allowing him to advance towards the final barrier and reach the Dao King realm.
Of course, toplete his breakthrough and truly be a Dao King realm, Shun Long knew that he first had to condense all of the 81 silver-colored balls of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' together and form a single ball of qi.
At that moment however, just as he was about to begin his breakthrough, Shun Long sensed that something had changed inside the King''s Pce.
Suppressing the urge to breakthrough right away, Shun Long opened his eyes and looked around him, trying to identify the origin of this change, before his eyes fell on the figure of the golden skeleton sitting on the bronze throne.
Although nothing seemed different at first nce, Shun Long had instantly realized what was going on, before Little ck''s voice sounded in his mind almost at the same time
''''Master, quickly! The aura of that golden skeleton ispletely suppressed! This is master''s chance to take it!''''
Shun Long''s eyes lit up when he heard this, and after a moment of deliberation, his body shot towards the figure that was sitting on the bronze throne at full speed.
Indeed, the aura of the golden skeleton had beenpletely suppressed at this moment, looking like it was no different from an ordinary skeleton, but Shun Long understood that this skeleton was anything but ordinary.
He had already seen how the Northern Sovereign and the other experts around her had tried to get close to this skeleton, but the terrifying aura that wasing from the skeleton''s body had kept those experts at bay, preventing them from moving even a step closer towards it.
''''Most likely, this golden skeleton is the owner of the King''s Pce, that expert who was trying to ascend to be a true immortal.''''
At the same time that Shun Long made his move, outside of the King''s Pce, the Northern Sovereign and the experts around her all stared at the scene above the pce with stunned looks on their faces.
They had all seen the 9 bolts of purple lightning that had started to take shape and were about to strike the core region of the pce, but before they actually descended from the sky, the cloud of the Heavenly Tribtion had suddenly vanished, leaving behind a dumbfounded group of experts!
''''Did the Heavenly Tribtion just disappear? I really thought that the 9 bolts of purple lightning were about to descend at that moment!''''
''''Could the Heavens have changed their minds? Senior... is that even possible?''''
''''Let''s go!''''? The Northern Sovereign wasn''t willing to hear the spections of the experts around her as she spoke in a cold voice, before her body disappeared on the spot, heading towards the King''s Pce in the distance at full speed.
The surrounding experts all nodded their heads before they followed after her, heading towards the King''s Pce as well.
The Northern Sovereign and the other experts were just 200.000 meters (120miles) away from the pce, but such a distance was a matter of a few seconds for the Northern Sovereign to cross.
The ck thunderclouds that had been pushed away from Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion had yet to gather together again and needed some more time to do so, making the King''s Pce a ce without any danger for experts at the Northern Sovereign''s level.
After all, the only thing that the Northern Sovereign was afraid of, was the bolts of purple lightning around the pce!
As for the pressure that wasing from the golden skeleton, although the Northern Sovereign couldn''t get past it, it didn''t pose the slightest bit of danger to an expert at her level.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all saw the Grand Elder and the other experts hurrying towards the King''s Pce and followed after them without any hesitation.
A few secondster, the Northern Sovereign was the first one to arrive in the core region of the King''s Pce, but the scene in front of her left the silver-robed woman stunned in disbelief.
''''Senior!''''
The experts who were following after her soon arrived one after the other, but as soon as their eyesnded on the empty bronze throne, these experts instantly went silent.
''''This... where is the golden skeleton?'''' Surprisingly, youngdy Niu who was carried by the red-haired Sovereign realm expert, senior Feng, was the first one to break the silence, as she looked at the Northern Sovereign with a curious, and even somewhat excited look in her eyes.
Since the golden skeleton was no longer on the bronze throne, then that could only mean that someone had managed to get their hands on it, and the most likely person to do so was the person who had arrived first, the Northern Sovereign.
Although the Northern Sovereign was indeed the strongest among the experts inside the King''s Pce right now, the golden skeleton wasn''t something that she could keep for herself, regardless of how much she coveted it.
Even the strongest experts of the central region had their eyes set on the figure of the golden skeleton, but they had tried to obtain it for countless years to no avail.
Naturally, those experts wouldn''te to the King''s Pce every time it opened for such a fruitless endeavor.
However, if someone really managed to get the golden skeleton, even if the person who got it was the Northern Sovereign, those experts would naturally chase her down to obtain it.
As for Shun Long, the thought of him trying to steal the golden skeleton didn''t even cross youngdy Niu''s mind. Putting aside whether he could even get close to the bronze throne in the first ce, if Shun Long really dared to try and steal the skeleton, then there would only be one oue for him.... death!
Chapter 740 - 740 The Northern Sovereigns Promise
Chapter 740 - 740 The Northern Sovereign''s Promise
Senior Feng and the surrounding experts all stared at the Northern Sovereign with curious looks in their eyes, but they could also feel that something was wrong.
If the Northern Sovereign had been the one to get her hands on the golden skeleton, why would she be staring at the bronze throne with a dumbfounded look like that?
''''Could it be that she is trying to feign ignorance? Hmph! Is she taking us for fools?''''
Senior Feng snorted inwardly as he took a step forward and arrived in front of the Northern Sovereign almost instantly, before he said with a calm look on his face
''''Northern Sovereign, congrattions on obtaining the golden skeleton.
Unfortunately, I have to say that even though you are the Sovereign responsible for the northern part of the central region, you should understand that the golden skeleton isn''t something you can keep for yourself.''''
The Northern Sovereign seemed to have returned back to her senses the moment she heard ''senior Feng''s'' voice, as she stared at him and immediately understood what was going on, before a cold smile was formed on her lips.
''Senior Feng'' nodded his head once he saw that he had the Northern Sovereign''s attention, before he continued with a slightly gentler tone
''''Northern Sovereign, if you choose to hand over the golden skeleton to my lord, I can promise you that my lord will not mistreat you. I can tell you that the rewards you will receive will even exceed what the Tianhuan dynasty will be willing to give you by many times!''''
The surrounding experts all stared at the red-haired ''Senior Feng'' silently, while looks of envy had appeared in their eyes.
Those experts knew that even the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t be able to keep the golden skeleton for herself, but a reward from ''old freak Gao'' in exchange for the skeleton''s figure wasn''t going to be something small and was most likely worth it.
And yet, contrary to the expectations of Senior Feng the rest of the surrounding experts around her, the Northern Sovereign shook her head, and with her gaze focused on Shun Long who was sitting cross-legged on the ground she said calmly
''''Unfortunately, I am not the one who managed to get the golden skeleton. Most likely it''s in the hands of that kid over there.''''
Senior Feng, youngdy Niu, the Grand Elder, and the surrounding experts all stared at the Northern Sovereign with surprised looks, before they quickly turned their attention towards Shun Long as well.
Seeing how peacefully Shun Long was sitting cross-legged and had already begun his breakthrough, the surrounding experts all felt the urge to step forward and kill him to take the golden skeleton for themselves, but considering that the Northern Sovereign had yet to make her move, none of those experts dared to move either.
''''Senior... please, wait until that brat finishes his breakthrough and allow me to talk to him. I will definitely make him hand over the golden skeleton to senior. Please give some face to my Holy sect and don''t kill him!'''' The Grand Elder took a step forward and appeared right next to the Northern Sovereign before he cupped his hands and said in a pleading voice.
Although the Northern Sovereign and the surrounding experts all wanted the golden skeleton, the Grand Elder''s attention was fully focused on Shun Long who had actually survived his Heavenly Tribtion.
The Grand Elder had never expected that Shun Long would actually be alive right now!
In the Grand Elder''s eyes, Shun Long was the biggest treasure he could hope for and he was going to do everything he could to keep him alive!
As for the golden skeleton, the Grand Elder knew that his Holy sect had no chance to keep it and was more than content in giving it up.
Even an expert like the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t have a chance to keep it for herself, let alone his Holy sect.
The Grand Elder didn''t know why Shun Long had done something so foolish as to try and steal the golden skeleton, but it didn''t matter either.
As long as they handed it over to the Northern Sovereign, everything would be fine.
The Northern Sovereign''s eyes lit up when she heard the Grand Elder''s words, as she threw another look at Shun Long who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, before she nodded her head seriously.
No matter what, Shun Long had just created that terrifying Heavenly Tribtion and had even survived from it. This was tantamount to his talent. Unless there was no other way, the Northern Sovereign wasn''t willing to kill him either.
Nodding her head, the Northern Sovereign answered seriously
''''Indeed, as long as that kid isn''t stubborn and is willing to hand over the golden skeleton, I can even take him under my wing and allow him to train in the Northern Sovereign city.
But of course, if he declines... you can''t me me for what''s about to happen!''''
The Grand Elder''s eyes lit up as he nodded his head and cupped his hands in gratitude before he said respectfully
''''Many thanks to senior!''''
To the Grand Elder, Shun Long was no different from a personal disciple. Training under the Northern Sovereign would not only be beneficial for him, but it could even elevate the status of the Holy sect as a whole.
After all, the Grand Elder clearly knew about the power behind the Northern Sovereign!
Even with just the status of an outer court disciple in the Holy sect, with the talent that he had disyed today through his Heavenly Tribtion, the Grand Elder knew that it was only a matter of time until the powerful forces of the central region sent people to approach Shun Long.
Some of them may even try to take him away from the Holy sect, but the power behind the Northern Sovereign was an entirely different matter.
Meanwhile, Senior Feng wasn''t surprised by this sudden turn of events.
Although Shun Long seemed to have gotten his hands on the golden skeleton''s figure, such an action waspletely meaningless.
It didn''t matter if the golden skeleton was in Shun Long''s hands or in anyone else''s for that matter, as there was no way that the Northern Sovereign would allow that person to leave the King''s Pce with it.
As the strongest person inside the King''s Pce right now, the golden skeleton could be considered to already be in the Northern Sovereign''s hands.
The only thing ''Senior Feng'' could do right now, was try to win the Northern Sovereign over.
Chapter 741 - 741 Becoming A Dao King! (1)
Chapter 741 - 741 Bing A Dao King! (1)
''''Northern Sovereign, have you made your choice yet?'''' Youngdy Niu asked calmly as she looked at the beautiful, silver-robed woman in front of her.
Although the Northern Sovereign was a peak Sovereign realm expert, in reality, as the personal disciple of ''old freak Gao'', youngdy Niu''s status was considered to be even slightly above the Northern Sovereign''s.
Shaking her head, the Northern Sovereign had a calm, uncaring look on her face as she looked at the young woman in front of her, before she answered seriously
''''Youngdy Niu, as the lord of the Northern Sovereign city, how could I possibly hand over the golden skeleton to senior Gao?''''
Senior Feng and youngdy Niu both narrowed their eyes when they heard this, before they turned to look at each other.
If the Northern Sovereign was really unwilling to hand over the golden skeleton, then there was really nothing they could do. Even if senior Feng decided to go all-out to steal the skeleton, his chances of sess were less than 10 percent.
However, knowing ''old freak Gao''s'' nature and how much he needed the golden skeleton, youngdy Niu and senior Feng were naturally unwilling to give up so easily.
''''Hmph! In that case, I can only ask that guy for the golden skeleton myself! As long as we get our hands on the skeleton first, then even if Lu Qigang wants to obtain it, there is nothing she can do! If she truly dares to steal something that belongs to master, even the Tianhuan dynasty won''t be able to protect her.''''
The Northern Sovereign''s expression changed when she heard this, before a look of killing intent momentarily shed through her eyes as she stared at youngdy Niu.
Naturally, youngdy Niu hadn''t concealed her words as she intended to scare away the Northern Sovereign.
After all, although the Northern Sovereign''s strength was the strongest among the experts present, even she wouldn''t dare to offend a figure like ''old freak Gao''.
However, a momentter, the Northern Sovereign''s expression quickly returned back to normal while the look on her face became calm.
Indeed, if youngdy Niu managed to convince Shun Long to give them the golden skeleton, things would truly be tricky, but the Northern Sovereign was confident that she would be the one to obtain the golden skeleton in the end, even without using force.
While the surrounding experts were all staring at Shun Long, waiting for him toplete his breakthrough, Shun Long himself wasn''t paying attention to any of them, as he had ced his entire focus on the 81 silver-colored balls of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''!
Using the energy from the Heavenly Tribtion inside his body, Shun Long had already condensed the 81 balls of qi together, until 41 of them were left.
The 41 silver-colored balls of qi soon turned into 20 and then into 10, while the energy of the Heavenly Tribtion inside Shun Long''s body was being used up at an extremely rapid rate.
In the blink of an eye, an hour had already passed before only 3 balls of qi were left inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Shun Long could sense that he was on the cusp of reaching the Dao King realm, but the remaining energy from the Heavenly Tribtion inside his body was almostpletely depleted by now.
He had already used the energy of the 9 bolts of white lightning long ago, while even the crimson bolt of lightning had less than 10 percent of its energy left.
Finally, a few minutester, just as thest bit of energy from the crimson lightning bolt was used up, thest 3 silver-colored balls of qi had also disappeared from the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', and in their ce, a single, golden-colored ball of qi could be seen lying there.
The moment that thest 3 silver-colored balls of qi fused together to produce the golden-colored qi ball, Shun Long could feel his mind shaking, while the final shackles that were keeping him into the Nascent Soul stage were instantly broken apart, allowing him to take the final step!
The moment his cultivation broke past the peak of rank 9 of the Nascent Soul and reached the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm, Shun Long could feel the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space shake violently, while his spiritual sea started to rumble in response.
At that moment, Shun Long could also feel all of his senses being elevated to another level, before his mind suddenly turned nk.
Shun Long had the indistinct feeling that something was changing inside his spiritual sea, while different scenes shed through his mind at the same time.
Information about many different types of ores and minerals under the Heavens along with countless mysterious runes and patterns all entered Shun Long''s mind, as the endless barrage of information seemed to forcefully integrate itself directly into his soul!
And yet, although this process was extremely painful,pared to the pain he had felt when he was absorbing the information inside the golden book, Shun Long could feel that this was truly nothing inparison.
He could sense that the information that was entering his mind was actually less than 10 percent of the knowledge that he had regarding medicinal herbs alone.
Of course, although this pain wasn''t as bad as when his soul was being forcibly torn apart, the pain was still enough to bring Shun Long to his limits.
The Northern Sovereign and the surrounding experts all saw the contorted expression of pain on Shun Long''s face, leaving thempletely baffled as they were unable to understand what was going on. Gritting his teeth, Shun Long kept enduring the pain as countless different scenes shed through his mind one after the other.
A couple of hourster Shun Long finally copsed on the ground, his body fully drenched in sweat, as the scenes in his mind finally came to an end.
Chapter 742 - 742 Becoming A Dao King! (2)
Chapter 742 - 742 Bing A Dao King! (2)
After reaching the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm, Shun Long''s aura finally stopped rising and slowly started to stabilize.
And yet, Shun Long still didn''t open his eyes, as he kept lying on the floor of the King''s Pce with his entire body drenched in sweat.
''''Eh? How is this possible? That kid''s soul doesn''t seem to be injured even after he went through that Heavenly Tribtion?'''' The Northern Sovereign spoke to herself in a surprised voice as her soul sensepletely enveloped Shun Long''s body.
No matter how she probed him, the Northern Sovereign was unable to find any injuries in Shun Long''s soul or his spiritual sea, which surprised her even further.
Of course, the Northern Sovereign was the only one who dared to inspect Shun Long with her soul sense, while the surrounding experts simply waited for him to open his eyes.
Shun Long could feel that a powerful expert was curiously inspecting his body, but his entire attention was now ced on his Dao of Time.
After breaking through to be a true Dao King, Shun Long could feel the changes in his Dao of Time and could sense how much stronger he had be.
He could feel that hisprehension and his control over the Dao of Time had reached apletely new level.
''''So that''s why most peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivators can rarely fight against Dao Kings...
The difference between a Dao King and a Nascent Soul cultivator is truly iparable!''''
Although Shun Long wasn''t certain exactly how strong he was right now, he was certain that fighting against the top 10 in the Martial Roll of Honor wasn''t an issue. Even if he couldn''t defeat them, the chances of him losing were extremely low, and he could definitely fight them to a standstill, at the very least.
If Dong Ai''s elder brother, Dong Cheng attacked him once again, it would be uncertain if the genius who was ranked 6th among the outer court disciples of the Holy sect would be able toe out unscathed.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t aware of what treasures Dong Cheng had in his possession, but he knew that the chances of him having another protective artifact that could block the attack of a Dao Emperor were practically zero.
''''Most likely, after condensing 2 more golden balls of qi, aside from that Zhang Jing who is ranked 3rd in the Martial Roll of Honor and has yet to show his full strength, nobody else aside from Yang Hui and Qiao Min should be able to fight me head-on...''''
Shun Long could also sense that his biggest gain after breaking through to the Dao King realm wasn''t the increase in his strength, but the surge of information that had engraved itself in his soul, as well as the new ability that he hade toprehend.
Shun Long knew that the memories he had unlocked regarding formations -although they couldn''t bepared to the knowledge he had absorbed from the golden book, neither in quantity nor quality- were still enough to ce him among the strongest formation masters throughout the entire central region.
Shun Long was certain that even the weakest of the formations in his mind was at least at the level of a 1-star formation.
And yet, even those memories regarding those formations paled slightly in front of the ability that Shun Long hadprehended after he broke through to the Dao King realm.
Shun Long''s spiritual sea trembled momentarily as the thought of activating this skill appeared in his mind, before a feeling of intense pain filled his head, forcing him to stop.
However, not only was he not disappointed, but a bright smile covered his face soon after.
''''Master, this... how can such a skill even exist in this world?'''' At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck whose soul was directly connected to Shun Long''s seemed to have realized what had just happened, as a shocked look shed through the ck dragon''s eyes.
Shun Long wasn''t surprised by Little ck''s reaction since even he was having a hard time epting what was going on.
But since he knew that he was still in a dangerous situation, he knew that he could only put those matters to the back of his mind for now.
A few momentster, after sorting out his thoughts, Shun Long finally opened his eyes and took a look around him.
Inside the core region of the King''s Pce, the Northern Sovereign, the Grand Elder, Senior Feng, and the other high-level experts were all staring at him with serious looks in their eyes, while Shun Long could also feel that a powerful soul sense hadpletely enveloped his body.
Naturally, this soul sense belonged to the Northern Sovereign who smiled brightly when she saw Shun Long opening his eyes, before her warm voice entered Shun Long''s ears
''''Kid, how are you feeling?'''' The Northern Sovereign''s voicecked her usual coldness, and instead, it was gentle and warm as a breeze,pletely stunning the high-level experts around her.
Those experts had never seen the cold and aloof Northern Sovereign speak to a junior in such a warm tone.? Even when she faced the personal disciple of ''old freak Gao'', youngdy Niu, the Northern Sovereign had been just as cold as ever.
But of course, after a moment of thinking, those experts realized that it made sense.
Since the Northern Sovereign valued Shun Long''s talent and had even expressed her desire to take him to the Northern Sovereign''s city, it was only natural that she would treat him differently than most others.
However, just as he was about to respond to the Northern Sovereign, Shun Long suddenly felt a piercing stare on his back, before the cold voice of a young woman entered his ears
''''Your name is Shun Long, right? Let''s not waste any time. Hand over the golden skeleton!''''
Chapter 743 - 743 Making A Choice
Chapter 743 - 743 Making A Choice
Shun Long turned his attention towards youngdy Niu who was giving him an unfriendly look.
The cold look in her eyes nad themanding tone in her voice made it obvious that she was not willing topromise on this matter.
The Northern Sovereign snorted and looked at youngdy Niu and senior Feng with a displeased look, before she turned her gaze back at Shun Long and said in that same warm voice as before
''''Shun Long, we know that you have gotten your hands on the golden skeleton that was here previously. The truth is that this golden skeleton is a treasure much more important than you think. Keeping it on you will only make things more dangerous for you so it''s indeed best to hand it over.
Of course, if you hand it over to me I will make sure to protect you. Not just you, but your Holy sect will also be under the protection of my Northern Sovereign''s city from now on! What do you think?''''
The Grand Elder and the experts around him were all stunned when they heard the Northern Sovereign''s words.
It was one thing for the Holy sect to forge a good rtionship with the Northern Sovereign thanks to Shun Long, and another thing to be under the protection of the Northern Sovereign''s city.
If the Northern Sovereign truly decided to protect the Holy sect, then the powers that would be able to offend them -even throughout the entire central region as a whole- wouldn''t be more than 20!
If the Holy sect had the protection of the Northern Sovereign previously, the youngdy of the ancient Bai n, Bai Liuxian, naturally wouldn''t have dared to be so brazen as to go to the Holy sect and grab any disciples that she wanted.
Seeing that the Northern Sovereign had already made her move, youngdy Niu sneered and shook her head, before she looked at Shun Long and said calmly
''''Shun Long, since you are the one who got the golden skeleton, then naturally I wouldn''t ask you to hand it over for free. How about this? As long as you hand over the skeleton to me, I will give you a million high-grade spirit stones in return. Additionally, your Holy sect will also be under the protection of my master from now on. I am sure you understand what this means.''''
The Grand Elder and the surrounding experts all sucked in breaths of cold air when they heard youngdy Niu''s offer, while a burst of cold killing intent erupted from the Northern Sovereign''s body.
Youngdy Niu''s offer was an insult to the Northern Sovereign, but youngdy Niu didn''t seem to mind in the slightest. As long as Shun Long chose to give the golden skeleton to her, youngdy Niu was certain that the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t be able to do anything.
Naturally, youngdy Niu''s confidence didn''t stem from her own strength or the strength of senior Feng next to her, but from her master''s own strength and reputation.
As long as Shun Long agreed to give the golden skeleton to her, then the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t dare to do anything or it would be no different from offending ''old freak Gao'' himself.
Additionally, youngdy Niu''s offer was much more appealing than the Northern Sovereign''s.
1 million high-grade spirit stones wasn''t a lot to someone like the Northern Sovereign or youngdy Niu who had an extremely powerful background, but to most early-stage Sovereign realm experts, it was an amount that they would need a very long time to gather and wouldn''t be able to toss it out so easily.
Even the Grand Elder of the Holy sect who was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor only had a little more than 200.000 high-grade spirit stones in his possession previously, so one could guess how difficult it was for a single person to gather a million high-grade spirit stones.
Of course, none of those experts present here today doubted youngdy Niu''s words.
In fact,pared to the promise of her master protecting the Holy sect, one million high-grade spirit stones were truly nothing inparison.
An expert like ''old freak Gao'' truly stood at the peak of this world, and the number of experts who would dare to offend could be counted on the number of fingers in a person''s hands.
Even the Northern Sovereign and her Northern Sovereign city were nothing in the eyes of someone like ''old freak Gao''!
Nodding his head, the red-haired Sovereign realm expert, senior Feng looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''''Kid, you should think carefully before you make your choice.''''
The experts around the Northern Sovereign, including the Grand Elder of the Holy sect himself, all remained silent as they watched this scene in front of them.
None of them knew what they would choose if they were in Shun Long''s shoes.
In hindsight, choosing to hand over the golden skeleton to ''old freak Gao'' was probably the better choice, but offending someone like the Northern Sovereign wasn''t wise either.
No matter what he chose, Shun Long was bound to offend one of those 2 behemoths either way.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem too flustered in the face of all of this.
Instead, he looked at senior Feng who was staring at him seriously, and without the slightest bit of shame on his face he said calmly
''''Golden skeleton? Senior, I have no idea what you are talking about.''''
It wasn''t just senior Feng, but the Northern Sovereign and the other experts who stared at Shun Long in disbelief.
Was he really trying to deny that the golden skeleton was in his possession?
''''Kid, don''t y with me! Do you take me for a fool? There is no way for the skeleton to disappear from the pce all by itself. Since it''s not in the Northern Sovereign''s possession, it can only be in your hands! Hand it over or don''t me this old man for what''s about to happen!''''
Chapter 744 - 744 Forceful Methods
Chapter 744 - 744 Forceful Methods
A burst of killing intent erupted from senior Feng''s body as he finished speaking, while his eyes stared at Shun Long dangerously like a viper that was about to strike.
It was one thing for Shun Long to be a talented junior that the Northern Sovereign looked at favorably, but if he was really intending to feign ignorance and tried to keep the golden skeleton for himself, there was no way that senior Feng would ept this.
Surprisingly, the Northern Sovereign didn''t berate senior Feng for his aggressive approach.
In her heart, the Northern Sovereign had started to feel slightly angry as well.
She had already approached Shun Long sincerely when she made her offer to him, but Shun Long himself didn''t seem to be willing to hand over the golden skeleton.
Although the Northern Sovereign looked at Shun Long favorably due to the unprecedented Heavenly Tribtion that he had just caused, the golden skeleton wasn''t something that she was willing to give up, no matter what.
If Shun Long really kept on denying that he had it in his possession, the Northern Sovereign would have to take it by force then.
If that happened, there was no way that she was going to let Shun Long live either.
After all, the talent that Shun Long had just showed had made even the Northern Sovereign somewhat wary.
In reality, the only reason why neither the Northern Sovereign or senior Feng had made their moves against him yet, was because the 2 experts wanted to rope Shun Long in and have him join them.
''''Kid, don''t make things difficult for this old man, or I won''t be able to protect you either. The golden skeleton is useless to you and will only bring you more danger, but to experts like senior Northern Sovereign, it''s a priceless treasure that they won''t give up. Isn''t it better to just give it up without conflict?'''' The Grand Elder had now started to sweat as he looked at Shun Long.
He was truly worried that Shun Long would get greedy and would keep trying to refuse to hand the golden skeleton over, thus angering the Northern Sovereign and senior Feng. By then, forget about the Grand Elder... even if the sect master of the Holy sect was here, even he wouldn''t be able to protect Shun Long from these 2 experts.
The Northern Sovereign nodded her head calmly as she waited for Shun Long to make his choice, but inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck sneered mockingly as he stared at the group of experts around Shun Long.
In Little ck''s eyes, even cultivators who were just a step away from ascending and bing true immortals couldn''t make better use of the skeleton than Shun Long.
After a moment of silence, Shun Long looked at the Grand Elder and shook his head before he said in an ''honest'' manner
''''Senior, it''s not that I am unwilling to help, but how can I hand over something that I don''t have?''''
Senior Feng''s face darkened even further when he heard Shun Long''s answer, while a displeased look had also appeared on the Northern Sovereign''s face.
It seemed that Shun Long was really bent on denying that he possessed the golden skeleton.
''''Brat, it looks like you won''t give up until you see your coffin. Do you really think that I won''t dare to kill you today?''''
Sensing the killing intent that wasing from senior Feng''s body, the Grand Elder shivered as he immediately took a step forward and appeared between Shun Long and senior Feng.
Waving his hands, the Grand Elder looked at senior Feng and said hurriedly
''''Senior, please wait! This is probably a misunderstanding!''''
Just as the Grand Elder was about to try and persuade Shun Long one more time to hand over the golden skeleton, an old man in violet robes who was standing behind the Northern Sovereign, looked at Shun Long and said in a calm voice that attracted everyone''s attention
''''What''s the point of wasting time like this? Whether that kid really has the golden skeleton or not... won''t we know after searching his spatial ring?''''
Senior Feng nodded his head coldly when he heard the old man''s suggestion, while the Northern Sovereign didn''t seem to object to this either.
Since Shun Long wasn''t willing to cooperate, no one was willing to waste their time like this.
Shun Long''s eyes narrowed as he looked at the experts surrounding him, as he then said in an unhappy tone
''''Fine! Since the seniors here don''t believe this junior, feel free to search my spatial ring. I hope that these seniors won''t really covet the treasures of a junior who has just broken through to the Dao King realm.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long removed the spatial ring from his hand and tossed it to senior Feng who extended his hand and caught it with a smile on his face.
At least Shun Long knew how to be sensible and choose the correct side.
The Grand Elder sighed when he saw this scene but he still exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly.
Although their Holy sect had a certain rtionship with the Northern Sovereign, at this point, this didn''t matter too much.
Whether they chose to give the golden skeleton to youngdy Niu or the Northern Sovereign was of secondary importance.
The most important thing was for Shun Long to cooperate so these experts would at least spare his life.
Seeing that Shun Long had tossed his spatial ring to the red-robed ''senior Feng'', a sharp look shed inside the Northern Sovereign''s eyes, but she still chose to remain silent in the end.
Although things would beplicated if youngdy Niu was the one who got the golden skeleton, the Northern Sovereign knew that as long as she was willing to go all-out, she would be the final winner today.
Senior Feng closed his eyes before he sent his soul sense inside the ck spatial ring in his hands in an expectant manner.
However, in the next moment, youngdy Niu who was standing next to senior Feng noticed that an ugly expression appeared on his face soon after, before his aura that was at the peak of rank 3 in the Sovereign realm exploded outwards, startling not just the Grand Elder, but the Northern Sovereign herself, as well as the rest of the surrounding experts inside the core region of the King''s Pce.
In the next moment, senior Feng''s soul sense covered not just the core region, but the entire King''s Pce itself, before his cold eyes stared at Shun Long with a look of unconcealed killing intent, as he then said in a cold voice
''''Brat, where is the golden skeleton?''''
Chapter 745 - 745 Senior Feng Making A Move
Chapter 745 - 745 Senior Feng Making A Move
Senior Feng''s angry shout had naturally surprised the experts around Shun Long, who all seemed to have realized what was going on.
Although Shun Long''s spatial ring did indeed contain some valuable treasures that could attract the attention of most Dao Emperor realm experts, including a peak 1-star weapon as well as 200.000 high-grade spirit stones, none of those were enough to pique the interest of a Sovereign realm expert like senior Feng.
''''It really isn''t there?'''' The Grand Elder stared at the ck spatial ring in senior Feng''s hands with a look of surprise on his face.
Nodding his head, senior Feng tossed the spatial ring to the Grand Elder with a cold look, while his eyes stared murderously at Shun Long who was standing in front of him.
The Grand Elder sent his soul sense inside it, only to see that the golden skeleton indeed wasn''t there.
''''Kid, where is the golden skeleton?'''' Seeing that Shun Long didn''t respond the first time, senior Feng asked him once again.
It didn''t matter if he denied it or not, senior Feng was certain that the golden skeleton was in Shun Long''s hands.
After all, Shun Long was the only one present inside the King''s Pce during his Heavenly Tribtion, otherwise, the heavens would have definitely struck anyone who dared to step foot inside the core region of the pce during that time.
Nobody, not even those experts who had surpassed the Sovereign realm would dare to casually go against the will of the Heavens and forcefully step foot inside the King''s Pce during someone''s Heavenly Tribtion!
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at the red-haired Sovereign realm expert in front of him and answered seriously
''''I told you that I don''t have the golden skeleton and yet you didn''t believe me. Senior, I already gave you my spatial ring, what else do you want?''''
''''Cut the crap! Who else could have obtained the skeleton during your Heavenly Tribtion other than you?''''
The Northern Sovereign and the surrounding experts all stayed silent when they heard this.
Indeed, ording to logic, Shun Long should be the one to have obtained the golden skeleton, but since there was no sign of it in his spatial ring, things didn''t make any sense.
The Northern Sovereign''s soul sense had covered the entirety of the King''s Pce by now, searching every nook and cranny within the King''s pce.
Even if Shun Long wanted to hide the skeleton inside another spatial ring and hid it somewhere else within the core region of the pce, it still wouldn''t be able to escape from the Northern Sovereign''s soul sense.
''''Could it be?'''' A terrifying thought shed inside the Northern Sovereign''s mind, as she suddenly remembered the 9 bolts of purple lightning that had appeared in the sky during Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion.
At the same time, senior Feng looked at Shun Long and said in a cold voice
''''Fine then! Since you refuse to answer honestly, I will obtain the answer from you myself!''''
Senior Feng''s body instantly disappeared from the spot he was standing on, bypassing the Grand Elder and arriving right in front of Shun Long with his right hand stretched forward.
The Grand Elder seemed to have realized what was going on, but he was simply too slow to react in time, causing his face to turnpletely pale when he saw the scene in front of him.
It was obvious that senior Feng was going to use his own soul sense and scan Shun Long''s soul and read his memories.
However, searching another cultivator''s soul was extremely dangerous, and it would often leave behind negative side effects that could harm a cultivator. In some cases, cultivators even ended up crippled after the process was finished.
''''Senior, please stop!''''
The Grand Elder shouted in a desperate voice, but senior Feng didn''t seem to care about his shout in the slightest, as his hand kept inching closer and closer towards Shun Long''s head.
It didn''t matter where the golden skeleton was, or even if it was in Shun Long''s possession in the first ce, senior Feng was confident that he would get his answer after soul-searching Shun Long.
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s bright blue eyes shed with a look of unrestrained killing intent as he stared at the red-haired Sovereign realm expert in front of Shun Long.
Although Little ck knew that he wasn''t strong enough to fight against a peak rank 3 Sovereign realm expert right now, and that revealing himself would most likely end with him dead, there was no way that he would simply stay and watch as Shun Long''s soul was forcefully being searched by the red-haired middle-aged man.
At that moment, Shun Long felt a dangerous feeling permeating his heart, as his spiritual sea started to surge wildly.
He hadn''t thought that he would be forced to use this move right after breaking through to the Dao King realm, but it seemed that senior Feng was hell-bent on searching his soul to obtain the answers he wanted.
At that moment however, just as the red-robed middle-aged man''s hand was about to touch Shun Long''s head, a jade-like hand seemed to have appeared out of thin air as it forcefully grabbed senior Feng''s wrist, locking his hand into ce.
It didn''t matter how much strength senior Feng put in his attack, his hand wouldn''t move an inch.
Senior Feng''s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the owner of this jade-like hand, before he asked in a cold voice
''''Northern Sovereign, what is the meaning of this?''''
The owner of this hand was no one else but the silver-robed Northern Sovereign, the only person present who could take care of senior Feng''s attack so easily.
The Northern Sovereign shook her head as she looked at senior Feng, before she answered calmly
''''Feng Qin, you should stay your hand.''''
-
Author''s note: Next chapter will be ready in the next 3-4 hours
Chapter 746 - 746 The Northern Sovereigns Answer
Chapter 746 - 746 The Northern Sovereign''s Answer
Seeing the stunned expression on senior Feng''s face, the Northern Sovereign took a deep breath before she continued
''''I am sure that you have already searched Shun Long''s body with your soul sense, as well as the rest of the King''s Pce by now. There is no spatial ring hidden on anywhere that could hold the golden skeleton... You should just give up.''''
Feng Qin sneered mockingly when he heard the Northern Sovereign''s words, before he answered in a confident manner
''''Give up? Why would I do that? Even if that kid really doesn''t have the golden skeleton, he is still the only clue we have. Searching his soul is the only thing that''s left to do. Lu Qigang, if you don''t want to do this you can simply move aside! I don''t need your help to do this!''''
The Northern Sovereign''s eyes narrowed when she heard Feng Qin''s way of addressing her.
The only people who were qualified to call the Northern Sovereign by her own name were only experts at the same level as her, or those whose status were even higher than her own.
As for Feng Qin, whether it was in terms of personal power or status, he was far inferior to the Northern Sovereign.
At that moment, the Northern Sovereign''s silky ck hair started to flow wildly in the air as her aura suddenly burst out from her body,pletely stunning Feng Qin, youngdy Niu, as well as the surrounding experts who were watching this scene.
The Northern Sovereign stared at Feng Qin with her cold brown eyes as her hand was still holding his wrist tightly, making Feng Qin''s face grimmace from the pain, before she spoke in amanding tone
''''Since you don''t seem to understand my words, then let me exin this in another way. Since Shun Long isn''t the one who has the golden skeleton, he is now under my protection and you are not allowed to touch him.''''
The Northern Sovereign then turned her gaze towards youngdy Niu before she continued coldly
''''I suggest you go back and report everything that happened today to your master.''''
The Northern Sovereign''s overbearing tone had startled both youngdy Niu and Feng Qin who stared at the Northern Sovereign with eyes filled with disbelief.
None of them understood why she would really choose to protect Shun Long instead of soul-searching him to obtain more information about the golden skeleton, but everyone present today understood, that if the Northern Sovereign was really hell-bent on protecting someone, nobody present could possibly harm that person.
Feng Qin stared at the Northern Sovereign silently for a few moments, before he nodded his head and turned to look at youngdy Niu next to him and said
''''Let''s go.''''
Since youngdy Niu had already finished her breakthrough and Feng Qin couldn''t search Shun Long''s soul, there was nothing else left for him to do within the King''s Pce.
It was better for him and youngdy Niu to go back and report everything to her master!
Youngdy Niu stared at Shun Long silently for a few moments before she nodded her head in response, as hers and Feng Qin''s bodies turned into 2 blurs that disappeared from the core region of the King''s Pce.
With the golden skeleton already gone, the ck thunderclouds around the King''s Pce had also started to disappear, as they slowly faded into nothingness, allowing Feng Qin to effortlessly fly out of the core region of the pce.
Shun Long was actually surprised that the Northern Sovereign would go against youngdy Niu and the red-robed Sovereign realm expert just to save him.
He had already prepared himself for the worst case scenario, but it seemed that the Northern Sovereign had something else in mind.
Indeed, after Feng Qin and youngdy Niu left, the Northern Sovereign turned her gaze towards Shun Long and said with a smile on her face
''''Come with me!''''
Shun Long didn''t have any chance to resist as the Northern Sovereign waved her hand, causing a gust of wind to envelop Shun Long''s body and carry him towards her.
Without any hesitation, the Northern Sovereign shot out of the core region of the pce with Shun Long and the Grand Elder following right behind her, leaving behind a stunned look of experts.
A few momentster, the Northern Sovereign slowed down after crossing a distance of more than 1000 miles, before she finally stopped, allowing Shun Long and the Grand Elder to regain their freedom to move.
The Grand Elder then looked at the Northern Sovereign before he asked curiously
''''Senior, what is going on?''''
The Northern Sovereign shook her head as she looked at the Grand Elder, before she turned her attention towards Shun Long and asked a question of her own
''''Kid, do you know why I saved you?''''
Shun Long was surprised by the Northern Sovereign''s sudden question. Indeed, he had no idea why she had chosen to help him.
Shaking her head, the Northern Sovereign then answered
''''Actually, after checking your spatial ring, Feng Qin already knew that you didn''t have the golden skeleton. After all, how could a newly advanced Dao King hide anything from a Sovereign realm expert like him? Even if you had stored the golden skeleton inside a spatial ring and had chosen to hide it somewhere else inside the King''s Pce, mine and Feng Qin''s soul sense would have discovered it long ago.
The reason why he was still insistent on searching your soul was actually just an excuse. Since you don''t have the golden skeleton in your possession, in Feng Qin''s eyes, there is only one other person who can have it, and that person is naturally me. After all, I was the first person to reach the core region of the King''s Pce after your Heavenly Tribtion ended.
After searching your soul and verifying that you didn''t have anything to do with the golden skeleton, Feng Qin would then try to me me.. Hehe, by then, it''s very likely that ''old freak Gao'' would learn about this and would try to hunt me down.''''
Chapter 747 - 747 The Northern Sovereigns Conclusion
Chapter 747 - 747 The Northern Sovereign''s Conclusion
''''Senior, isn''t this dangerous? I heard that ''old freak Gao'' is actually a peak expert who is just a step away from ascending and bing a true immortal. Won''t you be in danger if he reallyes after you?'''' The Grand Elder voiced out his concern as he stared at the beautiful silver-robed woman in front of him worriedly, while Shun Long was still processing the information he had just received from the Northern Sovereign.
No matter what, it was still unnatural that the Northern Sovereign would give up her search for the golden skeleton so easily.
Even though she knew that Shun Long didn''t have the skeleton in his possession, she should have known that if she let Feng Qin search his soul, it was very likely that they would be able to obtain some clues at the very least.
After all, the golden skeleton couldn''t have possibly vanished into thin air!
Shaking her head, the Northern Sovereign sneered as she looked at the Grand Elder, before she answered in a confident manner
''''Kang Wen, do you think that ''old freak Gao'' is as inexperienced as you are? Even if I really had the golden skeleton in my possession, he still wouldn''t dare to make trouble for me unless he is actually willing to fight with the Tianhuan dynasty.
After all, every single one of the 4 peak Sovereigns of the provincial cities are subordinates of the lord of the Tianhuan dynasty.
That old freak clearly knows the strength of the Tianhuan dynasty''s old ancestor, so unless it''s absolutely necessary, he wouldn''t dare to go all-out and attack my Northern Sovereign''s city or try to create any trouble for me.
After all, ''old freak Gao'' knows that if I really had the golden skeleton, even I wouldn''t dare to keep it for myself and that I would have to hand it over to the dynasty, or I would be chased down by all of those old monsters in the first ce.''''
The Northern Sovereign had a calm look on her face, looking like she wasn''t the slightest bit worried even when she was dealing with a peak expert who was just half a step away from bing a true immortal like ''old freak Gao''.
''''As for soul searching Shun Long... Feng Qin will soon understand that it was a mistake to even mention this in the first ce.''''
The Grand Elder was surprised when he heard this, but the Northern Sovereign simply smiled before she continued a momentter
''''That''s because Feng Qin didn''t use his brain at all.
Even an expert like ''old freak Gao'' would value Shun Long greatly after such a Heavenly Tribtion. After all, the talent that Shun Long has disyed just now is enough to alert even an old monster like him.
In reality, I am sure that even if I don''t say anything about it, even the lord of the Tianxuan dynasty will find out everything regarding today''s matters very soon. With Feng Qin trying to forcefully search Shun Long''s soul, it was no different thanpletely burning the bridge between Shun Long himself and ''old freak Gao''s'' side, which will undoubtedly make ''old freak Gao'' very angry.
After all, why would an expert like ''old freak Gao'' would want to offend someone with Shun Long''s talent? I suspect that it''s more likely that he would try to rope him in instead, and perhaps even take him on as a personal disciple!''''
The Grand Elder was startled momentarily before a cold shiver coursed through his body.
Naturally, the Grand Elder knew that the Holy sect would obtain many benefits if one of their disciples really entered the tutge of an expert like ''old freak Gao''.
However, would any of the benefits they obtained be enough to make up for the losses?
Naturally, the Grand Elder knew the answer, which was why he was so unwilling to let Shun Long be taken away by another power.
Most of the talented disciples in the Holy sect belonged to the powerful families and ns within the Holy sect''s territory in the first ce.
Naturally, those disciples had the interest of their ns first and not the Holy sect''s.
However, Shun Long didn''t belong to any of those families or ns.
This was part of why the Grand Elder valued him so much.
A talented disciple who could rival or even surpass Yang Hui in terms of talent had appeared, and he wasn''t a member of those powerful families! How could the Grand Elder not value him greatly?
However, if Shun Long was taken away by someone like ''old freak Gao'' and stayed with him for a few thousand years, would the 2 years that Shun Long has spent inside the Holy sect even amount to anything in the future?
Would Shun Long even care about the Holy sect by then?
Perhaps he would care slightly about it but he wouldn''t necessarily extend a hand to help if something serious happened.
''''Senior... then what about the golden skeleton?'''' After a moment of silence the Grand Elder asked in a curious tone.
The look inside the Northern Sovereign''s eyes instantly turned serious, as she looked at the Grand Elder and answered solemnly
''''The golden skeleton has most likely been snatched by someone else already. I also suspect that this person is an expert who is at least on par with ''old freak Gao'' and the old ancestor of the Tianhuan dynasty, and is probably on the cusp of bing a true immortal!
I suspect that he sneaked inside the core region of the King''s Pce just as the Heavenly Tribtion was about to end and snatched the golden skeleton away before he disappeared. He was probably what caused those 9 bolts of purple lightning to appear in the sky as well!
After all, purple lightning is the strongest lightning that can appear during the Heavenly Tribtion, and no matter how freakish Shun Long''s talent is, it''s impossible for him to summon 9 bolts of purple lightning during his breakthrough to the Dao King realm. However, if an extremely high-level expert sneaked inside the King''s Pce during that time, then it''s extremely likely that he would summon the wrath of the Heavens!
I believe that after Feng Qin mentions today''s matter to ''old freak Gao'', that old monster wille to the same conclusion as well.
... A person who can sneak into the core region of the King''s Pce during that Heavenly Tribtion and can even snatch the golden skeleton under everyone''s noses.... such a person is definitely a peak expert!''''
Chapter 748 - 748 Leaving The Kings Palace
Chapter 748 - 748 Leaving The King''s Pce
''''Hahaha! This little girl is so interesting!'''' A burst of loudughter resounded within the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', as Little ck stared at the solemn Northern Sovereign with an amused look inside his bright blue eyes.
Even though the Northern Sovereign''s conclusion was extremely logical, in the ck dragon''s eyes it was nothing but a joke.
After all, the golden skeleton''s figure was still lying on the ground just a few meters away from Little ck, where Little Silver was staring at it with a look of curiosity and fear in his deep yellow eyes.
Unlike Little ck, the ck panther felt an innate, deep sense of fear every time it turned to look at this golden skeleton. It was as if its instincts were screaming for it to get as far away as possible.
Of course, this was only natural.
The golden skeleton, even though it didn''t have any signs of life inside it, was still the corpse of a peak expert who had dominated the central region countless years ago. How could it be anything normal? Additionally, the golden skeleton had been struck by the bolts of purple lightning for countless years as it remained in the core region of the King''s Pce, making its aura even deadlier.
Naturally, a magic beast like Little Silver that had just reached the peak of rank 6 would feel an innate sense of fear towards it.
At the same time, a look of realization appeared on the Grand Elder''s face when he heard the Northern Sovereign''s words, while Shun Long chose to remain silent while a slightly puzzled look had also appeared on his face.
Although he hadn''t seen them by himself, Shun Long had already heard from Little ck about the 9 bolts of purple lightning that appeared in the sky during his Heavenly Tribtion.
But of course, he wasn''t going to let the Northern Sovereign know and had already decided to feign ignorance.
The Northern Sovereign didn''t find anything abnormal with Shun Long''s reaction, and after a brief moment of silence, she looked at him and asked smilingly
''''Shun Long, since you have already finished your breakthrough, do you want toe to my Northern Sovereign''s city?''''
The Northern Sovereign''s voice was warm and gentle like a spring breeze, instantly making anyone who heard it feel at ease.
Shun Long looked at the Northern Sovereign with a surprised look, as he hadn''t expected such a sudden invitation.
Since he had already finished his breakthrough and there was almost half a year left until the estimated time when the City of Immortals would open, Shun Long was actually nning to use this time to increase his cultivation, as well as practice the skills of a formation master.
However, from the Northern Sovereign''s warm tone, Shun Long understood that she was trying to strengthen her rtionship with him.
Since she had just stood up for him and helped him with Feng Qin, there was no reason for him to refuse either.
After thinking for a moment, Shun Long nodded his head and answered
''''Since senior is inviting this junior, I will naturally not decline. I simply hope that senior doesn''t mind if I bring my friends along as well.''''
The Northern Sovereign''s face bloomed like a flower, as she nodded her head and said magnanimously
''''Of course. Even if you want to bring the entire group of the Holy sect with you, I will still not mind.''''
The Northern Sovereign then waved her hand, summoning a gust of wind that surrounded Shun Long''s and the Grand Elder''s bodies, before she flew back towards the King''s Pce.
With the Northern Sovereign''s help, Shun Long located Liu Mei and the others extremely easily and saw that they were all making their way towards the core region of the King''s Pce.
The moment the Northern Sovereign appeared in front of them, Liu Mei and the others were all stunned momentarily as they instantly recognized the beautiful silver-robed woman in front of them, before their eyes all fell on Shun Long soon after.
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Brother Long!''''
Both Liu Mei and Xingyi called out with looks of relief on their faces as they flew towards Shun Long, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian smiled before they moved towards him as well.
After witnessing Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion, their group of 4 had all been worried restlessly about the results.
After all, the destructive force behind that crimson bolt of Heavenly Tribtion had been enough to stun even some powerful peak rank 9 Dao Kings who had yet to breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm!
Even though Shun Long was a monster himself and was unmatched by other Nascent Soul cultivators, it didn''t mean that he would be able to survive from that Heavenly Tribtion.
In face, even Liu Mei''s, Xingyi''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s Heavenly Tribtions allbined couldn''t match up to Shun Long''s in terms of how dangerous they were.
The Northern Sovereign smiled at the show of affection in front of her, as she saw Shun Long interacting with the group of 4 in front of him.
Liu Mei and Xingyi both walked up and hugged him tightly, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had clear smiles of relief on their faces.
''''Haha, brother Shun, I knew that you would make it. Even the Heavenly Tribtion wasn''t enough to harm you.'''' Bai Longtian''s voice was full of excitement as he joyfully patted Shun Long''s shoulder.
Jiang Chen didn''t say anything and simply nodded his head, but the sight of his lips curving upwards was enough to betray his good mood.
''''Is this everyone? If you are ready, then let''s go!'''' A momentter, the Northern Sovereign asked as she looked at Shun Long and the others. There was no reason for them to waste any more time in the King''s Pce.
Besides, the Northern Sovereign still had to make a report to the Tianxuan dynasty.
Seeing that she was in a hurry, Shun Long didn''t keep the Northern Sovereign waiting any longer.
Chapter 749 - 749 The 4 Provincial Cities
Chapter 749 - 749 The 4 Provincial Cities
Gusts of wind covered Liu Mei and the others a momentter, as they all started to fly towards the Northern Sovereign as well.
However, just as the Northern Sovereign was about to depart, the Grand Elder looked at her and said in a regretful tone
''''Senior, I have to lead the inner court Elders and the rest of the disciples back to the sect, so I can''te with you just yet, but I wille find Shun Long and the others in the Northern Sovereign''s city, half a year from now.''''
The Northern Sovereign seemed to have forgotten about this matter since she was preupied with the changes in the core region of the King''s Pce.
With the golden skeleton having disappeared from the core region of the pce, the ck thunderclouds around the King''s Pce had also started to vanish,
Although the aura of the Daos inside the King''s Pce was much weaker than before now that the golden skeleton had disappeared, it was still a treasure ground for cultivators who wanted toprehend their Daos.
Since the Grand Elder was responsible for the Holy sect''s group, he had to be the one to take them back to the sect as well. Otherwise, if the inner court Elders met with another ident like the snea attack of a powerful magic beast like the Wind wyrm, it was very likely that their entire group would perish without the Grand Elder''s help.
''''Alright, Kang Wen. I will see you in half a year.'''' The Northern Sovereign didn''t have any misgivings about leaving the Grand Elder behind as her body shot to the skies a momentter, carrying Shun Long and the others along with her as she flew out of the King''s Pce.
...
The Northern Sovereign was flying at a leisure pace, but her speed had already exceeded the Grand Elder''s ''Darkness Eagle'' by many times, covering arge amount of distance with every passing second, and in less than a day, the outline of an enormous city finally appeared on the horizon.
The Northern Sovereign slowed down her speed even further as she approached closer to the huge city that seemed to span for countless miles, before she turned to look at Shun Long and asked with a warm smile
''''Shun Long, do you know the history behind the 4 provincial cities of the central region?''''
''''4 provincial cities?'''' Shun Long shook his head since he was indeed unfamiliar with most of the powers of the central region.
Although the Grand Elder had mentioned the Northern Sovereign''s city and the other 3 cities in passing half a year ago, he hadn''t mentioned any special details about those cities.
He had only said that the Northern Sovereign''s city was the strongest power within the northern part of the central region, and that no other power could contend with it.
Even though there were rumored to be a couple more experts who weren''t much weaker than the Northern Sovereign herself, none of those experts could even think of shaking the Northern Sovereign''s city.
Shun Long was indeed slightly curious why that was the case.
The Northern Sovereign smiled even wider as she pointed at the city in front of her before she continued
''''Indeed. In each of the 4 parts of the central region, there are 4 provincial cities, namely the Northern Sovereign''s city, the Southern Sovereign''s city, the Eastern Sovereign''s city, and the Western Sovereign''s city.
As you can guess, those 4 cities are indeed all connected and each of the 4 cities is protected by a single city lord.
Each one of the 4 city lords is a peak Sovereign realm expert whose strength is nearly unmatched at the same level of cultivation, able to easily trump others with their strength and stand at the peak of the Sovereign realm.
Additionally, aside from the city lords, in every city, there are a dozen other Sovereign realm experts hidden as well, along with more than a thousand protective formations, all set by 2-star formation masters!
Heh, even if a peak Sovereign realm expert attacked my Northern Sovereign''s city while I am away, that person won''t have a chance to forcefully breakthrough the protective formations and enter inside.''''
Liu Mei and the others were all stunned when they heard the Northern Sovereign''s words.
Aside from the city lord, there were a dozen other Sovereign realm experts inside every city? The Holy sect itself was rumored to have just a single Sovereign realm expert, and that person was the mysterious sect master who had yet to show his face even once, and yet each of the 4 cities had a dozen Sovereign realm experts?
If one counted in the city lords as well, didn''t that mean that the 4 citiesbined had more than 50 Sovereign realm experts, 4 of whom were even at the peak of the Sovereign realm?
Additionally, what kind of concept were a thousand protective formations set by 2-star formation masters?
''''No wonder others don''t dare to challenge the Northern Sovereign''s city! With a thousand protective formations alone, even without a single Sovereign realm expert guarding it, it''s unlikely that anyone can forcefully break past the cities defenses and enter inside.''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long stared at the city in the distance with renewed interest.
Although his strength was nowhere near enough to let him carve a 2-star protective formation just yet, his knowledge was enough to let him at least analyze it.
The Northern Sovereign had a deep look in her eyes as she stared at the massive city in the distance, before she continued a few momentster
''''Although the 4 provincial cities are strong and are able to stand independently in the central region, there is actually an even stronger power behind them.
One of the 3 strongest powers in the entire central region... the Tianxuan dynasty!
Each of the 4 city lords, including myself, is in reality, a subordinate of the lord of the Tianxuan dynasty.
Shun Long, are you interested in joining my Northern Sovereign''s city and the Tianxuan dynasty?''''
Chapter 750 - 750 The Northern Sovereigns City
Chapter 750 - 750 The Northern Sovereign''s City
The Northern Sovereign''s sudden question took Liu Mei and the rest all by surprise.
The Northern Sovereign wanted to recruit Shun Long into the Tianxuan dynasty?
The silver-robed Northern Sovereign stared at Shun Long seriously, and without waiting for him to ept or reject her offer, she then continued
''''I will be blunt so listen carefully, because I will only exin this once.
After your Heavenly Tribtion, you are bound to attract the attention of countless people. Once news start to spread, even those old monsters like ''old freak Gao'' will start paying attention to you.
It would be one thing if you had actually died during your Heavenly Tribtion, but after surviving it, many of the strong powers in the central region will set their eyes on you, including those who stand at the very peak of the central region, like the 7 ancient ns, the Tianxuan dynasty, and the others.
Those powers will look at you favorably and will try to get you to join them since they will value your talent, but many of them will look at you hostilely as well.
After all, to some of those powers, you will most likely be a threat in the future if you keep on growing.
As far as I know, in the countless years of the central region''s existence, there has never been a Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had to face crimson lightning during their Heavenly Tribtion. Even those who faced a set of nine bolts of white lightning, including you, they actually number less than 10.
If you don''t obtain a backer, it''s likely that you will be killed by those powers before you get a chance to grow.
Unfortunately, the Holy sect doesn''t have the ability to protect you, which is why I am offering you to join my Northern Sovereign''s city.
Of course, you don''t have to answer right away. You can think about it for a few days. After all, there is at least half a year left until the opening of the City of Immortals.''''
Shun Long simply nodded his head without saying anything, while solemn looks appeared on Bai Longtian''s and the others'' faces.
Indeed, after today, there was no way that Shun Long would be able to remain unnoticed, even if he wanted to.
The Northern Sovereign didn''t bring the matter up again, as she kept flying towards the Northern Sovereign''s city in the distance.
A few momentster, she had already crossed the distance, as Shun Long and the others had all arrived above the massive city gates.
More than a hundred thousand cultivators along with many luxurious carriages were gathered in front of the city gates waiting to enter the city, but the moment the Northern Sovereign appeared and everyone sensed her aura, the city guards instantly stopped what they were doing and dropped on one knee as they all shouted respectfully
''''City lord!''''
The Northern Sovereign nodded her head coolly, as she took Shun Long and the rest and continued forward, entering inside the Northern Sovereign''s city.
Seeing the Northern Sovereign fly past the city gates, the guards stationed at the city walls started to discuss among themselves in hushed voices
''''The city lord is back already? I thought that the King''s Pce still had half a year left until it closed. Why is the city lord back already?''''
''''Could it be because of those 5 people? The city lord personally led them inside the city! Which power do they belong to?''''
At the same time, the moment she flew past the city gates, the Northern Sovereign slowed down her speed considerably, allowing Shun Long and the others to take a good view of the city.
Thousands of carriages wereing and going from the city gates at all times, while rich-looking merchants or groups of sturdily built cultivators seemed to be gathered around the city gates as well.
Shun Long''s group attracted quite a bit of attention as they flew inside the city, causing many powerful cultivators to turn their gazes towards them.
However, once those cultivators sense the Northern Sovereign''s terrifying aura, they immediately turned the other way, no longer bothering with them.
Although people weren''t allowed to fly inside the city, such a rule naturally didn''t apply to the city lord.
''''What do you think?'''' The Northern Sovereign asked with a smile on her face.
''''This city is indeed much bigger than the Holy city of the Holy sect. No, the two can''t even bepared.'''' Bai Longtian said as he took a look at his surroundings.
Shun Long nodded his head in agreement.
It wasn''t just the size of the city either.
As they flew around the city heading even deeper inside, Shun Long and the rest all noticed that Nascent Soul cultivators and Dao Kings seemed to be present everywhere, while Dao Emperors weren''t too rare either.
As Shun Long and the rest looked at their surroundings, the Northern Sovereign spoke in a confident voice
''''This is the biggest and most prosperous city throughout the entire northern part of the central region, my Northern Sovereign''s city!
As long as one has enough spirit stones, they are able to buy almost anything here, including peak rank 7 magic beasts and even some rank 8 ones!
You can take a look at the rest of the city by yourselvester.
For now, let''s go to my estate.''''
As soon as she finished speaking, the Northern Sovereign suddenly increased her speed, as she flew straight towards the heart of the city.
A minuteter, an enormous building that was more than 900 meters(2950ft) tall appeared in Shun Long''s and the rest''s vision.
Hundreds of silver-armored guards could be seen patrolling around it, while the words ''Sovereign''s estate'' were carved at the top of the building in a meticulous manner, making it seem like a work of art.
As soon as Shun Long''s group approached within 100 meters from the building, an old man in golden armor shot out from the building like a bolt of lightning, stopping right in front of the Northern Sovereign.
Chapter 751 - 751 The Sovereigns Estate
Chapter 751 - 751 The Sovereign''s Estate
''''City lord, you are back already?'''' The golden-armored old man asked in a surprised tone as he looked at the Northern Sovereign, before his eyes darted towards the group of 5 young people who were floating in the air behind her.
There was approximately half a year left until the King''s Pce closed, so the golden-armored old man was naturally stunned to see Lu Qigang return to the city so quickly.
This old man was had followed her for many years, but he had never seen the Northern Sovereign return from the King''s Pce ahead of time.
Nodding her head, Lu Qigang looked at the golden-armored old man and said calmly
''''Things have changed in the core region of the pce. Old Lin, you will learn about this soon enough as well. Hehe, even if I wanted to keep this matter under wraps, I wouldn''t be able to do so in the first ce.''''
Lu Qigang then turned around to look at Shun Long and the others before she continued
''''I have some things to take care of, so old Lin will be the one to show you to your courtyard. If you need anything, don''t hesitate to ask him. Other than me, he is the person with the most power inside my Sovereign''s estate!''''
Old Lin was stunned when he heard the casual tone that the Northern Sovereign used when she spoke to Shun Long and the rest.
Her voicecked the usual authority and coldness that she usually had when she spoke to others, and instead, it seemed like she was actually speaking to someone whom she considered her equal.
However, with his cultivation that was clearly in the Sovereign realm, how could old Lin not realize that the 5 people in front of him were just a bunch of newly advanced Dao Kings?
Even Sovereign realm experts like himself had to bow their heads in front of the Northern Sovereign, let alone a small group of Dao Kings.
''''City lord, are these guests really going to stay within the Sovereign''s estate?'''' After a moment of hesitation, old Lin couldn''t help but ask the Northern Sovereign, intending to make sure that he had understood her intentions.
Nodding her head, Lu Qigang said seriously
''''Naturally! Shun Long and his friends are my guests. Let them stay in the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' and havemander Quan personally protect them when they leave the Sovereign''s estate.''''
Although old Lin was surprised inwardly, on the outside he didn''t show any hesitation as he looked at the Northern Sovereign and bowed before he said respectfully
''''Understood, city lord!''''
Old Lin knew thatmander Quan was one of the Northern Sovereign''s personal guards, an extremely powerful expert at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm who was just a step away from breaking through to the Sovereign realm.
To have such an expert personally guard Shun Long and his group, it only served to show how much importance the Northern Sovereign ced on this matter.
As for the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', it was actually the second-best courtyard in the entire city, second only to the Northern Sovereign''s own courtyard!
To have Shun Long''s group stay there, old Lin naturally wouldn''t take this light-heartedly.
Nodding her head, the Northern Sovereign looked at Shun Long and the others and said with a smile
''''Feel free to tour around my Northern Sovereign''s city and have a look. I am sure that you will find plenty of interesting things that you have never seen before while you were in the Holy sect. For the next few days, I will be busy with the matters of the golden skeleton, but I wille and find with you for a chat once I am done.''''
''''Thank you, senior.'''' Shun Long and the others cupped their hands in thanks at the Northern Sovereign, who nodded her head before she disappeared on the spot.
''''Young lords, youngdies, please follow me.''''
The golden-armored old man then turned around, as he led Shun Long and his group deeper inside the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
As they walked deeper inside the Northern Sovereign''s estate, Shun Long and the others could see countless guards patrolling the interior of the estate.
The guards inside the estate were actually even more numerous than those who were guarding the outside, and even the weakest of them was at the peak rank 1 of the Dao King realm, while most of them were at thete stages of the Dao King realm instead.
There were actually plenty of those guards who had reached the Dao Emperor realm as well, surprising Shun Long and the others quite a bit.
In the Holy sect, the number of Dao Emperor realm experts didn''t even exceed 20 and every single Dao Emperor was an inner court Elder.
However, in the Northern Sovereign''s estate, Dao Emperors were only qualified to be just above most guards in terms of status.
A few minutester, the golden-robed old man stopped in front of a massive open silver gate, while the passionate shouts of guards could be heard from the inside.
Old Lin led Shun Long and the others past the silver gate before he said calmly
''''Young lords, youngdies, this is the training ground where the guards of our Sovereign estate spar with each other. Naturally, as the guests of our Sovereign, if the young lords and the youngdies are willing, you are wee to spar with any of the guards here at any time.''''
Seeing the provocative gazes that the guards were sending them, Jiang Chen and the others all stared at them with looks that were filled with fighting intent.
Unlike old Lin who knew that they were the Northern Sovereign''s guests, these guards thought that Shun Long and the others were new guards who were about to join them.
Even if Shun Long''s group was brought there personally by old Lin, those guards would only respect strength and nothing else.
A group of newly advanced early rank 1 Dao Kings would naturally be at the very bottom of the ranks among the Northern Sovereign''s guards.
Chapter 752 - 752
Chapter 752 - 752
At the same time, Shun Long also nodded his head calmly as he stared at the group of thousands of guards whose eyes seemed to be filled with fighting intent.
Indeed, sparring with the Northern Sovereign''s guards was probably going to be a good thing for him, as well as Liu Mei and the others, who had all just stepped foot into the Dao King realm a few days ago.
Although in terms of talent most of the guards should be probably inferior to the strongest disciples of the Holy sect, as the Northern Sovereign''s guards, their actual strength was definitely nothing to scoff at. Normal Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to take more than a few punches from them before they copsed on the ground.
Besides, with so many guards in this ce, Shun Long believed that there were going to be plenty of geniuses among them as well, some of whom would probably be even more talented than the strongest disciples of the Holy sect.
After all, the Northern Sovereign''s city was the most powerful city in the entire northern part of the central region.
How could the Northern Sovereign herself possiblyck talented people?
Even the Holy sect that gathered only the strongest geniuses from around its territory was nothing in front of a behemoth like the Northern Sovereign city!
A few momentster, the golden-robed ''old Lin'' led Shun Long and his group away from the training grounds, as they headed deeper inside the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
After walking for a while, a massive red building that was more than 300 meters(984ft) tall and was covered in hundreds of protective formations appeared in Shun Long''s and the rest''s eyes, while the scent of medicinal herbs seemed to be continuously wafting out from the wide-open wooden gates of the building, as it entered Shun Long''s and the rest''s noses.
The golden-robed old man, ''old Lin'' looked at Shun Long and the others and smiled, before he said in a proud tone
''''Young masters, youngdies, this is one of the most important buildings in our entire Sovereign''s estate, the ''Earth me tower''!
This tower was personally built by the lord of the Tianxuan dynasty countless years ago, and the protective formations around it are said to be on par even with the formations on top of the city walls.
There are 5 earth mes sealed inside the ''Earth me tower'', which the alchemists and the formation masters inside our Sovereign''s estate can use when they need to refine difficult pills, inscribe powerful formations, or refine star-rank weapons.
Naturally, if the young masters and youngdies wish to, you are also free to visit the ''Earth me tower'' at any time. Normally, if someone wants to use the earth mes inside the tower, they will have to pay 50.000 middle-grade spirit stones, but since the young masters and the youngdies are guests of the city lord, you will be able to enter the tower free of charge.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he kept staring at the gigantic red building in front of him. Of course, he wasn''t surprised by how heavily the ''Earth me tower'' was guarded. After all, with 5 earth mes sealed inside, the Northern Sovereign would have to be a fool to not protect the tower seriously.
At the same time, after breaking through to the Dao King realm, Shun Long could now identify with just a nce, that most of the formations around the tower seemed to be peak 1-star protective formations, while plenty among them had even reached the 2-star rank. Additionally, a group of crimson-armored guards were also guarding the wooden gates of the tower, not allowing anyone to step any closer to the entrance without permission.
Every single one of those guards had an aura that was even stronger than the aura of peak Dao Kings, and had clearly reached the Dao Emperor realm already.
And yet, Shun Long was certain that this wasn''t everything that the ''Earth me tower'' had to offer in terms of defense.
Even in the Holy sect, the Refinement Hall was personally protected by Xingyi''s master, a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor, Elder Mao Jing. It was very likely, that the defenses inside this tower would be even more terrifying than what was shown on the surface.
''''There should be at least a single peak Dao Emperor who is guarding this tower in secret. Perhaps there could even be a Sovereign realm expert hidden inside, to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Of course, it''s unlikely that anyone will dare to cause trouble inside the Northern Sovereign''s estate in the first ce, but it wouldn''t harm the Northern Sovereign to be careful.'''' Shun Long thought inwardly as he stared at the 6 crimson-armored Dao Emperors who were standing guard in front of the gates.
The golden-robed old man, ''old Lin'' smiled as he looked at Shun Long who seemed to be intrigued by the ''Earth me tower'', before he waved his hand, taking out a pitch-ck token from his spatial ring and handed it to him, as he continued a momentter
''''Young master, this is my personal token. As long as you show it to the guards here, you will be able to freely enter inside the tower whenever you want to. It may also prove to be useful to you when you tour through the city.''''
Shun Long thought seriously for a bit before he cupped his hands at the old man and epted his token.
No matter what, since he was going to spend the next 6 months inside the Northern Sovereign''s estate, aside from researching formations, he would also have to refine quite a few pills, so he would have to visit this ''Earth me tower'' quite a few times.
Naturally, ''old Lin''s'' token would end uping in handy in such cases.
With a smile on his face, old Lin looked at Shun Long and the others and continued
''''Young masters, I will take you to meetmander Quan Lin. After that, you can go and have a look around the city if you want.. If this is your first time in the Northern Sovereign''s city, I am sure that you will find plenty of interesting things here. Hehe, whether you want to have some fun with thedies inside the ''Hundred flowers pavilion'', visit the Dao Tower, or just tour through the shops and look for some things to buy, the city will definitely not disappoint you!''''
Chapter 753 - 753 Southern Dragons Courtyard
Chapter 753 - 753 Southern Dragon''s Courtyard
''Old Lin'' had a knowing smile on his face as he looked at Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, and said the words ''Hundred flowers pavilion''.
In his eyes, every single young master who visited the Northern Sovereign''s city, as long as they had enough spirit stones with them, would definitely visit the ''Hundred flowers pavilion'' at least once.
Aside from thepany of the beautiful women that those young masters could enjoy there, the ''Hundred flowers pavilion'' was said to be the best restaurant in the entire city as well.
Additionally, the wine sold in that ce, the ''Hundred flowers wine'', was also the best wine in the entire city, while its recipe was only something that the owner of the pavilion had in her hands.
Sensing Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s gazesnding on his back, ''old Lin'' smiled and coughed dryly before he led their group deeper inside the estate.
An hourter, ''old Lin'' finally stopped walking, as he brought Shun Long and the others in front of the gates of a massive courtyard.
''Old Lin'' then turned around to look at Shun Long and the others and said in a confident manner
''''Young lords, youngdies, other than the city lord''s own courtyard, this is the best courtyard in our Sovereign''s estate, the Southern Dragon''s courtyard.
To enter the courtyard you can just use my personal token. All you have to do is simply inject some of your qi inside it, and the barriers around the courtyard will be lifted, allowing you to enter inside. Of course, other than the young masters, no one else will be able to step foot inside the courtyard without your permission, including peak Dao Emperors and even Sovereign realm experts.''''
Shun Long nodded his head after hearing ''old Lin''s'' words, before he sent some of his qi inside the pitch-ck token that he had received from him earlier.
The token in his hands didn''t seem to have any particr reaction after Shun Long injected his qi inside it, but the restrictions around the courtyard started to retreat a momentter.
Even without old Lin saying anything, Shun Long could clearly see that the protective formations around the courtyard were either peak 1-star or even 2-star protective formations. Although they couldn''tpare to the protective formations around the city walls or the ''Earth me tower'', they were enough to easily keep even a peak Dao Emperor like the Grand Elder of the Holy sect at bay.
Unless a 2-star formations master or an expert at the Northern Sovereign''s level attacked it, it would be almost impossible for the protective formations around the courtyard to break in a short amount of time!
Turning around, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei and the others and said calmly
''''Since the Northern Sovereign has prepared this courtyard for us, let''s have a look inside.''''
Taking a step forward, Shun Long then pushed the courtyard''s iron gates open, as he led Liu Mei and the rest inside.
As soon as their group stepped past the gates and entered the courtyard, a wave of extremely pure qi assaulted Shun Long and his group, momentarily stunning them all for a few seconds.
The qi inside the Southern Dragon''s courtyard was so pure and dense, that even the courtyards of the inner court Elders'' back in the Holy sect couldn''tpare to it in the slightest.
''''This... how can the qi in this ce be so pure?'''' Xingyi mumbled in a voice filled with disbelief as she stared at her surroundings with a stunned look.
Indeed, it wasn''t just the qi in the air itself, but even the trees around Shun Long and the others, and even the des of grass on the ground, that had clearly been imbued with the pure qi inside this courtyard.
Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, Xingyi, and even Liu Mei, all took a deep breath as they absorbed the qi around them.
''''A peak 2-star ''Qi gathering formation'' that was most likely set up by a 3-star formation master and is constantly using high-grade spirit stones... no wonder that old man said that this courtyard is the best after the Northern Sovereign''s own courtyard.''''
Shun Long said to himself as he stared at the nearly transparent runes that were engraved on the ground below him.
As an alchemist, Shun Long had a general idea of how rare 3-star alchemists and formation masters really were.
A 3-star formation master... even if such a person was slightly inferior to the Northern Sovereign in terms of direct strength, their status would most likely not be inferior to the Northern Sovereign''s in the slightest.
''''The cost of inviting that person to create this ''Qi gathering formation'' and even use so many high-grade spirit stones... the Northern Sovereign really didn''t hold back.''''
Of course, although the qi inside the Southern Dragon''s courtyard was ideal for Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, who all needed pure qi to advance faster now that they were cultivating in ''immortal-grade cultivation techniques'', Shun Long didn''t hold it in high regard.
Even though the ''Qi gathering formation'' in this ce was created by a 3-star formation master ording to what Shun Long could see, the qi in this ce was still much inferiorpared to the qi produced by the Heaven Swallowing vine when it absorbed high-grade spirit stones.
After taking a look around the courtyard for a while and seeing that there were more than 10rge rooms, Shun Long was about to turn around and head back to the entrance of the courtyard, when he suddenly sensed the ck token in his hands tremble before an image appeared in his mind.
Outside the courtyard''s gates, a silver-armored middle-aged man with short spiky hair seemed to be waiting next to ''Old Lin'', as he stared at the courtyard in front of him with a curious gaze.
The silver-armored middle-aged man'' looked at ''old Lin'' next to him a momentter and asked in a bewildered tone
''''General, is there a reason why you summoned me here?''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 754 - 754
Chapter 754 - 754
Old Lin nodded his head as he stared at the middle-aged man in silver armor in front of him and answered seriously
''''Naturally, I wouldn''t call you here for no reason. Commander Quan, there are some guests that the city lord has personally invited here, and as per the city lord''s instructions, you will be the one to protect them while they stay in our city.''''
''''Protect?'''' The silver-armored middle-aged man, Quan Lin mumbled, as he stared at ''old Lin'' with a look of surprise on his face.
Although there had been cases in the past where certain powerful people were invited in the Sovereign''s estate by the Northern Sovereign herself, there had never been a case where an exalted peak Dao Emperor like Quan Lin would be assigned to personally protect those people.
Besides, most people who were invited to the Sovereign''s estate as guests, would usually be extremely powerful individuals who had no need for protection in the first ce.
At most, a group of peak Dao Kings would be instructed to follow them around, in case someone was blind enough to offend them.
''''Since the city lord has personally said this, I will naturally follow her orders. General Lin, can you tell me if there is something special about those guests?''''
Shaking his head, the golden-armored old man, ''old Lin'' looked at the entrance of the Southern Dragon''s courtyard in front of him and said calmly
''''I don''t know much about this matter either. The city lord just returned from the King''s Pce today and told me to take care of this issue. If you want to know more about this, you can only ask the city lord herself.''''
Nodding his head, the silver-armored Quan Lin didn''t say anything else and simply stared at the entrance of the Southern Dragon''s courtyard as well, curious to see what kind of guests could warrant so much attention from the Northern Sovereign that she would send a peak Dao Emperor like him to protect them.
In reality, even if Quan Lin waspared to someone like the Grand Elder of the Holy sect, he would still be slightly stronger in terms of strength and he was half a strp away from breaking through to the Sovereign realm. It was no wonder that he was surprised after he was asked to personally guard a group of guests.
At the same time, inside the Southern Dragon''s courtyard, Shun Long stared at the ck token in his hands for a few more moments with a smile on his face, before he turned his attention back towards Jiang Chen and the rest and said calmly
''''I''m going to have a look around the city for a bit and see if there is anything to buy. After that, I''m nning to leave for a few months.''''
''''Leave the city?'''' Bai Longtian and the rest were all surprised when they heard this.
''''Brother, where are you going?'''' Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and asked curiously a momentter.
As far as Jiang Chen and the others werr aware, ever since Shun Long had entered the Holy sect, aside from cultivating or when they werepleting missions, Shun Long had spent his entire time within the sect.
Shun Long''s lips curved up into a big smile as he looked at Jiang Chen and the others before he answered calmly
''''I am going to a city called Murong city for a few days. There are some treasures hidden outside the city, and it''s finally time to go get them. It shouldn''t take too long for me toe back. I should be back in less than 2 months.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes suddenly lit up when she heard the words ''Murong city''.
She knew that before she and Shun Long entered the Holy sect, they had obtained Huo Wuyi''s treasures from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' back in the Night star continent, and she also knew that Huo Wuyi had buried the rest of it outside Murong city.
In the past, Shun Long didn''t have a chance to go to Murong city and he also didn''t have any idea how strong the Murong family really was... but now things were different.
Not only had he broken through to the Dao King realm by now, but Little Silver had also reached the peak of rank 6, while Little ck had reached the middle rank 7 and was strong enough to fight most peak Dao Emperors.
Only peak Dao Emperors like the Grand Elder could possibly threaten him, but even then, at least in terms of speed even a peak Dao Emperor like the Grand Elder was vastly inferior to him.
Besides, after breaking through to the Dao King realm, Shun Long was also extremely confident in his ability to survive.
Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi didn''t ask anything else as they simply nodded their heads. Since Shun Long was nning to leave, the best thing they could do was try to find ncrease their cultivation as much as possible during this time. After all, there was less than half a year left until the estimated opening of the legendary City of Immortals.
A few momentster, Shun Long''s group of 5 appeared back in the entrance of the Southern Dragon''s courtyard, where ''old Lin'' andmander Quan were both waiting for them.
Commander Quan Lin''s eyes instantly started to inspect the group of 5 young people in front of him curiously without speaking.
For the Northern Sovereign to take an interest in 5 newly advanced Dao Kings, there had to be something extremely special about them.
At the same time, the golden-armored old man, ''old Lin'' looked at Shun Long and the others and gestured towards the silver-armored man next to him and said
''''Young lords, youngdies, this is Commander Quan, the most powerful of the 12manders of our city. He will personally protect you while you stay here.''''
Commander Quan stared at Shun Long and the others for a few moments, before he nodded his head and said
''''Young lords, my name is Quan Lin. If you wish to leave the Sovereign''s estate and tour through the Northern Sovereign''s city, you should first talk to me about it.''''
Shun Long didn''t object since he knew that these were the Northern Sovereign''s arrangements, and after a moment of thinking he said
''''Commander Quan, we are nning to take a look around the city. Is there a ce where we can get a detailed map of the central region?''''
Chapter 755 - 755 Priceless Map
Chapter 755 - 755 Priceless Map
''''A detailed map of the entire central region?'''' Both ''old Lin'' andmander Quan looked at Shun Long with surprised looks, beforemander Quan shook his head and answered seriously
''''Young master, if you want a detailed map of the entire central region, I''m afraid that would be impossible, unless you can visit one of thergest cities in the center of the central region like the Tianxuan city.
Although our Northern Sovereign''s city is thergest city in the northern part of the central region, in reality, the central region as a whole is simply too big, making it nearly impossible to map it all.
Only the strongest powers who stand at the peak of the central region like the Tianxuan dynasty can possibly have a detailed map like that.
But of course, if young master simply wants a detailed map of the northern part of the central region, then that requirement would be easy to fulfill.''''
As he finished speaking, Quan Lin took out arge map from his spatial ring and handed it to Shun Long before he continued
''''This map is many times more detailed than the ones that you can normally buy at therge shops around the city. Since the young masters are guests of our city lord, you can consider this a gift from me.''''
Shun Long didn''t decline Quan Lin''s offer, as he nodded his head and epted the map.
At that moment, Shun Long suddenly realized that he hadn''t ced enough importance on getting a map of the central region. Since he had spent the past 2 years within the Holy sect''s territory, there was no reason for him to look for a detailed map earlier either, which was why he didn''t know how rare such a map really was.
Unfurling the map in his hands, Shun Long started to inspect it seriously a momentter, while his eyes took in the countless names that were written down on the map in great detail.
''''White ice city: First-rate power, 6 Sovereign realm experts.''''
''''Lord Zhu''s garden: First-rate power, 4 Sovereign realm experts.''''
''''ck mist valley: First-rate power, 5 Sovereign realm experts.''''
...
''''Holy sect: First-rate power, 1 Sovereign realm expert.''''
''''Zhong city, Zhong n: First-rate power, 1 Sovereign realm expert.''''
Indeed, not only had Quan Lin''s map recorded down the name of every single power in the northern part of the central region and their location, but it even contained the number of Sovereign realm experts who were standing behind every power.
As Shun Long''s gazended on the name ''Zhong n'', he quickly remembered the time when his faction was returning back to the Holy sect from the ''Blue star continent''.
Back then, while they were flying past the Zhong city, Jiang Chen''s father, Jiang Tianfang had said that the old ancestor of the Zhong n was close to breaking through to the Sovereign realm, but whether he had seeded in his breakthrough or not was actually uncertain.
However, based on the information on Quan Lin''s map, the Zhong n indeed had a Sovereign realm expert behind them, which meant that their old ancestor must have most likely seeded.
Quan Lin seemed to have noticed that Shun Long was staring at the Zhong n and said calmly
''''Young master, please keep in mind that those powers who only have a single Sovereign realm expert behind them, are only considered to have barely reached the rank of first-rate powers in our northern part of the central region. In reality, if they werepared to the strongest powers like the ''White ice city'' or the ''ck mist valley'', then those powers would only be considered to be second-rate powers at best.
However, under the city lord''smands, every power that has a Sovereign realm expert behind them, even if they are a newly advanced Sovereign realm cultivator, will then be considered to be a first-rate power.''''
Liu Mei and the others were all stunned momentarily after hearing Quan Lin''s words, but they soon realized that it made sense.
Indeed, the only reason why the Holy sect could stand tall in the first ce and suppress the countless powers in its territory like the Yang n, to the point that they would not dare to rebel, was all thanks to the sect master of the sect who was a Sovereign realm expert.
But of course, to an expert like Quan Lin who was amander in the Northern Sovereign''s army and his own cultivation was just a step away from reaching the Sovereign realm, powers like the Zhong n were nothing important in his eyes.
Only the strongest powers like the ''White ice city'' and the ''ck mist valley'' were powerful enough to warrant his attention.
Shun Long didn''t pay much attention to Quan Lin''s ''subtle'' bragging, as his gaze was still focused on the map in front of him.
It wasn''t abnormal for someone like Quan Lin to look down on those ''first-rate powers'', but Shun Long understood that Quan Lin didn''t really look down on the Sovereign realm experts behind those powers.
After all, those Sovereign realm experts had all been recognized to be strong enough by the Northern Sovereign herself.
A few momentster, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly narrowed as his gazended on a city that was located a good distance away from the Northern Sovereign''s city and was close to the edge of the northern part of the central region itself, as the information about that power entered his eyes
''''Murong city, Murong family: First-rate power, 2 Sovereign realm experts!''''
Shun Long''s eyes didn''t linger on Murong city for too long, certain that ''old Lin'' ormander Quan would notice this anomaly, and after taking a quick look at the rest of the powers on the map, Shun Long turned his attention towards Quan Lin and said
''''Commander Quan, I want to buy and sell a few medicinal herbs. What is the best ce in the city to do so?''''
Quan Lin wasn''t surprised by Shun Long''s question as he nodded his head and answered without any hesitation
''''If the young master is interested in buying rare medicinal herbs, you should visit the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' or the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.. The ''Myriad pills pavilion'' isn''t far from our Sovereign''s estate either.''''
Chapter 756 - 756 Third Floor Of The Myriad Pills Pavilion
Chapter 756 - 756 Third Floor Of The ''Myriad Pills Pavilion''
''''Young lords, if you don''t have anything else to do right now, let me lead the way to the ''Myriad pills pavilion''. Coincidentally, I also have something to talk about with the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' vice pavilion master.'''' Quan Lin continued a momentter as he stared at Shun Long and the others.
With his experience, how could Quan Lin not notice that the one who was leading the group in front of him was the spiky-haired young man with short ck hair?
After a moment of thinking, Shun Long nodded his head towards Quan Lin and said
''''We will have to troublemander Quan to lead the way then.''''
Quan Lin had a friendly smile on his face as he waved his hand, indicating that he didn''t mind, as he led Shun Long and the others outside of the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
The truth was that Quan Lin himself was also curious about the group of newly advanced Dao Kings that could attract the Northern Sovereign''s attention.
As the strongest of the 12manders in the Northern Sovereign''s army, Quan Lin was someone who answered directly to the Northern Sovereign herself.
Even the golden-armored old man, ''old Lin'' wasn''t qualified to order him to do anything, let alone ask him to guard a group of Dao Kings. This by itself was enough to indicate how high Quan Lin''s status within the Northern Sovereign''s estate was.
For an expert like him to y the role of a bodyguard, it was indeed out of the ordinary, making Quan Lin extremely curious about the people that the Northern Sovereign had told him to protect.
''''Eh? Look! Is thatmander Quan? Who are those people behind him? Could it be new soldiers?''''
''''Wait! I saw those people earlier following general Lin. Don''t tell me that they are joiningmander Quan''s squad!''''
Quan Lin leading the way for Shun Long and his group ended up attracting the attention of many of the surrounding soldiers, who soon started to whisper among themselves.
Since Shun Long''s group didn''t have any powerful expert guarding them, none of the soldiers within the Northern Sovereign''s estate even entertained the thought that a group of early-stage Dao Kings could possibly be guests of the Northern Sovereign herself.
Even the thought that Shun Long and the others were going to join Quan Lin''s squad, one of the most powerful squads in the Northern Sovereign''s army, was already far-fetched in the soldiers'' minds.
Unfortunately, neither Shun Long and the others, nor Quan Lin himself seemed interested in exining anything to these soldiers.
As Quan Lin led Shun Long''s group through the busy streets of the Northern Sovereign''s city, Shun Long and the others noticed quite a number of powerful peak Dao Kings and even Dao Emperors who all seemed to be heading in the same direction as them.
While most of the Dao Kings were walking on foot like Shun Long, Bai Longtian and the rest, most Dao Emperors were sitting inside luxurious carriages that were led by powerful magic beasts.
Even the weakest of those magic beasts was a peak rank 6 beast, while there was nock of even middle rank 7 magic beasts among them.
Quan Lin was the only Dao Emperor who seemed to be walking on foot, making him the odd one out, but as the surrounding cultivators noticed the silver armor he was wearing and the insignia on his chest, everyone subconsciously made way for him to pass.
Naturally, even if one put aside the fact that Quan Lin was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor, an expert who was considered rare even in the Northern Sovereign''s city, the fact that Quan Lin was amander of the Northern Sovereign''s army was enough to inspire awe and fear into the eyes of most cultivators.
After all, within the Northern Sovereign''s city, nobody dared to offend amander of the Northern Sovereign''s army.
A little more than an hourter, Quan Lin''s footsteps suddenly came to a halt, as he arrived in front of the entrance of a massive building that was shaped like a cauldron.
This building was more than 100 meters(330ft) tall and 150 meters(492ft) wide, with thousands of cultivatorsing and going from its entrance at all times.
''''Young lords, youngdies, this is the biggest pill shop in the entire city, the ''Myriad pills pavilion''. I have to admit that even our ''Sovereign''s estate'' and the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' are slightly inferior to the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' when ites to concocting pills.
However, the items on the first and second floors are stillmon ones. If you want to buy rare pills or medicinal herbs, it''s best for us to head straight for the third floor instead.''''
As Shun Long''s group stepped past the entrance of the pavilion and entered inside, Quan Lin exined calmly as he headed directly for the next floor, not paying even the slightest bit of attention to the items on the first floor.
With just a brief nce, Shun Long noticed that the pills on the first floor were all middle-grade or high-grade rank 4 pills, with a few top-grade rank 4 pills mixed in as well. At the same time, the medicinal herbs sold here were all rank 4 herbs.
It seemed as if the first floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' was made purely for Spirit realm cultivators to do business.
It was no wonder that Quan Lin would choose to skip this floor without even paying attention to the pills and medicinal herbs here.
Rank 4 medicinal herbs would be useless even for Dao Kings, let alone a peak Dao Emperor like Quan Lin.
As soon as they stepped foot on the second floor, Liu Mei and the others realized that this ce was filled with countless rank 5 pills and medicinal herbs.
The pills and medicinal herbs on this floor were actually even more numerous than those on the first floor.
Even pills that were extremely hard to find in the Holy sect like the ''Barrier-piercing pill'', were sold in bulk here.
However, Quan Lin didn''t pay any attention to the pills and medicinal herbs on the second floor either, as he headed straight for the third floor instead.
And yet, the moment that they stepped foot on the third floor, Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the others were all stunned when they noticed that something was differentpared to the previous 2 floors of the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
The moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on this stunning scene in front of him, a creepy smile that oozed of greed subconsciously formed itself on his lips.
Chapter 757 - 757 Third Floor Of The Myriad Pills Pavilion (2)
Chapter 757 - 757 Third Floor Of The ''Myriad Pills Pavilion'' (2)
A momentter, Shun Long quickly suppressed the smile on his face and kept staring at the scene in front of him.
Not only did the third floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' have plenty of rank 6 pills and medicinal herbs for sale, but it even had some ''empty'' counters where certain white-robed old men and women were sitting behind them.
Surprisingly, those counters were the most popr ones on the third floor, as people had queued up in front of them, forming extremely long lines.
However, Shun Long''s eyes were focused on the words above each of those counters, which made his eyes lit up once again.
''''Rank 2 gold-grade alchemist, Yan Feng. Able to refine low and middle rank 6 pills. Price per refinement: 40.000 middle-grade spirit stones.''''
''''Rank 3 gold-grade alchemist, Shi Tai. Able to refine middle and high-grade rank 6 pills. Price: 100.000 middle-grade spirit stones.''''
''''Peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemist, Huang Ming. Able to refine high-grade pills with 80 percent certainty. Price: 180.000 middle-grade spirit stones.''''
...
''''Commander Quan, are these alchemists all from the ''Myriad pills pavilion''?'''' Bai Longtian asked in surprise, as he, Liu Mei, and the others, all stared at the scene on the third floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' in front of them.
There were more than 100 rank 2 and rank 3 gold-grade alchemists on this floor, and almost all of them had long lines in front of their counters, with many cultivators lined up to reach them.
The vast majority of those cultivators were Dao Kings, while a few Nascent Soul stage cultivators were also mixed in among them.
Shaking his head,mander Quan looked at Bai Longtian and answered seriously
''''Of course not. Although the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' has many gold-grade alchemists, how could they have more than 100 of them who are so free that they have nothing else to do? If that was the case, our Northern Sovereign''s estate and the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' wouldn''t even have a chance topete with the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' in this regard.
The alchemists here are all alchemists who are working by themselves, and most of them are rogue, or they belong to some of the smaller powers in our Nothern Sovereign''s city.
However, since refining pills is so profitable, many of them choose to set up stalls within the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.'''' Commander Quan''s voice wasced with hints of envy as he stared at the numerous stalls around him.
It didn''t matter if one was a Spirit realm cultivator or a Dao Emperor realm expert, everyone would need the help of an alchemist at some point in their lives.
This was why alchemists could charge exorbitant prices to refine pills and no one would bat an eye.
After all, one could earn back spirit stones, but they couldn''t get back those years in their lives that they spent on training when they could have advanced even faster by consuming pills.
''''Interesting. So the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' doesn''t care that these alchemists are stealing its business?'''' Jiang Chen asked a momentter as he looked at the hundreds of counters around him.
Without question, the counters of the rogue alchemists were the most popr ones, attracting more than half of the cultivators on the third floor.
Commander Quan smiled and shook his head when he heard Jiang Chen''s question, before he answered in a slightly derisive manner
''''Hehe, young master, do you think that the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' would do something that would hurt their business? How could those old fools possibly let anyone steal their business under their noses? This is actually even more beneficial to the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' as a whole.
Firstly, the pavilion doesn''t let those rogue alchemists put their stalls there for free, as it will always take a 20 percentmission from them with every purchase.
Additionally, the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' has its own gold-grade alchemists who are refining rank 6 pills. Why would any of the cultivators here pay those rogue alchemists tens of thousands of spirit stones while also providing them with the medicinal herbs they need for the pills they want to refine and even risk the chance for the pill concoction to fail, when they can just buy the pills from the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' directly?''''
Looks of realization appeared on Jiang Chen''s and the others'' faces when they heard this asmander Quan then continued
''''Naturally, they won''t! They will only employ the services of those alchemists only if they can''t purchase the pills they need from the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' directly.
As for those pills that have an extremely low sess rate, why would the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' possibly risk refining them themselves while losing those expensive medicinal herbs in the process?
They will instead be extremely happy to let those cultivators purchase these medicinal herbs from them and let those alchemists try their hands on them.
Even if the pill concoction is a failure, the pavilion doesn''t lose anything from it since they will have already sold the medicinal herbs to those cultivators, and they will even take a 20 percent cut from the alchemists.
The ones who take all the risks are the cultivators who need those pills!''''
Shun Long''s lips curved up as he stared at the counters around him before he said smilingly
''''This way, not only does the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' boost its business since they attract more cultivators, but the more sessful alchemists make a killing after building their reputation since more people will choose to buy their pills.''''
Commander Quan nodded his head calmly, and after taking a brief look at the third floor, he looked at Shun Long and the others and said
''''Young masters, I need to meet the vice pavilion master. If you finish your business here, pleasee find me on the 5th floor.''''
As he finished speaking,mander Quan cupped his hands at Shun Long and the rest, before his figure disappeared on the spot.
Chapter 758 - 758 Emptying The Third Floor
Chapter 758 - 758 Emptying The Third Floor
Even thoughmander Quan tried to hide it, it was clear to everyone that he was overly anxious about meeting the vice pavilion master on the 5th floor.
''''Brother, what do you want to do?'''' Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and asked curiously a momentter after taking a look at his surroundings.
Although they had all chosen to apany Shun Long in this ce, neither Jiang Chen, nor Liu Mei and the others were interested in buying any pills from the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Whether it was ''anti-toxin pills'', ''Qi refinement pills'', or any other kind of pills, their spatial rings had all been filled to the brim before they had even left the Holy sect.
''''Let''s take a look around here first. This is thergest pill shop in the entire city. I don''t believe that there won''t be any rare medicinal herbs in this ce.'''' Shun Long said as he turned his gaze towards the stairs that led to the fourth floor for a single moment, before he led Liu Mei and the others around the third floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Indeed, Shun Long noticed that whether it was in terms of quality or quantity, the pills and the medicinal herbs avable on the third floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' were many times better than those in the medicinal shops inside the Holy city.
Even the items on the second floor of the ''Golden Treasures Hall'' back in the Holy sect couldn''tpare to the items here.
''''Rank 6 medicinal herb, ''200-year-old, Thunder lotus petal'', Price: 90.000 middle-grade spirit stones''''
..
''''Rank 6 medicinal herb, ''Heart sealing grass'', Price: 120.000 middle-grade spirit stones''''
..
''''Rank 6 medicinal herb, ''Ghost crying flower'', Price: 300.000 middle-grade spirit stones''''
..
As he walked around the floor Shun Long only threw a nce at the rank 6 pills that were avable for sale, as his eyes focused on the medicinal herbs instead.
The cheapest rank 6 medicinal herb was actually priced at 80.000 middle-grade spirit stones while the more expensive ones even exceeded the 500.000 middle-grade spirit stones mark.
Still, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he spent more than 30 million middle-grade spirit stones in one go, buying every single rank 6 medicinal herb that wasn''t in his herb garden before.
This attracted the attention of many of the surrounding cultivators who happened to notice this scene as well.
After all, 30 million middle-grade spirit stones wasn''t an amount that early-stage Dao Kings would have in their possession, let alone spend it like that.
''''Hehe, boss, should we make a move on them? They are just a bunch of early-stage Dao Kings without any protection. Forget about a peak Dao King like you, even I can easily take care of those brats.'''' A man in ck robes asked greedily while his eyes stared at Shun Long''s group of 5.
''''No protection? Hmph! I refuse to believe that a bunch of early-stage Dao Kings who can walk around the city and spend millions of middle-grade stones like that, don''t have any protection. I''m certain that they either belong to an extremely powerful force or that there is a powerful expert protecting them in secret, otherwise they wouldn''t dare be so brazen unless they are idiots.''''
The ck-robed man next to him answered coldly as his eyes focused on Shun Long''s back like a viper that was staring at its prey.
Although this ck-robed man was a peak rank 9 Dao King and he was indeed tempted to rob Shun Long and the others on the spot, even he didn''t dare make a move on someone while they were still inside the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', or the experts hidden inside the pavilion would surely take his life.
Additionally, the ck-robed man didn''t believe that there was no one protecting Shun Long''s group. The number of early-stage Dao Kings within the Northern Sovereign''s city who could spend 30 million middle-grade spirit stones in one go was definitely less than a handful, even if one included the scions of the strongest families and ns.
However, the man next to the ck-robed man didn''t seem satisfied with his boss'' answer and continued
''''Boss, what if they were just lucky and just chanced upon an expert''s legacy? Are we really going to let them go? Those brats definitely have more spirit stones on them!''''
After a moment of hesitation, the ck-robed man gritted his teeth and continued in a determined tone
''''Fine! We will simply follow them for now and wait until they leave the ''Myriad pills pavilion''. If there really is no expert protecting them, we will attack them the moment there is a chance!''''
The ck-robed man''s body seemed to slowly turn transparent until it disappeared, while his voice entered the ears of his subordinate soon after.
At the same time, a pretty young woman behind one of the counters stared at Shun Long with her sparkling ck eyes and said
''''Young master, do you need anything else?''''
After taking a look around him and realizing that he had nearly emptied the entire third floor of medicinal herbs, Shun Long looked at the young woman in front of him and nodded his head before he asked
''''I heard that your ''Myriad pills pavilion'' buys medicinal herbs as well, right? I have a few that I want to sell.''''
The young woman was taken aback momentarily, but she still nodded her head soon after and answered with a bright smile
''''Of course. The supervisor of the third floor, Lord Wei will personally inspect the medicinal herbs before our pavilion purchases them. Please follow me.''''
The young woman then led Shun Long and the others towards arge private room at the depths of the third floor.
-
Author''s note: I apologize for theck of a chapter yesterday. I lost a very important person to me a little more than a week ago, so it was hard coping with the loss, which was why even one chapter a day was hard to write recently.
Regardless, there will be a mass release tomorrow so I hope that everyone will look forward to it. (I was actually nning to do it for today but the chapters aren''t finished yet)
Chapter 759 - 759 Lord Wei
Chapter 759 - 759 Lord Wei
As soon as they arrived in front of the private room, the young woman who was leading Shun Long and the others halted her steps and knocked on the door twice, before she called out in a respectful voice
''''Lord Wei, this is Xiao An. I brought a group of young masters who wish to sell some medicinal herbs.''''
''''Very well. They cane in.'''' The calm voice of an old man was heard from behind the door a momentter, as the door of the private room started to open by itself soon after.
In reality, before someone wanted to sell some medicinal herbs, the employees of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' like the young woman who was named Xiao An, would first have a look at those herbs to make sure that it was worth their time.
After all, if one wanted to sell rank 4 medicinal herbs, they would have to go to the supervisor of the first floor, while rank 5 medicinal herbs would be dealt with by the supervisor of the second floor.
Only rank 6 medicinal herbs or above would be handled by the supervisor of the third floor, ''Lord Wei'' himself.
But of course, considering that Shun Long and his group had just spent an astronomical amount of spirit stones on the third floor, nearly emptying half the floor in the process, the young woman named Xiao An believed that if Shun Long and the others wished to sell some medicinal herbs, those herbs would be at least rank 6 medicinal herbs.
Xiao An looked at Shun Long and the others and bowed as she said
''''Young masters, Lord Wei is waiting inside.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long thanked her, before he led Xingyi and the others inside the private room.
The interior of the room was actually extremely spacious, but aside from arge alchemy cauldron that was covered in many mysterious runes and patterns and was ced in the center of the room and the old man who was sitting behind it, there was nothing else inside.
As soon as he entered the room, Shun Long''s eyes only nced at the ck alchemy cauldron for a brief moment, before his gazended on the white-robed old man who was sitting behind it with an amiable smile on his face.
This old man had long white hair and a clean-shaven face, while his deep brown eyes were curiously examining Shun Long and the others without speaking.
Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and the others could all sense, that the auraing from this person''s body had clearly exceeded the Dao King realm long ago, and was definitely that of a powerful Dao Emperor!
Naturally, as the supervisor of the third floor, how could ''Lord Wei'' not notice Shun Long and his group when they had just purchased arge number of the medicinal herbs avable on his third floor?
Lord Wei could also see that Shun Long and the others were only a group early rank 1 Dao Kings, which made this even more surprising.
After all, as the supervisor of the third floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', Lord Wei was already familiar with all the powerful or influential Dao Kings within the Northern Sovereign''s city, and he was certain that none of the 5 people in front of him belonged to the powerful factions of the Northern Sovereign''s city.
''''Hmm, there doesn''t seem to be an expert who is protecting them in secret either... How interesting!'''' Lord Wei mused to himself with a smile, as he stood up from his seat and waved his hand, causing 5 meditative cushions to appear on the floor around him.
Staring at Shun Long and the others, he then said with that same amiable smile on his face
''''Please, have a seat. My surname is Wei. How should I address you?''''
At the same time that Lord Wei spoke, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s bright azure eyes narrowed for a moment, before the ck dragon''s yful voice resounded in Shun Long''s mind
''''Heh, master, this old man is actually a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor, but his strength is actually even lower than that old hag''s from the Refinement Hall of the Holy sect. Even though he is trying to suppress it, I can clearly feel that the qi inside his dantian is extremely chaotic.''''
Shun Long nodded his head without speaking after hearing Little ck''s voice, while his eyes kept inspecting the old man in front of him seriously.
Naturally, Shun Long understood that the old hag that Little ck was referring to, was no one else other than Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing.
Shun Long''s gaze briefly stopped on ''Lord Wei''s'' hands that were ced on the surface of the ck alchemy cauldron in front of him, before Shun Long cupped his hands and said calmly
''''Senior can call me Shun Long. I wish to sell some medicinal herbs, so I wonder if your ''Myriad pills pavilion'' is interested in them.''''
Lord Wei narrowed his eyes momentarily, before he answered in a calm tone soon after
''''Of course. As long as the quality of your herbs is good enough my pavilion won''t be stingy with you either. Let me have a look at them first.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long threw onest look at Lord Wei, before he smiled and waved his hand, causing a small mountain of medicinal herbs to appear around him.
..
The eyes of the peak rank 6 Dao Emperor, Lord Wei widened in incredulity, as he stared at the mountain of medicinal herbs that had appeared in front of him.
Hundreds of rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs were piled up together on top of each other, filling the entire private room in the blink of an eye.
After a moment of silence, the white-robed old man stared at Shun Long and narrowed his eyes dangerously before he asked in a serious tone
''''Kid, are you sure that you wish to sell everything?''''
Chapter 760 - 760 10 Million Spirit Stones
Chapter 760 - 760 10 Million Spirit Stones
It was no wonder that Lord Wei would suddenly turn so serious.
The number of rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs that Shun Long had taken out just now had already exceeded what even the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' had in reserve.
Although many of them were the same type of herbs, Lord Wei was certain that if Shun Long wanted to open his own shop in the Northern Sovereign''s city, just these medicinal herbs alone would be enough to make his shop a peak second-rate power in the city.
If a few star-rank alchemists decided to join, they would definitely make that shop a first-rate power, and perhaps in a few hundred years, that shop could even rival the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' as well.
Naturally, the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' wouldn''t ignore the existence of an emerging shop that could threaten their own business. Dealing with the alchemists from the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate'' and the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was more than enough.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at the white-robed old man in front of him and continued
''''Senior should understand that every single one of my medicinal herbs is more than 10.000 years old. As an alchemist, I am sure that you understand their value as well.''''
Lord Wei nodded his head calmly without saying anything else, as he sent out his soul sense and started to seriously inspect the piled-up medicinal herbs around him.
Lord Wei understood that Shun Long was indeed intending to sell these medicinal herbs to him, otherwise, he wouldn''t have taken them out in the first ce.
At the same time, Lord Wei also understood that Shun Long wasn''t lying about the maturity of these medicinal herbs, but he still decided to seriously check every single one of them.
After all, experienced alchemists could easily identify how old a medicinal herb was, simply by checking the amount of medicinal essence inside it.
The purer and more concentrated the medicinal essence inside a herb was, the more valuable the medicinal herb would then be.
After staying silent for a couple of minutes, Lord Wei opened his eyes and looked at Shun Long, before he said seriously
''''412 rank 5 along with 536 rank 6 medicinal herbs, all of which are more than 10.000 years old. Although most of them aren''t rare herbs, their maturity age is old enough to concoct high-grade rank 5 and rank 6 pills.? Our ''Myriad pills pavilion'' is thus willing to buy them for 150 million middle-grade spirit stones.''''
As he finished speaking, Lord Wei took out a white-colored spatial ring and tossed it to Shun Long who caught it a momentter.
Inside this spatial ring were indeed 150 million middle-grade spirit stones. This was a sizeable amount of spirit stones even for arge sect in the northern part of the central region like the Holy sect, but for a first-rate power like the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', it wasn''t actually that much.
After a moment of thinking, Shun Long epted the spatial ring, causing a smile to break out on Lord Wei''s face.
Shun Long knew that if the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' sold all of his medicinal herbs, they could easily sell them for 250 million middle-grade spirit stones, making a profit of more than 100 million middle-grade spirit stones in the process, but it would definitely take a couple of months for them to sell everything.
Although a couple of months was nothing to arge superpower like the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', Shun Long knew that he didn''t have the luxury to open a shop and wait until he sold all of his medicinal herbs, since, in less than half a year, the City of Immortals would most likely open.
By then, he had to increase his strength as much as possible, since an early rank 1 Dao King would be nothing but cannon-fodder within the City of Immortals, where the most powerful Dao Kings of the entire central region would gather!
Besides, Shun Long knew that it was very likely that other powers would try to create trouble for him if he truly chose to open a shop within the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.
Thus, selling everything to the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' and letting them handle things themselves was definitely a much better choice.
Seeing the 150.000 high-grade spirit stones inside the spatial ring, Shun Long''s lips curved up into a smile, before he ced everything inside the ''Stone of Time''.
This was an astonishing amount of wealth that would make even Dao Emperors salivate. After all, even a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like the Grand Elder only had 200.000 high-grade spirit stones in his possession.
''''Kid, since you have already done business with my ''Myriad pills pavilion'', I will tell you one piece of information for free. Your actions earlier attracted the attention of a few peak Dao Kings on my third floor, and it''s certain that they will go after you once you leave the pavilion.
However, as long as you are willing to pay this old man 10 million middle-grade spirit stones, I can naturally take care of them for you. Hehe, what do you think?''''
Lord Wei''s eyes lit up as he looked at Shun Long with a smile.
In his eyes, since Shun Long and the others didn''t have an expert backing them, they would face quite a bit of trouble if they wanted to leave the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' under the noses of those greedy Dao Kings.
But to a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor like Lord Wei, it would be a piece of cake to deal with those people.
Dealing with a bunch of ants for 10 million middle-grade spirit stones... how could Lord Wei pass this chance?
Contrary to Lord Wei''s expectations, Shun Long simply smiled and waved his hand as he said
''''Thank you senior, but there is no need for that.''''
Without saying anything else, Shun Long turned around and led Liu Mei and the others out of the private room, under Lord Wei''s stunned eyes.
Chapter 761 - 761 The Fifth Floor
Chapter 761 - 761 The Fifth Floor
Lord Wei simply shook his head and smiled but he didn''t stop Shun Long and the others from leaving.
In his eyes, Shun Long was simply unwilling to part with 10 million middle-grade spirit stones that he had just obtained.
However, once he realized that the threat was real, it was very likely that he would return back to Lord Wei''s room and would ask him for help.
What Lord Wei didn''t know, was that Shun Long already knew about those Dao Kings who were eyeing them, before even Lord Wei himself had noticed them.
After all, how could a bunch of Dao Kings possibly escape Little ck''s senses who was on constant alert from the moment they had entered the ''Myriad pills pavilion''?
Besides, Shun Long didn''t believe that Quan Lin had simply gone to the fifth floor to meet the vice pavilion master whilepletely ignoring Shun Long and his group.
For a peak Dao Emperor like him, covering the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' with his soul sense was an extremely easy task.
After they left Lord Wei''s room, Shun Long walked directly towards the stairs of the fourth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Unlike the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' back in the Holy city, or the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall back in the Holy sect, there were no restrictions for anyone who wanted to enter the fourth and even the fifth floors of the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Even Spirit realm and Nascent Soul stage cultivators could enter if they wanted to.
The only requirement to do business was the pavilion, was to have enough spirit stones to purchase the things you wanted.
The moment they stepped foot on the fourth floor, Shun Long and the others quickly noticed that this floor was actually much smallerpared to the third floor, but the number of peak Dao Kings were much higherpared to those on the third floor.
Almost everyone on this floor was a rank 9 Dao King or even a Dao Emperor realm expert, with just a handful early-stage Dao Kings like Shun Long''s group who looked like they hade to take a look at the items on this floor purely out of curiosity.
Shun Long''s eyes lit up the moment he stepped foot on the fourth floor, taking a good look at the rank 7 medicinal herbs that were for sale around him.
The prices of the rank 7 medicinal herbs were many times higher than the rank 6 ones, since even the cheapest rank 7 medicinal herb was sold for 5 million middle-grade spirit stones, while more expensive ones easily exceeded the 50 million spirit stones mark.
But of course, this was only natural since rank 7 medicinal herbs could be used by star-rank alchemists to make star-rank pills.
However, Shun Long didn''t choose to buy any of these herbs right away, and instead, he carefully looked around the fourth floor, almost as if he was searching for something specific.
Half an hourter, after taking a look at every single herb avable on the fourth floor, Shun Long shook his head and said in a somewhat regretful tone
''''Even the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' doesn''t have a rank 7 ''Golden light flower''.''''
Bai Longtian and the others shook their heads when they heard this, but they had already expected this.
They knew that Shun Long was searching for the ''Golden light flower'' aftering to the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
The ''Golden light flower'' was the main ingredient that Shun Long needed to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'' for Jiang Chen''s father, but they had all heard from Shun Long how rare it was to find this flower.
Although spirit stones were no longer an issue for Shun Long right now since his wealth could easily rival that of a peak Dao Emperor, finding the flower was an entirely different matter altogether.
Of course, aside from medicinal herbs, the fourth floor had plenty of extremely rare rank 7 pills that the surrounding peak Dao Kings and the Dao Emperors were staring at greedily, but their exorbitant prices could easily drive a person to the brink of insanity.
Shun Long noticed that the most expensive pill on the fourth floor seemed to be a high-grade rank 7 pill that could unconditionally allow a Dao Emperor to increase their cultivation level by a single minor realm, but the price of that pill was 900.000 high-grade spirit stones.
Many Dao Emperors were staring at it like they were staring at a treasure, but nobody dared to try and forcefully steal from the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Additionally, just like the third floor, the most popr counters on the fourth floor weren''t the counters of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', but the counters of the independent alchemists.
Every single alchemist who dared to set up a counter on the fourth floor, was without a doubt, a star-rank alchemist, butpared to the hundreds of gold-grade alchemists on the third floor, the star-rank alchemists on the fourth floor were less than 10.
After all, star-rank alchemists would be sought after by practically every single power within the Northern Sovereign''s city, including even the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' and the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate''.
Very few of them would choose to set up a counter on the fourth floor and refine pills for others.
After taking a good look at the fourth floor, Shun Long decided to purchase a handful of rank 7 medicinal herbs, spending 100.000 high-grade spirit stones in the process, before he finally turned his attention towards the stairs that led to the fifth floor.
Turning around to look at Xingyi and the others behind him, Shun Long smiled and said somewhat curiously
''''Let''s have a look at the items on the fifth floor.''''
Without any hesitation, Shun Long walked up the stairs that led to the fifth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' with Jiang Chen and the others following behind him.
-
Author''s note: 3/5
Chapter 762 - 762 Quan Lins Anger
Chapter 762 - 762 Quan Lin''s Anger
As soon as Shun Long and his group stepped foot on the fifth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', they could all sense the stifling atmosphere on this floor that took them all aback.
Surprisingly, it seemed that there were less than 100 people present on this floor, but every single one of them was clearly an expert who was exuding an overwhelmingly powerful aura.
And yet, all of those experts were now staring at a silver-armored middle-aged man at the depths of the floor, who was coldly staring at 3 men in purple robes in front of him, with a murderous look in his eyes.
Shun Long only needed a nce to realize, that this silver-armored middle-aged man who was emitting arge amount of killing intent towards the 3 purple-robed men was no one else other thanmander Quan of the Northern Sovereign''s army, Quan Lin.
''''Hahaha, Quan Lin, it seems that even vice pavilion master Wu wasn''t able to help you save your little snake. How pitiful...'''' At the same time, one of the 3 purple-robed men said in a mocking tone as he stared at the silver-armored Quan Lin, without even bothering to conceal the hint of schadenfreude in his voice.
It was obvious that he was clearly rejoicing in Quan Lin''s misery.
Without even caring about Quan Lin''s anger that had clearly reached its peak, another one of the 3 purple-robed men took a step forward and continued
''''What a shame... Quan Lin, I heard that you spent more than 300 years trying to tame your ''green-scaled emperor python'' but it will simply die like that. This is the heavens'' justice for our second brother! If you had stayed your hand, none of this would have happened!''''''''
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Quan Lin could no longer hold back after being provoked repeatedly, as a terrifying aura at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm exploded out from his body, heading towards the 3 purple-robed men in front of him like a torrential wave that was looking to drown them.
The surrounding experts around Quan Lin and the 3 purple-robed men were all stunned when they saw this, but they immediately stepped back as they hurriedly opened up the distance between them, afraid that they would get affected by the aftershocks of Quan Lin''s attack.
And yet, the 3 purple-robed men didn''t seem flustered in the slightest by this, as the purple-robed man in the middle extended out both of his hands, creating arge earth shield that protected him and the other 2 from Quan Lin''s attack.
The earth shield trembled momentarily, after being struck by Quan Lin''s attack, but it still remained standing with just a couple of cracks being formed on its surface.
A momentter, the earth shield disappeared before the purple-robed man in the middle looked at Quan Lin and continued with a mocking tone
''''Quan Lin, you really want to fight within the ''Myriad pills pavilion''? Do you not have the slightest hint of respect for the pavilion master in your heart, or is it that the Northern Sovereign''s estate simply doesn''t care about the other powers in the Nothern Sovereign''s city?
Hehe, don''t think that the 3 of us brothers are afraid of you! Even with your ''green-scaled emperor python'', you only managed to wound our second brother while you yourself barely managed to escape and your magic beast is now about to die. Would you be able to act so arrogantly if we weren''t within the Northern Sovereign''s city?''''
The surrounding experts all looked at this scene silently without interfering. They knew that Quan Lin himself was the strongest of the 12manders in the Northern Sovereign''s army, but the 3 purple-robed men belonged to one of the peak powers in the Northern Sovereign''s city as well.
None of them were willing to interfere in this fight for no reason.
At that moment however, Quan Lin did his best to reign in his uncontroble killing intent, as he shouted coldly a momentter
''''Qian Hai, the 4 of you worms tried to gang up on me and you still dare to say you aren''t afraid of me?
If it wasn''t for your second brother being greedy in the first ce, why would I even fight with your Qian n? But even though I didn''t manage to kill him back then, the next time I see him I will definitely take his life!''''
The moment the 3 purple-robed men heard Quan Lin''s words their expressions all changed, as their auras at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm exploded outwards as well, looking like they were ready to go all-out against Quan Lin.
It seemed that Quan Lin''s words had truly angered the 3 purple-robed men.
At that moment however, a set of calm, orderly footsteps resounded from the depths of the hall, before an old man in white robes appeared between Quan Lin and the 3 purple-robed men.
The moment that this old man appeared, the entire fifth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' instantly fell silent, as every single person on this floor turned to look at him.
It was clear that this old man''s aura had already exceeded the aura of Quan Lin and the 3 purple-robed men who were still at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm.
Staring at Quan Lin, the white-robed old man smiled and cupped his hands, before he said with an apologetic smile on his face
''''Commander Quan, I apologize that I was unable to help you this time, but you should know that refining a rank 8 pill can be difficult even for me. However, please remember that you and the Qian n''s young masters are still within the premises of my ''Myriad pills pavilion''. I hope that you will give me face and stay your hand while you are still here.''''
At the same time that this white-robed old man appeared, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly narrowed as a single thought immediately appeared in his mind
''''This person has absorbed an earth me!''''
Chapter 763 - 763
Chapter 763 - 763
Staring at the 3 purple-robed men in front of Quan Lin, the white-robed old man then continued
''''I hope that the 3 of you will give this old man some face as well and stop fighting withmander Quan while you are inside my ''Myriad pills pavilion''. You should remember that although our pavilion is a peaceful establishment, we won''t allow anyone to break our rules.''''
Although the old man''s voice was calm and friendly, the terrifying aura that wasing from his body had made the powerful experts around him unable to breathe properly, as everyone stared at him with horrified eyes.
This was the aura of an expert who had stepped into the Sovereign realm countless years ago, and it clearly wasn''t something that Quan Lin and the 3 purple-robed men from the Qian family could withstand.
The cultivators on the fifth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' was now staring at Quan Lin and the 3 purple-robed men in front of him as they waited for their response.
Now that this white-robed old man had appeared and had told them to stop fighting, even those 4 peak Dao Emperors couldn''t refuse to give him face.
Although peak Dao Emperors were elite warriors even in the Northern Sovereign''s city, in front of a Sovereign realm expert, even Dao Emperors could only bow their heads and obey.
Indeed, the first person to speak was one of the 3 purple-robed men from the Qian family, who cupped his hands at the white-robed old man and said seriously
''''Since vice pavilion master Wu has spoken, how can juniors like us keep embarrassing ourselves in front of you? We hope that senior can forgive us.''''
The white-robed old man nodded his head and didn''t pursue this matter any further, as he turned to look at Quan Lin next to him.
Since the purple-robed man from the Qian family had already taken a step back, if Quan Lin didn''t take a step back too, he would only end up offending the white-robed old man.
Taking a deep breath, Quan Lin cupped his hands at the old man from the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' and said calmly
''''I hope that senior can forgive me.''''
Waving his hand, the white-robed old man smiled and said
''''Hahaha, let''s forget about today''s matter then. My ''Myriad pills pavilion'' still has a good rtionship with your ''Sovereign''s estate'' as well as the Qian family, so I would rather we keep it that way.''''
After taking a look at the rest of the experts who were gathered around him, the white-robed old man smiled before he walked towards a private room at the depths of the fifth floor.
''''Hmph!'''' The 3 purple-robed men from the Qian family looked at Quan Lin with murderous looks in their eyes for a few more moments, but in the end, they simply turned around and left the fifth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Although their Qian family was a first-rate force in the Northern Sovereign''s city, even a family like theirs didn''t want to offend a superpower like the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' for no reason. Since the vice pavilion master of the pavilion had already showed himself, the 3 of them could only bow their heads.
Quan Lin had a look of unconcealed killing intent in his eyes as he stared at the backs of the 3 purple-robed Dao Emperors of the Qian family, before his gaze suddenlynded on Shun Long and his group who were calmly standing near the entrance of the fifth floor.
After calming down his agitated emotions,mander Quan reigned in his killing intent and appeared next to Shun Long and the others a momentter, as he then asked
''''Young lords, youngdies, have you finished your business?''''
Shun Long took onest look at the items on the counters of the fifth floor around him, before he looked atmander Quan and nodded his head as he answered
''''I was hoping to find some rare rank 7 or some rank 8 medicinal herbs on this floor, but it seems that the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' won''t sell any of them.''''
Indeed, after taking a look at the fifth floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', Shun Long immediately realized that there wasn''t a single medicinal herb for sale on this floor. The only thing that one could purchase here, was the rank 8 pills that were for sale.
Naturally, rank 8 pills were only consumed by Sovereign realm experts or some extremely powerful peak Dao Emperors, and the difficulty of concocting even a single rank 8 pill was simply terrifying.
Only exalted 2-star alchemists could possibly concoct rank 8 pills, and the chances of failing during the pill concoction were rtively high as well.
Commander Quan looked at Shun Long and answered calmly
''''Young master, even in our Nothern Sovereign''s city, it is nearly impossible to find any rank 8 medicinal herbs for sale. Rank 8 medicinal herbs are extremely rare in the first ce, so powers like the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' and even the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', won''t sell any of them to outsiders.
Forget about rank 8 medicinal herbs, those powers won''t even sell rare rank 7 medicinal herbs and they will rather keep them for themselves.
If the young master really wants to find rank 8 medicinal herbs within the city, your only chance would be to take a look at the yearly auctions of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Although these auctions are hosted by the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', the items in these auctions don''t actually belong to them.
Sometimes, there will even be some rank 8 medicinal herbs among those items, and even Sovereign realm experts will end up bidding for them.''''
Looks of realization shed through Xingyi''s and the others'' eyes.
Indeed, even if the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' sold some rare rank 7 medicinal herbs, it was only natural that they would want to keep the best things for their own alchemists. Besides, even if they sold rank 8 medicinal herbs, how many 2-star alchemists existed in the Northern Sovereign''s city in the first ce?
Since there was nothing else to do in the ''Myriad pills pavilion'', Shun Long and the others decided to return back to the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
On the way back, Quan Lin effortlessly took care of the 2 groups of Dao Kings that were previously eyeing Shun Long and his group and were waiting in ambush outside the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
Those Dao Kings didn''t even have a chance to cry out and beg for mercy before their souls were mercilessly crushed bymander Quan''s attacks.
Naturally, just like Little ck, Quan Lin himself had also noticed those Dao Kings while Shun Long was still emptying the third floor of the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' of its medicinal herbs.
Since he had business on the fifth floor, Quan Lin had simply decided to take care of those Dao Kings together once he left the ''Myriad pills pavilion''.
As soon as they arrived back in the Northern Sovereign''s estate,mander Quan told Shun Long and the others that they should look for him if they wanted to go anywhere else, before he bade Shun Long''s group farewell.
The moment thatmander Quan left, within the Southern Dragon''s courtyard, Shun Long''s easy-going smile disappeared from his face as he turned to look at Jiang Chen and the others and said in a solemn manner
''''Don''t let anyone enter the courtyard for the next 2 months.. If the Northern Sovereignes looking for me, tell her that I have entered seclusion and that I won''t be able to see her until Ie out.''''
Chapter 764 - 764 Leaving The Northern Sovereigns City
Chapter 764 - 764 Leaving The Northern Sovereign''s City
''''Brother Shun, don''t worry. I''m sure that the Northern Sovereign won''t make things difficult for us if we tell her that you have entered seclusion.'''' Bai Longtian said smilingly as he looked at Shun Long.
Indeed, waiting for a few months was nothing to an expert like the Northern Sovereign who had most likely lived for hundreds of thousands of years already.
''''Long-ge, be careful.'''' Liu Mei said seriously as she took a step forward and hugged Shun Long gently.
Unlike Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, Liu Mei was the only one who had an idea of what Shun Long was nning to do in Murong city and how dangerous it was going to be.
From the memory jade that they had taken from the depths of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' back in the Night star continent, Shun Long and Liu Mei had already learned that the Murong family was, at the very least, an existence at the same level as the Holy sect, if not even stronger.
After obtaining a map from Quan Lin, Shun Long found out that there were actually 2 Sovereign realm experts behind the Murong family.
Even if the person that Huo Wuyi wanted to kill wasn''t a Sovereign realm expert, he was definitely a Dao Emperor and an important member of the Murong family.
Thus, if Shun Long really chose to kill Murong Tian to fulfill Huo Wuyi''s wish, even if he somehow managed to seed in killing him, he would still have to face the wrath of the entire Murong family soon after.
By then, even escaping from Murong city would be a nearly impossible task.
Nodding his head, Shun Long pulled Liu Mei into a hug and said confidently
''''Mei''er, don''t worry. If I hadn''t broken through to the Dao King realm this would have indeed been somewhat dangerous, but now, things arepletely different. As long as I am prepared, even the Sovereign realm experts from the Murong family shouldn''t be able to kill me so easily.''''
Liu Mei and the others were all stunned when they heard Shun Long''s words.
They all knew that after breaking through to the Dao King realm, a cultivator would truly be stronger by many times, but they couldn''t understand how Shun Long could be confident enough to im, that even Sovereign realm experts would be unable to kill him as long as he was prepared for it.
However, Xingyi and the others didn''t ask anything else about this matter either. As long as Shun Long was confident in staying alive, that was more than enough.
After bidding Xingyi and the others farewell, Shun Long raised his right hand and shed the air in front of him, opening arge space tear, before he entered inside it and disappeared from the Southern Dragon''s courtyard.
The distance between the Southern Dragon''s courtyard and the entrance of the Northern Sovereign''s estate was barely 40.000 meters, but after opening a space tear, Shun Long could easily traverse 100.000 meters in the blink of an eye.
A few momentster, Shun Long appeared in the middle of the busy streets in the Northern Sovereign''s city, attracting the attention of some of the nearby cultivators who saw him jump out of a space tear.
After walking around the city for a while, Shun Long then headed straight towards the city gates.
Although Shun Long believed that the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t possibly care about the treasures that a Dao Emperor like Huo Wuyi had hidden outside of Murong city, he still decided to leave the city without telling her, to avoidplicating the rtionship between them.
After all, even though the Northern Sovereign may not have cared about the treasures of a random Dao Emperor, and she would have probably chosen to send a Dao Emperor likemander Quan to protect Shun Long and make sure that he was safe while he was outside of the city, Shun Long knew that the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t possibly help him kill Murong Tian and offend the Murong family.
At most, she would simply help him get his hands on the treasures that Huo Wiyi had hidden outside Murong city.
Although the Murong family was just a first-rate force within the northern part of the central region and was nothing in front of the Northern Sovereign, it was unlikely that the Northern Sovereign would order one of hermanders to kill Murong Tian, just to help Shun Long fulfill Huo Wuyi''s revenge.
And even if the Northern Sovereign didn''t care for the Murong family and decided to kill Murong Tian, Shun Long knew that he would then owe her a huge favor that he would have to repay in the future.
Thus, it was better to move around by himself.
Besides, although the risk would be greater that way, Shun Long wouldn''t feel restricted and would be able to move freely.
After he stepped past the city gates, Shun Long walked towards a small forest a few miles away from the Northern Sovereign''s city before he summoned Little Silver who was still lying around inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
The silver-winged ck panther that hadn''t left the ''Stone of Time'' for so long finally let out a roar of excitement, before its aura at the peak of rank 6 exploded outwards.
Sensing Little Silver''s excitement, Shun Long patted the ck panther''s head gently and said with a smile
''''After we enter the City of Immortals, you can finally let loose.''''
Naturally, Shun Long wasn''t nning to keep Little Silver hidden after entering the City of Immortals.
With a ''mutated'' peak rank 6 magic beast that could easily rival most peak Dao Kings... Shun Long understood that by then, only those extremely powerful peak Dao Kings who hadprehended a unique Dao or other peak rank 6 magic beasts would be able to pose a threat to Little Silver.
As for most average peak rank 9 Dao Kings, if they hadn''t formed a group, their only choice would be to flee when they faced a peak rank 6 magic beast.
After taking out the map that Quan Lin had given to him and taking onest look at it, Shun Long''s gazended on Murong city once again, before he satfortably on Little Silver''s back.
ROOOOAAR!
Little Silver let out another roar as it spread its bright silver wings without any hesitation, before its body turned into a bolt of silver lightning as it flew out of the forest, heading straight towards the direction of Murong city!
Chapter 765 - 765 Murong City
Chapter 765 - 765 Murong City
Although Little Silver''s speed was at the peak among rank 6 magic beasts, even after flying for more than a day without stop, Shun Long knew that ording to the map in his hands, he had only covered less than a hundredth of the distance that he needed to cross to reach Murong city.
If things continued like this, it would take at least 3 months for Little Silver to reach the outskirts of Murong city itself.
Even though both cities were situated within the northern part of the central region, the massive distance that separated Murong city from the Northern Sovereign''s city only served to show the vastness of the central regionpared to ''tiny continents'' like the Night star continent.
This was why the Grand Elder would choose to pay the enormous cost of activating the teleportation formation and teleport everyone right outside the Northern Sovereign''s city, than travel all the way from the Holy sect to the King''s Pce on the back of an early rank 7 magic beast.
''''We should be far enough from the city by now.'''' Shun Long said calmly before he ced his hand on Little Silver''s back and patted it gently.
After spreading his soul sense to the limit and making sure that there were no other cultivators around him, Shun Long then had Little Silver return back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' before he removed his outer court disciple robes and reced them with a set of in ck robes.
After putting on the ck robes and making sure that they hadpletely covered his facial features, Shun Long took a deep breath before he said
''''Little ck, let''s go!''''
As soon as Shun Long''s words left his mouth, Little ck''s enormous figure emerged from the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', appearing right in front of him.
''''Haha, master, it has been a long time since thest time that I came out!'''' Little ck said excitedly as he stretched out his pitch-ck wings that seemed like they could blot out the sky!
Although a couple of years were nothing to a dragon who could easily sleep for more than a thousand years in one go, after absorbing the dragonstone and breaking through to the middle of rank 7, Little ck hadn''t really had a chance to truly test how much of his strength had recovered.
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled as he sat on Little ck''s back and patted the ck dragon''s head gently.
Little ck''s bright blue eyes glowed brightly as he stretched out his enormous ck wings and pped them once, before his massive body disappeared on the spot.
Little ck''s speed was simply iparable to Little Silver''s, as the ck dragon''s massive body tore through the skies, heading towards the direction of Murong city at a terrifying speed.
Under normal circumstances, Shun Long wouldn''t have summoned Little ck while traveling through the central region since it was simply too dangerous.
After all, the central region wasn''t the Night star continent, and there were even existences hidden in this ce that were even stronger than the Northern Sovereign and were just a step away from ascending and bing true immortals.
Naturally, if those figures happened to see a living ck dragon, Little ck''s chances of escape would be virtually zero.
It was likely that the entire central region would go on a frenzy if a living dragon really appeared.
However, things were now different.
After obtaining the map from Quan Lin, Shun Long understood that the total number of Sovereign realm experts in the northern part of the central region didn''t exceed 200!
As long as he was careful and avoided the territory of the Sovereign realm experts, the chances of encountering a Sovereign realm expert while traveling were practically nonexistent!
Of course, there existed certain Sovereign realm experts like the sect master of the Holy sect, who didn''t stay within their respective territories and instead chose to roam around the central region, but the chances of meeting such an expert while traveling were simply too low!
Besides, even if Shun Long really met a Sovereign realm expert, he was confident in his ability to at least keep his life.
...
10 days quickly passed as Shun Long traveled through the northern part of the central region on Little ck''s back.
In thesest 10 days, Shun Long had decided to avoid every single city that was marked on the map that he had gotten frommander Quan.
This didn''t just involve thergest cities on the map that were ruled by powerful forces that were equal to, or even stronger than the Holy sect, but even the small cities as well.
During thesest 10 days, since they had avoided every single city marked on the map, Shun Long and Little ck hadn''t met a single Dao Emperor realm expert either. Aside from a fewte-stage Dao Kings who were traveling by themselves and a few groups of cultivators that were led by early and middle-stage Dao Kings, no one else could even notice Little ck due to his terrifying speed even if he flew right next to them.
At most, even peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators would only be able to only see a blur passing by, before it disappeared on the horizon.
The only ones who would be able to vaguely make out a silhouette would be those who had stepped into the Dao King realm, and they would only be able to do so if they managed to spread out their soul sense in time.
But how could those Dao Kings possibly escape from Little ck''s soul sense in the first ce?
Forget aboutte-stage Dao Kings, even ate-stage Dao Emperor realm expert wouldn''t be able to avoid Little ck''s soul sense in such a scenario.
Unless it was an expert even stronger than the Grand Elder of the Holy sect, it would be practically impossible for anyone to do so.
As for those groups of Dao Kings, they didn''t even have a chance to notice the ck dragon''s existence as Little ck easily avoided them.
Half a dayter, Little ck''s figure finally came to a halt, as the outline of an enormous city finally appeared in the distance.
Chapter 766 - 766 Elderwood Mountain
Chapter 766 - 766 Elderwood Mountain
Shun Long was certain that this city in front of him was none other than Murong city.
After taking another look at the enormous city in the distance, Shun Long turned his attention towards the massive mountain that was just a few miles away from it.
From the map that he had gotten from Quan Lin, Shun Long knew that the mountain outside Murong city was named Elderwood mountain, and that it had actually existed for an even longer time than Murong city itself.
''''Master, that mountain must be the ce where Huo Wuyi has hidden his treasures.'''' Little ck said a momentter, as his bright azure eyes stared intently at the massive mountain in the distance.
Nodding his head, Shun Long patted Little ck''s head and sent him back inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' before he summoned Little Silver.
Since he was so close to Murong city, Shun Long knew that having Little ck out in the open was simply too dangerous. With 2 Sovereign realm experts hiding inside the city, the moment that Little ck got close to the city, the experts of the Murong family would immediately go crazy.
As for Little Silver, although mutated magic beasts were rare in the cultivation world, a peak rank 6 magic beast didn''t have much worth in the eyes of Sovereign realm experts.
Spreading its bright silver wings, Little Silver carried Shun Long on its back as it flew towards the massive mountain at full speed.
Since Huo Wuyi had mentioned that he had buried his treasures on the mountain right outside Murong city, Shun Long was certain that he must have meant this ''Elderwood mountain'' in front of him.
After flying for a little more than 2 hours, Shun Long finally arrived at the outskirts of the ''Elderwood mountain''.
The moment that he arrived in this ce, Shun Long noticed that there were tens of groups of cultivators gathered in the empty area close to the mountain''s entrance.
With just a nce, Shun Long could immediately tell, that even the weakest among those people had reached the peak of rank 9 in the Spirit realm, while most of them were actually middle orte-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and there were plenty even of Dao Kings as well!
The moment that Shun Long appeared silence immediately filled his surroundings, as the cultivators around him all stared at the silver-winged ck panther with surprised and solemn looks, before they turned their gazes towards the ck-robed person on its back.
A person who owned a peak rank 6 magic beast had to be, at the very least, someone with an extremely powerful background in the central region or a renowned Dao Emperor who had the strength to forcibly subdue such a magic beast!
Of course, the possibility of Shun Long person being a high-level beast tamer also existed, but the surrounding cultivators all knew that to subdue a peak rank 6 magic beast, would mean that this ck-robed person in front of them would have to be at least a peak rank 3 gold-grade beast tamer!
Whether it was peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemists, formation masters, or beast tamers, they were all valued quite highly by every single power within the central region. Thus, the surrounding cultivators all understood that the ck-robed person in front of them wasn''t someone to be taken lightly.
''''Damn! Another expert came! At this rate, they are going to sweep the mountain clean without leaving anything for the rest of us!'''' One of the nearby cultivators mumbled in an anxious voice as he stared at Shun Long on the ck panther''s back, before he turned his gaze towards the entrance of the ''Elderwood mountain'' in the distance.
Some of the surrounding cultivators nodded their heads while others remained silent, but all of them were now staring at the entrance of the mountain with heated looks in their eyes!
Little Silver only threw a single at the groups of cultivators around it as it kept flying towards the foot of the ''Elderwood mountain'' in front of it without any signs of stopping, but just as it arrived within 100 meters from the mountain''s entrance, a powerful aura suddenly descended from the sky forcing Little Silver to stop in its tracks!
''''Halt!'''' A loud voice that shook the earth came from the distance a momentter, before 2 white-haired old men dressed in crimson robes both flew out from the depths of the ''Elderwood mountain'', as they stared calmly at the ck panther in front of them.
Shun Long''s eyes behind his ck robes instantly narrowed as he looked at the 2 old men who had appeared in front of him seemingly out of thin air.
He could clearly sense that both of these old men were emitting auras that had already surpassed that of Little Silver''s, making it clear that they were both Dao Emperors.
At the same time, the tall white-haired old man on the right stared at the ck panther in front of him for a few seconds before he turned his attention towards Shun Long.
As for the bald old man who was standing next to him, his eyes curiously examined Little Silver as he mumbled to himself
''''Isn''t this a ''Silver-winged panther king''? Even the strongest among them should only reach the early rank 6! How can this one reach the peak of rank 6?''''
The bald old man was about to stretch out his hand and touch Little Silver, whilepletely ignoring the threatening growls that Little Silver was letting out, when suddenly, Shun Long who was still sitting on the ck panther''s back snorted and said in a cold voice
''''Baldy, don''t you know that you shouldn''t touch another person''s magic beast without permission?''''
At that moment, before the bald old man could respond, the tall, white-haired old man next to him ced his hand on the bald old man''s shoulder and pulled him back, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long and said smilingly
''''Fellow daoist, my name is Murong Feng and this is my brother, Murong Qiang. It seems that we have caused you some inconvenience, so I hope you can forgive my brother''s actions. Naturally, we aren''t here to fight you so let me get straight to the point.
I am sure that fellow daoist has alsoe to search for the treasures in this ce.. However, if you want to enter the mountain you will have to pay 100 high-grade spirit stones first.''''
Chapter 767 - 767 Elderwood Mountain (2)
Chapter 767 - 767 Elderwood Mountain (2)
''''Treasures? 100 high-grade spirit stones?'''' Shun Long was taken aback when he heard this, as he stared at the 2 red-robed old men from the Murong family in front of him without speaking.
Indeed, the reason why he came to the ''Elderwood mountain'' was to find the treasures that Huo Wuyi had hidden in this ce, but how could people from the Murong family possibly know about it?
''''No, this Murong Feng is definitely not talking about Huo Wuyi''s treasures. No matter what, Huo Wuyi was simply a Dao Emperor, and he was definitely far inferior to a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like the Grand Elder of the Holy sect.
Even if he has hidden his treasures here, and even if the Murong family somehow found out about this, it still shouldn''t be enough to warrant so much attention from them.
Besides, why would other Dao Emperorse to search for Huo Wuyi''s treasures in the first ce? There is definitely something else going on!''''
At the same time that Shun Long came to this conclusion, the tall, white-haired old man from the Murong family, Murong Feng nodded his head and said seriously
''''Indeed, a little more than a month ago, a rogue cultivator who was wandering around the ''Elderwood mountain'' happened to chance upon a treasure near the peak of the mountain. However, since this treasure wasn''t of much use to him, that person decided to sell it to the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' instead of keeping it for himself.
This is why after the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' announced that they were going to auction the treasure, many fellow daoists who came to our Murong city to participate in the auction decided to try their luck at the ''Elderwood mountain'' as well. However, since the ''Elderwood mountain'' is part of the territory that belongs to our Murong family, every person who wants toe here will naturally have to pay 100 high-grade spirit stones. These are the rules of our Murong family.''''
A look of realization shed past Shun Long''s eyes as he stared at Murong Feng and immediately understood what was going on.
No wonder why those groups of cultivators didn''t dare to step foot on the ''Elderwood mountain'' even though they were so close to it.
The Murong family had already imed ownership of this ce and everyone who wanted to step foot on the mountain had to pay them 100 high-grade spirit stones.
Even though 100 high-grade spirit stones were nothing to Dao Kings who belonged to the first-rate forces of the northern part of the central region like the Holy sect or the Murong family, but to an average peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator or a newly advanced Dao King who didn''t have the support of arge power, it was arge amount of spirit stones that many of them couldn''t even take out in the first ce.
At the same time, although Shun Long was somewhat curious to find out what type of treasure could entice even Dao Emperors to the point where they would personallye all the way here, he didn''t ask Murong Feng for more information, and after handing him 100 high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long patted Little Silver''s back as he flew towards the ''Elderwood mountain''.
No matter what, the most pressing matter right now was to find Huo Wuyi''s treasures.
At that moment, the bald, crimson-robed old man from the Murong family, Murong Qiang stared at Little Silver''s disappearing figure that was flying even deeper inside the ''Elderwood mountain'', before he turned his attention towards Murong Feng who was standing next to him and asked curiously
''''Brother, it''s rare to see you talk that much to a stranger. Were you interested in that mutated ''Silver-winged panther king'' as well? Although it was just a peak rank 6 magic beast, mutated magic beasts are extremely rare in the first ce. Hehe, as long as the 2 of us worked together, we could have easily taken care of that guy and take the panther away!''''
Murong Feng''s eyes had a deep look inside them as he stared at Shun Long''s disappearing figure for a few more moments, before he turned his attention to Murong Qiang and said in a calm tone
''''Easily taken care of him? Why would I take such a risk for a measly peak rank 6 magic beast? Perhaps a mutated rank 7 magic beast would be worth the trouble... but a peak rank 6 ''Silver-winged panther king''?''''
Murong Qiang was surprised when he heard his elder brother''s answer as he immediately fell silent. The red-robed, bald old man knew, that for Murong Feng to be so cautious, it must have meant that the ck-robed person who was sitting on the panther''s back had to be strong enough to make him feel wary in his heart!
After staying silent for a few more moments, Murong Qiang looked at Murong Feng and asked in a solemn tone
''''Brother was that person really that strong? You are already an early rank 6 Dao Emperor! Don''t tell me that that person was strong enough to pose a threat to you!''''
Shaking his head, Murong Feng answered coldly
''''At the very least, he should be at the cusp of bing ate-stage Dao Emperor if he isn''t one already. Onlyte-stage Dao Emperors should be able topletely conceal their auras in front of me, to the point that I can''t sense any of it.
Although he may not be able to necessarily defeat me, I don''t have any confidence to kill someone that we know nothing about either.
Additionally, we don''t know that person''s background or which power he belongs to. If he doesn''te from any first-rate force within the central region then it''s true that our Murong family could easily kill him, but if he belongs to another powerful force then things would be tricky.''''
Nodding his head, Murong Qiang didn''t ask anything else and stopped thinking about Little Silver. Although mutated magic beasts held some allure to a peak rank 3 gold grade beast tamer like him, risking his life for a peak rank 6 magic beast simply wasn''t worth it.
Of course, if it was a mutated rank 7 magic beast, then that would be an entirely different matter.
At the same time, at the foot of the ''Elderwood mountain'', Shun Long sat on Little Silver''s back and closed his eyes, before a small wooden chest appeared in his hands.
Chapter 768 - 768 Huo Wuyis Treasures
Chapter 768 - 768 Huo Wuyi''s Treasures
Naturally, this wooden chest was the same chest that Shun Long had obtained from the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' back in the Night star continent along with Liu Mei.
ording to the information that Huo Wuyi had left in his memory jade, only if someone brought this chest to the mountain outside Murong city would they then be able to obtain his treasures.
During these past few years, Shun Long had been unable to understand the runes on the chest''s surface, but now... he only needed to take a single look at them to understand what was going on.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as he injected his qi directly into the wooden chest in his hands. The runes on the chest''s surface all lit up one after the other as they started to rapidly absorb Shun Long''s qi, before Shun Long could feel an indistinct connection slowly appearing in his mind.
The connection was quite weak in the beginning, but as time passed, it started to be stronger and stronger, before Shun Long realized what was going on.
''''So that''s how it is...'''' After a brief moment of silence Shun Long muttered to himself as he stared at the wooden chest in his hands, before he turned his gaze towards a certain direction in the ''Elderwood mountain''.
In the next moment, a ck panther could be seen flying through the ''Elderwood mountain'' at full speed, with a ck-robed young man sitting on its back.
Although there were quite a number of magic beasts living on this ''Elderwood mountain'', most of them were rank 4 or rank 5 beasts, and after sensing Little Silver''s aura that was clearly at the peak of rank 6, those magic beasts immediately retreated without a second thought.
At the same time, as Little Silver flew around the ''Elderwood mountain'', Shun Long noticed the hundreds of ''Elderwood trees'' that were present everywhere around him.
This was where the ''Elderwood mountain'' had taken its name from, as ''Elderwood trees'' were truly abundant in this ce.
However, even though ''Elderwood trees'' were also considered as rank 6 medicinal ingredients that alchemists could use to refine pills, in reality, there were very few alchemists who would truly use them to concoct their pills.
The reason behind that, was because ''Elderwood trees'' were extremely sturdy and were very hard to refine into pills, while the medicinal essence inside them was almost nonexistent.
Even peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemists who used the power of an earth me would have to expendrge amounts of their spiritual strength just to refine a single ''Elderwood tree''.
This was why, unless absolutely necessary, most alchemists would avoid using an ''Elderwood tree'' during a pill concoction.
However, although ''Elderwood trees'' didn''t contain much medicinal essence inside them, ''Elderwood King trees'' were apletely different story.
''Elderwood King trees'' could be used to refine high-grade and even top-grade rank 6 medicinal pills, and they could also be used as supplementary ingredients by star-rank alchemists who refined rank 7 pills!
And yet, even after searching for more than an hour, Shun Long didn''t find even a single ''Elderwood King tree''.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t too surprised by this either since he had already guessed, that even if there were any ''Elderwood King trees'' in this ce, the Murong family would have already taken them all away.
As for those normal ''Elderwood trees'', as long as someone didn''t try to take away dozens of them at once, the Murong family wouldn''t care.
Finally, after flying around the ''Elderwood mountain'' for more than an hour, Little Silver finally stopped as it arrived in front of the entrance of an inconspicuous forest.
No matter how someone looked at it, there was nothing special about this forest, and yet Shun Long could sense that the runes on the wooden chest in his hands were pointing directly at a certain tree inside this forest.
A few momentster, Shun Long arrived in front of a normal-looking ''Elderwood tree'', that was slightly smaller than the others around it.
This ''Elderwood tree'' didn''t seem to be any different from the others around it except that its bark seemed to be much older, and yet, the moment that Shun Long got close to it, the entire tree started to tremble.
A momentter, a finger-sized hole appeared close to the heart of the tree, before a small ck object suddenly flew out from it and shot towards the wooden chest in Shun Long''s hands.
Staring at the oval-shaped spatial ring that seemed to have embedded itself on the wooden chest in his hands, Shun Long smiled as he mumbled to himself
''''No wonder people didn''t find this thing for so long. A spatial ring made from the same ''Elderwood King tree'' as the wooden chest hidden inside an ordinary ''Elderwood tree''... without the wooden chest, someone would have to uproot every single ''Elderwood tree'' in this ce before they found it.''''
With a satisfied smile, Shun Long tossed Huo Wuyi''s spatial ring inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he jumped on Little Silver''s back and flew out of the small forest, as he looked for a ce to stay and check the ring''s contents.
2 hourster, inside a small, isted cave near the foot of the mountain, Shun Long sat cross-legged on the ground with Little Silver by his side, as he took out the oval-shaped spatial ring from the ''Stone of Time'' and ced it in front of him.
Just like the wooden chest, Shun Long understood, that this oval-shaped spatial ring was most likely created by Huo Wuyi himself.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long closed his eyes, as he sent his soul sense inside the oval-shaped spatial ring, curious to see what type of treasures Huo Wuyi had left behind.
No matter what, Shun Long was certain that the contents of this spatial ring would be many times better than the treasures in the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''!
Chapter 769 - 769 Huo Wuyis Treasures (2)
Chapter 769 - 769 Huo Wuyi''s Treasures (2)
The moment his soul sense entered Huo Wuyi''s spatial ring, Shun Long immediately noticed that the space inside this oval-shaped ring was much bigger than most other spatial rings.
However, what surprised him the most was actually the contents inside the ring itself.
Forget about high-grade spirit stones, there weren''t even any low or even middle-grade spirit stones inside it.
Instead, what Shun Long found was arge iron halberd that was more than 2 meters(6.6ft) long with a slightly rusty surface, a thin but long white sword with a crimson hilt, as well as 3 golden-colored scrolls and a piece of light-blue armor.
Shun Long only needed to take a single look at the variousplicated runes and patterns on the surface of the iron halberd and the long white sword to realize that both of them were peak 1-star weapons!
As for the light-blue armor, it was clearly a peak 1-star armor as well whose quality wasn''t any lower than Liu Mei''s translucent armor.
Shun Long took out the iron halberd, the white sword, and the light-blue armor from the oval-shaped spatial ring and ce them on the ground in front of him as he inspected them seriously for a good while, before he turned his gaze towards the 3 golden scrolls.
The first golden scroll contained information about a Saint high-grade cultivation technique called the ''me Sovereign''s hammer'', while the other 2 scrolls included 2 Saint middle-grade martial skills of the fire element.
Although the ''me Sovereign''s hammer'' and the 2 fire-based martial skills weren''t of much use to Shun Long, since neither he nor Xingyi and the others trained in the Dao of Fire, Shun Long''s lips still curved up into a smile as he looked at them.
He knew that as long as he was willing to sell them, aplete Saint high-grade martial skill and 2 Saint middle-grade ones would definitely go for a good amount of spirit stones.
As for therge iron halberd, the long white sword, and the light-blue armor, Shun Long pondered over it seriously for a few moments before he decided to keep the armor and the white sword, and simply sell the iron halberd.
A peak 1-star weapon could easily go for 50.000 high-grade spirit stones, while the rarer ones could even sell for more than 100.000 high-grade spirit stones.
As for pieces of armor like Liu Mei''s translucent armor or this light-blue armor, they were much rarer than peak 1-star weapons and their price could easily reach the 200.000 high-grade spirit stones mark, while the more expensive ones could even go for 500.000 high-grade spirit stones!
After inspecting the iron halberd, Shun Long understood that the halberd itself allowed the person who wielded it to borrow the strength of the Dao of Earth and incorporate it in his attacks, just like Shun Long''s own ck sword let him use the Dao of Lightning whenever he wielded it.
However, since it wasn''t suitable for himself or Jiang Chen and the others, Shun Long decided to sell it along with the Saint-grade cultivation technique and the 2 martial skills.
After all, Liu Mei herself didn''t use any weapons while Jiang Chen already had a 1-star saber. As for Bai Longtian and Xingyi, Bai Longtian wielded a sword while Xingyi used a pair of daggers.
As for the long white sword and the light blue armor, Shun Long had already decided to give the sword to Bai Longtian and have him rece his rank 3 gold-grade sword with it, while giving the armor to Xingyi.
Shun Long knew that a piece of armor wouldn''t be of much use to him, especially now that he was just a step away from breaking through to the early sixth stage with his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''.
By then, Shun Long knew that his body would be much tougher than that of any early rank 6 magic beasts, and he would even be able to take on the attacks of early-stage Dao Kings without even bothering to defend.
Even peak rank 3 Dao Kings would be hard-pressed to break past his defenses by then, and that was only if Shun Long decided to stand still and let them attack freely.
However, things were different for Xingyi.
Although her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'' let her body merge into the shadows and allowed her to move freely and avoid any attacks that came her way, Xingyi''s own defenses were much lower than Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s who were both cultivating their bodies and had already reached the peak of the fifth stage in body refinement, as well as Liu Mei who had the peak 1-star armor from the ''Dragon Lord''s vi''.
If someone managed to sneak attack her while she wasn''t using her unique physique, Xingyi would truly be in a dangerous spot.
This was why Shun Long had decided to let her have the light-blue armor. Paired with the effects of her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'', Shun Long understood that it would be almost impossible for someone to kill Xingyi by then unless they managed topletely exhaust all of her qi or thoroughly overpower her.
After taking a look at the long white sword and the light-blue armor, Shun Long understood that the armor itself was infused with the Dao of Water, and as long as Xingyi was attacked it would immediately protect her.
As for the long white sword, it actually allowed its user to borrow the utilize the Dao of Fire every time they wielded the sword.
Staring at the 2 peak 1-star weapons and the light-blue armor in front of Shun Long, Little ck said seriously a momentter
''''Master, even among 1-star formation masters, this Huo Wuyi was definitely talented.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long agreed with Little ck, before he turned his attention towards the oval-shaped spatial ring in his hands.
No matter what, Shun Long had benefitted greatly from Huo Wuyi in thest few years.
Just the ck sword that he had gotten from the core region of the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' had been with him for a long time now.
Waving his hand, Shun Long stored everything inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he patted Little Silver''s head and said with a smile
''''Let''s have a look around this ''Elderwood mountain'' before we head to Murong city.. I am curious to see what type of treasure could attract even Dao Emperors in this ce.''''
Chapter 770 - 770 Lord Of The Mountain
Chapter 770 - 770 Lord Of The Mountain
Sitting on Little Silver''s back Shun Long flew out of the cave as he headed deeper inside the ''Elderwood mountain'', flying towards the mountain''s peak.
Now that he had obtained Huo Wuyi''s treasures, he was first nning to take a look around this ce before he went to Murong city to sell the iron halberd and the 3 golden scrolls.
At the same time, after obtaining Huo Wuyi''s treasures,? Shun Long was now certain that Huo Wuyi himself had been a star-rank formation master, and most likely a pretty talented one at that, since he had managed to leave behind a total of 3 peak 1-star weapons and 2 pieces of armor.
For a normal 1-star formation master to produce 5 peak 1-star creations was already hard enough, but after thinking about it for a moment, Shun Long realized that these weren''t the only things that Huo Wuyi had left behind.
Back in the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'', there had also been hundreds of rank 3 gold-grade weapons and even a few dozens of peak rank 3 gold-grade ones that the people from the Shengtian dynasty and the ''Alchemists'' Guild'' had fought over.
Additionally, after creating the ''Dragon Lord''s vi'' Huo Wuyi had gone to Murong city to fight Murong Tian to the death. Shun Long didn''t believe that Huo Wuyi wouldn''t have kept a piece of peak 1-star armor along with a peak 1-star weapon with him and would have chosen to fight his enemy bare-handed.
''''No wonder he had no spirit stones left in his spatial ring. Huo Wuyi probably exchanged them all for materials to forge these weapons. If he wanted to convert everything into high-grade spirit stones in the future, just those 2 pieces of armor could easily bring him half a million high-grade spirit stones if not even more.'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself as he realized why there were no spirit stones left inside Huo Wuyi''s spatial ring.
After all, every creation of a formation master required rare materials that were extremely expensive. It was the same with how alchemists had to purchase rare medicinal herbs to concoct pills.
Even as a talented formation master, Huo Wuyi could only make so many peak 1-star weapons in a short amount of time, before he went to fight Murong Tian.
As he traversed through the ''Elderwood mountain'' and slowly flew towards the peak of the mountain, Shun Long met quite a few early and middle rank 6 magic beasts on the way.
Although some of those magic beasts were slightly wary of the ck panther''s aura, they weren''t really afraid of another peak rank 6 magic beast even if that enemy was slightly stronger than them, and since Little Silver had intruded their territory those beasts would naturally go all-out to kill it.
Thus, with neither Little Silver nor those magic beasts cowering back, the base of the ''Elderwood mountain'' was soon filled with cries and roars of countless magic beasts.
Half an hourter, just as Shun Long had reached the halfway point, the entire ''Elderwood mountain'' suddenly started to tremble and rumble violently, before a furious roar came from the mountain''s peak.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!
Little Silver''s figure immediately halted when it heard this roar, while itsrge silver wings started to tremble uncontrobly.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s bright azure eyes snapped open, before Little ck spread out his soul sense andpletely enveloped Shun Long''s body without holding back, as the ck dragon said
''''Master, be careful! There is a middle rank 8 magic beast in this ce!''''
At the same time that Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind, Shun Long suddenly caught a glimpse of a yellow-robed figure that descended from the peak of the mountain at a terrifying speed, heading straight towards the foot of the mountain like a meteor.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The ''Elderwood mountain'' trembled for the second time the moment that yellow-robed figurended, as a huge crater opened on the ground.
Shun Long barely had enough time to take a look at the huge crater at the foot of the mountain, when a momentter, he spotted more than a dozen figures flying towards his direction, as they all descended the mountain in a hurry.
Those figures all had terrified looks on their faces, looking like they were fleeing for their lives, but the most surprising thing was, that the aura of each and every one of those figures had already exceeded the Dao King realm.
Seeing more than a dozen Dao Emperors fleeing with looks of terror on their faces, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he told Little Silver to escape as well.
Although there were plenty of peak rank 6 beasts that were more than a match for Little Silver in a fight, in terms of pure speed, Little Silver stood at the peak among other peak rank 6 magic beasts.
In fact, even early-stage Dao Emperors who didn''t specialize in Daos like the Dao of Wind or the Dao of Lightning wouldn''t necessarily be faster than Little Silver!
In just a few moments, Shun Long had already returned to the foot of the mountain before the figures of the Dao Emperors from behind him started to catch up!
''''Damn it! That idiot from the Cai n really deserves to die! Doesn''t he know that it''s forbidden to invade the territory of that monster?''''
''''Shut up and keep flying, or you will end up like him soon enough! As long as we leave the territory of the mountain we will be safe!''''
The fleeing Dao Emperors finally caught up with Shun Long as they left the area of the ''Elderwood mountain'', returning back to the entrance of the mountain where the groups of Nascent Soul cultivators and those Dao Kings were still waiting.
Clearly, everyone had heard the roar that came from the mountain''s peak, as even Murong Feng and Murong Qiang had showed up and were now waiting at the foot of the mountain with grave looks on their faces.
Seeing that the group of Dao Emperors had finally stopped, Murong Feng took a step forward and stared at them seriously, before he asked in a solemn voice
''''Wang Feng, Wei Wuying, what happened? One of you really dared to invade the territory of the mountain lord?''''
A purple-robed middle-aged man from the group of Dao Emperors looked at the red-robed Murong Feng and gritted his teeth before he said in a furious voice
''''It''s that idiot from the Cai n! He knew that he didn''t have a chance to win the auction for the earth me but he didn''t want to give up, so he went too deep and ended up waking that monster!''''
The look in Murong Feng''s eyes was extremely solemn when they heard this.
Although the Murong family imed themselves to be the rulers of this ''Elderwood mountain'', in reality, they knew that even the old ancestor of their family wasn''t a match for the monster that lived at the peak of the ''Elderwood mountain''.
''''There is nothing else to do here. Even if there are more treasures hidden in this ce, now that that monster is awake, there is no point in us staying here any longer. The moment we step foot on the mountain again, all of us will die!''''
''''Sigh... Let''s return back to Murong city.''''
Nodding their heads, the surrounding Dao Emperors didn''t say anything else as they cupped their hands at Murong Feng before they flew towards the direction of Murong city.
Murong Feng stayed silent for a few moments before he looked at Murong Qiang by his side and said
''''Let us go as well. We have to report this to the patriarch.''''
Nodding his head, Murong Qiang nodded his head with a grave look on his face, and without even taking a look at the surrounding Dao Kings and the Nascent Soul stage cultivators around the ''Elderwood mountain'', the 2 red-robed Dao Emperors of the Murong family flew towards Murong city at full speed.
At the same time, sitting on Little Silver''s back, a deep look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes as he stared at the group of Dao Emperors that flew towards Murong city, before he turned his attention towards the ''Elderwood mountain'' behind him and mumbled to himself
''''So that''s why there were so many Dao Emperors gathered in this ce....''''
Chapter 771 - 771 Entering The Fourth Floor
Chapter 771 - 771 Entering The Fourth Floor
After hearing what the purple-robed Dao Emperor had said to Murong Feng before he left, Shun Long finally understood why those Dao Emperors had alle to the ''Elderwood mountain'' this time.
Indeed, only an earth me or a treasure at a simr level could possibly attract so many high-level experts in this ce, to the point that they would even risk entering the territory of a rank 8 magic beast.
''''Let''s go as well.''''
After throwing onest look at the massive mountain behind him, Shun Long patted Little Silver''s head, before Little Silver spread its bright silver wings and flew towards Murong city in the distance.
...
Half an hourter, Little Silver''s figure descended from the sky, as it flew straight towards the city gates of Murong city.
Taking a look at the hundreds of luxurious carriages that were pulled by numerous powerful magic beasts and were lined up to enter the city, a smile was formed on Shun Long''s lips as he queued up to enter the city as well.
A little more than an hourter, after paying the fee of 10 high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long entered the city along with Little Silver.
The moment that he stepped foot inside the city Shun Long quickly noticed, that although this Murong city couldn''tpare to a behemoth like the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' in terms of size, it was actually muchrger than the Holy city itself!
Of course, the moment that he stepped foot into the city, Shun Long attracted quite a bit of attention too, as the cultivators around him all turned their attention towards Little Silver after sensing its aura.
No matter what, within Murong city, peak rank 6 magic beasts were still extremely rare and belonged only to a few Dao Emperors.
At the same time, since Shun Long hadpletely concealed his aura using his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', it was impossible even for Dao Kings around him to see through his real cultivation base, which made them alle to the conclusion that this ck-robed person in front of them was a powerful Dao Emperor.
To most people, Dao Emperors were exalted figures that could summon the wind and rain wherever they went in the central region, and even powerful forces like the Murong family would look to rope those experts in if they could.
...
After walking around the busy streets of Murong city for a while, Shun Long soon arrived in front of a massive building that looked like it was made from pure white jade, while the words ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' were carved above its entrance.
Seeing the hundreds of cultivators that wereing and going from the building''s entrance at all times, Shun Long took a step forward, as he entered the building with Little Silver following by his side a momentter.
Naturally, magic beasts weren''t prohibited from entering as long as they didn''t go wild and harm others.
Just like the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' back in the Holy city, the moment that he entered inside, Shun Long noticed that the items on the first floor were meant for Qi condensation and earth-grade cultivators.
Shun Long barely threw a look at the items on the first and the second floor, before he headed directly for the third floor.
Seeing that most of the rank 6 medicinal herbs on the third floor were ones that he had already purchased from the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' in the Northern Sovereign''s city a few days ago, Shun Long shook his head and turned his gaze towards the stairs that led to the fourth floor.
2 guards that were d in golden armor were blocking the entrance of the fourth floor, preventing anyone who wasn''t strong enough from entering the fourth floor.
With just a nce, Shun Long could sense that those guards were both rank 9 Dao Kings, and it was obvious that they could easily defeat other experts at the same level as them.
As soon as someone would try to get close to the staircase that led to the fourth floor, the guards'' auras would explode outwards, preventing anyone from getting any closer.
And yet, Shun Long''s lips simply curved up, as he walked towards the stairs of the fourth floor a momentter.
The 2 guards narrowed their eyes simultaneously when they sensed someone approaching them, before their cultivation burst outwards without any hesitation.
At the same time however, Shun Long didn''t even move as Little Silver''s aura at the peak of rank 6 exploded as well, suppressing the 2 guards'' auras in practically an instant!
The guards'' powerful auras were powerless in front of Little Silver, who let out a powerful roar that shook the entire third floor soon after.
This sudden change ended up stunning every single person on the third floor, including the 2 guards themselves.
Although the 2 guards were strong, they hadn''t expected that they would have to face a peak rank 6 magic beast today.
Despite their cultivation bases, the 2 guards knew that their chances of winning against a peak rank 6 beast by themselves were practically nonexistent.
Additionally, the person who owned a peak rank 6 magic beast had to be a Dao Emperor!
After a brief moment of hesitation, the guards retracted their auras and cupped their hands at Shun Long, as they allowed him to enter the fourth floor.
After all, their job wasn''t to fight to the death, but simply to prevent anyone who wasn''t strong enough from entering the fourth floor.
These were the rules of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Shun Long nodded his head at the 2 guards, as he walked towards the fourth floor with Little Silver next to him.
However, the moment that he stepped foot on the fourth floor, Shun Long was stunned when he noticed how different this floor waspared to the previous three.
The fourth floor didn''t have even a single counter in sight.
Instead, it was filled with a number of private rooms that were all guarded by golden-armored guards, simr to the guards in front of the staircase of the fourth floor!
Chapter 772 - 772 Information
Chapter 772 - 772 Information
As he stared at the doors of the private rooms on the fourth floor, Shun Long also noticed that in front of each door, there was also a small sign that indicated what each room was used for.
After throwing a quick nce at the rooms where the star-rank pills and the star-rank weapons were sold, Shun Long eventually walked towards the room that sold medicinal herbs.
Even though he had spent more than 130.000 high-grade spirit stones in the ''Myriad Pills pavilion'' in the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', Shun Long knew that he only had a handful of rank 7 medicinal herbs inside his herb garden right now, while the chances of obtaining rank 7 medicinal herbs were already limited in the first ce.
Of course, Shun Long knew that right now, his spiritual strength wasn''t enough to refine any rank 7 pill in the first ce, and that he would first have to be a peak rank 3 Dao King before he could do so.
As the 2 golden-armored guards in front of the room sensed someone approaching them, one of them took a step forward and extended his right hand as he blocked the ck-robed person in front of him and the silver-winged panther by his side, before he said in a calm voice
''''Guest, please halt. You have to wait for the person inside to leave before you can enter the room.''''
Shun Long stared at the guard in front of him and nodded his head without saying anything else, as he waited in front of the room with Little Silver.
It was obvious that the rules on the fourth floor were different from the previous 3 floors.
After all, he could also see a handful of Dao Emperors on the fourth floor, waiting in front of the other rooms for their turns as well.
Thankfully, the room that sold medicinal herbs was among the least popr ones and didn''t have a long line.
A few minutester, a green-robed middle-aged woman stepped out of the room before Shun Long''s turn came to enter inside.
As soon as he entered the room, Shun Long saw a yellow-robed old man sitting behind the counter where the medicinal herbs were disyed.
This old man had a calm look in his eyes as he stared at Shun Long, not surprised in the least that Shun Long had chosen to hide his identity.
The old man knew that there were plenty of people who would choose to hide their faces when they visited the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', for whatever reason that may be.
After taking a look at the rank 7 medicinal herbs on disy, Shun Long eventually spent 60.000 high-grade spirit stones to buy a couple of rank 7 herbs, before he took a look around the rest of the fourth floor.
A few momentster, Shun Long realized that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' wasn''t just a ce that sold pills, medicinal herbs, or weapons.
As long as a Dao Emperor had enough money, they could even head to the ''Assassination room'' and request the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' to kill someone for them.
Of course, only the Dao Emperors who stepped foot on the fourth floor knew about this.
After he walked around the fourth floor for a while, Shun Long finally stopped as he arrived in front of a room with the words ''Intelligence room'' in front of the door.
Since there was no one else inside the room, the 2 guards didn''t stop Shun Long and allowed him to enter inside right away.
The moment that he entered the room, Shun Long saw a silver-robed old man sittingfortably on a luxurious couch, while asionally sipping some tea that was ced on the jade-white table in front of him.
As soon as Shun Long entered the room the old man raised his head and looked at the person in front of him with a curious look, before he gestured for Shun Long to sit on the couch opposite to him soon after.
Shun Long nodded and sat on the couch without any hesitation, while Little Silver stood by his side, staring vigntly at the old man in front of Shun Long.
Just like Little SIlver, Shun Long could also sense that this old man in front of him was a Dao Emperor, and from the aura that wasing from his body, this old man had most likely exceeded the early stages of the Dao Emperor realm long ago.
A profound look shed past the old man''s eyes as he stared at Shun Long, and after he threw one brief look at Little Silver next to him, the old man suddenly smiled and cupped his hands at Shun Long, as he then said
''''Wee to Murong city, dear guest. This old man is Liao Huo of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', and I am the person responsible for the ''Intelligence room''. How may I help you?''''
Shun Long''s eyes shed with a deep look the moment that he heard Liao Huo''s words, and after he stared at him seriously for a few moments, Shun Long asked in a hoarse voice
''''Interesting. How do you know that I am not from Murong city?''''
The old man''s eyes turned into slits as he looked at Shun Long, before he smiled and saidughingly barely a momentter
''''Haha, you underestimate me quite a bit dear guest. I am the head of the ''Intelligence department'' of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', and I am already familiar with every single Dao Emperor in Murong city.
Naturally, I know every single person inside the city who has the ability topletely conceal their aura in front of me, and even without seeing your face, I can tell with certainty that I have never met you before.
This can only mean that you are not from Murong city, otherwise, there is no way that I wouldn''t have known about it.''''
As he finished speaking, Liao Huo stood up and waved his hand, taking out a small empty cup from his spatial ring that he ced on the jade-white table in front of him.
After he filled the cup with tea, he ced it in front of Shun Long, before he continued speaking with that same smile on his face
''''Of course, whether our guests are from Murong city or not doesn''t matter.
Our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' operates throughout the entire central region, and the only thing that''s important is whether you have enough spirit stones or not. As long as there is something you need to know and you can pay the corresponding price, our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' will definitely leave you satisfied.''''
An extremely deep look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes as he looked at the silver-robed old man in front of him, and after staying silent for a few moments, Shun Long''s lips curved upwards as he looked at the old man in front of him and spoke in the same hoarse voice as before
''''Then, Liao Huo.... what can you tell me about the Murong family?''''
Chapter 773 - 773 Information About The Murong Family
Chapter 773 - 773 Information About The Murong Family
''''The Murong family?'''' The silver-robed Liao Huo raised his eyebrows as he looked at the ck-robed person who was sitting opposite to him, since he clearly hadn''t expected Shun Long to ask about the Murong family.
After all, the Murong family was still the ruler of Murong city, so even if someone wanted to learn information about them, they would usually go to some other city and ask the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' there.
After staring at Shun Long silently for a few moments, Liao Huo''s lips curved upwards before he answered calmly
''''Of course, if dear guest wants to learn information about the Murong family, our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' can naturally help you. However, dear guest, I must inform you in advance, that depending on the information that you want to learn, the price that you will have to pay may not be cheap.
After all, the Murong family is still the strongest force in Murong city, and even our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' don''t want to sh with them unless absolutely necessary.''''
Although Liao Huo had just said that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' didn''t want to sh with the Murong family unless absolutely necessary, Shun Long could see from the confident look in the silver-robed Dao Emperor''s eyes, that there wasn''t even a single hint of fear inside them when he mentioned the Murong family.
But of course, Shun Long knew that this was only natural.
The ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was rumored to have branches throughout the entire northern part of the central region, including major cities like the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' and the Holy city. Although the ce where Shun Long was in right now was just a branch in Murong city, one could guess how terrifying the power behind the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' really was, to allow them to operate a branch in every single major city in the northern part of the central region.
This was why, even powerful families like the Murong family didn''t want to sh with them, unless it was an irreconcble situation where one of the 2 forces had to truly disappear.
Staring at Liao Huo, Shun Long nodded his head calmly before he said
''''I want information about every single Dao Emperor of the Murong family, including how many Dao Emperors they have within the city as well as their cultivation levels.''''
Liao Huo''s eyes instantly lit up as a friendly smile quickly covered his face soon after, before the silver-robed old waved his hand and said
''''No problem.''''
A momentter, a piece of pure-white jade appeared on the table in front of him, as Liao Huo pushed the jade towards Shun Long and continued
''''This memory jade contains exactly what you asked for, dear guest... information about every single Dao Emperor of the Murong family, including how many of them there are inside and outside the city right now, their cultivation levels, and even the details of some of the cultivation techniques and martial skills that most of them use.
But of course, this is only the information that our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce currently has, and some of it may be slightly inurate, so I hope that dear guest can understand. After all, some of them are Dao Emperors who have entered seclusion for thousands of years while others may have found some rare treasures to consume in secret, so it''s possible that their strength has also advanced.''''
Shun Long took the memory jade from the table, but he didn''t send his soul sense inside it right away, and instead, he turned to look at Liao Huo in front of him before he asked in a calm tone
''''How much?''''
Liao Huo didn''t beat around the bush as he answered straight away
''''60.000 high-grade spirit stones. The price is non-negotiable as well. I hope that dear guest understands the reason.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t try to haggle and simply waved his right hand, taking out 60.000 high-grade spirit stones from the ''Stone of Time'' and letting them fill the private room in the blink of an eye.
Although 60.000 high-grade spirit stones was indeed a sky-high price that one could even use to buy a peak 1-star weapon, Shun Long knew that it was absolutely worth it.
Even if the price was higher, he was still going to pay.
What Shun Longcked the most at this point, was any information about the Murong family itself, as well as information about Murong Tian.
Although he knew that he could simply ask about information for Murong Tian instead of asking for details about every single Dao Emperor of the Murong family, Shun Long knew that doing so would be no different than telling Liao Huo that he hade here for Murong Tian.
Without knowing what rtionship Liao Huo may have with the Murong family, doing so would be no different than throwing himself in the mouth of the lion.
Liao Huo epted the spirit stones with a bright smile on his face, before he turned to look at Shun Long and asked a momentter
''''Dear guest, is there something else that I can help you with? Hehe, I am sure that you have also heard about the auction that our chamber ofmerce is hosting a month from now, and that many Dao Emperors from all over the central region havee to participate in it. If you want to know the details about any of those Dao Emperors, our chamber ofmerce can provide that as well... for the right price of course.''''
Shun Long''s eye twitched behind the ck robes but he didn''t answer immediately.
Instead, he fell silent for a brief moment, before he turned his attention towards Liao Huo and waved his right hand.
A thud resounded throughout the private room in the next moment, as a rusty-looking iron halberd and 3 golden scrolls all appeared on the surface of the jade-white table in front of Shun Long!
Chapter 774 - 774 Selling The Treasures
Chapter 774 - 774 Selling The Treasures
Liao Huo was momentarily stunned as he stared at the iron halberd and the 3 golden scrolls that had appeared in front of him, before he turned to look at Shun Long and asked in a confused manner
''''Dear guest?''''
Shun Long nodded his head and answered calmly
''''There is indeed something that I will need your help with. Since your ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' is hosting an auction, I want to auction these things as well. I hope you can help me take care of it.''''
A look of understanding shed inside Liao Huo''s eyes before he stretched out his hand and began to inspect the iron halberd first.
A few secondster, Liao Huo mumbled to himself
''''A peak 1-star weapon with the ''Dao of Earth'' engraved inside it. The quality is not bad, and the runes themselves seem to be in perfect condition as well... almost as if this thing was just forged. It should bring at least 70.000-80.000 high-grade spirit stones if it''s sold in the auction.''''
Without any hesitation, Liao Huo ced the iron halberd to the side before he turned his attention towards the 3 golden scrolls on the table in front of him.
A few momentster, after he finished inspecting the first scroll, the silver-robed Dao Emperor raised his head and stared at Shun Long with a somewhat surprised look on his face before he asked seriously
''''Dear guest, this is a Saint high-grade cultivation technique! Are you sure that you want to auction this?''''
Liao Huo''s tone turned slightly solemn when he said this.
Of course, it wasn''t surprising that Liao Huo would ask this question.
As a powerful Dao Emperor and the supervisor of the ''Intelligence room'' in the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Liao Huo knew how rare Saint high-grade cultivation techniques really were.
Even first-rate powers like the Holy sect and even the Murong family didn''t have any immortal-grade cultivation techniques, and they only had Saint high-grade cultivation techniques in their treasury.
Even if one of their disciples had somehow managed to obtain an immortal-grade cultivation technique, they wouldn''t share it with anyone else and would do anything to keep it for themselves.
At the same time, although it wasn''t unprecedented for someone to sell a Saint high-grade cultivation technique during an auction, Liao Huo knew that instances like these were extremely rare, and that those cultivation techniques usually came from extremely powerful individuals who were already renowned throughout the central region and didn''t have much use for these cultivation techniques.
Naturally, those individuals would choose to sell them for high-grade spirit stones instead.
However, aside from those powerful individuals, Liao Huo also knew that there was one other group of cultivators who would asionally try to sell these cultivation techniques... people who had deserted their family or sect and had stolen their core techniques before they left.
Of course, Liao Huo didn''t know whether Shun Long was an expert who belonged to the first group or the second, but he still decided to ask regardless.
Judging from Shun Long''s reaction, Liao Huo would then know which group the person in front of him really belonged.
If Shun Long hesitated, Liao Huo would then be certain that the ck-robed person in front of him belonged to the second group.
Using the resources and the information channels of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', it then wouldn''t be difficult for him to locate which power Shun Long came from simply by taking a look at the name of the cultivation technique, and then inform them that their cultivation technique would be auctioned at their branch.
No matter what, a cultivation technique was every power''s utmost priority, and they would do anything they could to get back it back if it was stolen.
At the same time, Liao Huo could sell them the information about Shun Long''s whereabouts and let that powere and take revenge.
Clearly, these were the skills of a shrewd businessman. Anything and everything that could be converted to money would be used by Liao Huo!
Unfortunately for him, Shun Long didn''t hesitate for a moment, as he calmly nodded his head and said
''''I have no use for these things so it''s better to sell them.''''
At the same time, inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck had a mocking look in his deep azure eyes as he stared at the silver-robed Dao Emperor in front of Shun Long.
Although Liao Huo was shrewd, how could his intentions possibly escape the ck dragon''s eyes?
Shun Long could also guess what Liao Huo''s intentions were, but he didn''t care about it one bit.
After all, this cultivation technique clearly belonged to Huo Wuyi who had disappeared thousands of years ago.
Even if Huo Wuyi had stolen it from some power, it would be uncertain if that power would still be as strong as it had been in the past and if they would still be looking for it.
Even strong powers could end up disappearing after the passage of many years from the cultivation world.
Besides, as a powerful Dao Emperor who was also a talented formation master, Shun Long knew that Huo Wuyi was at least a rank 6 Dao Emperor and would definitely look for a cultivation technique that suited him perfectly instead of stealing the first Saint high-grade cultivation technique that he could get his hands on.
Liao Huo also understood that Shun Long had most likely found out his intentions, but he wasn''t flustered in the slightest as he smiled brightly and nodded his head before he answered
''''Of course, dear guest. You can leave this to me. I will make sure to put your items in our auction a month from now!''''
A momentter, Liao Huo took a look at the other 2 golden scrolls that included 2 Saint middle-grade martial skills as well, before he swept everything inside his spatial ring.
Liao Huo then waved his hand, as he took out a silver token from his spatial ring and tossed it to Shun Long before he continued
''''Dear guest, this is the VIP invitation from our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''. You shoulde and take a look at the auction even if you don''t intend to buy anything.. I can assure you that the items will be worth your time. Hehe, even Sovereign realm experts wille to participate in this auction after all!''''
Chapter 775 - 775 The Strength Of The Murong Family
Chapter 775 - 775 The Strength Of The Murong Family
Shun Long nodded his head and epted the silver token from Liao Huo, before he ced it inside his spatial ring along with the memory jade with the information about the Dao Emperors of the Murong family.
Even if Liao Huo hadn''t mentioned it, Shun Long was still nning to take a look at the auction and see if there were any treasures that could help him, as well as Liu Mei and the rest, all increase their strength before the opening of the City of Immortals.
As for the earth me, although Shun Long wanted to get his hands on it, he knew that his chances of winning the auction were practically nonexistent.
Just like Liao Huo had said, there were bound to be even some Sovereign realm experts who would be fighting over the earth me.
Although Shun Long knew that he would be considered wealthy even if he waspared to most peak rank 9 Dao Emperors like the Grand Elder, he also understood that if he wanted to fight Sovereign realm experts for the earth me, even a million high-grade spirit stones wouldn''t be enough to let him secure it.
Sometimeter, under Liao Huo''s attentive gaze, Shun Long left the ''Intelligence room'' and walked towards the staircase that led him back to the third floor.
Since he had already obtained everything he needed from this ce, Shun Long was nning to enter seclusion for the next month, until the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' began.
Meanwhile, inside the ''Intelligence room'', a moment after Shun Long had left, the amiable smile quickly vanished from Liao Huo''s face, as the silver-robed Dao Emperor stared at the door of the ''Intelligence room'' and mumbled to himself in a calm manner
''''More and more experts have been gathering in the citytely. If the Murong family wants to obtain the earth me, it seems that they will have to bleed quite a bit.''''
Liao Huo''s serious expression disappeared soon after, as the silver-robed Dao Emperor continued to enjoy his tea with a calm smile on his face. No matter what happened, Liao Huo was certain that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' would be the one who would end up profiting the most from this.
At the same time, sitting on Little Silver''s back, Shun Long left the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' and walked around Murong city as he looked for a ce to stay.
Around an hourter, he arrived at arge inn near the heart of the city and spent 4000 middle-grade spirit stones to rent a courtyard for the next one month.
After he entered the room Shun Long sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes, before he imagined himself entering the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
A momentter, sitting on his usual spot, Shun Long held the memory jade that he had purchased from Liao Huo in his hands and used his qi to activate it, before he sent his soul sense inside it soon after.
The moment that his soul sense entered the memory jade, Shun Long could feel a stream of information entering his mind, as different faces and information about those faces quickly filled his mind.
''''Murong Chang: Early rank 1 Dao Emperor. Broke through to the Dao Emperor realm 30 years ago while cultivating a Saint middle-grade cultivation technique of the Murong family. He doesn''t belong to the main branch of the Murong family and thus, he wasn''t given ess to the core cultivation technique of the Murong family, the ''Soul epassing lotus'' until he broke through to the Dao Emperor realm.
He wields a saber and has mastered a powerful Saint middle-grade martial skill for it, making him stronger than most other early rank 1 Dao Emperors.''''
''''Murong Hu: Middle rank 2 Dao Emperor. He belongs to the main branch of the Murong family. He broke through to the Dao Emperor realm 600 years ago, while cultivating the core cultivation technique of the Murong family, the ''Soul epassing lotus''.
He wields a greatsword and although he has powerful physical strength that surpasses average early rank 3 Dao Emperors, his speed is his greatest weakness.''''
As he kept taking in the information from the memory jade, Shun Long was surprised to see how detailed the information of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' about the Dao Emperors of the Murong family really was.
Not only was there information about the cultivation techniques and the martial skills of most of those Dao Emperors, but it even included the weapons that they used, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, although Shun Long wasn''t interested in most of these Dao Emperors, he didn''t mind learning more about them either.
After all, some of them may end up blocking his path once he tried to kill Murong Tian.
Shun Long also noticed that the Murong family had several more Dao Emperors than the Holy sect.
At least as far as he knew, the Holy sect only had around 20 Dao Emperors, including the Grand Elder and all the inner court Elders, but the Murong family seemed to have well more than 30 of them.
Finally, after reading information for more than 30 Dao Emperors of the Murong family, a familiar name finally appeared in Shun Long''s mind.
''''Murong Tian: The current patriarch of the Murong family. He is the strongest Dao Emperor of the Murong family and one of the strongest experts in the entire city, breaking through to be a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor 3000 years ago! The old ancestor of the Murong family personally appointed him to be the patriarch after Murong Tian broke through to the peak of the Dao Emperor realm.''''
Shun Long was momentarily stunned when he took in the information in his mind about Murong Tian.
The person that Huo Wuyi wanted him to deal with was actually the current patriarch of the Murong family?
-
Author''s note: 1/2 (Next chapter ready in approximately 2 hours)
Chapter 776 - 776 The Strength Of The Murong Family (2)
Chapter 776 - 776 The Strength Of The Murong Family (2)
Despite his initial surprise Shun Long didn''t stop reading the information about Murong Tian.
However, the more he read, the more surprised Shun Long felt in his heart as time went on.
After reaching the peak of the Dao Emperor realm and bing the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian had only appeared twice in Murong city in thest 3000 years, and he was now presumed to have entered seclusion in preparation for his breakthrough to the Sovereign realm.
ording to the information of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Murong Tian was considered to be one of the 10 strongest Dao Emperors throughout the entire northern part of the central region.
His greatest strength was his spiritual strength that vastly exceeded other peak rank 9 Dao Emperors, while his soul attacks could threaten anyone who had yet to step into the Sovereign realm.
Shun Long guessed that even experts likemander Quan from the Northern Sovereign''s army would have to take someone like Murong Tian seriously.
Murong Tian''s only weakness seemed to be fighting in closebat. However, ording to the information of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Murong Tian also wore a piece of peak 2-star armor that protected him from most physical attacks.
With a peak 2-star armor to protect him, it didn''t matter how weak his physical strength was, Murong Tian essentially didn''t have any weaknesses whatsoever.
As soon as the information about Murong Tian entered his mind, Shun Long felt the memory jade in his hands finally crumble, before it turned into dust soon after.
Naturally, this was done from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' to prevent its information from being passed down freely.
Although Shun Long could also try to create a simr memory jade if he wanted to, the information he would be able to record down clearly wouldn''t be as detailed as that of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', since he hadn''t met the Dao Emperors of the Murong family personally.
Sometimeter, Shun Long finally opened his eyes, and after a brief moment of silence, he mumbled to himself in a calm voice
''''It seems that dealing with Murong Tian is nearly impossible right now.''''
Little ck immediately opened his bright blue eyes the moment he heard Shun Long''s voice, before the ck dragon asked curiously
''''Master, what''s wrong?''''
Naturally, Shun Long didn''t hide anything from Little ck, as he shared with him all the information that he had obtained from the memory jade.
Without any hesitation, Little ck nodded his head and said calmly
''''Master, it''s better to forget about this matter for now. If that Murong Tian hasn''t showed his face for 3000 years, he is most likely cultivating in seclusion inside the Murong family to prepare and breakthrough to the Sovereign realm. Since there are 2 Sovereign realm experts behind the Murong family as well, it''s too dangerous for master to try and do anything to him.''''
Little ck knew that the current Shun Long could afford to take this risk if he wanted to, since even Sovereign realm experts would be hard-pressed to take his life after Shun Long broke through to the Dao King realm, but whether he could seed in killing Murong Tian was a different matter altogether.
Shun Long fell silent for a few moments before he nodded his head and agreed with Little ck.
Indeed, infiltrating the Murong family to deal with Murong Tian wasn''t an option.
Putting aside how difficult it would be to even find and kill Murong Tian in the first ce, Shun Long knew that there was no way that the 2 Sovereign realm experts of the Murong family would just sit there and allow him to kill a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor realm expert under their noses.
A few momentster, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''I will try to increase my cultivation as much as possible in the next few days. As for Murong Tian''s matter, it will have to wait for now.''''
Shun Long then took a deep breath, before he summoned the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' from the herb garden and started to feed it with high-grade spirit stones.
The enormous vine started to hungrily absorb the high-grade spirit stones around it, before it filled the air around Shun Long with extremely pure qi.
Shun Long closed his eyes and started to absorb the qi around him, as the outline of a golden ball of qi began to appear in his hands a whileter.
..
At the same time, back in the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', Liu Mei and the others had gathered at the entrance of the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' and faced the silver-robed Northern Sovereign who was standing in front of them, before Bai Longtian cupped his hands at the Northern Sovereign and said in an apologetic manner
''''Apologies senior, but brother Shun has entered seclusion and cannot be contacted right now. We hope that senior understands.''''
The Northern Sovereign stared at Bai Longtian silently for a few moments, before she then asked
''''Did he say how long he was nning to stay in seclusion?''''
Nodding her head, Xingyi answered the Northern Sovereign''s question
''''Brother Long said it shouldn''t take more than 2 months if things go well.''''
The Northern Sovereign didn''t speak right away, and after a few more moments of silence, she shook her head and said
''''I was nning to introduce him to the geniuses of the Tianhuan dynasty that would enter the ''City of Immortals'' this time, but it seems that that''s impossible for now. So be it then. You can tell Shun Long toe and see me in my courtyard after he is finished with his seclusion.''''
Nodding their heads, Bai Longtian and the others all cupped their hands at the Northern Sovereign who disappeared from the entrance of the courtyard shortly after.
A momentter, after Xingyi and the others returned back to the courtyard, Liu Mei turned to look at Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, and said in a calm voice
''''I''m going to leave the city for a few days.''''
-
Author''s note: 2/2 (This is the second chapter from ''yesterday'' (2 hours ago)).. There are 2 more chaptersing before reset today.
Chapter 777 - 777
Chapter 777 - 777
''''Sister Liu, are you going to cultivate?'''' Bai Longtian asked a momentter as he looked at Liu Mei.
Naturally, Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi weren''t surprised to hear that Liu Mei was nning to leave the city, since they had actually expected this long ago.
After all, the 3 of them knew that Liu Mei''s Dao and cultivation technique were both different from theirs.
If Liu Mei wanted to advance andprehend her Dao of Death even further, she had to kill other cultivators and absorb the essence of death around them.
Clearly, she couldn''t just stay inside the city to do that.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei looked at Bai Longtian and the others and answered seriously
''''Staying inside the courtyard to cultivate is meaningless to me. Even if I could absorb the qi in here, I would still have to leave the city toprehend my Dao of Death further.''''
Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all nodded, before Jiang Chen said in a calm voice
''''Since that''s the case, it''s better to askmander Quan for a few experts to protect you while you leave the city.''''
Xingyi and Bai Longtian both agreed with Jiang Chen''s suggestion, and a few momentster, the 4 of them made their way towardsmander Quan''s quarters.
In reality, Xingyi and the others weren''t too worried about Liu Mei''s survival since they knew that she still had the pendant that she had received from Elder Xuan as a gift when Elder Xuan epted her as her disciple.
ording to Elder Xuan, that pendant could save her life twice if she was in a life-threatening situation, blocking the attacks of even somete-stage Dao Emperors.
But of course, Jiang Chen and the others weren''t going to take any risks, since they all understood, that right now, they were in the heart of the northern part of the central region.
The ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' was the biggest city in the northern part of the central region, and there were bound to be plenty of high-level experts in this ce.
For an early-stage Dao King to wander alone was simply too dangerous.
This was even more so when one considered that Liu Mei was a heavenly beauty who would attract the attention of everyone around her.
A few momentster, insidemander Quan''s private quarters,mander Quan agreed right away to send a squad of experts to protect Liu Mei when he heard that she was nning to leave the city.
Barely 10 minutes passed before a group of experts appeared outsidemander Quan''s quarters, all of them staring reverently atmander Quan in front of them.
Surprisingly, there were even 2 early-stage Dao Emperors who were leading this squad, one tall, burly man, and a beautiful middle-aged woman.
Behind the 2 Dao Emperors were 10 peak rank 9 Dao Kings who were all trying hard to conceal the looks of excitement in their eyes as they stood in front ofmander Quan and received his orders.
Although these people were all soldiers who belonged to the Northern Sovereign''s army, they rarely had chances to leave the city since they would spend most of their time cultivating inside the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate''.
Of course, if someone within the city dared to create trouble, the Northern Sovereign''s army would immediately be dispatched, but instances like these were extremely rare. After all, who would dare to make trouble within the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''?
Thus, the soldiers in the Northern Sovereign''s army would end up spending most of their time inside the Sovereign''s estate, training for hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of years without a chance to go out.
Of course, this didn''t mean that they were prisoners, but their only chance to freely move around would be to either reach the middle-stages of the Dao Emperor realm and be inferior only to the 12manders in status, or leave the Northern Sovereign''s army and be independent.
But of course, the first option was simply too hard while the second one was extremely foolish.
Experts throughout the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' were dying to enter the Northern Sovereign''s army, since they would have the chance to obtain better resources and cultivation techniques the more their strength advanced.
Who would choose to leave willingly and be a rogue cultivator for no reason?
This was why the soldiers in front ofmander Quan were so excited even though it was such a simple mission of protecting a small early-stage Dao King.
In the eyes of the 2 Dao Emperors who were leading the squad, this was no different from vacation for them.
A whileter, the squad led by the 2 Dao Emperors followed behind Liu Mei and left the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate'', as they headed straight towards the city gates.
At the same time, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen all returned to the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'', looking like they were in a hurry to continue cultivating.
Of course, the 3 of them all knew, that now that Liu Mei was going to leave the city, they couldn''t ck for even a moment or they would be left behind by her, even if they cultivated inside this ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' in the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
After all, Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art'' was perfectly suited for her Dao of Death, since it allowed her to increase her cultivation at the same time that she increased her Daoprehension.
Additionally, the cultivation speed of Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art'' outstripped even Xingyi''s and the others'' speed.
Even after they obtained immortal-grade cultivation techniques from Shun Long, Jiang Chen and the others knew that their cultivation speed was still inferior to Liu Mei''s.
It was almost as if her ''Blood Absorption art'' was tailor-made for Liu Mei.
...
At the same time, back in Murong city, Shun Long continued to cultivate with his eyes closed, as he continued to absorb the pure qi around him that hadpletely filled the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
A second... a third... and a fourth golden ball of qi appeared inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as the days went by, and in the blink of an eye, a month passed before the day of the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' finally arrived.
-
Author''s note: 1/2
Chapter 778 - 778 The White Tiger Chamber Of Commerces Auction (1)
Chapter 778 - 778 The ''White Tiger Chamber Of Commerce''s'' Auction (1)
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long opened his eyes and exhaled once, before he turned his attention to the 12 golden balls of qi that were hovering above his head.
After breaking through to the Dao King realm, Shun Long truly realized how much more qi his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' requiredpared to other cultivation techniques.
During this past month that he had spent in seclusion, Shun Long had spent nearly 10.000 high-grade spirit stones before he finally reached the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm.
If it was any other early-stage Dao King who had absorbed all of this qi, they would have certainly reached the middle stages of the Dao King realm.
However, Shun Long still knew that the benefits of the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' far outweighed the disadvantage of needing to absorb enormous amounts of pure qi.
After all, the higher the grade of a cultivation technique, meant that a person had higher chances of reaching the immortal realm in the future.
At the same time, it was only after he broke through to the Dao King realm that Shun Long realized another benefit of his ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
If he had been training in any other cultivation technique, even if he hadprehended the ''Dao of Time'' as well, Shun Long was certain that he wouldn''t have been able to use his ''Monarch''s Domain'' or any other of the skills that he hadprehended, simply because the requirements to use them were extremely high.
''''Master, are you going to take a look at the auction?'''' Little ck asked as he coiled hisrge head around Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground.
ording to what Liao Huo had said, there wasn''t much time left until the auction started.
Shun Long nodded and patted Little ck''s head once before he answered
''''I am curious to see what type of earth me the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' is nning to auction. Besides, that old man, Liao Huo said that there will be other treasures as well that will be worth to take a look at.''''
Naturally, in Liao Huo''s eyes, Shun Long who couldpletely hide his aura in front of him was at least ate-stage Dao Emperor, which meant that the treasures that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was nning to auction would most likely be enough to attract the attention of even some extremely powerful Dao Emperors, otherwise Liao Huo wouldn''t be so confident to make such a im.
A few momentster, Shun Long closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he returned back to his room inside the inn.
This time however, Shun Long didn''t keep Little Silver by his side and had the ck panther return to the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he walked towards the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' all by himself.
Sometimeter, Shun Long arrived in front of the entrance of an extremely crowded ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' that had a sea of cultivators in front of its entrance.
It seemed that the auction today had attracted a huge number of people.
Of course, this was only natural since everyone inside Murong city had learned during the past 2 months that an earth me was going to be auctioned today.
A treasure that needed hundreds of thousands or perhaps even a million years to form itself naturally... how could it not attract the attention of every single powerful cultivator within the city?
But even though every person present coveted the earth me, everyone understood that it would most likely end up in the hands of the few Sovereign realm experts who were present today, or the representatives of therge powers throughout the northern part of the central region who hade to get their hands on it.
Sometimeter, Shun Long managed to enter the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' before heading straight for the fourth floor.
Of course, the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' wasn''t going to let just anyone participate in the auction since there were simply too many people present today, while the seats in the auction couldn''t hold all the cultivators present.
This was why the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was holding the auction on the fifth floor, and every person who wanted to participate would have to pay a fee of 100 high-grade spirit stones.
Although this price was nothing to the powerful Dao Emperors who were going to bid for the earth me or the other treasures, to most ordinary cultivators who only wanted to take a look at the auction out of curiosity, it was an exorbitant price that few of them were willing to pay.
Of course, powerful experts who had an invitation token like the one that Shun Long had received from Liao Huo didn''t have to pay any fee whatsoever.
As soon as he reached the staircase that led to the fifth floor, Shun Long saw more than a dozen of golden-armored guards standing there silently, as well as a number of beautiful young women dressed in white robes who were receiving the guests with smiles on their faces.
Every single one of those guards was at the peak of rank 9 of the Dao King realm, but Shun Long was certain that there were even some Dao Emperors hidden in the surroundings as well.
''''Perhaps the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has even asked for the help of a Sovereign realm expert, to make sure that things go smoothly today.'''' Shun Long thought to himself as he showed his silver token that he had gotten from Liao Huo to one of the white-robed women in front of him.
The moment that the guards and those young women noticed Shun Long''s silver token, they all bowed respectfully, before the young woman in front of Shun Long offered to lead him to the private room that was reserved for him.
-
Author''s note: 2-4 more chapters will be ready in the next few hours so look forward to them.. Couldn''t finish them yesterday so they will be ready by today.
Chapter 779 - 779 The White Tiger Chamber Of Commerces Auction (2)
Chapter 779 - 779 The ''White Tiger Chamber Of Commerce''s'' Auction (2)
Shun Long didn''t decline and allowed the young woman in front of him to lead him to the fifth floor.
A few momentster, Shun Long noticed, that the fifth floor of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' onlyprised of the auction venue itself.
More than half of the normal seats below were already upied, while experts were still arriving in droves.
''''Esteemed guest, this way please.'''' The young woman smiled and gestured for Shun Long to follow her, as she walked past a certain corridor that 2 golden-armored guards were guarding and headed towards one of the private rooms there.
The white-robed young woman stopped in front of the entrance of a certain room a few momentster, and bowed towards Shun Long before she continued
''''Esteemed guest, you can go ahead. I will be right here if you need anything, so don''t hesitate to call me.''''
Shun Long nodded and thanked the young woman for leading the way, before he took a few steps forward and entered the room.
As expected, the quality of the private room itself wasn''t any inferior to the ''Intelligence room'' where Shun Long had met Liao Huo.
A luxurious couch and a jade-white table were ced at the center of the room, facing the main stage of the auction venue, as well as the people who were seated in the normal seats down below.
With just a nce, Shun Long could also see the rest of the private rooms around him, but he couldn''t make out the appearance of any of the people present in those rooms and could only see their silhouettes instead.
Clearly, there was some sort of formation set up by the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' within every private room, as it obscured the appearance of the people inside.
Naturally, this was done by the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' to let everyone bid freely, without the need to feel afraid that their identity would be exposed and that they would end up offending someone during the auction.
However, just as Shun Long was about to sit on the couch and wait for the auction to begin, a dozen different soul senses suddenly entered his room and swept past his body, before they moved towards the rest of the private rooms a few momentster.
Shun Long narrowed his eyes when he sensed this but his body didn''t seem to have the slightest bit of reaction to it, as he calmly seated himself on the couch a few momentster and took out a wooden barrel of wine from his herb garden, cing it on the jade-white table in front of him.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', a dangerous glint shed inside Little ck''s deep azure eyes when he sensed this sudden intrusion in Shun Long''s room, before the ck dragon''s serious voice resounded in Shun Long''s mind a momentter
''''Master, it seems that this ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has managed to attract quite a few people. There are at least a dozente-stage Dao Emperors, as well as 4 Sovereign realm cultivators present in this ce.''''
4 Sovereign realm experts!
If the people inside Murong city knew that there were 4 Sovereign realm experts who hade to the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' today, they would be sitting on pins and needles.
Even the Murong family, the overlord of Murong city only had 2 Sovereign realm experts backing them and they could do whatever they wanted in the city.
It was almost certain that if those 4 Sovereign realm experts started fighting, the entire Murong city would be razed to the ground!
And yet, Shun Long wasn''t too surprised when he heard this.
After all, even Sovereign realm experts would want to get their hands on any earth mes that appeared, and this was even more so for the rarer earth mes with special attributes.
Although most people didn''t know about this matter, Shun Long was perfectly aware that each earth me was unique and had its own properties. Some earth mes purely had the element of fire inside them, but there were earth mes with the element of wind, the element of lightning, and even the element of ice, along with many other elements.
There were even some earth mes who focused on the special attributes of a person''s soul.
When an expert absorbed an earth me, they would then have the chance to gain insights on the element inside the earth me, increasing their strength even further!
This was why, more often than not, even experts who weren''t alchemists or formation masters would do everything they could to get their hands on an earth me!
-
At the same time that Shun Long sat down on the couch and started to drink some of his wine whilepletely ignoring what was going on in the rooms around him, in one of the private rooms that was just a few meters away from his own, a silver-haired middle-aged woman in white robes narrowed her eyes as she mumbled to herself in a curious voice
''''Who is this person? Someone that even I can''t see through their cultivation base...? Don''t tell me that it''s a middle-stage Sovereign? But the people from the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', the ''ck mist valley'', and ''Lord Zhu''s garden'' are already here and none of their middle-stage Sovereigns havee to Murong city! It''s not the old ancestor of the Murong family either...
Perhaps this person belongs to another power that''s not from the northern part of the central region...''''
The 3 white-robed women who were standing next to the silver-haired middle-aged woman all had looks of shock on their faces when they heard this, before one of them asked
''''Master, didn''t the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' tell us that there were only 4 Sovereign realm experts who hade to Murong city, including master herself? Howe there is another one now?''''
After a moment of silence, the silver-haired middle-aged woman shook her head and answered in a calm manner
''''Perhaps this person hid himself too well, or he has a special rtionship with the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' which is why they kept this a secret. Regardless, it doesn''t matter who he is. The only thing that matters is who will get their hands on the earth me in the end.''''
The 3 white-robed women nodded without saying anything else, as they all turned their attention to the main stage of the auction venue as they waited for the auction to start.
Finally, a little more than an hourter, the seats in the audience below, as well as the private rooms up above, were all filled to the brim with people, before a beautiful young woman in yellow robes finally appeared on the main stage of the auction venue, causing the entire crowd to immediately fall silent.
Chapter 780 - 780 Finally Appeared!
Chapter 780 - 780 Finally Appeared!
Shun Long saw that the beautiful, yellow-robed young woman who was standing on the main stage, had an enchanting smile on her face as she faced the crowd in front of her, before she bowed slightly and introduced herself in a warm voice that was akin to a gentle breeze that warmed up the entire venue
''''Dear guests of our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', my name is Jia Guiying and I will be your auctioneer for today''s auction. I want to thank you all, esteemed guests, foring.
Since many of our esteemed guests today have evene from various parts of our central region, our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has prepared many exceptional treasures for today!''''
Quite a few people in the crowd stared at the beautiful young woman who had appeared on the stage with love-struck eyes, before someone said soon after
''''Indeed, miss Jia is worthy of being called the most stunning jewel of Murong city. Since she is the auctioneer today, I am sure the rumors about the earth me must be true!''''
''''Of course they are true! Do you think that so many experts would be present today if they weren''t? I heard that today''s auction will even have some other treasures other than the earth me that can entice Sovereign realm experts to go all-out!''''
People in the crowd immediately began chatting with each other shortly after Jia Guiying''s appearance, and Jia Guiying herself merely smiled and didn''t speak when she saw this scene, allowing the excitement of the crowd to reach its peak before they began the auction.
After all, as a talented auctioneer, she knew that only when the crowd couldn''t contain their excitement any longer, would the prices of the auction reach a new high.
A minuteter, Jia Guiying bowed to the crowd for a second time, before her gentle voice entered the ears of every single person present in the venue
''''Then, esteemed guests, without further ado... let us begin with the first item of today''s auction!''''
As Jia Guiying pped her hands, 2 beautiful young women dressed in red robes walked out from the back of the auction venue, carrying with them 2 bottles that were filled with alchemy pills.
Some of the people in the crowd stared at the pills curiously, while the eyes of the most experienced ones quickly lit up.
At the same time, Shun Long''s eyes shed momentarily inside his private room, before he mumbled in a calm voice
''''High-grade rank 7 pills?''''
Indeed, Jia Guiying verified Shun Long''s and the others'' guesses barely a momentter, as she took one of the pill bottles in her hands and gently removed one of the pills inside, showing it to the crowd in front of her before she said
''''Dear guests, as many of you have already guessed, the first item for today''s auction is a set of high-grade rank 7 ''Limb restoring pills'' made by Grandmaster Hu Dai himself!
Grandmaster Du Hai is the greatest alchemist in our Murong city, and this set of high-grade ''Limb restoring pills'' made personally by him, can even allow a person who isn''t a body refinement cultivator to restore a missing limb without any issue.
As long as you are not a Sovereign realm expert, just one of these pills will allow you to restore a missing limb within a day after consuming it!
I am sure that everyone here understands how rare these high-grade rank 7 ''Limb restoring pills'' are, and that you normally won''t be able to see them even if you tour through half of our northern part of the central region!
The starting price for these 18 pills will be 70.000 high-grade spirit stones, and every subsequent increase must be a minimum of 500 high-grade spirit stones!''''
The crowd didn''t hesitate to start bidding, as a person in the lower seats instantly called out his bid
''''70.500''''
''''71.000!''''
''''73.000!''''
In the blink of an eye, the price climbed all the way to 80.000 high-grade spirit stones and it was still going strong.
Although these rank 7 ''Limb restoring pills'' didn''t require any exceptionally rare rank 7 medicinal herbs to concoct, due to how difficult the actual pill refinement of the pills was, they were considered to be quite rare rank 7 pills that many cultivators coveted.
A few minutester, the price finally stopped as a person in the lower seats obtained the ''Limb restoring pills'' for 93.000 high-grade spirit stones!
Of course, the person who had obtained them was ate-stage Dao Emperor who happened to be sitting in the lower seats, since only some extremely powerful middle orte-stage Dao Emperors, as well as people from extremely strong powers, could afford to pay such a high price for 2 bottles of pills.
But of course, to those experts, even a hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones were nothing if they could restore a missing limb.
These pills were no different from offering a second life to those who weren''t training in body refinement!
Jia Guiying pped her hands and congratted the old man who had just won the pills, before the second item of the auction soon came out.
Staring at the rusty iron halberd that appeared in Jia Guiying''s hands, Shun Long''s lips curved up slightly as he watched the auction.
His iron halberd eventually sold for 80.000 high-grade spirit stones, and someone came to Shun Long''s private room a few momentster to deliver him 76.000 high-grade spirit stones.
Clearly, those 4000 high-grade spirit stones were the 5 percent fee that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' would get from every transaction.
The third, the fourth, and the fifth item of the auction soon followed, and nearly every single one of them sold for more than 30.000 high-grade spirit stones!
Unfortunately, none of those items were of any use to Shun Long who kept enjoying his wine calmly, while the wine''s scent had already started to spread to some of the nearby private rooms by now, attracting the attention of the experts inside those rooms, who sent their soul sense to check Shun Long''s room soon after.
Of course, since none of those experts could see through Shun Long''s cultivation base and they were all enemies during the auction, none of them dared to approach him during this time.
A little more than an hourter, after more than 10 items had already been auctioned, a bright smile suddenly blossomed on Jia Guiying''s face, as the beautiful yellow-robed young woman faced the crowd and said in a warm voice
''''Dear guests, our next item is an exceptionally rare rank 7 medicinal herb that is very rarely seen even in most auctions, and it can evenpare to some rank 8 medicinal herbs in terms of rarity. Our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' happened to obtain it by pure luck a few days ago, and we decided to auction it today!''''
As she finished speaking, Jia Guiying personally went over to carry a small jade box on the main stage, revealing a seven-petaled flower inside the box that was emitting a bright light.
Staring at the flower in Jia Guiying''s hands, Shun Long''s eyes instantly lit up as he said with a smile
''''A ''Golden light flower''!''''
Chapter 781 - 781 Golden Light Flower
Chapter 781 - 781 Golden Light Flower
It wasn''t just Shun Long who was startled upon seeing the seven-petaled flower in Jia Guiying''s hands, as the people in the audience seats and even some of the experts inside the private rooms seemed to have suddenly turned serious, as they turned their gazes towards Jia Guiying soon after.
With a smile on her face, Jia Guiying nodded her head and continued a momentter, as her warm voice reverberated throughout the fifth floor
''''As many of you, dear guests have already guessed, our next item is indeed a rank 7 ''Golden light flower''. I am sure that the esteemed star-rank alchemists present here today all recognize the value of this priceless flower better than me, so I will avoid embarrassing myself.
It is said that as long as a ''Golden light flower'' is refined into a pill, it can heal almost any kind of injury, including injuries in a person''s soul. High-grade and top-grade rank 7 pills refined by a ''Golden light flower'' can even be consumed by Sovereign realm experts, making their valueparable to some extremely rare rank 8 pills.
The starting price for this ''Golden light flower'' is set by our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' at 80.000 high-grade spirit stones, while each subsequent increase must be at least 1000 high-grade spirit stones higher than thest bid.''''
Silence filled the auction venue for a brief moment after everyone heard Jia Guiying''s voice, before people began shouting out their bids soon after.
''''85.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
''''86.000!''''
''''87.000.''''
''''90.000!''''
Less than a minute had passed since the auctioning of the ''Golden light flower'' had begun, and the price had already exceeded the 100.000 high-grade spirit stones mark, and it was only then that it started to actually slow down.
Even Shun Long was inwardly surprised when he saw that the price of a rank 7 medicinal herb had already exceeded that of a peak 1-star weapon.
Shun Long''s surprise was only natural, since the value of raw medicinal herbs would always be far lower than the actual pill concocted in the end, and this was even more so for a medicinal herb like the ''Golden light flower'' that even star-rank alchemists found it had to fully extract its essence.
And yet, once he remembered the prices of the rank 7 medicinal pills that he had seen back in the ''Myriad Pills pavilion'' within the Northern Sovereign''s city, Shun Long realized that the price of the ''Golden light flower'' was still within reason.
After all, some extremely rare rank 7 pills were sold for hundreds of thousands of high-grade spirit stones while the more expensive ones reached close to a million high-grade spirit stones instead!
With a serious look in his eyes, Shun Long continued to watch as the price of the ''Golden light flower'' kept climbing upwards without any signs of stopping anytime soon.
However, Shun Long was still prepared to go all-out to obtain the flower, regardless of the final price.
Even if it was just for Jiang Tianfang''s sake, Shun Long wouldn''t let anyone else get their hands on this ''Golden light flower'', otherwise who knew how many years Jiang Tianfang would have to wait until he healed himself.
A few minutester, the price had already reached the 130.000 high-grade spirit stones mark, before Little ck''s voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind a few momentster
''''Master, if things keep going like this, the final price will certainly go past 200.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long agreed with Little ck and said after a moment of thinking
''''I guess it''s time.''''
Shun Long then took a deep breath, before he called out from his private room in a hoarse voice
''''150.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
''''..''''
The auction venue of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' descended into silence in the next moment, as the people sitting in the normal seats below, and even some people from the private rooms turned their attention towards Shun Long''s room.
The sudden increase of 20.000 high-grade spirit stones for a single rank 7 medicinal herb naturally surprised quite a lot of people who only realized at that moment how high the price had risen by now.
At the same time, in the private room that was right next to Shun Long''s, the silver-haired middle-aged woman in white robes who was emitting an aura that was clearly at the Sovereign realm mumbled to herself with a frown on her face
''''I was nning to bid for the flower as well, but it seems that both this person and the people from the ''ck mist valley'' want to fight for it... Fine then, I will let you have it. What I am interested in the most isn''t this flower, but the earth me itself.''''
The 3 white-robed women next to the beautiful silver-haired woman were startled when they heard this, before one of them asked curiously
''''Is master really going to give up? Even if it''s the ''ck mist valley'', in front of our ''White ice city'' they won''t dare to be too arrogant. As long as master deres that she is interested in this flower, perhaps they won''t even dare to fight you for it!''''
The silver-haired middle-aged woman looked at the white-robed young woman next to her and shook her head, before she answered in a calm manner
''''They won''t dare to fight? You underestimate the ''ck mist valley'' quite a bit. Although it''s true that our ''White ice city'' is stronger than them, the valley lord of the ''ck mist valley'' is ate-stage Sovereign realm expert just like our city lord. Why would they be afraid topete with us? Besides, the person who hase to Murong city this time is that demon from the ''ck mist valley'', Zhuan Jie. Forget about me, even if he had to fight a middle-stage Sovereign realm cultivator, he still wouldn''t be afraid.''''
As she finished speaking, the silver-haired middle-aged woman turned to look at Shun Long''s private room for a brief moment, before she smiled and fell silent.
-
Author''s note: 1/4
Chapter 782 - 782 Golden Light Flower (2)
Chapter 782 - 782 Golden Light Flower (2)
The fifth floor of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was silent for a few more moments after Shun Long''s bid, before Shun Long heard a cold snorting from one of the private rooms near him, as the person inside that private room said in an overbearing voice
''''160.000 high-grade spirit stones! Today, I, Zhuan Jie of the ''ck mist valley'' will be the one who is going to win this ''Golden light flower''!''''
At the same time, Zhuan Jie deactivated the formation around his private room, allowing everyone below him and even the other experts who were sitting inside the private rooms to see his facial features.
Seeing the tall dark-haired man with sunken cheeks and that pair of cold eyes that were staring at Shun Long''s room directly, many people in the crowd couldn''t hold themselves back from whispering among themselves
''''It''s really Zhuan Jie, the right-hand of the demon lord of the ''ck mist valley''! I''ve heard that he is at the peak of the early stages in the Sovereign realm. I didn''t expect that the ''ck mist valley'' would send him here today!''''
''''Things are going to be tricky! Now that Zhuan Jie has already dered his presence and that he wants to obtain the ''Golden light flower'', I doubt that anyone else will dare to bid against him other than the experts of the 3 strongest powers in the northern part of the central region.''''
''''I am sure the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'' won''t be happy with this either. They have already said that nobody is allowed to try and bully others through their status or background in their auctions. I wonder how miss Jia will handle this.''''
Indeed, a cold light shed through Jia Guiying''s eyes in the next moment, as the beautiful young woman looked at Zhuan Jie and said in a displeased manner
''''Senior Zhuan Jie, I am sure that you are aware of the rules of our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', and that trying to scare other guests from bidding is forbidden. Are you trying to challenge my authority today?''''
A stifling atmosphere filled the entire fifth floor of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' at that moment, as everyone stared at Jia Guiying with wide-open eyes.
Nobody had expected that a middle-stage Dao King like her would be so arrogant in front of a renowned Sovereign realm expert like Zhuan Jie!
Even if she was the auctioneer of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Zhuan Jie himself was known as a merciless demon who could kill others with a snap of his fingers.
However, Jia Guiying didn''t seem to be afraid of him in the slightest, as she stared at him with a questioning gaze.
Surprisingly, Zhuan Jie merelyughed a momentter, as he shook his head and said
''''Bullying others? Little girl, I think you are mistaken. I simply dered that I am going to win the auction today. If there is some trash present here today who are too afraid to bid against me, then that simply means that they didn''t deserve their spot in the first pl-''''
''''180.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
Before Zhuan Jie could even finish his sentence, Shun Long''s hoarse voice came from his private room, attracting the attention of every single person present.
Silence filled the auction venue for a few more moments, before someone asked in a disbelieving tone
''''Another increase of 20.000 high-grade spirit stones?! This person dares to bid against Zhuan Jie?''''
The people in the normal seats down below were stunned when they heard Shun Long calling out another bid against Zhuan Jie so casually, but the experts inside the other private rooms like the beautiful silver-haired woman from ''White ice city'' and the others were unperturbed.
After all, they had already sent their soul sense to scan every single person sitting inside the private rooms as well as those in the normal seats down below, and Shun Long was the only mystery in these experts'' eyes.
Someone who could hide his cultivation in front of so many experts present, clearly wouldn''t be afraid of someone like Zhuan Jie.
At the same time, the cold look in Zhuan Jie''s eyes deepened as he stared at the blurry silhouette inside Shun Long''s room, before he spoke a secondter
''''200.000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
''''220.000!'''' Shun Long''s voice echoed right after Zhuan Jie''s, as Shun Long called out his next bid.
It was clear that Shun Long had already decided to get his hands on this ''Golden light flower''!
''''The ''me Sovereign''s hammer'' and the 2 Saint middle-grade martial skills should sell for at least 200.000 more high-grade spirit stones. I doubt that this Zhuan Jie will be willing to spend close to half a million high-grade spirit stones for a single rank 7 medicinal herb.'''' Shun Long thought to himself calmly as he waited to see if Zhuan Jie wanted to keep bidding.
Everyone on the fifth floor of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' stared at Zhuan Jie curiously, including the experts inside the other private rooms.
Indeed, as long as it wasn''t a matter of life and death, Zhuan Jie shouldn''t keep fighting for the ''Golden light flower''.
After all, the ''Golden light flower'' was nothing more than a rank 7 medicinal herb, and it was one of the most difficult medicinal herbs to extract its essence!
If Zhuan Jie spent hundreds of thousands of high-grade spirit stones to bid for it and ended up gaining nothing, he would truly regret that.
And yet, contrary to everyone''s expectations, Zhuan Jie simply snorted and said
''''You think that a few hundred thousand spirit stones mean anything to me? Today I will make you bleed as well! 250.000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
''''270.000!'''' Shun Long called out in a calm voice before Zhuan Jie''s own voice could even disperse.
At that moment however, just when everyone thought that Shun Long and Zhuan Jie would keep bidding against each other until one of them didn''t have anymore spirit stones, a solemn voice came from the normal seats down below, attracting everyone''s attention
''''400.000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
-
Author''s note: 2/4
Chapter 783 - 783 Is That Him?
Chapter 783 - 783 Is That Him?
''''400... 400.000?'''' Someone in the audience seats asked in a stuttering voice as he turned to look at the person who had just called out this bid.
However, just like Shun Long, this person was d in ck robes thatpletely concealed his appearance.
The only thing that people could discern was his extremely powerful cultivation base.
Zhuan Jie narrowed his eyes as he looked at this ck-robed person in the normal seats down below before he said calmly
''''An early rank 9 Dao Emperor can actually take out 400.000 high-grade spirit stones like that? How interesting...
It''s too bad that I still need to bid for the earth me and I can''t waste too many spirit stones on a measly rank 7 medicinal herb like this! You can have it this time.''''
As he finished speaking, Zhuan Jie threw a provocative look at Shun Long before he activated the formation around his own private room, hiding his appearance once again.
Although Zhuan Jie could keep bidding if he wanted to go all-out against Shun Long, in reality, he hadn''te to Murong city to bid for the ''Golden light flower'', but he was here for the earth me just like the rest of the experts.
If Shun Long really wanted to fight for the ''Golden light flower'' and spend more than half a million high-grade spirit stones for it, it would be unlikely that he would have enough topete with them for the earth meter on.
What Zhuan Jie didn''t know, was that Shun Long wasn''t nning on bidding for the earth me in the first ce.
Of course, it wasn''t because he didn''t want to, but that he was certain that the final price would easily exceed a million high-grade spirit stones, and that this was nothing more than a conservative estimate.
The final price could very well be 2 million high-grade spirit stones or perhaps even higher.
Jia Guiying and the others all stared at Shun Long''s private room curiously, waiting to see if he wanted to keep bidding.
Everyone understood that 400.000 high-grade spirit stones had already gone past the actual market value of the ''Golden light flower'', but if an expert really wanted it, it wouldn''t be unlikely for its price to go even higher.
And yet, Shun Long simply remained silent as he stared at the ck-robed person in the audience seats down below who had just called out the bid of 400.000 high-grade spirit stones, without calling out another bid.
A deep look shed inside Shun Long''s eyes at that moment, as he then used his soul sense to ask Little ck
''''Little ck, is that Jiang Tianfang?''''
Little ck nodded his head and answered calmly, as his bright blue eyes stared at the ck-robed person in the audience seats
''''Master is right. Although he is using a special technique to mask his aura, it''s impossible for him to hide his real identity from me. He is definitely Jiang Tianfang.''''
Since his cultivation had only broken through to the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm and Jiang Tianfang had altered his aura using a special technique, Shun Long wasn''tpletely certain of his guess which was why he had to ask Little ck.
However, although Jiang Tianfang could hide his aura from others, how could he hide it from someone like Little ck?
Even the strongest experts of the cultivation world couldn''t hide their true aura in front of the ck dragon, as long as Little ck had met them once before.
A smile formed itself on Shun Long''s lips after he heard Little ck''s confirmation, and after a moment of silence, Shun Long said in a hoarse voice that reverberated throughout the fifth floor
''''I was nning to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'' but perhaps it''s not meant to be... So be it then.''''
''''''Heavenly purity pill''?'''' Whether it was Zhuan Jie, the silver-haired woman from the ''White ice city'' or the other experts inside the private rooms, they all looked puzzled as none of them had ever heard of the name ''Heavenly purity pill''.
And yet, the moment that Jiang Tianfang heard this, his body suddenly trembled, as his piercing gaze stared at Shun Long''s private room with hints of tion and disbelief in his eyes.
The only other person who knew about the ''Heavenly purity pill'' was Shun Long who had told him about it, as well as Jiang Chen and the others.
How could Jiang Tianfang not get this hint and realize what was going on?
At the same time, seeing that no one else wanted to bid for the ''Golden light flower'' after Jiang Tianfang''s bid, Jia Guiying smiled and said in a crisp and clear voice that reverberated throughout the fifth floor
''''Congrattions to this esteemed guest for winning the bid for the ''Golden light flower''.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded and stood up, as he walked towards the back of the auction venue where he went to pay for the ''Golden light flower''.
Of course, neither Zhuan Jie nor the silver-haired middle-aged woman from the ''White ice city'' and the others were surprised that Shun Long didn''t keep bidding.
400.000 high-grade spirit stones were indeed too much for a rank 7 medicinal herb, and although the ''Golden light flower'' was a rare rank 7 medicinal herb, it wasn''t worth this price in the eyes of these Sovereign realm experts. Especially if they were nning to bid for the earth meter on and they wanted to conserve their spirit stones.
A few momentster, Shun Long heard a knock on the door of his private room, as the young woman who had escorted him to his room said from the outside
''''Esteemed guest, there is another guest that wants to meet you and he says that you are already acquainted with each other. Should I let him enter?''''
Shun Long didn''t even need to take a look at it, as he sensed the familiar aura of an early rank 9 Dao Emperor outside of his room and realized that it was Jiang Tianfang.
Nodding his head, Shun Long then said with a smile
''''Let him in.''''
-
Author''s note: 3/4
Chapter 784 - 784 Meeting Again
Chapter 784 - 784 Meeting Again
The door of the private room opened in the next moment, as Shun Long saw a ck-robed person appear inside like a blur.
The young woman of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' bowed and closed the door soon after, before Shun Long stared at the person in ck robes in front of him and said with a smile
''''Uncle Jiang, it''s good to see that you are alright.''''
Jiang Tianfang removed his ck robes, revealing his face to Shun Long before he said in an ted voice
''''Nephew Shun! Hahaha! It''s good to see you.''''
Jiang Tianfang gave an excited bearhug to Shun Long before he continued
''''I didn''t expect to see you here in Murong city, especially in this auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''. I thought that you would still be cultivating inside the Holy sect. Did Chen''er and the otherse with you as well?''''
Shun Long shook his head and said
''''Jiang Chen and the others are all in the Northern Sovereign''s estate in the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''. I came here to deal with some personal matters so I hope that uncle Jiang can keep this a secret.''''
''''The Northern Sovereign''s estate?''''
Jiang Tianfang was stunned when he heard that Jiang Chen and the others were actually cultivating in the Northern Sovereign''s estate, but he still nodded his head and answered
''''Don''t worry. Since these are your personal matters you don''t have to say anything. However, I am slightly curious. How did you end up meeting the Northern Sovereign?''''
Shun Long smiled and proceeded to exin to Jiang Tianfang what had happened after they returned back to the Holy sect.
''''What? You are a Dao King already?'''' Jiang Tianfang stared at Shun Long with disbelieving eyes, almost as if he was looking at a monster.
Even an expert like him couldn''t believe that Shun Long was already a Dao King after just 3 brief years. After all, thest time that they had met, Shun Long''s cultivation was merely at the peak of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul stage. To reach the Dao King realm from the early stages of the Nascent Soul stage in less than 3 years... this was definitely an unprecedented feat even in the history of the central region.
As far as Jiang Tianfang knew, even those geniuses who were born with unique physiques that aided them in their cultivation speed, like Qiao Min who was ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor and was born with the ''ckwater unique physique'', wouldn''t have such a terrifying cultivation speed like Shun Long.
At the same time, Jiang Tianfang was extremely excited when he heard that Jiang Chen had managed to breakthrough to the Dao King realm sessfully as well.
In his heart, Jiang Tianfang had always been slightly worried that Jiang Chen would fail in his breakthrough, since he knew that his son was born with an immortal-grade bloodline from a ''Mythic-rank'' magic beast, the ''Demonic crow of Darkness'', and he even had a powerful unique physique as well.
Hearing from Shun Long that Jiang Chen had indeed seeded in bing a Dao King, helped remove the biggest burden from Jiang Tianfang''s heart.
Shun Long only hid the details about his ''Stone of Time'' and the golden skeleton that he had obtained from the depths of the King''s Pce, before he exined to Jiang Tianfang how they met the Northern Sovereign and were invited to her estate, and that they were nning to enter the ''City of Immortals''.
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and proceeded to exin to Shun Long how he had searched through most of the northern part of the central region for the ''Golden light flower'' during the past 3 years, and that he had only chanced upon this auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' today by pure luck.
Thankfully, Jiang Tianfang belonged to a powerful family in the past, and he was also someone who was renowned throughout the central region as a whole and had killed quite a number ofte-stage Dao Emperors by himself, amassing quite a bit of wealth before his dantian was half-crippled, which was why he could afford to spend 400.000 high-grade spirit stones to get his hands on the ''Golden light flower''.
At the same time, the auction continued, and after a few more items showed up, Shun Long''s ''me Sovereign''s hammer'' and the 2 Saint middle-grade martial skills finally appeared on the stage, before they sold for a total of 550.000 high-grade spirit stones.
A little more than an hourter, after more than a dozen items had been auctioned, Jia Guiying stood on the main stage and stared at the people in front of her and those sitting in the private rooms, before she said in a warm and pleasant voice
''''Honorable guests, there are 2 final items left in our auction today, and I am sure that even the esteemed Sovereign realm experts present today will be satisfied with them.
Our next item is a 3-star ''Soul-locking talisman''!
As you all know, talismans are really hard to make, and they can only be made by extremely powerful formation masters with extraordinarybat strength.
Even more powerful experts will be unwilling to offend a talisman master due to this.
This ''Soul-locking talisman'' was made by a renowned peak 3-star formation master of our central region, grandmaster Wang. Our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has already verified that this ''Soul-locking talisman'' can even affect peak rank 9 Sovereign realm experts, and only those Sovereign realm experts with extraordinary spiritual strength or those who have a soul-protecting peak 3-star artifact will be able to resist its effects.
The starting price for this ''Soul-locking talisman will be 300.000 high-grade spirit stones, while each subsequent increase must be a minimum of 5000 high-grade spirit stones higher than thest bid.''''
-
Author''s note: 4/4 (Reminder that these are today''s chapters (prior to reset) and 2 more chapters will naturallye in the next 24 hours).
Chapter 785 - 785 Jiang Tianfangs Suggestion
Chapter 785 - 785 Jiang Tianfang''s Suggestion
''''300.000.''''
''''305.000!''''
''''310.000!''''
This time, the people bidding for the ''Soul-locking talisman'' were only the experts inside the private rooms, while none of the experts sitting in the normal seats down below looked to join in.
Naturally, a treasure that could even harm a peak rank 9 Sovereign realm powerhouse was enough to attract everyone''s attention, but the terrifying starting price of 300.000 high-grade spirit stones was enough to daunt most people from even thinking of participating.
After all, the number of experts present in the auction today who were simr to Jiang Tianfang and could afford to spend that many high-grade spirit stones in one go could be counted on one hand, and even though they all coveted this ''Soul-locking talisman'', they knew that it was already bound to end up in the hands of one of the experts in the private rooms.
Even Jiang Tianfang who was renowned throughout the northern part of the central region couldn''tpete with a Sovereign realm expert in terms of wealth.
If it wasn''t because Zhuan Jie needed to conserve most of his spirit stones to bid for the earth meter on, it was practically certain that the price of the ''Golden light flower'' would have exceeded the 500.000 high-grade spirit stones mark, and even Jiang Tianfang would find himself in a tough spot in that case.
In the end, the price of the ''Soul-locking talisman'' reached an exorbitant amount of 1 million and 120 thousand high-grade spirit stones, and was purchased by one of the experts sitting in the private rooms, just like everyone else had expected.
With a smile on his face, Jiang Tianfang looked at Shun Long and asked
''''Nephew Shun, do you know who is the person sitting inside the private room that just won this bid?''''
Shun Long looked at Jiang Tianfang and shook his head before he asked
''''I don''t know. Could it be that uncle Jiang is familiar with that person?''''
''''Familiar? Haha, no, although I have met him once before, I can''t really say that we are familiar with each other. However, nephew Shun might be interested in his identity instead. That person is the 7th general in the Northern Sovereign''s army, Zi Hu.'''' Jiang Tianfang said calmly as he stared at the blurry figure inside the private room that had just won the bid for the ''Soul-locking talisman''.''''
''''The 7th general?'''' Shun Long asked in a somewhat curious tone as he stared at the blurry figure inside the private room opposite of his.
The only ''general'' that he had met so far was the golden-armored old man back in the Northern Sovereign''s estate, ''old Lin''.
Although Shun Long had heard from the Northern Sovereign herself, that there were 12 Sovereign realm experts in the Northern Sovereign''s city, he had yet to meet another one of those experts.
At that moment, Jiang Tianfang realized that Shun Long didn''t know too much about the top powers in the northern part of the central region, including the inner structure of the Northern Sovereign''s army, so he nodded his head and begun to exin to him
''''Right. It''s only natural that nephew Shun doesn''t know too much about the big powers of the central region, so let me exin.
The ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' is, unquestionably, thergest power in the northern part of the central region.? Other than the Northern Sovereign herself, you probably know already that there are 12 other Sovereign realm experts guarding the city, and those 12 Sovereigns are all subordinates of the Northern Sovereign herself.
Every single one of those 12 Sovereigns is an extremely powerful expert of their own, and they all rumored to train in the immortal-grade cultivation techniques and even immortal-grade martial skills from the Tianhuan dynasty.
Since nephew Shun hase to Murong city to deal with private matters, you should already have a certain degree of confidence in seeding so I am not going to say anything. However, if you find yourself in trouble, I am sure that Zi Hu will help you with whatever it is that you may need as long as you reveal your identity to him. Naturally, if nephew Shun needs my help as well, all you have to do is ask. I may not be able to do too much right now, but I can at least assure you that no middle-stage Dao Emperor will be able to so much as touch you while you are with me.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and cupped his hands at Jiang Tianfang, before he bowed slightly towards him and said in a grateful manner
''''Thank you, uncle Jiang, but there is no need to worry. Even if I can''t deal with my matters this time, I can always try to do so in the future. As for the Northern Sovereign, I would rather not ask her for help, unless it''s absolutely necessary.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and didn''t say anything else, as he turned his attention towards the main stage of the auction venue where 2te-stage Dao Emperors received the ''Soul-locking talisman'' and took it to Zi Hu''s private room, under the other experts'' eyes.
Naturally, since Shun Long had already decided on his course of action, Jiang Tianfang wouldn''t try to persuade him against it.
After all, as a powerful expert himself, Jiang Tianfang understood clearly that one of the things that was really hard to repay in the cultivation world, was a favor from another powerful expert.
If Shun Long owed the Northern Sovereign, it was very likely that the Northern Sovereign would wait until Shun Long became much stronger, perhaps even stronger than herself before she called in this favor.
Of course, what Jiang Tianfang didn''t know was that Shun Long''s target this time was an extremely powerful peak rank 9 Dao Emperor and the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian.
Even if the Northern Sovereign knew about this, it was uncertain whether she would agree to help Shun Long kill him.
After all, Murong Tian wasn''t any random Dao Emperor, and his death would greatly anger the Murong family.
At the same time, in Zhuan Jie''s private room, the Sovereign realm expert from the ''ck mist valley'' who had remained silent after the auctioning of the ''Golden light flower'' suddenly exploded withughter, as he looked at Zi Hu''s private room in front of him and said in a mocking voice that resounded throughout the entire fifth floor
''''Hahaha! Zi Hu, you would rather spend 1 million high-grade spirit stones on the ''Soul-locking talisman'' instead of keeping them to bid for the earth me? It seems that even the generals of the Northern Sovereign''s army are just as stupid as the normal soldiers.''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2 (Next chapter will be ready in 3 hours at most)
Chapter 786 - 786 Final Item
Chapter 786 - 786 Final Item
Inside his own private room, the golden-armored Zi Hu who was sitting on his couch with a grumpy expression on his face narrowed his eyes as he turned his attention towards Zhuan Jie, before he snorted and said in a cold voice
''''Zhuan Jie, even a coward like you dares to call me stupid? Fine then, why don''t you try bidding for the earth me now? I can promise you that as long as you manage to get your hands on it, I will immediately use this ''Soul-locking talisman'' on you and seal your soul. I am sure that the talisman''s effects will be even more powerful on a peak rank 3 Sovereign realm cultivator like you.''''
The silver-haired woman from the ''White ice city'' and the rest of the experts inside the private rooms were all startled when they heard this exchange between Zi Hu and Zhuan Jie, before loud discussions filled their rooms soon after
''''Haha everyone knows that Zi Hu has a short temper and Zhuan Jie decided to mock him right after he was forced to pay a million high-grade spirit stones for that talisman. No wonder he is angry.''''
''''Zhuan Jie dug his own hole. With one less person topete for the earth me, the chances for the rest of us will be even higher!''''
Zhuan Jie''s expression instantly changed when he heard the mocking voices of the experts inside the private rooms around him, before he turned his attention towards Zi Hu''s silhouette and shouted angrily
''''Zi Hu, you dare? You know that I am the right-hand man of the valley lord of the ''ck mist valley''! Even if you are a general of the Northern Sovereign, you should know your limits! Are you saying that you are willing to waste your ''Soul-locking talisman'' on me over such a trivial matter? You should know that even if you manage to kill me, the valley lord will definitely take revenge for me in the future!''''
Zhuan Jie gritted his teeth as he said thest sentence. It was truly humiliating for a Sovereign realm expert like him to resort to threats, but he knew that with the ''Soul-locking talisman'' in his hands, Zi Hu was the one who had the upper hand.
Forget about Zhuan Jie himself, even middle-stage Sovereign realm experts would think twice before offending Zi Hu right now.
Narrowing his eyes, Zi Hu waved his right hand, dispelling the obscuring formation from his private room and allowing Shun Long and the others to have a good look at him, before he turned his gaze towards Zi Hu and said mockingly
''''You are right. You are not worthy of me wasting this ''Soul-locking talisman'' on you, and I indeed had another reason why I purchased it today. However, the value of the earth me itself is definitely no lower than this talisman, so, I don''t mind exchanging it if I get to take your life and the earth me in return. As for the valley lord of your ''ck mist valley''... hahaha, others may be afraid of him, but do you really think that I would be scared of an empty threat like that? Did you forget who is the person standing behind me?''''
Zi Hu''s uproariousughter send chills to Zhuan Jie''s spine who regretted offending this madman, while solemn looks appeared on the faces of the surrounding experts present in the auction venue.
Although Zi Hu was extremely overbearing, everyone understood that he was right. Behind him was the Northern Sovereign, the strongest expert in the northern part of the central region. Why would Zi Hu be afraid of the ''ck mist valley''.
In fact, would the valley lord of the ''ck mist valley'' even dare to try and kill one of the generals under the Northern Sovereign?
Sensing the stifling atmosphere that had covered the entire fifth floor, the yellow-robed auctioneer, Jia Guiying took a deep breath to calm herself down, before she turned to look at the experts in the private rooms and pped her hands once, attracting everyone''s attention, before she said with a smile on her face
''''Honorable guests, let us continue with thest item of our auction. It is indeed what everyone here today has been waiting for.
Our final item of today''s auction is an extremely rare item... a true earth me!''''
The moment that Jia Guiying finished speaking, Shun Long could sense the atmosphere inside the fifth floor of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' abruptly heating up, before an old man in white robes whose body waspletely drenched in sweat walked towards the main stage of the auction venue with slow steps.
The old man whose cultivation was at the early stages of the Dao Emperor realm had both of his hands stretched in front of him as he walked towards the main stage, while in between his hands, a purple-colored me could be seen flickering there.
The eyes of every single expert inside the fifth floor instantly lit up the moment that they saw this purple-colored me, while many of them even forgot about Zi Hu''s and Zhuan Jie''s ''fight'', as Jia Guiying''s voice entered everyone''s ears soon after
''''Esteemed guests, as you have all guessed, our final item is this purple-colored earth me. This earth me was found by a Nascent Soul stage cultivator in the depths of the ''Elderwood mountain'' right outside our Murong city.
As many of you already know, each earth me is unique and has its own properties, as well as an element of its own. The moment that a cultivator absorbs an earth me, they will not only be able to use the earth me itself during alchemy or when they inscribe formations, or even during a fight, but they will also be able to gain insights into the element of the earth me.
As for this earth me in front of me, our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has already verified, that the moment that an expert absorbs it, that person will be able to gain insights into the Dao of Fire.
The starting price for this earth me will be 500..000 high-grade spirit stones, while each subsequent increase must be a minimum of 5000 high-grade spirit stones higher than thest bid.''''
Chapter 787 - 787 Fighting Over The Earth Flame
Chapter 787 - 787 Fighting Over The Earth me
''''Sigh, I was hoping that it would be an earth me with the element of ice. That way, I could increase the level of my Dao of Ice even further after I absorb it.
...Although it''s slightly unfortunate, it doesn''t matter that much in the end, since any earth me will increase my strength by quite a bit. Even if the Dao of Fire is useless to me, having an earth me is no different from having an extra trump card when I''m in trouble.''''
The beautiful silver-haired woman from the White ice city who was in the room right next to Shun Long''s mumbled to herself as she stared at the purple-colored ball of me on the main stage, and after taking a deep breath, she then called out in a loud voice
''''600.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
The silver-haired woman then turned her attention towards Shun Long''s private room before she turned to look at the 2 other rooms in front of her.
The beautiful silver-haired woman knew, that her main opponents for today''s auction would most likely be the mysterious ck-robed person in the room next to hers whose cultivation she had failed to discern previously, as well as those who were inside the other 2 private rooms!
As for Zhuan Jie from the ''ck mist valley'', she didn''t even bother throwing a single nce at him. Since Zi Hu had already imed that he would use his ''Soul-locking talisman'' the moment that Zhuan Jie managed to get his hands on the earth me, it was virtually certain that Zhuan Jie would have to give up on bidding this time, whether he liked it or not.
Indeed, Zhuan Jie had a fervent look in his eyes as he stared at the earth me, but under Zi Hu''s cold gaze, he didn''t dare to call out his bid. Although Zhuan Jie knew that Zi Hu needed the ''Soul-locking talisman'' for his own matters and would most likely not dare to ''waste'' it on him, Zhuan Jie didn''t dare to truly take this risk in the end.
In his heart, Zhuan Jie was now feeling boundless anger but he didn''t have any way to vent it out.
Meanwhile, from one of the 2 private rooms that the silver-haired woman was staring at, a deep voice came from the depths of the room, resounding throughout the auction venue a momentter, as the person inside the room said calmly
''''700.000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
''''Haha, it seems that experts from all the top powers havee for the earth me today. It''s too bad that none of you will be able to obtain it.
If I''m not mistaken, you must be senior Xiao from Lord Zhu''s garden. I suppose it''s time for me to join in as well.
800.000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
Aposed voice came from another private room after a few moments of silence, as the person inside the room stared at the expert who had just called out the bid of 700.000 high-grade spirit stones and spoke in a rxed tone.
''Senior Xiao'' narrowed his eyes as he stared at this person sitting in the room right next to his own before he said in a pondering manner
''''A peak rank 9 Dao Emperor... It doesn''t look like I have met you before, but you seem to recognize me quite easily. Brat, which power did youe from?''''
Hearing ''senior Xiao''s words, that person suddenly smiled and waved his hand, dispelling the obscuring formation around his private room and revealing his face to everyone present, before he cupped his hands and said
''''Naturally, I recognize you. Lord Zhu''s garden isn''t that far away from my Murong city in the first ce, so how could I, as the patriarch of Murong family not be familiar with the experts from Lord Zhu''s garden?''''
''Senior Xiao''s'' eyes widened when he heard this, before he asked in a somewhat intrigued voice a momentter
''''Brat, you are the new patriarch of Murong family, Murong Tian?''''
At this moment, it wasn''t just ''senior Xiao'' or the silver-haired woman from the White ice city who had turned their attention towards Murong Tian, but every single person present on the fifth floor, including the 7th general from the Northern Sovereign''s army, Zi Hu, as well as Zhuan Jie from the ''ck Mist valley''.
Although most people didn''t know what Murong Tian looked like since he had only appeared in Murong city twice in thest 3000 years, his name was known by every single person inside the city.
After all, Murong Tian was an extremely influential figure in Murong city and he was even rumored to be just a step away from the Sovereign realm.
Even some Sovereign realm experts were paying attention to someone who could potentially threaten them in the future.
Even though the current Murong Tian wasn''t as strong as Sovereign realm experts since he had yet to breakthrough to that level, inside Murong city at least, the patriarch of the Murong family was just as influential as most Sovereign realm experts, if not even more.
In fact, if Murong Tian managed to breakthrough to the Sovereign realm, the Murong family would have 3 Sovereign realm experts, and they would then be ranked right below the strongest powers of the northern part of the central region.
At that moment, inside his own private room, Shun Long had been staring at the purple-colored earth me with a profound look in his eyes, before he suddenly turned his attention towards the private room next to Zhuan Jie''s and looked at the figure of the handsome middle-aged man with long ck hair who had just showed his face.
Jiang Tianfang didn''t seem to have noticed Shun Long''s sudden change in expression as he too stared at Murong Tian at the same time, and after a moment of silence he said
''''Nephew Shun, you probably don''t know this, but the patriarch of the Murong family is extremely powerful.. Other than the Grand Elder of your Holy sect and a few other peak Dao Emperors at the same level as him, there is practically no one else at the Dao Emperor realm who can be his match.''''
Chapter 788 - 788 Fighting Over The Earth Flame (2)
Chapter 788 - 788 Fighting Over The Earth me (2)
''''Haha, master, this situation has be quite interesting.'''' Little ck said with a look of amusement in his deep blue eyes as he also stared at the silhouette of Murong Tian from the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Nodding his head, Shun Long observed Murong Tian seriously without saying a word.
Indeed, this was something extremely unexpected.
At the same time, although the experts inside the other private rooms were slightly surprised when they found out that the patriarch of the Murong family hade to bid for the earth me as well, they merely threw a few more nces at him before they continued to call out their bids.
After all, even though Murong Tian may have been famous within Murong city, in the eyes of those experts who came from the strongest powers of the northern part of the central region he was only a slightly stronger Dao Emperor. Only experts at the Sovereign realm or higher were enough to warrant Zi Hu''s and the others'' attention.
''''850.000 high-grade spirit stones!''''
''''900.000!''''
''''1.000.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
In less than a minute, the price of the earth me had already gone past the 1 million high-grade spirit stones mark, and yet there were still no signs of it slowing down.
''''1 million 200 thousand high-grade spirit stones!'''' An old man in luxurious yellow robes suddenly called out from the ordinary seats down below, immediately attracting everyone''s attention.
Even experts like Zhuan Jie and the silver-haired woman from ''White ice city'' had turned their attention towards this person, staring at him with some surprise in their eyes.
After all, the people who could afford to call a bid of a million high-grade spirit stones were almost all, renowned Sovereign realm experts.
As for this old man, they could clearly sense that he was just an early rank 9 Dao Emperor, the same level as Jiang Tianfang.
''''Who is this person? He actually dares to bid for the earth me against the Sovereign realm seniors? Isn''t he afraid that he won''t be able to keep the earth me even if he wins the bid?''''
''''Wait! I have seen this person before! He is the current n head of the Xi n!'''' A person in the audience seats quickly recognized the yellow-robed old man, as he eximed in a loud voice a momentter.
''''The Xi n? What kind of n is that?''''
''''They are a powerful n that is no weaker than the Murong family! I have heard that the previous n leader of the Xi n and the old ancestor of the Murong family have been rivals for many years. No wonder the current n head of the Xi n woulde here to fight for the earth me!'''' Another person answered seriously a momentter, as his eyes stared at the n leader of the Xi n who was sitting just a few meters away from him.
''''1 million 400 hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones!'''' The Sovereign realm expert from Lord Zhu''s garden, ''senior Xiao'' snorted before he said in a cold voice, increasing the price of the earth me even further.
At the same time however, the beautiful silver-haired woman from the ''White ice city'' didn''t choose to remain silent either, as she called out a momentter
''''1 million 500 thousand!''''
In just a few moments, the price of the earth me had reached a staggering 2 million high-grade spirit stones, and it was only then that it finally started to slow down.
At that moment, Jia Guiying took a deep breath and smiled brightly as she looked at the silhouettes of the Sovereign realm experts inside the private rooms, before she said in a clear voice
''''Esteemed guests, I suggest that you don''t miss the chance to obtain this earth me. Even our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' doesn''t get the chance to auction an earth me very often. Who knows when you will get another chance if you miss this one?''''
It was unknown if it was intentional or not, but Jia Guiying''s gaze ended upnding on the Sovereign realm expert from the ''ck mist valley'' as she said thest sentence.
And yet, Zhuan Jie merely snorted but he didn''t choose to bid for the earth me even after Jia Guiying''s attempt to entice him.
After all, the moment that he managed to get his hands on the earth me, Zhuan Jie knew that Zi Hu would use his ''Soul-locking talisman'' to deal with him.
Although an earth me was valuable, he wasn''t going to risk his life for it.
Of course, if there was a chance to get revenge on Zi Hu in the future, there was no way that Zhuan Jie would let it go!
...
10 minutester, the bids finally stopped, as the experts present all stared at a certain private room with mixed emotions.
Inside his own private room, Murong Tianughed without restraint as he looked at the purple-colored earth me on the main stage with a fervent look in his eyes.
After spending 3.4 million high-grade spirit stones, he had finally forced everyone else to concede.
''''Tsk, I didn''t think that even with more than 3 million high-grade spirit stones I wouldn''t be able to secure a single earth me.'''' ''Senior Xiao'' clicked his tongue and said in a dissatisfied tone as he stared at Murong Tian.
Clearly, it wasn''t that Murong Tian was richer than ''senior Xiao'', but that ''senior Xiao'' himself wasn''t prepared for Murong Tian''s involvement.
Naturally, as the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian could take out a muchrger amount of spirit stones than ''senior Xiao'' could, which was why even though ''senior Xiao'' had prepared more than 3 million high-grade spirit stones for the earth me, it still wasn''t enough.
At the same time, inside the private room right next to Shun Long''s, one of the 3 white-robed women asked the silver-haired woman who was sitting on the couch
''''Master, you really don''t want to continue bidding? Even the Murong family wouldn''t be able topete with you in terms of wealth, unless their old ancestor personallyes out of his seclusion!''''
The beautiful silver-haired woman from the ''White ice city'' looked at the purple-colored earth me on the main stage and shook her head, before she answered in a calm tone
''''If it was an earth me with the element of ice I would definitely go all-out to obtain it, but an earth me with the element of fire isn''t worth me spending more than 3 million high-grade spirit stones for it. Since the patriarch of the Murong family wants it, I will let him have it. Instead, there is something else that I don''t understand...''''
As she finished speaking, the beautiful silver-haired woman turned her gaze towards the room that was right next to hers with a perplexed look on her face.
She had been certain that the person in the room next to hers hade here for the earth me as well, but from the moment that the auction of the earth me begun until it ended, that person didn''t even call out a single bid for it.
Meanwhile, inside his private room, after he stared at Murong Tian with a deep look in his eyes, Shun Long turned his attention towards Jiang Tianfang who was sitting right next to him and said calmly
''''Uncle Jiang, let''s part ways for now.. If you have time, you should go visit Jiang Chen and the others in the Northern Sovereign''s estate.''''
Chapter 789 - 789 Lets Have A Talk
Chapter 789 - 789 Let''s Have A Talk
Jiang Tianfang was momentarily surprised when he heard Shun Long''s words, before he followed his line of sight soon after, as his gazended on the patriarch of the Murong family barely a momentter.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and said solemnly
''''Nephew Shun, you should be careful then. I will be waiting for you in the Northern Sovereign''s city.''''
Of course, Jiang Tianfang didn''t know what Shun Long wanted to do with Murong Tian in the first ce. Even in his wildest dreams, the idea of Shun Long dealing with a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor didn''t even pass through his mind.
At most, Jiang Tianfang thought that Shun Long may have needed Murong Tian''s help, or that his target was someone from the Murong family.
At the same time that Jiang Tianfang left Shun Long''s private room, Murong Tian handed over the 3.4 million high-grade spirit stones to the experts of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' before he received the purple-colored earth me and ced it inside his spatial ring.
Although earth mes were rare and unique treasures, they were still inanimate objects and could be stored inside spatial rings just like any regr treasure.
The only reason why the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had a powerful Dao Emperor openly suppress the earth me instead of putting it inside a spatial ring, was simply to let the experts present take a look at the earth me itself.
The experts inside the private rooms were all about to leave now that the auction had finally ended, when suddenly, a deep, hoarse voice resounded from one of the private rooms, immediately attracting their attention.
''''Patriarch Murong, can we have a talk?''''
Whether it was the white-robed, silver-haired woman from the ''White ice city'', Zhuan Jie from the ''ck mist valley'', senior Xiao from ''Lord Zhu''s garden'' or even the 7th general from the Northern Sovereign''s army, Zi Hu, the 4 Sovereign realm experts all halted their steps as they turned their attention towards Shun Long''s private room soon after.
In the eyes of these 4 experts, the ck-robed person inside that private room was aplete mystery.
He was someone that none of them could see through as he hadpletely concealed his own cultivation base, and yet such a person hade to participate in the auction without even trying to bid for the earth me once.
This was why after they heard Shun Long suddenly addressing Murong Tian, the 4 Sovereign realm experts were all surprised.
Of course, it wasn''t just these 4 Sovereign realm experts who were surprised, as Murong Tian himself was also stunned as he stared at the silhouette of the mysterious ck-robed person inside that private room.
Naturally, as the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian wouldn''t just meet with everyone who asked to meet him. However, Sovereign realm experts were a different matter, and Murong Tian understood this as well.
Murong Tian knew that this was even more so for the ck-robed person who had just spoken to him.
After all, Murong Tian himself was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor who was only a step away from breaking through to the Sovereign realm.
In fact, if he wanted to, he could even attempt to breakthrough to the Sovereign realm at any time.
The only reason he had yet to begin his breakthrough, was because he was still waiting until he was fully confident that he would seed.
With his current level of strength, Murong Tian was confident that even most early-stage Sovereign realm experts like Zi Hu couldn''t fully hide their cultivation bases from him, unless they were training in an immortal-grade cultivation technique that allowed them to perfectly hide their strength from others.
Thus, in Murong Tian''s eyes, Shun Long was either someone who was training in such an immortal-grade cultivation technique, or he was a middle-stage Sovereign!
Regardless of whether this ck-robed person was a middle-stage Sovereign realm expert or not, Murong Tian knew that his Murong family couldn''t afford to ignore him,
After a moment of silence, Murong Tian cupped his hands at Shun Long and said in a calm manner
''''Fellow daoist, since you wish to talk with me, how can I possibly refuse? Why don''t you follow me back to the Murong estate? I will dly hold a banquet for you so we can be better acquainted with each other!''''
Contrary to Murong Tian''s expectations however, Shun Long merely shook his head and rejected this suggestion before he answered
''''There is no need. I won''t stay for too long in the city, so there is no need for a banquet. Let''s just go to a random restaurant instead. You can choose the ce.''''
Shun Long hoarse voice was filled with calmness as he stared at Murong Tian.
Indeed, the moment that Shun Long rejected his offer to go to the Murong estate to hold a banquet, Murong Tian''s eyes narrowed without saying anything.
After all, the main reason why Murong Tian had suggested for them to go to the Murong estate, was because of how safe that ce was.
Even if Shun Long was a middle-stage Sovereign, he wouldn''t be able to leave the Murong estatepletely unharmed if anything happened.
After all, the Murong estate was the ce where the old ancestor of the Murong family and the other experts of the family cultivated.
The moment that Shun Long rejected his offer, Murong Tian was about to shake his head and return back to the Murong estate, but after he heard the second part of Shun Long''s sentence, the patriarch of the Murong family fell silent before he responded a few momentster
''''In that case, let''s go to the ''Burning noble restaurant''.''''
-
Author''s note: 1/5 (4 more chapters will be ready in the next 26 hours to make up for the missing few chapters thest couple of days, while on Christmas we are having a mass release of 10 chapters as well.)
Chapter 790 - 790 Burning Noble Restaurant
Chapter 790 - 790 Burning Noble Restaurant
Shun Long nodded his head, and under the eyes of all the surrounding experts present, he followed Murong Tian out of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', as they headed for the ''Burning noble restaurant''.
''''What does that guy want with the Murong family? Don''t tell me that he intends to join them...'''' The Sovereign realm expert from ''Lord Zhu''s garden'', senior Xiao mumbled in a low voice as he watched Shun Long and Murong Tian leisurely walk out of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Of course, it was no wonder that ''senior Xiao'' would be worried about this.
After all, the Murong family already had 2 Sovereign realm experts and Murong Tian himself was already on the cusp of breaking through to the Sovereign realm. If another Sovereign realm expert really joined them, especially if that person was a middle-stage Sovereign, then the Murong family could truly start bing a threat to the other peak powers in the northern part of the central region.
The beautiful silver-haired woman from the ''White ice city'' shook her head while her eyes were staring intensely at Shun Long''s back, almost as if she was trying to discern his identity behind his ck robes, before she answered calmly a few momentster
''''That''s unlikely. Even if that person really is a rogue cultivator, there is no reason for him to choose to join the Murong family when he could join any of us. He probably has something to take care of in Murong city that requires Murong Tian''s help.''''
The 7th general of the Northern Sovereign''s army, Zi Hu nodded his head as he agreed with her, and after he threw onest look at Zhuan Jie, he snorted before he left the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Zhuan Jie had a murderous look in his eyes as he stared at Zi Hu''s back, before he too left the building a few momentster.
..
The ''Burning noble restaurant'' was located in the heart of Murong city, and it was the biggest and most luxurious restaurant inside the city.
In fact, this restaurant was owned by the Murong family, and only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above were allowed to step foot into its premises.
However, the reason why Murong Tian chose this restaurant to meet with Shun Long wasn''t because it was owned by the Murong family.
Instead, it was because of how close this ce was to the Murong estate.
If Shun Long really had any bad intentions, Murong Tian could simply retreat back to the Murong estate where the 2 Sovereign realm experts of the Murong family were cultivating.
By then, even a Sovereign realm expert wouldn''t have a chance to kill him.
The moment that Murong Tian appeared in front of the ''Burning noble restaurant'', the waiters at the entrance all stared at him in disbelief, before one of them bowed and called out in a trembling voice
''''P-Patriarch!''''
Murong Tian didn''t even throw a single nce at the waiter as he turned around to look at Shun Long behind him and said
''''Let''s go inside.''''
The moment that the manager of the ''Burning noble restaurant'' heard that the patriarch of the Murong family hade to visit, the manager hurriedly came out to wee him, before he personally led Murong Tian and Shun Long to the best private room of the restaurant.
''''Patriarch, if there is anything you need, you can simply call for me. I will be waiting right outside!'''' The manager said respectfully as he bowed deeply at Murong Tian.
In reality, the manager of the ''Burning noble restaurant'' was also a member of the Murong family, which was why he was even more respectful to Murong Tian than the waiters.
Murong Tian waved his hand in a dismissive manner without even looking at the manager, as his eyes stared calmly at Shun Long.
The manager then bowed and closed the doors of the private room without daring to say another word, leaving just Murong Tian and the ck-robed Shun Long inside the private room
Seeing that it was just the 2 of them left, Murong Tian stared at Shun Long and said calmly
''''Fellow daoist, now that it''s just the 2 of us left, I hope that you can be sincere enough to reveal your identity to me.''''
Although Murong Tian''s voice was calm and unhurried, Shun Long could sense that his aura was the exact opposite, as it was about to explode at any time.
The moment that Shun Long tried to attack him, Murong Tian would either choose to retaliate if he could, or if the gap between them was really as big as he thought, he would then do everything he could to leave the ''Burning noble restaurant'' and retreat back to the Murong estate.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t surprised that Murong Tian didn''t seem to trust him one bit.
After all, it wouldn''t make sense for him to trust him, when Shun Long hadn''t even shown his face to him.
At the same time, Shun Long knew, that the main reason why Murong Tian had agreed to meet with him, was because Murong Tian couldn''t sense his strength and didn''t want to offend him just yet, and because as the patriarch of the Murong family, he naturally wouldn''t show weakness in public for no reason.
As the patriarch of the Murong family, if he avoided meeting someone simply because of that person''s strength, Murong Tian wouldn''t only end up offending a Sovereign realm expert, but he would even end up bing aughingstock in Murong city.
Besides, since they were still within the premises of Murong city, even if the person who wanted to meet with him was a middle-stage Sovereign realm expert, Murong Tian was certain that Shun Long couldn''t instakill him unless he was someone at the same level as the old ancestor of the Murong family!
But of course, the number of experts who were at the same level as the old ancestor of the Murong family in the northern part of the central region were less than 20, and Murong Tian knew that it was unlikely for Shun Long to be one of them.
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled before he removed his ck robes.
Chapter 791 - 791 Resolve An Old Grudge
Chapter 791 - 791 Resolve An Old Grudge
Murong Tian was stunned when he saw Shun Long''s appearance as he remained silent for a few seconds, while a look of unconcealed shock and surprise had covered his face.
Finally, a few momentster, a serious look appeared in Murong Tian''s eyes as he said solemnly
''''Who are you?''''
No matter how he thought about it, Murong Tian was certain that he had never seen Shun Long before.
Even if this young man in front of him really was a middle-stage Sovereign realm expert, Murong Tian was confident that Shun Long wasn''t someone from the northern part of the central region.
After all, as the patriarch of the Murong family, he was already familiar with most of the Sovereign realm experts of the northern part of the central region, and Shun Long definitely wasn''t one of them.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long put on his ck robes again and waved his hand, as he took out a in-looking scroll from his spatial ring and ced it on the table in front of Murong Tian before he said calmly
''''Who am I isn''t what''s important. Murong Tian, the reason I havee to find you today is to resolve an old grudge.''''
''''Resolve an old grudge?'''' Murong Tian was perplexed when he heard this, as he looked at Shun Long with a confused look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards the in-looking scroll on the table in front of him.
At the same time however, his vignce was raised to the max, and after a moment of hesitation, he didn''t stretch out his hand to take a look at the scroll and simply waited for Shun Long to continue exining.
Although he didn''t remember meeting Shun Long in the past, let alone having a grudge with him, Murong Tian understood that since Shun Long had just said so, things could be tricky between them.
Shun Long nodded his head and answered calmly
''''Indeed, there is an old grudge between us, but it is nothing that cannot be resolved through normal means.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long finally circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', causing his eyes to immediately turn golden before his cultivation at the early rank 2 of the Dao King realm exploded outwards.
The moment that Murong Tian sensed Shun Long''s cultivation, a look of disbelief colored his face as he mumbled in shock
''''You... are a Dao King..?''''
At this moment, Murong Tian even started to doubt his own senses.
He couldn''t understand how the person in front of him who could even conceal his cultivation base from Sovereign realm experts could possibly be a Dao King, but Murong Tian was forced to believe that it was true.
After all, evente-stage Sovereign realm experts couldn''t possibly fool a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like him by emitting an aura at the Dao King realm when they were at the Sovereign realm.
Shun Long didn''t deny it as he then said
''''Indeed, I am a Dao King. In fact, I only recently broke through to the Dao King realm. As for the reason why I havee to find you today... it is to get revenge for Huo Wuyi.''''
''''Huo Wuyi?'''' Murong Tian was momentarily stunned when he heard this familiar yet also unfamiliar name, before a dangerous glint shed through his eyes soon after.
Scenes of him meeting Huo Wuyi for the first time started to resurface in Murong Tian''s mind, causing a wave of killing intent to burst out from his body andpletely envelop the ck-robed Shun Long in a single moment.
And yet, Murong Tian didn''t make a move against him right away and simply stared at Shun Long silently as he waited for him to continue.
Although this person in front of him was definitely nothing more than a Dao King, and was akin to an ant in front of him, Murong Tian was still quite vignt and wasn''t in a hurry to make a move against him.
After all, to dare face a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like him and even sit there calmly, Murong Tian was certain that Shun Long must have had something to back him up.
After a moment of silence, Murong Tian finally said
''''It doesn''t look like there are any Sovereign realm experts watching after you. Even if there were any, they wouldn''t be able topletely conceal their auras in front of me unless they were using a special technique like you. Could it be that you have a defensive artifact that you rely on to protect you? Or is it be that you have an offensive artifact that can even harm a peak Dao Emperor?''''
Murong Tian asked calmly, but the look of killing intent in his eyes hadn''t lessened as he stared at Shun Long.
Of course, Murong Tian didn''t really expect Shun Long to answer and was only trying to probe for information.
If Shun Long had any abnormal reaction, Murong Tian could then guess what he was dealing with.
And yet, Shun Long who had covered himself with his ck robes again didn''t seem to react to his probing, as he shook his head and said
''It''s useless to try and probe me. Since I came here to see you, I am confident that you can''t do anything to me, otherwise I could simply bide my time ande deal with you in the future after I am strong enough.''''
Murong Tian''s eyes narrowed dangerously but he didn''t deny this since he knew that it was true.
Indeed, if Shun Long really wanted to deal with him he could simply wait until he was stronger before he came to take revenge. Since he had already shown his cards to Murong Tian, it meant that he was probably willing topromise.
Of course, this didn''t mean that Murong Tian was afraid of Shun Long returning to deal with him in the future.
After all, Murong Tian was extremely talented and wasn''t inferior to anyone else in the northern part of the central region.
Even throughout the entire central region as a whole, he was still considered a genius.
Putting aside whether Shun Long could really be strong enough to surpass him in the future, he had to catch up to him first.
With a cold and yet scornful look in his eyes, Murong Tian then asked
''''What is your rtionship with Huo Wuyi? Since you came to take revenge for him, I believe that you have a general idea of the rtionship between me and him.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long then said in a calm manner
''''Since everything started with Yi Qianyu, let it end with her too.. Hand her over.''''
Chapter 792 - 792 Resolve An Old Grudge (2)
Chapter 792 - 792 Resolve An Old Grudge (2)
''''What did you say?''''
Murong Tian no longer restrained his killing intent, as his aura at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm exploded out of his body, immediately submerging the entire ''Burning noble restaurant''.
It wasn''t just the manager who was standing outside of the private room who was stunned when he sensed Murong Tian''s aura, but every single person who was dining inside the restaurant, as they all started trembling uncontrobly.
The aura of a peak Dao Emperor was enough to stun every single expert inside the restaurant.
In fact, even a couple of early-stage Dao Emperors who were present werepletely terrified, as they all turned their attention towards Murong Tian''s location.
And yet, the target of this outburst, Shun Long who was just standing a few meters away from Murong Tian seemedpletely unaffected, almost as if the aura of a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor had no effect on him.
Pointing at the in-looking scroll on the table, Shun Long then continued
''''Since I received Huo Wuyi''s legacy, I know everything about you and him, as well as Yi Qianyu. Everything started with her, so I am willing to trade an immortal-grade cultivation technique for her.'''' Murong Tian was momentarily stunned, to the point where even his killing intent subsided for a brief moment, as he turned his attention towards the in-looking scroll on the table.
The moment that his eyesnded on the scroll in front of him, Murong Tian was taken aback, as he hurriedly stretched out his hand and grabbed it, while his eyes focused on the words at the very top of the scroll.
''Immortal-grade cultivation technique, Ice Kingdom''
Naturally, this was the same immortal-grade cultivation technique that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder, the ''Ice Kingdom''.
However, the difference between this scroll in Murong Tian''s hands and the scroll that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder was the amount of information recorded in each of them.
After reading through the scroll, Murong Tian soon realized that more than half of the information needed was missing.
Of course, he understood that Shun Long would only give him the rest of it if he agreed to his terms.
Silence filled the private room soon after, as Murong Tian stared at the scroll in front of him with a deep look in his eyes before he turned his attention towards Shun Long.
As the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Tian knew very clearly how rare an immortal-grade cultivation technique really was.
Even the entire Murong family didn''t have an immortal-grade cultivation technique for themselves.
The only one who owned an immortal-grade cultivation technique was the old ancestor of the Murong family, but even his own cultivation technique was one that the old ancestor had obtained through an expert''s legacy and he couldn''t transmit it to others.
At the same time, although it was possible to find some immortal low-grade cultivation techniques in the high-level auctions in the central part of the central region, Murong Tian knew that even the cheapest of those cultivation techniques would go for, at least 1 million high-grade spirit stones, and most of the time, their actual price would easily exceed what he had just paid for the earth me by a substantial amount.
The Murong family had tried to obtain a cultivation technique through one of those auctions in the past, but each time, the price ended up going past 10 million high-grade spirit stones and they had to give up.
Although some of the peak powers in the northern part of the central region like the ''White ice city'' and the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' could afford that price, the Murong family wasn''t capable of taking out 10 million high-grade spirit stones at once.
Even now that Murong Tian had managed to win the bid for the earth me, he had ended up spending almost half of the total amount of spirit stones umted by the Murong family inside their treasury.
After a moment of silence, Murong Tian stared at Shun Long with a profound look in his eyes before he asked
''''You want to trade an immortal-grade cultivation technique for Qianyu? Interesting. Even if you obtained Huo Wuyi''s legacy, I am sure that the treasures that Huo Wuyi left behind aren''t close to the value of aplete immortal-grade cultivation technique.
Fine then. Since you want Qianyu, you can have her-''''
The moment that he finished speaking, Murong Tian suddenly lunged forward with his right arm stretched out in the shape of a w, heading straight for Shun Long''s neck.
It was obvious that Murong Tian was aiming to take Shun Long by surprise and kill him before he could activate any of his treasures.
In the first ce, the private room wasn''t big while Shun Long and Murong Tian were sitting opposite each other, making the distance between the 2 of them practically non-existent.
Forget about an early-stage Dao King like Shun Long, even ate-stage Dao Emperor wouldn''t be able to react to a sneak attack from Murong Tian from such a close distance!
And yet, what Murong Tian didn''t know, was that right before he made his move, Shun Long''s golden eyes shed with a bright blue light, before a scene of Murong Tian lunging forward had already appeared in his mind.
Shun Long could feel arge amount of his qi being sapped at that moment, but he didn''t pay any attention to it, as he merely stared at the iing hand that was filled with killing intent and was heading for his head,
At that moment, an enormous ck w covered in ck scales seemed to have torn space apart, appearing in front of Shun Long seemingly out of thin air, as it blocked Murong Tian''s hand.
BOOOOOOOOM!
-
Author''s note: 3/4 (1 more chapter should be ready in the next 2 hours. I couldn''t finish it earlier so you guys have to wait a bit more for it)
Chapter 793 - 793 Resolve An Old Grudge (3)
Chapter 793 - 793 Resolve An Old Grudge (3)
Murong Tian could sense an overwhelming forceing from the massive ck w in front of him, before his body was sent flying backwards like a meteor, crashing on the wooden wall behind him.
Even though the walls of the private room were enhanced by a peak 1-star formation master and could even take on the attack of a middle-stage Dao Emperor without much trouble, Little ck''s all-out attack was an entirely different matter.
Murong Tian ignored the pain he was feeling in his right arm, as he stared at the creature that had appeared in front of him and had easily blocked his attack with a look of utter disbelief on his face.
''''A... dragon?''''
Although he had never seen a living dragon before, Murong Tian had naturally heard of this legendary-rank magic beast and could clearly recognize it with just a nce.
At the same time, a serious look had appeared in Little ck''s eyes as he looked at the patriarch of the Murong family, before he sent a mental message to Shun Long through their spiritual connection and said calmly
''''Master, it seems that the information about this guy wasn''tplete.''''
Indeed, Shun Long didn''t need Little ck to mention this since he had also realized that the information he had gotten from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' about Murong Tian was iplete.
Even after taking Little ck''s attack head-on, Murong Tian was practically unharmed, without the slightest bit of injury on his body.
Even for a peak Dao Emperor like him, this shouldn''t be possible, since, even though? Little ck was a middle rank 7 magic beast, his actual strength exceeded that of most peak rank 7 magic beasts. Even with a peak 2-star armor, there was no way for Murong Tian to bepletely unharmed like this, unless he was using a martial skill when he attacked Shun Long, or if he was a body refinement cultivator.
From the aura that wasing from his body, Shun Long was now certain that Murong Tian was also a body refinement cultivator.
Although the strength of his body wasn''t at the same level as his qi cultivation, Shun Long could sense that Murong Tian was also a middle seventh stage body refiner, and he was even close to the peak of the seventh stage as well.
Paired with the peak 2-star armor that he was wearing, even a magic beast at the peak of rank 7 would find it hard to injure him, let alone kill him.
Murong Tian seemed to have guessed what Shun Long was thinking at this moment, as he looked at him andughed loudly before he said in a mocking manner
''''Hahaha! Kid, you seem surprised to find out that I am a body refiner. Don''t tell me that you were counting on this little attack to kill me. If that''s the case, things will really be easier than I thought.''''
As he said this, Murong Tian stared greedily at the ck dragon in front of him, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.
Putting aside how valuable the body of a dragon really was, just the thought that he would be able to tame a dragon today, made Murong Tian''s heart beat with uncontroble excitement.
Of course, Murong Tian knew that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' would sell information about him as long as someone had enough spirit stones. This was why he had always kept his body refinement cultivation a secret and had intended to use it as a trump card.
At this point, the entire private room had also been destroyed, allowing the guests in the restaurant to take a look at the 30-meter (100ft) long ck dragon that was hovering in the air and was facing Murong Tian.
''''What is this?! Don''t tell me that it''s a real dragon!''''
''''How did a dragon appear in Murong city? No... how did it appear in the central region?''''
''''Look at the person standing in front of the dragon! Isn''t that the patriarch of the Murong family?!''''
It wasn''t just the cultivators inside the ''Burning noble restaurant'' as even some people who were close by seemed to have noticed thismotion, as they all turned to look at Little ck and the patriarch of the Murong family.
However, neither Shun Long nor Murong Tian seemed to have paid any attention to the people around them, as they stared at each other for a few moments, before Shun Long finally shook his head and said
''''I am indeed surprised to see that you are also a body refiner, but it seems that you are mistaken about one thing. I wasn''t expecting that this attack would really kill you, but that it would simply injure you instead.
Even if you are a body refiner, since you haven''t reached the peak of the seventh stage yet, you are still going to die.''''
Hearing the calm tone that Shun Long used to speak to him despite being in this unfavorable situation, made Murong Tian turn serious.
Although he didn''t know what Shun Long was nning to rely on, Murong Tian wasn''t going to take it lightly either.
Shun Long noticed that Murong Tian had raised his vignce even further, before he took a deep breath and pointed his finger towards him, as he then said in a cold voice that brought chills to every single cultivator watching this scene
''''Let''s see who is going to die then, brat! Hand over your life!''''
Murong Tian no longer held back as he shouted in a cold voice, before his qi started to gather around his body as it formed an illusionary ck spike.
Muring Tian had decided to go all-out from the start as he used his strongest martial skill, a peak Saint-grade skill called the ''Soul spike''.
The Soul spike was formed in barely a second, as it tore through the air and flew straight towards Shun Long.
Most Dao Emperors would bepletely terrified in the face of Murong Tian''s most powerful attack, but Little ck''s mouth seemed to have formed a mocking smile, as the ck dragon stood in front of the ck-robed Shun Long, directly blocking this spike.
Murong Tian''s eyes narrowed for a moment but he didn''t choose to take back his attack, and instead, he used even more of his qi to power the soul spike.
However, the moment that the ck spike touched Little ck and entered his spiritual sea, a look of terror appeared on Murong Tian''s face in the next moment, as the patriarch of the Murong family stared at the ck dragon with eyes filled with disbelief.
The ck dragon didn''t even tremble after taking on his strongest attack, nor did his eyes turn dull. Instead, Murong Tian could sense that his soul spike was no different from a small pebble falling into an endless ocean, not raising even the smallest ripple in the process.
At the same time, a look that was filled with cruelty and killing intent appeared in Little ck''s deep azure eyes as he faced Murong Tian, before Little ck then took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
Staring at the gigantic ball of ck mes that had formed itself in the ck dragon''s mouth, for the first time in countless years, the patriarch of the Murong family finally felt the scent of death as his entire body shivered.
Chapter 794 - 794
Chapter 794 - 794
The calm look inside Murong Tian''s eyes seemed to have instantly disappeared the moment his eyesnded on the ball of ck mes in the ck dragon''s mouth.
Although he had never seen mes like these before, Murong Tian was a person who always trusted his own feeling, and he could instantly sense that this ball of ck mes in front of him was extremely dangerous.
It was something that even a peak Dao Emperor like him had never felt before, a type of me that could eradicate his very existence.
Without any hesitation, Murong Tian immediately turned around and flew towards the Murong estate like a bolt of lightning, not caring about his own appearance in the least.
The only thing that mattered right now, was getting away from this ''Burning noble restaurant'' and returning to the Murong estate to ask for help from the 2 Sovereign realm experts of the Murong family!
At that moment however, the look inside Little ck''s eyes seemed to have turned even colder than before, as the ck dragon opened his mouth and spat the ball of ck mes towards Murong Tian without the slightest hint of mercy in his eyes.
Murong Tian could clearly sense the danger approaching him from behind and he immediately realized that it was impossible for him to escape.
Gritting his teeth, he then turned around and punched out with his right hand, as his cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm exploded out at full force.
Paired with his body refinement cultivation that was at the middle of the seventh stage, Murong Tian''s all-out attack could seriously injure even a rank 9 Dao Emperor who took it head-on!
And yet, the moment that his hand touched the ck mes, a look of puzzlement that was followed by terror appeared on his face, as he hurriedly turned to look at his own fist.
Indeed, Murong Tian then noticed that his entire right hand had beenpletely engulfed by the ck mes, while the peak 2-star armor on his body had been unable to protect him.
Murong Tian didn''t even have enough time to scream before the ck mes started to expand,pletely covering his entire body in just a few moments.
''''NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'''' A single, miserable scream filled with pain and terror resounded through the air, bringing chills to everyone who heard it, before it fell silent a few momentster.
Along with Murong Tian''s scream, the entire ''Burning noble restaurant'' had also descended into silence, as the cultivators present all stared at the patriarch of the Murong family who seemed to have disappeared in front of their eyes.
The patriarch family that ruled Murong city and a Dao Emperor who was ranked in the 10 strongest Dao Emperors in the northern part of the central region seemed to have instantly died right in front of them, without the slightest ability to resist!
Instead, only a piece of bronze armor and a half-charred spatial ring were left in the ce where he was standing just now.
Without any hesitation, Little ck retrieved the Murong Tian''s piece of armor and his spatial ring and handed them to Shun Long, before he then said
''''Master, we should leave now or all of this work of ours will end up being for nothing.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long ced Murong Tian''s armor and his spatial ring inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he sat on Little ck''s back and said to him mentally
''''Let''s go.''''
Little ck spread his massive ck wings and pped them once, soaring in the sky, as his figure quickly disappeared from Murong city.
...
At the same time, in the depths of the Murong estate, inside a secluded private room that was filled with extremely dense qi, an emaciated old man who was sitting cross-legged on the ground seemed to have snapped his eyes open at that moment, as he turned his attention towards the 2 jade tablets in front of him.
''''Tian''er... died?''''
The old man mumbled to himself as he stared at the broken jade tablet with a look of disbelief, before his cultivation base suddenly burst outwards like a torrential wave.
A terrifying aura instantly covered the entire Murong city in the next moment, startling every single expert present within it.
All of the experts within the Murong estate were simrly startled when they sensed this aura, before all of them turned their attention towards the same ce in the depths of the Murong estate
''''Is this the old ancestor? What''s going on?''''
''''What happened? I thought that the old ancestor was in seclusion as he tried to breakthrough to thete stages of the Sovereign realm! Why is he suddenly furious?''''
The experts of the Murong family couldn''t understand what was going on.
How could their old ancestor have suddenly be so angry?
Indeed, the emaciated old man who was now filled with endless killing intent, was no one else but the old ancestor of the Murong family.
As for the 2 jade tablets in front of him, one of them naturally belonged to Murong Tian, while the other belonged to the other Sovereign realm expert of their Murong family!
The old ancestor of the Murong family instantly spread his soul sense to the absolute limit, before he disappeared from his private room in the next moment, appearing in the sky above the ''Burning noble restaurant'' a few momentster.
The moment that the old man arrived in the ''Burning noble restaurant'', the manager who had already witnessed Murong Tian''s death a few moments ago started to tremble, as he spoke in a terrified voice
''''A-A-Ancestor!''''
''''Tell me! Who killed Tian''er?''''
The old ancestor of the Murong family said furiously as he looked at the manager of the ''Burning noble restaurant''.
''''Ancestor... the patriarch...''''
The old ancestor of the Murong family merely snorted when he noticed the terrified look on the manager''s face and immediately understood that the manager was so scared in his presence that he couldn''t even speak.
Waving his hand, the old ancestor then pulled the manager in front of him, before he started to search through his memories under the surrounding cultivators'' terrified eyes.
A few momentster, the old ancestor''s expression was momentarily filled with shock before the killing intent in his eyes deepened even further, as he turned his gaze towards the direction that Little ck had flew off just now.
''''You think you can escape?'''' The old man said in a cold voice before his figure disappeared from Murong city, heading towards the same direction as Little ck!
Chapter 795 - 795 Avoiding Calamity
Chapter 795 - 795 Avoiding Cmity
At the same time that the figure of the old ancestor of the Murong family disappeared, a few tens of thousands of miles away from Murong city, Little ck who was flying at full speed suddenly stopped and turned around to look at the distance behind him, before he said seriously
''''Master, I can sense the aura of a middle stage Sovereigning from that direction. Most likely, it''s one of the 2 Sovereigns of the Murong family. Although that person hasn''t located us yet, we will definitely enter the range of his soul sense in a few moments.''''
Shun Long wasn''t too surprised when he heard this, before he too turned his gaze towards the horizon where the outline of Murong city had already disappeared by now.
Barely a few moments had passed since they had left the city, but Little ck had already covered such arge distance, that Murong city couldn''t even be seen from Shun Long''s current location.
And yet, despite Little ck''s current speed and his strength that could seriously injure and even kill most peak-stage Dao Emperors, Shun Long knew that it was practically impossible for him to escape the pursuit of a middle-stage Sovereign realm expert like the old ancestor of the Murong family that easily.
Even if Little ck''s speed exceeded that of a peak Dao Emperor''s and was evenparable to an early-stage Sovereign realm expert''s, it still couldn''tpare to the speed of a middle-stage Sovereign like the old ancestor.
After all, the old ancestor of the Murong family was an entire major realm above Little ck in terms of his cultivation.
Even a dragon''s innate talents couldn''t make up for such a disparity of strength.
Nodding his head, Shun Long patted Little ck''s head gently and had him return back in the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he threw onest nce at the direction where Murong city was located.
He then sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, before he imagined himself entering the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' as well.
A momentter, Shun Long''s body suddenly vanished from the spot he was standing on, as if he had never appeared here.
...
A few moments had barely passed before the figure of an emaciated old man appeared in the area where Shun Long and Little ck were standing just now.
The old ancestor of the Murong family stared at his surroundings with a look of confusion and surprise before he mumbled to himself in a disbelieving tone
''''How is this possible? I am certain that I just sensed the aura of a middle rank 7 magic beast from this ce! How can it disappear?''''
The emaciated old man''s eyes were filled with an extremely profound look as he stared at his surroundings in silence, before his aura at the peak of rank 6 in the Sovereign realm along with his powerful soul sense both exploded outwards at the same time.
And yet, no matter how he searched, the old man seemed to havepletely lost track of Little ck as he couldn''t sense the slightest bit of his aura any longer, almost as if the ck dragon had disappeared into thin air.
Naturally, when a cultivator or a powerful magic beast were going all-out to fight or run away, it wasn''t possible for them to hide the fluctuation of their aura around their bodies.
Even if Little ck was faster than the old ancestor, it was impossible for him to suddenly disappear like that.
A dense aura of killing intent exploded from the old ancestor''s body as he suddenly flew towards another direction a few momentster.
No matter what, after reading through the memories of the manager of the ''Burning noble restaurant'' and seeing the scene of a living dragon appearing in his Murong city, the old ancestor was now determined to find Little ck.
Naturally, he wasn''t going to let a living dragon go so easily.
Even if he had to turn the entire northern part of the central region upside down, the old ancestor was still going to find him.
...
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long opened his eyes and turned to look at the piece of bronze armor and the half-charred spatial ring that were lying on the ground in front of him, before a smile finally formed itself on his lips.
Even though he was forced to reveal Little ck''s existence, he had truly managed to get his hands on Murong Tian''s spatial ring and the piece of peak 2-star armor that he was previously wearing.
Even if this piece of 2-star armor was inferior to the earth me in terms of value, Shun Long only needed a nce to tell that it was a rare treasure of its own.
Of course, how could the armor that the patriarch of the Murong family was wearing be anything ordinary?
After he examined the armor for a few moments, Shun Long then turned his attention to the half-charred spatial ring that seemed to be on the verge of copse.
Thankfully, Murong Tian''s spatial ring was made by rare and extremely durable materials, which was why it had managed to barely avoid being destroyed, even after it was struck by Little ck''s ''mes of Destruction''.
Of course, Shun Long had never expected that Murong Tian would participate in the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' for the Murong family, and that he would even win the auction for the earth me.
Naturally, if it was simply for Huo Wuyi''s revenge, there was no way that Shun Long would be willing to put himself in danger and allow people to find out that there was a living dragon somewhere in Murong city.
However, the moment that Murong Tian won the bid for the earth me, Shun Long had decided to put his n into motion and kill the patriarch of the Murong family.
Chapter 796 - 796 Murong Tians Demise
Chapter 796 - 796 Murong Tian''s Demise
''''Murong Tian was really unlucky this time.'''' Shun Long said in a calm tone as he stared at the pitch-ck spatial ring in his hands, while Little ck nodded his head in agreement.
Indeed, under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for anyone to kill Murong Tian while he was still inside Murong city.
After all, Murong Tian would always stay within the Murong estate that was protected by the 2 Sovereign realm experts of the Murong family. Even if he left the estate, Murong Tian was also a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor who could easily protect himself under practically every situation.
Even if he met an early-stage Sovereign, Murong Tian could either retreat to the Murong estate the moment he sensed any hostility, or the aura of that Sovereign realm expert would end up alerting the old ancestor of the Murong family who woulde to save him.
As for other peak rank 9 Dao Emperors, there were very few who could truly kill Murong Tian, and most of them would be unable to kill him before he could return back to the Murong estate unless they possessed a treasure simr to the ''Soul-locking talisman''.
Within Murong city, it could be said that Murong Tian was virtually invincible.
And yet, a series of events had ended up getting him killed.
The first thing that led to his death was Huo Wuyi''s legacy.
Since Shun Long had obtained Huo Wuyi''s treasures and already knew of the story between Huo Wuyi and Murong Tian, he had already epted to help with Huo Wuyi''s revenge if it wasn''t too dangerous.
However, putting aside the fact that Murong Tian was the patriarch of the Murong family, simply the fact that he was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor made it impossible for others to kill him.
Even most peak rank 9 Dao Emperors wouldn''t be willing to offend an expert at his level for no reason.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn''t risk his own life or Little ck''s, simply to fulfill Huo Wuyi''s revenge.
However, the second thing that ended up leading to Murong Tian''s death was the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Since he wanted to obtain the earth me, Murong Tian was naturally going to participate in the auction himself.
How could he have known that after winning the bid for the earth me, a person whose cultivation even he couldn''t sense would suddenly approach him and ask him to talk in private?
Of course, even if Shun Long was a middle stage Sovereign realm expert, as long as he wasn''t at the same level as the old ancestor, Murong Tian was still confident in his ability to escape, the moment he sensed any hostility.
And yet, once Shun Long revealed his cultivation at the early stages of the Dao King realm, everything changed.
After all, Murong Tian wouldn''t believe for a moment that an early stage Dao King could pose any threat to a peak stage Dao Emperor like him.
This wasn''t arrogance but simply his belief in his own strength.
This was also why Shun Long had decided to reveal his cultivation to Murong Tian, since he intended to make him lower his guard.
After Murong Tian realized that the person he was dealing with was only an early rank 2 Dao King, the pressure he was feeling from the thought that Shun Long was a Sovereign realm expert, immediately disappeared.
The third thing that led to his death was Shun Long revealing to him that he had obtained Huo Wuyi''s legacy, and that he was willing to trade an immortal-grade cultivation technique in exchange for Yi Qianyu''s life.
Of course, Shun Long knew that Murong Tian wasn''t going to agree to this offer of his in the first ce.
No matter what, Murong Tian was still the patriarch of the Murong family.
If word got out that he sold his own woman for an immortal-grade cultivation technique, the entire Murong family wouldn''t have the face to step foot outside of Murong city.
The reason why Shun Long offered the immortal-grade cultivation technique was simply to incite Murong Tian''s greed.
Indeed, why would Murong Tian agree to the terms of an early-stage Dao King when he could take everything by force?
At the same time, when dealing with an early stage Dao King, there was no way that Murong Tian would use his full strength.
What Murong Tian didn''t know was that Shun Long was already prepared for his attack.
Up to this point, everything had gone exactly as Shun Long had nned.
What Shun Long hadn''t expected was for Murong Tian to be a middle seventh stage body refiner on top of being a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor.
Originally, Shun Long had expected that Little ck''s attack would seriously injure Murong Tian, and that he would barely manage to stay alive thanks to the help of his peak 2-star armor.
By then, even a casual attack would be enough to finish him off.
However, the fact that he was a body refiner allowed Murong Tian to survive with just a few light injuries instead, even after taking Little ck''s massive ck w head-on.
At that moment, Murong Tian was certain to have guessed that he was being set up by Shun Long, and that as long as he willed it, he could simply turn around and escape back to the Murong estate.
However, seeing a living dragon in front of his eyes and especially a dragon who was even ''weaker'' than him, made Murong Tian unwilling to give up.
After all, he was still within the premises of Murong city and Little ck''s ''sneak attack'' had already failed to even injure him seriously, let alone kill him.
As long as he managed to tame the legendary magic beast in front of him, Murong Tian would then be one of the top experts in the entire central region.
-
Author''s note: 1 more chapter should be ready in the next 6 hours.. Additionally, there is a mass release of 10 chaptersing for Christmas.
Chapter 797 - 797
Chapter 797 - 797
And yet, the most important detail that led to Murong Tian''s death was Murong Tian''s own strength instead.
After all, Shun Long already knew from the information that he had obtained from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' that Murong Tian was someone who specialized in soul attacks, which was why he dared to orchestrate this n in the first ce.
Even if the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' didn''t know that Murong Tian was a body refiner since he had kept it a secret for many years, there was no way that they would be mistaken about him specializing in soul attacks.
However, soul attacks were thest thing that could possibly harm Little ck.
Forget about a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like Murong Tian, Shun Long knew that even a peak rank 9 Sovereign realm expert like the Northern Sovereign didn''t have any chance of harming Little ck using soul attacks.
After all, the ''quality'' of Little ck''s soul was no different than it had been in his past life.
Although Little ck''s soul sense was only equal to that of a middle rank 7 magic beast, if someone wanted to harm his soul, their spiritual strength would have to surpass the defense of Little ck''s soul instead or the result would be no different from Murong Tian''s ''Soul spike''.
As for why the ball of ck mes had managed to kill Murong Tian despite his peak 2-star armor, Shun Long knew that it was all thanks to the special properties of the ''mes of Destruction''.
It didn''t matter if Murong Tian was wearing a peak 2-star armor or even a peak 3-star armor, as long as Little ck''s ''mes of Destruction'' managed to touch even a single part of his body, Murong Tian was doomed to die.
The ''mes of Destruction'' were one of the most terrifying skills that was exclusive to ck dragons.
With the current Little ck''s strength, only some peak seventh stage body refinement cultivators or some extraordinary peak rank 9 Dao Emperors would have a chance to survive if they were hit directly by his ck mes.
As for Murong Tian, since he was only a middle seventh stage body refiner, he was doomed to perish the moment he was hit.
Whether it was Murong Tian''s strongest offensive ability or his peak 2-star armor, they were both rendered useless in the face of a ck dragon.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then sent his soul sense inside Murong Tian''s spatial ring, before a smile slowly formed itself on his lips a few momentster.
Staring at the purple-colored earth me that was floating above the mountain of high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long knew that the risk he had taken was worth it.
''''Even though it''s true that earth mes of the fire element are the mostmon ones among all the earth mes, they are also the best when ites to refining medicinal herbs and pills.'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself with a bright smile on his face, as he remembered what the auctioneer of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Jia Guiying had said when she auctioned the earth me to everyone.
Indeed, although there were rare earth mes that could allow the cultivators who absorbed them to gain insights into some very rare elements, Shun Long wasn''t interested in any of those earth mes in the slightest.
Instead, what he wanted was the mostmon one, an earth me of the fire element.
Although such an earth me would only allow him to get a rudimentary understanding of the ''Dao of Fire'', Shun Long didn''t care about it at all.
Whether he could gain insights into the Dao of Fire, the Dao of Earth, the Dao of Ice, or even the Dao of Death through an earth me, he still wouldn''t pay any attention to it.
After all, his fundamental Daos were the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space.
Of course, if he could find an earth me with either of those Daos, it would be an entirely different story.
However, Shun Long also understood that the chances of finding such an earth me were practically nonexistent.
After staring at the purple-colored earth me for a while, Shun Long turned his attention towards the small mountain of high-grade spirit stones below it.
Approximately 600.000 high-grade spirit stones were piled up together, forming a small mountain inside Murong Tian''s spatial ring.
Shun Long didn''t find it surprising that there were no other treasures inside Murong Tian''s spatial ring other than the earth me and the high-grade spirit stones, as he quickly understood what was going on.
From the looks of things, Murong Tian had taken 4 million high-grade spirit stones from the Murong family to bid for the earth me, and the remaining 600.000 was what was left after he won the bid.
As for defensive treasures, it was only natural that Murong Tian wouldn''t be carrying any of them inside his spatial ring.
After all, he was already wearing his peak 2-star armor on him and he was still within the premises of Murong city.
Why would an expert at his level need defensive treasures in that case?
''''Master, do you want to absorb the earth me now? There is still plenty of time until the 6 month period is over.'''' Little ck asked as he stared at Shun Long in front of him.
The moment that Shun Long absorbed the purple-colored earth me, he would no longer have to rely on other earth mes to refine high-grade and top-grade rank 6 pills.
However, Shun Long briefly turned his attention towards Little Silver who was lying on the ground behind him, before he shook his head and said seriously
''''Absorbing the earth me will probably take a while. Let''s go to the ''Wind Dragon''s forest'' first to take the beast core of that ''Wind wyrm'', before we return back to the Northern Sovereign''s city.''''
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Author''s note: 3/4 (Next chapter will be ready in approximately 12 hours)
Chapter 798 - 798 Returning To The Wind Dragons Forest
Chapter 798 - 798 Returning To The ''Wind Dragon''s Forest''
After he changed the ck robes he was wearing into a set of ordinary blue robes, Shun Long left the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'' along with Little Silver.
Sitting on the ck panther''s back, Shun Long then headed towards the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.
After all, the Wind dragon''s forest was less than a day''s distance away from the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.
..
2 weeks passed by in the blink of an eye as Shun Long traveled around the northern part of the central region, before a young man and a ck panther had finally arrived at the entrance of a massive, familiar-looking forest.
Of course, the vast majority of the distance had been covered on Little ck''s back, or Shun Long would need to travel for more than 3 months until he returned back to the Northern Sovereign''s city from Murong city.
Staring at the gigantic trees that towered in the skies and the roars of magic beasts that could be heard from the forest in front of him, Shun Long knew that he had arrived in the ''Wind Dragon''s forest'' where the peak rank 7 ''Wind wyrm'' was living in.
A few momentster, Shun Long had Little Silver return back into the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he walked towards the depths of the forest by himself.
Although Little Silver was already a peak rank 6 magic beast and it could hold its own against other powerful magic beasts at the same rank, inside this ''Wind Dragon''s forest'', its presence would end up doing more harm than good.
After all, there were plenty of rank 6 and even some rank 7 magic beasts in the depths of the forest, even if one didn''t include the ''Wind wyrm'' itself.
Although Shun Long couldpletely conceal his own aura and walk towards the depths of the forest unnoticed, the same couldn''t be said for Little Silver who would definitely end up attracting the attention of many of those magic beasts the moment it got too close.
''''Little ck, are there any powerful Dao Emperors in this ce?'''' Shun Long asked Little ck while he kept walking towards the depths of the forest by himself.
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s bright blue eyes lit up for a moment, before a terrifying soul sense expanded from his body and immediately covered the entire ''Wind Dragon''s forest'' in the blink of an eye
A few momentster, Little ck shook his head and said seriously
''''Master, aside from a few groups of early-stage Dao Kings, there are only magic beasts inside this forest. However, aside from that ''Wind wyrm'', I can also sense 3 early rank 7 magic beasts in the depths of this forest.''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard this, as he continued to head towards the depths of the forest.
Although he knew that wyrms were territorial magic beasts by nature, and that that the ''Wind wyrm'' wouldn''t allow a Dao Emperor to step foot into its forest, in case that a Dao Emperor had somehow managed to evade its sense, things could be troublesome.
However, it also made sense that most powerful Dao Emperors would avoid this ce. After all, even a group of peak Dao Emperors may not necessarily be able to kill a Wind wyrm that had a dragon''s bloodline inside it. It didn''t matter how thin the dragon''s bloodline was, as most likely, only an expert at the Sovereign realm would be able to deal with it.
ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAR!
A few moments after Little ck''s soul sense had covered the forest, a deafening roar sounded from the depths of the forest before a powerful sense came along with it, as it focused on Shun Long''s direction.
Naturally, this was the soul sense of the ''Wind wyrm'' that had just sensed Little ck''s soul sense.
However, since Shun Long hadpletely retracted his aura and Little ck had only let out his soul sense for a single moment, the ''Wind wyrm'' couldn''t sense anything no matter how hard it looked.
...
3 hourster, Shun Long had already walked through the territories of more than a hundred peak rank 6 magic beasts, some of whom were even stronger than Little Silver and were only a step away from bing rank 7 magic beasts, before he arrived in front of the entrance of a massive cave that was surrounded by hundreds of gigantic trees.
The entrance of this cave was more than 100 meters tall and 50 meters wide, while intimidating w marks could be seen everywhere around it.
Even some of the massive trees that were thousands of meters tall had w marks on their surface, giving off an eerie sensation.
At the same time, the moment he arrived at the entrance of the cave, Shun Long could feel the familiar aura of a peak rank 7 magic beasting from the depths of this cave.
It was the same aura he had sensed when he was traveling with the Grand Elder on the back of the ''Darkness Eagle''.
The look in Shun Long''s eyes instantly turned serious as he took a step forward and entered the cave.
The ''Wind wyrm''s'' cave was extremely long, and even after walking for more than 10 minutes, Shun Long still couldn''t see its end.
And yet, the deeper he walked inside this cave, the clearer he could sense the aura of the ''Wind wyrm'' that seemed to be flucuating for some reason.
Finally, after walking for almost half an hour, Shun Long arrived at the cave''s depths, before a stunning scene appeared in his eyes.
A huge, green, snake-like creature, that had the head of a dragon but wascking legs and wings, seemed to be lying inside a small green pond at the depths of the cave with its eyes closed, while the aura of a peak rank 7 magic beast wasing from its body.
The moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on the ''Wind wyrm'', tens of unanswered questions seemed to have suddenly solved themselves in his mind, as Shun Long mumbled to himself
''''No wonder there were no Sovereign realm experts who came to capture this ''Wind wyrm''....''''
Chapter 799 - 799 Wind Wyrm
Chapter 799 - 799 Wind Wyrm
''''To think that they were trying to nurture a dragon through a bloodline awakening pond... How stupid!'''' Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck said in a cold voice as he stared at the green pond that the ''Wind wyrm'' was soaking in.
Indeed, the moment that their gazesnded on the ''Wind wyrm'' and the green pond below it, Little ck and Shun Long both understood what was going on, and why nobody had tried to tame this ''Wind wyrm'' and make it their mount.
After all, as a peak rank 7 magic beast that was, at the very least,parable to the ''Hellfire crow'' that Bai Liuxian had been riding on when she visited the Holy sect, the ''Wind wyrm'' should have been something that even some early-stage Sovereign realm experts should be fighting over.
And yet, although even peak Dao Emperors like the Grand Elder seemed to know about the wyrm''s location, there hadn''t been a single Sovereign realm expert who hade to tame it during this time.
Shun Long had thought about this matter from the very beginning but he couldn''t figure out the reason behind this.
However, the moment his eyesnded on this green pond in front of him, he immediately understood what was going on.
Shaking his head, Shun Long then stared at the green pond beneath the ''Wind wyrm'' before he said calmly
''''It''s not surprising that someone would be trying to nurture a dragon through this bloodline awakening pond. As long as the percentage of the dragon''s bloodline inside the ''Wind wyrm'' isn''t too low, it''s not impossible to seed and let the wyrm evolve into a real dragon. Rather, what I am more curious about, is who the person behind all of this is.
For someone to do this so close to the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', there is no way that the Northern Sovereign herself wouldn''t be aware of this. Perhaps she is even the one who is behind this.''''
The more he thought about this, the more Shun Long realized that this guess of his was the most likely scenario.
Even if the Northern Sovereign wasn''t the person behind this matter, she was definitely aware of what was going on in this ''Wind Dragon''s forest''.
After all, Shun Long knew that this Bloodline awakening pond that the ''Wind wyrm'' was soaking in, was a rare treasure that was used to stimte the bloodline inside a magic beast, giving the magic beast a chance to evolve.
As for the person who had ced it here in the depths of the ''Wind Dragon''s forest'', they were clearly hoping for the ''Wind wyrm'' to unlock its dragon bloodline and be a real dragon.
Although the ''Wind wyrm'' wouldn''t be a pure-bred dragon, it would still be a dragon nheless, a magic beast that everyone in the central region would be fighting over.
At that moment, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck stared at the massive body of the ''Wind wyrm'' for a few more moments before he said calmly
''''It''s too bad that the bloodline inside this wyrm is too thin. It doesn''t matter how many years it spends inside the bloodline awakening pond, there is no chance for it to truly evolve. At most, it will only allow its strength to be raised a little further.''''
Although normal cultivators couldn''t sense how dense the dragon''s bloodline inside the ''Wind wyrm'' really was, as a ck dragon, how could Little ck possibly fail to sense this?
Shun Long remained silent for a few moments as he stared at the ''Wind wyrm'' in front of him, before he said seriously
''''Little ck, I''ll leave it to you.''''
A momentter, the space in front of Shun Long was torn open, as the figure of a massive ck dragon appeared in front of him.
The moment that the ''Wind wyrm'' sensed the presence of another magic beast appearing in its cave out of nowhere, it immediately snapped its eyes open and turned around, before an aura of violent cruelty and killing intent burst from its body.
And yet, the instant that its eyesnded on Little ck''s body, the wyrm''s figure suddenly froze, before a look of terror covered its face soon after.
Although Little ck was only a middle rank 7 magic beast while the ''Wind wyrm'' was a peak rank 7 beast, Little ck''s bloodline innately suppressed the wyrm who could only shiver in terror in front of a real dragon.
The wyrm couldn''t muster the courage to even fight Little ck, as it immediately turned its head to the entrance of the cave and tried to flee.
Unfortunately for it, Little ck was already standing in front of Shun Long and blocking the cave''s entrance.
Raising his massive ck w, Little ck then swung it towards the wyrm''s neck.
The wyrm tried to suppress the feeling of terror inside it, as it opened its mouth and spat out a small wind de towards Little ck''s w, hoping that the terrifying being in front of it would back down after seeing this.
However, how could a weak wind de possibly affect Little ck who could already deal with more peak rank 7 magic beasts?
Although the ''Wind wyrm''s'' peak strength could probably rival Little ck''s, it was simply impossible for the wyrm to use its full strength when its own bloodline was being suppressed.
This was a feeling of reverence that all wyrms felt in front of real dragons.
Little ck''s w effortlessly destroyed the wind de, before it continued towards the wyrm''s long neck.
''''Roooooooaaarrr!''''
A painful cry that was filled with terror left the wyrm''s mouth before a spurt of crimson blood spouted from its neck.
A few moments had barely passed since Little ck had appeared in the cave, before the body of half-dead ''Wind wyrm'' was now lying on the ground in front of him and Shun Long.
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Author''s note: 1/10
Chapter 800 - 800 Returning To The Northern Sovereigns City
Chapter 800 - 800 Returning To The Northern Sovereign''s City
Staring at the body of the ''Wind wyrm'' in front of him, Little ck swung his ck w with a merciless look in his eyes, before he finally took the wyrm''s life.
Although Little ck was usually warm and cheerful, that was only when he was in front of Shun Long.
Whether it was in front of other humans or magic beasts, the ferocious nature of a dragon would always show itself.
It was the same for the ''Wind wyrm''.
After all, it was unknown how many humans and magic beasts it had ughtered inside this ''Wind dragon''s forest'', but the number was definitely in the tens of thousands.
Even the Grand Elder and the disciples of the Holy sect had barely managed to escape with their lives thest time they were in this ce.
Although it wasn''t a real dragon, the wyrm had always considered itself an apex predator in this central region, that very few magic beasts could possibly rival.
Other than magic beasts at the rank 8 or above, no other beasts could possibly pose a threat to it.
Even if it faced other peak rank 7 magic beasts like the ''Hellfire crow'', the wyrm was still confident in its ability to kill them.? Unfortunately, the bloodline of a pure dragon wasn''t something that it could possibly resist, which was why it had lost its life today.
Little ck had a cold look in his eyes as he stared at the massive, lifeless body of the ''Wind wyrm'' in front of him, before he turned his attention towards the Bloodline awakening pond a few meters away from him.
Other than some ripples on the pond''s surface, the green water seemed incredibly tranquil, giving off a rxing sensation.
After a moment of silence, Little ck shook his head and said
''''Master, although this Bloodline awakening pond is useless to me and master, since my bloodline is already in its purest state, it is still a rare treasure nevertheless. It would be a waste to leave it here.''''
Shun Long nodded his head while his gaze was also focused on the Bloodline awakening pond in front of him.
Indeed, Little ck was right.
Although both his bloodline and Little ck''s own couldn''t be enhanced any further since they were in their purest states, this didn''t mean that Shun Long was going to leave this Bloodline awakening pond behind.
Instead, he already had a way to use it in his mind, that would not only help him increase his own strength, but it would also help make Little Silver''s and Jiang Chen''s bloodlines even purer.
After all, Jiang Chen''s bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' was still far off from the true ''Demonic Crow of Darkness''.
A few momentster, Shun Long stored both the ''Wind wyrm''s'' body and the Bloodline awakening pond inside his herb garden, before he let Little ck return back in the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'' as well.
Raising his right hand, Shun Long then shed the air in front of him, opening arge space tear, as he entered inside it and disappeared from the Wind wyrm''s cave.
Sometimeter, the figure of a blue-robed young man appeared in front of the entrance of the ''Wind dragon''s forest''.
The moment he left the ''Wind dragon''s forest'', Shun Long immediately circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as his cultivation of an early rank 2 Dao King exploded outwards, before he shot straight towards the direction of the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.
A day passed by in the blink of an eye, before Shun Long arrived in front of the city gates of the ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.
After he paid the fee of 300 high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long entered the city and headed straight for the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate''.
The streets of the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' weren''t any less crowded from the first time that he hade with the Northern Sovereign, but since he was walking through them by himself this time, he could now take an even better look around this massive city.
The number of powerful Dao Kings and Dao Emperors that he could sense in the streets were hundreds of times more numerous than those in Murong city.
A little more than an hourter, Shun Long arrived in front of the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate''.
Taking a look at the Dao Kings who were guarding the estate, not allowing anyone to get too close, Shun Long simply waved his hand as he opened another space tear, before he stepped inside it and appeared directly inside the estate.
A few minutester, Shun Long arrived in front of the entrance of a huge, familiar-looking courtyard that was covered in restrictive formations.
Staring at the restrictive formations around the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', Shun Long merely smiled as he took a step forward and ced his hand on top of them.
Momentster, the formations in front of him immediately receded and the gates of the courtyard opened by themselves, before 4 figures flew out from the courtyard, appearing in front of Shun Long.
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Brother Long!''''
Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s excited voices entered his ears, before the 2 kingdom-toppling beautiful girls shot out from the courtyard soon after, appearing in front of Shun Long as they hugged him affectionately.
''''Haha, brother Shun, wee back!'''' Bai Longtian said with a smile on his face, while Jiang Chen nodded his head and said
''''Brother, did you deal with everything that you needed?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long said smilingly
''''Yeah. Let''s talk inside.''''
Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the others then entered the courtyard, before the protective formations around the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' were activated once again, preventing anyone from entering without permission.
Once the 5 of them were inside the biggest room in the courtyard, Bai Longtian looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''''Brother Shun, 2 weeks after you left the Northern Sovereign came to look for you. She said that she was nning to introduce you to the geniuses of the Tianhuan dynasty that would enter the ''City of Immortals'' this time.. We told her that you were in seclusion, but the Northern Sovereign said that you should visit her once youe out.''''
Chapter 801 - 801 Reuniting
Chapter 801 - 801 Reuniting
''''The geniuses of the Tianhuan dynasty?'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in a pondering manner.
Of course, it was clear as day that the Northern Sovereign was trying to rope him in and get him to join the Tianhuan dynasty, otherwise she wouldn''t go to this extent to introduce him to the geniuses of that dynasty.
However, although Shun Long had a good impression of the Northern Sovereign, he wasn''t nning to enter the Tianhuan dynasty when he had no reason to.
Even if he was offered plenty of resources, nothing was worth more than his freedom.
A few momentster, Shun Long nodded his head and said
''''I will go visit the Northern Sovereign today. After that, I''m nning to truly enter seclusion this time, and I will probably not be able toe out until the ''City of Immortals'' opens.''''
Bai Longtian and the others weren''t surprised by this. After all, they were also going to enter seclusion for the next 4 months and advance their strength as much as possible.
As he finished speaking, Shun Long then waved his hand and took out a long white sword with a crimson hilt, a light-blue armor, as well as a bronze armor from his spatial ring, and ced them on the table in front of him before he said smilingly
''''Longtian, this sword is for you. It is a peak 1-star sword infused with the Dao of Fire.''''
Bai Longtian stared at the long white sword with a look of surprise on his face.
He hadn''t expected that after Shun Long returned back, he would actually give him a peak 1-star sword.
After all, peak 1-star weapons were extremely rare, and even the cheapest of them would go for 40.000-50.000 high-grade spirit stones.
Only somete-stage Dao Emperors would be able to afford such a price.
Of course, Bai Longtian knew that this 1-star weapon was the thing that hecked the most.
Although the rank 3 gold-grade sword that he had been using wasn''t bad, it wasn''t good enough to keep up against the weapons of even the other outer court disciples in the Holy sect.
After all, even people like Sheng Huang were wielding peak rank 3 gold-grade weapons, while those at the top of the rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor like Yang Hui, Qiao Min, and the rest, even had star-rank weapons.
Although Bai Longtian could keep up with most disciples for now, there was no doubt that he would be at a disadvantage after they entered the City of Immortals where the top geniuses from every ce throughout the central region would also gather.
Without any hesitation, Bai Longtian epted the long white sword and cupped his hands at Shun Long, before he said in a grateful manner
''''Brother Shun, thank you!''''
Shun Long waved his hand and said calmly
''''There is no need for thanks between us.''''
Bai Longtian nodded his head without saying anything else and simply kept this in his heart.
After all, although a peak 1-star sword was valuable, in front of the immortal-grade cultivation technique that he had received from Shun Long, the ''Buddha''s light'', this sword was truly nothing inparison.
However, even though Bai Longtian didn''t say anything, he was determined to be even stronger in the next 4 months. The stronger he became, the better he would be able to assist Shun Long in the City of Immortals.
A momentter, Shun Long turned his gaze towards Xingyi and said
''''Xingyi, this blue armor is for you. It''s a peak 1-star armor infused with the Dao of Water. Most likely, unless you meet a Dao Emperor or an extremely strong peak Dao King, nobody else should be able to harm you while you wear it, unless they manage topletely exhaust all of your qi.
Of course, if someone hasprehended a powerful unique Dao then they can also be your match, but the armor should still be able to protect you.''''
As he said this, Shun Long handed the light-blue armor to Xingyi who smiled brightly and epted it with a smile on her face before she said warmly
''''Brother Long, thank you!''''
Shun Long patted Xingyi''s head affectionately, as he also stared at the blue armor in her hands.
Shun Long understood clearly, that this armor was even better suited for Xingyi than Murong Tian''s own armor.
After all, Murong Tian''s armor was an armor with the element of earth infused inside it, and it would actually hinder Xingyi''s Dao of Shadows and her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'' during a fight instead of helping her.
Although it would raise her defenses, Xingyi would actually be ''stranded down'' due to the armor''s effects and wouldn''t have as much freedom to move.
However, this light-blue armor waspletely different and it wouldplement her skills instead of hindering them.
After all, the biggest benefit of the Dao of Water was both in its versatility and defense.
Although it wasn''t as strong as the Dao of Earth in terms of defense, it was actually an even better fit for Xingyi.
A momentter, Shun Long turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and said
''''Jiang Chen, this one is for you. It''s a peak 2-star armor infused with the Dao of Earth.''''
As he said this, Shun Long pushed the bronze armor towards Jiang Chen, who seemed to have epted it subconsciously with an incredulous look on his face.
It wasn''t just Jiang Chen, but Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and even Liu Mei, who were stunned when they saw this peak 2-star armor.
Originally, they hadn''t paid too much attention to it, but after they sensed the fluctuations around it, they all realized that the auraing from this armor had indeed exceeded that of a peak 1-star armor by a lot.
However, forget about a peak 2-star armor, even normal 2-star armors should be extremely scarce and almost impossible to obtain.
A momentter, Jiang Chen snapped out from his daze and pushed the bronze armor back to Shun Long before he said seriously
''''Brother, even though I appreciate this, it''s better for you to have this armor.''''
Chapter 802 - 802 Shocking The Northern Sovereign
Chapter 802 - 802 Shocking The Northern Sovereign
Shun Long was momentarily stunned when he heard Jiang Chen''s response, but a momentter, he immediately understood what Jiang Chen was thinking.
Considering how rare a peak 2-star armor was, it was obvious that Jiang Chen would rather give it to Shun Long than use it himself.
However, Shun Long simply shook his head and pushed the armor towards Jiang Chen for the second time before he continued
''''Don''t worry. If this armor was useful to me, I would have kept it already. If you truly consider me a brother, stop refusing and just take it.''''
Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long seriously for a few moments before he nodded his head and epted the bronze armor.
It wasn''t just Jiang Chen, but Xingyi, Liu Mei, and Bai Longtian who all understood that Shun Long was right and that this armor was greatly suited for Jiang Chen.
After all, even if the armor slightly hindered his speed when he activated the Dao of Earth inside it, Jiang Chen''s defensive abilities would also increase by many times thanks to it.
When this armor was paired with his ''Kingdom of Darkness'', Jiang Chen would be almost invincible against other cultivators at the same level.
At the very least, the number of people who could hurt him would only be some monstrous geniuses who hadprehended extremely powerful offensive Daos, or those who had a peak 2-star weapon.
''''Long-ge, are you going to see the Northern Sovereign?'''' Liu Mei asked a momentter, when she saw that Shun Long seemed to be pondering over something.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at her and the others and said calmly
''''Since everyone is here, let''s go together.''''
A few momentster, Shun Long, Xingyi, and the others all left the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' as they headed for the Northern Sovereign''s courtyard.
Their group didn''t even have to ask anyone for directions since there were 4rge courtyards at the heart of the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate'', all of them adjacent to each other.
Those 4 courtyards were, the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', the ''Northern Dragon''s courtyard'', the ''Eastern Dragon''s courtyard, and the ''Western Dragon''s courtyard''.
As for the Northern Sovereign herself, she was naturally staying in the ''Northern Dragon''s courtyard''.
Normally, even the Sovereign realm experts under the Northern Sovereign weren''t allowed to stay in any of these courtyards.
After all, other than the ''Northern Dragon''s courtyard'' that belonged exclusively to the Northern Sovereign, the other 3 courtyards were reserved for the most important guests of the Northern Sovereign who came to visit her estate.
For the Northern Sovereign to allow Shun Long and his group to stay within the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' for so long, it was obvious how much she valued Shun Long.
A few minutester, Shun Long''s group of 5 arrived in front of the entrance of the ''Northern Dragon''s courtyard'', before Shun Long ced his hand on the restrictive formations outside the courtyard.
Naturally, this action was done to alert whoever held the token of the courtyard that someone hade to visit.
After waiting for nearly a minute, the gates of the courtyard suddenly opened, before the Northern Sovereign''s voice drifted in the air, as it entered Shun Long''s and the rest''s ears
''''Come in.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and entered the ''Northern Sovereign''s courtyard'' along with Liu Mei and the others, before a wave of extremely pure qi suddenly assaulted his senses.
Liu Mei and the others were also stunned momentarily, as they turned their attention towards therge building in the center of the courtyard that was surrounded byrge amounts of extremely dense and pure qi.
It was obvious that the qi in this courtyard was even purer and more concentrated than the qi inside the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard''.
However, Shun Long wasn''t surprised by this, as he kept walking towards therge building in the distance without stop.
After all, it would be surprising if the Northern Sovereign''s own courtyard didn''t have the purest qi in the first ce.
Momentster, their group arrived in front of the massive building at the center of the courtyard, before the doors of the building suddenly opened by themselves, as the enchanting figure of the silver-robed Northern Sovereign appeared in Shun Long''s and the rest''s eyes.
The Northern Sovereign had an amiable smile on her face as soon as she saw Shun Long, but a momentter, her gaze suddenly froze, as it immediately focused on Liu Mei and the others by Shun Long''s side.
After a moment of silence, the Northern Sovereign looked at Liu Mei and asked in an incredulous voice
''''You... you are already a peak rank 3 Dao King? How is this possible? It has only been 2 months!'''' The Northern Sovereign had a look of disbelief on her face as she stared at Liu Mei in front of her, almost as if she was looking at a monster.
Indeed, in thesest 2 months that Liu Mei had left the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', she had actually managed to be a peak rank 3 Dao King and was only a step away from entering the middle stages of the Dao King realm.
Of course, it wasn''t surprising that the ''Northern Sovereign would be stunned by this.
After all, even the strongest genius of the Holy sect, Yang Hui, had only managed to reach the middle-stages of the Dao King realm when he was 70 years old, while the person ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Qiao Min was 40 years old when she became an early rank 4 Dao King, and she had only managed to do so thanks to her ''ckwater unique physique'' that increased her cultivation speed.
After all, the Northern Sovereign had a good rtionship with the Grand Elder and she knew that those geniuses had taken at least a couple of years, if not tens of them to be peak rank 3 Dao Kings.
As for this young woman in front of her, the Northern Sovereign couldn''t understand how she can possibly be a peak rank 3 Dao King after merely 2 months of cultivation?
Chapter 803 - 803
Chapter 803 - 803
In fact, the Northern Sovereign wasn''t just stunned by Liu Mei, but also by Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi.
After all, although the 3 of them were quite behind Liu Mei in terms of their cultivation bases, they had still managed to be peak rank 2 Dao Kings, and they were only a step away from breaking through to the early rank 3.
As for Shun Long, he seemed to still be an early rank 2 Dao King.
Although it was an extremely good result and it would have normally left the Northern Sovereign speechless since most cultivators needed at least a couple, if not tens of years to do so after they sessfully breakthrough to the Dao King realm, after seeing Liu Mei and the others'' results, the Northern Sovereign wasn''t as surprised and she even felt that this result of his was somewhatcking inparison.
If it wasn''t because of that unprecedented Heavenly Tribtion that the Northern Sovereign had witnessed by herself, she would have even started to believe that Shun Long wasn''t as talented as the other 4.
Of course, what the Northern Sovereign didn''t know was that Shun Long had been traveling for 1 of those past 2 months, as he wreaked havoc in Murong city and even trapped and killed the patriarch of the Murong family.
Naturally, nobody could guess what the Northern Sovereign''s reaction would be if she knew about this.
Shun Long sped his hands at the Northern Sovereign and said calmly
''''Senior, I heard that you were looking for me while I was in seclusion. Is there something that you needed me for?''''
The Northern Sovereign turned her gaze back towards Shun Long, and after a moment of silence she nodded her head before she said
''''Shun Long, have you decided whether you want to join my Northern Sovereign''s city and the Tianxuan dynasty? As long as you are willing to join, you can forget about high-grade spirit stones, even if you want immortal-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, or even rare treasures and high-grade star-rank pills, everything you want will be yours.''''
Shun Long had already expected that the Northern Sovereign would ask him again about this matter.
Clearly, there was no way that she would simply give up like that.
However, the Northern Sovereign didn''t know that none of her offers were attractive enough in the first ce.
After all, other than the benefit of having a backer in the central region, there was nothing else that the Tianxuan dynasty could offer to Shun Long and the others
As for those high-grade spirit stones and the immortal-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, Shun Long knew that none of them came for free.
Cupping his hands, Shun Long bowed slightly at the Northern Sovereign before he said calmly
''''Senior, I am not interested in joining any power for now, including the Tianxuan dynasty. I hope that you can understand.''''
Although the Northern Sovereign had already expected this, a look of disappointment still shed through her eyes when she heard Shun Long''s answer.
After all, she knew that if Shun Long really intended to join the Tianxuan dynasty, he would have epted her offer the first time.
However, she was still unwilling to give up like that.
After a few moments of silence, the Northern Sovereign sighed and waved her hand before she said in a resigned tone
''''Very well then. If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Even if you aren''t willing to join my ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', you are still wee to stay in my estate as my personal guest until you want to leave.''''
Shun Long cupped his hands as he thanked the Northern Sovereign, before he led Liu Mei and the others back to the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard''.
A few moments after Shun Long''s group left the Northern Sovereign''s courtyard, the silver-armoredmander Quan Lin appeared in front of the Northern Sovereign, as he knelt down on one knee and spoke in a respectful manner
''''City lord, did you call for me?''''
The Northern Sovereign nodded her head, her face having lost the amiable smile that she was wearing when she met with Shun Long and the others just now, as she looked atmander Quan in front of her and said in amanding tone
''''Quan Lin, I want you to find everything you can about Shun Long and the other 4 who are with him. I want to know how those 5 little monsters appeared in the Holy sect and where they all came from.''''
''''Shun Long?'''' Commander Quan was surprised since he hadn''t expected this request from the Northern Sovereign.
After all, since Shun Long and the others were guests of the Northern Sovereign, shouldn''t the Northern Sovereign already know everything about them?''''
The Northern Sovereign snorted as she guessed whatmander Quan was thinking, before she said in a cold tone
''''I have spent thest 2 months entertaining those brats from the Tianxuan dynasty. Do you think I had time to do anything else? Although I know some things about Shun Long from Kang Wen, it doesn''t exin how 5 monsters appeared in his Holy sect at the same time! If it was just Shun Long himself, it could make some sense, but that''s clearly not the case!''''
Quan Lin lowered his head when he sensed that the Northern Sovereign was displeased, before he said hurriedly
''''Don''t worry, city lord. You can leave this to me!''''
A momentter, Quan Lin''s figure disappeared from the Northern Sovereign''s courtyard, allowing it to descend into silence shortly after.
-
Author''s note: The mass release should have been ready on Christmas but it wasn''t. These 5 chapters aren''t part of it and you can consider them aspensation for the dy. After all, I didn''t want to leave you guys with no chapters until I''d finished them.. The 10 chapters for the mass release will be ready all at the same time, and I will work much harder until they are ready.
Chapter 804 - 804
Chapter 804 - 804
Inside the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', Shun Long sat on a meditative cushion inside his room, with Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian all sitting around him.
After he took out 5 jars of wine from his spatial ring and handed one to everyone, Shun Long saw Jiang Chen staring at him with a serious look in his eyes, before Jiang Chen said in a solemn voice
''''Brother, I don''t think that we should trust the Northern Sovereign too much. Even if she doesn''t have any bad intentions and really wants to befriend us, since you already refused to join the Tianxuan dynasty, the people behind her may not necessarily take it as well as she did. If they order the Northern Sovereign to kill you, I doubt that she will really refuse... After all, your talents are really too terrifying!''''
It wasn''t just Jiang Chen who shared this sentiment, as Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian agreed with him as well, as they all stared at Shun Long.
There was no doubt that news about Shun Long''s Heavenly Tribtion would have already spread to the Tianxuan dynasty by now.? Additionally, it wouldn''t be long before other top powers in the central region started to look for information about Shun Long.
Even if the Northern Sovereign wanted to keep the matter of his Heavenly Tribtion a secret, it would be impossible for her to do so.
Sooner orter, countless strong powers would learn about it, and they would definitely do everything they could to recruit Shun Long.
However, just like the Northern Sovereign had said to them before they left the King''s Pce, many powers would also try to kill Shun Long since they wouldn''t want to see someone that terrifying grow and be a true expert.
Thus, as long as Shun Long decided to leave the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', Bai Longtian and the others would all leave with him without any hesitation.
After all, if the Northern Sovereign really had any bad intentions towards Shun Long, even the Grand Elder of the Holy sect wouldn''t be able to protect him.
And yet, Shun Long simply stayed silent for a few moments, before he shook his head and said
''''For now, there is probably no need for us to hurry and leave. Most likely, even if powers like the Tianxuan dynasty truly decide that they want to kill me, they won''t do it right away and they will still try to see if they can get me to join them.
There is no need for them to hurry since, even if I be a Dao Emperor, there is no way that I can possibly threaten them.''''
After thinking about it for a moment, Liu Mei and the others realized that Shun Long''s words made sense.
Although Shun Long had declined the Northern Sovereign''s offer, this didn''t mean that there was no chance for him to join the Tianxuan dynasty. Unless the Tianxuan dynasty really felt that they didn''t have any chance to recruit Shun Long, it would only be then that they would decide to eliminate him.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long then looked at Jiang Chen and continued
''''There is also something else that I should tell you.? While I was in Murong city, I met with uncle Jiang who has already found the ''Golden Light flower''. It shouldn''t be too long before I can refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'' that can heal his injuries either.''
A mixed look of unconcealed shock and excitement covered Jiang Chen''s usually calm and collected face when he heard this, as he stared at Shun Long without blinking.
Xingyi and the others were also stunned momentarily when they heard Shun Long''s words.
After all, they all knew that aside from the ''Golden light flower'' and the recipe for the ''Heavenly purity pill'', a star-rank alchemist was also needed, and that alchemist needed to have absorbed an earth me, or it would be impossible for them to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill''!
After a moment of silence, Bai Longtian asked in a voice that was filled with disbelief, almost as if he was unable to believe his own words
''''Brother Shun, does that mean that you are a star-rank alchemist already? Also, won''t you need to absorb an earth me if you want to refine that pill for uncle Jiang?''''
Even Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long quietly as they waited for his answer.
Putting aside whether it was possible for Shun Long to find an earth me, bing a star-rank alchemist was practically inconceivable even for peak-stage Dao Kings, let alone an early-stage Dao King like Shun Long.
After all, to reach the standard of a star-rank alchemist, not only did a person need for their spiritual sense to be at the same level as a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor, but their knowledge of alchemy would need to have already surpassed that of any peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemist''s.
Shaking his head, Shun Long looked at Bai Longtian and the others and said calmly
''''A star-rank alchemist huh? Although I can''t refine star-rank pills just yet, I should be able to, after I be a peak rank 3 Dao King. As for the earth me...''''
As his words trailed off Shun Long waved his right hand, before a purple-colored me suddenly appeared in front of him, causing the temperature inside the room to rise to a terrifying degree.
Even Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who were at the peak of the fifth stage in body refinement could feel the terrifying heating from this me affecting their bodies, while Liu Mei and Xingyi both had to circte their qi to resist it.
Jiang Chen and the others didn''t need Shun Long to exin anything, as they all understood what this purple me in front of them really was. After all, they had all been with Shun Long to the Refinement Hall of the Holy sect in the past, and they all knew that this feeling of terrifying heat that even body refiners couldn''t resist could onlye from a true earth me.
-
Author''s note: 1/5 (4 more before reset)
Chapter 805 - 805 Its Time To Show You Something
Chapter 805 - 805 It''s Time To Show You Something
''''Brother Shun... how did you manage to get your hands on an earth me?'''' Bai Longtian was the first one to break the silence as he asked Shun Long in a voice filled with curiosity.
Bai Longtian wasn''t the only one who was astonished by this scene in front of him, as Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Jiang Chen all stared at the purple-colored earth me with stunned looks in their eyes.
After all, even powers like the Holy sect only had 1 or 2 earth mes at most, and they protected those earth mes with countless defensive formations and they even had powerful experts stand guard in case something went wrong.
And yet, Shun Long actually managed to find an earth me after leaving the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' for just 2 months?
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled and said calmly
''''I got it from the patriarch of the Murong family.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long stood up and walked out of the room without exining anything else, before Jiang Chen and the others followed after him.
''''The patriarch of the Murong family?'''' Jiang Chen who knew a few more things about the central region asked as he stared at Shun Long''s back.
Although Jiang Chen didn''t know who the patriarch of the Murong family was, he knew that he was an extremely influential figure in the northern part of the central region, an expert who was on par with the patriarch of the Jiang family, where his father, Jiang Tianfang came from.
How could such an expert possibly give an earth me to Shun Long?
Putting aside how valuable an earth me was, even if the Murong family really was that rich that they had a handful of earth mes at their disposal, it was still unlikely that they would give one of their earth mes.
Once they were out of the room, Shun Long stood in front of Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, and said with a serious look on his face
''''Jiang Chen, Longtian, since you guys are my brothers and Xingyi is my woman, it''s time for me to share something with you.''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Shun Long suddenly waved his right hand, before the figure of a massive ck dragon that was more than 30 meters (100ft) tall appeared inside the courtyard.
Little ck pped his gigantic ck wings as he hovered in the sky above Shun Long, staring at the 4 people in front of him with a profound look in his deep azure eyes.
Liu Mei wasn''t surprised in the slightest as she stared at Little ck whom she had seen quite a few times in the past, but Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, were all utterly stunned as they looked at the figure of the massive ck dragon in front of them.
''''Brother... this...'''' Whether it was Jiang Chen, Xingyi, or Bai Longtian, none of them could believe this scene in front of their eyes.
Little ck''s aura that was clearly at the middle of rank 7 along with the cold, uncaring look inside his eyes, made the 3 of them shiver momentarily.
Shun Long smiled and patted the ck dragon''s head, before he said to Bai Longtian and the others
''''This is my partner who is also like a brother to me. His name is Little ck.''''
Naturally, Shun Long understood the implications of revealing one of his biggest secrets, which was Little ck''s existence to Jiang Chen and the others.
But just like he had said, Xingyi was now his woman just like Liu Mei, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were both like brothers to him.
Besides, Shun Long had never intended to keep Little ck''s existence a secret from those who were close to him.
Although dragons were extremely rare, nearly nonexistent beasts in the cultivation world, they actually existed in the Immortal Dimension and nobody dared to mess with them.
At the same time, practically every single person in the Immortal Dimension knew that the lord of the ''Heaven Trampling city'' had a ck dragon under his wing.
Of course, it was also thanks to Shun Long''s strength in the past that nobody dared to mess with him or Little ck back then, but Shun Long wasn''t going to keep Little ck hidden forever.
Once there was nobody who could truly threaten him in the central region, Shun Long wouldn''t mind revealing Little ck''s existence to everyone else.
But for now, he would only let those who were close to him learn about it.
''''Brother, is this really a dragon...?'''' Jiang Chen asked in a voice that was filled with disbelief, as he stared at the massive creature in front of him.
Although Jiang Chen knew that Little ck fitted perfectly the description of that legendary magic beast, he still had trouble believing that Shun Long actually had a dragon.
How many Dao Kings, no... how many people in this cultivation world had even seen a dragon?
Most likely, even the experts of the biggest powers in the central part of the central region wouldn''t im that they had seen a dragon in their lives, let alone have one themselves.
Jiang Chen guessed that Shun Long was probably the only one who could im to have a dragon in this world.
Shun Long nodded his head and said
''''It''s also thanks to Little ck that I could obtain this earth me from the patriarch of the Murong family.''''
Shun Long then had Little ck return back to the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he walked back to the room and proceeded to exin to Jiang Chen and the others most of what had happened in the past 2 months.
Other than a few details about the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long told them everything, including how he obtained the earth me from Murong Tian, and how he escaped the pursuit of the old ancestor of the Murong family who was probably still looking for him right now.
Chapter 806 - 806 Determination
Chapter 806 - 806 Determination
This chapter contains some sexually explicit material. Read at your own discretion.
The more details that they heard, the more astonished Xingyi and the others became when they heard about what Shun Long had experienced in these past 2 months.
Even Liu Mei who knew that Shun Long had Little ck with him, felt that the situations he had been in this time were truly too dangerous.
At this point, Jiang Chen and the others started to be even more curious about Shun Long''s new ability, since they all understood that he only dared to act like this because he had absolute confidence that even peak Dao Emperors couldn''t kill him.
A few momentster, Jiang Chen stood up and said
''''Brother, since there are only 4 months until the ''City of Immortals'' opens, I am going to enter seclusion and see if I can breakthrough to the middle stages of the Dao King realm during this time.''''
As he finished speaking, Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long with a determined look in his eyes, before he turned to look at Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Liu Mei in front of him, as he then left the room.
Jiang Chen knew that right now, it was almost certain that Liu Mei would manage to breakthrough to the middle stages of the Dao King realm since she was already a peak rank 3 Dao King.
Perhaps she would even be able to reach the peak of rank 4 or even the early rank 5 of the Dao King realm if she was lucky.
However, in the ''City of Immortals'' where the biggest geniuses of the central region were going to enter, an early stage Dao King would be equivalent to cannon-fodder while even middle-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t amount to much.
Thus, he had to do his best and raise his cultivation as much as possible in the next 4 months.
Naturally, Bai Longtian wasn''t willing to fall behind either, as he cupped his hands at Shun Long and said calmly
''''Brother Shun, sister Liu, sister Xie, I will see you all again in 4 months.''''
Bai Longtian then returned to his own room, as he was nning to enter seclusion as well, leaving behind just Shun Long, Liu Mei, and Xingyi inside the room.
A brilliant smile appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she saw that she was left inside the room with just Shun Long, as well as Xingyi, while Xingyi herself could feel her heart beating even faster than before.
Shun Long smiled and stood up as he removed his light-blue robes and said
''''I am going to take a shower first.''''
Staring at Shun Long''s naked body that was refined by his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' countless times, both Liu Mei and Xingyi could feel their faces heating up, before Liu Mei was the first one to stand up, as she removed her yellow robes and said
''''Long-ge, let me join you. It''s been a while since we bathed together.''''
Shun Long looked at Liu Mei''s perfect body in front of him for a few moments, before he took a few steps forward, standing right behind Liu Mei who was still wearing her undergarments, as he removed them and said
''''Let''s go together then.''''
Shun Long then looked at Xingyi who was standing a few meters away from him and smiled, before he sweeped Liu Mei off her feet, carrying her like a princess towards the shower.
Staring at Shun Long''s naked back, Xingyi had a shy look on her face as she removed her own robes, revealing her wless body as well, before she followed after Shun Long and Liu Mei, while regretting that Liu Mei had been bolder than her and had made the first move.
Inside the shower, Shun Long could feel Liu Mei''s supple, perfect breasts on his right as they rubbed on his arm and chest, while her lower body rubbed on his thigh, while at the same time, Xingyi was also rubbing her full, round breasts on his back.
Staring at Liu Mei''s peerlessly beautiful face that was filled with clear desire in her beautiful ck eyes, Shun Long could barely contain himself anymore.
At the same time, Xingyi had already hugged him from behind, letting him feel the sensation of her breasts even more clearly, while her right hand had moved to her own private ce, as she tried hard to quench the heat she was feeling.
Feeling that the long dragon between his legs was fully erect, Shun Long ced his hand son Liu Mei''s supple waist, as he turned her around and pushed her against the wall.
Sensing the wetness on his leg, Shun Long knew that Liu Mei was also ready, as he first rubbed his dragon between her supple butt cheeks, before he ced it right in front of her secret entrance that was even wetter than before.
Shun Long slowly pushed himself forward this time, as he could clearly feel Liu Mei''s warm insides around his lower body, hugging tightly his little brother.
At the same time, Liu Mei was unable to contain the moans that escaped her mouth, making Xingyi feel even more jealous and unable to control herself.
Taking a few steps forward, Xingyi stood right next to Liu Mei and in front of Shun Long, before she pulled herself closer to him and gave him a passionate kiss.
Seeing the look of desire in Xingyi''s stunning emerald eyes, Shun Long kissed her back without any hesitation, while his hands roaves around her full, round breasts and her already erect nipples.
At the same time, Shun Long''s lower body kept moving as well, as Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s muffled moans filled the room.
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Author''s note: 3/5 (I was nning to have 2 more chapters ready by this time, but since I had to edit these chapters for a long time and make sure that everything was the way it needed to be, the next 2 chapters are going to be dyed for a few hours)
Chapter 807 - 807 Entering Seclusion
Chapter 807 - 807 Entering Seclusion
A few hourster, Shun Long was lying on top of the bed with Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s naked bodies on his left and right respectively.
After staring at the blissful smiles on the 2 peerlessly beautiful girls'' faces, Shun Long slowly sat up and waved his hand, as he took out a silver-colored guqin from the foggy space of the ''Stone of Time''.
''''Brother Long, are you going to y the guqin?'''' Xingyi asked with an excited voice when she saw that Shun Long had actually taken out the silverbark guqin.
Xingyi wasn''t the one who was excited as a smile had also appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she saw this scene.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Liu Mei and Xingyi and said smilingly
''''It''s been a while since I yed the guqin and it''s about time to suppress the negative effects of Mei''er''s ''Blood Absorption art'' as well.''''
Shun Long knew that in these past 2 months that he had gone to Murong city, Liu Mei must have probably gone all-out to have reached the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm so quickly, which also meant that the negative effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' could truly affect her once she attempted to breakthrough to the middle stages of the Dao King realm.
A look filled with adoration appeared in Liu Mei''s soul-stirring ck eyes as she stared at Shun Long''s back, while Xingyi nodded her head smilingly.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long closed his eyes and ced his hands on the silverbark guqin in front of him, before he gently pulled the first string.
Ting~
The moment that the string was released both Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s bodies trembled, as a heavenly note entered their ears soon after.
It was just a single note that couldn''t seem any more ordinary, and yet it had made 2 Dao Kings like Xingyi and Liu Mei both shiver, before their bodies involuntarily rxed a momentter, as the 2 of them closed their eyes.
Ting~
Ting~
A second and a third note quickly followed, as the sound of the music filled the room shortly after.
It wasn''t just Liu Mei and Xingyi who were entranced by the sound of the guqin, as Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who were inside their own rooms seemed to have also been affected by it. It was as if the protective formations inside their rooms werepletely powerless in front of Shun Long''s guqin, as Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian both shivered before they too closed their eyes soon after.
The entire ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' was soon filled with nothing else but the sound of the guqin, as Shun Long''s fingers continuously plucked the guqin''s strings for more than an hour until he finally stopped.
A few momentster, Shun Long finally opened his eyes and took a look at Liu Mei and Xingyi who seemed to still be in a trance as they sat on the bed with their eyes closed, before a smile gradually formed itself on his lips.
Closing his eyes, he then imagined himself entering the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' before his body disappeared from the room.
...
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long first took a deep breath, before he turned his attention towards the purple-colored earth me that was floating just a few meters away from him.
Although he was at the peak of the fifth stage in the ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' and could even destroy a peak rank 5 magic beast with a single punch, even Shun Long was feeling some difort when he was this close to the earth me.
A momentter, Shun Long waves his hand and ced the earth me in an isted spot a few tens of meters away from him, before he summoned the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' from the herb garden.
Surprisingly, the moment that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' sensed the existence of the purple-colored earth me, it even ignored the mountain of high-grade spirit stones around Shun Long, as it consciously moved towards the earth me instead.
Shun Long''s face changed when he saw this scene, as he hurriedly stretched out his hand and pulled the enormous vine back, before he said in a serious voice that was akin to berating a naughty child
''''Come back here! You can forget about that!''''
At the same time, Little ck watched with an amused look in his deep azure eyes, as the enormous vine struggled to break free from Shun Long''s grasp and head towards the earth me that was floating peacefully a few meters away from it.
A few momentster, Shun Long finally shook his head and waved his hand, before he ced the earth me inside the herb garden, and it was only then that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' finally stopped struggling.
Of course, Shun Long knew that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' wasn''t a living entity, but instead, it was a heavenly treasure that was gradually developing some intelligence as time went by.
The vine could absorb almost every type of energy that it came in contact with, and it could clearly sense that the quality of the earth me was much more ''appetizing'' to it than even the high-grade spirit stones around Shun Long.
But of course, Shun Long wouldn''t allow it to absorb this earth me under any circumstances.
After all, this earth me was simply too important for him right now.
A few momentster, the Heaven Swallowing vine started to devour tens of high-grade spirit stones from the mountain around Shun Long, before it begun to fill the air inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' with pure qi.
Without a doubt, the qi that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' produced after it absorbed high-grade spirit stones was even purer and more concentrated than the qi inside the Northern Sovereign''s courtyard.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long immediately circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' as he absorbed the pure qi around him, before he began to condense the 13th ball of qi in his hands.
Chapter 808 - 808 Shun Longs Seclusion
Chapter 808 - 808 Shun Long''s Seclusion
In the blink of an eye, 3 months had passed before Shun Long finally opened his eyes.
Staring at the mountain of high-grade spirit stones around him that seemed to have been depleted by nearly a tenth, Shun Long merely shook his head before he turned his attention towards the 27 golden-colored balls of qi that were hovering above his head.
In thest 3 months that he had spent in seclusion, Shun Long had let the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' consume more than 100.000 high-grade spirit stones, turning them all into extremely pure qi, before he finally managed to reach the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm.
Forget about Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, even Sovereign realm experts would have been terrified if they heard about this matter.
After all, 100.000 high-grade spirit stones were more than enough to let an ordinary Dao King reach the peak of rank 9 as a Dao King and perhaps even step foot into the Dao Emperor realm, and yet they had only been enough to bring Shun Long to the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm instead.
A momentter, Shun Long turned his attention towards the figure of the golden skeleton that was sitting on the ground a few meters away from him, before he mumbled to himself
''''There should still be a month left until the opening of the City of Immortals. It looks like the golden skeleton will have to wait until I enter the city before I refine it.''''
Waving his hand, Shun Long then had the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' return back to the herb garden, before a purple-colored earth me appeared in front of him a few momentster.
''''Master, are you nning to absorb the earth me right now?'''' Little ck asked with a serious look in his eyes as he stared at the purple-colored earth me in front of Shun Long.
It wasn''t surprising that even Little ck would turn serious upon seeing this scene, since the ck dragon already understood, that absorbing an earth me wasn''t only a long and tiresome process, but it also had a certain degree of danger for the person absorbing it.
After all, absorbing the earth me would require for that cultivator to allow that earth me enter inside their spiritual sea. Naturally, if something went wrong, not only could that cultivator injure their spiritual sea, but there was even a chance that they would also end up dying.
Even with Shun Long''s current spiritual strength that was equivalent to that of a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor''s, there was no degree of assurance that he would seed.
In fact, Shun Long''s current level was barely at the threshold that allowed him to try and absorb an earth me.
If someone who wasn''t a star-rank alchemist tried to absorb an earth me, it was practically certain that their spiritual sea would be unable to contain the earth me, and that they would end up dying instead.
Shun Long knew what Little ck was worried about, and after a moment of silence, he nodded his head and patted the ck dragon''s head before he said seriously
''''Little ck, don''t worry. If I see that I can''t endure it, I will just stop.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long threw onest nce at the figure of the golden skeleton that he had ced in the corner, before he turned his gaze towards the earth me in front of him.
Little ck also knew that there were 2 reasons why Shun Long wanted to absorb the earth me right away instead of waiting until he grew stronger.
The first reason was because he needed it to refine high-grade and top-grade rank 6, as well as rank 7 pills.
Naturally, it wasn''t impossible for star-rank alchemists who hadn''t absorbed an earth me to refine high-grade and top-grade rank 6 pills, as well as rank 7 ones, but it was exceedingly hard to do so, and it was only possible for those alchemists who were exceedingly proficient in the Dao of Fire!
Of course, the reason behind that had to do with the toughness of the rank 6 and rank 7 medicinal herbs that were needed to refine those pills.
After all, it was exceedingly hard for most alchemists to extract the essence of those rare rank 6 and rank 7 medicinal herbs due to their special attributes, and it was only possible to do so under extremely high temperatures.
This was why many alchemists longed to absorb an earth me, since that would give them a huge advantagepared to other alchemists who had yet to absorb one.
Naturally, Shun Long knew that it was also possible to refine those rank 6 and rank 7 medicinal herbs without the assistance of an earth me, but that was only possible for those star-rank alchemists who had an extremely high understanding of the Dao of Fire.
However, an earth me was still the better option for every alchemist who managed to get their hands on one.
After all, not everyone could spend hundreds, if not thousands of years trying toprehend the Dao of Fire to an extremely high level, and this was even more so for those star-rank alchemists who didn''t have much affinity with the Dao of Fire in the first ce, and they could end up spending thousands of years for naught.
Besides, it wasn''t as if those alchemists who hadprehended the Dao of Fire didn''t long to absorb an earth me either.
Since an earth me could increase their own strength as well, and it could also make their pill refinement process even faster, those star-rank alchemists who hadprehended the Dao of Fire valued earth mes just as much as the other star-rank alchemists.
As for the second reason why Shun Long needed to absorb the earth me, Little ck knew that it was because of the golden skeleton that he had obtained from the depths of the King''s Pce.
Chapter 809 - 809
A few momentster, Shun Long closed his eyes and spread out his soul sense around his body, immediately covering the entire foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he used his spiritual strength to drag the purple-colored earth me closer towards him.
Shun Long soon noticed that the earth me seemed to be extremely easy to manipte, as it followed his spiritual strength and floated towards his direction ever-so-slowly.
And yet, both Little ck and Little Silver watched the scene in front of them solemnly, as the earth me approached closer and closer towards Shun Long''s head.
Although Little Silver''s level wasn''t high enough tomunicate with Shun Long at the same level that Little ck did, and it could only convey some of its feelings to its master instead, the ck panther''s intelligence wasn''t any lower than an adult human''s and it could clearly sense how dangerous this purple me in front of it really was.
A momentter, Shun Long closed his eyes and allowed the earth me to enter his spiritual sea.
The moment that the earth me entered Shun Long''s spiritual sea, it seemed to havepletely changed, from what seemed to be a docile puppy to a ravenous wolf.
Shun Long could clearly sense the purple mes around the earth me that were burning with extreme intensity, as the earth me started to madly consume the spiritual strength inside his spiritual sea.
..
At the same time, back in the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were all standing at the entrance of the courtyard, as they stared at a familiar middle-aged man with long ck hair who was standing next tomander Quan Lin.
''''Haha, Jiang Tianfang, it seems that you were telling the truth. I can indeed see the resemnce between you two. Since that''s the case, I will leave you to it.'''' Commander Quan Lin said to the middle-aged man who was standing next to him after he took a look at Jiang Chen and him.
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head calmly as he stared at Quan Lin''s figure that disappeared into the distance a few momentster, before a smile finally formed itself on his lips as he turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and the others.
''''Uncle Jiang!'''' Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all bowed as they greeted Jiang Tianfang, who shook his head and waved his hand at them before he said with an amiable smile
''''You little brats, there is no need to be so respectful to me. It''s enough to address me as ''uncle Jiang'' when we meet, there is no need for you to bow.''''
Jiang Tianfang then turned his attention towards Jiang Chen and said in a joking manner
''''You brat, even your friends are greeting your father but you are just standing there so casually when you haven''t seen me for so long?''''
Jiang Chen was momentarily stunned when he saw his father''s good mood, and he was even unable to react for a while.
Although Jiang Tianfang had always been a good father, one that doted on his son quite a bit, this was still the first time for as long as Jiang Chen could remember that his father was actually smiling so earnestly.
At that moment, Jiang Chen smiled as well, as he took a step forward and said
''''Father, it seems that you are in a good mood because you managed to find the ''Golden light flower'', right?''''
Nodding his head, Jiang Tianfang didn''t hide anything, as he actually startedughing uproariously barely a momentter, before he said with a smile
''''Hahaha, it seems that Shun Long has already told you about it. Indeed, I managed to find the ''Golden light flower'' in an auction in Murong city a few months ago.''''
Waving his hand, Jiang Tianfang then took out a small jade box from his spatial ring and opened it, revealing the seven-petaled flower to Liu Mei and the others.
One didn''t need to be a star-rank alchemist to sense the potent medicinal energy inside the ''Golden light flower'' and realize that this flower was an extremely rare rank 7 medicinal herb.
Jiang Tianfang then turned to look around him, taking a look at the rest of the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' almost as if he was looking for something, before he asked curiously
''''Shun Long... isn''t here?''''
Although Jiang Tianfang knew that the distance between Murong city and the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' was so big that it would even take a rtively fast peak rank 6 magic beast at least 3 months to cross it, he already knew that something like that wasn''t a problem for Shun Long.
In fact, Jiang Tianfang had long since guessed that Shun Long had, at the very least, a powerful early rank 7 magic beast as hispanion, or he wouldn''t have been able to travel to Murong city so quickly and attend the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Although Jiang Tianfang didn''t know what other secrets Shun Long had, he didn''t care about them either.
After all, Shun Long was not only Jiang Chen''s friend, but he was Jiang Tianfang''s benefactor as well, and the only person who could heal his dantian. Naturally, Jiang Tianfang wouldn''t have any bad intentions towards Shun Long, regardless of what type of treasures he had.
After all, there was no treasure important enough to Jiang Tianfang that could possiblypare to healing his dantian that had been crippled for almost 50 years.
Shaking his head, Bai Longtian looked at Jiang Tianfang and said seriously
''''Uncle Jiang, brother Shun has entered seclusion since he returned from Murong city and he has yet toe out.''''
Jiang Tianfang didn''t say anything else and simply nodded his head, before he turned his gaze towards the main room in the building in the distance.
Since Shun Long had entered seclusion, Jiang Tianfang didn''t mind sitting there and waiting.
Of course, Liu Mei and the others didn''t have a problem with Jiang Tianfang staying in the courtyard either.
Chapter 810 - 810 Tremor
The Northern Sovereign soon learned about Jiang Tianfang''s arrival from Quan Lin and that he was also staying in Shun Long''s and the others'' courtyard, but such an event was of no actual importance to her.
Although Jiang Tianfang was a genius who had been close to the peak of the Dao Emperor realm in the past, he was still not much in the eyes of the Northern Sovereign.
This was even more so after he had been seriously injured by the Elder of the Yu family and he was exiled by his own Jiang n.? Even if Jiang Tianfang had somehow managed to recover a part of his own strength, he was nothing more than ate-stage Dao Emperor.
In the Northern Sovereign''s eyes, he wasn''t evenparable to her 12manders, let alone a Sovereign realm expert.
Like this, a month continued to pass while Shun Long was still in seclusion, before the entire ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' suddenly began to tremble.
This tremor was extremely violent and abrupt, simr to a powerful magic beast suddenly going berserk, surprising not just Liu Mei and the others, but even Jiang Tianfang who was sitting in the courtyard with his eyes closed, as he suddenly snapped them open.
''''What''s going on?''''
The same question appeared in everyone''s minds, as Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian immediately rushed out of their own rooms when they sensed this tremor, while Liu Mei and Xingyi appeared in the courtyard nearly at the same time as them, as they all turned their attention towards the courtyard''s gates soon after.
However, there was clearly no one in front of the gates attacking their courtyard.
And yet, this tremor didn''t seem to die down even a few momentster, and it was clearly bing even more intense with every passing second,pletely baffling Jiang Chen and the others.
''''Father, what''s going on?'''' Jiang Chen turned his attention towards Jiang Tianfang and asked curiously.
Liu Mei and the others also turned their gazes towards Jiang Tianfang as they waited for his answer.
However, Jiang Tianfang merely shook his head with a serious look in his eyes before he said
''''I don''t know either. However, it seems that the entire ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' is affected by this, not just your courtyard.''''
As a powerful early rank 9 Dao Emperor, Jiang Tianfang could naturally cover arge part of the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' with his soul sense, and he could clearly sense that there were millions of people who were also rmed by this tremor that had affected the entire city.
Even an expert at Jiang Tianfang''s level was actually unable to understand what was going on!
What type of earthquake could possibly affect a behemoth like the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' to the extent that the entire city would start to tremble?? Even if a peak rank 8 magic beast that was simr to a peak rank 9 Sovereign realm expert attacked the city, it still wouldn''t be able to cause the entire city to tremble like this!
The earthquake continued for more than 10 minutes, spreading utter chaos throughout the entire city before it started to finally die down.
A few momentster, at the same time that the earthquake had stopped, the figure of a tall old man dressed in white robes appeared outside of the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', right next tomander Quan Lin, while another old man and an old woman who were also dressed in white robes were also following behind them.
Liu Mei and the others immediately recognized the 3 people outside the courtyard who were standing next tomander Quan, as Liu Mei opened the gates of the courtyard and said in a respectful manner
''''Greetings Grand Elder!''''
Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian cupped their hands and bowed slightly as well, as they greeted the Grand Elder, before their eyes moved towards the 2 Elders who were following behind him.
The old man behind the Grand Elder was the same inner court Elder who had been responsible for the Martial Roll of Honor tournament, Elder Sun Wen, while the old woman next to him was no one other but Xingyi''s own master, Elder Mao Jing.
The Grand Elder nodded his head with a bright smile on his face when he saw Liu Mei and the others, but the moment he sensed their cultivation bases, his smile was suddenly frozen stiff before an expression of disbelief reced it soon after.
''''You... what is going on? How... how is this possible?''''
It wasn''t just the Grand Elder who was stunned, as Elder Sun Wen and Elder Mao Jing were simrly frozen stiff, as they were unable to believe the scene in front of their eyes.
It seemed that the 3 Elders of the Holy sect had even failed to notice Jiang Tianfang''s presence within the courtyard, as their entire attention was ced on Liu Mei''s and the others'' current cultivation bases.
The only ones who weren''t surprised were Jiang Tianfang andmander Quan who already knew about this long ago.
After all, Jiang Tianfang stayed within the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' and he had already learned that Jiang Chen and the others were all training in immortal-grade cultivation techniques, whilemander Quan interacted with Liu Mei and the others quite often since Liu Mei had already left the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' more than 3 times in thest 6 months.
Clearly, every time that Liu Mei returned back to the city, her cultivation base would experience a huge increase, and Quan Lin would hear all about it from the experts who escorted her.
Originally, the squad of experts who escorted Liu Mei had seen their mission as nothing more but child''s y, but after they noticed Liu Mei''s cultivation speed that increased rapidly every time, they realized that the person they were protecting was actually a terrifying monster.
Of course, it was no surprise that the Grand Elder and the others would be stunned and would have trouble epting the scene in front of them.
After all, the current Liu Mei''s cultivation base was nothing like it was in the past and had already reached the peak of rank 4 in the Dao King realm, while Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi were all at the peak of rank in the Dao King realm as well.
''''Didn''t they just breakthrough to the Dao King realm half a year ago? How is it possible for their cultivation bases to advance like this?'''' Elder Sun Wen mumbled in disbelief as he stared at the 4 young people in front of him.
Even the strongest outer court disciples in the Holy sect couldn''t hold a candle to Liu Mei and the others.
In fact, other than the person who was currently ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor rankings, Qiao Min, there was no one else who had a higher cultivation base than Liu Mei in the entire outer court of the Holy sect.
Even Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, could probably be ranked in the top 10 of the Martial Roll of Honor right now!
At the same time, Elder Mao Jing was simrly surprised, but apart from surprise, a look of excitement could also be seen in her eyes as she stared at the kingdom-toppling beauty next to Liu Mei.
Since Xingyi was her own disciple, Elder Mao Jing was naturally exhrated to see her advance so quickly.
''''Eh? Jiang Tianfang?''''
It was only a few moments after that, that the Grand Elder had finally snapped out of his daze and noticed that Jiang Tianfang was also present in the courtyard.
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and cupped his hands at the Grand Elder before he said with a smile
''''Greetings, senior Kang!''''
Sun Wen and Mao Jing were also surprised to see Jiang Tianfang present, but a few momentster, they turned their gazes towards Jiang Chen and realized what was going on.
After all, it wasn''t a secret that Jiang Chen was the son of the previous number 1 genius of the Jiang n, and the inner court Elders of the Holy sect already knew about this.
If Jiang Tianfang hadn''t been exiled by the Jiang n, Jiang Chen would have definitely been nurtured by the Jiang n with all they had, in hopes that he could reach simr or even greater heights than his father.
The Grand Elder nodded his head in greeting towards Jiang Tianfang, before he turned his attention towards Liu Mei and the others and said with an amiable smile
''''You brats... I don''t know how you managed to advance in your cultivation so quickly, but I am very happy regardless. Even I hadn''t expected you to reach the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm before the City of Immortals opened!'''' The Grand Elder then turned to look at his surroundings before he continued
''''Call out Shun Long. I''vee to take you all to the City of Immortals!''''
Chapter 811 - 811 Conflict
Liu Mei shook her head without any hesitation as she stared at the Grand Elder, before she said seriously
''''Grand Elder, Long-ge is still in seclusion and has yet toe out. I won''t let anyone disturb him until hees out by himself.''''
Liu Mei''s eyes shed with a serious glint as she said thest part, even though the person she was facing was the Grand Elder of the Holy sect himself, an existence that stood at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm.
The Grand Elder''s eyes widened momentarily when he heard Liu Mei''s response before a troubled expression covered his face soon after.
Naturally, he didn''t take offense by thest part of Liu Mei''s sentence since he actually agreed with her in his heart.
Since Shun Long was still in seclusion, disturbing him right now may truly end up harming him if he was in a critical part of his cultivation.
Besides, the Grand Elder knew that, right now, they weren''t in the Holy sect but in the Northern Sovereign''s estate instead.
Even if the Grand Elder wanted to forcefully bring Shun Long out of his seclusion, he wouldn''t dare to do it while they were guests in the Northern Sovereign''s estate either.
After all, it was clear that the Northern Sovereign valued Shun Long quite highly and she had already expressed her desire to rope him in, so doing something like that would not only offend Shun Long but also the Northern Sovereign herself!
At that moment however, Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing shook her head and took a step forward as she faced Liu Mei and the others, before she asked in a questioning tone
''''Shun Long is still in seclusion? How is this possible? Don''t tell me that he didn''t notice this earthquake just now! Does he think that he can have all of us wait here for him until he ends his seclusion?''''
Mao Jing said angrily as her fierce gaze brushed past Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Liu Mei, lingering on Xingyi''s body for a bit longer, before she finally calmed herself down and continued
''''Do you even know what the earthquake just now signified?
I don''t mind telling you that it was actually the sign that the ''City of Immortals'' has now opened! Coincidentally, we just arrived in the Northern Sovereign''s city a few days ago and we were nning on taking a look at the shops around the city, but since the ''City of Immortals'' has opened, we will leave right away! As a disciple of the Holy sect, Shun Long is also obligated to follow us now that he is also a Dao King!''''
At that moment, furious looks appeared on Liu Mei''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s faces as they stared at Mao Jing, while even Xingyi didn''t hide her displeasure as she looked at her master.
Sensing the tension in the air that was growing worse and worse with every passing moment, the white-robed old man next to Mao Jing, the head of the inner court Elders, Sun Wen shook his head and interjected calmly
''''Although Mao Jing''s words are harsh, there is also merit in them as well. The 5 of you are now Dao Kings and you should enter the ''City of Immortals'' along with the rest of the disciples from the sect. Shun Long being in seclusion at such a critical point is indeed problematic.''''
Sun Wen then turned his gaze towards the Grand Elder and continued
''''Grand Elder, I know that you look at Shun Long quite favorably and I also have to admit that I didn''t expect for his Heavenly Tribtion during his breakthrough to the Dao King realm to be so terrifying that it even managed to alert the Northern Sovereign, but we can''t possibly wait until he exits from his seclusion before we leave for the City of Immortals.
After all, what will we do if his seclusion ends upsting for a couple of years or even longer? The City of Immortals itself has only stayed open for 10 years in the past, and we don''t know if it will be any different this time around!
I suggest that you choose someone else to lead the outer court disciples inside the City of Immortals instead of him. Since Yang Hui has decided to follow the young princess of the Bai n, we can either choose Qiao Min, Liu Mei, or we can even have one of the inner court disciples be the leader instead.''''
The Grand Elder stayed silent as he was clearly put in a difficult position.
Even before the Martial Roll of Honor tournament back in the Holy sect had ended, the Grand Elder had already decided to have Shun Long enter the ''City of Immortals'' along with the rest of the outer court disciples, and have him lead everyone during their time inside.
Although that decision of his was bound to raise someints from some of the stronger outer court disciples of the sect, the Grand Elder didn''t care about those disciples in the slightest.
However, the current situation was indeed problematic.
After all, it was one thing if Shun Long remained in seclusion for a few more days or even a few months, but if he didn''te out even after 10 years and ended up missing the opportunity to enter the ''City of Immortals'', it would indeed be a disaster.
At the same time, the Grand Elder knew that Sun Wen and Mao Jing were also correct.
Even if he was selfish, the Grand Elder couldn''t possibly keep all the outer court disciples of the Holy sect waiting until Shun Long exited his seclusion.
At that moment however, before the Grand Elder could make his decision, Liu Mei took a step forward and stared at Sun Wen and Mao Jing in front of her, before she said in a calm but determined voice
''''Lead the outer court disciples? I am not interested in that.. Until Long-gees out of his seclusion I won''t enter the ''City of Immortals'' either.''''
Chapter 812 - 812 Guidance
Both Sun Wen and Mao Jing stared at Liu Mei with bbergasted looks on their faces, but Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all nodded their heads in agreement.
After a few moments of silence, Mao Jing finally pointed her finger at Liu Mei and shouted angrily
''''You want to wait for Shun Long? Who do you think you are? Liu Mei, don''t forget that you are also a disciple of the Holy sect!? Every other outer court disciple will enter the ''City of Immortals'' so who do you think you are to simply stay back?''''
Liu Mei narrowed her eyes as she stared at the white-robed Mao Jing in front of her, before she answered in a frosty tone thatcked the tiniest hint of respect
''''Every other outer court disciple will enter the City of Immortals? What does that have to do with me?
I thought that every disciple could freely choose whether they wanted to enter the ''City of Immortals'' or not. Could it be that we are forced to do so now?''''
At the same time, Jiang Tianfang suddenly took a step forward and stood in front of Liu Mei and the others as he faced Mao Jing, before he turned his gaze towards the Grand Elder and said calmly
''''Senior Kang, don''t tell me that your Holy sect is trying to force my son and his friends to enter the ''City of Immortals''.
Naturally, if they want to enter by themselves, then that''s fine.? However... if they don''t want to enter, don''t think that I will allow your Elders to bully them while I''m present.''''
The Grand Elder stared at Jiang Tianfang who stood there like an immovable mountain, as his aura of an early rank 9 Dao Emperor was clearly boring down on Mao Jing and was forcing her back, and after a moment of silence he shook his head and sighed before he said
''''Liu Mei is right. Whether she wants to enter the ''City of Immortals'' or not is up to her, and naturally, my Holy sect won''t force her. However, it''s a shame that she won''t be able to enter the city along with the other disciples of the sect.''''
The Grand Elder then turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen and the others and asked
''''Do the 3 of you want toe with me, or do you want to wait for Shun Long too?''''
Jiang Chen shook his head and answered in a determined manner
''''I will wait here as well. If Shun Long doesn''t enter the city then I won''t enter either.''''
Bai Longtian nodded his head and cupped his hands at the Grand Elder before he responded
''''Grand Elder, thank you for your offer but we will wait here.''''
Seeing that Xingyi was about to respond, Mao Jing suddenly narrowed her gaze and said in amanding tone
''''Xingyi,e here! Your master is talking to you!''''
Cold looks appeared on Liu Mei''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s faces when they heard this, while the Grand Elder and Jiang Tianfang stared at Mao Jing without interfering.
Although Mao Jing couldn''t force Liu Mei and the others to do anything, as Xingyi''s master, she naturally had enough authority to order Xingyi around.
Shaking her head, Xingyi took a step forward and faced the white-robed woman in front of her, before she bowed and asked
''''Master, do you have any instructions?''''
Mao Jing nodded her head and said calmly
''''You will follow me and enter the ''City of Immortals'' with the rest of the outer court disciples of the sect. There is no reason for you to follow Shun Long and the others with your talent!
With your rate of growth, it''s practically certain that you will reach the Dao Emperor realm in less than a thousand years! By then, you will definitely be a core disciple of the sect!''''
Xingyi let out a sigh as she looked at Mao Jing, before she shook her head and said in a pleading manner
''''Master, you should understand my feelings for brother Long by now. Can you allow me to stay and wait for him?''''
''''NO!''''
Mao Jing didn''t even entertain that thought for even a moment as she immediately rejected Xingyi''s request, staring at her like a cat that just had its tail stepped on.
It didn''t matter if Xingyi begged her on her knees, since Mao Jing still wasn''t going to agree to this request of hers!
Xingyi lowered her head and instantly fell silent, as utter silence had also filled the entire courtyard soon after.
''''Enough! Come here! It''s time to go!'''' Mao Jing shouted angrily when she saw that Xingyi wasn''t moving from the spot she was standing on and was simply standing there with her head lowered, as if she was trying hard to make a decision!''''
Finally, a few momentster, Xingyi raised her head and looked at Mao Jing with a resolute look in her eyes, before she finally started walking towards her.
Jiang Tianfang was slightly surprised when he saw this scene, but neither Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, or Jiang Chen, seemed to have any particr reaction to this, as they all stared at Xingyi calmly.
A few momentster, Xingyi stood in front of Mao Jing, before she bowed deeply and said in a respectful tone
''''Master!''''
A smile appeared on Mao Jing''s face as she looked at the beautiful young woman in front of her, before she stretched out her hand to pat Xingyi''s shoulder and said
''''There is no need for you to waste your talent here. Let''s go! If you manage to obtain a fortuitous opportunity in the ''City of Immortals'', you may even reach the Sovereign realm in the future and stand at the peak of the northern part of the central region!''''
At that moment however, Xingyi merely shook her head and waved her hand, as she took out a small bottle from her spatial ring with a single pill inside it.
Bowing for the second time, Xingyi stretched both of her hands outward as she offered the pill bottle to Mao Jing and said determinedly
''''Master, thank you for your guidance!''''
Chapter 813 - 813 Returning The Gift
Mao Jing''s eyes widened in disbelief as she instinctively reached out her hand and epted the pill bottle, staring at the small pill inside it with a stunned look on her wrinkled face.
At the same time, both Sun Wen and the Grand Elder seemed to have realized what was going on, as they both let out defeated sighs and shook their heads soon after.
How could they not understand that with this action, Xingyi was cutting off the ties between a disciple and her master?
It was clear that after this, Xingyi wasn''t going to recognize Mao Jing as her master any longer.
Mao Jing stared at the pill in front of her without saying anything, almost as if she had fallen in a trance.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, Mao Jing raised her head and stared at Xingyi before she asked in a furious voice
''''Xingyi, what is the meaning of this??''''
Cupping her hands, Xingyi bowed deeply once again before she said
''''Master, this is a rank 5 ''Barrier-piercing pill'', just like the one that you gave me as a gift when you epted me as your disciple.
Actually, it''s not really the same since this is a top-grade rank 5 pill while the one that you gave me was only a middle-grade pill.
Regardless, after giving you back your weing gift, I hope that master... no, Elder Mao Jing can understand, that we will no longer be master and disciple.''''
Mao Jing''s eyes started brimming with killing intent as she stared at the pill bottle in her hands in silence, before she turned her gaze towards Xingyi and startedughing, as she said in a frosty manner
''''You want to cut our ties by giving me back my weing gift? Howughable! As your master, it is my right to order you to follow me!
You want to cut off our ties simply because I refused your request? Very well!
I must have been blind to ept you as my disciple in the first ce! A disciple like you is simply unfit to remain in the Holy sect as well!''''
All of a sudden, Mao Jing took a step forward and stretched out her right hand, as her fingers curled together, turning into ws that headed straight towards Xingyi''s abdomen.
Jiang Chen''s, Liu Mei''s, and Bai Longtian''s expressions all changed when they saw this scene.
''''MAO JING! STEP BACK!''''
At the same time, the Grand Elder shouted angrily when he noticed Mao Jing''s actions, as he hurriedly waved both of his hands while his cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm exploded outwards!
At that moment, the entire ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' seemed to have dropped by quite a few degrees in temperature, as a frosty aura radiated from the Grand Elder''s body heading straight towards Mao Jing.
Naturally, how could the Grand Elder not realize that Mao Jing''s strike was aiming to strike Xingyi''s dantian and directly cripple it?
Unfortunately, although the Grand Elder was standing just a few meters away from Mao Jing, he actually hadn''t expected that Mao Jing would suddenly attack Xingyi and that she would even try to cripple her, catching himpletely off-guard.
Although the difference in their cultivation was big, since the Grand Elder wasn''t prepared, he didn''t have enough time to protect Xingyi in time and block Mao Jing''s attack.
At that moment however, the figure of a tall middle-aged man with long ck hair seemed to have appeared in front of Xingyi like a blur, as he effortlessly blocked Mao Jing''s attack with a single hand.
''''You...''''
Mao Jing stared at Jiang Tianfang''s figure in front of her in utter disbelief, unable toprehend how he could have reacted so quickly, that he managed to cover the distance between them and even managed to block her strike before it couldnd.
Jiang Tianfang stared at Mao Jing with a look of unconcealed killing intent, before he said in a cold voice
''''You dare to try and attack someone while you are in my presence? You old hag, who do you think you are?''''
At that moment, Jiang Tianfang''s aura of an early rank 9 Dao Emperor exploded outwards, suppressing Mao Jing so heavily that she actually started to tremble as she tried hard to step back.
Although Jiang Tianfang''s cultivation was slightly lower than the Grand Elder''s, he had been prepared to move from the moment that Xingyi started approaching Mao Jing, which was why he could block Mao Jing''s attack in time and prevent it from striking Xingyi''s dantian.
At that moment however, Mao Jing suddenly noticed that although she had just tried to step back, Jiang Tianfang''s grasp on her right hand was actually so firm that she was unable to move even a single step.
Raising her head, her gaze then met with Jiang Tianfang''s cold gaze that was brimming with killing intent, before the handsome middle-aged man in front of her opened his mouth and said coldly
''''Since you don''t seem to know what''s good for you, let me teach you some manners!''''
The moment that he finished speaking, Jiang Tianfang suddenly clenched his right hand tightly while his eyes stared mercilessly at Mao Jing''s terrified eyes.
''''AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!''''
A blood-curdling scream escaped Mao Jing''s mouth, as warm crimson blood started spurting from her wrist without stop.? Lowering her head, Mao Jing looked at her own hand that seemed to have been severed from her body with a look of disbelief on her face.
''''Jiang Tianfang... you!'''' Sun Wen stared at Jiang Tianfang with an angry look on his face, before he turned his attention towards the Grand Elder who was standing in front of him.
No matter what, Jiang Tianfang had just attacked an inner court Elder of the Holy sect in his presence, so there was no way that the Grand Elder would let this matter go.
And yet, to Sun Wen''s surprise, the Grand Elder merely nced at the severed hand in Jiang Tianfang''s grasp with a deep look in his eyes, before he suddenly turned around and walked towards the gates of the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', before his deep voice reverberated throughout the entire courtyard soon after
''''Sun Wen, bring Mao Jing with you. We are leaving the city right now!''''
As he finished speaking, the Grand Elder''s figure suddenly disappeared from the courtyard, leaving behind both Sun Wen and Mao Jing, who stared at his disappearing back in shock.
Chapter 814 - 814
After a moment of silence, Sun Wen turned around and looked at Liu Mei and the others, his sharp gaze lingering on Jiang Tianfang for a few more moments, before he finally waved his hand and carried Mao Jing with him as he disappeared from the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard''.
Jiang Tianfang merely stared at Sun Wen''s disappearing figure for a few moments, before he turned around and looked at Xingyi, as he asked her
''''Are you alright?''''
Xingyi nodded her head and cupped her hands towards Jiang Tianfang, as she said gratefully
''''Uncle Jiang, thank you for saving me!''''
Although Xingyi was still a bit stunned, she still managed to recollect herself and thank Jiang Tianfang properly.
Jiang Tianfang merely shook his head and waved his hand calmly, as he then turned his gaze towards the gates of the courtyard and said
''''There is no need to be so polite. You are actually lucky that that old hag''s attack was too slow. If it had been a bit faster, even I wouldn''t have been able to save you in time.''''
Xingyi nodded her head without saying anything else, as she too turned her gaze towards the gates of the courtyard soon after.
The truth was, that Xingyi had already been prepared to cut off ties with Mao Jing even before they left the Holy sect.
After all, from the first time that Mao Jing met Shun Long, it was clear that she wasn''t fond of him and that could create quite a few problems in the future.
It was also obvious that Mao Jing would force Xingyi to separate from Shun Long and the others at some point, which was why Xingyi had long since asked Shun Long for a rank 5 ''Barrier-piercing pill''.
After she gave the pill back to Mao Jing, the 2 of them would no longer be master and disciple.
Clearly, Xingyi hadn''t expected that Mao Jing''s reaction would have been so extreme, that she would even try to cripple her.
If it wasn''t for Jiang Tianfang''s interference, it was obvious that even the Grand Elder wouldn''t have been able to react in time and save her
A momentter, Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all appeared in front of Xingyi, as Jiang Chen said coldly
''''It''s unfortunate that my father didn''t kill that old hag and only severed her hand.''''
Shaking his head, Jiang Tianfang sat down cross-legged and threw a nce at Jiang Chen, before he said calmly
''''You little brat, although it''s true that I can kill that old hag if she was by herself, there is no way that Kang Wen would let me do so right in front of him. No matter what, he wouldn''t allow an Elder of his sect to die like that, unless his opponent was an actual Sovereign realm expert.
Don''t forget that Kang Wen is still one of the strongest Dao Emperors in the northern part of the central region!''''
Jiang Tianfang then turned his gaze towards the building behind him and continued
''''Since that brat Shun Long is still in seclusion, it''s better for you to put this matter aside for now and continue cultivating until he is out.
If you have reached a bottleneck, you can also go and train in the Dao tower in the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' as well.
As for the ''City of Immortals''... I have to admit that even I didn''t know that the earthquake from before signified that the city is now open, but it doesn''t matter too much either.
That ce should stay open for at least 10 years if things are the same as they were in the past, so there will still be enough time for you to make it in time.''''
Liu Mei and the others all nodded their heads in agreement, while determined looks appeared in everyone''s eyes.
Indeed, since Shun Long was still in seclusion, the best thing they could do was to cultivate and raise their strength as much as possible before they entered the ''City of Immortals''.
At the very least, it would be best if all of them were middle-stage Dao Kings before Shun Long exited his seclusion.
..
At the same time, inside arge courtyard in a luxurious inn within the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'', Sun Wen and Mao Jing both stared at the Grand Elder in front of them, before Sun Wen said seriously
''''Grand Elder, I know that value Shun Long quite highly, but that Jiang Tianfang still severed Mao Jing''s hand.
Even if Mao Jing was in the wrong with Xingyi''s matter, Jiang Tianfang still went overboard!
Additionally, Mao Jing isn''t a body refiner, so it will take quite a few expensive pills for her hand to grow back. Are we really going to leave this matter like this?''''
However, the Grand Elder merely snorted as he looked at Sun Wen, his piercing gaze causing him to shiver, before he said coldly
''''Leave the matter like this? Mao Jing is lucky that Jiang Tianfang interfered this time, otherwise, if her attack had really seeded and she ended up crippling that girl, forget about Jiang Tianfang, I would be the first one to move and take her life!''''
Sun Wen''s and Mao Jing''s eyes both widened in disbelief, but the Grand Elder''s piercing gaze was still focused on Mao Jing as he continued
''''You know that I value Shun Long highly and I told you that you are not allowed to offend him, but you still decided to cripple that girl! Do you take me to be invisible or is it that my words don''t have enough value for you?
Fine! I don''t mind telling you that I owe that kid, Shun Long a favor, so if you really ended up crippling that girl, if he asked me to take revenge for her, I would truly kill you even if you are an inner court Elder of the sect!
At the same time, you seemed to have forgotten that we were still within the Northern Sovereign''s estate. Even if the Northern Sovereign didn''t care about others and only cared about herself, do you think that she wouldn''t care about her own face that much, that she would let outsiders enter her estate and wantonly cripple her guests?''''
A shiver ran through Mao Jing''s spine as she seemed to have forgotten this matter.
Although she could im that she had crippled Xingyi with the excuse that she was her master, would the Northern Sovereign really care about Mao Jing''s reasons before she killed her??
Shaking his head, the Grand Elder then continued
''''Go and gather the disciples and the Elders and prepare to leave the city. As for Mao Jing''s matter, you can forget about taking revenge.''''
...
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long was still sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, while his body waspletely drenched in sweat.
Inside his spiritual sea, the purple-colored earth me was madly absorbing his spiritual strength like a hungry beast that was ravaging everything in its sights.
-
Author''s note: 4/10
Chapter 815 - 815
As moments gradually turned into minutes, Shun Long started to find it difficult to even open his eyes, while the only thing he could do was simply keep gritting his teeth and try to suppress the purple-colored earth me that was now wreaking havoc within his spiritual sea.
And yet, Shun Long knew that this was anything but easy, since the earth me itself didn''t show any signs of stopping as it kept absorbing his spiritual strength.
After fighting for 3 full days, Shun Long finally managed to suppress the earth me and stop it from rampaging around his spiritual sea any longer. The earth me could no longer wantonly absorb his spiritual strength either, allowing Shun Long to heave a sigh of relief, before he could finally rx and focus on the scene within his spiritual sea.
Shun Long could clearly sense that more than half of his spiritual strength had been depleted during thest 3 days, but other than that, the only other change was the single, purple-colored me that was floating in the center of his spiritual sea.
At this point however, Shun Long also understood that although he had managed to suppress the earth me to a certain extent and stop it from rampaging around, he had yet to make it integrate itself in his spiritual sea so he could truly ''tame'' it.
That was the most difficult, as well as most time-consuming part of the taming process.
...
At the same time, a month had passed since the Grand Elder had visited the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' along with Sun Wen and Mao Jing, and today, another person seemed to havee for a visit as well.
Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi... and even Jiang Tianfang himself all bowed as they cupped their hands and greeted the beautiful, silver-robed woman in front of them.
''''Greetings senior Northern Sovereign!''''
The Northern Sovereign nodded her head calmly as she faced the 4 people in front of her, her gaze lingering on Jiang Tianfang''s body for a few more moments before she turned to look at Xingyi and the others and asked
''''Shun Long still isn''t out of his seclusion? It''s already been a month since the ''City of Immortals'' opened!''''
Nodding his head, Bai Longtian cupped his hands at the Northern Sovereign and answered seriously
''''Senior, brother Shun hasn''te out even once during this time, so he must probably be at a critical point in his cultivation.''''
Nodding her head, the Northern Sovereign pondered for a few moments in silence, before she simply waved her hand and said calmly
''''In that case, tell Shun Long toe and find me when he is out of his seclusion.''''
Bai Longtian and the others all cupped their hands and bowed slightly, before the Northern Sovereign''s figure disappeared from the courtyard soon after.
''''How interesting. No matter how talented these brats are, I''m certain that they are all training in immortal-grade cultivation techniques, otherwise their cultivation bases couldn''t possibly rise so quickly.
As for that Liu Mei... I am even more curious about her cultivation technique.''''
Of course, the Northern Sovereign wasn''t surprised that she didn''t see Liu Mei in the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', since she already knew that Liu Mei had actually left the city a month ago to go out and train.
At the same time, an expert like the Northern Sovereign was naturally much more experienced than most Sovereign realm experts, and she clearly understood, that unless Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all happened to be born with special unique physiques that allowed their cultivation base to rise quickly like Qiao Min''s ''ckwater unique physique'', then the only other exnation for their terrifying rate of growth had to be an immortal-grade cultivation technique.
In fact, the Northern Sovereign knew that even most immortal-grade cultivation techniques out there wouldn''t allow someone to reach the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm from the early rank 1 in merely 6 months, which was why she had been so interested in the cultivation techniques that Jiang Chen and the others were training in, even though the Northern Sovereign herself was also someone who was training in an immortal-grade cultivation technique too.
Jiang Tianfang stared solemnly at the Northern Sovereign''s disappearing figure for a while, and after a moment of silence, he turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen and the others and said seriously
''''The Northern Sovereign is bound to start asking you all some questions sooner orter. The longer we stay in the Northern Sovereign''s estate, the more dangerous things will start to be as well. It''s better to start preparing yourselves. As soon as Shun Longes out of his seclusion, you should leave for the ''City of Immortals''!''''
Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were all startled when they heard Jiang Tianfang''s words, before Jiang Chen seemed to have suddenly realized what his father meant, as he asked in a solemn voice
''''Father, are you talking about our cultivation techniques?''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and answered with a serious look in his eyes
''''Don''t underestimate the Northern Sovereign! Her knowledge of immortal grade cultivation techniques and martial skills can''t bepared to someone like the Grand Elder.
I am sure that she has already guessed that you are all training in immortal-grade cultivation techniques, and she probably knows that it''s not just 1 technique either.
For a small group of Dao Kings to possess more than 1 immortal-grade cultivation technique, forget about the Northern Sovereign, practically every single expert at the central region would end up going after you if they found out!''''
Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all nodded their heads seriously as they stared at Jiang Tianfang.
Indeed, considering that the Northern Sovereign was a peak expert who stood at the peak of the Sovereign realm, it would be surprising if she hadn''t already realized that Liu Mei''s and the others'' rate of growth was heavily influenced by an extremely high-level cultivation technique.
In fact, even the Northern Sovereign''s own cultivation technique wasn''t anywhere near as fast, which made this matter even more surprising and worthy of her attention.
Most likely, Jiang Chen and the others guessed, that the reason why the Northern Sovereign had yet to make a move on them, was because Shun Long had yet toe out of his seclusion and because she wasn''t willing to break off all ties with him just yet.
Chapter 816 - 816 Leaving Seclusion
Another month passed since the Northern Sovereign''s visit, but Shun Long had yet toe out from seclusion.
At this point, even Jiang Chen and the others had started to get slightly worried, but they knew that there was nothing else they could do but sit back and wait.
Of course, other than Jiang Chen and the rest, practically every single person in the entire ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' only had a singlemon topic of discussion; the opening of the ''City of Immortals''!
Nearly every single middle andte-stage Dao King realm cultivator in the city, and even plenty of early-stage Dao Kings, had already set off towards the ''City of Immortals'' once the news about the city opening began to spread a couple of months ago!
At the same time, thergest shops within the city like the ''Myriad pills pavilion'' and the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' were naturally booming in business as well, as those Dao Kings all made sure to stock up on pills, as well as everything they possibly needed before they left the city.
Time continued to pass, and in the blink of an eye, it had already been 6 months since the Grand Elder''s visit to the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
Just as Liu Mei walked past the courtyard''s gates and entered inside, she noticed that Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, were all sitting on the ground with their eyes closed as they absorbed the pure qi around them without stop.
The extremely rich qi inside the courtyard seemed to have separated itself, as it formed 3 massive vortexes above Xingyi''s and the others'' heads.
Thankfully, the qi inside the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' was more than enough to supply even Sovereign realm experts, so regardless of how fast Jiang Chen''s and the others'' absorption speed was, the 3 of them were far from being able to absorb it faster than the qi was being replenished!
At the same time that Liu Mei entered the courtyard, Jiang Chen and the others stopped cultivating and opened their eyes, before Bai Longtian nodded his head in greeting as he said warmly
''''Sister Liu, wee back.''''
Liu Mei nodded her head in response, before she turned her worried gaze towards therge building at the center of the courtyard and asked
''''Long-ge still hasn''t ended his seclusion?''''
Xingyi shook her head as she looked at Liu Mei, and after a moment of silence she said
''''It''s already been almost 10 months since brother Long entered seclusion and he has yet toe out. Mei... do you think that something has actually happened?''''
In fact, it wasn''t just Xingyi who was worried about this matter, as Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were also worried, while even Jiang Tianfang himself had started to feel uneasy when he thought about this.
After all, just like Xingyi had said, it had been 10 months since Shun Long entered seclusion, and he should have been aware that the ''City of Immortals'' had already opened by now.
Unless something had truly happened during his seclusion, it didn''t make sense for him to note out.
Liu Mei wanted to instinctively shake her head and say that everything should be alright, but at this moment, a certain memory shed through her mind as Liu Mei suddenly remembered what she had experienced back in the ''City of Sin'' in the Night star continent.
Back then, Shun Long had actually disappeared into thin air, and he only ended up returning after a few days had already passed.
Although he hadn''t exined everything to Liu Mei back then, Liu Mei still understood that Shun Long had been in some real danger at that time, and she had also seen by herself how even Little ck had been unable to help him.
If something simr happened again, then Shun Long may truly be in trouble.
The more Liu Mei thought about this matter, the more she felt that such a scenario was actually usible.
At that moment however, just as Liu Mei was about to speak, the door of the main room suddenly opened, before a figure dressed in blue robes walked out from it.
A dazzling, soul-stirring smile appeared on Liu Mei''s face when she saw this scene, as she immediately called out in a joyous tone
''''Long-ge!''''
The moment that the door of the room opened, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian seemed to have sensed it as well, as they all turned around and stared at the figure that was dressed in blue robes and was walking towards their direction.
''''Brother Long!''''
''''Haha, brother Shun, you are finally out!''''
Staring at Shun Long, ted smiles appeared on Xingyi''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Jiang Chen''s faces, as they all stood up and flew towards his direction barely a momentter.
Shun Long smiled and pulled both Liu Mei and Xingyi into a hug, before he turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian and asked curiously
''''Longtian, how long was I in seclusion for?''''
Bai Longtian stared at Shun Long with a surprised look on his face before he nodded his head and said seriously
''''Brother Shun, you were in seclusion for almost 10 months. We were even starting to get worried that something actually happened to you, since you didn''te out even after the earthquake that shook the entire ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.''''
Shun Long''s eyes widened when he heard Bai Longtian''s answer, as he truly hadn''t expected that 10 months would have passed while he was in seclusion.
Of course, the reason behind that was due to him having ced his entire focus on taming the purple-colored earth me, which had caused him topletely iste himself from the outside world and lose track of time.
After all, cultivators wouldn''t usually lose sense of time while they cultivated, unless they spent hundreds or even thousands of years in seclusion or if something unexpected happened during that time.
After a moment of silence, Shun Long stared at Bai Longtian and asked in surprise
''''An earthquake actually shook the city? What happened?''''
Chapter 817 - 817 Jiang Tianfangs Hope
It was no wonder that Shun Long would be surprised when he heard that an earthquake had actually managed to shake the entire ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' since he had already seen the protective formations around the city walls when he first entered the city along with the Northern Sovereign.
Forget about a normal earthquake... even the attack of a peak rank 8 magic beast at the same level as the Northern Sovereign would find it difficult to shake the city to the extent that it would cause an earthquake.
Bai Longtian nodded his head and began to exin everything that had happened during the past few months, including the earthquake that was caused by the ''City of Immortals'' opening, the Grand Elder''s visit, Xingyi cutting off rtions with her master, and even the Northern Sovereign''s visit, as well as Jiang Tianfang''s own guess about the Northern Sovereign coveting their cultivation techniques.
Staring at Jiang Tianfang who was still sitting on the ground a few meters away from him, Shun Long cupped his hands towards him and said seriously
''''Uncle Jiang, thank you for saving Xingyi.''''
Jiang Tianfang shook his hand in a dismissive manner and said
''''You little brat, there is no need for you to thank me. Putting aside how much I owe you for helping me expel the poison inside my dantian, why would I even let that old hag from the Holy sect bully your little wife in the first ce? Hmph, after I recover my strength, only a few Dao Emperors at the same level as Kang Wen will be enough to threaten me.
As for that old hag, I can already kill her with a single p if I want to. Unfortunately, with Kang Wen by her side, even if I wanted to kill her, I doubt that he would let me do so.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long didn''t say anything else and simply cupped his hands towards Jiang Tianfang, before he put this matter into the back of his mind.
No matter what, Mao Jing trying to cripple Xingyi wasn''t something that Shun Long and the others would tolerate.
This was a debt that had to be paid back in the future, regardless of whether Mao Jing was an inner court Elder of the Holy sect or not.
A momentter, Jiang Chen stared at Shun Long and said seriously
''''Brother, since you are out, should we leave for the ''City of Immortals'' as well? Half a year has already passed since that ce opened, and we are probably far behind everyone else already.''''
Since Shun Long had already decided to enter the ''City of Immortals'', it was better for them to leave right away, since they were already half a year''s time behind everyone else.
After all, they didn''t know what they were going to find in the ''City of Immortals'', or what that ce even was in the first ce.
Shun Long looked at Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, and noticed the eager looks on their faces, as they were all ready to leave the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' and were simply waiting for his answer.
To their surprise however, Shun Long actually shook his head and said calmly
''''Before that, there is something else that needs to be done first.''''
After he finished speaking, Shun Long turned his gaze towards Jiang Tianfang and said with a smile
''''Uncle Jiang, please give me the ''Golden light flower''.''''
Jiang Tianfang was stunned momentarily, but he still waved his hand and took out a small jade box from his spatial ring, as he handed it to Shun Long without asking anything.
Although he didn''t know why Shun Long wanted to take a look at the flower, Jiang Tianfang still trusted him enough to give it to him without any questions.
At the same time however, an excited look appeared in Jiang Chen''s eyes as he stared at Shun Long, before he asked seriously
''''Brother, don''t tell me that you can now refine that pill?!''''
Although Shun Long had already told Jiang Chen and the others that he would be able to refine star-rank pills after reaching the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm, Jiang Chen also remembered that Shun Long had mentioned how exceedingly difficult it was, even for star-rank alchemists to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill''.
This was why, even though Jiang Chen could sense that Shun Long was now a peak rank 3 Dao King, and was clearly just a step away from breaking through to the middle-stages of the Dao King realm, he still didn''t dare to ask him whether he could refine that pill unless Shun Long mentioned it by himself.
At the same time, Jiang Tianfang was about to berate Jiang Chen for asking such a foolish question when Shun Long was clearly just a peak rank 3 Dao King and had yet to even be a Dao Emperor just yet.
After all, to be a star-rank alchemist, one not only needed to have studied alchemy for thousands of years and be familiar with countless pills and medicinal herbs, but they also needed for their spiritual strength to be at the level as that of a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor!
Regardless of how talented of a cultivation monster Shun Long was, in Jiang Tianfang''s eyes, it was impossible for his spiritual strength to be at the same level as that of a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor when he was still just a peak rank 3 Dao King.
Forget about bing a star-rank alchemist, with Shun Long''s current cultivation base, even being a peak rank 3 gold grade one should be impossible right now.
Even if Shun Long was actually an alchemy genius, Jiang Tianfang guessed that he should at most be able to refine some peak rank 2 gold-grade pills.
Naturally, this was the limitation posed by his one''s own cultivation base and it wasn''t something that could be surpassed, regardless of how gifted a person was.
However, before Jiang Tianfang had enough time to berate Jiang Chen, Shun Long actually nodded his head and said calmly
''''Right.. I should be able to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'' by now.''''
Chapter 818 - 818 Heavenly Purity Pill
Chapter 818 - 818 Heavenly Purity Pill
''''You little brats, stop joking!''''
After a few moments of silence, these were the only words that coulde out of Jiang Tianfang''s mouth as he stared at Shun Long and Jiang Chen.
It wasn''t that Jiang Tianfang didn''t trust Shun Long or Jiang Chen, but the uncertainties in this matter were simply far too many.
Putting aside whether Shun Long could even find an earth me to absorb if he wanted to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'', and how long the absorption process would actually take, it was simply unprecedented throughout the entire central region for an early rank 3 Dao King to refine even peak rank 3 gold-grade pills, let alone star-rank ones.
However, Jiang Chen didn''t seem to have paid the slightest bit of attention to his father''s shout, as his gaze waspletely focused on Shun Long.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself down Jiang Chen then asked solemnly
''''Brother... how certain are you that you can seed?''''
The look on Shun Long''s face turned serious as he fell silent for a few moments, before he raised his hand and stretched out 4 of his 5 fingers a momentter, before he said seriously
''''Since I just finished absorbing the earth me, I''m not as ustomed to it just yet, so there should be around a 40 percent chance for it to be a top-grade pill and a 60 percent chance that it will just be a high-grade one.''''
Although Shun Long was confident that he could sessfully refine the ''Heavenly purity pill'' without any issues, it was still the first time he was refining it, so the chances of the pill turning to be a top-grade one truly didn''t exceed 40 percent.
Jiang Chen heaved out a sigh of relief when he heard this, and after a moment of thinking he asked
''''Is a high-grade pill going to be enough to fully heal my father or does it need to be a top-grade pill?''''
Shun Long nodded his head and said calmly
''''Don''t worry, even a low-grade pill is enough.
But since low-grade pills are filled with pill toxins, it would take him at least a hundred years to expel the pill toxins from his body and be able to use his previous strength again.
As for middle-grade pills, the pill toxins inside aren''t as concentrated, and after 10 years at most, uncle Jiang should be able to fully utilize his cultivation base without any issues.
As for high-grade and top-grade pills, not only will they allow him to recover almost instantly, but they will even help his cultivation base to advance after he fully absorbs the pill.''''
Jiang Tianfang was bbergasted after he heard Shun Long''s and Jiang Chen''s conversation as he waspletely unable to believe his ears.
After a few moments of silence, Jiang Tianfang could no longer restrain himself as he looked at Shun Long and asked in an incredulous voice
''''Nephew Shun... are you serious? Can you really refine the ''Heavenly purity pill''? ...Don''t you need to be a star-rank alchemist to do it?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Jiang Tianfang and waved his hand, before a purple-colored earth me appeared on his palm in the next moment.
Unlike how it had behaved the first time that it had entered his spiritual sea, the purple-colored earth me was now much more docile in front of Shun Long, without showing any sign that it was about to go out of control.
The moment that Jiang Tianfang''s eyesnded on this earth me, his expression suddenly froze, before a look of disbelief covered his face soon after.
''''Isn''t this the earth me that Murong Tian got from the auction of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' back in Murong city?''''
Jiang Tianfang couldn''t restrain himself from asking this question while his eyes werepletely focused on the purple-colored earth me in Shun Long''s hands.
With just a nce, Jiang Tianfang could see that Shun Long had perfect control over the earth me in front of him, as if it was an extension of his own body instead.
''''Uncle Jiang is right. I actually got this earth me from Murong Tian. However, not many people know that I possess an earth me so I hope that you can keep this a secret.''''
Although Jiang Tianfang hadn''t heard of the news regarding Murong Tian''s death just yet since he had left Murong city immediately after the auction had ended, a frightening thought appeared in his mind when he guessed of how Shun Long must have gotten his hands on this earth me.
Of course, whether Shun Long had actually tricked or harmed Murong Tian to steal this earth me didn''t matter in the slightest to Jiang Tianfang.
After all, Jiang Tianfang didn''t have any connection with Murong Tian or the Murong family, and even if he did, in Jiang Tianfang''s heart, the entire Murong family still wouldn''t be able topare to a single Shun Long in terms of importance.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Tianfang raised his hand and pointed it towards the sky, before he said in a solemn manner
''''Nephew Shun, I, Jiang Tianfang, swear in my Dao of the Saber, that if I ever betray or reveal your secrets, my soul may then be shed in a million pieces!''''
Bai Longtian and the others were all taken aback by Jiang Tianfang''s sudden oath, but a momentter, they seemed to have guessed why he did that.
Even though Jiang Tianfang was Jiang Chen''s own father, an earth me was still an extremely valuable treasure that countless experts would covet, so Jiang Tianfang wanted to make his stance clear, and the best way to do so was to swear a Dao oath.
At the same time, although his oath sounded extremely cruel to himself, it actually didn''t matter much to Jiang Tianfang, since he wasn''t nning on going back on it in the first ce.
After all, although earth mes were rare treasures that even powerful Sovereign realm experts would fight each other for, even the value of 10 earth mes couldn''t possiblypare to a single ''Heavenly purity pill'' in Jiang Tianfang''s eyes.
Chapter 819 - Refining The Heavenly Purity Pill
Chapter 819 - Refining The ''Heavenly Purity Pill''
A few momentster, Shun Long returned back to his room and sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed as he imagined himself entering the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time''.
Although he hadn''t said anything about it, Shun Long knew that the Dao oath that Jiang Tianfang had just sworn wasn''t something to be taken lightly.
After all, Dao oaths were the most weighty types of oaths that a cultivator could take and couldn''t be vited, or the heavens themselves would punish the vitor.
In the most mild scenarios, the person being punished would simply be unable to advance in their respective Dao in the future, while in the more severe cases, the heavens themselves would eradicate that person''s body and soul.
As for Jiang Tianfang''s oath, his oath was actually one of the heaviest oaths he could possibly take, as the heavens would truly hack his soul in a million pieces if he went against it.
In fact, Shun Long knew that a normal cultivator could only swear, at most, 3 Dao oaths before they ascended to the Immortal Dimension, so for Jiang Tianfang to use one of his Dao oaths like this showed how serious he was about this matter.
A few momentster, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long opened his eyes and turned his gaze towards the ck jade box in his hands. Staring at the small, 7-petaled flower inside it, the look in his eyes gradually turned serious as he took out the flower from the jade box and buried it inside his herb garden.
Naturally, the first thing that he was nning to do before concocting a ''Heavenly purity pill'' was to create a few more ''Golden light flowers'' first.
However, the ''Golden light flower'' was still a rank 7 medicinal herb and an extremely rare one at that. Even after going all-out for 5 days while using his qi to speed up the flow of time inside the herb garden, Shun Long had yet to see any signs of another ''Golden light flower'' appearing.
10 days had passed in the blink of an eye before a second ''Golden light flower'' finally began to appear next to the first one, allowing Shun Long to heave a sigh of relief as he had almost fully depleted his qi by now.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then spent the next 3 hours replenishing the qi inside his qi balls, while Little ck and Little Silver were both sitting by his sides casually munching on a few stalks of ''Dragonblood grass'' while they observed the scene in front of them.
3 hourster, once he could feel that both his qi and his spiritual strength were in their peak state, Shun Long snapped his eyes open and mumbled to himself in a low voice
''''Refining a star-rank pill huh... let''s begin then.''''
A momentter, an alchemy cauldron along with a dozen rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs appeared on the ground around him, filling the air inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' with the pure scent of medicinal herbs.
Of course, Shun Long had already found all the supplementary medicinal herbs that he needed to refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'' long ago. The only things that he had beencking all this while were the ''Golden light flower'' as well as the earth me itself.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long then summoned the purple-colored earth me and used it to warm the cauldron, before he turned his attention towards the scattered medicinal herbs on the ground around him.
Barely a momentter, tens of sizzling sounds could be heard from the cauldron, as Shun Long had already tossed in the rank 5 medicinal herbs inside, all at the same time.
In reality, even Shun Long was slightly surprised with the result, as the resistance of those rank 5 medicinal herbs was practically nonexistent in front of the purple-colored earth me.
The medicinal essence of the rank 5 herbs immediately turned into a puddle of multicolored liquid that was guided by Shun Long''s soul sense as it swirled inside the cauldron, slowly taking the form of a round object that resembled a pill.
A minuteter, Shun Long tossed in the rank 6 medicinal herbs inside the cauldron as well.
However, unlike the rank 5 medicinal herbs that were refined almost instantly, Shun Long had to exert quite a bit of spiritual strength to refine the rank 6 medicinal herbs.
Regardless, with the power of the earth me, even the most durable rank 6 medicinal herbs could onlyst for a few minutes at most, before they turned into pure medicinal essence as well.
A few more minutes quickly passed before the embryonic form of a pill that was almostplete could be seen swirling inside the cauldron.
And yet, if an experienced alchemistid their eyes on this pill, they would immediately be able to guess that something was actually missing from it, and that the pill wasn''t trulyplete.
At that moment, the look in Shun Long''s eyes suddenly turned serious as he waved his hand, before a small, 7-petaled flower appeared in his palm.
Staring at the rank 7 ''Golden light flower'' in front of him, Shun Long narrowed his eyes momentarily before he calmly plucked the first of its 7 petals.
The aura of the ''Golden light flower'' immediately started to weaken the moment that Shun Long plucked its first petal, looking like it was about to wither in just a couple of seconds.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to care about the flower''s transformation as he calmly tossed the petal inside the cauldron.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long then plucked 2 more of its petals before he tossed them inside the cauldron as well.
At that moment, a surprised look shed inside Little ck''s bright blue eyes, as Little ck noticed that the ''Golden light flower'' in Shun Long''s hands seemed to have truly withered and ''died''.
Even the remaining 4 petals that were left on the flower didn''t seem to have any medicinal essence inside them anymore.
-
Author''s note: As you guys have noticed, during the past few months the release rate has been wildly inconsistent, with thest 2 months being in the worst state possible as I was struggling to write even a single chapter. This is because during the past 5 months I had to do my mandatory military service which meant that I had to enroll in the army without an option to refuse.
In the first couple of months, it wasn''t too bad as I could still do my best to write at least 1 chapter a day if not 2 of them, but in thest couple of months, it was nearly impossible to write even a single chapter, both due to theck of avable time to work in the army as well as ack of sleep.
This is why the release rate has been so horribletely. Normally, people would be allowed to leave the camp once every 2-3 days, but that was only for half a day to a day at most.
6 days ago I went to the garrison headquarters to ask for an early release so I could cut my military service short, but I was told to go back on Tuesday since the people present were unable to help.
Thankfully, I managed toe to an agreement with the people in charge yesterday, allowing me to return back home early and continue to ve away writing.
Thank you for your patience during the past couple of months, and especially this month where I know you guys have beenpletely starved out of chapters.
I will do my best to make up for the lost days, slowly but surely.
Zeus.
Chapter 820 - Quan Lins Request
Chapter 820 - Quan Lin''s Request
Staring at the withered ''Golden light flower'' in his hands, Shun Long simply threw a single nce at its remaining 4 petals that had already withered as well before he ced his attention back in the cauldron.
Unlike the rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs whose medicinal essence had already been extracted and coalesced together, forming the embryonic form of a halfpleted pill, the 3 petals from the ''Golden light flower'' inside the cauldron had yet to turn into medicinal essence, let alone merge into the pill.
Even after they were refined under the purple-colored earth me''s terrifying heat for more than an hour, the 3 petals had only turned into a reddish hue at this point, and there were no signs of their medicinal essence appearing anytime soon.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t stop, and instead, he increased the temperature of the purple-colored earth me even further, causing the temperature inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' to rise as well.
Even peak fifth stage body refinement cultivators would find this heat extremely ufortable if they were standing next to Shun Long right now, but Little ck and Little Silver didn''t pay any attention to it as they stared at the scene in front of them.
Naturally, for a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver, the heat of the earth me wasn''t enough to truly threaten it just yet.
As for Little ck, the ck dragon could barely feel the change in his temperature and wasn''t ufortable with it in the slightest.
Half a dayter, the 3 petals of the ''Golden light flower'' had finally began to melt, as bright, colorful drops of medicinal essence started to drip from the 3 petals'' surface, slowly merging with the halfpleted pill below them.
In the blink of an eye, 2 more days had passed before the medicinal essence inside the petals had been fully extracted, as it slowly fused with the embryonic form of the pill inside the cauldron.
One more week quickly passed like this before Shun Long''s alchemy cauldron suddenly began to tremble, attracting both Little ck''s and Little Silver''s attention.
The trembling was weak and was almost imperceptible in the beginning, but as time continued to pass, it started to be even more intense, while cracks had also started to appear on the cauldron''s surface.
Naturally, these changes didn''t escape Little ck''s and Little Silver''s eyes who turned their attention towards Shun Long soon after.
At this point, Shun Long could also feel that his spiritual strength had been almostpletely depleted and that he was extremely close to reaching his limits as well.
Of course, in his heart, he also understood that this was only natural.
After all, the ''Heavenly purity pill'' was a rank 7 pill, and an extremely difficult one to refine even among other rank 7 pills. Although Shun Long''s spiritual strength was equivalent to that of a 1-star alchemist, it was barely enough to allow him to try his hands on the pill refinement.
Like this, Shun Long''s alchemy cauldron continued to tremble for more than a minute before it finally stopped.
Suppressing his urge to close his eyes and fall asleep, Shun Long gritted his teeth and propped himself up from the ground, as he stretched out his right hand and removed the lid of the cauldron, revealing the content inside it.
The moment that the cauldron''s lid was removed, Shun Long could feel the fragrant scent of medicinal herbs assaulting his senses, making him feel like he had suddenly stepped foot into a rich medicine garden, while even his spiritual strength had started to rapidly recover. Just a single whiff of this scent had actually been enough to make all of his dizziness go away.
A momentter, Shun Long''s gaze fell on the purple-colored earth me at the center of the cauldron that had already started to die down, while in the heart of the mes, a single pill was lying there, emitting a blinding white light.
Waving his hand, Shun Long took out an empty pill bottle and stored the pill inside, before he sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, as he started to recover his spiritual strength.
...
At the same time, in the Northern Sovereign''s own courtyard, the silver-armored Quan Lin knelt in front of the Northern Sovereign and said in a serious voice
''''City lord, I have a presumable request that I hope you can grant me!''''
The Northern Sovereign looked at Quan Lin and nodded her head before she answered calmly
''''Speak. What is it? As long as your request is reasonable, I will naturally allow it.''''
Raising his head, Quan Lin faced the silver-robed Northern Sovereign, and after a few moments of silence he said solemnly
''''I hope that the city lord can allow me to enter the ''City of Immortals''!''''
The Northern Sovereign narrowed her eyes as she stared at the silver-armored Quan Lin in front of her, her gaze simr to a pair of sharp daggers that seemed to be gazing directly at Quan Lin''s soul.
Although Quan Lin was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor and the strongest of the 12manders in the Northern Sovereign''s army, when faced with the terrifying pressure that the Northern Sovereign was emitting right now, even he wasn''t able to stand straight and had to suppress himself from trembling in her presence.
The Northern Sovereign fell silent for a few moments, before she shook her head and said
''''Quan Lin, although you are a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor and you are indeed qualified to enter the second level of the ''City of Immortals'', you should know that cultivation isn''t everything in that ce. Talent and luck both y important roles as well.
Besides, even as a Dao Emperor, it doesn''t mean that you will have an easier time in the second level than the Dao Kings who enter the first level. The level of difficulty you will have to face will practically be the same as them!''''
Chapter 821 - Healing Jiang Tianfang
Chapter 821 - Healing Jiang Tianfang
Quan Lin nodded his head seriously as he looked at the Northern Sovereign and answered without any hesitation
''''I know, city lord! I still hope that you will allow me to go, regardless of how difficult it is!''''
The Northern Sovereign shook her head and waved her hand in a dismissive manner before she said
''''Fine then. Since I have already allowed Zi Hu and the others to go, it wouldn''t be fair to keep you behind either. Just remember that no matter what happens, you muste back alive!''''
''''Thank you, city lord!'''' Quan Lin lowered his head once again as he thanked the Northern Sovereign, before his figure disappeared from the Northern Sovereign''s courtyard soon after.
...
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long had just finished recovering his exhausted spiritual strength and opened his eyes, before he turned his gaze towards the small pill bottle by his side and mumbled to himself
''''Although it''s not a top-grade pill, it will still be enough to allow uncle Jiang to heal his injuries and even help him advance his cultivation a bit.''''
Little ck nodded his head seriously, while his bright blue eyes stared seriously at the pure-white pill inside the pill bottle next to Shun Long.
Although most people would be unable to understand how difficult it was to truly refine a ''Heavenly purity pill'', Little ck clearly understood that it was a nearly impossible mission even for most 1-star alchemists.
In fact, even peak 1-star alchemists from the Immortal Dimension would find it exceedingly difficult to refine this pill, and it wasn''t umon for even 2-star alchemists to fail as well!
Of course, 1-star alchemists in the Immortal Dimension were nothing but fledglings in that ce, and they could only be considered as low-tier alchemists at best, but if they were ced in the central region, they would be considered to be respected masters who stood at the peak of the alchemist world.
Actually, if a 1-star alchemist from the Immortal Dimension descended anywhere within the central region, their knowledge would allow them to instantly be one of the top alchemists in the entire region and they would be sought after by countless powerful families and ns, while even 2-star and 3-star alchemists would definitely respect them.
After all, the pills that were avable to even the mostmon 1-star alchemists in the Immortal Dimension, far exceeded the knowledge that the 1-star alchemists of the central region possessed.
A momentter, Shun Long closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space of the ''Stone of Time'', as he returned back to his room.
...
Meanwhile, inside the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'', Jiang Chen and the others were all staring at the door of the main room with solemn looks on their faces.
After all, it had been 2 days since Shun Long had entered seclusion, and they all knew that the pill that he was intending to refine was an extremely rare star-rank pill that only renowned star-rank alchemists could possibly refine.
At the same time, Jiang Tianfang tried to sit cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, but he was actually unable to fully suppress the anxiousness in his heart as his eyes would dart towards the door of the room every now and then.
''''It''s already been 2 days. I just hope that everything is al-''''
Before Jiang Tianfang could finish his sentence, his words suddenly froze in his mouth as he noticed the door of the main room slowly opening from the inside. His eyes then widened and without saying another word, he abruptly stood up from his seat and disappeared on the spot, appearing right in front of Shun Long who had just stepped out from the room in nearly an instant.
Liu Mei and the others seemed to have noticed this as well, as they followed Jiang Tianfang and gathered around Shun Long barely a few momentster.
''''Nephew Shun! Did you seed?'''' Jiang Tianfang asked anxiously as he looked at Shun Long, unable to hide the nervousness in his voice.
Of course, it was no wonder that Jiang Tianfang would be so nervous. After all, he had been forced to spend the past 50 years of his life in a crippled state. For a genius like him who had been renowned throughout the entire northern part of the central region previously to be forced in such straits, such a life was truly worse than death.
Staring at Jiang Tianfang, Shun Long nodded his head and waved his hand, as he took out a single pill bottle from the ''Stone of Time'' and gave it to him, before he said with a smile
''''Uncle Jiang, this is the ''Heavenly purity pill''. Although it''s just a high-grade rank 7 pill and it shouldn''t be enough to let uncle Jiang be a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor, after you consume it, you will still be able to fully expel the corrosive energy inside your dantian and even breakthrough to the middle of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm.''''
Jiang Tianfang''s hands trembled as he stretched out his hands and epted the pill bottle in front of him, staring intently at the single, pure-white pill inside it.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Tianfang then sat cross-legged on the ground and opened the bottle, before pouring the ''Heavenly purity pill'' directly into his mouth.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all focused their gazes on the ck-robed Jiang Tianfang who had already consumed the ''Heavenly purity pill''. However, even after a few minutes had passed, there seemed to be no changes in his body.
Just as Jiang Chen was going to ask if something was wrong with his father''s body, the sky above the ''Southern Dragon''s courtyard'' suddenly started to rumble, before a single, white thundercloud that was more than 500 meters in radius covered the entire courtyard.
Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the others, all raised their heads and looked at the massive thundercloud that had covered the courtyard, before Shun Long took a deep breath and said seriously
''''Uncle Jiang, get ready!''''
-
Author''s note: This is the link to join the discord server.. You guys are all wee to join and ask me anything you want --> https://discord.gg/N5n6vaeb
Chapter 822 - Healing Jiang Tianfang (2)
Chapter 822 - Healing Jiang Tianfang (2)
''''Brother Shun, what is going on?'''' Bai Longtian asked curiously as he stared at the massive white thundercloud above the courtyard.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Jiang Chen, seemed to be equally as confused, as they all turned their gazes towards the white thundercloud as well.
''''Brother... don''t tell me that this is a Heavenly Tribtion. But why does this feel so simr to a Heavenly Tribtion cloud?'''' Jiang Chen said in a voice filled with disbelief, as he stared at the sparks of white lightning that seemed to be gathering around the white thundercloud.
Whether it was the feeling he got from the white thundercloud itself or from the sparks of white lightning that seemed to be gathering around its surface, Jiang Chen could clearly sense an awfully familiar feeling that was simr to the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion he had faced back in the ''King''s Pce'' when he broke through to the Dao King realm.
In fact, it wasn''t just Jiang Chen who sensed this, as Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all had the same feeling as well.
However, everyone could also tell that Jiang Tianfang''s aura hadn''t changed in the slightest, even though he had already consumed the ''Heavenly purity pill''.
Forget about breaking through to the Sovereign realm and facing a Heavenly Tribtion, it was obvious that Jiang Tianfang was still an early rank 9 Dao Emperor and he had yet to even finish healing his injuries. Since he had yet to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm, it was naturally impossible for him to face his next Heavenly Tribtion.
Shaking his head, Shun Long stared at the massive thundercloud in the sky and said seriously
''''Although it''s not a cloud of Heavenly Tribtion, it''s not much different from an actual Heavenly Tribtion either. After all, only the destructive power from a bolt of Heavenly Tribtion can fully expel the corrosive energy inside uncle Jiang''s body.''''
At the same time that Shun Long finished his words, Jiang Tianfang opened his eyes and raised his head as he stared at the sparks of white lightning on the thundercloud''s surface that seemed to be taking the form of a massive white-colored lightning bolt, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and asked calmly
''''Nephew Shun, all I have to do is simply let that bolt of Heavenly Tribtion strike me, right?''''
There wasn''t the slightest trace of doubt or worry in Jiang Tianfang''s eyes as he said this, almost as if he had already expected this.
In reality, from the moment that he consumed the ''Heavenly purity pill'', Jiang Tianfang could clearly sense the remnants of corrosive energy inside his dantian that were left by the Elder of the Yu family that he previously couldn''t sense as clearly. Additionally, Jiang Tianfang could also sense, that the instant that the ''Heavenly purity pill'' entered his mouth and turned into a pool of medicinal essence that poured down his throat, the stream of medicinal essence seemed to have naturally found its way towards his dantian,pletely covering it in just a few moments.
Jiang Tianfang could tell that the medicinal essence seemed to be acting like a protectiveyer of sorts, as it fully enveloped his dantian protectively.
This was why he wasn''t afraid of the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion above him, even though he didn''t fully understand how the Heavenly purity pill worked.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Jiang Tianfang and said calmly
''''Uncle Jiang is right. All you have to do is simply let the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion enter your dantian and let it naturally expel the corrosive energy inside your body.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head and didn''t say anything else, but Shun Long could see an expectant smile forming on his lips, as Jiang Tianfang closed his eyes and waited for the white bolt of Heavenly Tribtion to descend.
Staring at the white bolt of Heavenly Tribtion that seemed to be getting stronger with every passing second, Jiang Chen gritted his teeth and asked in a somewhat worried voice
''''Brother... will my father really be alright?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Jiang Chen and said reassuringly
''''Don''t worry. If this was a real Heavenly Tribtion, then my ''Heavenly purity pill'' would indeed be useless. However, this bolt of Heavenly Tribtion was only summoned because of the corrosive energy inside uncle Jiang''s body. Not only will this bolt fully expel the corrosive energy inside uncle Jiang''s dantian, but it should also let his cultivation advance by a bit as well.''''
Jiang Chen nodded his head without saying anything else, but there was still a look of worry in his eyes as he stared at his father.
It was only because he trusted Shun Long that Jiang Chen could even stay somewhat calm in a situation like this.
...
Moments slowly turned into minutes and the white bolt of lightning seemed to be even stronger with every second that passed.
Finally, 10 minutester, a massive bolt of white lightning could be seen looming above the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'', immediately attracting the attention of many of the surrounding guards within the Northern Sovereign''s estate who seemed to have noticed this.
''''Eh? Is that a cloud of Heavenly Tribtion? What is going on?''''
''''Someone is actually breaking through to the Dao Emperor realm? I wonder who it is...''''
''''This is odd... That cloud of Heavenly Tribtion is too small to be the Heavenly Tribtion of a Dao Emperor, but that bolt of lightning... it feels too terrifying!''''
''''Wait! Isn''t that where the guests of the city lord are staying?''''
As the guards were discussing the sudden appearance of the Heavenly Tribtion cloud, one of them seemed to have suddenly noticed this detail, as he turned his gaze towards the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' and stared at it from the distance.
Of course, it wasn''t surprising that one of the guards would notice this, since most of the guards in the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate'' already knew about the guests of the Northern Sovereign''s who were staying inside the estate for the past year.
However, it wasn''t just the guards who were taken aback by the sudden appearance of a bolt of Heavenly Tribtion.
Inside the ''Northern dragon''s courtyard'', the Northern Sovereign stared at the gigantic white bolt of lightning in the sky with a look of surprise on her beautiful face, before she mumbled to herself
''''What is going on? Someone has actually summoned a Heavenly Tribtion...?''''
A momentter, the Northern Sovereign suddenly stood up from her seat and disappeared from the courtyard, appearing right in front of the gates of the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' right in the next moment!
cing her hand on the courtyard''s gates, the Northern Sovereign then said in amanding tone
''''Open!''''
-
-
Author''s note: As you guys have noticed, during the past few months the release rate has been wildly inconsistent, with thest 2 months being in the worst state possible as I was struggling to write even a single chapter. This is because during the past 5 months I had to do my mandatory military service which meant that I had to enroll in the army without an option to refuse.
In the first couple of months, it wasn''t too bad as I could still do my best to write at least 1 chapter a day if not 2 of them, but in thest couple of months, it was nearly impossible to write even a single chapter, both due to theck of avable time to work in the army as well as ack of sleep.
This is why the release rate has been so horribletely. Normally, people would be allowed to leave the camp once every 2-3 days, but that was only for half a day to a day at most.
6 days ago I went to the garrison headquarters to ask for an early release so I could cut my military service short, but I was told to go back on Tuesday since the people present were unable to help.
Thankfully, I managed toe to an agreement with the people in charge yesterday, allowing me to return back home early and continue to ve away writing.
Thank you for your patience during the past couple of months, and especially this month where I know you guys have beenpletely starved out of chapters.
I will do my best to make up for the lost days, slowly but surely.
Zeus.
Chapter 823 - Healing Jiang Tianfang (3)
Chapter 823 - Healing Jiang Tianfang (3)
A momentter, the Northern Sovereign''s figure appeared inside the ''Southern dragon courtyard'', immediately attracting Liu Mei''s and the others'' attention.
However, the Northern Sovereign merely nced at Liu Mei and the others for a brief moment, before her gazended on Shun Long and Jiang Tianfang.
''''Eh? Shun Long? That kid finally finished his seclusion?'''' The Northern Sovereign muttered to herself in a calm but somewhat surprised voice, before her gaze drifted towards Jiang Tianfang who was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Naturally, the Northern Sovereign could easily tell that the massive cloud of Heavenly Tribtion in the sky above the courtyard was specifically targeting Jiang Tianfang.
After a moment of silence, the Northern Sovereign''s figure suddenly disappeared from the spot she was standing on, appearing right next to Shun Long, before the Northern Sovereign looked at him and asked with a profound look in her beautiful brown eyes
''''Shun Long, can you exin what is going on?''''
Meanwhile, Shun Long wasn''t surprised by the Northern Sovereign''s sudden appearance in the courtyard. After all, her ''Northern dragon''s courtyard'' was extremely close to his ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' so it was only a matter of time before she noticed themotion created by Jiang Tianfang.
Although ''old Lin'' had told Shun Long and the others when they first arrived in the estate that no one could enter their courtyard without permission, naturally, this rule wouldn''t apply to the Northern Sovereign.
Of course, Shun Long also understood what the Northern Sovereign meant by her question as she looked at him.
After all, as a powerful peak rank 9 Sovereign realm expert, how could the Northern Sovereign possibly fail to notice how ''peculiar'' this Heavenly Tribtion in the sky really was?
Cupping his hands at the Northern Sovereign, Shun Long answered in a calm voice
''''Senior, this Heavenly Tribtion was caused by a pill that uncle Jiang consumed. Once he finishes undergoing this Heavenly Tribtion, the injuries in his dantian should be fully healed and he will be able to use his full strength the moment he expels the corrosive energy inside him.''''
''''What did you just say?! This Heavenly Tribtion was caused by a pill?'''' The Northern Sovereign''s eyes immediately widened as she stared at Shun Long with a look of disbelief on her beautiful face.
What kind of pill could possibly invoke a bolt of Heavenly Tribtion?
Of course, it was no wonder that the Northern Sovereign would be so surprised. After all, the ''Heavenly purity pill'' was a pill that only alchemists from the Immortal Dimension knew how to concoct, and even the most talented alchemists of the central region didn''t have any knowledge of it.
For a pill to be able to summon a Heavenly Tribtion was truly unprecedented and it naturally took even the Northern Sovereign by surprise.
A momentter, the Northern Sovereign took a deep breath and calmed herself down, before she turned her gaze towards Jiang Tianfang and stared at him with an extremely deep look in her eyes.
Clearly, the Northern Sovereign already knew a few things about Jiang Tianfang, including the fact that he was the most talented genius in the history of the Jiang n and that he had stolen the heart of a youngdy from a big family from the Immortal Dimension, having a child with her and causing that family from the Immortal Dimension to descend and punish him.
The Northern Sovereign also knew that Jiang Tianfang had spent quite a few years visiting countless star-rank alchemists in hopes that they could treat him, but none of them was able to heal his injuries, leaving him utterly depressed.
But this was to be expected since his injuries were caused by a powerful Elder that came from a huge family from the Immortal Dimension!
For Jiang Tianfang to manage to get his hands on a pill that could fully heal him, even the Northern Sovereign was now interested in finding out more about this matter.
However, the Northern Sovereign didn''t ask Shun Long anything else and simply stood there and waited for Jiang Tianfang''s Heavenly Tribtion to descend.
Thankfully, the Northern Sovereign didn''t have to wait long as the massive white-colored bolt of Heavenly Tribtion in the sky seemed to have finished absorbing its energy and had already reached its peak state, before it suddenly fell towards the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard''!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A deafening, rumbling sound that shook the heavens came along as the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion descended from the sky, before the white-colored lightning bolt that was more than 20 meters(65ft) long and as thick as an adult man''s waist, instantly appeared in front of Jiang Tianfang.
Clearly, the protective formations around the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' that could easily block even thebined attacks of hundreds of peak rank 9 Dao Emperors werepletely unable to stop this bolt of Heavenly Tribtion, as it entered the courtyard and headed directly towards Jiang Tianfang''s dantian.
A momentter, Shun Long, the Northern Sovereign, and the others, all saw a white-colored lightning bolt piercing through Jiang Tianfang''s abdomen and causing him to vomit a mouthful of blood, before the early rank 9 Dao Emperor let out a painful groan.
And yet, Jiang Tianfang suppressed his pain and focused his entire attention on the scene that was taking ce inside his dantian.
The wisps of corrosive energy that had already fused with his dantian seemed to have found their nemesis, as they were beingpletely destroyed by the white-colored bolt of Heavenly Tribtion inside his dantian.
Jiang Tianfang could clearly sense that the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion wasn''t just attacking the wisps of corrosive energy inside him that were left by the Elder of the Yu family, but it waspletely wreaking havoc inside his dantian.
However, Jiang Tianfang could also sense that the protectiveyer that was formed by the ''Heavenly purity pill'' was still holding on without any signs of breaking, protecting his dantian from receiving any harm and allowing the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion to only strike those wisps of corrosive energy inside him.
Chapter 824 Interest
Chapter 824 Interest
10 minutes soon passed and Jiang Tianfang could sense that more than half of the destructive energy inside the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion had already been depleted.
However, to Jiang Tianfang''s tion, 90 percent of the corrosive energy inside him had also been purified by the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion, leaving behind only the few strongest wisps of corrosive energy that were barely holding on.
At the same time, Shun Long and the others could all sense that Jiang Tianfang''s aura was growing stronger and stronger at a terrifying rate.
With every moment that passed, Jiang Tianfang seemed to be even stronger, and by now, his aura was almost on par with the aura of the Grand Elder of the Holy sect.
Although Jiang Tianfang was still an early rank 9 Dao Emperor, it was a fact that previously, he was unable to use his entire strength that was limited by those wisps of corrosive energy inside his dantian.
Even though he could deal with middle-stage Dao Emperors like Mao Jing from the Holy sect with rtive ease, he would bepletely powerless if he had to fight against someone like the Grand Elder!
However, as the corrosive energy was slowly purified, Jiang Tianfang could sense that he was finally getting rid of his shackles, allowing him to regain his previous strength!
This was a feeling that he hadn''t felt for more than 50 years, causing tears to start flowing from his eyes.
Half an hourter, Jiang Tianfang could clearly feel that even thest trace of corrosive energy inside his dantian had already been cleansed, allowing him to truly exert his full strength.
At the same time, Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the others could now sense, that although the current Jiang Tianfang''s aura was still slightly inferior to the Grand Elder''s, the difference was actually extremely minuscule.
Nodding her head, the Northern Sovereign looked at Jiang Tianfang and said in a praising tone
''''No wonder he was said to be the number 1 genius of the Jiang n in their history. Most likely, by the time that he breaks through to be a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor, he will probably be a match for even Quan Lin.''''
However, just as the Northern Sovereign thought that her surprise would end there, her eyes suddenly narrowed as she noticed that Jiang Tianfang''s aura didn''t show any signs of calming down, and instead, it kept increasing even more.
Of course, what the Northern Sovereign didn''t know was that this was only the beginning, as Jiang Tianfang had finally begun to absorb the nourishing energy that was left inside his dantian by the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion that had already exhausted all of its destructive energy.
In just a few minutes, Jiang Tianfang''s aura that had been stranded to the early rank 9 of the Dao Emperor realm for so many years seemed to have broken past an invisible barrier, as Jiang Tianfang finally became a middle rank 9 Dao Emperor!
And yet, even after his sessful breakthrough, Jiang Tianfang could sense that he had only used up 30 percent of the nourishing energy from the bolt of Heavenly Tribtion.
With his eyes closed, Jiang Tianfang kept absorbing the energy inside his dantian, while his aura inched closer and closer towards the peak of the Dao Emperor realm with every passing moment.
A few minutester, Jiang Tianfang opened his eyes and let out a breath of foul qi, before he turned to look at Shun Long and the others with an ted gaze.
However, just as he was about to speak, Jiang Tianfang suddenly noticed that the Northern Sovereign seemed to have appeared in the courtyard as well, and was now staring at him with a profound look in her eyes.
Cupping his hands, Jiang Tianfang didn''t hesitate as he bowed slightly towards the Northern Sovereign, and called out in a respectful manner
''''Senior, it seems that I have disturbed you.''''
The Northern Sovereign stared at Jiang Tianfang without speaking for a few moments, before she finally shook her head and said calmly
''''There is no need to worry about that. Rather, what I am more interested in, is the pill that you have just consumed.
I am quite curious to hear what kind of pill could possibly invoke a Heavenly Tribtion and could not only heal those injuries of yours, but even allow you to breakthrough and be a middle rank 9 Dao Emperor!''''
The Northern Sovereign didn''t beat around the bush and went straight to the point, catching Jiang Tianfang slightly off-guard.
Of course, the Northern Sovereign didn''t have any ns of beating around the bush because she could clearly see, that Jiang Tianfang had not only broken through to be a middle rank 9 Dao Emperor just now, but he was in fact, just a step away from reaching the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm as well!
ording to her calctions, Jiang Tianfang would need at most a couple of years before he broke through to reach the peak of the Dao Emperor realm.
Naturally, a miraculous pill like that was enough to attract the attention of even someone at the Northern Sovereign''s level!
Jiang Tianfang fell silent for a few moments before he finally gritted his teeth and cupped his hands as he looked at the Northern Sovereign, before he answered in an apologetic manner
''''Senior, forgive me but I can''t answer this question since it involves a personal secret of mine. I hope that you can understand.''''
However, the moment that Jiang Tianfang finished speaking, Shun Long and the others all noticed that the Northern Sovereign''s face suddenly fell, before the temperature inside the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' started to drop and turn chilly.
A frosty look appeared in the Northern Sovereign''s eyes as she stared at Jiang Tianfang, before she shook her head and answered in a cold voice
''''Jiang Tianfang, you have stayed in my estate for quite a while now, and yet you refuse to give me even the slightest bit of face. You should understand that such a pill isn''t something that you can keep for yourself. Don''t make me repeat myself!''''
Chapter 825
Chapter 825
Liu Mei and the others were all taken aback when they heard this, as they stared at the Northern Sovereign with serious looks on their faces.
It was clear that the Northern Sovereign wasn''t going to give any leeway to Jiang Tianfang if he refused to give her the information about the ''Heavenly purity pill''.
And yet, even when he was faced against an expert like the Northern Sovereign, Jiang Tianfang had a determined look as he chose to remain silent.
After waiting for nearly a minute, a burst of suffocating killing intent erupted from the Northern Sovereign''s body, while her aura at the peak of rank 9 in the Sovereign realm exploded outwards as well, immediately covering the entire ''Southern dragon''s courtyard''.
Staring at Jiang Tianfang who was calmly standing in front of her, the Northern Sovereign narrowed her eyes while her luxurious silver robes fluttered with the wind as she continued
''''Jiang Tianfang, don''t force my hand. This is yourst chance!''''
Seeing that Jiang Tianfang refused to speak, the Northern Sovereign truly got angry as she snorted and was about to make her move.
At that moment however, just as the Northern Sovereign raised her right hand and seemed like she was about to attack, Shun Long took a step forward and stared at her with a deep look in his eyes before he spoke in a calm manner
''''The name of the pill is the ''Heavenly purity pill''. As for the medicinal herbs needed, the main medicinal herb is the rank 7 ''Golden light flower'' while the supplementary herbs include more than a dozen rank 5 and rank 6 herbs. I wonder if senior is satisfied with this information.''''
The Northern Sovereign''s hand suddenly froze mid-air as she turned around and looked at Shun Long with a look of unconcealed surprise on her face, before she asked curiously
''''Shun Long, you mean to tell me that the recipe of that pill belongs to you and not Jiang Tianfang?''''
Shun Long nodded his head and said calmly
''''Indeed, the ''Heavenly purity pill'' is mine. Does senior still want the recipe for it?''''
Shun Long could clearly feel the Northern Sovereign''s terrifying aura and the killing intent that wasing from her body that had yet to fully recede, and yet he still faced the Northern Sovereign realm expert in front of him as he asked this question.
After a few moments of silence, the Northern Sovereign waved her hand and said in a dismissive manner
''''So be it then. Since the pill recipe belongs to you, I won''t force you to hand it over.''''
Jiang Tianfang heaved out a sigh of relief inwardly when he heard this. After all, he would have truly felt guilty if Shun Long ended up losing the pill recipe of such a valuable pill because of him.
However, Jiang Chen and the others didn''t seem to feel any gratitude towards the Northern Sovereign, as they all looked at her with cold looks on their faces.
This was the first time that the Northern Sovereign showed such a cruel and heartless side of hers in front of them, and Jiang Chen and the others were all certain that at that moment, the Northern Sovereign was really about to attack Jiang Tianfang.
And yet, the Northern Sovereign merely threw a nce at Jiang Chen and the others, her gaze lingering on Liu Mei for a few seconds longer, before she turned her gaze towards Shun Long and asked calmly
''''Shun Long, are you nning to enter seclusion again or are you going to go to the ''City of Immortals''? Remember that this is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you so it''s better for you to not waste it!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long cupped his hands at the Northern Sovereign and said calmly
''''Thank you for your concern senior. There is nothing left for us to do here, so we are going to leave the city today. Thank you for your hospitality during the past year!''''
The Northern Sovereign seemed to have detected some hints of unhappiness from Shun Long''s voice but she still shook her head and answered calmly
''''There is no need for thanks. Since you are nning to leave the city today, you can travel alongside Quan Lin who is also heading towards the ''City of Immortals''!''''
Shun Long stared at the Northern Sovereign in silence but he didn''t refuse her offer to go with Quan Lin, causing a smile to form itself on the Northern Sovereign''s lips.
A few moments soon passed before the figure of the silver-armored Quan Lin appeared outside the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'', as Quan Lin called out in a respectful voice
''''City lord, did you call for me?''''
A momentter, the gates of the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' opened by themselves, allowing Quan Lin to get a good look at the Northern Sovereign''s figure who was standing a few meters away from Shun Long and the others.
The Northern Sovereign nced at Quan Lin calmly before she said
''''Quan Lin, lead the way for Shun Long and his group. You will leave for the ''City of Immortals'' today.'''' The Northern Sovereign then turned her gaze towards Shun Long and continued with a smile
''''Shun Long, I have to admit that you are not only talented but quite mysterious as well, since even I can''t see through all of your secrets. You have definitely attracted my attention. However, I am sure that after you visit the ''City of Immortals'', you will change your mind about joining the Tianxuan dynasty or the other top powers in the central region. Just remember... that there will always be a spot for you in my ''Northern Sovereign''s city''!''''
The Northern Sovereign stared at Shun Long silently for a few more moments after she said this, before her figure disappeared from the courtyard.
-
Author''s note: 4/8.
I''ve been trying hard to finish the next 4 chapters but they aren''t all ready yet. They should have been ready 4 hours ago but they weren''t, so no excuses.
Since these chapters are a set, they wille out all together in a few more hours. Sorry for the dy T.T
Chapter 826 Leaving the Northern Sovereign’s city
Chapter 826 Leaving the Northern Sovereign''s city
A few moments after the Northern Sovereign left the courtyard, Quan Lin turned his attention towards Shun Long and asked him
''''Young master Shun, are you ready to go?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Quan Lin and said calmly
''''Commander Quan, please lead the way.''''
A few momentster, Quan Lin led Shun Long''s group of 6 towards the back of the Northern Sovereign''s estate, and soon, their group arrived in front of an empty,rge area that seemed to be guarded by a squad of 10 soldiers, all d in silver armor that looked quite simr to Quan Lin''s own.
Surprisingly, each of those 10 soldiers seemed to be emitting an aura that had already surpassed that of a Dao King and was clearly at the Dao Emperor realm, surprising Shun Long and the others quite a bit.
Clearly, for 10 Dao Emperors to be standing guard here, even if they were early-stage Dao Emperors at most, it showed how much importance the Northern Sovereign ced in this area.
The moment that the 10 Dao Emperors noticed Quan Lin''s arrival, they all knelt down on one knee and saluted respectfully
''''Greetings,mander Quan!''''
Quan Lin nodded his head as he walked past them and entered the empty area that they were guarding.
''''Quan Lin, what is this ce?''''
A few moments after they walked past the silver-armored soldiers and stepped foot into this area, Jiang Tianfang suddenly asked this question, as he stared at Quan Lin who seemed to have stopped walking.
Quan Lin had a calm look in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Tianfang, before he answered seriously
''''This ce we are standing on is a massive teleportation formation inscribed by a peak 3-star formation master from the Tianxuan dynasty, and it is the fastest way to get to the ''City of Immortals'' from our ''Northern Sovereign''s city''.
Normally, even if we traveled on the back of a rank 8 magic beast, we would need at least a couple of months to get to the ''City of Immortals'', but through this teleportation formation, we can travel directly to the territory of the Tianxuan dynasty in the central part of the central region. From there, we will need around a week to get to the ''City of Immortals''.''''
Quan Lin then turned his gaze towards Shun Long and continued
''''Young master Shun, please get ready! I''m about to activate the teleportation formation.''''
Once he finished speaking, Quan Lin waved his right hand before a golden-colored token appeared in his palm. At the same time, the aura of a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor burst out from his body and entered inside the golden-colored token in his hand, before the runes on the token''s surface started to glow with a bright white light.
A momentter, Shun Long could feel the ground beneath his feet that had started to tremble, as the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuation enveloped his body soon after.
''''Everyone, prepare yourselves.'''' Quan Lin''s voice resounded through the air, before Shun Long and the others all noticed that their surroundings had already begun to change.
Even though Liu Mei and the others were quite used to this feeling since this wasn''t the first time that they were traveling through space, this time, they could all sense that there was something different about this teleportation formationpared to the one they had used back in the Holy sect that they had used to travel to the King''s Pce.
However, although Liu Mei and the others couldn''t pinpoint exactly what the difference was, at that moment, Shun Long seemed to have fallen into a trance as he suddenly realized something.
Unlike Liu Mei and the others, Shun Long could clearly sense that the difference between this teleportation formation and the one back in the Holy sect wasn''t just in the runes that were used to inscribe the 2 formations, but also, in the understanding of the element of space that the expert who had inscribed this formation had reached.
Clearly, this expert''s understanding of the Dao of Space was much higher than the Grand Elder''s own.
Shun Long could guess that even if this person''s understanding of the Dao of Space wasn''t at the Sovereign realm by the time he created this formation, it was certainly at the peak of the Dao Emperor realm at the very least!
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then allowed the feeling of spatial fluctuations topletely envelop his body, while his own understanding of the Dao of Space seemed to be advancing at an extremely rapid rate.
At this moment, Shun Long could sense that his own Dao of Space which had been stranded to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage for so long seemed to finally be advancing again, as it rapidly inched closer and closer towards the Dao King realm.
A couple of minutester, in the sky just a few miles away from arge city within the central part of the central region, a massive space tear seemed to have opened in the air, before Shun Long''s figure shot out of it, along with Liu Mei, Jiang Chen and the others, all of themnding in an empty patch of grass just a few miles away from the city gates.
The moment that his body left the space tear, Shun Long felt as if his sudden feeling of enlightenment had abruptly disappeared, and yet, a smile still lingered on his lips as he sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed.
Although his understanding of the Dao of Space hadn''t reached the Dao King realm just yet, Shun Long was confident that he only needed a few more months at most before he stepped into the sixth stage of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' as well.
At the same time, once their group of 7 was ejected out of the space tear,mander Quan Lin stared at his surroundings seriously for a few moments, his gaze finallynding on the massive city in the distance before he said with a smile on his face
''''It seems that we are quite lucky. If I''m not wrong, right now, we are in the vicinity of the Tianxuan dynasty''s Luoyang city. ording to the information I got from the city lord, the City of Immortals is just a 3-day journey away from this ce!''''
Chapter 827 Quan Lin’s proposal
Chapter 827 Quan Lin''s proposal
After a few moments of silence, Quan Lin turned his gaze towards Shun Long and continued
''''Young master Shun, do you want to stop by Luoyang city first? Here we can rent a peak rank 7 magic beast that will take us directly to the ''City of Immortals'', otherwise, if we travel by ourselves, even if I carry everyone along, it will take us at least a week to get there.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and didn''t reject Quan Lin''s proposal, as their group headed towards the massive city in the distance a few momentster.
Naturally, what Quan Lin had just said made sense. After all, Shun Long and the others were still at the Dao King realm and their speed couldn''t possiblypare tote-stage Dao Emperors like Quan Lin''s and Jiang Tianfang''s.
At the same time, although Quan Lin was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor and he could even fight peak rank 7 magic beasts by himself, if he and Jiang Tianfang wanted to travel for more than a day at full speed, it was naturally better to do so on the back of a peak rank 7 magic beast and preserve their strength.
A few minutester, Shun Long''s group arrived in front of the Luoyang city''s city gates, and after queuing up for a while, they paid the fee of 70 high-grade spirit stones before they entered the city.
Once they stepped foot into the city, Quan Lin turned to look at Shun Long and the others and said calmly
''''Young master Shun, let us go meet with the city lord of Luoyang city. The city lord here is a Sovereign under the Tianxuan dynasty as well, so he won''t refuse to let us borrow a peak rank 7 magic beast from him.''''
Once he finished speaking, Quan Lin led Shun Long and the others towards the heart of Luoyang city, and soon, they reached the estate of the Luoyang city''s city lord.
Even though this Luoyang city wasn''t even half the size of the Northern Sovereign''s city, Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the others, all noticed that quite a few Dao Kings and even Dao Emperors were present around them, while the city guards who were patrolling around the city were nearly at the same level as most guards within the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
At the same time, once they verified that Quan Lin was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor who belonged to the Tianxuan dynasty as well, the guards in front of the city lord''s estate no longer barred his path and allowed him to enter inside.
A few minutes after Quan Lin led everyone past the estate''s gates and entered the city lord''s estate, ate-stage Dao Emperor with long ck hair who was d in silver armor simr to Quan Lin''s came to receive them, before he led their group towards the city lord''s courtyard at the depths of the estate.
Shun Long and the others soon noticed, that the city lord of Luoyang city was a middle-aged man with long ck hair and a fierce-looking face, while the aura of a middle-stage Sovereign was emanating from his body.
Once the city lord heard Quan Lin''s request, he actually didn''t decline and allowed Quan Lin to choose a peak rank 7 magic beast from his estate. Clearly, the city lord wasn''t afraid that Quan Lin would try to steal his magic beasts.
...
Momentster, Jiang Tianfang and the others all sat on the back of an enormous worm whose entire body was covered in purple scales, as they left Luoyang city.
Staring at this gigantic worm that was more than 300 meters (970ft) long and 60 meters(196ft) wide, Shun Long only needed to throw a single nce at it, before the name ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' appeared in his mind.
Although the ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' wasn''t the fastest among peak rank 7 magic beasts, Shun Long clearly knew that it wasn''t slow either, while its biggest advantage lied in the purple scales around its body that could even take on the attacks of most peak rank 9 Dao Emperors without too much trouble.
However, the reason why Quan Lin had chosen to borrow this worm wasn''t because he was scared that they would be attacked on the way to the ''City of Immortals'' and he was nning to rely on the worm''s defensive capabilities to protect himself, but because this worm was actually the fastest among the peak rank 7 magic beasts that were avable for him to choose.
Sitting on the ''Purple-scaled desert worm''s'' back, Quan Lin stared at Jiang Tianfang seriously for a while, and after a few moments of silence, Quan Lin suddenly asked him in a serious voice
''''Jiang Tianfang, are you nning to enter the ''City of Immortals'' as well?''''
Jiang Tianfang was momentarily taken aback when he heard this, as he stared at Quan Lin and asked in surprise
''''Enter the ''City of Immortals''? What do you mean? I thought that only Dao Kings could enter inside.''''
It wasn''t just Jiang Tianfang who was surprised by Quan Lin''s question, as Xingyi and the others were also stunned when they heard this.
After all, ording to what the Grand Elder had said to them, only Dao Kings would be allowed to enter that ce.
Shaking his head, Quan Lin looked at Jiang Tianfang and snorted before he said seriously
''''Who said that only Dao Kings are allowed to enter? It seems that you truly know nothing about that ce. The ''City of Immortals'' has 2 levels, one that is meant for Dao Kings, and the other that is meant for Dao Emperors.
Naturally, Dao Kings aren''t allowed to enter the second level that is meant for Dao Emperors, while Dao Emperors can''t enter the first level that''s meant for Dao Kings either.
As for me, I''m nning to enter the second level just like Zi Hu and the rest of themanders under the city lord.
Jiang Tianfang, if you are nning to enter the ''City of Immortals''... it''s best if we travel together!''''
Chapter 828 The ’City of Immortals’
Chapter 828 The ''City of Immortals''
Seeing the look of surprise on Jiang Tianfang''s face, Quan Lin shook his head and continued
''''Although you are still a middle rank 9 Dao Emperor, if I''m not wrong, your current strength is probably not much inferior even when it''spared to Kang Wen from the Holy sect.
As long as you and I travel together, then unless we are really unlucky and are forced to fight one of those unrivaled monsters from the top powers of the central region, we should be able to stay alive at the very least.''''
Quan Lin had a solemn look in his eyes as he stared at Jiang Tianfang while he waited for his answer.
Of course, it was no wonder that Jiang Tianfang wouldn''t know much about the ''City of Immortals''. After all, the ''City of Immortals'' had only opened twice in the history of the central region, and Jiang Tianfang wasn''t even born during that time.
Even though he came from one of the strongest ns in the northern part of the central region, the Jiang n, Jiang Tianfang was no longer part of the n and had spent the past few years visiting numerous star-rank alchemists in the central region as he tried to find ways to cure himself.
This was why, even if the Jiang n knew anything about the ''City of Immortals'', Jiang Tianfang still wouldn''t be aware of it since he was no longer part of the n.
''''Enter the ''City of Immortals'' huh...'''' Jiang Tianfang mumbled to himself with a serious look on his face, before he turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen and the others who were waiting for his answer.
Jiang Tianfang''s gaze lingered on Shun Long and Jiang Chen for a few more moments, before he turned his attention towards Quan Lin and nodded his head as he said seriously
''''Alright. Let''s go together then!''''
Quan Lin wasn''t surprised by Jiang Tianfang''s answer since he had already expected this, as he simply nodded his head calmly.
Practically every singlete-stage Dao Emperor would look to enter the ''City of Immortals'' now that it had opened, and one would truly have to be a fool to pass on this chance despite the dangers it entailed.
After all, there were rumors that in the past, people had even found immortal-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, as well as rank 8 and rank 9 medicinal herbs.
For those Dao Emperors who were stranded on the peak of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm for so long, either of those treasures would be enough to allow them to reach the Sovereign realm, and were thus worth risking their lives for!
At the same time, Jiang Chen didn''t say anything to try and dissuade his father, and simply stared at him with a serious look in his eyes.
Even though there were definitely countless dangers that he would have to face inside, Jiang Chen knew that Jiang Tianfang would do anything he could to get stronger and ascend to the ''Immortal Dimension'' in the future, even if that meant jumping to the depths of hell in the process.
After all, the humiliation of having his dantian nearly crippled by the Elder of the Yu family was still fresh in Jiang Tianfang''s mind and wasn''t something that he could simply forget.
Sitting on the ''Purple-scaled desert worm''s'' back, Jiang Tianfang looked at Quan Lin and asked curiously
''''Quan Lin, what else do you know about the ''City of Immortals''?''''
Since Jiang Tianfang had already agreed to travel with him, Quan Lin didn''t hide anything from him, as he nodded his head and said calmly
''''I will tell you what I learned from the city lord, but the truth is that even I don''t know too much about the ''City of Immortals'', since that ce is too mysterious.
Even the city lord was only willing to reveal just a few things about that ce and told me to be extremely careful.
Actually, ording to the information I got from the city lord, the ''City of Immortals'' isn''t just a single city, but it''s a separate world instead.
There are countless dangers inside that world, enough to kill even the strongest Dao Kings and Dao Emperors.
Other than the powerful magic beasts that are roaming in the wild, there are plenty of cities that are filled with countless treasures, but ording to what the city lord told me, each of those cities is built with the blood of countless Dao Kings and Dao Emperors while the treasures inside them are extremely hard to obtain.
The city lord also said that one can''t bring any offensive or defensive treasures inside the ''City of Immortals'' other than star-rank weapons and armor.
As for the actual origins of the ''City of Immortals'', the city lord guessed that even the experts of the Tianxuan dynasty probably don''t know the truth behind it.''''
''''A separate world?'''' Jiang Tianfang was taken aback when he heard Quan Lin''s description of the ''City of Immortals''.
After all, there were quite a few secret realms spread across the central region, many of whom were much bigger than Cui Guoliang''s ''Vermilion realm'' back in the ''Deste East'', and yet, none of those secret realms qualified to be called a separate world!
To be called a separate world... how massive did that ce have to be and how many secrets did it truly hide?
At the same time, Liu Mei seemed to have suddenly realized something, as she turned her eyes towards the small pendant that she was wearing on her neck. If no offensive or defensive treasures were allowed inside, this meant that most likely, Liu Mei wouldn''t be able to use this pendant that she had gotten from her master.
While Quan Lin exined everything he knew about the ''City of Immortals'' to Shun Long and the others, time continued to pass, and in the blink of an eye, 3 days quickly went by since their group had left Luoyang city on the ''Purple-scaled desert worm''s'' back.
Chapter 829 The ’City of Immortals’ (2)
Chapter 829 The ''City of Immortals'' (2)
After traveling for 3 full days and nights, the ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' had covered a massive amount of distance, before its enormous figure suddenly came to a halt as it stopped in front of a vast desert that seemed to span for countless miles.
In thest 3 days, the worm had traveled across the territories of more than a dozen cities the size of Luoyang city, and yet this was the first time that it had actually stopped by itself.
Raising its head, the ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' stared at an enormous city that seemed to be hovering in the sky right above the desert, while hints of fear could be seen inside its 6 eyes as it stared at it.
Noticing that the ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' had suddenly stopped moving, Jiang Tianfang and the others all opened their eyes before they turned their attention towards the massive city that was floating above the desert as well.
The moment that Liu Mei''s and the others'' eyesnded on this city, an extremely mysterious feeling seemed to have suddenly sprouted in everyone''s hearts, making them feel that this city in front of them truly looked out of ce for some reason.
It wasn''t just because the city itself was floating in the sky above the desert or due to the spatial cracks that were present everywhere around it, but because of the extremely unique and ancient feeling that the city gave out.
''''This... is the ''City of Immortals''?'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself as he stared at the massive city in front of him with an extremely deep gaze. Although he didn''t know why, Shun Long could sense an extremely familiar feelinging from this city in front of him. It was a feeling that seemed to be resonating with his own soul.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck stared at the enormous city in front of Shun Long in silence for a few moments, before the ck dragon''s surprised voice sounded inside Shun Long''s mind shortly after.
''''Master... I can sense immortal qi in that ce! There is definitely immortal qi inside that city and there is quite a bit of it as well!''''
Shun Long could sense the excitement in Little ck''s voice as he said the words immortal qi, while a look of surprise slowly appeared in his eyes as well.
Naturally, Shun Long didn''t need Little ck to exin to him what immortal qi was since he had already unlocked some of his memories, and those memories naturally included immortal qi as well.
After all, immortal qi was something that was present everywhere in the ''Immortal Dimension'', and it was the qi that mortals and immortals alike all absorbed to increase their cultivation.
Although immortal qi was extremelymon and was naturally present almost everywhere in the ''Immortal Dimension'', it was something that should only exist in the ''Immortal Dimension'' and shouldn''t be present in a small ce like the central region.
After all, the central region was still a part of the cultivation world, and it should only have spiritual qi, while immortal qi shouldn''t be able to exist here.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t question whether Little ck was certain about this matter, since he already knew that the senses of a dragon was countless times stronger than anyone else, and with Little ck''s experience, how could he not recognize the familiar feeling of immortal qi when he was a being that was born in the Immortal Dimension in the first ce and had spent his entire life there with Shun Long?
At the same time, Quan Lin stared at this city in silence for a while, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and the others and said
''''Young master Shun, just as you have guessed this is indeed the ''City of Immortals''. Although it''s my first time here as well, I am certain about this since this ce looks exactly how the city lord described it!''''
Quan Lin then turned his gaze towards the ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' and sent a mentalmand for it to continue moving forward, while his own gaze was focused on the city in front of him.
Without a doubt, this was one of the most mysterious ces throughout the entire central region, a ce where the strongest geniuses below the Sovereign realm from everywhere around the central region would all enter, regardless of the dangers inside!
Even though the worm was somewhat wary of approaching the city after the initial feeling it got from it, it still listened to Quan Lin''smands and continued to move towards it a few momentster.
As they approached closer and closer towards the city, Shun Long and the others noticed that there were quite a few groups like his own that seemed to be heading in the same direction as well.
The smallest of those groups only consisted of a handful of people sitting on the back of a bird-like magic beast, while the biggest group seemed to include more than 100 cultivators.
Even though it had been more than half a year since the ''City of Immortals'' had opened, Shun Long knew that there were bound to be some people who didn''t have ess to teleportation formations and they had to cross the entire central region on the backs of magic beasts.
Considering how vast the central region really was, it was no wonder that there were still groups of people who had yet to reach the ''City of Immortals'' even though it had already been more than half a year since its opening.
But of course, the geniuses from thergest powers, especially those that were based in the central part of the central region were certain to have already entered this ce, and those who were still not here were mostly those weaker powers that were even weaker than the Holy sect.
The ''Purple-scaled desert worm'' naturally ignored every single one of those groups around it as it kept slithering forward at full speed, and in less than 3 hours, its massive figure finally stopped as it arrived in front of the majestic entrance of the ''City of Immortals''.
Chapter 830 Entering the City of Immortals
Chapter 830 Entering the ''City of Immortals''
Standing in front of the majestic closed gates of the massive city in front of them, Liu Mei and the others stared at the enormous city gates in silence, while a profound and ancient feeling slowly filled their hearts.
After a few moments of silence, Jiang Tianfang turned his attention towards the silver-armored Quan Lin and asked him
''''Quan Lin, how do we enter inside?''''
Quan Lin had a calm look in his eyes as he stared at Jiang Tianfang and said
''''Based on what I know, all we have to do is simply ce our hands on the closed gates and inject some of our qi inside them. This is the only way to enter the ''City of Immortals''.
ording to what the city lord told me, whether one is in the Dao King or the Dao Emperor realm, the method is actually the same. But of course, this method only applies to Dao Kings and Dao Emperors. If someone at the Sovereign realm tries to enter the ''City of Immortals'', they will find it impossible to do so regardless of how much qi they pour into the gates.''''
Jiang Tianfang nodded his head calmly when he heard Quan Lin''s answer, before he turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen and the others and said seriously
''''Be careful inside. We don''t know what types of dangers this ce contains, but if even the top powers of the central region can''t forcefully enter and are only forced to send their descendants and disciples, it means that this ce is anything but simple!''''
Naturally, as ate-stage Dao Emperor, Jiang Tianfang was privy to some of the secrets of the central region and he clearly understood, that none of the top powers of the central region would choose to send only their descendants or disciples to explore the ''City of Immortals'' while their top experts leisurely stayed at home.
After all, considering that the ''City of Immortals'' was rumored to contain even immortal-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills along with other treasures at a simr level as them, Jiang Tianfang was certain that the top experts throughout the central region wouldn''t want to miss out on those treasures and would do everything they could to get their hands on them, regardless of the dangers they had to face.
This was even more so for experts at the Northern Sovereign''s level who had already reached the peak of the Sovereign realm and just needed one final push to reach that legendary realm and stand at the peak of the central region!
For those experts to have no other choice but simply sit back and wait, Jiang Tianfang knew that the only possible exnation was, that they couldn''t forcefully enter inside no matter what they tried.
A few momentster, Quan Lin stood up from the ''Purple-scaled desert worm''s'' back and turned his attention towards Jiang Tianfang before saying calmly
''''Jiang Tianfang, let''s go.''''
Nodding his head, Jiang Tianfang threw onest look at Liu Mei and the others, his gaze lingering on Jiang Chen and Shun Long for a few seconds longer, before he followed Quan Lin and stood right in front of the majestic city gates of the ''City of Immortals'' as well.
''''Young master Shun, we will go first!'''' Quan Lin said seriously before he ced his hand on the surface of the gigantic city gates in front of him.
A few momentster, Quan Lin''s body started to glow with a bright golden light before his figure disappeared from Jiang Tianfang''s side.
The majestic-looking gates didn''t seem to have moved even a bit and it seemed as if Quan Lin had been teleported away instead.
Turning around, Jiang Tianfang looked at Shun Long and the others and said solemnly
''''Be careful inside!''''
Without saying another word, Jiang Tianfang mimicked Quan Lin''s movements as he ced his hands on the majestic gates of the ''City of Immortals'', before his cultivation at the middle of rank 9 in the Dao Emperor realm exploded outwards.
Momentster, just like Quan Lin''s figure, Jiang Tianfang''s figure was suddenly enveloped by a bright golden light, before he disappeared on the spot.
Jiang Chen stared at Jiang Tianfang''s figure that had already disappeared, before he mumbled to himself in a determined manner
''''Father, you must be careful as well...''''
Jiang Chen then turned his attention towards Shun Long and asked seriously
''''Brother, shall we enter inside as well?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long who had his gaze fixed on the gates of the ''City of Immortals'' turned to look at Jiang Chen and the others before he said calmly
''''Let''s go.''''
Momentster, Shun Long stood up from the ''Purple-scaled desert worm''s'' back and flew towards the gigantic gates in front of him, before he stretched out his right hand and ced it on the cold surface of the enormous gates.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all did the same as well, as they ced their hands on the gates of the ''City of Immortals'' and began to inject their qi inside.
At this moment, Shun Long could sense that other than the cold feeling in his hand, he could now sense even clearer the extremely ancient aura that the gates in front of him were emitting, before he closed his eyes as well and allowed his cultivation at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm to explode outwards.
The qi inside his 27 golden balls of qi started to rumble, before Shun Long allowed it to enter the gigantic gates of the ''City of Immortals''.
The moment that he injected his qi into the enormous gates, Shun Long could sense his entire body being enveloped by an extremely ancient and irresistible force, before his vision started to blur as his body disappeared on the spot soon after.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were the same as well, as their bodies were enveloped by the same golden light that had enveloped Shun Long''s body, before their figures all disappeared from the entrance of the ''City of Immortals''.
Chapter 831: The City of Immortals
Chapter 831: The ''City of Immortals''
A few momentster, Shun Long could see his blurry surroundings slowly turn clear as a vast field that was filled with green began to appear in his eyes.
At the same time, Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen all opened their eyes and took a look at their surroundings, before Bai Longtian spoke in a curious voice
''''So this is the ''City of Immortals''...?''''
At the same time, sensing the extremely pure qi in the air around him, Shun Long momentarily closed his eyes and took a deep breath, absorbing arge amount of qi in the process, before he opened his eyes again and mumbled to himself with a smile on his face
''''This ce truly has immortal qi. Although the immortal qi seems to be mixed with the normal qi in the air and it also seems to be heavily diluted as well, it''s still immortal qi!''''
''''Brother Long, what is this immortal qi?'''' Xingyi asked as she stared at Shun Long with a curious gaze.
Although Xingyi didn''t know what immortal qi was, something that was enough to excite Shun Long like this was bound to be quite special.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Xingyi and the others and said with the same smile on his face
''''Immortal qi is the qi that is present everywhere in the Immortal Dimension and it is what immortals need to absorb to advance their cultivation.
In reality, it is an extremely pure type of qi that is countless times more precious and potent than the qi that we can usually absorb. Even the qi back in the ''Southern dragon''s courtyard'' in the Northern Sovereign''s estate can''t bepared to a single whiff of immortal qi.
After all, immortal qi shouldn''t exist anywhere in this world of ours, but even though there are only traces of it and it also seems to be mixed with the normal qi in the air, I am certain that the air in this ''City of Immortals'' definitely has immortal qi.''''
Although Little ck had already verified that there was immortal qi inside the ''City of Immortals'' before they even entered, Shun Long was actually surprised to see that the immortal qi seemed to be mixed in the air around him and wasn''t somewhere in the depths of the ''City of Immortals'', totally inessible to most people.
Even if this immortal qi around him was diluted and only made up a hundredth of the actual qi in the air, it was still immortal qi nevertheless!
Bai Longtian and the others had never heard of immortal qi either, but hearing Shun Long''s exnation, they only quickly realized the importance of this immortal qi as well.
After all, the purer the qi in the air around them was, the faster they would be able to advance in their cultivation while the quality of their own qi would also increase.
A few momentster, Shun Long took a good look at his surroundings and stared at the vast, empty ins that seemed to span for countless miles everywhere around him, before his gaze finallynded on the outline of arge city that was situated a good distance away from his current location.
Jiang Chen and the others seemed to have noticed this city as well, as Liu Mei looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Long-ge, should we go and take a look at that city?''''
''''Since we are already here, we might as well explore this ce.'''' Shun Long said as he nodded his head in agreement, before he waved his right hand calmly soon after, as the figure of arge ck panther with bright silver wings appeared in front of him.
The moment that Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi, noticed the sudden appearance of Little Silver, the 3 of them were momentarily stunned, but Shun Long simply patted the ck panther''s head as he introduced Little Silver to them
''''This guy''s name is Little Silver, and just like Little ck, he is my spiritual beast.''''
Although Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were all surprised for a moment, their shock quickly turned into curiosity as they stared at the peak rank 6 magic beast in front of them with curious gazes.
After all, although Little Silver''s emergence was sudden, since Shun Long had already revealed Little ck''s existence to them, seeing the appearance of the ck panther wasn''t that much of a shock inparison.
A few momentster, Little Silver spread its bright silver wings, before its figure shot towards the city in the distance at full speed, while it carried Shun Long''s group on its back.
However, even with its speed that exceeded that of most average peak rank 6 magic beasts and even after flying for an entire hour at full speed, Little Silver had only managed to cross half the distance between itself to reach the city in the distance, allowing Shun Long to get a general idea of how enormously vast this ce truly was.
...
RRUMBLEEEE
Half an hourter, just as Little Silver had arrived a few hundred miles away from the city, Shun Long narrowed his eyes as he noticed that cracks had begun to appear on the ground below him, while a deep rumbling sound seemed to follow along with them.
Momentster, hundreds of squeaking sounds could also be hearding from the depths of these cracks, before tens of pitch-ck figures flew out from the cracks that had opened on the ground, as they shot towards Little Silver from every direction.
Once those pitch-ck figures got closer to Little Silver, Xingyi and the rest all noticed that these figures belonged to some weird-looking magic beasts that looked simr to mice.
Unlike normal mice however, Liu Mei and the others could all sense that each one of these mice around them was emitting the aura of an early rank 6 magic beast, while their sharp fangs and ws were all aiming to strike Little Silver''s vital spots.
Sensing the tens of early rank 6 magic beasts that were attacking it from every direction, a bloodthirsty light appeared in the depths of Little Silver''s deep yellow eyes, before the powerful aura of a peak rank 6 magic beast exploded from its body without any restraint, as it kept flying forward, intending to meet the mice head-on.
Chapter 832: Demon-fanged mice
Chapter 832: Demon-fanged mice
Momentster, a rain of fresh blood filled the air around Liu Mei and the others, as Little Silver''s sharp fangs and its bright silver wings cut through the bodies of the weird-looking mice around it, leaving tens of corpses on the ground beneath it.
And yet, the remaining mice didn''t seem to falter even after seeing how terrifying the power of the panther in front of them really was or how many of them it had killed, as they kept charging towards the ck panther without any care for their own lives, akin to moths diving into mes.
However, neither their fangs nor their ws were able to so much as pierce through Little Silver''s tough skin before their lifeless corpses copsed on the ground.
''''Long-ge, what kind of mice are these?'''' Liu Mei asked with a serious look in her eyes as she stared at the hundreds of mice that kept shooting out from the cracks on the ground, as they kept charging towards Little Silver.
It seemed as if there was an unending sea of ck mice in front of them, and regardless of how many of them Little Silver exterminated, even more of them kept charging out from the cracks on the ground without stop, looking like they were willing to die as long as they took Little Silver down with them.
At the same time, Shun Long kept staring at the hundreds of mice below him before he looked at Liu Mei and said in a serious voice
''''These are rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice''.
Although they are just early rank 6 magic beasts and their individual strength is onlyparable to that of an early rank 2 Dao King, their numbers alone are enough to kill even middle-stage Dao King realm cultivators who aren''t careful.
After all, the biggest advantages of the ''Demon-fanged mice'' lie in their discipline and their endless numbers, as a single colony may hold more than a million of these mice.''''
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, were all stunned when they heard Shun Long''s words, as the terrifying scene of more than a million of these mice spouting from the ground seemed to have appeared in their minds at the same time.
Even if these mice were onlyparable to early rank 2 Dao Kings in terms of strength, Xingyi and the others all understood that a million of these mice together, were still enough to obliterate practically every single middle-stage Dao King who happened to step foot inside their territory.
Even middle-stage Dao Kings who hadprehended unique or supreme Daos may not have a hundred percent certainty of escaping alive if they were attacked by an entire colony of early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice''.
As forpletely obliterating a colony of these ''Demon-fanged mice''? The difficulty of that was almost at the same level as dealing with a powerful peak rank 6 magic beast!
And yet, Little Silver didn''t seem to be intimidated in the slightest by the hordes of ''Demon-fanged mice'' that were blocking its way, as it kept ughtering them all without mercy drawing a rain of blood above the vast green ins, while its figure kept flying towards the city in the distance like a bolt of silver lightning.
A few minutester, the number of ''Demon-fanged mice'' that appeared in front of Shun Long and the others seemed to have been reduced greatly, and soon, Little Silver''s figure finally arrived in front of the city gates of the massive city in the distance.
Unlike the cities in the central region however, this city didn''t seem to have any soldiers manned in front of the gates or on the city walls, allowing anyone to enter inside at will.
A few momentster, Liu Mei and the others got off from Little Silver''s back before they stepped past the city gates and entered the city.
...
''''Eh, there seem to be quite a few people here.'''' Bai Longtian said in a surprised voice once their group entered the city.
At the same time, Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at the hundreds of groups of cultivators that were present everywhere around him.
Unlike the deste appearance that the city seemed to have from the outside and the ancient aura it was emitting, Liu Mei and the others soon noticed that the city itself was actually anything but deserted, as there were countless groups of cultivators stationed a few tens of meters away from the city walls.
Most of them were sitting cross-legged on the ground with their eyes closed looking like they were silently cultivating, while others seemed to be chatting with each other without a care in the world, as if they were out on a field trip.
Many of those people seemed to be wearing robes that indicated that they were from the same sect or power, but there were quite a few of them who were also grouped together despite their different clothes.
The most eye-catching thing however, was that every single one of those people present was clearly at the Dao King realm.
The moment that Shun Long''s group walked past the city gates it naturally attracted quite a bit of attention, as many of those people who were silently cultivating, as well as those who were leisurely chatting with each other just now suddenly turned their eyes towards the neers.
Many of those people were stunned when they noticed Shun Long''s incredibly handsome appearance or Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s otherwordly features, as well as Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s handsome visages that seemed to have attracted the eyes of quite a few youngdies as well.
However, the one who seemed to have attracted the most attention was actually Little Silver, as most of the Dao Kings present seemed to have turned their gazes towards this peak rank 6 magic beast in front of them!
-
Author''s note: Mini-mass release today. Thank you for your patience these past few days. I know that you guys were starved from chapters so let''s get some more from today onwards to make up for lost ground.
Let''s try to have 30 more chapters by the end of the month.
Chapter 833: Recognized?
Chapter 833: Recognized?
''''Hmm? A peak rank 6 magic beast? What''s going on?''''
''''Who are these people? There is still someone with a peak rank 6 magic beast who has yet to go forward?''''
The groups of Dao Kings stationed near the city gates started to chat among themselves as their eyes stared at Shun Long and his group who had just entered the city.
Naturally, every single one of the Dao Kings present could sense that there was something special about this group of neers that none of them seemed to have recognized, but the most unexpected thing in their eyes was surely the ck panther that was following behind the blue-robed young man who was leading this group.
''''Eh? Look at these people''s robes! Aren''t these the robes of our Holy sect?'''' From the midst of arge group that consisted of more than 300 people, a young man in yellow robes suddenly eximed in a surprised voice as he pointed with his finger at Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s yellow robes that looked identical to his own.
The people around this young man all turned to look at him for a moment, before they turned their gazes towards Liu Mei and the others who were still wearing the outer-court disciples'' robes.
Indeed, unlike Shun Long who had already changed his clothes before he left the Northern Sovereign''s estate to participate in the auction in Murong city, Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, were still wearing their Holy sect''s robes.
''''...Wait! I know who these people are! Look at that blue-robed person in the front! Isn''t that Shun Long? The rest of them are Jiang Chen and the others who are all in the top 1000 in the Martial Roll of Honor too!''''
Soon, quite a few people from the yellow-robed young man''s group started recognizing Shun Long and the others before they eximed in voices that were filled with surprise and shock.
Of course, these people who managed to recognize Shun Long and his group were all outer-court disciples of the Holy sect, and since they hadn''t kept their voices down, the nearby groups around them seemed to have overheard them as well.
''''A disciple of the Holy sect? How interesting... Even if he is an inner court disciple, it''s quite rare to see someone with a peak rank 6 magic beast like him, especially when he belongs to such a small sect!''''
''''Eh? So they just entered the ''City of Immortals''? Hah, even though their group isn''t that weak, they can''t be considered strong either. Other than that peak rank 6 magic beast and that guy in the lead who has hidden his cultivation base, the rest of them all seem to be just middle-stage Dao Kings. Even if they are able to leave this ''Demon-fanged city'', I am sure that they won''t be able to get very far.''''
Even though the Holy sect wasn''t a peak power in the central region and it could barely qualify as a first-rate power even in the northern part of the central region, quite a few people seemed to be familiar with it while mocking smiles appeared on many of the surrounding Dao Kings'' faces when they realized that Shun Long and his group had just entered the ''City of Immortals''.
At the same time that the nearby Dao Kings started to chat among themselves, as if they had suddenly found an interesting discussion topic, in the center of the Holy sect''s group, the yellow-robed young man who had first recognized Shun Long stood in front of a beautiful young woman with blue hair and blue eyes and recounted what he had just seen.
Naturally, this beautiful young woman who was emitting the aura of an early rank 5 Dao King, was no one else other than the person ranked 2nd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Qiao Min.
Qiao Min stared at the young man in front of her with a look of surprise before she then asked
''''Shun Long is here? Are you sure?''''
The young man nodded his head fervently and answered in a confident manner
''''I am sure, senior sister! Although I didn''t recognize him at first because he was wearing different clothes than the rest, I am positive that that person is Shun Long. The people around him are Jiang Chen and the others as well!''''
Before Qian Min could respond, a young man with blond hair and violet eyes who was standing just a few meters away from Qiao Min snorted, before he said in a voice full of displeasure
''''So that little bastard is finally here! Heh, even if the Grand Elder favors him, it''s time for him to understand that this is the ''City of Immortals'' and not the Holy sect! Let''s see who can save him this time!''''
Of course, the person who had spoken just now was the son of the n leader and the heir to the Dong n in the Holy sect''s territory, as well as the person ranked 6th in the Martial Roll of Honor, Dong Cheng.
Since Shun Long had abused his little sister with a single p in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament, Dong Cheng harbored quite a bit of hatred towards him and was looking forward to paying Shun Long back.
However, Qian Min simply shook her head and ignored Dong Cheng''s remarks before she turned her gaze towards the young man in front of her and said in a calm voice
''''Lead me to them.''''
The yellow-robed young man in the lead then turned around, before he led Qiao Min to the very front, towards Shun Long and his group who seemed to be taking a stroll around the city.
At the same time, the rest of the people in the top 10 in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' seemed to have their interest piqued as well, as they decided to follow after Qiao Min and have a look at the group of neers.
Although Shun Long and the others were only Nascent Soul stage cultivators before they left for the King''s Pce, during the Martial Roll of Honor tournament more than a year ago, everyone had witnessed Shun Long''s terrifying strength that was enough to effortlessly destroy people at a higher realm, attracting the attention of even the strongest outer court disciples in the process.
Back then, although Shun Long wasn''t even a rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, everyone had started to feel wary around him due to his abnormal strength that seemed like it would be enough to even rival Yang Hui''s once he became a Dao King!
Now that Shun Long was inside the ''City of Immortals'', it meant that he must have definitely broken through to the Dao King realm, and even if he was just a rank 1 Dao King right now, nobody from the top 10 of the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' other than Qiao Min and Yang Hui would be qualified to look down on him!
Chapter 834: Today youll die!
Chapter 834: Today you''ll die!
''''Heh, Dong Cheng, you look like you want to pick a fight with Shun Long... but are you sure that you can even win? Back then you couldn''t kill him with a single attack even though he was just a Nascent Soul stage rookie, so doesn''t that mean that you won''t even be able to beat him now? I have to admit that now that he is a Dao King, even I don''t dare to truly look down on that Shun Long!''''
A young man with red hair and bright yellow eyes said to Dong Cheng in a mocking manner as he walked by Qiao Min''s side.
Naturally, this young man was the person who was ranked 4th in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'', Zheng Zihao.
The rest of the disciples in the top 10 of the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' had mocking looks in their eyes as they stared at Dong Cheng, but in their hearts, they were also quite curious about Shun Long''s real strength as well.
Even before he had broken through to the Dao King realm, Shun Long was strong enough to attract the attention of some of these disciples, since he was bound to enter the top 10 sooner orter.
Some people in the Holy sect had even started to say that Shun Long would even be able to rival Yang Hui in the future.
Although these disciples merely snorted at such a im since nobody other than those in the top 10 knew how fearsome Yang Hui''s true strength really was, there was no doubt that Shun Long was an extremely strong disciple as well, and nobody knew anything about his real strength right now.
Now that he had broken through to be a Dao King, even those in the top 10 didn''t dare to look down on him and only considered him slightly inferior due to his cultivation base.
Staring at Zheng Zihao, Dong Cheng merely narrowed his eyes before he said in an extremely cold manner
''''Zheng Zihao, you better not interfere in my matters or I will deal with you first before I destroy that bastard Shun Long! Don''t think that I am afraid of you just because you are ranked 2 ces above me!''''
A mocking smile seemed to have formed itself on Zheng Zihao''s lips when he heard this, but he simply shook his head and kept following Qiao Min, without saying anything else to Dong Cheng whose body had already started to emit vast amounts of killing intent.
A few momentster, Qiao Min and the others arrived at the very front of the Holy sect''s group, before they turned their gazes towards the group of 5 neers that was casually strolling around the streets of the city.
At that moment, Shun Long seemed to have sensed a gaze that was filled with killing intent and was staring at his back coldly, as he suddenly turned his gaze towards Qiao Min and her group.
Staring at the violet-eyed Dong Cheng, a smile was slowly formed on Shun Long''s lips, before he turned his gaze towards Qiao Min and the other disciples of the Holy sect shortly after.
''''Shun Long!'''' Qiao Min called out after a brief moment of hesitation, while her gaze seemed to have been fully engrossed on the silver-winged ck panther that was slowly walking behind him, without paying the slightest bit of attention to Shun Long himself.
Sensing the aura of a peak rank 6 magic beasting from Little Silver, Qiao Min was utterly dumbfounded, wondering how could have Shun Long possibly acquired such a powerful magic beast.
Even Qiao Min, as the heir of the Qiao n, wasn''t qualified to take a peak rank 6 magic beast with her when she entered the ''City of Immortals''.
A few momentster, Shun Long appeared in front of Qiao Min and the rest of the disciples who were gathered around her, before he asked them with the same smile on his face
''''So many familiar faces. How may I help you?''''
Many of the surrounding disciples near Qiao Min frowned when they heard Shun Long''s words that sounded distant to them for some reason, before a bald young man looked at him and said seriously
''''Shun Long, the Grand Elder said that you had your own reasons that stopped you froming to the ''City of Immortals'' along with the rest of us, but you should know that this isn''t a ce that you can roam by yourself! Since you are here, you should-''''
The bald young man who had spoken just now was the person ranked 7th in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'', Mao Lim, but his words were suddenly stuck in his throat as Mao Lim stared at Liu Mei and the others who were standing next to Shun Long with a look of utter disbelief on his face.
Mao Lim''s eyes widened in shock when he sensed Liu Mei and the others'' auras, before he asked in a disbelieving tone
''''How- How is this possible?''''
In fact, it wasn''t just Mao Lim who was stunned by this, as everyone else who was also ranked in the top 10 in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' seemed to have beenpletely dumbfounded by Liu Mei''s and the others'' cultivation bases as well, with the only exceptions being Dong Cheng and Qiao Min who were still staring at Shun Long and Little Silver respectively.
Sensing the sudden change in her surroundings, Qiao Min finally looked away from Little Silver with great difficulty, before she turned her gaze towards the disciples by her side that looked like they had seen a ghost.
''''WHAT?''''
And yet, the moment that Qiao Min sensed Liu Mei''s and the others'' cultivation bases as well, her heart rate suddenly increased from the shock before a disbelieving look covered her face as well.
Meanwhile, Dong Cheng seemed to have beenpletely oblivious to what was going on around him as his gaze fully focused on Shun Long who was standing in front of him with the same calm smile on his face, before Dong Cheng waved his hand and said coldly
''''Shun Long... today is the day you die!''''
-
Author''s note: Next chapter needs approximately one to two more hours.
Chapter 835 Showing his strength
Chapter 835 Showing his strength
The moment that Dong Cheng waved his hand, a pure-white saber seemed to have suddenly appeared in his palm, before his figure disappeared on the spot, appearing right in front of Shun Long who was calmly standing there without a care in the world.
Qiao Min and the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect were still staring at Jiang Chen and the others with looks of shock on their faces before they realized what had happened.
''''Dong Cheng, stop! Come back right now!'''' This was the only thing that Qiao Min managed to shout when she saw the scene in front of her, but Dong Chengpletely ignored her orders while his violet eyes were oozing with endless killing intent as he stared at Shun Long.
The aura of an early rank 4 Dao King exploded out from his body at the same time, while sparks of purple lightning had also started to appear around his hand, as well as his white saber.
It was obvious that this time, Dong Cheng was going all-out against Shun Long with his sneak attack, as he had not only fully circted his cultivation of an early rank 4 Dao King but he had even taken out his 1-star weapon!
A look that was filled with unconcealed killing intent appeared in Liu Mei''s eyes when she saw Dong Cheng''s actions, while Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian looked at him coldly as well.
This scene in front of them was very simr to what Dong Cheng had done back in the Holy sect during the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' tournament after seeing Dong Ai being beaten.
However, neither Liu Mei, nor Jiang Chen and the others chose to interfere, and instead, they simply stared at Dong Cheng with cold looks in their eyes.
At that moment, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly turned golden as he circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', before his cultivation at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm exploded outwards as well.
In the next moment, a bright blue light covered Shun Long''s entire body while a ck sword appeared in his hands as well.
''''DIE!'''' Dong Cheng roared madly as he swung his white saber that was still crackling with sparks of purple lightning towards Shun Long''s waist, clearly aiming to cleave his body in half.
This time, it wasn''t just Qiao Min and the disciples of the Holy sect who were stunned by Dong Cheng''s actions, but so were the surrounding Dao Kings who were watching this scene.
They could all sense that Dong Cheng was not only utilizing the power behind his cultivation base that was already at the early rank 4 of the Dao King realm, but he was also using the strength of his body that was at the early sixth stage in body refinement as well.
There were virtually very few peak rank 3 Dao Kings who would be able to stay alive in the face of such a terrifying attack.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to have any intentions to dodge but simply narrowed his eyes as he raised his right hand that was holding the ck sword, before he said in a low but cold voice
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
The invisible figure of an hourss suddenly expanded from his body, covering not just Shun Long and Dong Cheng, but every other person around him as well, including the Dao Kings who were standing more than 300 meters away and were calmly watching the fight.
It didn''t matter if it were the newly advanced Dao Kings of the Holy sect, or the disciples that were ranked in the top 10 like Zheng Zihao or Mao Lim, as everyone seemed to have suddenly gone still as the flow of time around their bodies was forcibly halted.
The only one among the disciples of the Holy sect who could barely resist the effects of Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'' was Qiao Min herself, and even she was unable to understand what was going on around her, as her mind was having trouble processing the scene in front of her eyes.
In Qiao Min''s eyes, Shun Long''s movements seemed to have turned extremely fast... so fast that she was unable to follow them despite her own cultivation base, while every single other disciple around her seemed to have gone still for some reason.
In fact, it wasn''t just the disciples of the Holy sect who were affected by this sudden change, as every single person in a 300-meter radius around Shun Long that had yet to step foot into the rank 5 of the Dao King realm seemed to have turned motionless by now,pletely unable to resist his ''Monarch''s Domain''.
The only ones who could resist without too much trouble were only those rank 6 Dao Kings and above, but even those experts were now staring at Shun Long with unconcealed terror on their faces.
Although Shun Long was just a peak rank 3 Dao King, he was able to affect so many early and middle-stage Dao Kings with just a single move.
Only the fewte-stage Dao King realm experts who were present could remain rtively calm in the face of this situation, as they werepletely unaffected by the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', and yet their eyes had already turned into daggers as they stared at the blue-robed young man who seemed to have turned into the center of attention in the entire city.
Shaking his head, Shun Long stared at Dong Cheng and intentionally weakened the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' around him, as he wasn''t nning on killing him like that.
Even though Dong Cheng''s speed had been reduced by more than half, Dong Cheng himself didn''t seem to have realized it as he kept swinging his sword towards Shun Long''s waist immediately after that.
At that moment however, Shun Long simply narrowed his eyes before he swung his ck sword downwards, the de of the sword meeting Dong Cheng''s saber directly.
Dong Cheng was stunned by the speed of the ck sword that was unlike anything he had seen in the past, before he suddenly felt an uncontroble force entering his arm and sending his white saber flying!
Terror finally began to appear inside Dong Cheng''s eyes, but before he could even turn around to reach for his saber, the cold sensation of metal suddenly appeared on his neck, as Shun Long''s cold voice entered his ears soon after
''''Although I usually try to avoid pointless killings, there is truly no reason for me to keep you alive either... Begone.''''
Chapter 836: Killing Dong Cheng
Chapter 836: Killing Dong Cheng
When Shun Long''s merciless voice that seemed to becking the slightest hint of emotion entered Dong Cheng''s ears, Dong Cheng could feel his entire body suddenly turning cold before an uncontroble sensation of terror filled his heart.
Shun Long could see the look of fear in Dong Cheng''s eyes, but he didn''t wait for him to beg or plead for his life, as he suddenly swung the ck sword in his hands horizontally towards Dong Cheng''s neck.
''''Pffft!''''
A spurt of blood filled the air in the next moment, as Dong Cheng''s own head was separated from his body, before his lifeless corpse copsed on the ground with a thud.
Neither Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, or Bai Longtian were surprised when they saw this, but Qiao Min who was still under the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' was staring at Shun Long with a look of incredulity in her eyes, as she was truly unable to believe the scene in front of her.
''''Shun Long, you... you really killed him? You actually killed Dong Cheng?''''
Even after seeing Dong Cheng''s severed head that was now lying in a pool of blood on the ground, Qiao Min still questioned the reality that was unfolding in front of her own eyes.
An early rank 4 Dao King, a genius ranked 6th in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' of the Holy sect and the heir of the Dong n... Dong Cheng was actually killed by Shun Long, without the slightest ability to resist!?
Turning around, Shun Long stared at Qiao Min for a few moments in silence, before he eventually opened his mouth and said to her coldly
''''Why would I not kill him? Putting aside that we are not in the Holy sect right now, even if we were, do you really think that I would let go of someone who tried to take my life? Or should I just let him live because of his family?''''
Seeing the cold look in Shun Long''s golden eyes, Qiao Min involuntarily shivered for a moment before she turned her gaze back towards Dong Cheng''s corpse.
Even if she ignored Dong Cheng''s own strength, just the implications of killing him were tooplicated to bear even for someone like her, let alone Shun Long who didn''t belong to any of the powerful families or ns.
After all, Dong Cheng''s Dong n was just slightly inferior to her own Qian n and their influence within the Holy sect''s territory was nothing to scoff at. Although they couldn''t bepared to the truly powerful families and ns within the northern part of the central region like the Murong family, ns like the Dong n were still quite influential within their own territories, and only had to bow their heads in the presence ofte-stage Dao Emperors like the Grand Elder himself.
Additionally, Dong Cheng''s father, the n leader of the Dong n was a powerful Dao Emperor as well, and there was no way he would possibly let Shun Long go once he learned of the death of his son.
And yet, Shun Long still killed Dong Cheng even though he was aware of his background, looking like he didn''t care about it in the slightest.
However, this wasn''t what had shocked Qiao Min the most, but the fact that Shun Long was actually strong enough to kill Dong Cheng like that, a feat that even she wouldn''t be able to replicate.
Although Qiao Min was an early rank 5 Dao King and her strength was quite a bit higher than Dong Cheng''s, Qiao Min herself wouldn''t dare to im that she could kill someone like Dong Cheng as effortlessly as Shun Long had just done.
After he stared at Qiao Min for a few more moments Shun Long deactivated his ''Monarch''s Domain'', allowing the flow of time around the surrounding Dao Kings within a 300-meter radius of him to flow normally once again, before he started to walk towards Qiao Min''s direction.
The moment that the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' disappeared, the disciples of the Holy sect that were prepared to watch the fight between Shun Long and Dong Cheng all stared at Dong Cheng''s corpse with clear shock in their eyes, as none of them had any idea of what had just happened.
In fact, it wasn''t just the disciples of the Holy sect who were surprised, as the surrounding Dao Kings who were also watching this scene with interest just now seemed to have been utterly bbergasted as well.
''''What? What''s going on? What happened?''''
''''Eh? Weren''t those people from the Holy sect fighting just now? How did that guy die?''''
...
''''Shun Long! What did you do to Dong Cheng? Exin yourself right now!'''' A tall young man with long ck hair from the Holy sect''s group suddenly shouted in a cold voice as he stared at Shun Long.
Quite a few disciples of the Holy sect turned their attention towards this person when they heard his furious voice, before their gazes soon moved towards Shun Long who was calmly walking towards Qiao Min''s direction.
Every single disciple of the Holy sect was now staring at Shun Long with wariness and fear, since they would have to be stupid not to realize that he was the one who had taken Dong Cheng''s life just now.
The most terrifying part however was that none of them knew what had happened, that scared these disciples even more.
And yet, Shun Long merely halted his steps for a brief moment as he turned to look at the 2 meters (6.5ft) tall young man who was staring at him with a murderous look in his eyes, before he continued to walk towards Qiao Min shortly after whilepletely ignoring him.
Once the long-haired young man saw that Shun Long actually ignored him and continued to walk towards Qiao Min''s direction, a dense aura that was filled with killing intent immediately surrounded him, before the cultivation of a peak rank 4 Dao King burst out from his body like a dam!
It was obvious that this person was quite a few times stronger than Dong Cheng himself and he wasn''t nning on backing off either!
At that moment however, just as the long-haired young man seemed like he was about to make a move, Qiao Min suddenly took a step forward and shouted in amanding tone
''''Zhang Jing, step back! This is an order!''''
Chapter 837: Conflict
Chapter 837: Conflict
Indeed, the person who had spoken to Shun Long just now was the same person who was ranked 3rd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Zhang Jing!
However, Zhang Jing merely snorted when he heard Quan Lin''s order before he replied to her in a cold manner that seemed to becking even the slightest bit of respect
''''Step back? Quan Min, who do you think you are to give me, Zhang Jing, an order? The only person who is allowed to talk to me like that is Yang Hui. As for you... you are not qualified! It''s clear that Shun Long has just killed Dong Cheng and yet you intend to protect him? Don''t tell me that you forgot the rules of the sect!''''
Zhang Jing''s words seemed to have quickly sparked a flurry of discussions, as the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect around him soon followed suit as well, as they looked at Qiao Min and said seriously
''''Senior sister Qiao, senior brother Zhang is right! Even if Shun Long is backed by the Grand Elder, he still owes us an exnation for what he did!''''
''''Right! It''s against the sect rules for anyone to kill their fellow disciples, especially in an underhanded manner like this! We demand an exnation!''''
In fact, it wasn''t just the lower-ranked disciples who felt like this, but also those in the top 10 who were now staring at Shun Long warily.
After all, Dong Cheng himself was ranked 6th in the Holy sect, so if Shun Long could kill him without anyone else realizing what had happened, didn''t that mean that he could also kill the rest of them in a simr manner?
Of course, Zhang Jing wasn''t afraid that he would be instakilled by Shun Long the same way Dong Cheng had just now, since Zhang Jing knew that he was quite a bit stronger than him. This was also why he dared to openly question Shun Long like that without being afraid of him.
In Zhang Jing''s eyes, the only person in the entire Holy sect who could threaten his life, other than the Elders and the inner court disciples, was only that monster that was ranked first in the Martial Roll of Honor, Yang Hui!
As for Shun Long, even if he had managed to kill Dong Cheng through a sneak attack, Zhang Jing was confident that if he went all-out against him, he would be able to easily fight him to a standstill!
The only thing that Zhang Jing was slightly worried was that he hadn''t even seen what kind of attack Shun Long had used just now.
At that moment, Qiao Min started to feel a headache iing, as she understood that she would be having quite a bit of trouble pacifying everyone.
Although she didn''t know what skill Shun Long had just used before he killed Dong Cheng, she already had a rough idea of what had happened after she heard Zhang Jing''s question towards Shun Long, and she quickly understood that she was most likely the only one among the Holy sect''s disciples who had witnessed Dong Cheng''s death.
''''Hahaha! What a bunch of trash! You couldn''t even see how that idiot died and yet you are actually asking for an exnation? It is truly a wonder how the rest of you trash are even alive right now!'''' All of a sudden, a mocking voice resounded through the air, immediately attracting the attention of every single Dao King present.
From a group of nearly a thousand people that was situated just a few tens of meters away from the Holy sect''s group, a green-robed young man suddenly spoke as he stared at Zhang Jing and the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect with a mocking look in his eyes, looking like he was looking at a group of idiots.
Zhang Jing immediately turned his gaze towards this young man and was about to retort, but when he sensed the green-robed young man''s cultivation that was actually at the early rank 7 in the Dao King realm, Zhang Jing merely narrowed his eyes and forcefully swallowed his words.
As for that young man, he simply stared at Shun Long for a few more seconds in silence, before he turned around to look at his group and continued in amanding tone
''''No reason to waste any more time in this ce that''s filled with trash. Let''s go hunt some ''Demon-fanged mice''.''''
The rest of the green-robed disciples behind this young man all followed suit, as their group flew past the city gates merely a few momentster.
At the same time, Qiao Min shook her head and ignored the disciples around her, before she actually approached Shun Long and his group by herself and said with a forced smile
''''Shun Long, I have to admit that you are extremely strong... perhaps even stronger than me... but you should understand that killing a fellow disciple is still a crime within the sect regardless of how strong you are!
Even if I want to ept you and your group and allow you to all travel with us, I doubt that things will go smoothly now that you have killed Dong Cheng.'''' Once she finished speaking, Qiao Min turned around and looked at the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect behind her who would almost certainly reject Shun Long and his group after what had happened.
Even though Dong Cheng had made the first move against Shun Long and his body was clearly oozing with killing intent at that moment, the facts were that Shun Long had indeed been the one to kill him, and in an extremely gruesome way at that.
Considering that Dong Cheng also had quite a few followers and that people like Zhang Jing seemed to be against Shun Long as well, Qiao Min understood that even with her authority as the leader of the outer court disciples, she wouldn''t be able to pacify everyone if she intended to allow Shun Long and his group to join her.
At that moment however, contrary to Qiao Min''s expectations, Shun Long merely shook his head and waved his hand as he looked at her, before he said calmly
''''Don''t worry. I didn''t have any intentions of joining you in the first ce. However, I wonder if you know anything about this ''City of Immortals''.''''
Chapter 838: Chapter 838
Chapter 838:
Qiao Min was stunned when she heard Shun Long''s reply while her mind took a few seconds to process his answer.
''''You don''t intend to join? Really?''''
It was only at this moment that Qiao Min suddenly remembered that Shun Long and his group had just entered the ''City of Immortals'', so it was normal for them to not know anything about this ce.
Nodding her head, Qiao Min then turned her gaze towards the heart of the city and said calmly
''''Come with me.''''
Shun Long didn''t decline and under the eyes of the surrounding Dao Kings, he followed Qiao Min as they walked towards the depths of the city.
Meanwhile, Zhang Jing merely snorted when he saw this scene, but he didn''t say anything else and simply closed his eyes as he sat cross-legged on the ground and waited.
..
At the same time, as they walked deeper inside the city, Qiao Min looked at Shun Long and the others and said seriously
''''Although I don''t know too much about this ce, I can at least tell you what I know.
Nobody truly knows how many cities there are in this world or who created them in the first ce, but the city that we are in right now is called the ''Demon-fanged city'', and it is the first city that everyone arrives in.
Of course, just like every other city in this world, there are plenty of treasures that a person can obtain from this ''Demon-fanged city'', but naturally, to obtain those treasures, you must firstplete the trials of the city first.''''
''''Trials? The city itself has trials?'''' Bai Longtian asked in a curious manner as he looked at Qiao Min who nodded her head without any hesitation before she continued
''''Anyone who wants to obtain the treasures or move on to the next city must firstplete the trials of this ''Demon-fanged city'' first, otherwise, forget about obtaining any treasures, you will only be able to wander around the outskirts of the city before the 10 years period is over. As for the trials... it''s better for you to have a look at them directly.''''
Once she finished speaking, Qiao Min threw onest look at Little Silver that was following behind Shun Long like a loyal pup, before she continued to walk deeper inside the city.
After walking around the city for a few minutes, Qiao Min''s figure suddenly stopped as she arrived in front of an extremelyrge, eye-catching building at the heart of the city.
Staring at the words ''Hall of Trials'' that were carved above the wide-open gates of the building in a dominating manner and were emitting an extremely powerful and ancient aura, Shun Long could feel his heart-rate speeding up, as he took a few steps forward and entered the building along with Liu Mei and the rest.
Qiao Min didn''t stay behind either, as she too entered the building along with them.
Meanwhile, Shun Long could feel that the deeper inside this building he walked, the denser the immortal qi in the air around him seemed to be, almost as if the immortal qi in this world originated from this building itself!
After walking through an extremely long corridor for more than a minute, Shun Long arrived inside a spacious empty room that was covered in countless formations.
In fact, even Shun Long was stunned as he stared at the formations around him, since he realized almost immediately that each one of the formations inside this room was clearly at the peak 3-star level at the very least.
Even if a peak rank 9 Sovereign realm expert like the Northern Sovereign bombarded this room with her most powerful attacks without stop, Shun Long knew that she wouldn''t be able to leave even a single scratch on the walls.
In fact, anyone who had yet to step foot into the Immortal realm wouldn''t be able to leave even a single dent on the walls of this room!
After he stared at the formations around the room for a few moments, Shun Long''s gaze eventuallynded on the stone tablet that was embedded on the floor right in the center of the room.
Qiao Min was also staring at this stone tablet, before she turned to look at Shun Long and said seriously
''''If you want to look at the trials of this city, all you have to do is simply send a thread of your spiritual strength inside that stone tablet and everything will appear in your mind.''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long approached the stone tablet and inspected it for a few moments, before he ced his right hand on top of it and closed his eyes, as he sent a thread of his spiritual strength inside the tablet.
Momentster, Shun Long could sense a stream of information entering his mind, simr to when he had learned the ''Thundergod''s sh'' from the barrier of knowledge back in the Holy sect.
''''Demon-fanged city''s trials:
Gather the beast cores of 1000 early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and ce them around the stone tablet. Reward: 1 Saint low-grade martial skill.
Gather the beast cores of 3000 early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and ce them around the stone tablet. Reward: 1 Saint low-grade cultivation technique
Gather the beast cores of 5000 early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and ce them around the stone tablet. Reward: Leave ''Demon-fanged city''
Gather the beast cores of 10.000 early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and ce them around the stone tablet. Reward: 1 Saint middle-grade martial skill
Gather the beast cores of 30.000 early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and ce them around the stone tablet. Reward: 1 Saint middle-grade cultivation technique''''
It was only after he read this list of trials that Shun Long finally realized why there were so many groups of Dao Kings gathered in front of the entrance of ''Demon-fanged city'', and why everyone, including Qiao Min, were staring at Little Silver so fervently!
Chapter 839: Qiao Mins intentions
Chapter 839: Qiao Min''s intentions
''''Shun Long, it''s better for you and your faction to avoidpleting the trials of ''Demon-fanged city'' just yet and focus on increasing your strength for now. Although you have a peak rank 6 magic beast and this preliminary trial of ''Demon-fanged city'' probably won''t pose much of a challenge to you, things won''t be the same if you choose to leave the city.''''
Qiao Min said seriously as she stared at Shun Long whose hand was still ced on the stone tablet in front of him.
Although Qiao Min was surprised when she saw how abnormally fast Shun Long''s and the others'' rate of growth actually was, especially Liu Mei''s own cultivation base that had even surpassed her own and was close to reaching the same level as that of most inner court disciples of the Holy sect, she still decided to warn Shun Long about this matter, and after a few moments of silence she continued
''''Aren''t you curious why there are so many middle and even a fewte-stage Dao Kings who are still in this ''Demon-fanged city'' even though it wouldn''t be difficult for them to hunt down 5000 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and move forward?
There are 2 main reasons for this.
The first reason is because most of these Dao Kings who are still heree from the weaker powers of the central region, and most of those powers don''t have any Saint middle-grade cultivation techniques or martial skills in the first ce, so naturally, those people are aiming to get their hands on those techniques.''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he stared at Qiao Min, as he had also realized this by himself the moment he touched the stone tablet in front of him.
Indeed, it wasn''t surprising that there were so many middle and even somete-stage Dao Kings still present in this ''Demon-fanged city'' even though they should have been able toplete this trial long ago.
After all, even in the Holy sect,plete Saint middle-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills were quite valuable and only the inner court Elders of the sect were able to gain ess to them. Although the top 1000 outer court disciples had a chance to obtain them from the ''Golden Treasures hall'', the prices of those techniques were exorbitant and most of those disciples would have to work for hundreds if not thousands of years for the sect until they were able to afford most of those techniques.
Even the inner court disciples of the sect had to render some significant contributions if they wanted to choose a Saint middle-grade cultivation technique or martial skill for themselves.
Nodding her head, Qiao Min stared at Shun Long and continued with the same serious look on her face
''''But of course, that is only the first reason why those people decided to stay in the ''Demon-fanged city'' instead of continuing to move forward.
After all, although the rewards from the trials in thic city aren''t bad, everyone can probably guess how much better the rewards of the next trials are going to be, and most likely, they won''t just involve Saint high-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, but perhaps there will even be some immortal-grade skills avable as well.
However, nobody truly knows how difficult those trials will be so it''s much safer to stay in this and obtain the cultivation techniques here while they also advance their strength.''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Qiao Min''s words as he also agreed with her.
Indeed, for those people who didn''te from anyrge powers and needed a Saint middle-grade cultivation technique to rece their current cultivation technique, staying in the ''Demon-fanged city'' to aim for the final rewards was unquestionably the best choice.
Besides, the qi in this city was even better than the qi in any other location throughout the central region that these people had ess to.
As for Qiao Min, Shun Long guessed that she remained in this ''Demon-fanged city'' simply because the next trials would be impossible for her toplete.
In fact, even the current trials of this ''Demon-fanged city'' would be extremely hard for her if she had toplete them by herself.
After all, ughtering 5000 early rank 6 magic beasts, even if they were just extremely weak rank 6 magic beast like the ''Demon-fanged mice'' was a task that was extremely difficult for a single early rank 5 Dao King to do so alone.
But of course, if the top 10 outer court disciples of the Holy sect banded together, then it would be apletely different story.
''''Most likely, Qiao Min intends to stay here and increase her strength by a good amount before shepletes this trial. Considering that the dangers of the next trials are currently unknown, this is probably the best choice for anyone else, not just her.''''
Shun Long thought to himself as he stared at Qiao Min for a few moments, before he turned his gaze towards Bai Longtian and the rest who had ced their hands on the stone tablet at the center of the room as well, as they learned about the trials of this city.
''''Unfortunately, this is all the help I can give you for now. However, if there is anything else you need, you can alwayse and find me since I''m not nning to leave the ''Demon-fanged city'' for the next 1 or 2 years.'''' As she finished speaking, Qiao Min cupped her hands at Shun Long with a serious look in her eyes, and after she threw a few more looks at Xingyi and the others, her gaze lingering on Liu Mei and Little Silver for a few seconds longer, Qiao Min finally turned around and left the ''Hall of Trials''.
Shun Long stared at Qiao Min''s disappearing figure for a few seconds, before he turned his gaze towards Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, who were all looking at the stone tablet and said with a smile
''''Since we need 5000 demon cores to leave this ce, let''s go exercise for a bit!''''
Chapter 840: Progress
Chapter 840: Progress
Smiles appeared on Xingyi''s and the rest''s faces when they heard Shun Long''s words, as Shun Long led them towards the city gates of the ''Demon-fanged city'' shortly afterwards.
Other than Liu Mei who would asionally leave the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' to go train and increase her cultivation through her ''Blood Absorption art'', neither Xingyi, Jiang Chen, or Bai Longtian, truly had a chance to test how much their strength had increased after they had broken through, since they had all practically confined themselves within the Northern Sovereign''s estate and continued to cultivate without stop since they had left the King''s Pce.
Of course, the same went for Shun Long who had yet to test out his strength after he broke through to the Dao King realm.
Momentster, Shun Long led Liu Mei, and the others, as they flew past the city gates of the ''Demon-fanged city'' and headed towards the general area where they had previously met the ''Demon-fanged mice''.
In reality, it didn''t matter which direction they chose, since the entire area around the city was practically infested with ''Demon-fanged mice''. Other than the city itself that the mice seemed to be avoiding for some reason, every ce around the city was practically upied by the ''Demon-fanged mice''.
Less than a minuteter, Shun Long''s group suddenly stopped, as everyone could hear a familiar rumbling sounding from the ground below them, while the earth beneath their feet had soon started to tremble.
''''Little Silver, stay back!'''' Shun Long suddenly said to the ck panther who was standing behind him and seemed to be already prepared to fight, while Liu Mei and the others all spread out and covered arge area around Shun Long.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t worried that Xingyi and the others would have any trouble fighting against the ''Demon-fanged mice'' regardless of the mice''s numbers.
After all, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, had all reached the peak of rank 4 in the Dao King realm in thest year, and shouldn''t have any trouble even if a few dozen early rank 6 ''Demon-fanged mice'' attacked them simultaneously.
As for Liu Mei... her cultivation was actually the highest, as Liu Mei was already a peak rank 6 Dao King!
Even Shun Long was surprised when he saw how much Liu Mei had advanced while he had stayed in seclusion, but Shun Long also understood that Liu Mei had definitely gone all-out during the past few months, increasing her cultivation base without holding back in the least, and that unless she dispelled the negative effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' that were umting inside her, it would be impossible for her to increase her cultivation any further without suffering from the side-effects of the ''Blood Absorption art''.
Barely a few moments had passed since Shun Long''s group had arrived in the area before the ground beneath their feet finally started to crack open, as dozens of pitch-ck figures shot out from each crack heading towards Shun Long and the others at an rming speed.
Naturally, these figures belonged to the ''Demon-fanged mice'' who had almost instantly sensed the humans that had entered their territory.
Staring at the hundreds of ''Demon-fanged mice'' around her that seemed to be ready to tear her apart, Xingyi was the first one to make her move, as her body disappeared on the spot while her figure seemed to have be one with the shadows as well.
Shun Long only needed to throw a single nce at this scene in front of him, before he realized, that after breaking through to the Dao King realm, Xingyi had be many times stronger than before while her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'' had also be much more powerful as well.
It was especially so for Xingyi''s own attack and speed that seemed to have been elevated to another level.
The ''Demon-fanged mice'' around her couldn''t even touch her body that had already melded into the shadows, before their bodies were pierced through by the tens of shadow spikes and shadow thorns that seemed to have ambushed them from their own shadows, instantly taking their lives.
More than a dozen ''Demon-fanged mice'' seemed to have been ambushed from shadow thorns and shadow spikes that had appeared from their own shadows, as their lifeless corpses copsed on the ground shortly afterward.
At the same time, a few tens of meters away from Xingyi''s own fight, Bai Longtian didn''t activate his ''Golden Buddha unique physique'', and instead, he unsheathed his peak 1-star white sword before a blinding white light covered his entire body.
Augmented by his ''Dao of Light, Bai Longtian''s current speed wasn''t any inferior to Xingyi''s own when she was using her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'', as his figure shed repeatedly, leaving behind countless afterimages as he swung the white sword in his hands towards the ''Demon-fanged mice'' around him.
Whether it was Bai Longtian''s speed, the sharpness of the peak 1-star sword in his hands, or the Dao of Fire inside his white sword, none of them were things that the ''Demon-fanged mice'' could resist, as their figures were being cut down at an rming rate while Bai Longtian harvested the beast cores from their bodies.
Jiang Chen merely snorted as he stared at Bai Longtian before a golden saber appeared in his hands barely a few momentster.
And yet, Jiang Chen didn''t activate his ''Eternal Darkness unique physique'' either, as a pair of ming, dark-red wings suddenly sprouted from his back before the golden saber in his hands turned into a blur, reaping the lives of the ''Demon-fanged mice'' around him without the slightest hint of mercy.
After breaking through to the Dao King realm, each of Jiang Chen''s attacks that were strengthened by his ''Demonic Dao'' seemed to be even stronger than they were in the past, as every sh of his terrified the ''Demon-fanged mice'' around him that couldn''t even approach too close to him before their bodies were cut in half.
Chapter 841: Hunting the Demon-fanged mice
Chapter 841: Hunting the ''Demon-fanged mice''
Naturally, the pair of ming, dark red wings on Jiang Chen''s back was formed from the ''Demonic wings'', the Saint low-grade martial skill that Jiang Chen had obtained from the Holy sect long ago.
After breaking through to the Dao King realm, Jiang Chen''s ''Demonic wings'' looked almost corporeal, as if they were a real pair of wings that were burning with an actual dark red me.
A few momentster, Liu Mei finally made her move as well, as she ced both of her hands in front of her chest and gathered her qi towards them, as a ck ball filled with death qi appeared between her palms.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei allowed the ball of death qi to fall on the ground in front of her, before a ck gate that was oozing with endless death qi opened up and hundreds upon hundreds of jade-white skeletons emerged from it.
In the blink of an eye, more than a thousand jade-white skeletons had appeared around Liu Mei, like an army of fanatic soldiers that had gathered around their master, as they waved their bony swords and ughtered the ''Demon-fanged mice'' around them without mercy.
Anyone who watched this scene would only be able to stare at it with their mouth agape, as this scene could no longer be able to call a fight but a massacre instead.
It didn''t matter how hard the ''Demon-fanged mice'' tried to attack Liu Mei''s skeletons, as the mice couldn''t evenst more than a couple of hits against the skeletons'' bony white swords that reaped their lives without mercy.
The skeletons would even be meticulous enough to remove the beast cores from the ''Demon-fanged mice'' they killed before they offered them to Liu Mei.
Since every skeleton had a cultivation at the middle of rank 6 in the Dao King realm, the ''Demon-fanged mice'' werepletely overwhelmed by the army in front of them.
With more than a thousand skeletons present, it wouldn''t be surprising if Liu Mei was able to gather 5000 magic beast cores in less than 2 hours.
Shun Long smiled and shook his head when he saw this scene before he turned his gaze towards the hordes ''Demon-fanged mice'' that were rapidly approaching him as well.
No wonder why the Dao of Death was considered to be one of the strongest ones, even among other supreme Daos.
Liu Mei was practically unstoppable among cultivators at the same level, and those who could truly fight her on equal footing were only those extreme geniuses who had alsoprehended at least 2 unique Daos or another supreme Dao.
At the same time, Shun Long had to admit that he was somewhat curious to see what type of new undead creature Liu Mei was able to control after she broke through to the Dao King realm, but of course, the ''Demon-fanged mice'' weren''t strong enough to force her to go all-out.
In fact, neither Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, or Xingyi, were going all-out in their fights right now, since it was obvious that they were fighting leisurely against the ''Demon-fanged mice''.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long no longer paid any attention to Jiang Chen and the others as he circted his cultivation at the peak rank 3 of the Dao King realm, before he spoke in a calm voice
''''Monarch''s Domain.''''
The invisible figure of an hourss suddenly expanded from his body, immediately covering an area of more than 300 meters around him.
Every single ''Demon-fanged mouse'' around Shun Long seemed to have suddenly gone still, with their mouths wide open and their sharp rows of teeth visible as they were ready to bite through him just now.please visit
Naturally, the ''Demon-fanged mice'' didn''t have the slightest bit of ability to resist against Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', as the flow of time around their bodies forcibly came to a halt.
A momentter, an illusionary purple-colored de appeared in Shun Long''s right hand, before Shun Long disappeared on the spot, appearing in front of the first ''Demon-fanged mouse'' that was the closest to him just now.
Waving his right hand, Shun Long effortlessly severed the mouse''s head from its body, causing a fountain of blood to spurt from its neck, before he retrieved its beast core and moved towards the next one.
If the fight between Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, Xingyi, and even Liu Mei''s undead army with the ''Demon-fanged mice'' could be called a one-sided massacre, then Shun Long''s ughter was an absolutely despair-inducing scene!
At the very least, against Jiang Chen and the others, the mice had a chance to try and attack, even if their attacks werepletely useless, but against Shun Long... the only thing the mice could do was wait for their death toe.
''''What? How- is this possible?''''
''''Elder brother, what''s wrong?''''
''''What''s wrong? Are you blind? Look over there!''''
At the same time that Shun Long''s group ughtered the ''Demon-fanged mice'' to gather the magic beast cores they needed, a few of the surrounding Dao Kings who were also hunting those mice seemed to have noticed the scene they had caused, staring at them with wide-open eyes.
Although the world around ''Demon-fanged city'' was quite vast, most of the Dao Kings who were in the city chose to hunt around the outskirts of the city itself, since there wasn''t any reason for them to go too far in the first ce.
After all, the trials of the ''Demon-fanged city'' were only the preliminary trials that would weed out the weakest Dao Kings or those without any ambition to go any further so it wasn''t surprising that this ce didn''t hold any valuable treasures.
A few hourster, Shun Long''s group of 5 returned back to the ''Demon-fanged city'', and under the astounded eyes of the Dao Kings present, they headed straight for the ''Hall of Trials'' at the heart of the city.
In thest few hours, word had already started to spread, that there was an enormous army of undead that was ughtering the ''Demon-fanged mice'' around the city at an extremely terrifying speed.
Out of curiosity, quite a few of the Dao Kings who were waiting for their groups to finish resting decided to go and have a look, but the scene they witnessed made even thete-stage Dao Kings who were present to start feeling jealous.
The speed and efficiency which Shun Long and his group killed the ''Demon-fanged mice'' with, had already far exceeded even the speed of thete-stage Dao Kings who were in the city.
In fact, when these Dao Kings saw the number of magic beast cores that Shun Long and his group had gathered after a few hours, they were tempted to group up and go kill them, even if that meant going against an army of 1000 skeletons at the middle of rank 6 in the Dao King realm.
However, the presence of a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver immediately extinguished any thoughts those Dao Kings had of robbing Shun Long and his group.
Chapter 842: Zhang Jings guess
Chapter 842: Zhang Jing''s guess
''''How is this possible? How did those bastards get this strong in just 2 years?'''' The person ranked 3rd in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'', Zhang Jing spoke in a voice that was filled with both denial and unwillingness as he gritted his teeth and stared at Shun Long and the others who were walking behind him.
Unlike the other Dao Kings in the ''Demon-fanged city'' who came from the countless powers throughout the central region, Zhang Jing and the rest of the outer court disciples of the Holy sect all knew, that back during the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' tournament, Shun Long and his faction had just reached thete-stages of the Nascent Soul, and weren''t even close to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
This was why none of them could ept this terrifying rate of growth of theirs that had already exceeded even Qiao Min''s who was born with a unique physique that increased her cultivation speed.
''''I refuse to believe that all 5 of them were born with unique physiques that are even superior to Qiao Min''s and are all focused on increasing their cultivation speed. Those types of unique physiques are already extremely rare, that it''s surprising to have even a single one in the entire sect! If it was one of them perhaps it would be possible... but 5 of them?
...Wait! Don''t tell me that these bastards are actually cultivating immortal-grade cultivation techniques! This...''''
Zhang Jing''s thoughts seemed to have suddenly stopped in ce as Zhang Jing stared at Shun Long and his group with a disbelieving expression.
Indeed, if Shun Long and his group were cultivating immortal-grade cultivation techniques, then that could probably exin their terrifying rate of growth that had already exceeded even the inner court disciples'' of the Holy sect!
Although this was still a far-fetched thought and one that didn''t make much sense considering how rare immortal-grade cultivation techniques really were, Zhang Jing was certain that his guess was right on the mark since there wasn''t any other exnation.
At that moment, an uncontroble feeling of greed sprouted in his heart as Zhang Jing stared at Shun Long''s figure.
If Shun Long and the others could get so strong in just a couple of years, then how strong would he have be if he had an immortal-grade cultivation technique? Wouldn''t he surpass even Yang Hui?
''''No, forget about Yang Hui... I would even have a chance to be a core disciple of the sect!''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Zhang Jing had to do his utmost to stop himself from attacking Shun Long in the middle of the street.
Even though he was confident that he could kill Shun Long if he went all-out, Zhang Jing didn''t feel the same amount of confidence when he thought of the peak rank 6 magic beast that was protecting Shun Long.
''''It doesn''t matter! I will still have a chance to find him again during the next trial! As long as that panther leaves his side even for a bit, I will instantly kill him and take his cultivation technique! As long as I am the only one who knows about this matter then it should be fine.''''
As he thought of this, Zhang Jing rposed himself and decided to reign in his greed for now, before he turned his gaze towards Qiao Min and the others who were by his side.
Of course, Zhang Jing wouldn''t share this guess of his with any other outer court disciple regardless of the potential benefits.
If Shun Long was really cultivating an immortal-grade cultivation technique, then Zhang Jing knew that he couldn''t let anyone else find out about it or word might start spreading. Since he knew that even the inner court disciples of the Holy sect had entered the ''City of Immortals'' this time and they had already gone ahead to participate in the next trials, Zhang Jing understood that if any of those people found out about this matter, then he wouldn''t have a chance to obtain that cultivation technique no matter how much he schemed.
Of course, what Zhang Jing didn''t know was that he wasn''t the only one who had guessed that Shun Long and his group were all training in an immortal-grade cultivation technique.
The Northern Sovereign had alsoe to this conclusion long ago, while the Grand Elder of the Holy sect, and even Sun Wen and Elder Mao Jing had guessed this much as well, the moment they visited the ''Northern Sovereign''s estate'' and saw Jiang Chen''s and the others'' progress.
But of course, the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t really covet an immortal-grade cultivation technique to the point where she would fall out with Shun Long, considering that she had ess to many immortal-grade cultivation techniques from the Tianxuan dynasty.
As for the Grand Elder, even if he hadn''t obtained an immortal-grade cultivation technique from Shun Long, he still wouldn''t dare to cause a fuss within the Northern Sovereign''s territory.
All of a sudden, Shun Long sensed an uncontroble wave of killing intent focused on his back, before he turned around and looked towards the source of this killing intent.
At that moment, Shun Long stared at Zhang Jing who was standing on the very front of the Holy sect''s group with an extremely deep look in his eyes, before he kept walking towards the heart of the city shortly afterwards.
A few momentster, Shun Long led Liu Mei and the others as they arrived back at the entrance of the ''Hall of Trials'', before their group headed directly for the room with the stone tablet.
Shun Long then had Little Silver return back into the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time, before he turned his gaze towards the stone tablet in front of him and said calmly
''''Let''s go.''''
Waving his hand, Shun Long then took out the beast cores of the 5000 ''Demon-fanged mice'' and spread them around the stone tablet, while Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all did the same as well.
cing his right hand on the stone tablet, Shun Long then closed his eyes and sent his soul sense inside the tablet, before the runes that were etched on the walls of the room suddenly lit up.
Chapter 843: Information
Chapter 843: Information
One after the other, the runes that were engraved on the walls of the room started to glow with a brilliant white light, before a terrifying power enveloped the entire room in the next moment.
At the same time, just as Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian ced their hands on the stone tablet in front of them, the tablet itself started to tremble before a stream of information appeared in everyone''s minds.
''Saint low-grade martial skill: cial sword. A Saint low-grade martial skill suitable for cultivators who train in the Dao of Ice. It allows a person to conjure a massive sword of ice and use it to attack their opponents from a distance.''''
Moments after this martial skill had appeared in his mind, Shun Long suddenly felt another stream of informationing from the stone tablet in front of him, before the following cultivation technique itself appeared directly into his spiritual sea
''''Saint low-grade cultivation technique: Volcanic Pce. A Saint low-grade cultivation technique suitable for cultivators who train in the Dao of Fire. The hotter the environment around the user, the faster their cultivation speed will be.''''
Shun Long barely had enough time to read the description of this Saint low-grade cultivation technique and the martial skill that had appeared in his mind, before the stone tablet in front of him that had just stopped trembling suddenly began to tremble with even more intensity than before, causing the entire ''Hall of Trials'' to shake along with it.
At this moment, Shun Long could sense that the energy inside the 5000 beast cores that he had spread around the stone tablet were being sapped at an rming rate, almost as if the magic beast cores from the ''Demon-fanged mice'' were being used to fuel the runes that were engraved on the walls of the room.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long allowed the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations to envelop his body, before his figure disappeared from the ''Hall of Trials'' shortly afterwards.
A momentter, Shun Long opened his eyes, as he found himself in the center of an enormous za that was covered in countless mysterious runes and formations.
Even someone who wasn''t well-versed in formations would be able to easily tell, that the formations around this za looked quite simr to the formations that were engraved on the walls back in the ''Hall of Trials''.
However, it was obvious that Shun Long and the others were no longer in the ''Hall of Trials'', as they had been teleported somewhere else.
Bai Longtian and the others all stared at their surroundings curiously, before their gazesnded on a small group of 3 people who were calmly standing just a few hundred meters away from them, right at the edge of this gigantic za.
''''Eh? What''s this? Neers?''''
The middle-aged man who seemed to be leading this group suddenly said in a surprised voice, before his figure disappeared on the spot, heading straight towards Shun Long and his group.
The young man and the young woman who were standing on his left and right respectively turned to look at each other for a few seconds, before they followed after the middle-aged man as well.
In just a few seconds, the middle-aged man appeared in front of Shun Long and his group and after he stared at the 5 people in front of him in silence, his gaze eventuallynding on Liu Mei before he introduced himself with a calm smile on his face
''''Haha, you lot must be neers huh? My name is Li Tian and I am a member of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''. May I ask where you all are from?''''
Naturally, since Liu Mei had the highest cultivation base, the middle-aged man assumed that she was the leader of this group in front of him so he spoke directly to her.
''''The ''White tiger chamber ofmerce?'''' Sensing the aura of an early rank 7 Dao Kinging from this middle-aged man in front of them, Jiang Chen and the others were momentarily stunned, while even Shun Long was confused by this as he stared at Li Tian seriously.
Naturally, the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was a superpower even if one took into consideration the entire central region, but it still didn''t exin why this Li Tian would approach them so casually, especially while they were still in a ce like the ''City of Immortals''.
As if he had guessed what Shun Long and the others were thinking however, Li Tian smiled and waved his hands in a dismissive manner before he said calmly
''''There is no need to worry, I am only here to do business with you. I am not here to attack you so there is no need to worry about any of that.''''
''''Business?'''' Liu Mei asked as she looked at Li Tian with narrowed eyes, but she didn''t seem to be in a hurry to make a move against him.
Even though Li Tian was an early rank 7 Dao King, while the 2 people who were following behind him were at the early rank 5 and peak of rank 5 in the Dao King realm respectively, their strength wasn''t enough to pose a threat to Shun Long and his group.
Even without Little Silver, Liu Mei was confident in her ability to wipe out Li Tian''s group all by herself.
At the same time, Li Tian could also sense how calm the 5 people in front of him seemed to be, even though they were facing ate-stage Dao King like him, which surprised him quite a bit.
After all, the strongest person among this group seemed to be Liu Mei who was just a peak rank 6 Dao King, while the others were all middle-stage Dao Kings while one of them was even a peak rank 3 Dao King as well.
After a moment of silence however, Li Tian simply shook his head before he continued speaking with that same smile on his face
''''Indeed, I am here to do business so allow me to exin. As I said, I am a member of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' and what I am selling is information.
Since you all just arrived here from the ''Hall of Trials'' from the ''Demon-fanged city'' I assume that you aren''t very familiar with this ce.
Unlike the ''Demon-fanged city'', this city that we are in right now doesn''t have a ''Hall of Trials'', so if you want toplete any of the trials here, you will find out that things aren''t as easy.
Additionally, the dangers in this ce are enough to kill even the strongest rank 9 Dao Kings so you have to be extremely careful with every step you take... unless you want to lose your life that is.
This is why I, Li Tian, am selling information from our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''. As long as you are willing to pay enough spirit stones, I will naturally tell you everything I know.''''
Li Tian had a smile on his face as he said these words, not worried in the slightest that Liu Mei would reject his offer.
Indeed, just like he had just said, he was there to sell information, and for those groups that had just entered the ''City of Immortals'', the thing that theycked the most was precisely such information.
After all, Shun Long and his group were already behind everyone else in terms of progress, and the ''City of Immortals'' had a fixed amount of time that it would remain open.
If they wasted time searching for the trials by themselves, they would only waste even more time, especially since, as Li Tian had just said, this city wasn''t like the ''Demon-fanged city'' and didn''t have a ''Hall of Trials'' to make things easier.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Li Tian and asked calmly
''''What type of information do you have?''''
Li Tian''s lips curved upwards when he heard Shun Long''s question, before he waved his hand, taking out more than a dozen memory recording jades and cing them all on the ground in front of him, before he said in a warm manner
''''Naturally, our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has information about every single powerful Dao King who has entered the ''City of Immortals'', as well as the location of 2 of the trials that have already been discovered. One of these trials doesn''t even pose any danger at all, making it safe even for early-stage Dao Kings to participate.
As for the prices, our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has set them at 10.000 high-grade spirit stones for each trial, while the information for the high-level Dao Kings present is priced at 200.000 high-grade spirit stones.''''
Chapter 844: Information (2)
Chapter 844: Information (2)
''''200.000 high-grade spirit stones?'''' Liu Mei frowned when she heard the absurd price that Li Tian mentioned, while Xingyi and the others all widened their eyes in surprise.
Even an average peak rank 9 Dao Emperor wouldn''t have more than a couple hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones in their possession, so for Li Tian to ask for such a price truly dumbfounded them.
However, Li Tian wasn''t surprised by their reactions, looking like he had already seen simr reactions like theirs countless times by now, as he nodded his head and continued
''''Although this price may indeed be expensive, I can assure dear guests that the information of our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' is one hundred percent urate and worth every single one of your high-grade spirit stones.''''
Of course, Li Tian didn''t expect that Liu Mei and her group would purchase the information about the powerful Dao Kings who were present in the ''City of Immortals'' right now since such information would be absolutely useless to them.
After all, the way that Li Tian saw it, even the most powerful person among their group was only a peak rank 6 Dao King.
Thus, it didn''t matter if their group met an ordinary rank 9 Dao King or one of those terrifying monsters who couldpletely destroy anyone else at the same level of cultivation as them, as their group would be dead either way.
In reality, only some of the most powerful peak rank 9 Dao Kings who had entered the ''City of Immortals'' this time, especially those who came from extremely powerful backgrounds around the central region would be interested in buying this information from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', since they would aim to learn more about their rivals.
However, contrary to Li Tian''s, and even Liu Mei''s and the others'' expectations, Shun Long merely stared at Li Tian for a few moments, before he asked him with a deep look in his eyes
''''You are saying that the information you have includes details about their cultivation techniques and martial skills as well?''''
Li Tian''s eyes narrowed into slits when he heard Shun Long''s question, before a radiant smile appeared on his face shortly afterwards as he nodded his head and replied in an even friendlier manner than before
''''It seems that this guest is quite familiar with our chamber ofmerce. Indeed, as you have guessed, the information that we have does not only include the names of those Dao Kings who stand at the peak of our central region and the names of the powers theye from, but it also includes some of their personal information like the cultivation techniques and the martial skills that they train in, and even the Daos that some of them haveprehended. Obtaining this information would allow our dear guests to be even better prepared, and will give you a higher chance of survival for the next 8 years!
Of course, as our dear guest can probably guess, some of these experts are also quite secretive, so even our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' may not know too much about them.''''
Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Li Tian''s answer, as he understood that the price the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had set was most likely considered to be fair if things were as Li Tian had just said.
After all, just the information that he had purchased back in Murong city which included information about Murong Tian and the remaining Dao Emperors of the Murong family, had cost Shun Long 60.000 high-grade spirit stones!
Although information about some powerful Dao Emperors, especially peak Dao Emperors like Murong Tian was expected to be expensive, Shun Long understood that the reason why the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had priced the information of the peak Dao Kings of the central region even higher than that, surpassing even the price that would cost someone to scout a powerful family in the northern part of the central region like the Murong family by more than 3 times, wasn''t just because of the information itself, but because of the status that some of those Dao Kings had in the central region.
''''I am not sure if the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' will have any information on the ''geniuses'' of powers like the Tianxuan dynasty, but this should still be useful regardless of that.'''' Shun Long thought to himself as he stared at Li Tian for a moment, before he waved his right hand soon after, causing a mountain of high-grade spirit stones to appear in front of him.
''''This...!''''
Staring at the huge mountain of high-grade spirit stones that had suddenly appeared in front of him, Li Tian was stunned momentarily, feeling like his mind had short-circuited for a brief moment.
However, the senses of a businessman kicked in merely a few seconds afterwards, as Li Tian quickly regained his bearings and gathered the dozen memory-recording jades that he had taken out from his spatial ring, before he personally handed them to Shun Long.
''''Dear guest, thank you very much for your business!'''' Li Tian said with a face full of smiles before he started gathering the high-grade spirit stones in front of him, afraid that a passerby might see them exposed.
Even with his status as ate-stage Dao King of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Li Tian knew that in this ce where there were no other experts around to protect him, he would truly be in trouble if anyone else saw this scene.
After all, forget about other Dao Kings, 220.000 high-grade spirit stones were enough to attract the attention of even some peak rank 9 Dao Emperors!
Meanwhile, Shun Long nodded his head and epted the memory jades from Li Tian, before he sat cross-legged on the ground and began to check their contents on the spot.
As for Li Tian, he wasn''t in a hurry to leave after gathering the spirit stones, as he stood there with that same smile on his face, waiting for Shun Long to finish checking the contents of the memory jades first before they could conclude their business.
A few minutester, Shun Long opened his eyes and stared at the memory jades in front of him with a serious look on his face, looking like he was deeply pondering over something. At the same time, the final memory jade in his hand turned into a pile of dust as well, just like the previous ones, as it disappeared on the spot.
Meanwhile, Li Tian had that same smile on his face staring at Shun Long, and after a moment of silence he asked curiously
''''Dear guest, were you satisfied with the information?''''
At this point, Li Tian would be dumb if he didn''t understand that the leader of this small group in front of him was actually this short-haired young man whose cultivation was only at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm.
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Li Tian and answered calmly
''''Yeah. The information of your ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' was worth the spirit stones.''''
Shun Long then turned to look at Liu Mei and the others before he said
''''Let''s have a look around this city first before we leave this ce.''''
A momentter, Shun Long then led Liu Mei and the others as they left the za, leaving Li Tian and his group behind.
A few moments after Shun Long''s group had left however, the young man behind Li Tian looked at Shun Long''s disappearing figure and asked in surprise
''''Senior brother Li, are we really going to let them leave like that?''''
Li Tian raised his eyebrows as he stared at the young man behind him, before he said coldly
''''Junior brother Xian, could it be that you want to chase after them?''''
The young man that Li Tian had just called ''junior brother Xian'' nodded his head, as if he hadn''t noticed Li Tian''s displeasure before he answered seriously
''''Senior brother Li, if that guy can take out 200.000 high-grade spirit stones so easily, isn''t it practically guaranteed that he must have even more? I know that senior brother is someone who only does business and avoids robbing others, but even the strongest person in their group is merely that girl who is just a peak rank 6 Dao King! With senior brother''s strength, killing them all should be a piece of cake! Are you really going to let them leave?''''
At the same time, the young woman who was standing next to this young man took a step forward and stared at Li Tian, before she said in a solemn voice
''''Senior brother Li, I agree with senior brother Xian! Although we are disciples of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', we are also cultivators! We can''t let such an opportunity go to waste!''''
The young man named ''junior brother Xian'' spread out his hands and continued
''''Senior brother, think about it! Even if we let them go due to senior brother''s kindness, do you really think that those people will survive? In my eyes, it''s better if we are the ones to benefit instead of waiting for others to kill them!''''
Chapter 845: Chapter 845
Chapter 845:
Li Tian fell silent for a while as he stared at the young man and the young woman in front of him with a serious look in his eyes, before he shook his head and said in a solemn manner
''''Do you really think that someone who carries so many high-grade spirit stones with them wouldn''t have any way to protect themselves? Most likely, those people eithere from one of the top powers from the central part of our central region, or they may even be disciples of some powerful expert who has isted himself from the world, otherwise, there is no way that they would have so many high-grade spirit stones. Even if the strongest person in that group is that young woman with the long ck hair, she isn''t someone that we can underestimate.''''
Unlike his junior brother and his junior sister, Li Tian was someone with plenty of experience, and he could assess the situation in front of him much more logically.
Even if Liu Mei''s cultivation was slightly lower than his own, Li Tian understood that it wouldn''t be that easy for him to kill her even if he truly went all-out, since he could actually feel that Liu Mei posed a real threat to him. This was a feeling that came from Li Tian''s own instincts.
However, the young man named ''junior brother Xian'' didn''t seem satisfied with Li Tian''s response as he shook his head and continued immediately afterwards
''''Senior brother, so what if they are disciples of some powerful expert? No matter what, this ce we are in is the ''City of Immortals'' and there is no one to protect them here! As long as we kill them discreetly nobody will find out about it either. Besides, ording to our information, these people don''t belong to any of the top powers of our central region, or our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' would have definitely known about it.
The way I see it, there are only 2 possible scenarios. It''s either like senior brother has said and that those people are truly disciples of some powerful reclusive expert, or... they happened to obtain the legacy of a powerful expert which is why they possess so many high-grade spirit stones!''''
The young woman next to ''junior brother Xian'' nodded her head in agreement, before she looked at Li Tian and said seriously
''''Senior brother Li, I think that senior brother Xian is right! Even if those peoplee from a powerful background, this ce is still the ''City of Immortals'' and they don''t have anyone to protect them! Are we really going to let them go like that?''''
Li Tian fell silent when he heard this as he stared at the young man and the young woman in front of him with a serious look.
In his heart, Li Tian also understood that regardless of what type of protective treasures Shun Long and his group may had, it wouldn''t matter at all while they were in the ''City of Immortals''. Even those extremely rare talismans like the ''Soul-locking talisman'' that could normally affect powerful Sovereign realm experts would be restricted while they were in this ce.
And yet, Li Tian''s own gut feeling told him that this situation wasn''t as simple as it seemed.
After a few moments of silence however, Li Tian finally gritted his teeth and steeled his heart, before he said in a determined manner
''''Let''s go.''''
..
At the same time, Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the others, all walked around the nearly deserted streets of the city, before Bai Longtian looked at Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Brother Shun, are there any trials in this city?''''
Shun Long looked at Bai Longtian and shook his head before he said calmly
''''ording to the information from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', there is only one other ce in this city, other than that za where people from the ''Demon-fanged city'' are teleported to.''''
Staring at the numerous half-destroyed buildings around him that were clearly affected by the passage of countless years, Shun Long turned his gaze towards the depths of this city as he continued
''''There should be a deserted castle in the heart of the city, but whether there are any treasures left in that ce or not is actually unknown. Of course, it wouldn''t hurt to take a look before we go towards the first trial.''''
At the same time that he finished speaking, Shun Long suddenly narrowed his eyes, before he turned around and stared at the direction of the za behind him.
Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, seemed to have also sensed something, as they turned their gazes towards the za as well.
A momentter, Li Tian''s figure quickly appeared in the sky above them, while the young man named ''junior brother Xian'' and the young woman who was following by his side seemed to havepletely surrounded Shun Long and his group.
''''Haha, senior brother, I knew that they wouldn''t have gone too far. I bet that they were nning to take a look at that old pce before they left the city! How lucky!'''' The young man whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 5 in the Dao King realm said with a cold smile on his face, while his gaze waspletely focused on Shun Long, as if he was staring at a juicy piece of meat.
Since this city was practically deserted and only had a few small groups of cultivators present, the young man named ''junior brother Xian'' wasn''t worried that anyone else would interfere while they killed Shun Long and his group here.
What he had been worried about, was that Shun Long would end up leaving the city right after he finished reading the information within the memory jades.
If that truly happened, then even if they could find him again, it would have been much harder to steal his spatial ring in broad daylight without attracting attention, especially since the number ofte-stage Dao Kings who were present in the ''City of Immortals'' wasn''t small.
After all, although killings weren''t rare in this ce, if anotherte-stage Dao King noticed this, they would definitely be able to guess what was going on and would most likely interfere and take the spirit stones for themselves.
After all, it wasmon knowledge that someone from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' like Li Tian wasn''t someone who would easily rob others, so for him to do something like that, it must have meant that his target was truly wealthy.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t even look at ''junior brother Xian'' who was eyeing him coldly, as his eyes met Li Tian''s cold eyes that were now filled with unconcealed killing intent, before Shun Long shook his head and said calmly
''''It seems that you guys havee to give me back my spirit stones.''''
Li Tian snorted when he heard this, while in his heart he could feel an ufortable feeling swelling.
He didn''t know why, but when he met Shun Long''s calm gaze that didn''t look the slightest bit panicked or surprised, Li Tian suddenly felt his entire body going cold.
''''Senior brother, what are you waiting for? Let''s do this! Kill that woman while junior sister and I take care of the rest of them.'''' Junior brother Xian said to Li Tian as his cultivation of a peak rank 5 Dao King exploded outwards.
Li Tian nodded his head and decided to not waste any more words with Shun Long, as the cultivation of an early rank 7 Dao King exploded out from his body in the next moment, immediately targeting the most dangerous person from Shun Long''s group, Liu Mei.
After all, in Li Tian''s eyes, Liu Mei was the only one who truly threaten him!
At that moment however, Liu Mei''s gaze was filled with cold, unrestrained killing intent as she stared at Li Tian and his group, before her cultivation at the peak of rank 6 in the Dao King realm burst out from her body!
Despite the fact that Liu Mei''s cultivation was lower than his, Li Tian could feel his entire body shivering when he sensed the terrifying aura around Liu Mei, that made even ate-stage Dao King like him feel fear!
''''Attack!'''' Li Tian suddenly shouted before his figure turned into a blur, as he flew straight towards Liu Mei, while his body left behind countless afterimages.
A pair of small ck daggers had appeared in his hands practically at the same time, as Li Tian aimed them towards Liu Mei''s heart.
And yet, Liu Mei didn''t seem flustered by this, as she stared at Li Tian approaching figure coldly, before a ck ball of qi appeared between her hands in a single second.
Without any hesitation, Liu Mei allowed the ball of death qi to fall on the ground, causing the ground beneath her feet to start trembling.
Li Tian''s speed was truly fast, and in just a single moment, his figure had already arrived in front of Liu Mei, but before his daggers could actually pierce through her heart, Li Tian''s body seemed to have suddenly frozen into ce as a terrifying sight appeared in his eyes.
Chapter 846: Black skeleton
Chapter 846: ck skeleton
A skeleton that was around 1.8 meters (5.10ft) tall had appeared in front of Li Tian seemingly out of thin air, as he blocked his path towards Liu Mei.
At that moment, Xingyi and the others also noticed, that this skeleton wasn''t the same as the rest of the skeletons in Liu Mei''s army.
Unlike the normal jade-white skeletons whose eye sockets were burning with green wisps of ember and were normally holding their thin-looking but sharp bone swords, this skeleton in front of Liu Mei was pitch-ck in appearance and his eye sockets were burning with purple mes instead!
Additionally, instead of the usual sword made of bones, this ck skeleton was holding a peculiar-looking, massive dark-red sword that was emitting an extremely dense aura of death!
Without any hesitation, the ck skeleton swung the dark-red sword in his hands sideways, meeting Li Tian''s daggers head-on!
At that moment, the scene that followed didn''t just stun the young man named ''junior brother Xian'' and the young woman who was standing by his side who were waiting for Li Tian to kill Liu Mei, but even Li Tian himself who looked like he couldn''t believe his own eyes.
The moment that the ck skeleton''s dark-red sword shed with his daggers, both Li Tian and the ck skeleton were actually pushed backwards by more than 3 steps until they regained their bnce.
And yet, even after he regained his bnce Li Tian didn''t make another move, as he stared at the ck skeleton in front of him with a look of disbelief before he mumbled to himself in an incredulous voice
''''How is this possible? This monster... it can actually rival ate-stage Dao King like me?''''
''''Senior brother, let me help you!'''' The young man called ''junior brother Xian'' shouted from the distance when he witnessed the scene in front of him, before his figure shot towards Li Tian at full speed.
Originally, both he and the young woman who was standing next to him, had both expected that Li Tian would be able to effortlessly ughter Liu Mei in just a few attacks, while the 2 of them would kill Shun Long and the other 3 by his side.
But from the looks of things, despite her lower cultivation base, it seemed that Liu Mei''s strength actually wasn''t inferior to Li Tian''s in the slightest.
Unlike his junior brother and his junior sister who didn''t seem to have realized what was going on, Li Tian actually understood exactly how dangerous the ck skeleton in front of him really was.
Just now, Li Tian had truly gone all-out with this attack of his, activating even the Dao of Wind within his 1-star daggers as he aimed to take Liu Mei''s life in a single strike.
With his cultivation at the early rank 7 of the Dao King realm and his 2 daggers, even a normal middle rank 7 Dao King wouldn''t be able to escape if they didn''t have a star-rank weapon as well.
And yet, this ck skeleton in front of him whose aura seemed to be simr to Liu Mei''s, at the peak of rank 6 in the Dao King realm, was able to block his attack head-on!
''''Senior brother Li, let''s take down that skeleton together! I am sure that it won''t be able tost for too long under ourbined atta-'''' ''Junior brother Xian'' was about to speak, but his words seemed to have been suddenly stuck in his throat as his eyes widened in terror in the next moment.
In fact, it wasn''t just him, as even Li Tian who was standing beside him could feel his entire body that had started to shiver, as he stared at the scene that was unfolding in front of his eyes.
From the ck hole on the ground, a massive, hideous monster that was more than 30 meters tall slowly emerged, followed by a hundred undead knights each of whom was emitting an aura simr to that of a peak rank 6 Dao King!
Staring at the Death Eater and sensing the aura of malice and bloodlust that it was emitting, even Li Tian could no longer keep himself calm as he involuntarily took a few steps back.
At that moment however, Liu Mei took a single step forward as she stood on the Death Eater''s back, and with a frosty look on her face she said coldly
''''You want to leave? It''s toote!''''
Before Li Tian and his ''junior brother Xian'' could retreat, Liu Mei''s aura exploded outwards, before the ck skeleton, the Death Eater, and the 100 undead knights all attacked them at once.
Unlike Li Tian who was an early rank 7 Dao King, ''junior brother Xian'' was just a peak rank 5 Dao King and could at most fight a single of these undead knight head-on.
But under the onught of 100 undead knights, his body was soon riddled with tens of wounds before it was dismembered by the undead knights'' massive greatswords, leaving behind nothing else but an unrecognizable corpse.
''''NO!'''' The young woman who was watching this scene from the distance shouted in horror, before a look of despair began to color her face.
Gritting her teeth, the young woman abruptly turned around and tried to flee, no longer intending to stay in this ce any longer.
She could see that even Li Tian was having trouble and was unable to escape no matter how hard he tried, while his body seemed to be umting wounds at a terrifying rate.
Just the ck skeleton itself was enough to match him in both strength and speed, posing a serious threat all by itself, but when its strength wasbined with the Death Eater''s and the 100 undead knights, even Li Tian had no chance and could at most defend in a desperate manner.
The young woman understood that no matter what, once those monsters were done with Li Tian, they would definitely go after her.
With her cultivation of an early rank 5 Dao King, forget about the Death Eater, even a single undead knight would be enough to effortlessly take her life!
However, before the young woman could escape too far, her body suddenly trembled mid-air, before a look of horror appeared inside her eyes.
From the ground below her, more than a dozen of shadow tentacles seemed to have appeared out of nowhere,pletely restricting her movements and holding her into ce. Although the young woman struggled to break free, it didn''t matter how many shadow tentacles she destroyed, as even more spouted from the ground below her, firmly locking her into ce.
At this moment, the young woman was determined to go all-out and use her strongest martial skills to escape from the tentacle''s entanglement as quickly as possible, but before she could gather all of her qi, she suddenly noticed the figure of an extremely beautiful blond-haired woman appearing behind her.
Before the young woman could react, Xingyi suddenly thrust the silver dagger in her left hand forward, piercing straight through the young woman''s heart.
A momentter, the shadow tentacles all disappeared, before the young woman''s lifeless corpse copsed on the ground with a thud.
Meanwhile, Li Tian''s figure seemed to be growing slower and slower with every passing second, as his body was now covered in countless sword wounds.
''''You bastards! Fuck off! I won''t die here! ''Soul tornado''!'''' Li Tian roared out loudly before he gathered all of his qi in his 2 daggers and swung them horizontally, as he used his strongest martial skill.
A huge, ck tornado slowly began to form itself around Li Tian, finally pushing the undead knights that were barraging him with attacks backwards.
This was Li Tian''s strongest martial skill, a Saint middle-grade martial skill that attacked his enemies'' bodies and souls at the same time.
Unfortunately for Li Tian, thest thing that Liu Mei''s undead creatures were afraid of was precisely spiritual attacks like this.
Although the undead knights were slightly pushed back by the power of Li Tian''s ''Soul tornado'', the ck skeleton and the Death Eater seemed barely affected by it, as the 2 undead creatures continued their unrelenting attacks on the middle-aged man in front of them.
A few momentster, the ck skeleton and the Death Eater finally stopped, as only the figure of an unrecognizable corpse along with a jade-green spatial ring remained in front of them.
Chapter 847: Blood castle
Chapter 847: Blood castle
''''Mei, what is this ck skeleton of yours? Why is it so different from your white skeletons? It''s actually strong enough to fight against that Li Tian all by itself?!'''' Xingyi asked with a curious look in her eyes as she stared at the ck skeleton that was silently standing just a few meters away from Li Tian''s corpse.
Meanwhile, Liu Mei first retrieved Li Tian''s spatial ring and handed it to Shun Long with a bright smile on her face, before she turned to look at Xingyi and said calmly
''''It''s a skeleton king.''''
''''Skeleton king?''''
It wasn''t just Xingyi who was surprised by Liu Mei''s answer, but Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian as well, while a curious look had also appeared in Shun Long''s eyes as he stared at the ck skeleton.
Shun Long could sense that even though the ck skeleton''s aura was clearly at the same level as Liu Mei''s, its actual strength exceeded that of an average early rank 7 Dao King. This was why, even with his pair of 1-star daggers, Li Tian couldn''t get any advantage in his fight against it.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei exined seriously
''''Skeleton kings are the strongest type of skeletons I can currently create a connection with, and each of them is strong enough to overpower even my Death Eater in a fight. Of course, the Death Eater''s defense and survivability are much stronger than the skeleton kings'', but in terms of raw attack power and speed, the skeleton kings are much stronger. However, right now I can only summon 3 skeleton kings at most with my current strength.''''
Liu Mei''sst sentence stunned Bai Longtian and the others as they had already thought that Liu Mei had gone all-out during the fight just now.
Just a single one of these ck skeletons was strong enough to fight an early rank 7 Dao King like Li Tian to a standstill, and yet Liu Mei could summon 2 more of those monsters at the same time?
If Li Tian was still alive, he would have definitely ended up vomiting blood due to anger and frustration. If he had known about this beforehand, he would have never chosen to attack Shun Long''s group so hastily.
Unfortunately for him, there was no information about Shun Long and the rest in the memory jades of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', so Li Tian had no idea what type of people he was fighting against.
Staring at Li Tian''s unrecognizable corpse that was now nothing more than a pile of raw flesh and blood, Xingyi then looked at Liu Mei and asked her curiously
''''Mei, are you going to turn this guy into an undead? No matter what, he is still ate-stage Dao King so he could be quite useful.''''
Indeed, although ''junior brother Xian'' and the young woman from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' were nothing more than rank 5 Dao Kings, whose strength was even inferior to the undead knights, Li Tian''s strength was an entirely different matter.
However, Liu Mei merely stared at Li Tian''s corpse for a few moments in silence, before she shook her head and said
''''It''s too dangerous.''''
Xingyi was confused momentarily, but a look of realization suddenly appeared in her bright emerald eyes as she stared at Li Tian''s corpse.
Indeed, at the end of the day, Li Tian was still a member of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
Even if his own position within the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' wasn''t high and he was just a normal disciple, and even if he had been the one to attack Shun Long and his group first, there was no doubt that if another member of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' happened to see his corpse beingmanded by Liu Mei during a fight, it would definitely attract endless trouble.
After all, this was still the ''City of Immortals'', and there was no doubt that there would be plenty more disciples of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' other than the 3 that they had just killed. Even Shun Long couldn''t estimate the number of peak rank 9 Dao Kings that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had sent in this ce, let alone the number ofte-stage Dao Kings.
Nodding his head, Shun Long first gathered ''junior brother Xian''s'' and the young woman''s spatial rings, as well as Li Tian''s 1-star daggers and ced them all inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he said calmly
''''Let''s go take a look at the castle here before we leave the city.''''
After walking around the empty streets for a while, Shun Long soon arrived at the heart of the city, standing in front of the entrance of an enormous castle.
Despite its appearance that made it seem like it could copse at any moment, Shun Long merely took a look at the castle from the outside, before he stepped through its wide-open gates and entered inside.
Surprisingly, the first thing that Shun Long noticed when he stepped inside, were the countless bodies that were spread everywhere around him, as well as the scent of blood that was present in the air.
The dried blood that had painted the walls and the floor of the castle a deep red color made it obvious that arge-scale fight had taken ce here.
However, Jiang Chen and the rest could all tell with just a few nces that this fight had only happened less than a year ago, or the scent of blood in the air wouldn''t be so intense and the bodies around them would have definitely turned into skeletons by now if that wasn''t the case.
After staring at his surroundings for a while, Shun Long first closed his eyes and spread his soul sense as far as he could, before he continued to walk towards the depths of the castle.
Of course, even though there were countless bodies around them, Xingyi and the others all noticed that none of these bodies had any spatial rings on them, as they had clearly been looted long ago. Naturally, the people who had killed them wouldn''t leave their enemies'' wealth behind before they left.
As they walked past the thousands of corpses and headed even deeper inside the castle, Jiang Chen suddenly said as he stared at his surroundings
''''I could sense it ever since we arrived here, but the qi in this city is even purer than the qi in that ''Demon-fanged city''.''''
Shun Long nodded his head in agreement as he had also sensed the same thing the moment they stepped foot into this city.
Both the qi in the air and the quantity of immortal qi that was mixed with it were many times better than the qi in the ''Demon-fanged city'' where Qiao Min and the rest of the disciples of the Holy sect were staying in.
After walking around the enormous castle for more than an hour, Shun Long and his group finally arrived at the entrance of arge throne room.
However, even before he stepped past the room''s entrance and entered inside, Shun Long could smell the scent of blood that wasing from this room which was many times more intense than any other ce inside this castle.
It was obvious that arge massacre had taken ce here some time ago, and it was clearly much more intense than the fight at the castle''s entrance.
Staring at the decapitated corpses everywhere around him, some of which were missing their limbs, others missing their heads, while others were in an even worse state than Li Tian''s corpse, Shun Long shook his head as he understood that there was truly nothing left in this ce.
Whoever hade before him had definitely robbed this ce clean.
At the same time, he also understood that for such arge fight to have taken ce here, the treasures in this ce were definitely nothing ordinary. However, Shun Long wasn''t too disappointed either since he had already expected this oue from the moment he stepped foot into the castle, since it was extremely unlikely for any treasures to have been left behind.
''''Brother Shun, it seems that we were not fated to get the treasures in this ce.'''' Bai Longtian said after a moment of silence.
Nodding his head, Shun Long smiled and turned his gaze towards Bai Longtian and the rest and said calmly
''''It''s only natural. If there was anything to gain from this ce, this city wouldn''t have been deserted like this to begin with. Let''s go to the location of the first trial.''''
Once he finished speaking, Shun Long closed his eyes, before the figure of a huge ck panther with bright silver wings appeared in front of him.
After he took onest look at the throne room, Shun Long sat on Little Silver''s back along with Liu Mei and the rest, before Little Silver''s figure shot out of the castle like a bolt of silver lightning, flying towards the east of the city.
Chapter 848: Stone mural
Chapter 848: Stone mural
In just a few moments, Little Silver''s figure had already arrived above the deserted city gates of the city before it continued flying towards the horizon shortly afterwards.
Sitting on Little Silver''s back, Shun Long closed his eyes and sent his soul sense inside Li Tian''s spatial ring as he began to inspect the ring''s contents.
Staring at the 340.000 high-grade spirit stones inside the ring, a smile finally appeared on Shun Long''s face, before he transferred everything into the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' without any hesitation.
Although 220.000 of these high-grade spirit stones were the ones that Shun Long had paid to Li Tian for the memory jades, the rest of them was what Li Tian had managed to gather during these past few months in the ''City of Immortals''.
Other than the high-grade spirit stones, Shun Long also found a few pill bottles that were filled with middle rank 6 ''anti-toxin pills'' as well as some healing pills, along with more than a hundred of the memory recording jades that Li Tian was carrying with him.
After he stored everything into the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long then turned his attention towards the remaining 2 spatial rings that came from ''junior brother Xian'' and the young woman who was following by his side.
However, other than a few low-grade and middle-grade rank 6 pills, Shun Long only found a total of 20.000 high-grade spirit stones inside their spatial rings.
Unlike Li Tian who could be considered quite a fat sheep even among most peak rank 9 Dao Kings, ''junior brother Xian'' and the young woman from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' were only carrying wealth that was equivalent to that of an averagete-stage Dao King''s.
Regardless, Shun Long still stored everything inside the ''Stone of Time'' without any guilt, before he opened his eyes and turned his gaze towards the horizon.
Staring at the massive desert that Little Silver was flying across right now which didn''t seem to have an end in sight, Shun Long had an extremely deep look in his eyes, before he mumbled in a low voice
''''Little ck, can you feel anything?''''
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck opened his bright blue eyes and spread out his soul sense around Shun Long, before a rare look of surprise appeared on the ck dragon''s face.
After a few moments of silence, Little ck shook his head and said seriously
''''Master, I can''t use my soul sense in this ce. This feeling is extremely weird.''''
Shun Long was surprised when he heard Little ck''s answer, but he still nodded his head after a few moments of silence, his gaze turning even more serious than before.
Ever since he had stepped foot into the ''City of Immortals'', Shun Long could feel that his bloodline was throbbing intensely for some reason, as if it was being stimted by something in this ce.
Since his bloodline originally came directly from Little ck''s own blood essence, Shun Long believed that Little ck would also be able to sense this.
However, since Little ck''s senses werepletely suppressed in this ce, the situation now was even trickier than before.
At the same time, Shun Long wasn''t certain what would happen if he released Little ck in this world that could only contain Dao King realm cultivators.
Noticing the change in Shun Long''s expression, Bai Longtian asked curiously
''''Brother Shun, is everything okay?''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long decided to put this feeling at the back of his mind for now, before he turned to look at Liu Mei and the others and said
''''There is still some time until we reach the location of the first trial, so everyone should have a look at the memory recording jades that Li Tian left behind first.''''
Waving his hand, Shun Long then took out the rest of the memory recording jades from the ''Stone of Time'' and handed them to Liu Mei and the others.
After all, there was no way that he could go around selling these in the first ce since that would attract the attention of the disciples from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''.
...
Like this, a day passed by in the blink of an eye, before Little Silver''s figure suddenly came to a halt in the sky right in the middle of the desert.
Staring at the desert below him, Jiang Chen mumbled with a surprised look on his face
''''This is the location of the first trial?''''
pping its bright silver wings, Little Silver turned into a blur as it dove straight towards the desert below it.
As soon as the ck panther''s figure approached the ground, the sand actually parted as if it was making way for Little Silver, revealing the astonishing scene that it was hiding.
A massive mural that spanned for more than a mile was hidden beneath the desert while tens of thousands of Dao Kings had gathered around it, all of them staring at it with entranced looks on their faces.
The moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on this gigantic stone mural, the information he had received from Li Tian''s memory jades quickly resurfaced in his mind
''One of the 2 known trials within the ''City of Immortals'', the Desert Mural. Our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' discovered this trial purely by luck, just 2 months after the opening of the ''City of Immortals''. In fact, it is unknown if this is truly a trial or not, since there are no listed requirements toplete. There is also no danger in this ce, nor are there any direct rewards to be obtained.
However, this is still the most popr among the 2 discovered trials, as every cultivator who wields a weapon will get to reap immense benefits after they visit this ce.''''
The introduction of this trial was nothing special, not listing too many things other than the fact that there was no danger in this ce and that cultivators who wield a weapon can reap plenty of benefits after theye here.
And yet, the moment that Shun Long''s eyesnded on the gigantic stone mural, a look of shock appeared on his face, while a profound feeling seemed to have suddenly enveloped his entire body in the next moment.
Jiang Chen, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and even Liu Mei, all looked equally as surprised as they stared at this massive stone mural below them.
As Little Silver flew closer towards it, its figure attracted the attention of quite a few of the surrounding cultivators who seemed to have suddenly sensed the aura of a peak rank 6 magic beast approaching them.
However, these people merely threw a few more nces at Little Silver before they turned their attention back towards the stone mural.
A few momentster, Little Silvernded on the ground, before Shun Long, Liu Mei, and the rest all found an empty spot in front of the mural, staring at the scene that was depicted in the mural in silence.
A faceless man that was holding arge staff could be seen fighting against another faceless man who was wielding a wooden sword with both hands.
''''This... is this real? How is this possible?'''' Bai Longtian mumbled to himself in a voice filled with disbelief as he stared at the scene in front of him.
Although the scene looked simple, anyone who was slightly proficient in using a sword or a staff would be able to understand that this was actually anything but simple.
With just a nce, Bai Longtian could tell that the skills of the faceless man who was wielding the wooden sword were countless times above his own.
In fact, the 2 of them couldn''t even bepared. Forget about Dao Kings like Shun Long and Bai Longtian, even Bai Longtian''s own master, Elder He Kun, the number one sword user in the Holy sect, couldn''t possiblypare to this.
The longer that Bai Longtian stared at the faceless man who was holding the sword, the more he felt like he was falling into a trance.
But this was only one of the scenes that was depicted in this mural.
Scenes of a faceless man wielding a saber could also be seen, fighting against another person who was holding a bow.
The more that Jiang Chen and the others stared at the mural in front of them, the more entranced they seemed to be.
At the same time, in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck stared at the stone mural with a look of unconcealed shock in his eyes, before he said in a serious voice
''''Master... this mural was created by an expert! The person who created this was definitely an immortal at the very least!''''
Chapter 849: Comprehending the sword
Chapter 849: Comprehending the sword
Shun Long was momentarily taken aback when he heard Little ck''s words, before a serious look appeared on his face in the next moment.
For Little ck to call someone an expert, it meant that that person''s skills were definitely above average even among immortal-level cultivators.
In fact, Shun Long knew that only experts at the same level as themanders of the ''Heaven Trampling legion'' could qualify to be considered ''experts'' by Little ck.
Seeing the entranced expressions on Jiang Chen''s, Bai Longtian''s, Xingyi''s, and even Liu Mei''s faces as they stared at the stone mural, Shun Long nodded his head before he said calmly
''''Let''s stay in this ce for a while.''''
At the same time, a young man dressed in bright red robes who was standing just a few meters away from Shun Long''s group suddenly burst intoughter when he heard this, as he stared at Shun Long and said in a mocking voice
''''For a while? Hahaha! Brat, you are just a peak rank 3 Dao King! Do you really think that you canst ''for a while'' in this trial? I doubt you will evenst a month! Don''t get too cocky!''''
Narrowing their eyes, Liu Mei and the others all stared at the haughty young man in red robes whose cultivation was clearly at the peak of rank 7 in the Dao King realm, but the young man merely snorted and threw a few more nces at Little Silver that was standing behind Shun Long, before he turned his gaze back towards the stone mural, not paying any more attention to Shun Long and his group.
At the same time, Shun Long merely threw a single nce at this red-robed young man before he turned his gaze towards the stone mural and kept observing the faceless man who was holding the wooden sword.
Shun Long knew that the moment they arrived here Little Silver''s aura was bound to alert some of the people around them who were previously studying the stone mural in silence.
Naturally, those people wouldn''t be too pleased and would feel quite disgruntled when their concentration was interrupted so suddenly, once they sensed the overbearing aura of a peak rank 6 magic beast approaching them. But of course, there were very few people who would be truly willing to fight against a peak rank 6 magic beast over something so trivial.
After shooting a few more cold nces at that red-robed young man, Liu Mei eventually sat down next to Shun Long and began to stare at the stone mural with a serious look in her eyes.
Although Liu Mei was no longer using her sword that often, she was still someone who had trained in the sword ever since she was a child and she could clearly feel the profound truths that were hidden in this stone mural.
Liu Mei could feel that the longer she stared at the faceless man who was wielding a wooden sword in the stone mural, herprehension of the sword seemed to be deepening even further.
A momentter, Bai Longtian sat down next to Shun Long as well, as he too stared at the faceless person who was wielding the wooden sword.
As for Xingyi and Jiang Chen, they stared at their surroundings for a few moments, before Xingyi walked towards an empty area just a few meters away from Shun Long, staring at the image of a faceless man who was holding a pair of wooden daggers and was facing another person who was wielding arge halberd.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen''s cold eyes were capturedpletely by a different scene that was engraved in the mural, where a faceless man that was wielding arge saber was fighting against another man who was holding a wooden bow.
It was only Little Silver that seemedpletely uninterested in the stone mural, as itid down on the ground behind Shun Long and closed its eyes.
...
Time passed by in the blink of an eye, and soon, an entire month had gone by before the red-robed young man who was sitting just a few meters away from Shun Long suddenly opened his eyes.
With a smile on his face, the red-robed young man took out arge staff from his spatial ring and held it tightly with both hands, before he swung it forward using all of his strength.
A massive gust of air appeared around therge staff, traveling towards an empty area for more than 300 meters before it began to disperse.
''''Hahaha! This ce is truly a paradise! Even an early rank 8 Dao King isn''t my match anymore!''''
The red-robed young man had a big smile on his face as he stared at the staff in his hands with a proud look.
Although his attack just now was nothing remarkable and was something that even an early-stage Dao King would be able to easily resist, in reality, the red-robed young man hadn''t used the slightest bit of his qi just now and was only relying on hisprehension of the staff to create that gust of wind.
Shaking his head, the red-robed young man was about to turn around and continue to stare the profound scenes on the stone mural, before his gaze involuntarily fell on Shun Long''s figure.
''''Eh? That guy is still standing? What''s going on?''''
Staring at Shun Long who was sitting in front of the stone mural with his back ramrod straight, without any signs of copsing anytime soon, the red-robed young man couldn''t help but exim in surprise before his eyes narrowed into slits.
Unlike Shun Long and his group who were only a group of neers when they arrived in this ce, the red-robed young man had a clear understanding of how dangerous this trial actually was.
Forget about getting any insights from it, just standing in front of the stone mural was a trial on its own.
Anyone who had just arrived here wouldn''t be able to notice it at first nce, but the longer one stared at the stone mural the more they would be able to feel the terrifying pressure that wasing from it.
Although this red-robed young man had managed to increase his abilities with his staff quite a bit byprehending a tiny portion of the profound scenes that were engraved in the stone mural, the amount of pressure that he had to endure in the past month wasn''t something that an average early-stage Dao King would be able to take on.
Additionally, the pressure would only increase as people kept trying toprehend the scenes on the stone mural even further.
The mounting pressure was something that even peak-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to endure in the long run.
''''Hmph! Let''s see how long you willst.'''' The red-robed young man snorted and threw onest look at Shun Long, before he turned his gaze back towards the stone mural in front of him.
At the same time, Shun Long continued to stare at the scene of the faceless man that was holding a wooden sword with an entranced look on his face, not paying the slightest bit of attention to his surroundings.
Just like the red-robed young man had said, it was true that Shun Long had begun to feel some pressure from the stone mural in the beginning, but that pressure which was directed towards his soul was like a drop in the ocean that was instantly dispersed the moment it entered his spiritual sea.
Although an average peak rank 3 Dao King would have indeed found it difficult to hold on after a month, Shun Long hadn''t even noticed the pressure itself, as his attention was fully focused on the scenes that were engraved in the stone mural.
With every passing moment, Shun Long could feel that hisprehension of the sword was increasing at a terrifying rate, as scenes of the faceless man wielding his sword reyed in his mind over and over again.
...
Time continued to pass, and soon, 2 more months had gone by in a sh, but Shun Long had yet to move even a single step from the spot he was sitting on.
At the end of the third month, Liu Mei''s body suddenly trembled before she was the first one to open her eyes.
-
Author''s note: I have been stockpiling a few chapters in thest few days, so we can have a a mini-mass release tomorrow.
Chapter 850: Talent
Chapter 850: Talent
Liu Mei''s eyes were filled with an extremely sharp look as she stared at the stone mural in front of her, while even her own aura was now slightly different than before.
The aura that was nowing from her body wasn''t just dark and filled with death qi, but it also had a sharp aspect to it that wasn''t there 3 months ago.
After staring at the stone mural for a few more moments, Liu Mei then turned her gaze towards Shun Long who was still sitting there with his eyes closed, before an enchanting, soul-stirring smile ultimately appeared on her face.
Just like Shun Long and Bai Longtian, Liu Mei had also been entranced after staring at the scene of the faceless man who was wielding the wooden sword, and the longer she observed it, the more she seemed to be absorbed by it as well.
Once the first month had gone by, Liu Mei had even failed to realize that she had unconsciously closed her eyes and was no longer staring at the stone mural with her own eyes, but she was using her soul sense instead.
On the second month, she had finally begun to feel the pressureing from the stone mural as it slowly mounted up in her spiritual sea, but it still wasn''t enough to break her concentration.
The pressure continued to increase, but even after the third month was slowlying to an end, the pressure itself still wasn''t enough to force Liu Mei out of her trance.
Of course, this was only natural as well.
Even though Liu Mei was a peak rank 6 Dao King, in reality, her spiritual strength and the power of her soul were far above that of most averagete-stage Dao Kings.
This wasn''t just the result of her havingprehended a supreme Dao like the Dao of Death which constantly pressured her to increase her spiritual strength even further, but also because Liu Mei had consumed thousands upon thousands of ''Soul-nourishing pills'' in the past as well.
Thus,sting 3 months under these circumstances wasn''t a problem.
And yet, at the end of the third month, Liu Mei''s body momentarily trembled before she opened her eyes, causing her concentration to be finally broken.
Even an outsider who looked at this scene would be able to tell that Liu Mei''s concentration hadn''t been broken due to the pressure that the stone mural was emitting, but because Liu Mei herself had decided to give up.
Shaking her head, Liu Mei threw onest look at the scene in the stone mural in front of her, before she closed her eyes for the second time and began to absorb the qi that she had obtained from Li Tian, aiming to breakthrough to the early rank 7 of the Dao King realm directly.
Of course, the reason why Liu Mei had decided to give up wasn''t because she was uninterested in the scenes on the stone mural.
In fact, she could feel that herprehension of the sword had been increasing at an extremely rapid rate in thest 3 months, and that her current sword skills were simply iparable to before.
However, at the start of the third month, Liu Mei had clearly started to feel that she had finally stumbled upon a wall, a gigantic wall that she couldn''t ovee no matter how hard she tried.
At the start of the third month, the benefits that she was obtaining from the stone mural had begun to diminish quite rapidly, and finally, as the third month came to an end, Liu Mei could feel that she could no longer obtain anything else from the stone mural.
Liu Mei knew that this wall was a wall that originated from her ownck of talent.
Although she could normally be considered a cultivation genius that would be weed by practically every single sect around the central region for havingprehended a supreme Dao like the Dao of Death, Liu Mei knew that her own talent in regards to the sword was truly limited.
Forget aboutparing herself to monsters like Shun Long and Bai Longtian, before entering the ''City of Immortals'', Liu Mei knew that as far as her sword skills went, she would probably be considered below average even if shepared herself to most other outer court disciples of the Holy sect.
Even though Liu Mei had made sure to constantly practice her sword skills whenever she had some free time, this was the cruel reality of the cultivation world that very few people could defy. No matter how much effort she put, she couldn''tpare to those geniuses who had put a simr amount of effort into honing their sword skills.
Hard work was extremely important, but 2 people who put the same amount of effort into one thing won''t have the same results if there is a huge gap in their talent.
For Liu Mei''s sword skills topare to someone like Bai Longtian in this aspect, she would have to put more than 10 times the effort that Bai Longtian himself was putting into honing her sword skills, otherwise it would be practically impossible to catch up to him.
This was the difference that was caused by talent.
Although hard work could truly beat talent, in the end, only those geniuses who were cking and had already growncent would allow others to catch up to them.
Of course, Liu Mei wasn''t too disappointed by this either, as she had already epted this long ago.
After all, the reason why she was increasing her sword skills was to protect herself in case she was put in an unfavorable situation where her undead army was unable to protect her in time.
...
As Liu Mei absorbed the qi that she had obtained from Li Tian, time continued to pass while Shun Long, Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi, all stared at the scenes that were engraved in the stone mural, and in the blink of an eye, 3 more months went by in a sh.
Like this, half a year had passed since Shun Long and his group had arrived in this ce, before Xingyi''s body suddenly started to tremble, attracting the attention of quite a few of the surrounding Dao Kings.
Chapter 851 Realm of masters
851 Chapter 851 Realm of masters
''''Eh? What''s going on? Another person has stepped into the realm of masters?''''
One of the Dao Kings who was sitting just a few meters away from Xingyi said loudly in a voice filled with surprise, as his gaze was instantly focused on Xingyi who was still sitting in front of the stone mural with her eyes closed.
At that moment, Xingyi''s aura had started to change as well, giving off an elusive, sharp... and deadly sensation, simr to that of a sharp dagger''s.
''''Impossible! That girl is just a peak rank 4 Dao King! How can she enter the realm of masters with such a low cultivation base?''''
A middle-aged man in blue robes who was emitting the aura of ate-stage Dao King suddenly eximed when he noticed Xingyi''s cultivation base which was one of the weakest among the surrounding Dao Kings.
In fact, the number of middle-stage Dao Kings that were present in this ce were less than a thousand and the rest were almost allte-stage or even peak stage Dao Kings.
''''Realm of masters? Senior brother, are you saying that this girl has stepped into the same realm as senior brother Wu?''''
Nodding his head, the blue-robed middle-aged man continued to stare at Xingyi''s figure before he exined seriously
''''Right. To step into the realm of masters, a person''s skills with a certain weapon need to reach a level where their own body will eventually begin to emit an aura simr to the weapon they have mastered. There is no doubt that that girl has reached this realm as well... the realm of masters!''''
Quite a few of the surrounding experts seemed to have been stunned as well, as their attention was fully ced on Xingyi''s figure.
Although there were tens of thousands of Dao Kings present in this ce, studying the stone mural, the number of Dao Kings who had stepped into the realm of masters among them was less than 100, and practically every single one of them was ate-stage or even a peak rank 9 Dao King!
Thus, one could imagine how surprising it was for a middle-stage Dao King like Xingyi to have stepped into the same realm as those monsters!
...
An hourter, Xingyi finally opened her eyes that resembled 2 sharp green daggers, and after she stared at the stone mural in front of her for a few moments in silence, shepletely retracted her aura, before she began to walk towards Liu Mei.
''''Xingyi, congrattions.'''' Liu Mei said with an earnest smile on her face as she looked at Xingyi.
However, Xingyi merely shook her head with a wry smile on her face before she said seriously
''''Mei, I am too weak. My spiritual strength was almostpletely depleted this time. The pressure from the stone mural is simply too strong...''''
Once she finished speaking, Xingyi turned to look at Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, each of whom was still sitting on the same spot as before with their eyes closed, before Xingyi sat next to Liu Mei and closed her eyes with a calm look on her face.
Since there was nothing else to do, Xingyi could only begin cultivating as well and try to increase her strength as much as possible in the meantime.
..
In the blink of an eye 4 more months quickly passed, while Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian were stillpletely absorbed into the scenes on the stone mural.
It had already been 10 months since they hade here, and yet none of them had showed any signs of waking up in these past 10 months.
At the same time, during those past 10 months, their group of 3 had attracted the attention of quite a few of the surrounding Dao Kings, including some peak rank 9 Dao Kings who were present here.
After all, even mostte-stage Dao Kings wouldn''tst more than 7 or 8 months in front of the stone mural, and yet a peak rank 3 and a pair of peak rank 4 Dao Kings hadsted for nearly a year.
There was no way that something like that could possibly go unnoticed.
''''How much longer are those bastards going to stay like that? Don''t tell me that they are going to enter the realm of masters as well?!''''
''''Are you an idiot? Since they havested for so long it''s practically guaranteed that they will! I would be more surprised if they failed!''''
''''That''s not necessarily true. There have been plenty of people who stayed like that for more than half a year and yet they still failed to enter the realm of masters in the end.
What I am more curious about, is how these 3 can actuallyst for so long under the pressure of the stone mural!''''
Finally, at the beginning of the 11th of the month, Jiang Chen was the first one to wake up, as his body trembled violently for a few moments before he suddenly opened his eyes.
A sharp, dangerous, and demonic aura that was filled with killing intent burst out from his body in the next moment, startling even a few of thete-stage Dao Kings around him.
At that moment, Jiang Chen seemed like a demonic saber that had just been unsheathed and was ready to draw blood.
''''Fuck! Another person has stepped into that realm! What''s going on?''''
However, Jiang Chen didn''t pay any attention to the discussions around him, as he turned his gaze towards Shun Long''s direction barely a moment after he woke up.
Once he noticed that Bai Longtian had actually yet to wake up and was stillprehending the scenes in the stone mural, Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, before he took a deep breath and retracted his aura back to his body, as he made his way towards Shun Long''s direction.
Time continued to pass, and as the 11th month came to an end, Bai Longtian''s figure suddenly trembled as well, before Bai Longtian also opened his eyes.
-
Author''s note: The rest of the mini-mass release isn''t ready yet, as I''m still editing the rest of the chapters. Check back again in a few hours, everything should be ready by then <3
Chapter 852: Shun Long waking up
Chapter 852: Shun Long waking up
The moment that Bai Longtian opened his eyes, an extremely fierce and yet simultaneously serene aura burst out from his body, like a sword that had finally woken up from its long slumber.
At that moment, the aura around Bai Longtian waspletely different from Jiang Chen''s aura when he had woken up.
If Jiang Chen was simr to an unsheathed demonic saber that was craving blood, then Bai Longtian was more like a calm, righteous sword that wouldn''t be moved even if it was faced with a hundred enemies.
''''Are you serious? Which power did these kidse from? What the hell is going on?''''
''''It wasn''t a coincidence? Hahaha, I have to tell senior sister Yu. I am sure that she will be interested in this matter!''''
Once they sensed the auraing from Bai Longtian''s body, the surrounding Dao Kings could no longer stay quiet as they began to question the reality in front of them.
It was one thing if it was just 1 or even 2 people among Shun Long''s group who had obtained enlightenment and had managed to step into the realm of masters, but for 3 of them to do so one after the other, this wasn''t something that could be ignored any longer.
Additionally, Shun Long was the only one who had yet to wake up, and at this point, there were very few people who believed that he would fail to make it into the realm of masters as well.
''''Senior brother, should we try to rope these kids in? Judging from the robes they are wearing it doesn''t look like they belong to anyrge power or I would have already recognized them. Do you want to make a move?''''
A young man in yellow robes who was emitting an aura at the peak of rank 8 in the Dao King realm and was standing just a few meters away from Liu Mei and the others said in a low voice as he asked the yellow-robed middle-aged man who was standing by his side.
However, the yellow-robed middle-aged man next to him simply stared at Liu Mei and the others seriously for a few moments, before he shook his head and said
''''Don''t bother. They are too weak to join us. Even the strongest among them is just an early rank 7 Dao King while the rest of them are just in the middle stages.
Even if they are somewhat talented, they will be nothing but dead weight to us here. Remember, our top-most priority is still the ''City of Immortals''. Once everyone else wakes up we will continue to explore this desert.''''
The yellow-robed young man nodded his head and didn''t say anything else as he sat on the ground and closed his eyes.
Indeed, just like the middle-aged man had said, even though Bai Longtian and the others may be somewhat talented, in the end, they were still limited by their own cultivation bases.
Even if they had entered the realm of masters, it was still impossible for 2 peak rank 4 Dao Kings like Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian to face off against an averagete-stage Dao King directly!
Regardless of how talented they were, this was an insurmountable difference caused by the gap in their cultivation bases that they couldn''t possibly defy.
Even this yellow-robed young man knew, that he could effortlessly ughter their entire group all by himself if he ignored Little Silver.
Although a peak rank 6 magic beast was quite a formidable force in a ce where only Dao Kings could enter, the yellow-robed young man knew that in the ''City of Immortals'' that was filled with countless monsters, it was actually nothing much inparison.
Additionally, there were less than 9 years left until the ''City of Immortals'' closed again.
Putting aside whether Bai Longtian and the others could even reach thete stages of the Dao King realm within these 9 years, it was actually uncertain if they would even be able to stay alive.
These weren''t just the thoughts of the yellow-robed middle-aged man, but many of the surrounding powerful Dao Kings as well, who merely threw a few nces towards Shun Long and his group before they ignored them.
It would be one thing if Bai Longtian and the others had beente-stage Dao Kings who had also entered the realm of masters, but a group of middle-stage Dao Kings would rank near the bottom in terms of strength within the ''City of Immortals''.
At that moment, Bai Longtian took a deep breath and retracted his aura back into his body, before he turned his gaze towards Liu Mei and the others and said calmly
''''It seems that brother Shun is the only one left. Unfortunately, I couldn''tst any longer either. Although the scenes in that stone mural are truly profound, that pressure near the end was simply too powerful! Most likely, even a peak-stage Dao King will have trouble enduring that!''''
Liu Mei nodded her head when she heard Bai Longtian''s words, before she turned her gaze towards Shun Long who was still sitting there with his eyes closed.
During thest few months, Liu Mei had seen plenty ofte-stage and even some peak-stage Dao kings who had been forced to give up and had failed to enter the realm of masters, but she had also seen more than a handful of people who had managed to step into that level as well.
There was no doubt that to enter the realm of masters, one didn''t just need a powerful spiritual strength that rivaled that of ate-stage Dao King''s... but also immense talent.
However, Liu Mei was certain that neither of those requirements would be enough to stop Shun Long. The only question was, how long it would take him to do so.
Time continued to pass, and soon, the 11th and the 12th months slowly came to an end. Like this, an entire year had gone by since Liu Mei and the others had arrived in this desert, but Shun Long had yet to open his eyes.
However, Liu Mei and the others weren''t worried as they simply waited for him to wake up.
As the 12th month came to an end, Xingyi''s cultivation had also reached the early rank 6 of the Dao King realm, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had both stepped into the early rank 5 of the Dao King realm as well.
Of course, it wasn''t surprising that Xingyi would surpass both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian during this time.
After all, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian had both spent nearly 5 more monthsprehending the scenes in the stone mural, while Xingyi had spent that time cultivating and absorbing the pure qi in this ce, so it was only natural for her cultivation to surpass theirs.
As for Liu Mei, she had already managed to be an early rank 7 Dao King after she finished absorbing the qi that she had obtained from killing Li Tian, and she had spent the past 9 months suppressing the negative emotions that had bubbled up inside her due to the ''Blood Absorption art''.
After 9 whole months, Liu Mei could feel that she hadpletely suppressed all those negative emotions, and that as long as she managed to obtain enough qi, she could even breakthrough all the way to the peak of the Dao King realm in one go.
Soon, the 13th and 14th months also went by but Shun Long had yet to wake up.
Finally, as the 15th month came to an end, Shun Long''s body suddenly trembled before an extremely sharp and profound aura burst out from his body.
''''Wh-What? What is this? What''s going on?''''
''''What kind of aura is this? I- I can feel my soul trembling!''''
The aura that came from Shun Long''s body didn''t just startle Liu Mei and the rest, but all of the nearby Dao Kings as well who now stared at him with expressions of shock and disbelief stered on their faces.
Although most of the peak-stage Dao Kings had already left this ce by now, there were still quite a few early and middle rank 9 Dao Kings around the stone mural, and each of them was stunned when they sensed this indescribable aura that seemed to have emerged out of nowhere.
At the same time, Bai Longtian''s eyes widened momentarily, before he mumbled to himself in a low voice
''''So brother Shun really reached that realm...''''
Chapter 853: Sword aura
Chapter 853: Sword aura
''''That realm?'''' Liu Mei had a look of confusion on her face as she looked at Bai Longtian.
Although she could feel that the aura that wasing from Shun Long right now was quite differentpared to Bai Longtian''s, she still didn''t understand what Bai Longtian meant with the words ''that realm''.
And yet, Bai Longtian simply nodded his head as he looked at Liu Mei before he said seriously
''''Sister Liu can''t sense this just yet because brother Shun has yet to fully release his aura, but anyone who has stepped into this so called ''realm of masters'' will be able to sense it quite easily.
Brother Shun''s sword skills have already surpassed the realm of masters and he has already stepped into the next realm!''''
Jiang Chen and Xingyi both nodded their heads when they heard this, as they could also feel the indescribable auraing from Shun Long''s body that was no different from a terrifying sword that was about to be unsheathed.
At that moment, Bai Longtian continued to stare at Shun Long''s figure before he said in a serious voice
''''Brother Shun is probably the only person in the entire central region who can step into this realm with a cultivation of just a peak rank 3 Dao King.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn''t even get close to that level despite going all-out. In the end, I could feel that my soul was going to be crushed by the pressure from the stone mural if I continued, so I could only give up...''''
Bai Longtian''s look was extremely solemn as he said thest sentence, almost as if he could still feel the lingering pressure from the stone mural within his spiritual sea, as if it was still trying to crush his soul.
In reality, it wasn''t just Bai Longtian who had been forced to stop due to the pressure that wasing from the stone mural, but every other Dao King who had stepped into the realm of masters as well.
Even with a spiritual strength that was at the peak of the Dao King realm, it was impossible to surpass the ''realm of masters''.
In fact, it was already a wonder how Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi had stepped into the realm of masters in the first ce, when their cultivation bases weren''t even in thete-stages of the Dao King realm.
As for exceeding that realm, that was merely a dream that even many Dao Emperors had yet to realize.
After all, both spiritual strength and an immense talent were needed to even reach the ''realm of masters'' with a weapon in the first ce, so surpassing it was bound to be even more difficult.
An hour quickly passed in silence while Shun Long''s aura continued to be stronger at an extremely rapid rate, making every single middle-stage Dao King present to shiver.
Finally, as the first hour came to an end, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly opened before a terrifying aura burst out from his body.
''''This... this is sword aura!''''
''''Sword aura?! Senior brother, are you serious?''''
''''A mere rank 3 Dao King has managed toprehend sword aura? Is this a joke? What the hell is going on?''''
The surrounding Dao Kings immediately exploded in discussions when they sensed the indescribable aura that wasing from Shun Long''s body which made even their hearts palpitate.
''''Senior, what exactly is sword aura? Why is everyone here so serious about this?''''
A young woman with a cultivation at the early rank 5 of the Dao King realm suddenly asked the old woman by her side.
However, the old woman didn''t pay much attention to her as her eyes were still glued on Shun Long''s figure in the distance. It was only after an entire minute had passed that the old woman finally shook her head and said in a trembling voice
''''Sword aura... that is a level that even our sect master who is a peak rank 4 Dao Emperor has yet to reach in the ways of the sword!
This is the first time that I''m seeing it myself, but from what I know, sword aura is the manifestation of sword qi and will only appear when a person''s skills with the sword have already surpassed the ''realm of masters''! This thing doesn''t just require terrifying talent but an extremely powerful soul as well! Forget about early-stage Dao Kings, I have never even heard of a peak-stage Dao King who has reached this realm throughout the entire central region!''''
As she said this, the old woman continued to stare at Shun Long with a look of disbelief on her face.
Even a middle rank 7 Dao King like her didn''t have any confidence in fighting someone who hadprehended sword aura, even if that person was just an early rank 3 Dao King!
A moment after Shun Long opened his eyes, the aura around his body instantly disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first ce.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long then turned around to look at Liu Mei and the others and asked seriously
''''What is everyone looking at?''''
Xingyi and the others were all dumbfounded when they heard Shun Long''s question.
It was one thing if they were around normal cultivators, but in a ce like this that was filled with countless geniuses, where was everyone supposed to look when someone hadprehended sword aura right in front of them?
Bai Longtian was the first one to speak, as he first took a deep breath and calmed down his emotions before he asked eagerly
''''Brother Shun, you... did you really surpass the ''realm of masters''?''''
At the same time that Bai Longtian asked this question, within the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck opened his bright azure eyes and said with a smile
''''Master, congrattions. Toprehend sword aura in less than 2 years, this is an extremely rare feat even in the Immortal Dimension!''''
Shun Long was momentarily taken when he heard this, as he then asked Little ck
''''Sword aura? Is that what Longtian meant when he asked if I have surpassed the ''realm of masters''?''''
Nodding his head, Little ck then exined
''''Right! Apparently, the people in this mortal world refer to the level of sword qi as ''the realm of masters''. Since master has already surpassed that level and has alreadyprehended sword aura it is no wonder that they are all surprised.''''
A look of realization appeared on Shun Long''s face when he heard this, but just as he was about to answer, his eyes suddenly narrowed as the aura of a peak rank 9 Dao King enveloped him in an instant.
In the next moment, Shun Long saw an old man in bright red robes materializing in front of him, seemingly out of thin air.
The old man stared at Shun Long with his deep yellow eyes that resembled a snake''s, before he said in a cold voice
''''Brat, exin yourself! How did youprehend the sword intent behind this stone mural?''''
Chapter 854: Refusing to answer?
Chapter 854: Refusing to answer?
The moment that the red-robed old man''s aura surrounded Shun Long, Little Silver''s deep yellow eyes that resembled a snake''s suddenly sprung open, before the overbearing aura of a peak rank 6 magic beast burst out from its body, immediately descending upon the red-robed old man.
Before any of the surrounding experts around had any time to react, Little Silver shot to its feet, appearing right in front of Shun Long in a single instant, while its cold gaze that was filled with endless killing intent bore down on the red-robed old man who was standing in front of it.
The red-robed old man''s eyes narrowed when he sensed Little Silver''s aura that was able to easily rival his own, but Liu Mei and the others didn''t hesitate in the slightest, as their auras immediately exploded outwards as well.
Sensing the aura of an early rank 7 Dao Kinging from Liu Mei''s body, the red-robed old man snorted mockingly before he turned his full attention towards Little Silver as he prepared himself for battle.
As for Xingyi who had broken through to the middle rank 6 of the Dao King realm in thesest 3 months, and Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who had broken through to the middle rank 5 of the Dao King realm respectively, the old man didn''t even nce at them, as if they didn''t even exist in the first ce.
With an extremely cold look on his face, Jiang Chen took a step forward and approached the red-robed old man before he asked coldly
''''Old fart, who the hell are you? You think you cane here and act arrogantly in front of us just because you are a peak rank 9 Dao King?''''
A look of unconcealed killing intent shed through the red-robed old man''s eyes when he heard Jiang Chen''s disrespectful tone, but he still took a deep breath to suppress his killing intent for a few moments, before he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and said calmly
''''Brat, even if you have a peak rank 6 magic beast, don''t think that you are invincible in this ce. This is the ''City of Immortals'', not the backyard of your little sect. There are plenty of experts here who can easily squash this panther of yours!
I will only ask you one more time, so think carefully before you answer. How did youprehend the remaining sword intent behind this stone mural when even a peak Dao King like me can''tprehend it?''''
Looks of realization appeared in the surrounding Dao Kings'' eyes when they heard the red-robed old man''s words, before they too turned their gazes towards Shun Long and his group.
Right! This red-robed old man was also someone who had stepped into the ''realm of masters'' after he had studied one of the sword scenes in this stone mural for more than 10 months, but even someone like him was unable toprehend sword aura.
It would be weird if the old man let a peak rank 3 Dao King like Shun Long go without getting an answer from him.
In fact, the red-robed old man knew clearer than most other people present here how massive the gap between the ''realm of masters'' and the level of sword aura truly was. Forget about a peak rank 9 Dao King like himself, the old man guessed that even a newly-advanced Dao Emperor would be unable to endure the pressure from this stone mural and breakthrough past the level of the ''realm of masters''.
And yet, Shun Long merely shook his head in response to the old man''s question, before he stepped forward and said coldly
''''There are plenty of experts who can easily squash my panther you say? That''s true... Too bad that you are not one of those ''experts''!
However, since you want an answer so badly, then let me answer your question. It''s because your spiritual strength is simply insufficient. You want to obtain sword aura huh? Come back after you reach the standard of a middle-stage Dao Emperor. Perhaps you will have a chance by then.''''
''''Hahahahaha! The standard of a middle-stage Dao Emperor? You little bastard, are you really messing with me? Do you really think that I won''t dare to attack you because of that panther of yours?'''' The old man roared angrily while the aura around his body seemed to be on the verge of exploding.
If it wasn''t because of Little Silver''s presence, the old man would have never wasted so many words with someone like Shun Long trying to convince him to give him an answer and would have already soul-searched him for the answer instead.
And yet, in the red-robed old man''s eyes, Shun Long simply gave him an answer that was no different from mockery.
The standard of a middle-stage Dao Emperor in terms of spiritual strength when he was still a peak rank 9 Dao King? That was obviously impossible!
Even finding an immortal-grade cultivation technique was easier than that.
Waving his hand, the old man then took out a blood-red sword from his spatial ring and held it in front of him with both hands, before he said coldly
''''Since you refuse to give me the answer I want, don''t me me for being impolite. Little bastard, you have brought this upon yourself!''''
''''ROOOOAAARRRR''''
Sensing that the red-robed old man was about to attack, Little Silver no longer held back either, as it suddenly opened its mouth let out a powerful roar that reverberated in the ears of every single expert present, before its massive figure abruptly disappeared, appearing right by the red-robed old man''s side.
The old man who was about to attack was startled by the ck panther''s speed that was several times higher than his own, as it ended up catching him off-guard.
Seeing the massive w that was descending upon him, causing even the surrounding space itself to ripple in the process, the red-robed old man immediately switched his stance, as he held his blood-red sword horizontally in front of his chest.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The moment that Little Silver''s w met the blood-red sword, a loud explosion that could be heard for tens of miles shook the underground chamber where the stone mural was located, raising a massive cloud of dust thatpletely obscured Little Silver''s and the red-robed old man''s figures.
Chapter 855: Killing a peak rank 9 Dao King
Chapter 855: Killing a peak rank 9 Dao King
ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!
The cloud of dust that had just been raised was almost immediately dispersed by Little Silver''s angry roar that shook the entire underground chamber, revealing to the surrounding Dao Kings the scene that it was hiding underneath it.
Little Silver''s left paw that was dripping with blood had been blocked by the red-robed old man''s sword, cutting open a wound that had was just a hair''s breadth away from reaching its bone.
It was obvious that if the sword had managed to cut through just a little bit deeper, Little Silver''s paw would have probably been severed from its body.
And yet, the surrounding Dao Kings didn''t feel too much pity for the ck panther, as they could all see that red-robed old man''s situation was even worse than Little Silver''s.
After he was forced to take on the full brunt of the ck panther''s attack, the red-robed old man had ended up vomiting a mouthful of blood in the process, while his right foot had also caved into the ground and was barely able to stand.
The surrounding Dao Kings could guess, that most likely, the internal injuries that the red-robed old man had received were many times worse than his external ones.
Despite its injury, Little Silver continued to stare at the red-robed old man who was now kneeling on one knee in front of it, with its bright yellow eyes that were still oozing with killing intent, before the ck panther raised its left paw in the air for the second time.
The old man''s expression immediately changed when he saw this scene, as he shouted loudly in a terrified voice
''''STOP! BACK OFF!''''
The red-robed old man could tell that he didn''t have enough energy to defend against a second attack right now. He had barely managed to gather his qi and repel the ck panther''s first attack, and he could tell that a second one would almost certainly end up taking his life.
However, Little Silver didn''t seem to be moved by the old man''s pleas, as its left paw descended from the sky for the second time, heading straight towards the old man''s head.
''''FUCK OFF!''''
The red-robed old man shouted loudly once he realized that there was no chance for him to escape, and after gritting his teeth, a determined look appeared on his face as he raised his sword for the second time and stabbed it straight towards the ck panther''s neck.
If he was going to die, he was nning to take the ck panther down with him.
However, just as his red sword was about to pierce through the panther''s neck, a mixed look of unwillingness and disbelief suddenly covered the old man''s face as he witnessed the scene that followed.
The panther''s silver wings seemed to havee together practically at the same time, forming a small shield that ended up blocking the red-robed old man''s sword.
Although the red sword had managed to pierce through Little Silver''s wings and had even managed to draw out some of its blood, it had ended up losing all of its remaining momentum as well and was unable to pierce through the ck panther''s neck any longer.
''''NOOOOOOO-''''
The red-robed old man''s scream was suddenly cut short the moment that Little Silver''s massive ck wnded on his body, causing a mass of blood and organs to stter on the ground in front of it.
The red-robed old man didn''t even have a chance to send his soul out of his body before he was squashed to death in an instant, stunning the surrounding experts who were watching this scene.
And yet, Shun Long merely threw a nce at the old man''s corpse, or at least what remained of it, before he retrieved the old man''s blood-red sword and his spatial ring before he arrived in front of Little Silver.
Stretching out his right hand, Shun Long then patted the ck panther''s head who nuzzled it back in an affectionate manner, looking more like a household pet than a powerful rank 6 magic beast that had just ughtered a peak rank 9 Dao King.
''''Am I dreaming? Old Fu actually died? He really died fighting against a peak rank 6 magic beast?''''
''''Haha, serves that arrogant old bastard well! He really thought he was unrivaled in the ''City of Immortals'' just because he was a peak-stage Dao King? What a joke!
How many geniuses have gathered in this ce by now?
Forget about Dao Kings like him who haveprehended amon Dao, even a peak-stage Dao King who hasprehended a rare Dao would have trouble fighting a peak rank 6 magic beast like that panther all by themselves!''''
Nodding their heads, many of the surrounding Dao Kings agreed with this sentiment, as they could all tell that the ck panther in front of them was no pushover.
In fact, even among most other peak rank 6 magic beasts in the central region, it would definitely rank among the stronger ones based on the strength and speed it had just showed.
Even if Shun Long was just a peak rank 3 Dao King, just with Little Silver''s strength alone, he would still be able to walk around the ''City of Immortals'' practically unhindered, unless he was unlucky enough to stumble on one of those unrivaled monsters that ''ruled'' the City of Immortals.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to the discussions of the Dao Kings around him as he first stored the red-robed old man''s spatial ring inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he turned his gaze towards Liu Mei and the others and said calmly
''''Let''s go. Since we are done here, let''s have a look at the second trial.''''
Understanding that there was no reason for them to keep staying in this ce, Liu Mei and the others all got on Little Silver''s back, before Little Silver spread its bright silver wings and flew out of the underground chamber like a bolt of silver lightning, leaving behind tens of thousands of Dao Kings who were still staring at its vanishing figure.
Chapter 856: The second trial
Chapter 856: The second trial
A few momentster, Little Silver''s figure had already emerged from the underground chamber where the stone mural was located, as it continued to fly towards the east of the desert at full speed.
Half an hourter, once they were a good distance away from the stone mural''s location, Shun Long patted Little Silver''s head gently and had itnd on an empty, inconspicuous area that was surrounded by a few enormous rocks right in the middle of the desert.
Jumping off from Little Silver''s back, Shun Long stood in front of the ck panther before he turned his attention towards Little Silver''s left paw that was still dripping with blood.
''''No wonder that old man could injure you so seriously. With a peak 1-star weapon, even the mostmon of peak rank 9 Dao Kings can be strong enough to pose a threat to a peak rank 6 magic beast if they are willing to risk their lives.'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in a serious manner while his gaze was still focused on Little Silver''s paw in front of him.
In the entire central region, it wasmon knowledge that one would need at least a group of 6 or 7 peak rank 9 Dao Kings if they wanted to have a chance at subduing a peak rank 6 magic beast.
However, a peak rank 9 Dao King with a peak 1-star weapon like that red-robed old man was in a different ss of his own.
Shun Long guessed that most likely, that old man could take on a group of 3 or 4 peak-stage Dao Kings all by himself and evene out alive.
With a deep look in his eyes, Shun Long then circted the 27 balls of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', before his eyes immediately turned golden.
Stretching out his right hand, Shun Long then ced it on Little Silver''s left paw that looked like it was about to fall off at any moment, before he mumbled to himself in a low, almost inaudible voice
''''Time Reversal.''''
As soon as the words left his mouth, a bright blue and golden light immediately covered Shun Long''s entire body, before it quickly expanded and moved towards Little Silver as well.
At that moment, Shun Long could feel that more than 20 percent of his qi had been sapped in an instant, while even more of it was being drained from his qi balls with every passing moment in order to sustain the ''Time Reversal''.
At the same time, Liu Mei and the others could all see that Little Silver''s left paw was being healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, while even its bright silver wings that had been stained with blood after taking on the red-robed old man''s final attack had also healed in nearly an instant.
A few momentster, the blue and golden light around Shun Long''s body finally started to fade before itpletely disappeared. At the same time, the mangled wound on Little Silver''s leg had also vanished, as its left paw was back in the condition it had been before its fight with the red-robed old man.
''''ROOAAARRR''''
Little Silver let out a roar that was filled with excitement and gratitude as it looked at Shun Long, before it began to nudge its head against his hand in an affectionate manner.
''''Brother Long, are you alright?'''' Xingyi asked in a worried voice as she stared at Shun Long as well.
Even though Shun Long had only used ''Time Reversal'' for a few moments, Xingyi and the others all knew how taxing it was for him to use that skill.
To use it on a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver, even if his qi balls hadn''t been emptied out, it was certain that Shun Long must have used more than one-third of his qi for this.
''''Brother Shun, do you want to rest for a while? We don''t need to head to the second trial right away. We should still have around 8 years until the ''City of Immortals'' closes.''''
However, Shun Long merely shook his head as he looked at Bai Longtian and the others, before he said seriously
''''Don''t worry, Little Silver''s wounds weren''t too serious so I didn''t need to use too much of my qi.
With how concentrated the qi here is, I will have recovered before we even reach the location of the second trial.''''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long sat on Little Silver''s back for the second time, before the ck panther spread its bright silver wings and continued to fly towards the east of the desert at full speed.
Of course, the reason why Shun Long hadn''t chosen to heal Little Silver back in the stone mural and had waited until they arrived in an isted ce, was simply because he didn''t want to expose his Dao of Time in front of too many people just yet.
Even though there were plenty of experts in the Holy sect''s territory who must have heard about him after the ''Martial Roll of Honor tournament'' had taken ce in the outer court of the Holy sect, the Holy sect was nothing but a first-rate power in the Northern part of the central region.
Besides, the number of people who knew that Shun Long had already be a Dao King were only limited to the experts of the Holy sect like the Grand Elder and the inner court Elders, as well as the Northern Sovereign and the people under her.
Although Shun Long understood that it was only a matter of time before this happened in the ''City of Immortals'', a ce where the strongest Dao Kings from every ce throughout the central region had gathered, Shun Long knew that his strongest asset right now was that there were very few people who knew anything about him.
The moment he revealed his Dao of Time, Shun Long knew that it was bound to attract endless attention in this ce, including attention from the strongest of Dao Kings in this ce.
In front of those peak Dao Kings who hadprehended unique and perhaps even supreme Daos, even Little Silver wouldn''t be able tost too long.
Time continued to pass and in the blink of an eye, an entire month had gone by as Little Silver continued to fly above the scorching desert in the ''City of Immortals''.
Finally, at the beginning of the second month, a massive oasis that spanned for hundreds of miles appeared in the distance ahead, attracting Shun Long''s and the others'' attention.
Staring at this oasis whose end couldn''t be seen no matter how hard one looked, the same thought appeared in Liu Mei''s and the others'' minds at the same time, causing serious looks to cover their faces
''''The location of the second trial, the Illusion oasis.''''
Chapter 857: Illusion oasis
Chapter 857: Illusion oasis
Staring at the enormous oasis in front of him that didn''t seem to have an end, the information that Shun Long had obtained from the memory jades of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' quickly began to appear in his mind
''''The second known trial in the ''City of Immortals'', the Illusion oasis. It is located at the far east of the ''Ten-thousand miles desert'' and is an extremely dangerous trial that can kill even peak-stage Dao Kings.
Cultivators should be prepared. Upon entering the oasis, the trial will immediately begin!
Our ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' has also verified that magic beasts aren''t allowed to step foot into the Illusion oasis. Cultivators with contracted magic beasts will be separated from their beasts at the entrance of the oasis.
Cultivators traveling in groups will also be separated from their groups upon entering the oasis.
A cultivation base at the peak of rank 6 in the Dao King realm is the bare minimum to survive past the first stage of this trial.''''
Shun Long was momentarily surprised when he realized that the information that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had for the ''Illusion oasis'' was much more detailedpared to the information they had about the stone mural where he hadprehended his sword aura from.
Additionally, even though it wasn''t mentioned what kind of trial it was going to be or what kind of dangers one would have to face after entering the oasis, the information itself was still quite valuable.
''''Brother Shun, it seems that we aren''t the only ones here.''''
As Little Silver continued to fly towards the oasis in the distance, Bai Longtian and the others soon began to notice therge numbers of rank 6 magic beasts that were gathered around the oasis, looking like a massive armyprised of countless different types of magic beasts.
Even the ''smallest'' of those magic beasts was more than 4 meters (13ft) tall, while thergest ones exceeded 300 meters (980ft) in height, causing even Little Silver to look like an ant inparison.
With just a nce, Liu Mei and the others could see that there were at least 6000 early rank 6 magic beasts gathered in this ce, while the middle rank 6 magic beasts numbered more than a thousand.
The closer they approached to the oasis, the more powerful the magic beasts around them seemed to be.
At the same time, near the entrance of the oasis itself, Shun Long could see quite a few peak rank 6 magic beasts that were lying in wait, some of them emitting auras that easily rivaled and even exceeded that of Little Silver''s, looking like they were at the cusp of advancing and bing rank 7 magic beasts as well.
It seemed that the more powerful magic beasts were right in front of the entrance of the ''Illusion oasis'' while the weaker ones were spread around them, not daring to approach too close to those peak rank 6 beasts.
Whether it was the early rank 6, the middle rank 6, or even the peak rank 6 magic beasts present, every single one of them could sense Little Silver''s sudden arrival, causing them to turn their eyes over.
And yet, Little Silver ignored the threatening roars of those magic beasts around it, as it continued to fly towards the oasis'' entrance.
From a distance away, the ''Illusion oasis'' looked like an enormouske that was surrounded by a lush green forest, but as Little Silver approached closer to it, Shun Long finally began to notice an indistinctyer of white fog that was also surrounding the forest, giving off an extremely mysterious sensation that he had never felt before.
A few momentster, as soon as Little Silver arrived within 500 meters from the oasis'' entrance, its figure suddenly turned stiff before it let out a painful roar.
''''ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRR!!''''
500 meters.
Whether it was the early rank 6 or the peak rank 6 magic beasts present, none of them could get any closer to the oasis than this.
Any magic beast that tried to approach any closer than this would immediately feel a terrifying pain assaulting them, powerful enough to easily tear their souls apart.
Since Shun Long had already formed a spiritual bond with Little Silver, he could clearly sense the ck panther''s emotions, including the pain that it was feeling right now.
Patting Little Silver''s head, Shun Long didn''t have the ck panther return inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' and allowed it to stay here instead, before he began to make his way towards the entrance of the oasis along with Jiang Chen and the rest.
''''I wonder... just how many people are inside this trial right now?'''' Bai Longtian asked curiously as their group continued to make their way towards the oasis.
Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi were also curious about this matter, as they stared at the thousands of magic beasts around them without speaking.
More than 7000 magic beasts were present in this ce, and every single one of them was a magic beast that was still waiting for their master to return.
This was a truly stunning number!
With 7000 magic beasts present, it meant that there must have been at least 7000 Dao Kings inside this trial right now.
But of course, Jiang Chen and the others all understood, that it was impossible for every single Dao King to own a magic beast.
In fact, those Dao Kings who possessed their own magic beasts were extremely rare.
If there were so many magic beasts present, it was impossible to imagine how many people were inside the oasis right now.
Even Shun Long couldn''t possibly estimate the sheer number of Dao Kings that had entered this ce.
However, there was one thing that he was certain of.
For so many Dao Kings to have gathered in this ce, the rewards from this trial would definitely exceed the rewards from the ''Demon-fanged city'' by countless times!
Closing his eyes, Shun Long first spread out his soul sense around his body without holding back, before he took a step forward and entered the forest.
Chapter 858: Rewards of the Illusion oasis?
Chapter 858: Rewards of the Illusion oasis?
The moment that he stepped past the entrance of the forest and entered inside, Shun Long could see the white fog around him that had started to thicken and be much denser than before, as it quickly began to obscure his surroundings.
Even with his soul sense that he had spread to his limits before entering the forest, Shun Long was still unable to sense even a single de of grass around him while his own vision barely extended beyond his own fingers.
''''Eh? Even my soul sense can''t prate this white fog...?'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in a surprised tone, as his footsteps instantly came to a halt moments after entering the forest.
Although the memory jades of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had mentioned that groups would be split upon entering the ''Illusion oasis'' and everyone would have to fend for themselves and clear the trials alone, they didn''t mention anything about this white fog.
Of course, whether the people of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' had intentionally concealed this information or not was unknown, but Shun Long could also sense one more thing after entering the ''Illusion oasis''.
This white fog around him wasn''t just suppressing his vision and his soul sense, but it was slowly trying to invade his spiritual sea as well.
Even though its effects weren''t too obvious, most early-stage Dao Kings would be unable to sense it and guard their spiritual seas until it was toote.
And yet, Shun Long merely smiled and closed his eyes for a moment, before his spiritual strength inside his spiritual sea started to surge wildly like a wild beast that had just been provoked.
The remnant energy of the white fog had barely managed to enter Shun Long''s spiritual sea before it was crushed to nothingness by the overwhelming power of his spiritual strength.
After remaining in that spot for a few more moments, Shun Long opened his eyes and began to make his way deeper towards the ''Illusion oasis'' shortly afterwards.
...
''''It seems that this trial is just testing one''s spiritual strength. If that''s the case, this trial will be even easier for master than thest one.'''' Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck murmured in a low voice as he continued to watch Shun Long who was calmly making his way deeper towards the ''Illusion oasis''.
The power of the white fog was bing even more intense the deeper inside the forest he was heading, and yet Shun Long seemed to bepletely unaffected by it.
By now, most early-stage Dao Kings would be struggling to take even a single step forward while even some middle-stage Dao Kings would have some trouble continuing forward, and yet Shun Long continued to walk at a steady pace as if the white fog around him didn''t even exist.
After walking forward for half an hour, Shun Long''s eyes widened in surprise while his footsteps involuntarily came to a halt as well, as the white fog in front of him suddenly started to churn and coalesce together, slowly taking the form of arge magic beast that was more than 15 meters (49ft) tall.
Momentster, arge leopard that was made entirely from white fog stood in front of Shun Long, staring at him with its pair of intelligent eyes that made it look like a real, living magic beast.
This leopard was even emitting an aura at the middle of rank 6, and was probably strong enough to threaten most middle rank 6 Dao Kings without too much trouble!
Whether it was its appearance or the aura that wasing from its body, the white leopard in front of Shun Long didn''t seem to be any different from an actual middle rank 6 magic beast!
''''Rooooaaaarrrr!''''
The leopard let out a loud roar the moment its eyes met with Shun Long''s, before its figure turned into a blur as it shot towards Shun Long without any hesitation.
With a calm look on his face Shun Long circted the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', causing his eyes to immediately turn golden, before he waved his right hand, taking out the ck sword from the ''Stone of Time''.
The moment the ck sword appeared in his hands, Shun Long''s entire aura seemed to have changed, startling even the leopard that was heading towards him.
Sensing the profound aura around Shun Long that made him seem like a sharp sword that was going to cut down anything that dared to stand in front of him, the leopard''s figure trembled for a moment, before it opened its mouth and aimed directly for Shun Long''s neck.
And yet, Shun Long''s lips merely curved upwards as he stared at the white leopard that was just a few meters away from him, before he said in a calm voice
''''Monarch''s Domain!''''
The invisible figure of an hourss expanded from Shun Long''s body, forcibly slowing down the flow of time around the leopard and causing its speed to plummet.
At the same time, a strand of sword qi materialized from the tip of the ck sword, heading directly for the leopard''s massive neck.
The white leopard didn''t even have enough time to react before the strand of sword qi cut through its neck without any resistance, severing its head from the rest of its body and causing its figure to copse on the ground!
The moment that the leopard''s figure copsed, its body turned back into white fog, but surprisingly, the fog didn''t disperse, but it actually started to gather together at the same spot.
Momentster, the white fog turned into a single, translucent drop of water that floated in front of Shun Long, causing his eyes to widen in incredulousness and disbelief.
''''This is... a drop of ''Immortal water''?'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in disbelief as he stretched out his hand and grabbed the translucent drop of water in front of him, allowing it to float in his palm.
Chapter 859: Drop of Immortal water
Chapter 859: Drop of ''Immortal water''
Staring at the translucent drop of water in front of him, Shun Long was momentarily taken aback, as a myriad of thoughts began to course through his mind.
Although most people may not be aware of what this drop of water actually was, Shun Long could immediately recognize it with a single nce, which was why he was so surprised.
At the same time, within the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', a look of doubt had also appeared on Little ck''s face as his bright azure eyes stared intently at the drop of water that was floating in front of Shun Long, and after a few moments of silence, the ck dragon finally muttered in a voice filled with disbelief
''''How is this possible? There is actually ''Immortal water'' in this ce?''''
Shun Long nodded his head as he was just as surprised as Little ck.
After all, ''Immortal water'' was a type of natural type of treasure that could only be found in the ''Immortal Dimension'' and couldn''t possibly appear in a ce like the central region of the cultivation world.
Shun Long knew that this drop of ''Immortal water'', could not only be used as an ingredient for alchemy, but it could also be consumed directly by body refinement cultivators to increase their strength even further.
In fact, to magic beasts and body refinement cultivators who lived in the ''Immortal Dimension'', ''Immortal water'' was one of the most sought-after type of treasures that they used to increase their strength.
Even this single drop of ''Immortal water'' in front of Shun Long was enough to allow an average body refinement cultivator who was at the peak of the fifth stage to immediately breakthrough upon consuming it and reach the early sixth stage instantly!
However, Shun Long also knew that consuming ''Immortal water'' this way was a huge waste of such a treasure.
After all, ''Immortal water'' was meant to be consumed inrge quantities to obtain even better results.
A single drop of ''Immortal water'' by itself had quite negligible effects and wasn''t worth too much to experts at the Dao Emperor realm and above, but if one consumed it inrge quantities, that would be an entirely different story.
Waving his right hand, Shun Long then took out an empty pill bottle from the ''Stone of Time'' and stored the drop of ''Immortal water'' inside it, before he turned his gaze deeper towards the ''Illusion oasis''.
The moment that the white leopard''s figure copsed and turned into white fog, Shun Long could see the rest of the white fog around him that had started to thin out considerably, almost as if it was consciously opening up a path for him.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck stared at the drop of ''Immortal water'' that was floating calmly inside the alchemy bottle, before the ck dragon said in a voice filled with excitement
''''Master, I don''t know who created this ce but since there was a drop of ''Immortal water'' here, there must be even more of it deeper inside. This ce is a treasure trove for master!''''
Nodding his head, Shun Long agreed with Little ck, as he began to follow the path that had been opened by the white fog without any hesitation.
Indeed, just like Little ck had said, Shun Long also guessed that this ce was most likely going to be a treasure trove for him, causing a smile to appear on his face.
After all, if there was a single drop of ''Immortal water'' to be obtained so early in this trial, it was very likely that one would be able to obtain even more of it if they headed even deeper inside.
Even if there were no more drops of ''Immortal water'', the treasures deeper inside this ce should be at least at a simr, if not an even higher level than this drop of ''Immortal water''.
At the same time, this trial seemed to be testing a person''s spiritual strength, which was Shun Long''s current strongest trait.
It would be one thing if this ce tested a person''s cultivation base or even theirbat strength, but spiritual strength was the one thing that Shun Long was certain that no other Dao King could possiblypare with him, even with his current cultivation base.
In fact, even most early-stage Dao Emperors would find themselvespletely helpless if they were topare spiritual strengths with Shun Long.
A few momentster, Shun Long arrived at the end of the path in front of him, before he noticed the white fog around him that had started to be even more condensed than before.
Once again, the white fog surrounding him hadpletely blocked his vision, before it started to invade his spiritual sea for the second time. And yet, Shun Long simply ignored it as he began to make his way deeper towards the depths of the ''Illusion oasis'' shortly afterwards.
With every passing step he took, the pressure from the white fog seemed to be increasing even further, and yet Shun Long was barely affected by it as he kept walking forward with steady steps.
In fact, Shun Long could barely sense any pressure from the white fog itself and was simply walking slowly in case he encountered another beast like the white leopard.
Finally, after walking for a little more than an hour, Shun Long''s footsteps suddenly came to a halt before his golden eyes lit up with a bright blue and golden light!
At the same time, the white fog around him had started to churn and coalesce together, slowly taking the form of a familiar-looking magic beast that was more than 15 meters (49ft) tall.
Staring at the figure of the white leopard in front of him that was made entirely from white fog, Shun Long''s lips curved upwards forming a bright smile, before his aura at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm suddenly exploded outwards!
-
Author''s note: As you guys have noticed, during the past few months the release rate has been inconsistent, with thest 2 months being in the worst state possible as I was struggling to write even a single chapter. This is because during the past 5 months I had to face too many issues in real life, including family emergencies, as well as my mandatory military service on top of everything.
In the first couple of months, it wasn''t too bad as I could still do my best to write at least 1 chapter a day if not 2 of them, but in thest couple of months, it was nearly impossible to write even a single chapter, both due to theck of avable time to work in the army as well as ack of sleep.
This is why the release rate has been so horribletely. Normally, people would be allowed to leave the camp once every 2-3 days, but that was only for half a day to a day at most.
6 days ago I went to the garrison headquarters to ask for an early release so I could cut my military service short, but I was told to go back on Tuesday since the people present were unable to help.
Thankfully, I managed toe to an agreement with the people in charge recently, allowing me to return back home earlier than expected.
Thank you for your patience during the past couple of months, and especially this month where I know you guys have beenpletely starved out of chapters.
I will do my best to make up for the lost days, slowly but surely.
Zeus.
Chapter 860: Collecting Immortal water
Chapter 860: Collecting ''Immortal water''
Shun Long could sense that this leopard in front of him was actually no different from the previous white leopard he had killed since it was also emitting the aura of a middle rank 6 magic beast.
Waving his right hand, Shun Long then took out the ck sword from the ''Stone of Time'' and held it tightly with both hands, before he swung it downwards without any hesitation.
A thread of sword qi suddenly emerged from the edge of the ck sword in the next moment before it headed straight for the white leopard''s neck.
''''ROOOOAARRRRR!''''
The white leopard''s figure that had just been condensed let out a threatening growl as soon as it sensed the terrifying thread of sword qi that was about to strike its neck, before it turned around and stared at Shun Long with its intelligent-looking eyes that seemed to be hiding hints of malice inside them.
Although the white leopard could sense that Shun Long was just a peak rank 3 Dao King and he should be nothing more than an ant against a middle rank 6 magic beast like itself, it could also sense clearly that this thread of sword qi wasn''t something that it could ignore since it was capable of taking its life.
Kicking the ground with its 2 front legs, the white leopard''s figure turned into a blur as it easily dodged the thread of sword qi that was heading for its neck, before it shot towards Shun Long like a white arrow that had just been released.
In fact, the white leopard was so fast, that most early-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t even be able to follow it with their eyes and would have to rely on their soul sense if they wanted to stand a chance against it. Only middle orte-stage Dao Kings would be able to track it down with their own eyes and be able to react in time.
However, in this ce where soul sense waspletely restricted, the white leopard was an apex predator that could easily hunt down almost any prey.
Other than some extremely powerfulte-stage Dao Kings or some peak sixth-stage body refinement cultivators, no one else would dare to take it lightly.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to be startled by the white leopard''s speed, as his golden eyes stared calmly at the leopard''s figure that had already crossed more than half the distance between them, while staring at him with its light-yellow eyes that were filled with cruelty and killing intent.
''''Master... it seems that this ''Illusion oasis'' is actually one enormous formation.''''
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' Little ck said after a few moments of silence, without paying the slightest bit of attention to the white leopard that had already arrived in front of Shun Long and was about to strike his chest with its massive ws.
Staring at the white leopard in front of him, Shun Long had a calm look in his eyes as he abruptly vanished from the spot he was standing on, appearing right behind the leopard, before he mumbled to himself in a low voice that quietly reverberated throughout the fog-filled forest
''''Monarch''s Domain.''''
The invisible figure of an hourss instantly expanded from his body, forcibly slowing down the flow of time around Shun Long.
Clutching the ck sword with both hands, Shun Long swung it downwards at full strength as he chopped it straight towards the white leopard''s unprotected neck.
The white leopard that had just missed its attack was about to turn around the moment it sensed Shun Long appearing behind it, but before it had enough time to react, a terrifying sh of ck-colored sword qi effortlessly severed its head from the rest of its body, causing its figure to abruptly turn stiff before it copsed on the ground with a ''thud''.
Momentster, Shun Long saw the white leopard''s copsed body that had started to turn back into white fog, before it quickly began to gather together, slowly turning into a single, translucent drop of water.
''''ROOOOAAAARRRRRR!''''
''''ROOOOOOAAARRRRR!''''
And yet, before Shun Long had enough time to collect this drop of ''Immortal water'' in front of him 2 furious roars that were filled with killing intent suddenly sounded from his left and right respectively, as the auras of 2 middle rank 6 magic beasts assaulted him practically at the same time.
Hearing the 2 familiar-sounding roars that were almost identical to the white leopard''s that he had just killed, Shun Long gave up on collecting the drop of ''Immortal water'' that was floating in front of him and turned around to face the source of these roars.
Staring at the 2 white leopards that had just appeared and didn''t look any different from the first one, Shun Long narrowed his eyes for a moment, before his body disappeared on the spot, as he used ''blink'' once again to appear right in front of the first of the 2 leopards.
Less than a minuteter, silence had once again filled the eerie, fog-filled forest, as Shun Long stared at the 3 drops of ''Immortal water'' that he had just collected and ced them inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before he began to make his way deeper inside the forest.
The deeper into the forest he headed, the more powerful the pressure around him seemed to be, and the more white leopards seemed to be appearing.
And yet, these white leopards that could threaten even those rank 5 and rank 6 Dao Kings couldn''t evenst against a single sh of sword qi, before their bodies turned into drops of ''Immortal water'' that Shun Long happily collected and stored inside the ''Stone of Time''.
As for the ever-growing pressure, Shun Long decided topletely ignore it as he made his way even deeper inside the ''Illusion oasis''.
Finally, a little more than half a dayter, after hunting more than 200 white leopards, Shun Long''s eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at the scene in front of him with a stunned look on his face.
Chapter 861 861 Unexpected situation
Chapter 861 Chapter 861 Unexpected situation
Shun Long could see that a few hundred meters away from him, the white fog had finally started to disperse, while the fog''s effects in his spiritual sea had also started to diminish significantly.
Although Shun Long could barely feel any pressure from the white fog while he had been leisurely walking through the forest for the past half a day, at this moment, he could still sense quite clearly that the fog''s effects had already started to be much weaker the closer he walked towards this area ahead of him.
''''Master, it seems that this is the end of the first stage for this trial.''''
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck said with a calm look in his bright blue eyes as he stared at the area ahead of Shun Long.
Hearing the loud hubbub of voices that were no longer being blocked by the white fog and could be heard clearly from that ce, Shun Long nodded his head as he agreed with Little ck, and after taking onest look around him and making sure that there were no more white leopards for him to hunt, he began to make his way towards this area in front of him.
A few minutester, Shun Long finally walked out of the fog-filled forest before an entirely new scene greeted his eyes.
Staring at the vast ins in front of him and the thousands of Dao Kings that were gathered here and were either chatting with each other or they were sitting on the ground with their eyes closed, Shun Long was momentarily taken aback.
After all, other than a few groups of peak rank 5 and early rank 6 Dao Kings, every single person in this ce was already a peak rank 6 Dao King, while more than half of them were actuallyte-stage Dao Kings.
In fact, Shun Long could also sense the auras of quite a few peak rank 9 Dao King realm experts among these people, and the auras of some of them even exceeded that of the red-robed old man that Little Silver had killed back in the ''Desert mural''.
For so many middle andte-stage Dao Kings to have gathered in this ce, it clearly showed how much importance these experts had ced in this trial.
Although the ''Desert mural'' where Shun Long hadprehended his sword aura also had quite arge number ofte-stage Dao Kings present previously, they couldn''t possiblypare to the number of experts that had gathered here.
At the same time, the moment that Shun Long stepped out of the forest, quite a few of the surrounding Dao Kings who were sitting near the forest''s entrance opened their eyes and turned their gazes towards him, staring at him with looks of unconcealed surprise and disbelief.
"Eh? What''s going on? Who is this guy?"
"Hm? How is this possible? There is a person here who canpletely conceal his aura when he is standing this close to me? What kind of cultivation technique is that guy training in?"
"That''s not all! Look! He just passed the first stage of the ''Illusion oasis'' and he doesn''t look the slightest bit tired!"
Sensing the curious and examining gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings and hearing their discussions, Shun Long wasn''t surprised by their reactions and merely shook his head in response, before he began to inspect the people around him as well.
Naturally, it was extremely rare for these people to be unable to sense someone''s cultivation base when they were standing in such close proximity to them, so it was no wonder that they would be so surprised. Even most peak rank 9 Dao King realm experts wouldn''t be able topletely conceal their aura to the point that not even a bit of their qi would slip out, unless they were training in some extraordinary cultivation technique.
The only people who would be able to do something like that without an immortal-grade cultivation technique would only be experts at the Dao Emperor realm and above. But of course, in the ''City of Immortals'', regardless of how talented someone was, it was impossible for them to breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm and keep that a secret.
Although nobody truly knew what would happen in that case, most of the peak rank 9 Dao Kings believed that the moment theypleted their breakthroughs, they would be sucked to the second level of the ''City of Immortals'' and would have topete with monsters like Jiang Tianfang and the otherte-stage and peak-stage Dao Emperors by then. This was why no one was willing to finish their breakthroughs in this ce, despite the fact that the ''City of Immortals'' was filled with extremely pure qi.
Besides, breaking through to the Dao Emperor realm wasn''t so easy to begin with, and considering that everyone would only have around 10 years to stay in this ce, most people understood that it was probably better to hoard as many treasures as they could while they were here.
''''Hey, friend! What''s your name and which power do you belong to? It''s quite rare to see someone like you still in the first stage of the ''Illusion oasis''.''''
Just as Shun Long was taking a look at his surroundings, a handsome, brown-robed young man with a long white saber stranded on his back suddenly approached him and asked him with an amiable smile on his face, before he cupped his hands in a friendly manner, indicating that he didn''t mean any harm.
ncing at this brown-robed young man in front of him who had a cultivation base at the peak of rank 7 in the Dao King realm Shun Long was just about to respond, but his eyes suddenly widened when he noticed a scene that was taking ce just a few hundred meters away from him.
Staring at the group of 4 people who were lying on the ground in their own blood and looked like they were about to die at any moment, an uncontroble wave of killing intent suddenly burst out of Shun Long''s body, immediately attracting everyone''s attention.
Chapter 862 Magnanimous offer
862 Chapter 862 Magnanimous offer
In the next moment, the surrounding Dao Kings all saw Shun Long vanishing on the spot, as his body disappeared from the ce he was standing on, appearing right next to the 4 young men and women who were lying on the ground.
Without even looking at the yellow-robed young man who was standing just a few meters away from Liu Mei and was holding a ck sword that was still dripping with fresh blood, Shun Long waved his right hand, taking out an alchemy bottle that was filled with snow-white colored pills from the ''Stone of Time'', before he began to feed the pills to Liu Mei and the others.
Indeed, the 4 people who were lying on the ground in front of him with extremely weakened auras, looking like they were about to die at any moment, were precisely Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian!
As for the snow-white pills that Shun Long had just taken out, these were all top-grade rank 6 healing pills that he had personally refined while he was still in seclusion back in the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
Aside from injuries to a person''s soul or other special types of injuries, these pills that Shun Long had just taken out could practically save even a peak rank 9 Dao King who was on the brink of death, if that person was just afflicted with physical injuries.
''''You arrogant bastard, what do you think you are doing in front of me?'''' At the same time that Shun Long began to feed the healing pills to Liu Mei and the rest, the yellow-robed young man who was standing just a few meters away from him shouted in a cold voice as he stared at Shun Long, looking at him with a look of both incredulity and anger in his eyes.
In fact, it wasn''t just this yellow-robed young man but all of the surrounding Dao Kings here who were stunned by Shun Long''s presence, as they could now all sense that this person in front of them was just a peak rank 3 Dao King.
Clearly, none of them could fathom how a peak rank 3 Dao King could possibly clear the first stage of this ''Illusion oasis''!
However, the killing intent that wasing from Shun Long''s body earlier had momentarily stunned even the yellow-robed young man, which was why he had failed to react in time and had ended up allowing Shun Long to get close to Liu Mei and the others.
Turning around, Shun Long stared at this yellow-robed young man in front of him who was clearly emitting the aura of a peak rank 9 Dao King, and after throwing a single look at the ck sword in his hands that was still dripping with fresh blood, Shun Long asked him in an extremely cold voice
''''Why did you attack them?''''
Seeing the condition that Liu Mei and the others were in and the fresh blood that was still dripping from the yellow-robed man''s sword, Shun Long could naturally tell that Liu Mei''s and the rest''s injuries had alle from this person in front of him.
''''Hahahahaha!'''' Hearing Shun Long''s question, the yellow-robed young man startedughing loudly in a mocking manner, while many of the surrounding Dao Kings began to shake their heads in response.
''''Why did I attack them? Why? Do I need a reason to attack someone in this ce? Hahaha! Brat, where do you think we are right now? This is the ''City of Immortals''! Here, the strong rule and the weak must obey, understand? I don''t need a reason to attack someone other than to take their treasures! However, before I kill you I don''t mind answering your question.
Once these 4 fools passed the first stage of the ''Illusion oasis'' and came here, I magnanimously offered them a safe ce to rest before they challenge the second stage. In exchange, all they had to do was hand over half the drops of ''Immortal water'' that they gathered during the first stage.
If they had agreed, I would have let them live and wouldn''t have bothered with them any longer. Unfortunately for them... they refused, thinking that they had a choice. And of course, this is their punishment for refusing.
Normally, I would have given you the same offer as them... but it''s too bad that I already find you an eyesore!''''
As he finished speaking, the yellow-robed young man brandished his sword as he began to approach Shun Long with slow steps, while a malevolent smile had already formed itself on his lips.
Clearly, for a peak rank 9 Dao King like him, dealing with an early-stage Dao King like Shun Long was child''s y.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck opened his bright blue eyes and stared at the yellow-robed young man in front of Shun Long with a gaze that was filled with endless killing intent, while his body had started to emit an aura that would have caused the souls of anyte-stage Dao Emperors who dared to stand before the ck dragon at this moment to tremble with fear, and after a moment of silence, Little ck said to Shun Long
''''Master, although your talents would be considered unrivaled even in the ''Immortal Dimension'', you are still a peak rank 3 Dao King right now. The gap between the two of you is too big right now. I know that master would rather deal with this yourself but let me take care of this.''''
At this moment, Little ck could sense Shun Long''s raging emotions that were like a volcano that was about to explode.
Clearly, there was no way that Shun Long would let this matter go when the yellow-robed young man had alreadyid his hands on Liu Mei and the others! This was even more so since Little ck could tell how serious Liu Mei''s and the rest''s injuries were. Even though Shun Long had already fed them top-grade rank 6 healing pills, Little ck could tell that Jiang Chen''s and the rest''s vitality was still rapidly slipping away from their bodies without any signs of improving, while their breathing had already turned extremely weak and was about to stop at any moment.
-
Chapter 863 Going all out (1)
863 Chapter 863 Going all out (1)
However, Shun Long merely shook his head after hearing Little ck''s suggestion, before he turned his cold gaze towards the yellow-robed young man who was casually approaching him and said seriously
''''No need! I will deal with this by myself. No matter what happens, don''te out!''''
After a moment of silence, Little ck nodded his head in a solemn manner and didn''t say anything else, as he allowed Shun Long to focus on his fight with the yellow-robed young man.
Although he had said that the gap between the 2 of them was too big, Little ck understood Shun Long''s strength better than anyone else.
He knew that if the current Shun Long truly decided to go all-out, then, even if he was faced with an average peak rank 9 Dao King, there was still a chance to seriously injure that person.
However, Little ck also knew that Shun Long''s current objective wasn''t simply to ''injure'' the yellow-robed young man but to kill him. In Little ck''s mind, perhaps there was a small chance of sess if this yellow-robed young man didn''t have a star-rank weapon, but it was in as day that this wasn''t the case here, as the ck sword in his hands was clearly a 1-star weapon.
But of course, Little ck was the only one who thought that Shun Long even had a chance to survive against this yellow-robed young man, as the surrounding Dao Kings who were watching this scene either mocked Shun Long in their hearts for overestimating himself or they shook their heads in pity.
After all, for a peak rank 3 Dao King to have managed to pass the first stage of the ''Illusion oasis'', this was something that had never been done before, so it was only natural that he would attract the attention of some of these stronger Dao Kings.
However, these people could now all see that Shun Long was just standing on the same spot, almost as if he was waiting for the yellow-robed young man to take his life without any resistance.
''''What''s wrong? Are you scared? Hahahaha! Why don''t you try to beg for your life then? Who knows, perhaps I might even let you live!''''
Seeing that Shun Long wasn''t attacking him and was merely standing there without moving a single step, the yellow-robed young man licked his lips and said in a mocking manner while his footsteps continued to approach him unhurriedly, like a hunter who wanted to toy with his prey.
''''Unfortunately for you, it''s toote even if you wanted to beg for your life now since I have already decided to kill you. As for those 4 pieces of trash over there, don''t worry, I can assure you that they will join you soon enough. The poison they have been inflicted with isn''t something that can be expelled by a mere rank 6 healing pill!''''
Shun Long could see that the smile on the yellow-robed man''s face had turned even more malevolent than before when he mentioned the word ''poison'', while his sinister yellow eyes stared intently at Shun Long, as if he was waiting to see a look of fear and despair color his face.
However, to the yellow-robed young man''s surprise, the look on Shun Long''s face didn''t change at all after hearing his words, as Shun Long continued to stare at him with the same cold look that was filled with a calm yet clearly overbearing killing intent.
After all, Shun Long had already realized this from the moment heid his eyes on their bodies and smelled an unnaturally unique scent that Jiang Chen and the others had all been inflicted by an extremely potent poison, and he also knew that they had, at most, one more hour to live before the poison took their lives.
In fact, what the yellow-robed young man didn''t know was that Shun Long had already recognized the type of poison he had used with just a nce, since memories about a certain ck-colored grass immediately began to appear in his mind as well.
Shun Long knew that this was an extremely rare poison that came from a rank 6 medicinal herb that was called the ''Soul tormenting grass''.
The ''Soul tormenting grass'' was known to be an extremely rare rank 6 medicinal herb and its poison was strong enough to kill evente-stage Dao Kings in a matter of hours.
In fact, Shun Long knew that things were just like the yellow-robed young man had said and that the pills he had fed to Xingyi and the others wouldn''t be able to save them despite them being top-grade rank 6 healing pills.
After all, the ''Soul tormenting grass'' was one of those extremely rare types of poisons that was almostpletely unaffected by both healing and anti-toxin pills of the same rank.
One can forget about average rank 6 pills as they wouldn''t have any effect, and the same went even for most high-grade rank 6 pills! Even top-grade rank 6 healing and anti-toxin pills would be unable to expel the ''Soul tormenting grass'' poison inside a Dao King''s body! The only thing they would be able to do would be to slightly slow down the speed that the poison spread, but it would still be insufficient to save their lives.
And the reason why Shun Long had fed the pills to Liu Mei and the others was precisely so he could slow down the spread of the poison.
Seeing that he wasn''t getting the expected reactions from Shun Long, the yellow-robed young man frowned and seemed to have lost his interest to toy around with his prey, before a murderous aura immediately surrounded his body.
''''How boring! Die!''''
In the next moment, his figure abruptly turned into a blur as he disappeared from the spot he was standing on, appearing right in front of Shun Long, before he shed his ck sword directly towards Shun Long''s head, aiming to split his head in half in a single strike!
At the same time however, Shun Long merely clenched his right fist and send it flying forward, looking like he was aiming to meet the yellow-robed young man''s sword head-on!
Chapter 864 Going all out (2)
864 Chapter 864 Going all out (2)
''''That brat has a death wish? He wants to fight Mao Huang with his bare hands?''''
''''Is he crazy? Does he think he is a peak sixth stage body refiner?''''
''''What a fool. Even a peak sixth stage body refiner would suffer if they took on Mao Huang''s sword like that!''''
The surrounding Dao Kings began to mumble among themselves when they saw this scene in front of them, as their eyes were still intently focused on the 2 figures that were about to sh with each other.
At the same time, the yellow-robed young man with the ck sword, Mao Huang sneered when he saw Shun Long''s actions, before he said in a cold voice
''''Since you are so eager to die, let me send you off-''''
However, before he could actually finish his sentence, Mao Huang''s words were abruptly stuck in his throat as his eyes widened in disbelief.
In fact, it wasn''t just Mao Huang but every single Dao King present who couldn''t believe their eyes at this moment, as they all stared at Shun Long with expressions of shock stered on their faces.
The instant that Shun Long punched out with his right hand, pitch-ck scales immediately appeared out of nowhere as they immediately covered his entire fist along with the rest of his body, stunning every single person whoid their eyes on them.
Staring at these beautiful ck scales that made Shun Long look like a mix of both human and magic beast alike, the Dao Kings present were all momentarily taken aback.
However, what had surprised these Dao Kings the most wasn''t just the change in Shun Long''s outer appearance, but the aura that he had begun to emit the moment his body was covered in these ck scales.
Sensing the terrifying aura that Shun Long was now emitting that was simr to a king of magic beasts that was slowly waking up, the surrounding Dao Kings were all stunned, while even those peak rank 9 Dao Kings who weren''t interested in Shun Long''s fight previously, had now all turned their gazes towards him and Mao Huang.
''''This aura... is this a bloodline? How is this possible? How can a bloodline be so strong?''''
''''This type of pressure... don''t tell me that this is an immortal-grade bloodline!''''
''''An immortal-grade bloodline? Who the hell is this kid?''''
''''Wait a moment! Didn''t this guy use the Dao of Space earlier? So he has a supreme Dao AND an immortal-grade bloodline? Just who the hell is this kid? I refuse to believe that he really is a nobody!''''
At the same time that the surrounding Dao Kings began to talk among themselves, one of the peak rank 9 Dao Kings who was watching this scene, whose aura was even stronger than the yellow-robed young man''s that Shun Long was facing right now, stared at Shun Long for a few moments in silence before he mumbled to himself in a pondering manner
''''An immortal-grade bloodline and a supreme Dao huh? Even if he is just an early-stage Dao King, the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' shouldn''t have excluded his information on purpose. Since they didn''t include it within their information jades it''s more likely to assume that even they weren''t aware of it either... How interesting!''''
At this moment, Shun Long who had already activated his dragon''s bloodline and was about to fight with Mao Huang waspletely unaware that he had simultaneously managed to attract the attention of an even more dangerous person.
Although Mao Huang was also a peak rank 9 Dao King and was someone who was strong enough to act arrogantly in front of others without a need to care about their strength or background, in front of this ck-robed young man, he actually knew that he wasn''t much different from any averagete-stage Dao King.
In fact, if Shun Long had noticed this ck-robed young man, he would also be able to easily recognize him thanks to the information he had received from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''. After all, ording to the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', this man was one of the 100 strongest Dao Kings that had entered the ''City of Immortals''!
At this moment however, Shun Long''s attention was focusedpletely on the ck sword in front of him as his fist finally met with Mao Huang''s ck sword!
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The moment Shun Long''s fist that was covered in ck scales met Mao Huang''s sword, arge shockwave erupted from the center of the impact, pushing Shun Long and Mao Huang back for dozens of meters before they could finally regain their footing!
''''Oh? He actually managed to take it head-on?'''' The ck-robed young man who was leisurely watching the fight between Shun Long and Mao Huang raised his eyebrows in surprise, as he stared at Shun Long''s fist with a look of clear curiosity in his eyes!
''''Is this real? That kid really managed to resist Mao Huang''s attack with his bare hands?''''
''''This isn''t possible... Even if he has an immortal-grade bloodline something like this shouldn''t be possible!
Mao Huang is a peak rank 9 Dao King and that ck sword of his is a 1-star weapon! Even if it''s not a peak 1-star weapon, it should
be able to easily cleave in half any early-stage Dao King regardless of their bloodline! No matter what, even an immortal-grade bloodline shouldn''t be enough to allow this kid to bridge the gap between himself and Mao Huang!''''
''''Not possible? Look at his fist! Even after taking on Mao Huang''s sword attack, that guy was barely harmed! Only some of his protective scales seem to have been chipped off and there isn''t even any blooding from his hand! There is definitely something special about that bloodline of his!''''
At the same time that the surrounding Dao Kings erupted in discussions, the yellow-robed young man, Mao Huang stared at Shun Long''s fist with a stunned look on his face, before he slowly turned his gaze towards his own sword.
''''Ha..haha..hahahahaha!'''' After a brief moment of silence, Mao Huang suddenly startedughing like a madman, before an evil smile that was akin to a devil''s eventually appeared on his lips, as he stared at Shun Long who was standing a few meters away from him and said mockingly
''''Who knew that today, I, Mao Huang would actually get to kill not just one, but two pieces of trash with immortal-grade bloodlines. Hahahahaha! It must be my lucky day!''''
Mao Huang then pointed at Shun Long''s right fist that was now missing some of its protective scales after shing with his ck sword and continued
''''Although your bloodline seems to be different from that bastard''s, it''s too bad that it wasn''t enough to save you either! Hahahaha!''''
Without any hesitation Mao Huang then kicked the ground, as he thrust his ck sword forward for the second time, aiming to pierce through Shun Long''s chest!
Of course, at this point, Shun Long understood that the person that Mao Huang was referring to as a bastard was clearly Jiang Chen who must have already used his bloodline during his fight with Mao Huang previously!
However, even though Jiang Chen''s bloodline originated from a ''mythic-rank'' magic beast, the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'', the purity of his bloodline was nowhere near close to Shun Long''s and was naturally not enough to let him stand against a peak rank 9 Dao King like Mao Huang.
And yet, contrary to Mao Huang''s expectations, instead of falling back, Shun Long just nced at his ''injured'' right fist that was only missing some of its protective scales, before he mumbled to himself in a calm voice
''''Time Reversal!''''
The protective scales around his fist seemed to have regenerated almost immediately, before Shun Long clenched his right fist for the second time, allowing it to meet with Mao Huang''s sword directly!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Under the eyes of the surrounding Dao Kings, Shun Long''s fist that was covered in dragonic scales collided with Mao Huang''s sword time and time again, matching Mao Huang''s attacks blow for blow!
After the first attack, Mao Huang had already begun to infuse his Dao of Fire into his every sh, and yet the advantage he gained against Shun Long had barely increased and wasn''t enough to take his life.
However, after exchanging more than 100 blows in the span of a few minutes, everyone began to notice that the damage on Shun Long''s body had started to umte, while even the speed at which his ck scales were regenerating had slowed down significantly.
Naturally, Mao Huang had also noticed this detail and he wasn''t going to leave any leeway for Shun Long to survive!
He could already feel that although this person in front of him was just an early rank 3 Dao King, he was actually strong enough to pose a threat even to a peak rank 9 Dao King like him!
Raising his ck sword above his head, Mao Huang shed it forward using all of his strength as he shouted in a cold voice
''''Brat, it''s time for you to die!
Saint high-grade martial skill, ''me Emperor''s sword''!''''
Chapter 865 Shun Longs death?
Chapter 865 Shun Long''s death?
Mao Huang''s ck sword was immediately surrounded by a burst of orange mes while the aura around his body seemed to have also turned much fiercer than before, as he shed his sword directly towards Shun Long''s head.
''''What? ''me Emperor''s sword''? Mao Huang is really going to use a Saint high-grade martial skill here?''''
''''Is he crazy? Isn''t the ''me Emperor''s sword'' the strongest martial skill from his ''me Emperor Pce? He is really willing to reveal one of his trump cards just to kill a mere early-stage Dao King?''''
''''Fall back! Quickly fall back or you will get caught in their fight!''''
The moment that they saw this scene, the surrounding Dao Kings who were watching Mao Huang''s fight with Shun Long were instantly stunned, before they hurried to open up the distance between themselves and Shun Long and Mao Huang, afraid that if they remained too close they would end up getting swept in their fight.
No matter what, a peak rank 9 Dao King using a Saint high-grade martial skill wasn''t something that any of these Dao Kings would dare to take lightly!
However, there were still a handful of individuals who didn''t seem to be scared of Mao Huang''s attack at all, as they continued to watch his fight with Shun Long with looks of interest on their faces.
''''Heh, a mere early-stage Dao King you say? Are you fools blind? Haven''t you noticed that even after going all-out for a while now, Mao Huang was still unable to actually injure that brat? Even the poison in his ck sword doesn''t seem to be working against him. Naturally, he doesn''t have any other option, other than to use his strongest martial skill to kill him. Otherwise, if he fails to do that and that brat ends up escaping somehow, Mao Huang knows that he is really going to suffer in the future. Hehehe!''''
One of the surrounding Dao Kings who didn''t seem to be afraid of Mao Huang''s martial skill suddenly said with a mocking smile on his face, while his cold eyes were glued on Shun Long''s figure like a viper that was staring at its prey.
Indeed, just like this person had said, although Mao Huang''s attacks were enough to pressure Shun Long to the point where he didn''t even have enough time to use ''Time Reversal'' and heal himself, it wasn''t enough to actually give him any serious injuries either.
After igniting his blood essence and activating the dragon''s bloodline inside his body, despite his cultivation base being only at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm, Shun Long''s strength had grown to the point where his power was nearlyparable to that of a peak rank 9 Dao King!
And yet, even after igniting his blood essence to activate his dragon''s bloodline, Shun Long knew that his strength still wasn''t enough to actually allow him to overpower a peak rank 9 Dao King like Mao Huang, as he was gradually pushed back every time they shed!
However, this was only natural as well. After all, the gap in strength between an early-stage Dao King and a peak-stage one like Mao Huang, an expert who was just a few steps away from breaking through to be a Dao Emperor realm expert wasn''t that easy to bridge, regardless of how talented someone was.
The fact that an early-stage Dao King could not only take on a few of Mao Huang''s attacks, but he could actually sh with him head-on and exchange more than a dozen blows with him directly had already stunned all the experts present here, including the ck-robed young man who was ranked in the top 100 and no longer looked as indifferent as before.
..
At the same time, staring at the ck sword that was descending towards him and was now just a few meters away from him, Shun Long who had stayed silent during his entire fight with Mao Huang finally nodded his head, before he said in a calm manner
''''A Saint high-grade martial skill, huh? It won''t be enough to save you!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Shun Long tightly clenched his right fist, before he punched the air in front of him without holding back!
At that moment, the space around Shun Long''s hand started to ripple as a burst of terrifying pitch-ck mes that looked like they could burn every single thing in existence suddenly covered Shun Long''s hand, before they started to churn and coalesce together, turning into a ball of mes that moved straight towards Mao Huang!
''''DIE!'''' Mao Huang shouted loudly when he saw this scene, and instead of slowing down he actually increased his own speed even further, arriving right in front of the ball of ck mes in the next moment.
Without any hesitation, Mao Huang then shed his ck sword horizontally, as he intended to cut through the ck mes directly before he took Shun Long''s life!
And yet, the scene that followed waspletely different from what Mao Huang or anyone else had actually expected!
The moment that Mao Huang''s sword came in contact with the ck mes, the orange mes that had been created from the Saint high-grade martial skill, the ''me Emperor''s sword'' were almost immediately devoured, while Shun Long''s ck mes seemed to grow even more in size!
Before Mao Huang could even respond, the ball of ck mes enveloped not just his ck sword but also his entire body, burning through his own robes before they finally came in contact with his bare skin.
''''AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!''''
A miserable, blood-curdling scream that brought shivers to anyone who heard it left Mao Huang''s mouth the moment his body came in contact with the ck mes, but surprisingly, this scream onlysted for a single second before it immediately died down.
..
The surrounding Dao Kings all stared at the scene in front of them with eyes filled with disbelief, before they slowly turned their incredulous gazes towards Shun Long who was still standing a few meters away from Mao Huang''s corpse and was practically unharmed.
No. In reality, Mao Huang didn''t even have a corpse anymore, as his entire body had instantly turned into ashes the moment he came in contact with the ck mes!
Even a peak rank 9 Dao King like him, an expert who had used a Saint high-grade and was wielding a 1-star weapon had turned into nothing but ashes once he came in contact with the unique skill of a ck dragon, the ''mes of Destruction''!
''''This... this isn''t possible! Mao Huang died? A peak rank 9 Dao King has died in the hands of a mere peak rank 3 Dao King?''''
''''If news of this starts to spread, even the top powers of the central region won''t be able to sit still any longer!''''
At this very moment however, at the same time that the surrounding Dao Kings burst into fervent discussions, the figure of a ck-robed young man holding a dagger seemed to have appeared behind Shun Long without any prior warning, before the ck-robed man thrust the dagger in his hands straight into Shun Long''s back!
Shun Long''s golden eyes widened when he sensed the dangering from behind him, but even with his speed that was augmented thanks to the boost from the second ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long could still sense that he wasn''t fast to evade the ck-robed young man''s sneak attack.
Knowing that he didn''t have enough qi remaining to use blink and try to avoid this either, Shun Long knew that there was no way for him to escape this situation!
''''Pffftt!''''
In the next moment, under the astounded eyes of the Dao Kings present, the ck-robed young man''s dagger effortlessly pierced through Shun Long''s ck scales before it was plunged directly into his back!
Shun Long could clearly feel a sharp sensation of paining from his back the moment the dagger entered his body, but despite the pain, he still gritted his teeth and turned around to look at the person who had attacked him just now, only to see the cold unfeeling eyes of an unfamiliar ck-robed young man staring back at him.
Shaking his head, the ck-robed young man stared at Shun Long silently for a few moments, before he said in a calm voice
''''This is nothing personal. You are simply too dangerous to be left alive! If you can kill someone like Mao Huang now, I can''t guess what you will do once you can do once you be a peak Dao King. Although I don''t know why the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' didn''t have your information, it''s better for me to kill you before you get a chance to grow!''''
Chapter 866 Shun Longs new ability
Chapter 866 Shun Long''s new ability
''''Senior brother Guo Chen... he actually made a move personally against an early-stage Dao King? Am I hallucinating?''''
''''That''s to be expected! A peak rank 3 Dao King who is able to jump levels and kill a peak-stage Dao King like Mao Huang isn''t someone who can be ignored! Even someone like Guo Chen would probably feel somewhat afraid if he has to face such a monsterter on! Clearly, it''s better for him to kill him now instead of giving him a chance to grow and letting him be a threat to him in the future!''''
''''What? You think that senior brother Guo would be afraid? Who do you think that senior brother Guo is? You actually think that a genius ranked in the top 100 among all the Dao Kings who have entered the ''City of Immortals'' would be afraid of a small early-stage Dao King? Are you stupid?''''
''''Stupid? Clearly you are the stupid one here! Perhaps Guo Chen isn''t afraid right now but there are still 8 more years until the ''City of Immortals'' closes! Although that guy may not have been a threat to the current Guo Chen, he was still strong enough to kill Mao Huang after he burned his blood essence and activated his immortal-grade bloodline! Do you really think that Guo Chen would have an easy time killing such a person if he was allowed to breakthrough and be ate-stage or even a peak-stage Dao King in the future?''''
''''Kill him? Why would senior brother Guo have to kill him in the first ce? It''s not like every single person who has entered the ''City of Immortals'' will have to fight with each other!
Besides, just like you said, there are only 8 years left until the ''City of Immortals'' closes. Forget about the peak of rank 9, it would be impossible for an early-stage Dao King to reach even thete stages of the Dao King realm in a mere 8 years!''''
At that moment however, the ck-robed young man who was standing behind Shun Long, Guo Chen, suddenly pulled his dagger from Shun Long''s back, causing a fountain of blood to spurt from it in the process, before he turned his attention towards the surrounding Dao Kings and said calmly
''''Afraid? Do you think that I killed this kid because I was afraid? You are wrong! I, Guo Chen, am not afraid of anyone within the ''City of Immortals''! Forget about this brat... even those who are ranked in the top 10 aren''t enough to make me feel afraid of them! However, this doesn''t mean that I am blind either.
Someone who can kill a peak rank 9 Dao King like Mao Huang when they are just a peak rank 3 Dao King can indeed be a threat to me in the future. Although it''s unlikely that this kid would have managed to be a peak-stage Dao King within the next 7 years, in the end, this is still the ''City of Immortals'' and nothing is really impossible. The treasures that are hidden in this ce are innumerable after all.
Although I am not afraid, I have to admit that if this brat was a peak rank 9 Dao King, I would probably have to exhaust quite a few of my trump cards if I really wanted to kill him! Since that''s the case, it''s better for me to kill him now instead of waiting to do so in the future.''''
The surrounding Dao Kings immediately fell silent when they heard Guo Chen''s response. Although many of them weren''t satisfied with it, as that didn''t exin why Guo Chen killed someone that he had no enmity with, in the end, nobody dared to refute his words either.
After all, Guo Chen was indeed the strongest person in this ce right now, and it was also true that he was someone whosebat skills were still considered first-rate among all the Dao Kings who had entered the ''City of Immortals''!
In fact, only those monsters who were ranked in the top 30 in the rankings of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' would be able to overpower someone like him!
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck whose massive body was now emitting an extremely bloodthirsty and murderous aura, an aura that would cause even most peak Dao Emperors to start trembling in front of it, continued to stare at Guo Chen for a few more moments, before the ck dragon said to Shun Long in a worried manner
''''Master! You have already exhausted all the blood essence in your body and your dragon form is about to disappear!''''
After a moment of silence, Shun Long who could still feel that the wound on his back was having trouble healing for some reason finally nodded his head, before he turned to look at Guo Chen who was still standing behind him and said calmly
''''Guo Chen, huh? Even if you somehow manage to leave the ''City of Immortals'' alive, I will definitely take your life once we get out of here!''''
''''Oh? You are still breathing?'''' Hearing Shun Long''s voice, Guo Chen turned around and stared at him in a surprised manner, before his cold eyes narrowed into two threatening slits.
In Guo Chen''s eyes, since he had been stabbed by his dagger, Shun Long was doomed to die no matter what.
However, for some reason, thest sentence that Shun Long had said, had actually made Guo Chen start feeling both angry and uneasy.
Although he had killed an uncountable number of people in his life and had heard plenty of rumblings and curses before his victims died, Guo Chen could tell that Shun Long''s words weren''t the desperate rumblings of a dead person.
Hearing the cold tone that was full of certainty in his voice, Guo Chen clenched the dagger in his hands tightly, before he looked at Shun Long and said in a voice that seemed to becking even the slightest hint of emotion
''''Fine. I was nning to let you live for a bit more but since you are so eager to die, so be it then!''''
At that moment however, Shun Longpletely ignored Guo Chen who was about to make his move and closed his eyes as he ced his entire attention inside his spiritual sea, before he said in a calm but extremely serious voice
''''World... Zero.''''
Chapter 867 World Zero
Chapter 867 World Zero
''''World... Zero.''''
...
The moment that those words left his mouth, Shun Long''s spiritual sea that was previously calm like an ocean that wouldn''t be moved regardless of what it faced, suddenly started to churn, looking like a volcano that was about to explode!
At this moment, Guo Chen who was about to stab Shun Long with his dagger for the second time suddenly halted his movements, while his eyes widened in disbelief as his body involuntarily started to tremble.
Sensing the terrifying aura that wasing from Shun Long''s body, Guo Chen immediately abandoned all thoughts of continuing his attack, and without any hesitation, he flew backwards at full speed as he hurriedly opened up the distance between himself and Shun Long!
However, Guo Chen wasn''t the only one who had sensed this overbearing aura that wasing from Shun Long''s body!
Every single one of the surrounding Dao Kings, regardless of what they were doing previously, all turned their attention towards the source of this disturbance the moment they sensed it, as they stared at Shun Long with disbelieving looks on their faces.
''''What? The spiritual strength of a Dao Emperor? How is that possible?''''
''''What is going on? How is that kid emitting the spiritual strength of a Dao Emperor? Weren''t talismans and simr items all ineffective while we are inside the ''City of Immortals''?''''
''''No, talismans are definitely restricted in this ce. Besides, this doesn''t seem to be the effect of a talisman in the first ce!
But this spiritual strength... this is too strong! This isn''t simply the level of an early-stage Dao Emperor! This is at least at the same level as that of a middle-stage Dao Emperor! How is this possible?''''
The surrounding Dao Kings could no longer hide their shock as they immediately burst into discussions while they stared at Shun Long, before many of them hurried to open up the distance between themselves and Shun Long who was now clearly emitting a spiritual strength equal to a middle-stage Dao Emperor!
In reality however, it wasn''t just the Dao Kings around Shun Long but even the magic beasts stationed outside the ''Illusion oasis'' that had also sensed the horrifyingly powerful spiritual strength that had suddenly appeared inside the ''Illusion oasis'', which far exceeded what any peak-stage Dao King could possibly muster!
And yet, Shun Long wasn''t aware of any of this, as his entire attention was fully ced in his spiritual sea that was now rumbling violently and looked to be on the verge of exploding.
After breaking through to the Dao King realm, Shun Long had already sensed that his spiritual sea had been affected by the ''Stone of time'' and had changed in a certain way.Although he didn''t know exactly what kind of change it was, he could tell that his affinity with the Dao of Time had risen even further due to it. It was also thanks to this change, as well as his abnormal level of spiritual strength along with the quality of his soul, that he could possiblyprehend such a ''heaven-defying skill'' like ''World Zero'' upon breaking through to the Dao King realm.
...
At the same time, the moment that Shun Long''s spiritual strength inside his spiritual sea began to surge, in the center of his spiritual sea, the ''Stone of Time'' that had stayed dormant for so long suddenly started to vibrate intensely, before it began to emit a blinding blue and golden-colored light that was quickly seeping into Shun Long''s spiritual sea.
At this moment, Shun Long could feel his spiritual strength along with what little qi he had remaining in his 27 qi balls being sapped at an extremely rapid rate, as his body began to emit a bright blue and golden light that was nearly identical to the light that the ''Stone of Time'' was emitting in his spiritual sea!
The instant thest bit of his spiritual strength was sucked away from his spiritual sea, Shun Long could feel an indescribable, soul-splitting pain assaulting every single part of his body, simr to that of a thousand sharp needles being inserted into his every single pore simultaneously.
In fact, this pain was so intense, that being stabbed by Guo Chen''s star-rank dagger moments ago was nothing inparison.
And yet, along with this indescribable pain, Shun Long could also feel the flow of time around his body changing in an extremely peculiar manner, as his surroundings immediately started to turn blurry.
A momentter, Shun Long could feel the flow of time around him quickly getting distorted, as if it was being affected by the blue and golden light that his body was now emitting, while the ''Stone of Time'' in the center of his spiritual sea was vibrating with even more intensity than before!
*Crack!*
*Crack!!*
*Crack!!!*
However, the scene that followed next was so abnormal, that it would have left even peak-stage Sovereign realm experts like the Northern Sovereign utterly dumbfounded from sheer shock and disbelief if she could somehow see this!
The blue and golden light around Shun Long''s body abruptly started to spread outwards,pletely enveloping the rest of his surroundings in the blink of an eye.
In the next moment, regardless of whether it was Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, who were still lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood after they had been attacked by Mao Huang, or the surrounding Dao Kings like Guo Chen and the others who had already started to pull themselves away from Shun Long the moment they sensed the abnormal level of spiritual strength that he was emitting, all of them were immediately enveloped by the blue and golden light before their bodies immediately turned stiff.
It didn''t matter if it was the peak rank 9 Dao Kings like Guo Chen and the others who were just a few hundred meters away from Shun Long, or the middle andte-stage Dao Kings who were spectating Shun Long''s fight with Mao Huang from thousands of meters away, as their bodies were all frozen into ce the moment they were touched by this blue and golden light!
And yet, this wasn''t the end of it as the blue and golden light around Shun Long continued to expand even further without any signs of stopping, spreading past the borders of the ''Illusion oasis'' before it moved towards the magic beasts that were stationed right outside the oasis'' entrance.
In the next moment, the thousands of magic beasts that were gathered in front of the entrance of the Illusion oasis were enveloped by this palpitating blue and golden light as well, before they were also frozen in ce just like Guo Chen and the Dao Kings inside, without the slightest ability to resist it.
This was a truly horrifying scene that would have left even the strongest experts of the central regionpletely stunned from shock, confusion... and finally, disbelief.
Thousands of rank 6 magic beasts, including even peak rank 6 magic beasts like Little Silver who were actually strong enough to destroy entire groups ofte-stage Dao Kings all by themselves, were now frozen in ce after they were enveloped by that blue and golden light, and all of this had been caused by a single peak rank 3 Dao King!
If news of this started to spread out, the entire central region would instantly fall into an uproar, while even those old monsters who had remained hidden for hundreds of thousands of years and were ruling the central region from the shadows would most likely make an appearance!
And yet, Little ck who was watching everything from the ''Stone of Time'' with his deep azure eyes understood, that in reality, this was nothing but merely the tip of the iceberg of Shun Long''s ''World Zero''!
Chapter 868 World Zero (2)
Chapter868World Zero (2)
In the next moment, Little ck could see that the space around Shun Long had actually started to shatter, as countless spatial cracks had started to appear everywhere around him, immediately swallowing everything that they came in contact with.
It didn''t matter if it was Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian who were standing just a few meters away from Shun Long, or Guo Chen and the rest of the middle andte-stage Dao Kings who were still inside the ''Illusion oasis'', as they all disappeared the moment they came in contact with those space tears!
At that moment, it looked like reality itself had started to distort, as the flow of time and even the space inside the ''Illusion oasis'' had turnedpletely chaotic after Shun Long activated his ''World Zero''!
And yet, this was nothing but merely the beginning, as more and more space tears started to appear everywhere the blue and golden light passed from.
In the next moment, the thousands of rank 6 magic beasts that were still frozen at the entrance of the ''Illusion oasis'' were also subjected to the same fate, as thousands of space tears swallowed them in the blink of an eye, not giving them the slightest moment to resist.
Of course, Little ck who was observing this scene from the ''Stone of Time'' knew, that since those magic beasts were bound by a force that was even stronger than Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Domain'', they weren''t even aware of what was going on as the flow of time around them had forciblye to a halt.
...
Meanwhile, the blue and golden light continued to expand even further, spreading far beyond what even Little ck''s eyes could see.
The entire ''limitless desert'' where the ''Illusion oasis'' and the ''Desert mural'' were located, and even the countless other ces within the ''City of Immortals'' that Shun Long had yet to visit... all of them were covered by this blue and golden light in the blink of an eye! In a single moment, the entire ''City of Immortals'' had been engulfed by this light before everything turned still!
And yet, this wasn''t the end of it, as the blue and golden light continued to expand even further, rapidly seeping out of the ''City of Immortals'' and into the central region!
In fact, not a single expert in the entire central region had enough time to realize what was going on before they were engulfed by this blue and golden light as well, causing their bodies to turn still, as if they had been frozen solid in practically an instant!
Even experts at the Northern Sovereign''s level only had enough time to raise their brows after they faintly sensed something brushing past their bodies, before the flow of time around them forcibly came to a halt!
..
The northern part of the central region where the ''Holy sect'' and the ''Northern Sovereign''s city'' were located, along with the western, the eastern, and the southern parts of the central region... and even the central part where the most powerful families and ns of the world were located... everything was engulfed by this peculiar blue and golden light in the blink of an eye, before the entire central region fell silent!
In fact, it wasn''t just the central region itself but every single small and big ce in the entire cultivation world that was enveloped by this blue and golden light soon after, before everything inside them turned still!
The surrounding continents around the central region, including the 3 continents in the eastern region, the ''Night star continent'', the ''Sun star continent'', and the ''Martial star continent'', as well as the 5 continents in the northern region, the 2 continents in the western region, and the 4 continents in the southern region... all of them had been engulfed by the blue and golden light without any exception as well! Forget about ces like the ''Heaven''s Dome city'' in the ''Night star continent'' where the Shengtian dynasty, the Mercenaries'' Association, the Alchemists'' Guild, and the royal family of the dark elf race were located... even the remote mortal inds in the ''Deste east'' like the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'' were affected by this blue and golden light that had now covered every single inch of the cultivation world!
..
Finally, once the entire world was submerged in this blue and golden light, Shun Long could feel his empty spiritual sea that was devoid of any spiritual energy tremble for a moment, before everything around him suddenly turned dark!
...
At the same time that this scene was taking ce within the ''City of Immortals'', in the ''Immortal Dimension'', a moment after Shun Long''s spiritual sea started to tremble several experts seemed to have snapped their eyes open, as they all stared at the horizon in front of them with either serious or surprised expressions on their faces!
Inside a certain majestic red pce that was thousands of meters tall, a golden-robed old man who was standing in front of a purple-colored sphere was the first one to open his eyes, and after staring at the purple sphere of light in front of him for a few seconds in silence, he eventually mumbled to himself in a surprised tone
''''Has it finally been found...?''''
...
At the same time, in another ce in the ''Immortal Dimension'', in the heart of an incredibly luxurious pavilion at the center of an extremely bustling city, a handsome middle-aged man in white robes was casually chatting with a hideous-looking old man dressed in ck robes, before the 2 men both stopped what they were doing as they abruptly turned their gazes towards a certain location in the distance.
The handsome white-robed man''s expression was the first one to change and turn slightly ugly, before he turned his head to the side to look at the old man next to him, only to see a sinister smile that had now appeared on his already hideous face, a smile that would instantly creep out anyone who saw it!
''''Haha, don''t tell me that it has finally been found after so many years! Hahahahahaha! The heavens have really blessed me!'''' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The ck-robed old man''s disinterested expression had vanished long ago, as his ear-gratingughter sent shivers to the handsome white-robed man who was sitting by his side, and yet the white-robed middle-aged man didn''t even say anything as his expression waspletely different from the ck-robed old man''s!
After staying silent for a few moments the look on the white-robed man''s face finally turned serious before he turned to look at the hideous ck-robed old man by his side and muttered solemnly
''''Senior Ji, if this is really the fallen King''s treasure, things won''t be easy even for you.''''
Chapter 869 World Zero (3)
869 Chapter 869 World Zero (3)
''''Hmph! Fallen King? He was just a brat that was still wet behind the ears! I had been looking for that treasure in the depths of the ''Ruins of the Universe'' before that little bastard was even born! He was simply lucky to get his hands on it while I was trapped in that cursed ce! But now that it has appeared again, no one can even think of trying to take it away from me!''''
The hideous ck-robed old man''s tone was so cold that it sent shivers down the handsome white-robed man''s spine, while the look of killing intent in his abyss-like ck eyes was enough to turn even the bravest men in the ''Immortal Dimension'' into frozen statues with just a nce!
After all, this ck-robed old man was regarded to be one of the most terrifying ancient beings in the entire ''Immortal Dimension'', someone who was both revered and feared for his terrifying strength and cruelty!
And yet, the white-robed middle-aged man merely took a deep breath to rpose himself before he stared at the vicious look in the hideous ck-robed old man''s eyes and answered calmly
''''Senior Ji, naturally, I will help you as much as I possibly can, but you should know that this matter isn''t something that can be treated lightly even by you!
There are far too many powers in the ''Immortal Dimension'', both hidden as well as those out in the open, who have been looking for signs of the fallen King''s legacy ever since the day he perished. Although it won''t be too much of an issue for me to take care of the small fries along with the remnants of the fallen King''s faction, dealing with the rest would be impossible even for me!
Despite senior Ji''s individual strength, you should know that some of those powers can''t possibly be shaken by a single person either, even if that person is you, senior!''''
The hideous ck-robed old man narrowed his eyes as he stared at the handsome middle-aged man in front of him, while the killing intent around him had already be almost palpable by now, as the space around him had already started to tremble.
And yet, the handsome white-robed middle-aged man didn''t seem to have noticed any of this as he continued to stare at ''senior Ji'' while waiting for his decision.
Finally, after staying silent for a few more moments, the hideous ck-robed old man, ''senior Ji'' snorted before he said coldly to the handsome white-robed middle-aged man
''''Hmph! You think I am afraid of those worms who pride themselves as the leaders of the ''Immortal Dimension''? Although it''s true that I wouldn''t be able to destroy them, none of them can pose a threat to me either! This time, nobody will be able to stop me!''''
Once he finished speaking, the ck-robed old man thew onest look in the distance ahead of him before his figure abruptly disappeared from the luxurious pavilion, leaving behind only the handsome white-robed middle-aged man who was still staring in the distance with an exceedingly solemn look on his face!
...
At the same time, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the fact that certain terrifying figures in the ''Immortal Dimension'' had fallen into an uproar, as his entire attention was fully ced in his surroundings instead.
Staring at the scorching desert beneath his feet and the gigantic, familiar-looking rocks that surrounded him from all sides like a natural-made fortress, as well as Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian who were all sitting on the ground around him and looked to be in perfect condition,pletely different from how they looked back in the ''Illusion oasis'' where they were clearly on the verge of death, Shun Long understood that his ''World Zero'' had truly seeded!
''''Roooooooaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!!''''
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Eh? Brother Long? We are still alive?''''
''''Brother Shun... what happened to us?''''
The first thing that Shun Long heard after he opened his eyes, was Little Silver''s roar that was filled with worry as well as confusion, followed by Liu Mei''s, Xingyi''s, and Bai Longtian''s astounded, as well as surprised voices.
Jiang Chen was the only one who didn''t speak after opening his eyes but the only reason behind that, was because he was actually the most shocked out of everyone else present!
Jiang Chen could sense that not only was his qipletely restored and his spiritual strength was back in peak condition after he opened his eyes, but all of his injuries had been fully healed as well, and even his blood essence had been replenished!
Since he had fully burnt all of his blood essence when he fought Mao Huang with Liu Mei and the others, Jiang Chen knew that even if he somehow managed to miraculously survive those injuries of his, he would still need 3 more months at the very least for his body to replenish the blood essence that he had spent!
And yet, right now, not only did he seem to be back in perfect condition, but he could also see that he wasn''t in the ''Illusion oasis'' any longer either!
Of course, Jiang Chen wasn''t the only one who had noticed this, as Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian had noticed those details as well!In fact, the instant their eyesnded on the massive boulders that surrounded them from all sides, they all understood that they had somehow arrived back in the ''endless desert''!
''''Brother... what is going on?'''' After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Chen decided to ask Shun Long as well, certain that all of this had something to do with him.
..
Since he wasn''t nning to hide anything from Liu Mei and the rest about this matter, Shun Long nodded his head and was just about to exin everything, but it was at this moment that the sky above his head suddenly started to rumble!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!
Instinctively, Liu Mei and the others all raised their heads to look at the sky above them, only to see a massive, ck-colored lightning cloud that was crackling with sparks of pure white lightning gather above their heads.
Staring at this baffling yet somehow familiar sight, Liu Mei and the rest all froze into ce, as the same 2 words appeared in everyone''s minds!
Chapter 870 Defying the will of the world! Angering the heavens!
870 Chapter 870 Defying the will of the world! Angering the heavens!
''''Heavenly Tribtion!''''
In reality, it wasn''t just Liu Mei and the others who were surprised by the sight of the massive ck-colored thundercloud that had appeared above their heads, but so was Shun Long, who was now staring at the cloud of heavenly tribtion in the sky with an equally surprised look on his face.
Although this cloud of Heavenly Tribtion wasn''t as big as the one that had appeared back in the ''King''s Pce'' while he was undergoing his breakthrough to the Dao King realm, it was still much bigger than the Heavenly Tribtion clouds that Jiang Chen and the others had experienced during their own breakthroughs.
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck merely nced at the gigantic ck-colored thundercloud in the sky that was crackling with sparks of white lightning, before a solemn look appeared inside his deep azure eyes, and after a moment of silence, the ck dragon said to Shun Long in a serious manner
''''Master, you have to be careful. Although your body is back in peak condition, dealing with this heavenly tribtion will still be quite dangerous right now!'''' Since Little ck could sense Shun Long''s confusion, he didn''t waste a single moment as he continued exining
''''It is just as you are thinking, master! This cloud of Heavenly Tribtion is precisely here for you. Of course, this is only natural as well. Since master forcefully reversed the flow of time, the heavens have naturally been provoked by master''s actions and will not let this go unpunished!''''
Once he finished his exnation, Little ck continued to stare at the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion in the sky with a serious look on his face, while a myriad of different thoughts seemed to have coursed through his mind.
Unlike Liu Mei and the others who were still stunned and had yet to fully realize what was going on and how they had appeared back in the endless desert, Little ck knew exactly what would happen once Shun Long used his ''World Zero''.
Little ck already knew that the moment that Shun Long used the ''World Zero'', the flow of time in the entire world would forcefully be reversed, essentially allowing Shun Long to reverse the state of the world back to how it was before.
It didn''t matter if Liu Mei and the others were gravely injured... or even dead before that, as everything would be brought back to the state it was before. This was also the reason why Shun Long''s, as well as Liu Mei''s, Jiang Chen''s, Xingyi''s, and Bai Longtian''s injuries had all disappeared the moment they opened their eyes and realized that they had appeared back in the desert.
Additionally, Little ck also knew that this was why Shun Long wasn''t afraid of Sovereign realm experts like the Northern Sovereign any longer and was merely wary of them. Although Shun Long knew that he couldn''t possibly fight a Sovereign realm expert head-on, he was confident that afterprehending his ''World Zero'', unless there was someone who could kill him before he could even realize what was going on, it would be extremely difficult to take his life, even if his opponent was a Sovereign realm expert!
Of course, since Shun Long had forcefully reversed the flow of time, everyone who had died during this time, including even peak rank 9 Dao Kings like Mao Huang whom he had killed in the ''Illusion oasis'', would still be alive as well.
...
At the same time, Shun Long was stunned inwardly after hearing Little ck''s exnation before a serious look eventually appeared in his eyes.
Although he knew how heaven-defying his ''World Zero'' was, he hadn''t expected that he would end up angering the heavens to the point where he would summon a heavenly tribtion after using it.
What Shun Long had yet to realize however, was, that even an existence like Little ck, a ck dragon who had roamed throughout the ''Immortal Dimension'' for thousands of years and had experienced countless different situations in the past alongside him, was actually shaken right now, as even he had some difficulty epting what had taken ce in front of him.
After all, what Shun Long had just done was an action that went against the natural order and was no different from defying the heavens themselves!
Even in the ''Immortal Dimension'', Little ck knew that those who could anger the heavens to the point where they could summon a heavenly tribtion, were only those monsters who stood at the absolute peak of the world and had enough power to shake the bnce of the entire ''Immortal Dimension'' itself.
In fact, Little ck had only heard of one such figure in the past, and that person was the patriarch of one of the most powerful races in the ''Immortal Dimension'' and someone whose strength was rumored to be at the same level as the 9 emperors of the Dragon Realm!
''''No... even when the patriarch of the fiend race angered the heavens, his situation waspletely different from master''s! Master is still just an early-stage Dao King! How can he face such a heavenly tribtion with his current cultivation base?!'''' Little ck mumbled to himself in a distressed tone as he continued to stare at the thundercloud of Heavenly Tribtion in the sky above Shun Long, while his voice had already started to emit hints of unrestrained fury.
After all, although Shun Long had already undergone one heavenly tribtion before, Little ck knew that there was one distinct difference between this heavenly tribtion and the one that Shun Long had faced back in the King''s Pce!
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to have heard any of Little ck''sints as his entire attention was ced on the massive white-colored lightning bolt that had already formed itself in the sky above him and looked like it was about to descend on him at any moment!
Staring at the pure-white bolt of lightning that had turned almost corporeal by now, Shun Long finally narrowed his eyes before he turned his gaze towards Liu Mei and the others and said in a serious voice
''''Mei''er, all of you get back!''''
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!
Before Liu Mei and the rest could even respond, the sky above them boomed violently, before the bolt of heavenly tribtion suddenly fell straight towards Shun Long, as if it was aiming directly for his head! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Chapter 871 Defying the will of the world! Angering the heavens! (2)
Chapter 871 Defying the will of the world! Angering the heavens! (2)
Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, all felt a sudden chill as they stared at the enormous white bolt of lightning that had appeared above Shun Long in practically an instant.Sensing the boundless destructive energy that was hidden inside it made Liu Mei and the rest all shiver involuntarily, as a sensation of imminent death instantly gripped their hearts.
The moment theyid their eyes on this particr white bolt of heavenly tribtion, Bai Longtian and the rest immediately understood how terrifying it truly was.
Forget about a normal early-stage Dao King facing this, all of them could clearly sense that even middle andte-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t stand a chance against it, as their spiritual seas would be obliterated in an instant!
In fact, Liu Mei and the rest could tell that even a peak rank 9 Dao King wouldn''tst for more than a second if this bolt of heavenly tribtion entered their spiritual sea and began to go on a rampage!
Naturally, if Jiang Chen and the rest could sense this, then how could Shun Long not sense it as well when he was the true target of this Heavenly Tribtion?
And yet, the moment that the white bolt of lightning appeared in front of him, Shun Long merely closed his eyes as he allowed it to enter his spiritual sea directly.
In the next moment, under Liu Mei''s and the rest''s anxious and worried gazes, the white bolt of heavenly tribtion struck Shun Long right in the space between his eyebrows, before it pierced through his be and effortlessly entered inside his spiritual sea!
...
At the same time that this scene was taking ce, in an area just a few thousand miles away from Shun Long''s location, amotion had already started to take ce, as a group of more than 100 Dao Kings were now staring at the gigantic ck-colored thundercloud in the sky that was still expanding rapidly without any signs of stopping!
''''A Heavenly Tribtion...? Is this really a Heavenly Tribtion?''''
''''How is this possible? We are still inside the ''City of Immortals'' right now so how can a Heavenly Tribtion appear here? Don''t tell me that someone is really trying to breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm in here!''''
''''No, that''s not possible! Even if someone attempts to breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm inside the ''City of Immortals'', it would still be impossible for them to seed. I have heard about this from my senior brother, but thews inside the ''City of Immortals'' forcefully prevent anyone from sessfully breaking through to the next realm until they leave this ce!''''
''''Regardless of what it is, let''s go take a look!''''
After staring at each other for a few moments, the group of more than 100 Dao Kings all shot to the sky at the same time, before they flew straight towards the heart of the ck-colored thundercloud!
If Liu Mei and the others could see this scene they would be able to recognize most of these Dao Kings quite easily, as these were the same people who had beenprehending the stone mural alongside them just a couple of months ago.
Of course, since Liu Mei''s and the others'' current location was merely a few thousand miles away from the stone mural''s location, it was only natural for these Dao Kings to notice the appearance of the cloud of Heavenly Tribtion above them!
...
At the same time that that group of Dao Kings was approaching closer and closer towards them, Shun Long sat cross-legged on the ground, as he weed the bolt of heavenly tribtion directly inside his spiritual sea.
The moment that the white bolt of heavenly tribtion entered his spiritual sea however Shun Long could no longer maintain his calm expression for another moment, as a sensation of indescribable pain filled his mind.
The moment it entered his spiritual sea, Shun Long could sense that the white bolt of heavenly tribtion didn''t rampage around like the previous bolts of heavenly tribtion that he had faced back in the ''King''s Pce'', but instead, it turned into an extremely sharp bolt of lightning that flew directly towards the center of his spiritual sea, almost as if it was aiming straight for his soul!
And yet, this wasn''t all there was to it, as Shun Long could sense that there was one more distinct difference between this white bolt of heavenly tribtion and the ones he had faced back in the King''s Pce.
He could tell that despite the dangers that they contained, the bolts of heavenly tribtion he had faced back in the King''s Pce weren''t only destructive, since they also contained a nourishing type of energy inside them that strengthened both his spiritual sea as well as his soul once he absorbed them.
However, the bolt of heavenly tribtion that was inside his spiritual sea right now didn''t have an ounce of that nourishing energy within it. Instead, it seemed as if it was only filled with pure destructive energy and its sole goal was topletely obliterate a person''s soul!
And yet, Shun Long''s expression was only frozen for a single moment before his lips curved up into a smile slowly afterwards.
In the next moment, Shun Long''s entire spiritual sea suddenly surged, and like a beast that had just woken up from its slumber, it opened its mouth andpletely swallowed the bolt of heavenly tribtion whole, leaving nothing behind! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
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Author''s note: I want to say a very big thank you to all of you who have been so patient during thest few months. I have read all of yourments regarding the update releases, both positive and negative ones, as well as your questions about my well-being. This is the link for the discord where you are always wee to drop by and ask me any questions you may have /invite/evjq4qDF97). Thank you for waiting so patiently for MOT''s return. Much love, Zeus
Chapter 872 Challenging the heavens
872 Chapter 872 Challenging the heavens
If anyone could witness the scene that had just taken ce within Shun Long''s spiritual sea, their expressions would most likely be ones of shock, fear, or disbelief, or even all of these emotions at once.
The white bolt of heavenly tribtion that could obliterate the spiritual sea of even a peak rank 9 Dao King had been swallowed by Shun Long''s spiritual sea in a single instant, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
In reality, forget about most peak rank 9 Dao Kings, even an early-stage Dao Emperor would have to utilize their entire spiritual strength to resist that bolt of heavenly tribtion head-on.
And yet, Shun Long only had to expend a mere 20 percent of his spiritual strength to deal with it.
Of course, Liu Mei and the others weren''t too surprised in their hearts when they saw the scene in front of them, since they already knew how monstrous Shun Long''s spiritual strength really was!
After all, the 4 of them already knew that although Shun Long was still just a peak rank 3 Dao King, his spiritual strength had long since surpassed most early-stage and middle-stage Dao Emperors, and was already on par with most peak rank 6 Dao Emperors. In fact, even a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor like Xingyi''s own master, Elder Mao Jing, the Elder responsible for the ''Refinement Hall'' and a renowned star-rank alchemist, could no longer beat Shun Long in terms of pure spiritual strength!
However, just as Bai Longtian and the others were about to heave out a sigh of relief believing that the heavenly tribtion hade to an end while Shun Long was still unscathed, the ck thundercloud above their heads started to rumble for a second time, before sparks of white lightning began to gather around its surface once again.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Staring at the 2 white-colored lightning bolts that were being rapidly formed at the same time, Xingyi and the rest froze for a moment before grave expressions quickly appeared on everyone''s faces.
Just a single one of these white bolts was enough to obliterate the spiritual sea of a peak rank 9 Dao King and even threaten an early-stage Dao Emperor who took this head-on, and yet two of them were now attempting to descend at the same time?
''''This is too much! Even if it''s brother Shun, he will still be in danger if he has to face 2 of these lightning bolts simultaneously!''''Bai Longtian muttered in a worried voice as he stared at the 2 bolts of heavenly tribtion in the sky.
Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi all nodded their heads without saying anything, afraid that they would end up breaking Shun Long''s concentration if they did so, but it was clear from the solemn looks on their faces that they all understood how much danger this heavenly tribtion truly posed to him!
Even if Shun Long''s spiritual sea could already rival that of a middle-stage Dao Emperor, Liu Mei and the others understood that it would still end up suffering some serious internal injuries if Shun Long took these 2 bolts of heavenly tribtion head-on like thest one!
And yet, this wasn''t even what worried Liu Mei and the rest the most. After all, even if Shun Long injured his spiritual sea, he would still be able to recover it with the help of rank 6 and rank 7 medicinal pills after some time. Even if that process took a few months or even years, there was no doubt that he would be able to do so in the end. After all, his alchemy skills had already surpassed the realm of a 1-star alchemist long ago.
What truly worried Jiang Chen and the others however, was that they didn''t know whether there were going to be even more bolts of heavenly tribtion after these 2. If that was the case, then forget about the spiritual sea of a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor, even ate-stage Dao Emperor''s spiritual sea may not be able to handle it.
''''AWOOOOO!''''
At the same time that these thoughts coursed through Liu Mei''s and the rest''s minds, Little Silver who was lying on the ground next to Shun Long raised its head and let out a furious roar towards the sky, before it stood up and spread out its bright silver wings, looking like it was ready to charge straight towards the cloud of heavenly tribtion.
At the same time, Shun Long could also sense Little Silver''s agitation and anger that was directed towards the cloud of heavenly tribtion in the sky, and after taking a deep breath, he turned his gaze towards Little Silver and said in a deep voice
''''Little Silver, get back!''''
The moment it heard Shun Long''smand, Little Silver''s body froze involuntarily, before the ck panther turned its head to meet Shun Long''s gaze. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, Shun Long simply smiled and ignored the pleading as well as determined look in Little Silver''s eyes, as he shook his head and continued
''''Just get back! Don''t worry, I can still handle this much!''''
Lowering its head, Little Silver threw onest reluctant look at Shun Long that was filled with concern and worry, and after hesitating for a moment, it finally spread its bright silver wings and pped them once, flying straight towards an empty area just a few hundred meters away from where Shun Long was sitting.
Shun Long could feel a warm feeling sprouting in his heart as he stared at Little Silver''s figure that was about to fight even the heavenly tribtion regardless of any consequences.
In his heart, Shun Long knew that although Little Silver was an adult magic beast and one that could easily trample even peak rank 9 Dao Kings that stood in its path, it was still young and its intelligence was still that of a child''s.
Naturally, Little Silver still viewed Shun Long as its parent and wouldn''t hesitate to protect him from anything that wanted to take his life.
But of course, Shun Long wasn''t nning on letting Little Silver face this Heavenly Tribtion in his stead no matter what. After all, even if Little Silver could somehow seed in resisting this heavenly tribtion for him, such an action would only end up enraging the heavens even further and would end up summoning another heavenly tribtion soon afterwards. The only way to make it stop was for Shun Long to face it directly.
After he finished speaking, Shun Long then turned his gaze towards the sky to look at the 2 white bolts of heavenly tribtion that had almost finished condensing themselves, and after staying silent for a moment, his lips slowly curved upwards as he said in a mocking manner
''''The Heavenly Dao huh...? You must really want to kill me if you are sending out a heavenly tribtion that''s enough to obliterate even early-stage Dao Emperors when I''m only an early-stage Dao King... Come then! Let''s see if this is really enough to destroy my spiritual sea!''''
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
In the next moment, it seemed as if the heavens had been directly provoked by Shun Long''s words as the sky rumbled loudly once again, before the 2 white bolts of heavenly tribtion descended simultaneously, falling straight towards Shun Long''s head.
Narrowing his eyes, Shun Long then waved his right hand, taking out a pitch ck sword from the foggy space of the ''Stone of Time'', before he said in a serious but extremely calm voice
''''...Monarch''s Domain!''''
Chapter 873 The third form of the Thundergods slash
Chapter 873 The third form of the ''Thundergod''s sh''
''''...Monarch''s Domain.''''
The moment that Shun Long''s voice rang through the air, the 27 golden balls of qi inside him all began circting at the same time, as the invisible figure of an hourss expanded from his body before his eyes turned back to their usual golden color.
As soon as the ''Monarch''s Domain'' emerged, a deathly silence seemed to havepletely enveloped Shun Long''s surroundings, as the flow of time around him forcibly came to a halt right in the next moment!
And yet, the 2 bolts of heavenly tribtion above his head continued their descent without any signs of stopping, as they entered the ''Monarch''s Domain'' and continued moving straight towards Shun Long''s head.
Although their speed had clearly slowed down after entering inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'', Shun Long could see that the 2 bolts of lightning had only lost a mere 30 percent of their speed and were nowhere near close to stopping.
Staring at these 2 snow-white bolts of heavenly tribtion that had suddenly appeared in front of him in what seemed to be merely an instant, a serious look finally appeared in the depths of his bright golden eyes, as Shun Long grabbed the hilt of his ck sword with both hands and infused his qi inside it, before he swung it towards the sky and roared out in a serious voice
''''Thundergod''s sh!''''
As soon as Shun Long''s qi entered the ck sword, the mysterious runes and patterns on the sword''s surface started to light up one after the other, before sparks of ck-colored lightning began to gather around the sword''s edge!
In the next moment, under Liu Mei''s and the rest''s worried and anxious looks, a ck-colored sword sh that was crackling with sparks of ck lightning emerged from the ck sword, before it collided directly with the 2 bolts of heavenly tribtion right in front of Shun Long!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
For a moment, it seemed as if the entire sky above the ''Endless Desert'' shook as the ck-colored sword sh met the 2 white bolts of heavenly tribtion head-on, before the surrounding space around Shun Long started to shatter from the terrifying impact!
Even Liu Mei and the others had no choice but to move a bit further away from Shun Long despite the worried looks on their faces, as the 4 of them could clearly sense how dangerous the area around him really was right now!
In fact, even though they knew that Shun Long''s strength had already far exceeded that of most average peak rank 6 Dao Kings and that he was probably strong enough to fight even early rank 7 Dao Kings head-on, Xingyi and the rest couldn''t help but feel shocked inwardly as they witnessed the scene that was unfolding in front of their eyes!
Forget about early rank 7 Dao Kings, the power behind this ''Thundergod''s sh'' in front of them was probably strong enough to cleave even an average early rank 8 Dao King in half!
At the same time however, unlike Xingyi and the rest who were feeling a mix of surprise and tion after witnessing Shun Long''s attack, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck observed everything without any change in his expression, as his deep azure eyes continued to stare at the shattered space in front of Shun Long in silence.
Clearly, this scene wasn''t much of a surprise at all for Little ck, since he was the one who understood Shun Long''s strength the most.
Early rank 8 Dao Kings? Forget about that.
Little ck knew that even peak rank 8 Dao Kings would struggle to fend off this sword sh from Shun Long and would most likely have to try and dodge it instead of forcibly taking it head-on, unless they possessed a Saint middle-grade martial skill as well!
After all, this version of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' that Shun Long had just used was the third and final form of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' that he had obtained from the second floor of the ''Golden Treasures Hall'' back in the Holy sect! Naturally, this third form of the ''Thundergod''s sh'' was something that only Dao Kings could use and its true might was evenparable to most Saint middle-grade martial skills despite the fact that it was actually categorized as a Saint low-grade martial skill!
Of course, if that was all there was to it, it would be impossible for a single ''Thundegod''s sh'' to be enough to threaten even early rank 8 Dao Kings, let alone peak rank 8 ones!
After all, Shun Long''s cultivation was still at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm right now, and the gap between early andte-stage Dao Kings wasn''t something that could be bridged so easily just by using a single Saint low-grade martial skill.
However, Little ck understood that the strength of this ''Thundergod''s sh'' had not only been augmented from the ''Lightning Dao'' within the peak 1-star ck sword that Shun Long was holding, but there was also one more reason behind it!
It was the ''sword aura'' that Shun Long hadprehended from the ''Stone mural''.
After reaching the level of possessing ''sword aura'', it didn''t matter if it was a casual sword sh or a martial skill that utilized the sword anymore, as all of Shun Long''s attacks would reach an entirely different realmpared to before!
Even in the ''Immortal Dimension'', Little ck knew that it was extremely umon even for early-stage Dao Emperors to haveprehended sword aura, and those who managed to do so were only those prodigies whose talent with the sword could shake entire regions of the ''Immortal Dimension'' after they matured.
As for an early-stage Dao Kingprehending ''sword aura''... that was nothing but a joke. Even in the vastness of the entire ''Immortal Dimension'', as far as Little ck was aware, something like this had never happened before!
And yet, despite knowing how powerful Shun Long''s attack actually was, there was still a frown on the ck dragon''s face as he continued to stare at the shattered space in front of Shun Long without saying anything.
At the same time, Shun Long waspletely unaware of the thoughts that were coursing through Little ck''s, Liu Mei''s, and the rest''s minds, as his entire attention was ced on the shattered space in front of him as well!
Just like Little ck had guessed, this was one of the strongest attacks that Shun Long currently possessed. In fact, if it was ranked purely in terms of its offensive ability, Shun Long knew that this ''Thundergod''s sh'' of his that had been augmented by both his ''sword aura'' and the Lightning Dao inside the ck sword, was actually the most destructive attack he could create right now, if he didn''t count his ''mes of Destruction'' that he could only use after burning his blood essence and entering his dragonform!
And yet, Shun Long knew that what he was facing right now wasn''t anyte-stage Dao King that would be threatened by such an attack, but those 2 white bolts of heavenly tribtion that could wipe out even a peak rank 9 Dao King without giving them even a single chance to resist!
Regardless of how strong his attack was, unless it was enough to threaten the life of an early-stage Dao Emperor, Shun Long understood that it would be impossible for it to contend against even a single one of these white bolts of heavenly tribtion, let alone 2 of them at the same time!
Indeed, just like Shun Long had expected, his ''Thundergod''s sh'' onlysted for a single second under the barrage of the 2 white bolts of heavenly tribtion, before the 2 bolts of lightning continued straight for his head soon afterwards!
Just like the first one, the 2 bolts of heavenly tribtion pierced through Shun Long''s be without any resistance and entered his spiritual sea, before a wave of indescribable pain instantly overcame him.
The moment they entered his spiritual sea, the 2 bolts of lightning flew directly towards the center of the spiritual sea, as if their only aim was to destroy Shun Long''s soul andpletely eradicate his existence!
And yet, Shun Long''s lips merely curved upwards when he saw this scene, before the spiritual strength inside his entire spiritual sea surged for the second time, immediately swallowing the 2 white bolts, leaving nothing behind!
...
At the same time that all of this was taking ce within Shun Long''s spiritual sea, back in the Endless Desert, Liu Mei''s, Jiang Chen''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Xingyi''s expressions all abruptly turned serious, as the 4 of them turned their attention towards therge group of Dao Kings that had suddenly appeared around them, almost out of thin air, and were now staring at Shun Long with curious looks on their faces.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Chapter 874 Completely surrounded
Chapter 874 Completely surrounded
''''Eh? The one who has summoned this Heavenly Tribtion is actually him? How is this possible?''''
''''Hey, Hao Yun, what''s going on here? Didn''t you say that it is impossible for anyone to summon a Heavenly Tribtion while they are still inside the ''City of Immortals''? I thought that you said that even peak rank 9 Dao Kings can''tplete their breakthroughs in here due to that reason!''''
''''This... I don''t know what''s going on either! My senior brother told me that it is definitely impossible for anyone toplete their breakthroughs here due to thews of the ''City of Immortals'' restricting them! Besides, this doesn''t even make sense in the first ce! That kid is just a peak rank 3 Dao King so how could he be facing a Heavenly Tribtion in the first ce?''''
The Dao Kings around the young man named Hao Yun instantly fell silent when they heard his words before baffled expressions quickly appeared on everyone''s faces! Indeed, the azure-robed young man sitting in the middle of the desert right now was just a peak rank 3 Dao King, so how could he be facing a Heavenly Tribtion in the first ce? After all, it wasmon knowledge that cultivators would only face their Heavenly Tribtions, only when they attempted to break through to the next realm! However, forget about breaking through to the Dao Emperor realm, it was obvious to these people that Shun Long had yet to reach even the middle or thete stages of the Dao King realm, let alone the peak of the Dao King realm to even attempt to be a Dao Emperor!
..
''''AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!'''' At the same time that this group of more than 100 Dao Kings appeared around Shun Long who was still sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, Little Silver who was watching this scene from a few hundred meters away suddenly let out a powerful, almost deafening roar, before it spread its bright silver wings and pped them once, appearing in the sky above Shun Long in merely an instant.
At the same time, Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, all stared at the neers who had surrounded them with serious looks on their faces, before Xingyi was actually the first one to make her move, as she took a step forward and rose to the sky, facing therge group of Dao Kings directly, and after a moment of hesitation she finally asked them in a slightly cautious tone
''''Who are you people? What do you want here?''''
The majority of those Dao Kings were instantly taken aback by the sight of the dazzling, blond-haired beauty who appeared in front of them, while none of them really paid much attention to the aura of a middle-rank 6 Dao King that wasing from her body.
After all, although a middle rank 6 Dao King couldn''t be considered weak by any means even back in the central region, inside the ''City of Immortals'', such a cultivation base was actually the bare minimum that was needed in order to survive. In fact, most of the Dao Kings in this group in front of Xingyi were actuallyte-stage Dao Kings, while more than a handful of them were peak rank 8 ones and there were even a few early rank 9 ones among them as well!
And yet, none of these Dao Kings chose to make any sudden moves despite the fact that the person blocking their way was only a mere middle rank 6 Dao King, as their attention was quickly drawn away, from the gorgeous golden-haired young woman that was standing in front of them, to therge magic beast that was hovering in the sky right behind her, and the powerful aura that wasing from its body that was enough to deter any of them from approaching any further.
Staring at Little Silver and sensing the overbearing aura of a peak rank 6 magic beasting from its body was enough to make even the 100 Dao Kings in front of Xingyi suddenly stop in their tracks, as serious expressions instantly appeared on everyone''s faces.
''''What? A peak rank 6 magic beast? These brats actually have a peak rank 6 magic beast with them?''''
''''This.. since when did peak rank 6 magic beasts be somon? Even our senior brother Yao doesn''t have a peak rank 6 magic beast with him and he is just a step away from bing a middle rank 9 Dao King! Don''t tell me that these brats have a higher status in the outside world than even senior brother Yao!''''
It didn''t matter whether it was the weakest ones among them, or the peak rank 8 and even the early rank 9 Dao Kings among this group who had noticed this, as every single one of them was instantly taken aback the moment they saw Little Silver''s imposing appearance and sensed the powerful aura that wasing from its body!
After all, unlike the early and middle rank 6 magic beasts who were usually only a threat to early and middle-stage Dao Kings, everyone in the ''City of Immortals'' right now knew, that peak rank 6 magic beasts were practically considered to be supreme existences that were in a league of their own.
Without a powerful peak rank 9 Dao King to block its most powerful attacks, it would be nearly impossible for any group to subdue a peak rank 6 magic beast without sacrificing tens ofte-stage Dao Kings in the process. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
And yet, after merely a few moments of silence, one of the peak rank 8 Dao Kings who was standing nearby Xingyi suddenlyughed loudly before he answered her question with a mocking tone
''''What do we want? Hahaha! You really don''t know what we want? Fine then, let me answer your question! We want to know why that brat over there was facing a Heavenly Tribtion when he is just a peak rank 3 Dao King! As far as I am aware, even peak-stage Dao Kings won''t have to face their Heavenly Tribtions while they are still inside the ''City of Immortals'', even if they are experts who are just a step away from breaking through to the Dao Emperor realm! As for this...hmph! I''ve never heard of an early-stage Dao King facing a Heavenly Tribtion even back in the central region, let alone in here where he should be restricted by thews of the ''City of Immortals''. So, I suggest you exin yourselves while I am still asking you nicely!''''
The remaining Dao Kings next to the man who had just spoken all nodded their heads in agreement, before they turned their gazes towards Xingyi and the rest while they waited for their response.
Although it was true that all of them were somewhat wary of Little Silver and didn''t want to make a move against unless absolutely necessary, in the end, there were still more than 60te-stage Dao Kings among their group while Little Silver was just a single peak rank 6 magic beast. Thus, if these Dao Kings were really determined to go all-out against it, they were confident that they would be able to kill even a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver as long as they were willing to suffer some losses and sacrifice a few of their Dao Kings in the process!
The only reason they were still willing to talk it out with Xingyi and the rest instead of capturing them and interrogating them right away, was merely because they didn''t want to suffer too many casualties in a fight against a peak rank 6 magic beast if they could avoid it.
And yet, at the same time that this peak rank 8 Dao King finished his sentence and continued to arrogantly stare at Xingyi while he waited for her answer, the peak rank 8 and even the early rank 9 Dao Kings around him all looked as if they had suddenly realized something extremely horrifying, as their expressions quickly changed into ones of incredulity, wariness, and even fear, as they all stared at Little Silver''s cold yellow eyes that seemed to be oozing with a terrifying yet an also somehow familiar feeling of killing intent!
''''Elder brother! That panther.. isn''t it the same one that just fought with ''old Fu'' in the ''Desert mural'' a while ago?''''
The moment that one of the surrounding Dao Kings muttered these words, a deathly silence instantly filled the area around him, before the entire group of the more than 100 Dao Kings soon burst into an uproar!
''''What did you say?'''' ''''What? Is that really the same panther that killed ''old Fu''?''''
''''No.. it can''t be! It probably just looks simr but it can''t be the same!'''' ''''Right! Wasn''t that panther also injured in its fight with ''old Fu''? I remember that ''old Fu''s'' sword nearly tore that beast''s leg off! How can it be the same beast then? Even a high-grade rank 6 healing pill wouldn''t be able to heal such an injury in such a short amount of time! I''m sure this beast only looks simr but it definitely isn''t the same!''''
Most of thesete-stage Dao Kings who had witnessed Little Silver''s fight with the red-robed old man, the peak-stage ''old Fu'' from afar, all felt a chilling sensation in their hearts as they stared at Little Silver now, before they unconsciously tried to reject the connection between the ck panther in front of them and the one that had just yed a peak rank 9 Dao King in front of the eyes of thousands of Dao Kings.
However, their hopes onlysted for a few more seconds, before one of the peak rank 8 Dao Kings among them suddenly shook his head as he continued to stare at Little Silver with a solemn gaze, before he said in a serious tone
''''No, it''s definitely the same magic beast! Most of you only watched that fight from afar but I was standing right next to senior brother Yao when it happened... this is definitely the same panther, and if that''s the case... then that kid must also be...!''''
The moment he finished his sentence, the peak rank 8 Dao King''s eyes abruptly shed with a greedy light as he hurriedly turned his attention towards Shun Long who was still sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, and after staring at him for a few moments without saying anything, he then turned his gaze towards a tall young man with long ck hair and purple robes who was standing just a few meters away from him, and was now emitting the aura of an early rank 9 Dao King without any restraints!
Chapter 875 Attacked
Chapter 875 Attacked
''''Senior brother Yao?''''
The peak rank 8 Dao King asked cautiously as he stared at the purple-robed young man next to him, whose gaze seemed to have beenpletely glued on Shun Long''s body.
In fact, the purple-robed young man didn''t even seem to care about Little Silver''s own presence or the terrifying killing intent that it was now exuding, as his entire attention seemed to have beenpletely ced on just Shun Long himself!
In reality, the purple-robed young man wasn''t the only one who seemed to be like this, as the other 4 early rank 9 Dao Kings among his group looked to have almost identical reactions to him, as they all stared at Shun Long with fervent looks on their faces.
After closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the purple-robed young man called ''senior brother Yao'' actually smiled before turning his gaze towards Little Silver''s direction, and without even throwing a look at Xingyi and the others who were standing just a few meters away from it, he then said in a determined voice
''''A mere peak rank 6 magic beast dares to show its fangs in front of me this brazenly? Since you want to die so badly, so be it then! Let me send you on your way!''''
The aura of an early rank 9 Dao King abruptly exploded from the purple-robed young man''s body the moment he finished his sentence, before his figure turned into a purple-colored streak of light that flew straight towards Little Silver.
The purple-robed young man''s, ''senior brother Yao''s'' sudden actions seemed to have caught the rest of the Dao Kings around him off-guard, but the same couldn''t be said about the other 4 early rank 9 Dao Kings from his group who had been observing each other closely.
''''Fuck! You bastards, don''t fall behind Yao Guanting! Whoever kills that ck panther before him will get 100.000 high-grade spirit stones from me!''''
A short, bald middle-aged man d in luxurious yellow robes shouted angrily as soon as he saw ''senior brother Yao'' making his move, before his figure disappeared soon afterwards, as he flew straight towards Little Silver as well!
Just like ''senior brother Yao'', the aura of an early rank 9 Dao King could also be sensed from this yellow-robed middle-aged man, making it obvious that he was also one of the leading experts in this group.
At the same time, after seeing ''senior brother Yao'' and the yellow-robed middle-aged man making their moves, the remaining 3 early rank 9 Dao Kings couldn''t sit still anymore, as they turned to look at each other for merely a single moment, before they all flew straight towards Little Silver without any hesitation.
''''100.000 high-grade spirit stones? Since young master Zhong has said so, how can we possibly refuse? Brothers, let''s go!''''
''''Right! It''s just a single peak rank 6 magic beast in the end! What''s there to be afraid of? Even if it''s really the same ck panther that killed ''old Fu'', it still doesn''t matter. With more than 60te-stage Dao Kings gathered together it''s only a matter of time before we take it down!''''
In just a few moments it seemed that the entire group of more than 100 Dao Kings had been sessfully roused up, as every single one of those Dao Kings was now staring at Little Silver with looks of unconcealed greed in their eyes. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Of course, such an oue wasn''t surprising at all to the yellow-robed middle-aged man who had riled up everyone just now, ''young master Zhong''.After all, 100.000 high-grade spirit stones were enough to move even some powerful early and middle-stage Dao Emperors back in the central region, let alone thosete-stage Dao Kings who were already in his group.
At the same time, a look of worry had finally appeared in Xingyi''s bright emerald eyes as she saw this scene in front of her, before a solemn expression soon covered her face.
At this point, Xingyi understood that regardless of how strong Little Silver was, it was simply impossible for a single peak rank 6 magic beast to take on more than 100 middle andte-stage Dao Kings all by itself, especially when the majority of these people were actuallyte-stage Dao Kings!
And yet, before Xingyi could say anything else, Liu Mei simply shook her head as she appeared by her side, before she said seriously
''''Xingyi, there is no point to try and reason with people like them. Since they have decided to mess with Long-ge, there is no point to hold back against them anymore. Just kill them all!''''
Nodding his head, Bai Longtian agreed with Liu Mei as he said calmly
''''Sister Liu is right. It seems that their leaders have already resolved themselves on attacking brother Shun, so there is no point to try and talk peacefully with them any longer.''''
At the same time that Bai Longtian finished his words, a frosty look seemed to have also appeared in the depths of Jiang Chen''s dark red eyes as he stared at the massive group of iing Dao Kings, before his cold voice rang out in everyone''s ears
''''Since those bastards want to die so badly, let''s fulfill their wishes!''''
As soon as Jiang Chen finished speaking, a pitch-ck veil of darkness started toe out from his body, before the entire area of more than 300 meters around him was quickly submerged into darkness! In the next moment, it wasn''t just Jiang Chen, but also Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, and even Little Silver who were swallowed by this veil of darkness as their figures disappeared from the eyes of the surrounding Dao Kings in practically an instant!
And yet, the five early rank 9 Dao Kings didn''t seem intimidated by any of this in the slightest as they continued to fly forward, and in just a few moments, they had already arrived at the edges of the enormous dark veil in front of them before their figures effortlessly pierced through it, as the 5 of them entered inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness''!
Chapter 876 Jiang Chens determination
876 Chapter 876 Jiang Chen''s determination
The moment the 5 early rank 9 Dao Kings entered Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' however, their figures immediately froze into ce before surprised expressions quickly appeared on their faces.
''''What...? I-I can''t see anything?! What''s going on?'''' The bald, yellow-robed middle-aged man called ''young master Zhong'' was the first one to speak, as his confident expression was soon reced by a dumbfounded look as he tried to look around him.
Realizing that he couldn''t even see his own fingers, was enough to send even an experienced early rank 9 Dao King like him in shock for a moment. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''No, it''s not just our eyes! My soul sense seems to be suppressed as well! What kind of treasure did that bastard use?'''' Silence immediately filled their surroundings as the group of 5 early rank 9 Dao Kings seemed to have fallenpletely quiet the moment they noticed this detail. Naturally, it was one thing for just their vision to have been suddenly impeded, but if their soul sense was affected as well then things werepletely different.
After all, if they couldn''t use their soul sense under such circumstances, then even a group of 5 peak rank 9 Dao Kings would be risking their lives fighting against a peak rank 6 magic beast head-on.
And yet, this silence onlysted for a few moments, before the purple-robed young man, ''senior brother Yao'' began to assess the situation calmly
''''No, I don''t think that that guy used a treasure. No matter what, we are still inside the ''City of Immortals'', so any treasures apart from star-rank weapons and armor will immediately be unusable here! Even if someone carried a 3-star rank talisman or a life-saving treasure with them, it will still be useless in this ce! If I''m not wrong... then that guy must have eitherprehended an immortal-grade martial skill, or he must possess some kind of extremely rare unique physique that allows him to affect a person''s soul sense.''''
''Senior brother Yao''s'' words seemed to have turned abnormally serious the moment he finished his sentence, before a solemn look appeared on his face as he tried to study the thick darkness around him.
Clearly, being in a situation like this where his eyes were rendered useless while the vast majority of his soul sense was also being suppressed seemed to be a first even for him.
However, the moment the remaining 4 early rank 9 Dao Kings heard his words they immediately scoffed in response, before the bald, yellow-robed middle-aged man, ''young master Zhong'' asked mockingly
''''Immortal-grade martial skill? Yao Guanting, do you really think that immortal-grade martial skills are cabbages that any random dog can find? Even the 5 of us have only managed to obtain a single Saint middle-grade martial skill after working together for so long, so how can a middle rank 5 Dao King brat obtain one so easily?''''
The remaining 3 early rank 9 Dao Kings didn''t say anything, but from the snorts they let out it was evident that they agreed with ''young master Zhong''s'' words.
After all, the 5 of them had already spent a long time traveling together inside the ''City of Immortals'', so they all understood how difficult it was to obtain even a single Saint middle-grade martial skill, let alone an immortal-grade one!
And yet, the tall, purple-robed young man, Yao Guanting merely sneered as he stared in the direction where ''young master Zhong''s'' voice just came from, before he answered in the same calm manner as before
''''This is why it''s safe for us to assume that this darkness is the effect of a certain unique physique rather than that of a martial skill. After all, even a Saint high-grade martial skill shouldn''t be able to restrict the soul senses of 5 rank 9 Dao Kings like this simultaneously.''''
In the next moment, just as the yellow-robed middle-aged man wanted to retort, his eyes suddenly narrowed into 2 thin slits as he abruptly turned around to stare at the darkness behind him. Even though he couldn''t see anything different with his eyes, ''young master Zhong'' as well as the other 4 early rank 9 Dao Kings, could all sense a powerful killing intenting from that direction before a cold voice entered their ears at the same time
''''It seems that one of you could at least guess correctly. You are right, this is indeed the effect of a unique physique. It''s too bad that you bastards chose to mess with the wrong person. Since you dared to set your sights on him, don''t expect to leave out of here alive!''''
Hearing Jiang Chen''s voice that was filled with undisguised hostility ended up stunning the 5 Dao Kings for a moment, as they seemed to be having some trouble epting that this was all really done by a single middle rank 5 Dao King like him.
However, the yellow-robed middle-aged man, ''young master Zhong'' simply snorted before he sent a punch toward the origin of the voice barely a momentter, as he replied with a mercilessly cold tone
''''You arrogant brat, did you really think that we are afraid of you just because we were willing to give you a way out? Laughable! Remember that in front of ate-stage Dao King, a middle rank 5 Dao King like you is nothing but trash! Learn your ce!''''
''Young master Zhong''s'' fist was actually powerful enough to make even the space around him tremble the moment it emerged, while even the darkness that was blocking his way seemed to have been forcefully dispersed in front of his terrifying punch.
Forget about middle-stage Dao Kings like Jiang Chen, ''young master Zhong'' was confident that even an early rank 7 Dao King like Liu Mei would be instantly obliterated in front of his attack!
However, before the bald, yellow-robed man could gloat at his ''victory'' andugh at how weak Jiang Chen''s darkness really was, the darkness around him came together barely a momentter as it surrounded ''young master Zhong'' once again.
Opening his eyes wide, ''young master Zhong'' was just about to exim in disbelief at the sight in front of him that had already exceeded his expectations, but at that moment, a certain voice seemed to have entered his ears for the second time as Jiang Chen spat out in an annoyed tone
''''Useless buddhist bastard, are you really just going to stand there and watch?''''
Chapter 877 (1)
877 Chapter 877 (1)
A brief moment of silence ensued after Jiang Chen''s irritated voice rang out, before Bai Longtian nodded his head and replied in a calm manner
''''Since brother Jiang is asking for my help, it''s only natural for me to lend a hand as well. Besides... I was nning to join this fight even if you didn''t say anything.''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Longtian unsheathed the long white sword from his back and held it tightly with both hands, while a dangerous glint could be seen in his eyes as he stared at ''young master Zhong''s'' direction. In the next moment, his figure turned into countless particles of light as he suddenly disappeared from the spot he was standing on, leaving behind nothing but a series of afterimages.
Even Liu Mei and Xingyi were momentarily taken aback when they felt the suppressed killing intent that Bai Longtian was now exuding, which was in stark contrast to his usual easy-going personality. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
After all, Bai Longtian was usually the most reserved one among them, and the one who would usually try to pacify the others whenever things got too heated. Even when Jiang Chen spoke rudely to him and used words like ''buddhist bastard'' and the like, Bai Longtian would simply brush them off with the usual smile on his face and would not pay them any heed.
Thus, it was very, very rare for him to openly exhibit his killing intent like this.
However, Liu Mei was only stunned for a brief moment before she nodded her head solemnly and brought both of her hands in front of her chest, as she gathered her qi the moment she regained her senses.
After all, Liu Mei clearly understood, that Bai Longtian didn''t choose to avoid any of the fights in the past because he was weak, but simply because that was his normal disposition and the way he acted. The ''Dao of the Buddha'' that he cultivated in also yed arge part in this matter as well, as Bai Longtian would try to solve most issues peacefully if he could.
However, when it came to his actual strength, Liu Mei knew that Bai Longtian was someone who was actually on par with Jiang Chen. In fact, even Jiang Chen wouldn''t confidently say that he could win against Bai Longtian without having to use his bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness''.
..
It only took a single moment for Bai Longtian to cover the distance between himself and ''young master Zhong'' as he appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, Bai Longtian clutched his long white sword tightly with both hands, before he swung it directly towards the yellow-robed middle-aged man''s head!
''Young master Zhong''s'' expression immediately contorted when he sensed the feeling of lethal danger that was reaching for his neck at a terrifying speed! Although he couldn''t sense anything with his soul sense, ''young master Zhong''s'' instincts were screaming at him to protect himself right away if he didn''t want to die! Without any hesitation, the yellow-robed middle-aged man roared as he sent a punch forward without holding back
''''Saint middle-grade martial skill, ''Thousand Gales fist''!''''
The thick darkness churned and gave way as ''young master Zhong''s'' powerful fist forcibly pushed it aside, causing even the surrounding space to ripple violently from the terrifying force it carried with it. Naturally, an all-out attack from an early rank 9 Dao King was enough to threaten even a peak rank 9 Dao King who took it unprepared, let alone a middle rank 5 Dao King like Bai Longtian.
Although ''young master Zhong'' couldn''t sense Bai Longtian''s exact location due to the darkness around him, he was still confident in his ability to severely injure him with just the aftershocks of his Saint middle-grade martial skill!
Even if Bai Longtian managed to dodge the majority of his attack, as long as he got even slightly grazed by the aftershocks of it, ''young master Zhong'' was confident that he could instantly cripple him! However, the scene that followed waspletely outside of ''young master Zhong''s'' expectations.
*Phsss*
The sound of blood spurting through the air could be heard amidst the violent gales, as Bai Longtian abruptly appeared by the yellow-robed middle-aged man''s side in the next moment!
It was also at this same moment that Bai Longtian had finally entered the radius of ''young master Zhong''s'' soul sense!
Although he was still inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'', as an early rank 9 Dao King, ''young master Zhong'' could still use his soul sense to sense the area around him to a certain extent, albeit with a bit of difficulty. However, even though the majority of his soul sense was being suppressed by the ''Kingdom of Darkness'', ''young master Zhong'' could still use it to sense the area of 3 meters(10ft) around him quite clearly, even through Jiang Chen''s all-out suppression!
And yet, the scene that ''young master Zhong'' could see right now through his soul sense was enough to leave him utterly stunned, as if he couldn''t believe his own eyes!
Bai Longtian''s entire body was covered in hundreds of wounds that were dripping with his fresh blood, while even his own robes seemed to have turned into a deep red color.
His arms, legs, chest, and even his face were now buried in wounds as if he had just been cut by hundreds of swords at the same time... but the worst of all was undoubtedly the condition of his left arm!
Deep cuts that were enough to expose his bones could be seen all over it, almost as if his left arm had intentionally taken the brunt of those attacks just now.
And yet, Bai Longtian seemed to havepletely ignored the condition of his own body as he stared at the yellow-robed middle-aged man in front of him with a deep look, before he said calmly
''''Even the buddha would lose his patience after being attacked again and again without a chance to rest... and I am far less merciful inparison!''''
As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Longtian thrust the long white sword in his arms forward while the killing intent that he had been suppressing all this while seemed to have finally burst out as well!
At that moment, bright red mes suddenly engulfed the long white sword in his hands, as Bai Longtian sent it straight towards ''young master Zhong''s'' heart!
Staring at the scorching red mes that had suddenly engulfed the long white sword in front of him, young master Zhong''s eyes narrowed before he spat out a single word
''''...Fuck!''''
Chapter 878 Chapter 878 (2)
Chapter 878 Chapter 878 (2)
The yellow-robed early rank 9 Dao King instinctively cursed as he stared at the iing long white sword that was now just a few centimeters away from his heart.
He could clearly feel that the destructive power behind Bai Longtian''s sword wasn''t something that a middle-rank 5 Dao King should be able to normally exert, and that his life was truly in danger right now!
Additionally, ''young master Zhong'' could tell that the power behind the red mes that had engulfed Bai Longtian''s sword weren''t normal, and that they most likely originated from a powerful 1-star weapon... perhaps even a peak 1-star one. If that was truly the case, then even an early rank 9 Dao King like him couldn''t take Bai Longtian''s attack lightly any longer, since it was powerful enough to truly threaten his life. After all, it wasmon knowledge that a 1-star weapon could only be refined by a formation master who was at least at the Dao Emperor realm, while the Dao inside the sword would naturally be at the same level as well. As for peak 1-star weapons... it was said that only peak-stage Dao Emperors would be able to refine them!
Even if Bai Longtian couldn''t draw out the sword''s full power with his current cultivation base, ''young master Zhong'' clearly understood that the attack of a peak 1-star weapon in the hands of a middle-rank 5 Dao King, would still be enough to mortally wound anyte-stage Dao King who took it with their bare body!
And indeed, things were just as ''young master Zhong'' had guessed.
The moment that Bai Longtian thrust out his sword, he had also chosen to rouse the entirety of the remaining qi inside his dantian, as he activated the ''Dao of Fire'' sealed inside his sword.
As if it had finally woken up after a long slumber, the peak 1-star sword in his hands exploded with bright red mes the moment it absorbed his qi, as the hundreds ofplicated runes along with the mysterious patterns that were engraved on the sword''s hilt immediately lit up.
Sensing the overwhelming feeling of danger that Bai Longtian was now giving out, ''young master Zhong''s'' first thought was to dodge before he attacked again with another Saint middle-grade martial skill that would finally be able to kill the wounded ck-haired young man in front of him, but it was at this moment that the early rank 9 Dao King suddenly sensed something that waspletely outside of his expectations.
''''This bastard! What the hell is this?''''
As soon as he tried to take a step back and widen the distance between them, ''young master Zhong'' suddenly realized that the peak 1-star sword in Bai Longtian''s hands wasn''t the only unexpected issue that he had to deal with at this moment.
After all, even though it was slightly surprising, it was still within ''young master Zhong''s'' expectations that his opponents may have a star-rank weapon or two with them.
However, what had left the bald, yellow-robed man utterly dumbfounded was Bai Longtian''s speed, which was enough to shock even an early rank 9 Dao King like him!
Even with his cultivation of an early rank 9 Dao King as well as the ''Dao of Wind'' that he hadprehended, ''young master Zhong'' could tell that he was actually only at the same level as Bai Longtian when it came to speed!
An early rank 9 Dao King like him who hadprehended the ''Dao of Wind'', a Dao famed for its sharp attacks and its extraordinary speed... was only as fast as the middle rank 5 Dao King brat in front of him?!
''Young master Zhong'' roared in his heart as he wanted to vehemently deny the reality in front of his eyes, but he knew that he didn''t have time to dwell on such thoughts right now.
After all, he could sense that the heat from Bai Longtian''s sword was now merely a few inches away from his heart! Forget about dodging, ''young master Zhong'' could tell that there was no way for him to get out of this situationpletely unharmed any longer.
Gritting his teeth, a determined expression finally appeared on the bald yellow-robed man''s face, before a fierce wind enveloped his entire body as he abruptly tilted himself to the side!
..
''''Tsk!''''
Watching the scene from a distance, Jiang Chen clicked his tongue as he saw Bai Longtian''s sword piercing through ''young master Zhong''s'' chest.
Although Bai Longtian had gone all-out and had managed to catch the bald yellow-robed man off-guard after going all-out, Jiang Chen could tell that ''young master Zhong''s''st move had actually ended up saving his life. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Indeed, even though his sword had sessfully pierced through ''young master Zhong''s'' chest, Bai Longtian''s expression actually darkened as he stared at the spot where his sword had just hit. Even though his sword had cleanly struck his opponent''s chest, Bai Longtian could sense that his attack had actually missed ''young master Zhong''s'' heart by a hair''s breadth.
Although Bai Longtian wanted to finish the middle-aged man in front of him right away, he knew that he had just lost his chance and that he could only retreat for now!
Indeed, just as Bai Longtian pulled his sword out and stepped back, the gale that had gathered around ''young master Zhong''s'' body suddenly turned into hundreds of adult-sized wind des that flew forward as they chased right after him!
Regardless of how fast Bai Longtian was, ''young master Zhong''s'' wind des were simply faster as they chased after him at a terrifying speed.Even after rousing the entirety of his qi and pushing his ''Dao of Light'' to its limits, Bai Longtian felt that he was unable to widen the distance between them in the slightest!
Sensing the feeling of grave danger and realizing that it was impossible for him to escape, Bai Longtian grit his teeth and was about to release his ''Golden Buddha unique physique'' to try and at least minimize the damage his body was going to take, but it was at this moment that a pitch-ck figure suddenly appeared in the sky above him, staring down arrogantly like a grim reaper.
This figure that looked like a ck skeleton king with two purple embers burning in its eye sockets then raised its peculiar, dark-red greatsword with both hands, before it shed it downwards towards the hundreds of adult-sized wind des...
Chapter 879 Fighting young master Zhong (3)
Chapter 879 Fighting ''young master Zhong'' (3)
As the ck skeleton''s dark-red greatsword arced downwards, hundreds of thin, ck-colored qi strands suddenly emerged from the gigantic sword''s edge, before they flew straight towards the adult-sized wind des that were about tond on Bai Longtian.
In the next moment, the space within Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' was filled with unending explosions, as the hundreds of adult-sized wind des collided directly with the ck-colored qi strands! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
BOOOOM!!!
BOOOOM!!!
BOOOOM!!!
It wasn''t just Bai Longtian who was stunned from the scene that unfolded next, but so was ''young master Zhong'' who had just unleashed his attack, as well as Jiang Chen and Xingyi who were watching everything from the distance!
The power within each of ''young master Zhong''s'' wind des was undoubtedly terrifying and was more than enough to tear any average peak rank 6 Dao King to shreds, but the ck-colored strands of sword qi didn''t seem any weaker at all, as they met the wind des head-on, painting a breathtaking scene.
The strands made from the ck skeleton''s sword qi seemed to be evenly matched against ''young master Zhong''s'' wind des as they nullified each other, leaving Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi, at a loss for words, before they all turned their gazes towards Liu Mei in surprise.
Naturally, the 3 of them all understood who the skeleton''s master really was, but even though they all knew that this ck skeleton was iparably strongerpared to Liu Mei''s normal skeletons, they hadn''t expected it to be this monstrously strong, to the point where it could even block the attack of an early rank 9 Dao King like ''young master Zhong''! After all, just like Liu Mei, the ck skeleton king''s cultivation was also at the early rank 7 of the Dao King realm, and yet it seemed to be sessfully defending against the attack of an early rank 9 Dao King like ''young master Zhong'', all by itself!
Even if ''young master Zhong'' was injured after getting hit by Bai Longtian''s sword thrust earlier, he was still a powerful early rank 9 Dao King and his attack shouldn''t have been something that Liu Mei''s ck skeleton could block!
At the same time, although he couldn''t extend his soul sense too far from his body, the luxuriously dressed ''young master Zhong'' could clearly sense that someone or something had appeared in the distance ahead and was now fending off the majority of his wind des, leaving himpletely dumbfounded before an expression of shock covered his face.
And yet, the scene that was unfolding in front of everyone''s eyes was precisely this one!
..
At the same time, although he couldn''t extend his soul sense too far from his body, the luxuriously dressed ''young master Zhong'' could clearly sense that someone or something had appeared in the distance ahead and was now fending off the majority of his wind des, leaving himpletely dumbfounded before an expression of shock covered his face.
After all, even though these wind des didn''t originate from a martial skill and were nothing more than a casual attack of his, they were still an attack from an early-rank 9 Dao King without holding back as he had intended to kill Bai Longtian in one strike, so it was quite surprising that someone from his opponent''s group had managed to intercept it.
''''Don''t tell me it''s that monster...!'''' A shiver ran down ''young master Zhong''s'' spine as the image of Little Silver appeared in his mind, but he quickly erased this thought as soon as it emerged before he muttered to himself in a pondering manner
''''No... it can''t be. If that was the case, that thing would have destroyed my wind des directly. There is no way it would be struggling against them like this!''''
Clearly, although ''young master Zhong'' was confident in his own strength, he wasn''t delusional enough to think he could overpower a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver when he wasn''t even a peak rank 9 Dao King himself just yet.
This was especially so since ''young master Zhong'' was one of the few people in his group who had personally witnessed the scene of Little Silver brutally killing the red-robed peak rank 9 Dao King back in the ''Desert mural''! ..
At the same time that ''young master Zhong'' was stunned and was contemting on whether to attack again or to go back and retreat, Bai Longtian who wasn''t affected by the suppressive effects inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' was even more astonished than him, as he had clearly seen the scene of the ck skeleton''s sword attack colliding with the enormous-sized wind des.
In reality, Bai Longtian could tell that the strands of sword qi seemed to be slightly weaker than the gigantic wind des, but they were still more than enough to contend with them for a while and block their path.
Naturally, whether it was Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, or even Little Silver, none of them were being negatively affected while they were inside Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' and they could clearly see everything that was going on around them. After all, Jiang Chen''s control of his ''Kingdom of Darkness'' was more than enough to allow him to distinguish between friends and foes and choose whom to suppress.
After raising his head and staring at the pitch-ck skeleton king that was standing arrogantly in the sky, Bai Longtian nodded his head seriously, before his body turned into a streak of light as he flew back towards Liu Mei and the others.
''''Zhong Lei? What the hell is going on?'''' At the same time, the 4 early rank 9 Dao Kings who had kept quiet until now finally decided to make their move as well, as they quickly flew towards ''young master Zhong''s'' direction. They could clearly sense the direction of themotion even through Jiang Chen''s interference, and they could also tell that ''young master Zhong'' had now turned serious, as his body was now emitting a thick, almost palpable killing intent!
The yellow-robed middle-aged man, Zhong Lei remained quiet for a brief moment after hearing their question, before he answered in a solemn manner
''''You should keep your guards up. It seems that apart from that panther, there is also someone else among those bastards who could block my attack.''''
''''Eh? Their group only has 3 middle-stage Dao Kings and just one who is at the early rank 7. Who among them could stop you?'''' A woman who seemed to be in her early thirties and was dressed in a long green robe suddenly asked, as she stared in ''young master Zhong''s'' direction in surprise.
Clearly, in her eyes, even Liu Mei who had stepped into thete stages of the Dao King realm shouldn''t be able to withstand more than a single punch from ''young master Zhong'', let alone the other 3 who were still in the middle stages of the Dao King realm.
Zhong Lei however simply shook his head, before he answered in the same solemn manner as before
''''I don''t know. Although it was just a casual attack of mine, it''s still true that they managed to block it. Don''t treat them lightly and just end this before they can escape.''''
The green-robed young woman was about to retort when she heard Zhong Lei''s forceful voice that sounded more like amand, but it was at this moment that the purple-robed young man, Yao Guanting suddenly interjected as he said calmly
''''Zhong Lei is right. You know that we don''t have much time in the first ce. Just kill that panther first. The rest of them don''t matter too much anyway!''''
At the same time that Yao Guanting''s words trailed off, dozens of auras suddenly appeared from behind him at the same time, as the remaining Dao Kings from his group finally entered Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' one after the other, before they all flew towards Yao Guanting''s direction.
Chapter 880 Liu Meis trump card
Chapter 880 Liu Mei''s trump card
Staring at the dozens ofte-stage Dao Kings who were all flying towards Yao Guanting''s and Zhong Lei''s direction, a serious look gradually appeared on Jiang Chen''s usually expressionless face, before he turned his gaze to look at Liu Mei and the others and said seriously
''''I don''t know what''s the reason behind it, but it seems that those bastards are really determined to throw their lives away to get their hands on him. I can keep them suppressed for about 5 minutes, so try to take care of as many as possible within that time!''''
Liu Mei, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, all understood what Jiang Chen meant by this, before the darkness around them started to grow even thicker than before, making it clear that Jiang Chen was really going all out.
Of course, Xingyi and the rest could all guess how much strain Jiang Chen was under right now that the remaining Dao Kings had also joined the fight, making the situation for them even more unfavorable than before.
After all, Jiang Chen was now using his ''Kingdom of Darkness'' to suppress, not just Yao Guanting, Zhong Lei, and the other 3 early rank 9 Dao Kings, but also the more than 60te-stage Dao Kings in their group, as well as the ones who were still in the middle stages.
It was obvious that all this must have been putting a huge strain on both his body and mind, and that 5 minutes was probably the most that Jiang Chen could maintain his ''Kingdom of Darkness'' for in the current situation!
Nodding her head, Liu Mei then turned to look at the group of 100 Dao Kings who had now gathered together in the distance, before she said in a calm tone that seemed to be trying hard to suppress her thick killing intent
''''I will take care of that bald man in the yellow robes and the middle-stage Dao Kings in his group. Xingyi and brother Bai should just focus on protecting Little Silver.''''
Liu Mei''s words seemed to have caught everyone by surprise, as Bai Longtian, Xingyi, and Jiang Chen appeared to have been caught off-guard the moment they heard this, as they all turned their attention towards her before Xingyi hurriedly asked her
''''Mei, are you sure about this? Even if he is injured, that person is still an early rank 9 Dao King...''''
Xingyi wanted to continue and try to persuade Liu Mei as she stared at her with a worried look in her deep emerald eyes, but in the end, she swallowed the rest of her sentence without saying anything else, before she turned her gaze to the pitch-ck skeleton in the sky above her.
Just like Bai Longtian, Xingyi and Jiang Chen had also noticed that the ck skeleton''s sword qi was actually slightly inferiorpared to ''young master Zhong''s'' wind des, and it was obvious that it wouldn''t be able tost more than a few moves if the yellow-robed middle-aged man was seriously fighting against it.It was only because Zhong Lei had thrown out a casual attack that the ck skeleton could contend with it so easily. If he had gone all-out however, then even if the ck skeleton was stronger than Liu Mei''s undead knights and was even on par with the Death Eater, Bai Longtian and the others knew that the end result would have been much different than the previous one, and that the ck skeleton would only be able tost a few more moves at most before getting destroyed in a direct fight against an early rank 9 Dao King like him.
And yet, Liu Mei didn''t immediately respond to Xingyi''s question and merely closed her eyes for a brief moment, before a dense aura of death started to gather around her body.
Opening her dazzling, abyss-like ck eyes, Liu Mei then locked on ''young master Zhong''s'' figure in the distance, before she nodded her head and replied in a calm tone N?v(el)B\\jnn
''''It''s true that my ck skeleton king is weaker than an early rank 9 Dao King in a direct fight, even if I go all-out and activate the third form of the ''Death''s Chant''... but that''s only the case if it''s a single skeleton king!''''
In the next moment, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi widened their eyes as they stared at the 5 pitch-ck figures that slowly emerged from the ground around Liu Mei, and were clearly emitting auras that didn''t lose out in the slightest to that of the ck skeleton king in the sky!
Staring at the purple wisps of ember that were burning in their eye sockets and the massive, dark-red greatswords that these 5 figures were holding, Jiang Chen and the others realized that this was the first time that they were really getting to see Liu Mei''s full power ever since she had be a Dao King!
After all, back when they were attacked in the ''Illusion oasis'', Liu Mei didn''t have enough time to summon the entirety of her undead army before she was knocked out by that peak rank 9 Dao King called Mao Huang.
This time however, she had really gone all out.
ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!
At the same time that the 5 ck skeleton kings appeared around Liu Mei, Little Silver let out a furious roar as it stared at the group of 100 Dao Kings that had suddenly made their moves and were now rapidly approaching Liu Mei and the others from afar.
The 5 early rank 9 Dao Kings seemed to have gathered together at the very front, while everyone else was following behind them, as they all flew at full speed towards Little Silver''s direction!
Sensing the hostile auras of the more than 100 middle andte-stage Dao Kings, Little Silver unfurled its bright silver wings that were shining with a silvery light before it let out another furious roar that was even louder than thest one, causing even the darkness around it to forcefully recede and give way!
ROOOOOOOOOOAAAR!
In the next moment, before Liu Mei and the others could even blink, the silver-winged panther''s figure turned into a streak of light as it unhesitantly flew in the midst of the enemies'' group, causing a rain of fresh blood to spurt.
Chapter 881 Dont let it escape!
Chapter 881 Don''t let it escape!
''''Aargh! My arm!''''
''''FUCK! Kill this beast!''''
Blood and severed limbs quickly filled the area around the group of Dao Kings in the next moment, as Little Silver tore through their ranks at full speed, smashing everyone that happened to block its path.
Its 2 gigantic silver wings seemed like a pair of majestic sharp weapons, as they effortlessly dismembered the middle andte-stage Dao Kings in front of it without any resistance!
Sensing the terrifying aura of the peak rank 6 magic beast that had suddenly appeared behind them before they even had any time to react, and hearing the cries and curses that their subordinates were spewing, caused even the 5 early rank 9 Dao Kings to immediately turn abnormally serious before they all unsheathed their weapons and turned to face Little Silver''s direction with solemn expressions!
Indeed, the speed and power of a peak rank 6 magic beast wasn''t something that could be overlooked so easily, and Zhong Lei and the others understood that detail very clearly. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Even if it was just a single peak rank 6 magic beast, itsbat prowess should have already exceeded that of an average peak-stage Dao King and should be nearing the level of an early rank 1 Dao Emperor! Even if it wasn''t at the same level as an early rank 1 Dao Emperor just yet, it still wasn''t something that most peak rank 9 Dao Kings should be able to fight against.
In the blink of an eye, the imposing group of 100 Dao Kings in the sky were covered in a cloud of fresh blood and severed limbs, as more than 20 Dao Kings had been either crippled or killed by Little Silver''s all-out charge!
And yet, the tall, purple-robed young man, Yao Guanting looked unperturbed by all this, as he unsheathed the long sword from his back and held it tightly with both hands, before he said in his usual calm tone
''''There is no reason to get flustered. In the first ce, our main priority was to kill this panther before doing anything else. Since it has thrown itself into the fire, this is our best chance to surround it from all sides and kill it! Don''t let it escape!''''
Hearing Yao Guanting''s ''encouraging speech'', the woman who seemed to be in her early thirties and was dressed in a long green robe, lowered her head and stared at the long white spear in her hands for a brief moment, before she muttered somewhat unwillingly
''''Do we really have to fight that beast to the death? Why don''t we just capture those brats and force it to submit? Maybe we can even capture it alive this way...''''
Even from a distance, the young woman could tell that Little Silver was truly enraged and it seemed to hold no regard for its own life right now, as it ughtered the middle andte-stage Dao Kings around it indiscriminately, without a care for its own protection!
Even when the Dao Kings around it tried to sh it or stab it, it simply ignored their attacks and swiped its paws at them, causing their bodies to explode in a mist of blood.
However, this was also what made the green-robed woman so hesitant to go against it.
After all, although it would be easier for her tond a fatal wound on it this way, fighting against an enraged peak rank 6 magic beast that had gone berserk would force even an early rank 9 Dao King like her to truly risk her life if she wanted to kill it.
And yet, the purple-robed Yao Guanting merely snorted as he turned his gaze in the young woman''s direction, before he said in a mercilessly cold tone that seemed tock even the slightest hints of sympathy
''''Liang Bao, stop acting ignorant! You are free to sit back and watch if that''s what you want, but don''t expect to get a share of the rewards that way! Why do you think that Zhong Lei and the others aren''t raising any objections despite seeing that? Don''t you know what will happen if that beast escapes and that brat finishes his tribtion?''''
The green-robed young woman called Liang Bao instantly fell silent after hearing Yao Guanting''s berating tone, knowing that she truly didn''t have any rebuttal to what he had just said.
Indeed, the only reason why their group had chosen to go all-out and even fight against a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver despite knowing how terrifying its actual strength was, was solely because of Shun Long''s existence.
Putting aside the fact that Shun Long was undergoing a Heavenly Tribtion inside the ''City of Immortals'' right now, which was unprecedented and would most likely end up rousing the attention of most of the peak rank 9 Dao Kings in this ce once the news got out, Liang Bao knew that the real reason why Yao Guanting and the others were interested in him instead, was due to the secrets that he had obtained from the stone mural.
For a mere peak rank 3 Dao King to have exceeded the ''realm of masters'' and have stepped into that ''legendary realm'', this wasn''t something that any of them could ignore.
This was also why, the instant that Yao Guanting and the others recognized Shun Long and realized that he was actually the one who was undergoing the Heavenly Tribtion, they decided to go all-out and capture him so they could force the stone mural''s secrets out of him.
And at this moment... what Yao Guanting and the others were worried about the most, was that Shun Long would end up finishing his Heavenly Tribtion at any moment and escape on Little Silver''s back once he realized the situation he was in!
After all, if Little Silver was really determined to leave this ce, then even if Yao Guanting and the others chased after it with everything they had, it would be extremely unlikely that they could catch up to it.
''''If you understand then stopining and attack! Aim for its eyes and heart! Don''t let it escape no matter what!''''
The purple-robed Yao Guanting didn''t throw another nce at the green-robed young woman, and without saying another word he flew straight towards Little Silver, as he raised the long sword in his hands and shed it directly at the silver-winged panther''s neck, aiming to kill it with a single strike!
...
Looking at this scene from the distance, Liu Mei narrowed her eyes and abandoned her ns of attacking the yellow-robed Zhong Lei, as she stared at the purple-robed Yao Guanting before she ordered in an exceedingly cold tone
''''Kill him!''''
In the next moment, the 6 ck skeleton kings all disappeared from Liu Mei''s and the others'' side as they appeared in the sky above Little Silver, all of them aiming their massive dark-red greatswords straight at Yao Guanting''s neck!
Chapter 882 Chapter 882 Yao Guantings true strength (1)
Chapter 882 Chapter 882 Yao Guanting''s true strength (1)
At the same time that the purple-robed Yao Guanting shed out his sword and was about to strike Little Silver''s neck with it, he suddenly felt all the hair on his body standing on end, as an unprecedented feeling of lethal danger gripped his heart.
Sensing the 6 auras that had appeared in the sky above him in the blink of an eye, and the 6 huge swords that were now descending towards him simultaneously, Yao Guanting widened his eyes and immediately gave up on attacking Little Silver as he turned to face his attackers directly.
Yao Guanting could clearly sense, that if he continued his attack on Little Silver, then even if he sessfully managed to kill the silver-winged panther in front of him, the 6 sharp auras behind him would end up striking his own neck as well and would end up taking his life!
Without any hesitation, the purple-robed early rank 9 Dao King then turned around and swung out his sword in a wide arc, as he aimed to directly repel the 6 massive red greatswords at the same time!
*Ding*
*Ding*
*Ding*
*Ding*
*Ding*
*Ding*
Six crisp metallic sounds resounded in the air in quick session, as Yao Guanting''s ck sword connected directly with the 6 massive dark-red greatswords!
In the next moment, ''young master Zhong'' and the other 3 early rank 9 Dao Kings in his group, and even Bai Longtian and the rest were all taken aback, as they saw the 6 ck skeletons being sent flying backwards uncontrobly for more than a hundred meters before they regained their bnce!
Silence instantly filled the ce as everyone stared at Yao Guanting with shocked expressions on their faces!
Although Bai Longtian and the others knew that a single one of Liu Mei''s ck skeleton kings may not be strong enough to contend against an early rank 9 Dao King like Zhong Lei or Yao Guanting just by itself, all 6 of them fighting together were apletely different story!
Even though the ck skeletons'' cultivation were the same as Liu Mei''s, the early rank 7 of the Dao King realm, Bai Longtian and the others knew clearly, that their actualbat strength far exceeded that of an average early rank 7 Dao King, especially when their bodies and greatswords were shrouded in Liu Mei''s endless amounts of death qi. In fact, even an average early rank 9 Dao King like ''young master Zhong'' would find it difficult to face theirbined attacks head-on in that state!
And yet, Yao Guanting''s sword sh seemed to have easily repelled the 6 ck skeletons'' greatswords, before he turned to face his opponents with a cold, yet perplexed look in his eyes.
It was obvious that Yao Guanting was both angry, as well as taken aback by the sudden appearance of the 6 ck skeletons, as he stared at them with clear curiosity and confusion in his eyes.
''''What the hell is this?'''' Yao Guanting tried to spread out his soul sense and see exactly who were the bastards who had attacked him just now, but Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' was still suppressing his vision and soul sense by a great deal, only allowing him to sense an area of a few meters around his body, letting him barely make out the outlines of the 6 blurry figures who were standing in front of him.
As for the bald early rank 9 Dao King, ''young master Zhong'', the green-robed young woman, Liang Bao, and the remaining 2 early rank 9 Dao Kings in their group, they had already stopped flying as they stared at the 6 blurry figures in front of Yao Guanting with astonished, as well as terrified looks on their faces.
After all, unlike Yao Guanting who had actually managed to react to the 6 ck skeletons'' attack in time, the 4 of them hadn''t even sensed the ck skeletons'' auras until they were just a couple of meters away from them!
Then, if they had been the ones who were attacked just now instead of Yao Guanting... would they have been able to react?
The 4 of them paled instantly as they realized the answer to that question!
Luckily, even though Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' was still suppressing their soul senses at the same time, it was still impossible for it topletely block the auras of 6 early rank 7 Dao Kings like the ck skeletons from bursting out once they were going all-out and attacking someone with everything they got!
As long as they were prepared, the 4 of them were confident that they would be able to sense anyone trying to sneak up on them from now on!
The truth was that at this moment, even Yao Guanting wasn''t merely surprised, but he even felt a trace of fear for the first time, as he seemed to have suddenly realized how dangerous fighting in this ce really was.
After all, a moment ago, his soul sense had also failed to capture the attacks of the 6 ck skeletons until they were just a few meters away from him, and Yao Guanting had merely acted out on instinct as he felt that sudden feeling of danger blooming in his heart!
However, if he had taken action even a secondter, Yao Guanting knew that it was almost certain that the 6 figures in front of him would havended their attacks on him before he even had enough time to react!
Even if the 6 figures in front of him didn''t manage to take his life with their attack just now, even someone like him would have been seriously injured after taking on the attacks of 6 early rank 7 Dao Kings with just his body alone!
Of course, now that Yao Guanting was aware of the 6 ck skeletons'' existence, there was no way for another sneak attack to work on him anymore!
''''Fuck! Just who are these bastards? Wasn''t there just a singlete-stage Dao King in their group? Where did those fuckers appear from?'''' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
For the first time since his arrival, the calm Yao Guanting seemed to have finally broken out of character as a string of curses left his mouth one after the other while rage started to bubble up in his heart!
However, the purple-robed early rank 9 Dao King soon calmed down as he quickly turned his attention back towards Little Silver that was now standing just a few tens of meters away from him, and was still fighting with thete-stage Dao Kings in his group.
Clearly, even though it was slightly unexpected, Yao Guanting knew that the addition of 6 early rank 7 Dao Kings wasn''t enough to change anything in this fight.
In fact, even if he didn''t personally join the fight, Yao Guanting was still confident that the remaining 60te-stage Dao Kings in his group would be more than enough to take down a single peak rank 6 magic beast!
The only question would be; how many of them he would have to sacrifice in the process!
...
Meanwhile, at the same time that Yao Guanting repelled the 6 ck skeletons who were now standing between him and Little Silver and were clearly blocking his path, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, all narrowed their eyes as they stared at the purple-robed early rank 9 Dao King in the sky, while serious expressions gradually covered their faces.
It was obvious that all of them seemed to have realized something at the same time, as their gazes alternated between Yao Guanting and the ck sword in his hands that was now covered in a faint white glow.
Finally, after a moment of hesitation, Bai Longtian turned around and stared at Liu Mei with a solemn look, before he said seriously
''''Sister Liu... you have to be careful! That guy isn''t an average early rank 9 Dao King! It seems that he has already entered the realm of masters as well...!''''
Chapter 883 Yao Guantings true strength (2)
Chapter 883 Yao Guanting''s true strength (2)
Liu Mei was momentarily taken aback after hearing Bai Longtian''s warning, but she simply nodded her head in response while the aura of death around her started to be even denser and more terrifying than before.
Of course, to Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, the energy fluctuations from someone who had also entered the ''realm of masters'' was something that they could recognize instantly as soon as it emerged. This was why the moment that Yao Guanting repelled the 6 ck skeleton kings using the ck sword in his hands, the 3 of them could instantly tell that the power he had used was extremely simr to the one they hadprehended back in the ''Desert mural'', the ''realm of masters''.
Naturally, the power of an early rank 9 Dao King who had entered the ''realm of masters'' was simply iparable to that of an average early rank 9 Dao King like ''young master Zhong'' or the green-robed young woman, Liang Bao!
No wonder Yao Guanting dared to fight against a peak-rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver when there was no peak-rank 9 Dao King in his group!
Since he had also entered the realm of masters, Yao Guanting''s power had most likely already exceeded that of an average middle-rank 9 Dao King, and should only be inferior to that of a true peak-rank 9 Dao King!
No one below that level was qualified to be his opponent!
In reality, Liu Mei didn''t need Bai Longtian''s warning to tell that the purple-robed young man in front of her had also entered the ''realm of masters'' like Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian, since she had also realized this fact as soon as Yao Guanting''s sword shed with her 6 ck skeleton kings'' greatswords.
After all, although Liu Mei had failed to enter this realm while she was studying the scenes engraved in the ''Stone mural'', she had only failed at that final step.
Although there was still a certain barrier separating those who had entered the ''realm of masters'' from those who hadn''t, Liu Mei''s senses were more than enough to tell her what kind of power Yao Guanting was using!
After a brief moment of silence, Liu Mei turned to look at Shun Long in the distance, who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground and had yet to finish his Heavenly Tribtion, before she said in a low but determined voice
''''I will leave the bald man and the others to you. No matter what... don''t let them harm Little Silver!''''
As soon as Liu Mei finished speaking, the aura of death around her surged like a tidal wave, as the figure of a massive, hideous monster slowly emerged from the ground beneath her feet.
''''GROOOOOOAAAAGHH!''''
The 30 meters(100ft) tall Death Eater opened its grotesque mouth and let out a roar filled with malice and endless bloodlust, before it focused its attention straight on Yao Guanting!
Even an early rank 9 Dao King like Yao Guanting shivered the moment he sensed the horrifying killing intent directed at him, as he nced in the Death Eater''s direction with a serious expression.
Just now, Yao Guanting was preparing to deal with the 6 ck figures in front of him before he took care of Little Silver, when an aura just as strong as those 6 suddenly appeared out of thin air!
Additionally, Yao Guanting could tell that there was a certain difference between the 6 auras in front of him and that one, making his scalp tingle! If the 6 blurry figures in front of him resembled cold killing machines that didn''t have a shred of emotion, then that figure in the distance was the exact opposite, as if its only reason for existence was to kill him!
Sensing the rapidly approaching figure of the Death Eater that made even the ground tremble with its every step, Yao Guanting''s aura finally exploded, as he roared angrily
''''Fine! Bring it on! I want to see how many more of you bastards are in here!''''
Although he was slightly surprised, it was obvious that Yao Guanting wasn''t scared of the addition of another early rank 7 Dao King joining the fight!
No matter what, how could an early rank 9 Dao King like him be scared of a bunch of ants? Holding the ck sword in his hands, Yao Guanting kicked the ground at full force, as he flew towards Liu Mei all by himself!
Clearly, he wasn''t willing to let this fight go on any longer.
..
At the same time, the yellow-robed man, ''young master Zhong'', the green-robed young woman called Liang Bao, and the remaining 2 early rank 9 Dao Kings nced at one another for a brief moment, before they flew towards Little Silver all at the same time!
It was obvious that the battle around them was already beyond their control, making the four early rank 9 Dao Kings feel greatly ufortable in their hearts. After all, their initial goal was to quickly deal with the peak rank 6 ck panther before they captured Shun Long, but surprises seemed to pop up one after the other.
First, it was Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' suppressing their vision along with their soul sense, then it was Bai Longtian managing to injure Zhong Lei, and now, a bunch of early rank 7 Dao Kings had appeared as well!
However, Zhong Lei and the others were certain that as long as they managed to kill Little Silver, dealing with Liu Mei and the rest would be child''s y.
..
At the same time, in the distance a few hundred meters away, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to what was going on, as he kept sitting on the ground with his eyes closed.
Even after using the third form of the ''Thundergod''s sh'', he still had to expend more than half of the remaining energy in his spiritual sea to deal with those 2 bolts of Heavenly Tribtion!
Although those 2 bolts seemed no different from the ones he had faced back in the ''King''s Pce'' while he was undergoing his breakthrough to the Dao King realm, Shun Long knew that the 2 simply couldn''t bepared!
Even 9 of those white bolts back in the ''King''s Pce'' couldn''tpare with these 2 bolts he had faced just now. Most likely, even an early-stage Dao Emperor wouldn''t have survived their attack!
Finally, after destroying thest trace of white lightning lingering in his spiritual sea... Shun Long finally opened his eyes!N?v(el)B\\jnn
Chapter 884
Chapter 884
''''Hmm? What''s going on?'''' A moment had barely passed after Shun Long opened his eyes, before his expression suddenly changed as he swiftly turned his head to the side.
Although Shun Long wasn''t aware of what was going on around him earlier while he was undergoing his Heavenly Tribtion, he could now clearly sense that Little Silver was fighting someone, and that it had even sustained several injuries already. Although those injuries weren''t life-threatening and were merely superficial, it was still a fact that Little Silver was still being injured with every passing moment and the number of its injuries wasn''t low either, causing a frosty look to appear in the depths of Shun Long''s eyes!
Naturally, the connection between a master and his magic beast was more than enough for Shun Long to tell what Little Silver''s current condition was, as he immediately turned his gaze in its direction!
Staring at the ck veil of darkness in the distance that had now covered a radius of nearly 3 kilometers, Shun Long was momentarily taken aback, before a serious look gradually covered his face as he asked in surprise
''''Little ck, what''s going on? What happened to Mei''er and the others?''''
Seeing that even Jiang Chen had used his ''Kingdom of Darkness'' and sensing the number of injuries that Little Silver had already sustained, was more than enough for Shun Long to tell that Jiang Chen and the others were fighting a quite formidable opponent! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck opened his deep azure eyes that seemed to be peering straight through Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'', before the ck dragon said with an expression of anger as well as disgust
''''Hmph! While master was undergoing your Heavenly Tribtion, a bunch of ants seemed to have noticed themotion and came here to ask for you. When thatss Xingyi and the others refused to hand master over, those ants banded together and attacked them.'''' It was obvious that Little ck was feeling more than just indignant that a bunch ofte-stage Dao Kings dared to ask for Liu Mei and the others to hand over Shun Long.
After sensing Shun Long''s worry however, Little ck merely shook his head with a clear, mocking smile on his face, before he continued ''''However, there is no reason for master to be worried. Even the strongest of those ants is merely an early rank 9 Dao King. It''s impossible for them to take down that kid with their strength. It''s only a matter of time before they are all wiped out instead!''''
A look of puzzlement couldn''t help but find its way on Shun Long''s face, as he struggled to understand what was going on.
Although Shun Long wouldn''t dare to im that he had no enemies out there, it was still true that after entering the ''City of Immortals'', he had barely offended anyone else in this ce. If anything, it had only been others testing his patience the past few months while he was minding his own business.
As far as he could remember, there shouldn''t be anyone who should be trying to find fault with him while he was undergoing his heavenly tribtion!
Nevertheless, Little ck''s words were more than enough to reassure him that Liu Mei and the others shouldn''t be in too much danger.
After all, regardless of who the group who had attacked them was, unless they had a handful of peak rank 9 Dao Kings, Shun Long knew that they had almost no chance of taking down Little Silver!
Although Little Silver may be just ''a kid'' in Little ck''s eyes, it was still a peak rank 6 magic beast that only a few talented peak-stage Dao Kings could hope to fight head-on.
In fact, although Little Silver''s defenses may be inferior to most other peak rank 6 magic beasts, Shun Long knew that its strength and speed could already rival an early-stage Dao Emperor''s.
Narrowing his eyes, Little ck didn''t even throw another nce at the ck veil of darkness in the distance, as if the group of 100 Dao Kings over there wasn''t even worth any of his attention, and instead, the ck dragon focused his gaze on the enormous thundercloud in the sky above Shun Long!
After a moment of silence, Little ck''s deep blue eyes which seemed to be holding a world inside them shed with a cold glint, as if they had suddenly noticed something incredibly dangerous, as Little ck eximed in a solemn voice ''''Master, it''sing!''''
At the same time, Shun Long raised his head to look at the massive ck thundercloud in the sky above him, as sparks of pure-white lightning seemed to be gathering around a certain spot!
Shun Long only needed a single nce to tell that his heavenly tribtion had yet toe to an end, causing his eyes to narrow dangerously in the process.
After all, a cloud of heavenly tribtion would normally only disperse after eradicating its target, or after it had already exhausted all of its energy. But it was obvious that this thundercloud of heavenly tribtion had more than enough energy to spare, even after firing 2 rounds at him!
Clearly, Shun Long''s actions of using his ''World Zero'' had already gone beyond what the heavens were willing to tolerate!
..
At this moment, at the very center of the ck thundercloud, Shun Long could see that the sparks of lightning had already started to gather together, as a single, peculiar-looking bolt of lightning had already started to rapidly take shape!
It only took a single nce for anyone to tell, that this bolt of lightning was somehow different from the previous 3 bolts of heavenly tribtion that Shun Long had faced earlier.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Before the peculiar-looking bolt of heavenly tribtion had even finished fully taking its shape, loud rumbling sounds could be heard from the ck thundercloud in the sky, as sparks of white lightning could be seen gathering together, almost as if they were trying to give birth to a terrifying monster!
Chapter 885 Giving up
Chapter 885 Giving up
In fact, Shun Long wasn''t the only one who was staring at the massive ck thundercloud in the sky above him.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen had also stopped their actions at the same time as they simultaneously turned their gazes in his direction, before their expressions immediately changed.
Was this heavenly tribtion really intent onpletely eradicating Shun Long?
However, the 4 of them weren''t the only ones who were alerted by thismotion.
Even Yao Guanting''s group seemed to have realized what was going on, as the five early rank 9 Dao Kings'' expressions turned extremely colorful as well.
Although their vision was still suppressed by Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' and they couldn''t see what was going on outside like Liu Mei and the rest, Yao Guanting and his group were still able to clearly hear the booming sound of the heavenly tribtion above them, causing their expressions to turn just as horrified as Liu Mei and the rest.
Even though they were fighting more than a thousand meters away from Shun Long, the aura of the heavenly tribtion in the sky had already grown so powerful and it covered such arge distance, that even the 5 early rank 9 Dao Kings found it hard to breathe!
''''How could his heavenly tribtion be so powerful? What the hell is this?'''' The first one to speak was the yellow-robed middle-aged man Zhong Lei, who could no longer hide his terrified expression from showing on his face as he shouted out in horror.
Clearly, the amount of pressure that the heavenly tribtion above him was now emitting, was more than enough topletely destroy his spiritual sea many times over!
Although Zhong Lei knew that his actual strength was only average as an early rank 9 Dao King, as an alchemist, he had already consumed so many pills and rare medicinal herbs over the years, that he was confident his spiritual strength was already on par with a peak rank 9 Dao King!
And yet, Zhong Lei could clearly tell that even with the spiritual strength of a peak rank 9 Dao King, he would still be nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot if he tried to block this bolt of heavenly tribtion! His only oue would be theplete destruction of his spiritual sea.
Naturally, even the suppression from Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' wasn''t able to block the sound of the Heavenly tribtion from entering Zhong Lei''s and the others'' ears, or stop the pressure that it was emitting.
Of course, if Yao Guanting, Zhong Lei, and the other 3 early rank 9 Dao Kings were being suppressed so badly, how could the rest of the middle andte-stage Dao Kings in their group fare any better?
The group of 100 Dao Kings immediately fell in disarray, while the middle-stage Dao Kings couldn''t help but copse on the ground soon afterwards!
''''What...? What''s with this pressure?''''
''''What is going on? I can''t even circte my qi properly!''''
''''This heavenly tribtion... why is it so strong? Even a peak rank 9 Dao King that''s breaking through to the Dao Emperor realm can''t survive this!''''
Of course, the middle andte-stage Dao Kings in Yao Guanting''s group weren''t the only ones who were affected from the pressure of the Heavenly Tribtion in the sky.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, were also finding it hard to remain on their feet, as the pressure boring down on them kept increasing with every passing second.
The only one who seemed rtively unaffected was Little Silver, as it continued to ughter the middle andte-stage Dao Kings around it without mercy.
Soon, the cries of the Dao Kings around it reached Yao Guanting''s and the others'' ears while the stench of blood drifted through the air as it assaulted their noses, causing their expressions to turn even uglier.
After a moment of hesitation, the green-robed young woman, Liang Bao turned her gaze in Yao Guanting''s direction, before she asked him in a weak, uncertain voice
''''What should we do? Should we... keep fighting?''''
It was obvious that as things were right now, not only would they be unable to deal with Little Silver, but they may even get ughtered instead!
Gritting his teeth, Yao Guanting clenched the hilt of his ck sword so tightly that his hand actually turned white, before he finally said in a suppressed voice that struggled to contain his fury
''''Retreat!''''
The surrounding Dao Kings felt as if they had just been pardoned, as they hurriedly gave up on fighting Little Silver and tried to escape in all directions. N?v(el)B\\jnn
Clearly, they had severely underestimated the peak rank 6 magic beast in front of them, as well as the effects of the darkness around them, causing them to suffer greatly during this fight.
However, Yao Guanting''s words barely had enough time to leave his mouth and reach the ears of his subordinates, before his expression abruptly changed.
Without any hesitation, the early rank 9 Dao King turned around and shed his sword horizontally, as he roared angrily
''''Fuck off!''''
In the next moment however, Yao Guanting''s eyes widened as a terrifying scene unfolded in his eyes. His sword was actually trapped between the teeth of an enormous, hideous-looking monster that was standing behind him, whose entire body was now dripping with endless malice and bloodlust as it ''stared'' at him with its mouth open!
Although the monster in front of him seemed to becking any eyes, Yao Guanting could tell that its entire attention was solely focused on him right now.
Of course, this ''monster'' was none other than Liu Mei''s ''Death Eater''.
Clearly, Liu Mei may have been willing to let anyone else escape, but there was no way she was going to let Yao Guanting or Zhong Lei leave this ce in one piece!
Without any hesitation, the Death Eater suddenly chomped down on Yao Guanting while his ck sword was still stuck in its mouth, as the sensation of death gripped Yao Guanting''s heart for the second time!
...
At the same time, in the sky right above Shun Long, at the center of the massive ck thundercloud, the sparks of white lightning seemed to have finally gathered together, as the bolt of heavenly tribtion slowly took the appearance of a certain magic beast.
Chapter 886 Riled up
Chapter 886 Riled up
What Liu Mei and the rest were all unaware of, was that back in the central region, in the area right outside the ''City of Immortals'', numerous powerful experts who were stationed there all trembled at the same time, as they stared at the majestic city in front of them with looks of clear astonishment and disbelief, while their hearts violently shook!
''''What is going on? Why is there a heavenly tribtion in that ce? Could it be that someone has finally managed to breakthrough within the ''City of Immortals''?''''
The surrounding experts who had previously concealed themselves while they were waiting for their disciples inside to exit, all flickered in the next moment as they appeared right in front of the magnificent city gates, before they erupted in fervent discussions the moment they sensed the enormous cloud of heavenly tribtion in the sky.
''''Don''t be a fool! Stop speaking nonsense! It''s not like you don''t know the rules! Even peak-stage Dao Kings and Dao Emperors can''t breakthrough while they are still inside, no matter how much qi they try to umte or what type of treasure they consume!''''
''''Of course I know that, old fart! But how do you exin this then? Is that thing over there anything else other than a cloud of heavenly tribtion?''''
Although these experts appeared to be few in number, at leastpared to the number of Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who had entered the ''City of Immortals'' previously, there were still over a thousand of them, and all of them seemed to have appeared in front of the city gates practically out of thin air.
In fact, their speed was so terrifying, that even a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor like Quan Lin, one of the Northern Sovereign''s strongest armymanders couldn''tpare to them.
The few early-stage Dao Kings who were still lingering near the gates of the ''City of Immortals'' and were contemting whether to enter inside or not, all paled the moment they sensed the neers'' horrifying auras, before they hurriedly retreated as far away as they could!
Clearly, these ''neers'' who were emitting auras that surpassed even that of a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor, were all Sovereign realm experts!
One thousand Sovereign realm experts had actually concealed themselves near the entrance of the ''City of Immortals''!
However, on second thought, the surrounding Dao Kings realized that this made sense.
After all, how many Dao Kings and Dao Emperors had already entered the ''City of Immortals'' by now? How many peak powers had already sent their most talented disciples inside in search of opportunities?
Even those hidden powers and reclusive experts who hadn''t shown their faces in the outside world for thousands of years would naturally be moved by the treasures that could be found inside.
Considering how vast the central region was, a thousand Sovereign realm experts gathering together wasn''t an exaggerated number at all.
In fact, if it wasn''t for the fact that Sovereign realm experts were unable to enter the ''City of Immortals'' themselves, even peak-stage Sovereigns like the Northern Sovereign wouldn''t be able to resist from making a move!
The group of Sovereign realm experts were animatedly discussing the sudden appearance of the Heavenly Tribtion, growing more and more shocked with every passing second.
Once the first snow-white bolt of heavenly tribtion descended, they could no longer hold back their astonishment, since that practically verified that the ck thundercloud was indeed a cloud of heavenly tribtion.
Specting about it was one thing, but witnessing it with their own eyes was something entirely different.
Clearly, Sovereign realm experts like them were privy to many more secrets than themon folk, and they clearly knew that it was impossible for someone to breakthrough while they were still inside the ''City of Immortals''.
Even the most talented peak rank 9 Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who had tried to breakthrough there in the past, had all failed without exception, regardless of how much qi they had umted or what type of treasure they tried to consume!
These were thews of the ''City of Immortals'', and they were so overwhelmingly powerful and tyrannical, that they could even forcibly block a cultivator''s connection with the heavens themselves!
None of these Sovereign realm experts present could fathom what kind of power was needed to create something like that.However, they were certain of one thing. Even experts above the Sovereign realm, those who stood at the absolute peak of the central region, would be extremely hard-pressed to achieve such a feat.
Shortly after the first bolt of heavenly tribtion descended, two more pure-white bolts then followed. However, these Sovereign realm experts weren''t surprised by that at all. After all, since they had already verified that this was a cloud of Heavenly tribtion, whether it was a single bolt that descended, or a full set of nine bolts, it wouldn''t make any difference to them.
What they were interested in instead, was finding out who the person who had summoned this heavenly tribtion was!
If they could get their hands on him, who knew what kind of secrets they would be able to unearth? Perhaps they may even have a chance of entering the ''City of Immortals'' themselves! N?v(el)B\\jnn
As their imagination ran wild, the breathing of these Sovereign realm experts had unknowingly hastened.
However, the moment their eyesnded on the next bolt of heavenly tribtion that appeared in the center of the ck thundercloud, even their breathing seemed to have suddenlye to a halt as incredulous expressions covered their faces!
Staring at the outline of that terrifying magic beast that the bolt of heavenly tribtion had morphed into, one of the Sovereign realm experts unknowingly took a step back in disbelief, before he muttered to himself in a doubtful tone, as if he couldn''t believe his own eyes any longer
''''Is that thing... a heavenly roc? The bolt of heavenly tribtion has turned into a roc?''''
The rest of the Sovereign realm experts around him remained silent, not uttering a single word in response, but from the stunned looks in their eyes, it was obvious that they too were shocked by what they were seeing!
Experts like them wouldn''t have batted an eye even if 9 bolts of lightning descended towards the ''City of Immortals'' simultaneously.
However, seeing the heavenly tribtion take the appearance of a magic beast, especially a magic beast like the heavenly roc, had finally caused tempestuous waves to rise in these Sovereigns'' hearts!
...
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s entire body was now radiating such a dense killing intent, that it could even make peak rank 7 magic beasts prostrate in terror from hundreds of miles away, while his deep azure eyes werepletely focused on the body of the heavenly roc in the sky right above Shun Long.
Little ck''s bone-chilling gaze was so cold and full of anger and killing intent, that even the few spiritual herbs that he was previously munching on earlier seemed to have suddenly withered from his aura alone, as if the entire space around the ck dragon had suddenly turned into a frostyke of death.
However, the figure of the ''heavenly roc'' seemedpletely unaware of the ck dragon''s thoughts, as its gaze was fully focused on Shun Long instead.
Chapter 887 Heavenly roc
Chapter 887 Heavenly roc
The heavenly roc''s pair of bright yellow eyes appeared surprisingly lifelike, as if they truly belonged to a lofty, unparalleled magic beast instead of a bolt of heavenly tribtion!And yet, those same eyes were now peering down on Shun Long as if they were staring at an insignificant worm that wasn''t even qualified to be in its presence.
Indifference, apathy, cold-bloodedness, as well as disdain. Those were the emotions that shed through the heavenly roc''s eyes as it stared at the blue-robed young man sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Tilting his head to look at the ''heavenly roc'' in the sky, even Shun Long couldn''t help but feel a trace of shock sprouting in his heart as he mumbled in surprise
''''A golden roc...?''''
Hearing Shun Long''s question, Little ck couldn''t contain his anger any longer as he said angrily
''''Master, this heavenly tribtion is really ruthless! Not only is it set on destroying master''s soul, but it even dares to take the form of such a disgusting beast! Even with master''s spiritual strength, I''m afraid...''''
Little ck didn''t dare to continue his train of thought, but his gaze had turned increasingly cold as he stared at the figure of the heavenly roc that had almost finished condensing itself.
It seemed as if all of the remaining lightning in the cloud of heavenly tribtion had coalesced together toplete the image of this golden roc.
Shun Long didn''t say anything else either, but a serious look could be seen in his eyes as he stared at the figure of the golden roc in the sky. Others may be unaware of why Little ck was so angry, but how could Shun Long not understand him?
After all, in Little ck''s eyes, this was indeed the highest degree of insult and humiliation towards someone like him who possessed the pure bloodline of a dragon.
Throughout the entire Immortal Dimension, it wasmon knowledge that dragons and heavenly rocs were irreconcble, mortal enemies with immense pride. Additionally, as legendary-rank magic beasts, heavenly rocs were among the few types of magic beasts that were strong enough to rival dragons.
And yet, the heavenly tribtion had chosen to take the form of a golden roc this time.
What was this if not an attempt topletely humiliate Shun Long?
However, that wasn''t the part that angered Little ck the most, but the fact that out of all the different types of heavenly rocs that existed under the heavens, this heavenly tribtion had specifically chosen to take the form of a golden roc, the only type of roc that was innately born withprehension of the Dao of Devourment!
Attempting to punish Shun Long was one thing, but how could Little ck calmly watch as a golden roc ''devoured'' his master?
Besides, it was said that the heavens would always leave out a small path of survival in every tribtion, regardless of how ''slim'' that path may be. However, with his experience, Little ck could tell that there didn''t even seem to be the slightest trace of that in this particr heavenly tribtion.
Even if there were 3 additional bolts of heavenly tribtion, Little ck was still confident that Shun Long would be alright with his monstrous reserves of spiritual strength that rivaled even those of a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor.
At worst, he would slightly damage his spiritual sea and would have to spend a few years recuperating, but that was it. Even if Shun Long had to spend a couple of years recovering, Little ck wouldn''t have batted an eye as long as his life was unharmed.
However, it was obvious that the power of this golden roc in the sky far exceeded thebined power of the 3 bolts of heavenly tribtion that Shun Long had faced earlier.
The aura it was emitting was so powerful, that even rank 7 and rank 8 Dao Emperors would turn to ash in front of it, their spiritual seas obliterated in an instant!
Of course, this only served to show how enraged the heavens had truly turned this time, after Shun Long used a skill like his ''World Zero''.
Such a heaven-defying ability had touched upon the purestws of time, manipting them at his will, something that even immortals and devils were unable to do!
Although Shun Long''s ''World Zero'' had only affected this mortal world alone, and was not powerful enough to affect thews of the Immortal Dimension, it was obvious that the heavens would not possibly tolerate his actions and leave him unharmed.
''''Screeeh!''''
A moment after Shun Long''s bright golden eyes met the roc''s gaze, the enormous roc in the sky spread its massive golden wings that were still crackling with sparks of white lightning and opened its gigantic mouth as it let out an ear-piercing screech, before it descended straight towards Shun Long who was still sitting on the ground unmoving!
Sensing the golden roc''s overbearing aura that had already locked down on him, even Shun Long knew that he could not afford to hold back any longer.
In the next moment, the blood essence in his heart started to boil and burn furiously, causing his entire body to heat up, as pitch-ck scales that looked like they were made from darkness itself covered his entire body.
At the same time, his entire body started to emit a bright golden light with a pale azure hue, while a pitch-ck ball of mes had already appeared in his right hand!
''''Time Siphon.''''
''''mes of Destruction.'''' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Clearly, the golden light around Shun Long originated from his ''Time Siphon'', while the ck mes in his hand were his strongest offensive abilitying from his dragon''s bloodline, the ''mes of Destruction''!
Without a doubt, ''Time Siphon'' was Shun Long''s most powerful skill, while his ''mes of Destruction'' were enough to burn even a peak rank 9 Dao King to ashes!
Although the ''Time Siphon''s'' destruction radius may not beparable to the third form of the ''Thundergod''s'' sh'', in terms of its overall effects, Shun Long knew that it was actually far superior!
And yet, the figure of the heavenly roc seemed to havepletely disregarded the golden light around Shun Long or the ball of mes in his hand, as if they were beneath its notice in the first ce, as it continued to plunge straight towards him at full speed!
In the next moment, Shun Long''s golden eyes seemed like a vast ocean as they stared at the majestic-looking bird made from pure lightning that appeared in front of him, before he finally punched forward without holding back.
Chapter 888 The true strength of the heavenly tribulation
Chapter 888 The true strength of the heavenly tribtion
It was obvious that Shun Long had held nothing back with this punch of his, as even the surrounding space had started to ripple and was on the verge of shattering from its sheer power alone.
This was truly an attack that could threaten the life of even a peak rank 9 Dao King!
And yet the heavenly roc had a look of scorn in its bright yellow eyes, as it directly ignored Shun Long''s fist, as well as the pitch-ck mes that were burning on top of it, and continued straight for his head! N?v(el)B\\jnn
In the next moment, the ck mes that could burn even a peak rank 9 Dao King to cinders, only lingered on the ''heavenly roc''s'' body for a single breath of time before dispersing, as the enormous bird of lightning was now just a few inches away from Shun Long''s face.
Shun Long was briefly taken aback for a moment, but he knew that this oue wasn''t surprising in the end. After all, he hadn''t been hoping for the ''heavenly roc'' to fall under the ''mes of Darkness'' in the first ce. Ultimately, this was still a bolt of heavenly tribtion that could threaten evente-stage Dao Emperors.
He simply hadn''t expected that the heavenly roc would be able topletely disregard his ''mes of Darkness''bined with his ''Time Siphon'' so easily, to the point where it wasn''t even slowed down.
''''Phssst!''''
In the next moment, blood spurt through the air like a fountain, as the figure of the heavenly roc unhesitantly pped its wings a second time and dove forward, striking Shun Long right in the space between his eyebrows and entering his spiritual sea!
Shun Long''s entire body convulsed, and even the ck dragon''s scales that covered his body seemed to slowly lose their luster, as a wave of pain overcame him in an instant. The ''heavenly roc'' had just struck him, but this time, it wasn''t just his soul that was being affected by the attack, but his entire body instead.
Blood started to flow from the cracks between his scales, and even the overbearing defensive abilities from his ck dragon''s bloodline seemed on the verge of copse.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long tried to suppress the pain he was feeling and focused his attention in his spiritual sea without any hesitation.
Right now, he knew that the only thing he could do was turn his focus inside his spiritual sea, gathering all of his remaining spiritual energy to try and wilt down the power of the ''heavenly roc'' as much as possible and try to minimize the damage to his soul! As long as he could weaken the power of the ''heavenly roc'', there was still a chance of survival.
In the end, this ''heavenly roc'' wasn''t a real magic beast but one made from the lightning of the heavenly tribtion, and its energy was naturally limited as well.
However, the moment the ''heavenly roc'' entered his spiritual sea, Shun Long finally understood how much he had underestimated this final bolt of heavenly tribtion.
The moment it entered Shun Long''s spiritual sea, the ''heavenly roc''pletely disregarded everything around it, and immediately set its sights on the single, ethereal wisp of translucent me that was hovering in the air, right in the center above Shun Long''s spiritual sea.
Clearly, this was none other than Shun Long''s soul.
It seemed as if the heavenly roc already knew, that as long as it destroyed this soul, the body would immediately copse as well. There was no reason for it to waste its energy on the ocean of spiritual strength around it when it could achieve its goal with one single attack.
pping its enormous wings once more, the heavenly roc immediately traversed more than half the distance, its cold, indifferent eyes staring straight at the translucent wisp of me that was hovering calmly above the spiritual sea.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long gathered all of his remaining spiritual strength and sent it forward, as he bombarded the figure of the heavenly roc from all sides. In the next moment, Shun Long''s spiritual sea rumbled and surged violently, before waves upon waves of powerful spiritual energy swept the ce, immediately submerging the heavenly roc from all directions!
No matter what, Shun Long''s spiritual strength was stillparable to a peak rank 6 Dao Emperor''s! The waves of spiritual energy in his spiritual sea that rose like a tsunami were so powerful, that they were more than enough to deal with the mental attacks of any ordinary middle-stage Dao Emperor!
And yet, the figure of the ''heavenly roc'' was barely slowed down, before it continued to fly forward soon afterwards,pletely ignoring the barrage of spiritual strength that was attacking it from all directions.
Its eyes even held a trace of disdain in its depths as the massive lightning bird stared contemptuously at the waves of spiritual energy that were trying to take it down.
Even if Shun Long was back at full strength, the ''heavenly roc'' was still confident that it could resist all of his attacks and destroy his spiritual sea and soul withplete ease, let alone now, that more than half of his spiritual strength had already been spent dealing with 3 bolts of heavenly tribtion earlier!
How could a human possibly contend with it?
In the next moment, even Shun Long couldn''t help but feel his heart constrict, as he witnessed the ''heavenly roc'' effortlessly tearing through his spiritual sea despite his onught, and arrive right in front of his soul!
At the same time, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck could no longer contain himself as he stared at the massive bird that had arrived right in front of Shun Long''s soul with its mouth already open, as if it was intending to bite right through it.
The entire space around the ck dragon shook violently, and his aura seemed to have reached a new peak, as Little ck roared furiously with a voice that could make even a true heavenly roc quake in dread
''''SCRAM!!!''''
Chapter 889 Fortune and misfortune (1)
Chapter 889 Fortune and misfortune (1)
''''SCRAM!!!''''
Little ck''s voice boomed like a peal of thunder, as it entered Shun Long''s spiritual sea with terrifyingly strong momentum, its killing intent soaring into the skies!
Surprisingly, even the figure of the heavenly roc shook momentarily after hearing the dragon''s roar that was filled with uncontroble fury and killing intent, causing even its actions to pause for a moment.
It seemed that Little ck was no longer holding back right now, as his own spiritual strength entered Shun Long''s spiritual sea without any hesitation, heading straight for the figure of the massive lightning roc!
And yet, despite its initial surprise, the ''heavenly roc''pletely ignored the ck dragon''s rage, as well as the overwhelming amount of spiritual strength that was surging towards it, as it set its sights back on Shun Long''s soul.
It was obvious that in the heavenly roc''s eyes, nothing was more important than the ethereal, translucent wisp of me that was hovering in front of it.
As for Little ck''s overwhelming amount of spiritual strength that was rapidly approaching it from behind... it didn''t even seem to enter the heavenly roc''s eyes at all!
Opening its enormous mouth, the heavenly roc then bit down on Shun Long''s soul without any hesitation, as the sparks of white lightning in its eyes intensified to the extreme.
Even against the soul of an early rank 3 Dao King, it was obvious that the ''heavenly roc'' wasn''t holding back in the slightest, aiming to exterminate his soul with a single attack!
Even Shun Long couldn''t help but narrow his eyes, as the sensation of imminent death gripped his heart for the first time in a long while.
His entire body was already in immense pain after the ''heavenly roc''s'' initial attack earlier, butpared to his current situation, the physical pain he was feeling was actually nothing inparison.
Staring at the ''heavenly roc'' that was about to bite down on his soul, Shun Long could clearly tell that even if he survived this attack, his soul would still be on the verge of copse.
At the same time, it was obvious that the heavenly roc had barely expended any of its energy by now, and it had more than enough strength left to destroy his soul many times over.
This was undoubtedly the most perilous situation Shun Long had found himself in since he stepped foot into the world of cultivation!
Even when he had faced that single bolt of red lightning back in the ''King''s Pce'' during his breakthrough to the Dao King realm, he still hadn''t felt as much danger as he was feeling right now!
''''I guess this is the only way left...'''' After a moment of silence, Shun Long muttered to himself with a resolute voice, before turning his attention to the triangr-shaped stone in his spiritual sea.
Staring at the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long still remembered how the little stone had acted on its own against the red bolt of heavenly tribtion back then, obliterating it in an instant!
However, regardless of how much Shun Long had tried to probe it since then or what methods he tried to use, the ''Stone of Time'' didn''t react in the slightest.
It simply remained dormant inside his spiritual space, hovering calmly and silently in the space above his soul.
Shaking his head, Shun Long cast all of the useless thoughts aside, and turned his attention back towards the ''heavenly roc'' that was now only a few inches away from his soul!
Although he believed that the ''Stone of Time'' could deal with this ''heavenly roc'' in his spiritual sea, in the end, he wasn''t willing to gamble his life on whether the ''Stone of Time'' would really ''wake up'' or not.
Ultimately, he chose to grit his teeth as he came to a decision!
Then, the blood essence in his heart that was already being burned was suddenly set ame, as a terrifying power began to awaken inside him!
Although this scene took a while to describe, less than a moment had actually passed since Little ck''s furious roar, before Shun Long gathered his thoughts and instantly came to a decision.
In the next moment, the ''heavenly roc''s'' entire body was covered by a greyish-ck light as the enormous bird fiercely chomped down on Shun Long''s soul without any hesitation!
Although the massive lightning bird seemed to becking any teeth, the greyish-ck light around its body gave Shun Long an extreme sense of foreboding, while the sharpness of its beak and ws were more than enough to tear the soul of a middle-stage Dao Emperor apart in an instant!
With just a nce, Shun Long could tell that the grayish-ck light around the ''heavenly roc'' was actually no weaker than the lightning of the heavenly tribtion itself, and that it clearly originated from the heavenly roc''s race ''Dao of Devourment''.
It was obvious that the heavenly roc was really going all-out at this moment, and that its power was truly enough to cause chaos in the spiritual seas of evente-stage Dao Emperors!
At the same time, just as the heavenly roc opened its beak and bit down on Shun Long''s soul, Little ck''s waves of overwhelming spiritual energy smashed into the roc''s body from behind with terrifying force, immediately submerging the massive bird under its bombardment.
Little ck''s target was clearly the figure of the golden roc, and yet, Shun Long''s entire spiritual space shook all over, as the power of the ck dragon swept over the ce!
Clearly, Little ck hadn''t held back this time either, letting his overbearing spiritual strength on full disy! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, despite Little ck''s overwhelming soul power, the moment that the waves of his spiritual strength made contact with the ''heavenly roc'', a low hum that sounded like the indistinct chant of immortals suddenly sounded from the depths of the roc''s body, before Little ck''s spiritual energy was instantly dispersed into nothingness!
Little ck''s expression darkened as he stared at theplex diagram that had appeared around the heavenly roc, almost out of thin air, blocking his spiritual attack!
With just a nce, Little ck could tell that this power came directly from the Grand Dao and it was part of the heavenly tribtion itself. No matter what, nobody was allowed to meddle with another person''s heavenly tribtion... and this rule applied to both mortals and immortals without exception! Even Little ck inside the ''Stone of Time'' wasn''t exempt from this rule.
Whether it was in this mortal world or in the vastness of the ''Immortal Dimension'', this was a rule that couldn''t be broken no matter what!
Chapter 890 Fortune and misfortune (2)
Chapter 890 Fortune and misfortune (2)
Just as Little ck''s attack dissipated into nothingness, the ''heavenly roc''s'' mouth finally made contact with Shun Long''s soul, its eyes shing with a hint of malevolence as it stared at the crystal-clear soul in front of it that was about to scatter! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Naturally, the massive bird knew, that there was no way for a peak rank 3 Dao King''s soul to resist its attack head-on!
This was the price that one had to pay for angering the heavens! Complete extermination of body and soul alike.
And yet, contrary to the ''heavenly roc''s'' expectations, the crystal-clear soul in front of it didn''t even tremble or shake, despite its impending doom. Unlike what the ''heavenly roc'' had expected, Shun Long didn''t seem flustered at all, almost as if he hadn''t even sensed the iing danger.
In fact, his soul appearedpletely serene, like a tranquilke with perfectly still waters, while the ''heavenly roc''s'' attack was no more than a mere pebble approaching the massiveke. Naturally, such a pebble couldn''t cause any significant ripples!
In the next moment, Shun Long''s translucent, crystal-like soul burst with a radiant light, before a thin, white-colored barrier suddenly appeared around it.
The ''heavenly roc''s'' lifelike eyes couldn''t hide its surprise as it stared at the thin white barrier in front of it, but its actions didn''t stop or slow down in the slightest, as its mouth closed and bit down hard, as if it was trying topletely crush the soul within it.
However, the scene that followed next left even the ''golden roc'' utterly bbergasted!
Regardless of how much it tried to close its mouth or how much force it tried to use, the thin, frail-looking white barrier didn''t even ripple, as it remained protectively around Shun Long''s soul!
This attack that could threaten the soul of even a rank 8 Dao Emperor had actually failed to pierce through the barrier''s defenses!
The ''heavenly roc''s'' eyes shed with a cold light, but it didn''t give up. Opening its mouth, it attacked repeatedly, as it tried to crush the soul in front of it again and again.
However, it didn''t matter how many times it tried, as the barrier around Shun Long''s soul didn''t even ripple!
The ''heavenly roc'' had even resorted to using its talons, as well as the ''Dao of Devourement'' innate to it, but for some reason, the white barrier wouldn''t so much as shake despite its attacks!
At the same time, Shun Long had a cold look in his eyes as he stared at the ''golden roc''s'' relentless strikes.
He was confident that the white barrier was more than enough to protect his soul even from a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor''s mental attacks!
Even if the ''heavenly roc'' attacked it for another day, it would be unable to break through its defenses!
Of course, this was only natural as well.
After all, this white barrier wasn''t something that Shun Long would normally resort to unless there was absolutely no other way out!
The price he would have to pay was one that made even him feel some heartache.
Regardless, what was done was already done!
At this point, Shun Long knew that the only thing he had to do was wait until the ''heavenly roc'' exhausted all of its power.
...
Soon, even the ''heavenly roc'' stopped its attacks and stared at the white barrier around Shun Long''s soul with a look of bewilderment in its eyes.
Clearly, its intelligence wasn''t any lower than a human''s and the massive lightning bird could tell that the barrier in front of it was truly extraordinary.
In fact, it was so strong it was nearly impregnable with its strength.
The golden roc could tell, that even if it exhausted all of its energy, it was very unlikely that it would pierce through it!
Realizing that it wasn''t going to seed, the ''heavenly roc'' quickly turned its sights away from the white barrier as it started to inspect its surroundings!
Clearly, it wasn''t willing to give up like that.
Soon, a sinister look emerged on its face as its gazended on Shun Long''s ''empty'' spiritual space.
No matter what, right now, Shun Long had less than half of his original spiritual energy left within his spiritual sea. Although spiritual energy could be recovered given enough time, this wasn''t a process that could be done in a few minutes!
After throwing onest look at the translucent soul in front of it that was protected by the white barrier, the ''heavenly roc'' spread out its massive wings and flew forward, as it started to fly around inside Shun Long''s spiritual space!
...
Originally, Little ck who had just undergone a multitude of emotions couldn''t understand what the roc was trying to do, but when he saw it releasing its lightning around it indiscriminately, the ck dragon''s killing intent finally reached its peak
''''Vile beast! You dare?''''
Throughout his life, Little ck had battled with numerous members of the heavenly roc race. However, he had never felt as much loathing and disgust for any of them, as he did right now!
It was to the point where he was even starting to wonder, whether this was really a bolt of heavenly tribtion or a true detestable heavenly roc.
Little ck didn''t even need to think to realize what the roc''s current intentions were.
It was obvious that this ''heavenly roc'' had already given up on destroying Shun Long''s soul, and it had already set its eyes on his spiritual space.
Although destroying a spiritual space was much more difficultpared to eradicating a soul, it actually wasn''t impossible. As long as it released all of its remaining energy, it truly had a chance to bring Shun Long''s spiritual space to the verge of copse. Once that happened... then even if his soul was still intact, as long as his spiritual space was ruined, Shun Long would be no different from a cripple.
Nevertheless, there was nothing that Little ck could do but watch, as the final bolt of heavenly tribtion wreaked havoc within Shun Long''s spiritual space.
Its power was being expended extremely rapidly, as sparks of white lightning flew around the enormous roc andnded everywhere around it, before cracks finally began to appear on the walls of Shun Long''s spiritual space.
At this point, Shun Long was trying his absolute hardest to remain conscious, as he took in the scenes that were taking ce inside his spiritual space.
From beginning to end, he was trying to keep a clear, focused mind, but as time passed, he could truly feel himself teetering on the verge of unconsciousness.
However, he knew that as long as he let himself fall unconscious this time, there was almost no chance for him to wake up again after this.
Clenching his fists, he tried hard to endure the terrifying pain, as every passing second felt almost like an entire day, as heavenly lightning tortured his body and mind repeatedly, bringing them on the verge of ruin!
''''Screeeh!''''
Finally, a few minutester, the ''golden roc'' let out onest unwilling cry and sent out one final attack towards the ''wall'' in front of it, before the lightning around its body slowly dispersed into nothingness.
Chapter 891 Fortune and missfortune (3)
Chapter 891 Fortune and missfortune (3)
''''Boooooom!''''
The final attack of the ''heavenly roc'' seemed to contain all of its pent-up anger and pride, as well as its remaining unwillingness and killing intent, as a massive, snow-white lightning bolt mmed down on Shun Long''s spiritual space with a huge bang, causing the entire space to tremble!
''''Crackk!''''
As he took in this attack, even Shun Long couldn''t help but cough a mouthful of blood, as the cracks in his spiritual space started to expand rapidly in all directions!
It was obvious that although his soul was still unharmed, the damage in his spiritual space wasn''t negligible, as another wave of pain overcame him in an instant.
It truly seemed like the umted damage was so high, that his spiritual space could copse at any moment.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to have noticed any of this, as his entire attention was captured by a single, white spark of lightning that had yet topletely disperse and was still crackling inside his spiritual space.
Although its power was slowly weakening and it was still trying to destroy everything around it, Shun Long still stared at the single spark of lightning with an enamored look, as if it really held some kind of irresistible allure, that made it hard for him to look away!
''''I wonder if it''s really possible?''''
A sudden thought soon sprung up in his mind, making even Shun Long''s heart stir!
...
It was only a few momentster, after the ''heavenly roc''s''st wisp of energy hadpletely disappeared from his spiritual sea, that Shun Long finally opened his eyes!
At the same time, as the ck thunderclouds above the ''City of Immortals'' started to vanish, in the distance a few hundred meters away from Shun Long, Jiang Chen''s veil of darkness suddenly dispersed, revealing the scene inside.
Shun Long''s eyes slightly widened as he saw an exhausted Jiang Chen struggling to keep himself on his feet.
His handsome features werepletely contorted and even his long ck hair appeared disheveled, but despite his exhaustion, it was impossible to hide the raging killing intent in his eyes as he stared at a certain group of 5 in the distance.
Following Jiang Chen''s gaze, Shun Long''s eyes gradually fell on Bai Longtian and then Xingyi.
Surprisingly, Bai Longtian''s condition was even worse than Jiang Chen''s.
Bai Longtian''s figure had already turned into a 10-meter(33ft) tall giant buddha, while his entire body was glowing with a bright golden light, making it obvious that he had already gone all-out, activating his ''Golden Buddha unique physique''.
However, even with the terrifying defenses of his unique physique, Bai Longtian''s condition was undoubtedly the worst out of everyone present! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
His left arm appearedpletely mangled, as if it had been struck by hundreds of sword shes simultaneously, while his aura was extremely weak as well. The rest of his body was also filled with countless wounds, and although they weren''t as bad as the injury in his left arm, they couldn''t be ignored either.
It was obvious that Bai Longtian had already gone through an extremely gruesome fight.
As for the old man who was standing in front of him and was clearly emitting the aura of an early-rank 9 Dao King, aside from the tiny amount of blood trickling from his lips, he appearedpletely unharmed!
In fact, the old man''s eyes betrayed a look of surprise that instantly turned into joy when he noticed that the dark veil around him had started to disappear.
Clearly, this had been his biggest hindrance this entire time, as it had been severely restricting his eyes as well as his soul sense. Otherwise, how could an early rank 9 Dao King like him have failed to deal with a paltry little middle-stage Dao King like Bai Longtian?
As for Xingyi, she was actually blocking the green-robed young woman called Liang Bao, who was already looking for a way out of Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' for a while now.
Although Xingyi hadn''t suffered any obvious injuries in this fight, a frown could be seen on her peerlessly beautiful face as she stared at the green-robed woman in front of her!
Clearly, although Liang Bao had failed to injure her, Xingyi knew that this was mostly due to the defensive abilities of her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'', as well as her peak 1-star armor.
However, Liang Bao''s own skills were nothing to scoff at either. No matter what Xingyi tried, she found it nearly impossible to prate through her defenses and severely wound Liang Bao either.
Of course, this could be attributed to 2 things. Firstly, Liang Bao''s own skills were more oriented towards defense rather than offense. In fact, among the 5 early rank 9 Dao Kings in her group, she was undoubtedly the one with the best defensive abilities! Secondly, she was already prepared for a fight from the beginning, and her cultivation base was a good amount higher than Xingyi''s, so it was extremely hard to inflict upon her any serious injuries.
This was why, other than a few shallow wounds, Liang Bao was actuallypletely unharmed.
In fact, her condition was much better than the old man who was fighting Bai Longtian!
Of course, whether it was Liang Bao, or the old man who was fighting against Bai Longtian, neither of them could truly contain the shock in their hearts as they fought their opponents.
In the beginning, they had viewed Xingyi and Bai Longtian as nothing more than two insignificant middle-stage Dao Kings!
Even if they were geniuses who were talented enough to have entered the ''realm of masters'', their cultivation bases were still too low to contend with early rank 9 Dao Kings like them.
This was simply a gap in cultivation that couldn''t be bridged with talent alone!
However, as time passed, the two early rank 9 Dao Kings started to be increasingly shocked.
Once they realized that the 2 ''random'' people they were facing had not only entered the ''realm of masters'', but they had alsoprehended a Unique-level Dao each, and they even possessed a unique physique, they could no longer believe their eyes!
Even back in the central region, people at their level would be core figures even among the first-rate factions of the central region. They would be monsters that those factions would go all out to nurture, since it was only a matter of time before they entered the Dao Emperor, and even the Sovereign realm in the future!
Yet, how could so many monsters be gathered in one group?
It was already one thing for them to ept that Shun Long had somehow entered that ''legendary realm'' above the ''realm of masters'' and had even invoked a heavenly tribtion while he was still inside the ''City of Immortals'', but now a group of monsters had also appeared by his side?
However, Liang Bao and the old man by her side barely had enough time to gather their thoughts while they stared at their opponents, before a sudden scream filled with uncontroble pain and killing intent entered their ears
''''AAAAAAARGH!''''
-
Author''s note: 1/2 (Second chaptering soon)
Chapter 892 Bloodbath
Chapter 892 Bloodbath
''''You fucking bitch! I swear I will kill you!''''
Yao Guanting''s furious voice reverberated across the battlefield like booming thunder, as it entered the ears of everyone present!
Everyone immediately turned their gazes towards the source of this voice, but the scene that greeted them next was so horrifying, that it made the minds of the surrounding Dao Kings short-circuit for a brief moment, before a feeling ofplete terror gripped their hearts.
The purple-robed Yao Guanting was standing before an enormous, hideous monster, his gaze fixed directly on the stunningly beautiful young woman standing proudly on the monster''s back. However, unlike before, Yao Guanting''s usual poise and elegance was nowhere to be found, as his body was now dripping with uncontroble hatred and killing intent as he stared at Liu Mei.
What terrified these surrounding Dao Kings however, wasn''t the ''Death Eater''s'' aura or its hideous appearance that was already enough to strike terror in their hearts, but Yao Guanting''s missing right arm! N?v(el)B\\jnn
It was obvious that this monster with the aura of an early rank 7 Dao King, had not only managed to wound an early rank 9 Dao King like Yao Guanting, but it had even somehow severed his right arm!
This was more than enough to terrify every single one of the remaining Dao Kings present, to the point where their entire bodies feltpletely rigid, as if they had suddenly been plunged into an icy abyss. After all, Yao Guanting was the strongest among the five early rank 9 Dao Kings in their group, and yet, even he had been injured so seriously, to the point where he had even lost an arm!
And the worst of all was the fact that his injury didn''t evene from the peak rank 6 magic beast that they were facing, but from a hideous 30-meter tall monster, that was clearly neither a human nor a magic beast!
As if all this wasn''t enough, 6 ck-colored skeletons had also surrounded Yao Guanting from all sides, each of them emitting an aura that wasn''t the slightest bit weaker than the ''Death Eater''s'', as they blocked off any path of escape.
Facing the furious Yao Guanting, a cold light shed through Liu Mei''s eyes, and without paying any attention to anyone else around her, she then ordered in a frosty tone
''''Kill him!''''
As soon as it heard this order, the ''Death Eater''s'' aura exploded once more, as the enormous monster opened its hideous mouth and bit down a second time, aiming to directly kill the injured purple-robed Dao King in front of it!
Yao Guanting merely snorted, not bothering at all with the ''Death Eater''s'' crude attack, as he directly stepped back and retreated without any hesitation.
It was true that he had already lost an arm, but how could this have happened if he hadn''t been caught off-guard?
Earlier, he had clearly sensed the ''Death Eater''s'' attack that was fast approaching him, but just as he tried to step back and avoid it, 6 massive greatswords suddenly attacked him from all sides,pletely blocking off his path of escape!
If his soul sense wasn''t suppressed so heavily by Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'', how could Yao Guanting possibly have fallen victim to the 6 ck skeletons'' sneak attack?
Having no other choice, he then gritted his teeth and decided to give up on his right arm, allowing him to at least escape with his life.
Yao Guanting would never have guessed that he would have gotten so seriously injured fighting against a mere, early rank 7 Dao King!
...
Seeing that their opponent was trying to escape, the 6 ck skeleton kings moved in unison all at the same time, as they attacked the purple-robed young man from all sides.
However, if Yao Guanting really wanted to escape, there wasn''t anyone here who could hold him down. Even Little Silver wasn''t qualified to do so, let alone Liu Mei''s ck skeletons that were merely as fast as early rank 7 Dao Kings.
In the next moment, Yao Guanting''s body twisted and turned like a willow, as he effortlessly dodged the 6 dark-red greatswords that assaulted him, before appearing more than a hundred meters away.
Clearly, now that Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' had disappeared and his soul sense was no longer affected, predicting the ck skeletons'' path of attacks and dodging them wasn''t that difficult for him!
Throwing onest look at the distant Liu Mei and the rapidly approaching ''Death Eater'' that was still running towards him, the purple-robed Yao Guanting then took a deep breath, before he spat out through gritted teeth
''''I, Yao Guanting, will definitely not forget what happened here today! You better pray that we don''t meet each other again in the future, because if we do, I swear that I will take your life! Of course... that''s assuming that you will even stay alive until then!''''
Without throwing another look at anyone else around him, Yao Guanting then turned into a streak of light and disappeared in the distance,pletely ignoring the remaining middle andte-stage Dao Kings who hade along with him!
''''Senior brother Yao!''''
''''Yao Guanting, you rat!''''
''''How dare you leave us behind!''''
The remaining Dao Kings couldn''t believe their eyes when they saw that Yao Guanting had turned around and fled without any hesitation, leaving the rest of them behind!
However, how could they possibly know that Yao Guanting had already given up on them long ago?
In the beginning, Yao Guanting had been confident that more than 100 middle andte-stage Dao Kings would have been more than enough to take care of a single peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver, even if he didn''t participate in the fight personally.
At worst, a few dozen of them would end up dying during the fight, but this was still a price that he was willing to pay.
How could Yao Guanting have expected that a monster like Jiang Chen would appear with such a heaven-defying ability, which couldpletely suppress the soul sense of more than 100 Dao Kings simultaneously?
As for Liu Mei, in Yao Guanting''s eyes, she was just as much of a monster as Jiang Chen was!
After all, the ''Death Eater''s'' and the 6 ck skeletons'' auras were merely at the level of an early rank 7 Dao King, but Yao Guanting had already realized that their truebat power was actually much higher than that.
Even peak rank 7 Dao Kings would have no hope of taking a blow by that horrifying 30-meter(100ft) tall monster, or those ck skeletons directly!
That,bined with the fact that Yao Guanting had already lost an arm in this fight, as well as Little Silver having not suffered any significant injuries, was more than enough for him to tell, that there was no longer any hope of killing Little Silver, let alone capturing Shun Long.
Seeing Yao Guanting leave them behind, thest hope in the hearts of the surrounding Dao Kings instantly shattered, as they all turned around and tried to escape!
However, althoughing was easy, leaving was an entirely different story.
...
A few minutester, silence filled the ''Endless desert'', as the grains of sand on the ground were bathed in the blood of nearly a hundredte-stage Dao Kings!
Chapter 893 Shun Longs decision
Chapter 893 Shun Long''s decision
''''Roaaaaar!''''
Little Silver''s roar was the first thing that broke the silence that had descended over the ''Endless Desert'', as the ck panther turned into a streak of silvery light, heading straight for Shun Long in the distance.
Staring at the 4-meter(13ft) tall ck panther that was acting like a little child in front of him, excitedly rubbing its fur all over his face, Shun Long could only shake his head with a smile, before he affectionately patted Little Silver''s head in response.
''''Long-ge!''''
''''Brother Shun!''''
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, seemed to have also noticed that he had woken up, as they all hurried over as well.
''''Long-ge, are you okay?'''' Liu Mei was the first one to arrive next to him, her enchanting, starry-like ck eyes staring worriedly at Shun Long whose entire body was filled with wounds.
As she hurriedly sat down on the ground next to him, Liu Mei then took out a small jade bottle filled with pills and opened it, before she carefully took out a single emerald-colored pill and gently ced it into Shun Long''s mouth.
At the same time, even Bai Longtian whose entire body was filled with hundreds of de cuts, sucked in a cold breath when he realized that Shun Long''s condition seemed to be even worse than his own.
It was obvious from the ck scales around his body that Shun Long had already gone all-out and had even used his ck dragon''s bloodline, and yet his injuries were so severe that it was unknown whether he could even stand up on his own right now.
As for his internal injuries, Bai Longtian didn''t want to estimate how badly he had been injured this time.
Although Shun Long was also a body cultivator like him, Bai Longtian could tell withplete certainty, that even a body cultivator wouldn''t be able to recover from injuries of that degree without resting for at least a year.
Thankfully, the emerald pills that Liu Mei took out were top-grade rank 6 healing pills that Shun Long had personally refined while they were still back in the Northern Sovereign''s estate.
The name of these pills was the ''Clear jade evergreen pills'', and they were known as the most powerful type of recovery pills that anyone beneath the Dao Emperor realm could consume to heal their injuries.
In fact, these pills were no different from a second life to any Dao King realm cultivator.
Of course, the better the effects of a pill, the rarer it tended to be.
As for middle and high-grade ''Clear jade evergreen pills'', they were so rare, that even the outer court Elders of the Holy sect couldn''t get their hands on them that easily.
As for top-grade rank 6 ''Clear jade evergreen pills'', even the Elder responsible for the ''Refinement Hall'' back in the Holy sect, Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing was unable to refine any of them!
This was why, the moment that any top-grade ''Clear jade evergreen pills'' appeared on the market, peak rank 9 Dao Kings would scramble to buy them regardless of the price!
Of course, this was only natural as well. After all, to refine these pills, an alchemist didn''t just require more than a dozen rank 6 medicinal herbs, but they also needed the beast core of a peak rank 6 magic beast.
As for whether the pills that came out in the end were low, middle, high-grade or top-grade ones, that entirely depended on the skills of the alchemist, as well as the quality of the medicinal herbs used.
After all, one would not only need a peak 1-star alchemist to have any hope of refining a batch of top-grade ''Clear jade evergreen pills'', but they would have to use more than a dozen rank 6 medicinal herbs, each of them more than 900 years old. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
To use all that along with the beast core of a peak rank 6 magic beast, just to have some hope of refining top-grade rank 6 healing pills, was something that almost no star-rank alchemist in the central region would do.
After all, rank 6 medicinal herbs were also needed as supplementary ingredients when these alchemists refined star-rank pills, so how could they possibly be willing to ''waste'' them, trying to refine rank 6 pills, when it wasn''t even guaranteed that the pills would end up as top-grade ones in the first ce?
Throughout the entire central region, Shun Long was probably the only one who could afford to refine top-grade ''Clear jade evergreen pills'' like that without batting an eye.
...
In the next moment, Shun Long could feel the texture of the pill melting in his mouth, as it turned into a stream of gentle energy that flowed throughout his entire body, before his injuries started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the next moment, Liu Mei and the others saw the damaged ck dragon scales around him slowly regain their original luster, before they gradually disappeared, revealing Shun Long''s clear skin that they were covering underneath them.
Standing up from the ground, Shun Long then swept his gaze over the battlefield around him that was filled with the corpses of nearly a hundred Dao Kings, as well as Liu Mei''s skeletons who were looting their bodies with practiced movements, looking like they had done this numerous times in the past, before his gaze eventuallynded on Bai Longtian''s injured left arm.
''''Longtian, how do you feel?''''
At the same time, Bai Longtian waved his hand with a nonchnt look the moment he noticed Shun Long''s gaze, before he said with his usual easy-going smile
''''Brother Shun, there is no need to worry about this. This is nothing to me. I simply didn''t have the time to deal with these injuries earlier.''''
Then, as if to prove his own words, Bai Longtian''s body cultivation energy surged, before his injuries started to disappear as well.
In the first ce, Bai Longtian and Little Silver were the only ones who had been injured in the fight against Yao Guanting''s group, and since Bai Longtian''s injuries weren''t too serious, they were nothing that he couldn''t deal with using his own body cultivation energy.
As for Little Silver''s injuries, Shun Long didn''t hesitate as he took out a top-grade ''Clear jade evergreen pill'' and ced it inside the ck panther''s mouth.
Seeing Little Silver''s injuries disappear as well, Shun Long nodded his head and swept his gaze over the battlefield around him once again, and after a moment of silent pondering, the look in his eyes turned iparably cold as he said calmly
''''Let''s change ns!''''
Chapter 894 Cultivation (1)
Chapter 894 Cultivation (1)
Liu Mei and the others looked a bit confused, but Shun Long didn''t exin anything else as he directly leaped and sat down on Little Silver''s back.
Seeing that he wasn''t nning to exin things right away, Liu Mei first gathered the spatial rings that her skeletons had happily collected from the corpses of the surrounding Dao Kings, before she sat down on Little Silver''s wide back as well.
A few momentster, Little Silver''s figure that was carrying 5 people on it, turned into a streak of silvery light as it disappeared deeper inside the ''Endless Desert''!
... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
A little more than an hourter, Shun Long lowered his gaze to stare at the empty desert below him, before he nodded his head and said in satisfaction
''''This ce is good enough. Little Silver, get down.''''
Without any hesitation, Little Silver then pped its massive silver wings and shot downwards, descending towards an empty space below them that was filled with nothing but countless grains of sand.
As the figure of the ck panther descended, Xingyi and the others began to curiously examine their surroundings, before looks of confusion slowly crept up on their faces.
After all, no matter how they looked at it, this ce didn''t look special in any way, and was just an unassuming, insignificant spot in the ''Endless Desert''.
Unlike the ''Stone mural'' where they hadprehended the scenes engraved on it earlier that allowed them to enter the ''realm of masters'', or the ''Illusion oasis'' that seemed to be holding plenty of opportunities and treasures within, this ce looked extremely ''in'' inparison.
And yet, Jiang Chen didn''t seem to care about any of this, as he directly sat down on the ground and closed his eyes, before he began to gather his qi. It was obvious that Jiang Chen didn''t care in the slightest about where they were or what they were going to do, as the only thing on his mind was improving his cultivation base and taking revenge.
After all, there was no way he was going to forget the humiliation he had suffered from the peak rank 9 Dao King, Mao Huang back in the ''Illusion oasis''.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Bai Longtian was the first one to speak, as he turned his gaze towards Shun Long and asked curiously
''''Brother Shun, is there something special about this ce?''''
Liu Mei, Xingyi, and even Jiang Chen who had just sat down, all turned their eyes towards him when they heard Bai Longtian''s question, but contrary to their expectations, Shun Long simply shook his head before he said calmly
''''Aside from the qi here being a bit more concentrated, there is actually nothing special about this ce.'''' Looking at the confused expressions on everyone''s faces, Shun Long''s lips curved upwards ever-so-slightly before he continued ''''But this is precisely the reason why I chose this ce. Because there is nothing special about it.'''' Then, with an extremely rare, serious look on his face, he then added in ''''You must have already realized what everyone iscking the most right now; ...it''s enough time to grow.''''
Liu Mei''s, Xingyi''s, Jiang Chen''s, and Bai Longtian''s eyes all shed with a deep glint when they heard this. Indeed, what all of them, and especially Shun Long werecking the most right now, was enough time to increase their cultivation base.
They had already realized this fact the moment they stepped foot into this ''second stage'' in the City of Immortals.
While things were still easy back during the first stage, as soon as they passed the trial to hunt enough ''Demon-fanged mice'' and entered the second stage, the ambushes they faced had increased by countless times, as they got attacked again and again.
First, it had been that early rank 7 Dao King who had imed to be from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', Li Tian, who ended up making his move against them as soon as they arrived.
Although an early rank 7 Dao King wasn''t much in the ''City of Immortals'', even an insignificant figure like Li Tian had dared to attack them in broad daylight.
Then, while they were still back in the ''Stone mural'', Shun Long surpassing the ''realm of masters'' andprehending sword aura had attracted so much attention, that all of the surrounding Dao Kings had gotten riled up, and in the end, this even ended up attracting the attention of that red-robed old man called ''Old Fu'', who was already a peak rank 9 Dao King!
However, the worst instances were undoubtedly the one in the ''Illusion oasis'', as well as the ambush they had just suffered from Yao Guanting''s group.
In the ''Illusion oasis'', a peak rank 9 Dao King like Mao Huang had single-handedly dealt with Liu Mei and the others, bringing them all on the brink of death. In fact, Mao Huang had even used an extremely rare poison against them called the ''Soul tormenting grass'', which made even top-grade rank 6 ''anti-toxin pills'' useless against it.
However, the worst of all was the fact, that aside from Mao Huang, there was an even more terrifying peak rank 9 Dao King in the ''Illusion oasis'', who was strong enough to pierce through even Shun Long''s defenses after he had gone all-out and activated his dragonform.
Of course, this was only because Shun Long was still a peak rank 3 Dao King, so the boost that his defenses got after he burned his blood essence was still limited by his own cultivation base.
Although his ck dragon scales were extremely hard, they weren''t truly imprable in the end.
...
However, after reviewing all of those things, Liu Mei and the rest all understood that in reality, none of those things would have truly happened if they had been stronger.
After all, who would have dared to attack them if they were peak rank 9 Dao Kings instead?
Would Mao Huang have dared to make trouble with them?
Would Li Tian even think of robbing them?
Would the red-robed old man called ''old Fu'' really try to fight them?
Would Yao Guanting and his group even dare to approach them?
In the end, the core issue stemmed from their own cultivation bases.
-
Chapter 895 Cultivation (2)
Chapter 895 Cultivation (2)
After a brief moment of silence, Jiang Chen then looked at Shun Long and nodded his head in understanding, before he said calmly
''''If that''s what you want, then naturally I have no issues with it either. Whether we stay in this ce and cultivate or we go somewhere else, none of that really matters to me. I just hope that you will let me personally take revenge on that bastard the next time we see him!''''
As he finished speaking, Jiang Chen''s eyes shed with a hint of murderous light, as the image of a smirking Mao Huang appeared in his mind.
Although Jiang Chen wasn''tpletely certain of what had taken ce since the four of them had gotten destroyed by Mao Huang back in the ''Illusion oasis'', in the end, he had a rough idea of what Shun Long had probably done and why they were still alive until now.
Even though Jiang Chen understood that it sounded extremely far-fetched for a Dao King to possess such power, he also knew that there was no other exnation for why he, as well as Liu Mei and the others, were still alive right now, after they had been inflicted by Mao Huang''s poison and were only a few breaths away from death previously! Besides, although he had already spent a few years next to Shun Long already, Jiang Chen had to admit that even he had yet to truly realize the limits of Shun Long''s ''Dao of Time''. The more he witnessed, the more overbearing and unreal the Dao that Shun Long hadprehended seemed to be, almost as if there were no limits to its power.
At the same time, although Jiang Chen didn''t seem to have any questions regarding what had happened earlier, almost as if none of it mattered to him, Xingyi could no longer hold back her curiosity as she stared at Shun Long''s calm, handsome face with her pair of dazzling emerald eyes, before she asked in a somewhat low voice
''''Then, brother Long... I want to know... did we really die earlier?''''
Hearing Xingyi''s low voice that sounded almost like a whisper, Shun Long simply shook his head and didn''t choose to hide anything, as he exined directly what had happened
''''Although Mao Huang had left you all with just a single breath of life, you didn''t truly die. But even if he had really killed everyone... it wouldn''t have made much of a difference in the first ce! After all, my ''World Zero'' would still reverse the flow of time in the entire world, and return everything exactly to how it was in the past.''''
Although Shun Long''s voice was calm, his confirmation was like a tempestuous wave that violently rocked Xingyi''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Jiang Chen''s hearts. Only Liu Mei seemed slightly betterposed inparison, but even she couldn''t help but feel a wave of shock coursing through her when she heard this.
Of course, Bai Longtian''s and the others'' reactions werepletely natural to Shun Long as well. After all, even Little ck, a dragon who had lived for tens of thousands of years couldn''t suppress his shock when he learned about his ''World Zero'', let alone Jiang Chen and the rest. However, Shun Long didn''t say anything else and simply let them process this information, before he turned his gaze towards his surroundings.
After a moment of serious contemtion, Shun Long then waved his right hand, before hundreds of different types of rocks, as well as a small iron mountain, all appeared in front of him at the same time.
Staring at the small iron mountain, as well as the hundreds of different rocks that came in many various sizes, the smallest one being the size of an adult''s fist while thergest ones resembling enormous boulders instead, Shun Long nodded his head in satisfaction before he began to arrange them around him in an unhurried, yet oddly specific manner.
After cing more than a hundred rocks in several different spots on the ground, Shun Long then waved his sleeve, before a wave of sword qi suddenly surged forth, immediately crushing the rocks into powder.
Of course, the rocks that Shun Long had just taken out weren''t ordinary rocks, but a special type of rock that rank 3 gold-grade formation masters often used when they arranged formations, called the ''Fire-earth spiritual rock''. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Naturally, throughout thest few years, Shun Long had amassed a considerable number of spiritual materials that were useful to formation masters who wanted to inscribe formations, or craft talismans or weapons.
Just like the ''Fire-earth spiritual rock'', the small iron mountain that Shun Long had taken out was also a rank 6 spiritual material that could be used to craft rank 3 gold-grade weapons, called the ''Hundred-fold spirit iron''.
However, Shun Long wasn''t nning to craft any weapons at the moment.
Staring at the small, iron mountain in front of him, Shun Long stretched out his right hand and calmly pointed at it with his finger, before a purple wisp of me emerged from the tip of his finger, flying straight towards the iron mountain in front of him!
One of the most important prerequisites for someone to be a formation master, was to have gained insights in the ''Dao of Fire'' first. Otherwise, regardless of a person''s talent, it would be nearly impossible to melt high-grade spiritual materials and use them to craft weapons or inscribe formations.
Under the overwhelming heat of Shun Long''s earth me, the small mountain of ''Hundred-fold spirit iron'' that would have normally taken days for a peak rank 3 gold-grade formation master to melt, had already began to liquify in a matter of seconds, quickly turning into arge silver pool of dense liquid.
Looking at the enormous silver pool in front of him, Shun Long''s actions didn''t stop or pause in the slightest, as his finger danced through the air like the tip of a brush, outlining a massive, profound, yet inscrutable diagram of mysterious origins.
Although he didn''t have any ''paint'', Shun Long used the silver liquid from the ''Hundred-fold spirit iron'' and guided it unhesitantly with his finger, as he ''drew'' the enormous pattern in the air in front of him.
A little more than a minuteter, once the outline of the diagram was almostplete, the 27 golden balls of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' all circted at the same time, as they poured their energy into the mysterious diagram in front of Shun Long.
The massive,plex diagram then illuminated with rays of brilliant silvery light, before quickly dissipating as if it had seamlessly fused with the ground beneath it.
Staring at the scene in front of him, Shun Long nodded his head in satisfaction, before he mumbled to himself
''''Let''s start.''''
Chapter 896 Absorbing immortal qi
Chapter 896 Absorbing ''immortal qi''
If anyone could see this scene that was taking ce around Shun Long and the others from the sky, they would have instantly noticed that the outline of the mysterious diagram that Shun Long had just created hadn''t simply ''disappeared'', but it had already fused with the grains of sand in the desert below it in a very specific manner.
The lines of the mysterious silver diagram seemed tond precisely on the same spots as the ''Fire-earth spiritual rocks'' that Shun Long had ced earlier, before a thin, transparent barrier of light suddenly surged and enveloped the surrounding area in the blink of an eye.
Staring at the thin, invisible barrier that had now appeared around them almost out of thin air, Xingyi couldn''t hold back her astonishment as she looked at Shun Long and asked in surprise
''''Brother Long, this is a formation, right? What type of formation is it? I''ve never seen one like this before!''''
It seemed that Xingyi had already returned back to her usual spirited mood, as she quickly walked up and stood at the edges of the invisible barrier, before she began to examine it carefully with her eyes.
Even Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian seemed taken aback as they stared at the transparent-looking barrier around them with curiosity in their gazes, before Jiang Chen began to examine the barrier by himself, while Bai Longtian turned his eyes towards Shun Long.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t surprised by their reactions in the slightest. After all, he knew that Xingyi came from the Silver mountain''s Xie family of the Night star continent, while Bai Longtian was the young white lord, the son of the famous ''White lord'', a peak rank 9 Dao King realm expert in the Night star continent.
Naturally, both of them had some basic knowledge regarding formations, so they could immediately tell that there was something peculiar about the formation in front of them.
As for Jiang Chen, how could he, as the son of Jiang Tianfang, a famouste-stage Dao Emperor of the central region, be any inferior to others when it came to basic knowledge regarding formations?
Although Jiang Chen wasn''t a formation master, he had already been taught plenty of things by his father from a young age, so he could immediately tell that there was something special about this formation that Shun Long had just set up.
Although it looked normal at first nce, Jiang Chen had already noticed that Shun Long hadn''t used any middle or high-grade spirit stones to power up his formation, yet the formation itself was somehow remaining active.
Seeing that a rare look of curiosity had even appeared in Liu Mei''s beautiful ck eyes as she stared at him, Shun Long grinned before he began to exin
''''This is a basic formation called the ''Five-elements protective formation''. It''s a simple formation that utilizes the power of the five elements topletely conceal a small area and protect it from outside attacks. Of course, the power of all 5 elements is needed to set up this particr formation.
Although the ''Hundred-fold spirit iron'' only contains the barest traces of wind and water elemental energy, it is actually overflowing with the energy of the metal element, while the ''Fire-earth spiritual rock'' is filled with both fire and earth elemental energies. Although this formation is not perfect, it is more than enough to block out the soul sense of any peak rank 9 Dao King and nullify most of their attacks.''''
As he finished speaking Shun Long waved his right hand, before a massive green-colored vine appeared in front of him, causing the ground to tremble from the impact.
The instant that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' emerged from the ''Stone of Time'', the surrounding qi in the area began to gather around it at a terrifying rate, quickly forming an enormous vortex above it that was growingrger andrger with every passing second. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
This time, Shun Long had not only chosen to take out the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' from the ''Stone of Time'', but he hadn''t used any high-grade spirit stones to feed it either, allowing the vine to directly absorb the qi inside the ''City of Immortals''.
Of course, this wasn''t a spur-of-the-moment decision; there was an important reason why he had decided to do this.
Although cultivating in the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' was normally better, since Shun Long would have an endless supply of pure qi as long as he fed the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' with enough high-grade spirit stones, things were vastly different now that he was inside the ''City of Immortals''.
After all, the ''City of Immortals'' didn''t just have extremely pure qi that wasparable to the qi inside high-grade spirit stones in the first ce, but there were also traces of immortal qi mixed with it.
Naturally, immortal qi was something so rare, that it was practically impossible to find anywhere else in the central region, so there was no way that Shun Long would be willing to waste this chance. After all, even the courtyards in the Northern Sovereign''s estate didn''t have the slightest traces of immortal qi, making it obvious how rare this thing really was.
Additionally, Shun Long knew that his type of qi that could normally be found only in the ''Immortal Dimension'', was not only useful in tempering the foundations of any Dao King or Dao Emperor realm cultivator, but it would greatly boost their chances when they tried to breakthrough past the Sovereign realm in the future!
...
As seconds quickly turned into minutes, the qi in the surrounding area continued to get sucked into the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' without any signs of stopping, as the huge vortex in the sky continued to growrger andrger.
From a distance, the enormous green vine would seem like a starving magic beast that was finally being fed for the first time in a while, as it madly sucked in the surrounding qi in the area before releasing an even purer version of it, but the ''Five-elements protective formation'' that Shun Long had set downpletely suppressed those phenomena, making it impossible to discern anything from the outside.
Staring at Xingyi and the others who seemedpletely stunned by the scene in front of them, Shun Long didn''t seem to mind as he sat cross-legged on the ground, before he looked at them and said calmly
''''Sit down and make sure to absorb as much of this qi as you can! Try to fill your dantian to the brim with it!''''
Without another word, Shun Long then closed his eyes and circted his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', as the invisible figure of an hourss gradually appeared around him.
Staring at the 27 golden balls of qi above his head, Shun Long knew that it was finally time to breakthrough to the middle stages of the Dao King realm!
Chapter 897
Chapter 897
In the blink of an eye, a year had quickly passed by since Shun Long and his group had settled down in the ''Endless Desert''.
During this past year, Shun Long had entered a cycle of constant qi refinement, as he continued to absorb the qi that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' unceasingly produced.
However, regardless of how much qi he absorbed, the qi in the air around him didn''t seem to diminish in the slightest, as the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' continued to absorb the pure qi inside the ''City of Immortals'' as well, before releasing out only the purest and most condensed version of ''immortal qi'' possible.
During this time, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen had also ced their entire focus in their own cultivation, but to theirplete astonishment, once they started cultivating alongside Shun Long, the 3 of them finally realized what the term ''monster-like'' really meant.
Even though the 3 of them were all cultivating immortal-grade techniques that Shun Long had personally given them and were practically tailor-made for them, once they started absorbing the qi in the air around them, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi realized that they were only absorbing less than 30 percent of the qi in the air in total.
This meant that each of them was only absorbing around 10 percent of the immortal qi in the air!
As for the remaining 70 percent? It was all being drawn towards Shun Long, like a voracious child who was hungrily consuming everything that came close to it!
Feeling a sense of urgency in their hearts, Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi chose to cast aside all useless thoughts, as they focused their entire attention in their own cultivation as well, unwilling to be left too far behind.
During this past year, Shun Long''s cultivation had naturally increased by a great deal as well, entering the middle stages of the Dao King realm and even reaching the early rank 5 Dao King.
Back in the central region, his speed of cultivation would be considered extremely terrifying andpletely unheard of, and it would have been more than enough to raise waves throughout the entire central continent. After all, breaking through the barrier to be a middle-stage Dao King and even reaching the early rank 5 in a mere short year was nothing short of miraculous.
However, with the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' and the extraordinarily pure qi inside the ''City of Immortals'', Shun Long knew that such a result was only natural.
It was only after sessfully condensing the 39th golden-colored ball of qi and pushing it inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', that Shun Long let out a breath of turbid air, before he finally opened his eyes! At this moment, Shun Long could see the 39 golden-colored balls of qi that were hovering above his head inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', each of them emitting an unnaturally powerful sense of oppression, seeming slightly different from how they were in the past.
With a satisfied smile on his face, he threw onest look at the 39 golden-colored balls of qi above his head, before he turned his attention towards Xingyi and the rest.
Right now, Shun Long knew that although the outer appearance of his golden-colored balls of qi was barely any different from before, his strength had already gone through a dramatic increasepared to when he was still in the early stages of the Dao King realm!
This was a qualitative change that was brought not just by the increase in his own cultivation, but also thanks to the extraordinarily pure immortal qi inside the ''City of Immortals''.
After scanning through his surroundings and seeing that Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen were all seated on the ground with their eyes closed, focused entirely on absorbing the pure qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', Shun Long''s gaze soonnded on Liu Mei.
Without a doubt, during this past year, the person whose cultivation had increased the most was definitely Liu Mei. She had leaped from the early rank 7 of the Dao King realm all the way to the peak of rank 8, and from her aura, Shun Long could tell that she was only a step away from bing an early rank 9 Dao King as well. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, unlike Jiang Chen and the others, during this past year, Liu Mei hadn''t been absorbing the pure qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', but was instead focused on adjusting her mental state.
It was clear that although Liu Mei had absorbed arge amount of qi after the fight with Yao Guanting''s group of 100 Dao Kings, allowing her to reach the peak of rank 8 in the Dao King realm in one fell swoop, she didn''t find it easy to do so.
After all, the negative effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' were extremely hard to suppress, and Liu Mei had to give it her all to prevent them from affecting her mind.
Shun Long was just about to walk over to Liu Mei''s side and help her deal with the remaining aftereffects of the ''Blood Absorption art'', but it was at this moment that Little ck''s calm voice sounded in his mind
''''Master, you should focus on your own cultivation for now. I know that you dote on that little girl quite a bit, but this is something that she has to deal with by herself. The pain she is experiencing isn''t that bad, and it will allow her to temper herself further. This is why, until she bes a peak rank 9 Dao King, there is no real need for master to intervene.''''
Little ck could easily tell, that although Liu Mei appeared to be struggling to fully suppress the aftereffects of the ''Blood Absorption art'' on her own, her life wasn''t in any real danger. This was why the ck dragon cautioned Shun Long against helping her, despite Liu Mei''s obvious struggle. After all, Little ck knew better than anyone, that for cultivators who trained in certain cultivation techniques like the ''Blood Absorption art'', the most important thing they needed, was to have a steady heart that wouldn''t waver easily! This was precisely why Liu Mei needed to get past this hurdle on her own, without any external assistance.
After a brief moment of silence, Shun Long ultimately nodded his head in agreement, before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. No matter what, since Little ck was personally paying attention to Liu Mei, there was nothing untoward that could possibly happen to her.
As he closed his eyes and entered the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long then put every other matter to the back of his mind and turned his gaze towards the figure of a golden skeleton that was hovering in the air just a few meters away from him!
Chapter 898 Refining the golden skeleton
Chapter 898 Refining the golden skeleton
Naturally, this golden skeleton was the same one that Shun Long had obtained from the core region of the ''King''s Pce'' in the past.
Back then, even the Northern Sovereign, along with dozens ofte-stage Dao Emperors and Sovereign realm experts had all set their sights on this golden skeleton, but regardless of how much they coveted it, they were unable to get their hands on it in the end!
Of course, back then, the aura of the golden skeleton had been so terrifying, that it was powerful enough to deter experts even stronger than the Northern Sovereign from approaching it, let alone Dao Emperors or Sovereign realm cultivators! It was said that even those experts who stood at the true peak of the central region and had long since surpassed the Sovereign realm had tried to seize this skeleton from the depths of the ''King''s Pce'', but without a fortuitous opportunity, even they were unable to do so.
Ever since he had gotten his hands on the golden skeleton, Shun Long had never had the chance to truly refine it, and had simply stowed it away inside the ''Stone of Time''. However, now that he had chosen to settle down inside the ''City of Immortals'', he knew that this was the perfect opportunity for him to do so!
''''The corpse of a 9th tribtion body refiner Earth Immortal... This thing is truly no different from a supreme treasure for any cultivator in this mundane world.'''' Little ck''s clear voice resounded within the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', as the ck dragon''s bright azure eyes stared intently at the figure of the golden skeleton in front of him.
Clearly, Little ck could discern the original cultivation of the golden skeleton with just a nce, making it obvious that the skeleton had long since surpassed the Sovereign realm while it was still alive and had entered the Earth Immortal realm a long time ago! N?v(el)B\\jnn
In the central continent, only those figures who had long since unshackled themselves from their mortal coils and had already stepped into the Earth Immortal realm could be considered as true hegemons¡ªexperts who were only a step away from bing true immortals. As for the Northern Sovereign and figures of the same level, although they were just a step away from breaking through to the Earth Immortal realm as well, ultimately, they were unable to truly take that final step!
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', even Shun Long had an expectant look in his eyes as he stared at the figure of the golden skeleton and said
''''It''s a shame that I lost those drops of ''immortal water'' from the ''Illusion oasis''. Luckily, the golden skeleton is still more than enough to support my body refinement cultivation to the peak of the 6th stage during the next few years!''''
Clearly, after using his ''World Zero'' to forcibly turn time backwards, even the drops of ''immortal water'' that Shun Long had gathered from the ''Illusion oasis'' had ended up disappearing from the ''Stone of Time''.
Shun Long had been nning to use those drops of ''immortal water'' to breakthrough to the 6th stage in his body refinement. As long as his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' reached the early 6th stage, Shun Long knew that he would be strong enough to kill even early rank 6 magic beasts with his bare hands, without having to use even the slightest bit of his qi. The strength of his fleshly body would reach such a degree, that he would even be able to contend with middle rank 6 magic beasts as well!
As for gold-grade weapons and below, even peak rank 3 gold-grade swords and sabers wouldn''t be able to scratch his body by then. Only star-rank weapons and above would be able to threaten him!
Sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of the golden skeleton, Shun Long first took a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to clear from any unwanted thoughts, before his right hand stretched outwards, as it finally came in contact with the golden skeleton.
Surprisingly, the golden skeleton''s body wasn''t cold to the touch, and was actually warm instead, as a wave of heat immediately enveloped Shun Long''s palm the moment it came in contact with it, before the figure of the golden skeleton suddenly trembled!
In the next moment, it seemed as if the golden skeleton''s figure burst with irrepressible might, as its aura abruptly spread outwards like a dam that was no longer being suppressed, quickly enveloping the entire foggy space within the ''Stone of Time''! The aura of a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal was so oppressive and terrifying, that it was more than enough to suppress any living beings below the immortal realm!
And yet, neither Shun Long, nor Little ck seemed affected by this aura in the slightest, as Little ck continued to sit there unmoving, just a few meters away from the golden skeleton, while a purple-colored me had already appeared around Shun Long''s right palm!
Naturally, this purple-colored me was none other than Shun Long''s own earth me!
The reason why Shun Long had never tried to refine the golden skeleton before, even after leaving the ''King''s Pce'' for so long, was merely because he wascking a sufficiently powerful earth me to do so!
Although he could borrow the power of the 2 earth mes sealed inside the ''Refinement Hall'' of the Holy sect, Shun Long knew that the power he could draw out from those earth mes significantly paledpared to the power of an earth me that belonged to him alone.
This was the difference between borrowing the power of another''s earth me and truly owning one yourself, allowing a person to truly bring out its true power.
This was why all alchemists and formation masters in the central region, all longed to own an earth me for themselves!
In the next moment, as the purple-colored earth me made contact with the golden skeleton, both Shun Long''s, and the golden skeleton''s figures trembled simultaneously, before a radiant golden light soon filled the entire foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Chapter 899 Refining the golden skeleton (2)
Chapter 899 Refining the golden skeleton (2)
As that radiant golden light burst out from the golden skeleton, even the purple lighting from Shun Long''s earth me appeared to have been suppressed, as the skeleton''s golden bones lit up with an even more vibrant golden hue.
The brilliant golden light emanating from the golden skeleton quickly intensified, casting a mesmerizing glow across the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time''. Countless intricate and mysterious runes began to materialize one after the other, forming hundreds ofplicated patterns that adorned the surface of the skeleton''s gleaming bones. Each line and curve seemed to hold endless profound and ancient secrets, as if the mysteries of the ''Heavenly Dao'' itself were hidden inside each of these runes!
Even Little ck was taken aback when he felt the overbearing forceing from the golden skeleton, which was powerful enough to make even Sovereign realm experts lower their heads obediently in front of it!
This was the majesty of a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal! Even in death, the power inside his body was still so immense, that it was enough to strike terror in the hearts of even peak-stage Sovereign realm experts!
And yet, the moment the golden skeleton''s aura touched him, Shun Long''s figure merely trembled for a single moment, before his body quickly returned back to its original calm state, as if he had felt nothing but a mere light breeze brushing past him. As soon as it made contact with Shun Long''s figure, the golden skeleton''s aura instantly dissipated into thin air, as if it had never existed in the first ce.
''''It seems that even the aura of a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal ispletely suppressed inside the ''Stone of Time''...'''' Shun Long mumbled to himself in a calm manner as he continued to stare at the countless intricate runes on the skeleton''s golden bones.
As soon as his purple-colored earth me touched the golden skeleton''s figure earlier, Shun Long could feel the golden skeleton''s energy instantly setting its sights on him, before it abruptly burst with a horrifying power that was more than enough to obliterate everything around it to pieces!
Even the most powerful of Sovereign realm experts would find themselves no different from tiny ants caught amidst a massive storm if they sensed this overwhelming power!
And yet, as soon as the golden skeleton''s energy burst out, Shun Long could also sense the ''Stone of Time'' inside his spiritual space vibrating slightly, before everything instantly returned back to normal!
It was nothing but a small inaudible huming from a single vibration from the ''Stone of Time'', and yet the moment it sounded out, the golden skeleton''s energy immediately dispersed, as if it didn''t dare to even act up any longer!
Naturally, Shun Long wasn''t overly surprised when he sensed this development. In the first ce, he knew that refining the golden skeleton wasn''t going to be as easy as it seemed. After all, even experts at the Northern Sovereign''s level couldn''t get their hands on the golden skeleton back in the ''King''s Pce'' due to its overwhelmingly strong aura, so how could it be any easier to refine it? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, although the corpse of an Earth Immortal expert was indeed mighty, how could it possibly raise any significant waves while inside the ''Stone of Time''?
This was why Shun Long wasn''t any worried about the golden skeleton''s remnant killing intent and dared to start the refinement process like this right away! No matter what, inside the ''Stone of Time'', any and every other treasures were all the same. None of them could truly contend with the triangr-shaped stone that was hovering inside his spiritual space!
Of course, even without the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long was still confident that the golden skeleton''s remnant energy would be unable to really threaten him in the end. After all, with Little ck by his side, the corpse of an Earth Immortal wouldn''t be able to truly harm him!
At worst, he would just have to dy the refinement process while Little ck slowly chipped away the remaining killing intent inside the golden skeleton! At most, Shun Long would just have to wait a few months before he began the refinement process again.
Thankfully, none of that was required in the end.
...
As the golden skeleton''s remnant killing intent finally faded away, Little ck''s bright azure eyes narrowed slightly, before the ck dragon said in a clearly surprised tone
''''Master, this skeleton doesn''t even have a wisp of its original soul remaining, and yet his killing intent was still unwilling to disappear even after so long. Most likely, even among 9th tribtion Earth Immortals, it seems that this person was definitely somewhat extraordinary. At the very least, he wasn''t your average 9th tribtion Earth Immortal!'''' After a brief moment of silence, Little ck''s eyes continued to stare at the figure of the golden skeleton before he continued
''''Still, it''s a shame... Since this person fell during his 9th tribtion of the Earth Immortal realm, even his bones were bound to return to dust in the end.''''
Shun Long nodded his head without saying anything, while his gaze continued to linger on the golden skeleton''s radiant runes that were gradually fading from existence, looking like they were being absorbed back inside the skeleton''s bones.
From the beginning, Shun Long had alreadye to the conclusion that the golden skeleton must have been an extremely impressive figure of the central continent while it was still alive. After all, to be a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal through body cultivation was even harder than doing so through one''s normal qi cultivation. How could such a figure, who was only a step away from ascending to the ''Immortal Dimension'' while it was still alive, possibly be ordinary? After a moment of silence, once the remaining runes hadpletely vanished from the golden skeleton''s surface, Shun Long finally closed his eyes and emptied his mind once more. A momentter, Shun Long opened his eyes again and looked at the golden skeleton in front of him, before he said in a resolute tone
''''Senior, I''m going to make use of the remaining energy left inside your body, but I will make sure to give you a proper burial in return!''''
In the next moment, without any more hesitation, Shun Long''s purple-colored earth me surged forth, as itpletely enveloped the golden skeleton''s figure for the second time!
Chapter 900 Refining the golden skeleton (3)
Chapter 900 Refining the golden skeleton (3)
The air inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' waspletely silent, save for the sole flickering of a certain purple light that was trembling intermittently. Shun Long''s purple-colored earth me hadpletely enveloped the golden skeleton''s figure, fully coating it in its bright, ethereal purple glow.
Unlike the first time that the purple-colored earth me made contact with the golden skeleton, this time the golden skeleton''s energy didn''t burst outwards and allowed Shun Long to gradually refine the residual energy inside it.
It was unknown whether the golden skeleton had truly given its consent and allowed Shun Long to make use of its remaining cultivation, or if it simply didn''t dare to act up in the presence of the ''Stone of Time'' any longer.
Regardless, since the golden skeleton was, ultimately, an ownerless treasure that Shun Long had risked his life to obtain back in the ''King''s Pce'', there was no way he was going to give up on it so easily.
Still, even without any outside interference, Shun Long''s entire face waspletely drenched in sweat barely an hourter, as the heat around him soon reached a terrifying degree.
Even with his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' that was already in the fifth stage and had already surpassed a peak-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator, Shun Long could still feel the terrifying heat from the purple-colored earth me in front of him prickling his skin.
Alchemy required delicate control of fire in order to refine pills, but for the first time in a while, Shun Long was finding it hard to extract the energy of the spiritual treasure in front of him.
And yet, not only did Shun Long not slow down his actions due to this, but he even increased the output of his purple-colored earth me to the maximum, as the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'' gradually turned into a massive alchemy furnace, all for the sake of refining the golden skeleton.
...
Several dayster.
Shun Long''s forehead was fully drenched in sweat, but a satisfied smile could finally be seen on his lips, as he looked at the tiny golden ball of energy that was hovering in front of him.
The golden ball of energy in front of him was only a tiny part of the golden skeleton''s cultivation, which he had only managed to extract after 10 whole days of effort, but it was, nevertheless, extremely potent.
Just this tiny ball of energy was enough for an experienced star-rank alchemist to refine more than 2 whole furnaces full of star-rank medicinal pills, which would make practically every single body refiner in the central region drool over their effects!
"Phew!" After gazing at the tiny golden ball in front of him for a few seconds, Shun Long finally let out a long cold breath, before a wave of exhaustion suddenly began to wash over him.
During the past 10 days, Shun Long had depleted his spiritual strength over and over again with barely any breaks, as he pushed the purple-colored earth me to its limits in order to refine the golden skeleton.
This was why, right now, both his mind and body were feeling extremely strained, and he was only moments away from copsing.
''''It looks like I''ll have to take a break before I continue. Little ck, please keep an eye out for Mei''er and the others.''''
Shun Long''s exhausted voice reverberated inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' as it entered Little ck''s ears.
Then, without waiting for a response from Little ck, Shun Long closed his eyes andy directly on the ground in front of him, before his breathing quickly turned even, calm, and serene, as he instantly fell asleep.
Although cultivators at the Dao King level could easily recover their spiritual strength through just meditation alone, this time Shun Long''s spiritual strength was so spent, and his mind and body were both so drained, that he really felt like getting some good sleep to fully recover!
A dayter.
After he opened his eyes, Shun Long''s gaze didn''t dart around and fell directly on the tiny golden ball in front of him.
Without a doubt, the hardest part was extracting the golden skeleton''s energy and refining it until there were no more impurities left inside it.
As for refining a furnace of star-rank pills using it, that was going to be no different from child''s y inparison. Even a furnace full of 1-star pills wouldn''t be as mentally taxing to refine as this tiny golden ball of energy!
Without any hesitation, Shun Long then waved his hand, taking out his alchemy furnace, along with a handful of rare rank 7 medicinal herbs, as well as two dozen of rank 6 ones, and arranged them all neatly in front of him, as he prepared to refine the tiny golden ball.
Soon, the thick scent of medicinal herbs filling the air was the only smell present inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', as it continuously assaulted Shun Long''s senses.
-
Time continued to pass, and soon, another year had gone by inside the ''City of Immortals''.
...
Back in the Endless Desert, inside the ''Five-elements protective formation'', Jiang Chen and the others had already noticed Shun Long''s absence a long time ago, but they all continued to cultivate nevertheless, not daring to waste even a single day in this ce! N?v(el)B\\jnn
No matter what, Jiang Chen and the rest all understood, that being inside the ''Five-elements protective formation'' and having the opportunity to absorb the pure, immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', was a miraculous opportunity that they had all gotten thanks to Shun Long, and that it may nevere again in the future.
This was why they had to take this chance and temper their foundations in the Dao King realm to the extreme while they were still here!
This was why, even if they didn''t take so much as a single step out of the ''Endless Desert'' and simply continued to cultivate within the ''Five-elements protective formation'', Xingyi and the others understood that they wouldn''t have lost out at all, inparison to those people who were out there exploring the ''City of Immortals'' in search of fortuitous opportunities!
It was only Liu Mei who had started to get increasingly antsytely, as a clear frown could be seen on her stunningly beautiful face as she constantly looked around her with a look of worry. Clearly, Shun Long''s absence for more than a year now had caused her to be restless and uneasy, unable to even focus on her own cultivation anymore!
However, just as Liu Mei was about to draw everyone''s attention and voice out her concern, her mind suddenly buzzed, before a familiar deep voice entered her ears
''''Littless, there is nothing for you to worry about. Master is doing alright. Rather, you should worry about yourself instead! What have been doing for the past year? It''s time for you to finally get serious or the other 3 brats will really leave you in the dust by the time you leave this ce!''''
Chapter 901
Chapter 901
Liu Mei was momentarily taken aback after hearing Little ck''s voice in her head, before a look of puzzlement, as well as relief, quickly covered her face.
Naturally, she was relieved knowing that Shun Long was alright and that nothing bad had really happened to him. After all, she and Little ck had been the only ones present while they were still in the ''City of Sin'', back in the ''Night star continent'', when Shun Long had suddenly disappeared from their alchemy shop, causing a huge disturbance throughout the city.
It was only after he returned, that Shun Long had let both Liu Mei and Little ck know, that he had been transported to an extremely mysterious ce akin to a prison.
However, Liu Mei was unable to hide her puzzlement when she heard thetter half of Little ck''s sentence. No matter how she looked at it, her current cultivation base was undoubtedly the highest out of everyone else present.
She had already stepped into the early rank 9 of the Dao King realm during this past year, and she was actually only a step away from bing a middle rank 9 Dao King as well. In fact, if it weren''t for the sole reason that she hadn''t absorbed enough qi after killing most of Yao Guanting''s group of 100 Dao Kings, she would have already stepped into the peak of the Dao King realm long ago, bing a peak rank 9 Dao King!
However, it was almost as if Little ck could guess what Liu Mei was thinking right now, as the ck dragon stared at the peerlessly beautiful young woman with a look of clear mockery in his bright azure eyes, before he continued
''''Little girl, do you really think that you have done a good job after merely bing a measly early rank 9 Dao King? Do you really think that you are the strongest one present amongst you all right now? How foolish. Even if we exclude master from this discussion, there is still that little brat with the bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'' who is stronger than you!'''' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Little ck''s words were cold and unrelenting as they mercilessly struck Liu Mei''s heart like a gigantic hammer, causing it to shake intensely.
Indeed, although Liu Mei was already an early rank 9 Dao King, she couldn''t say withplete certainty that she could actually suppress the current Jiang Chen, if the two of them really fought each other.
Of course, if it was just a normal spar, there was no way that Jiang Chen would be able to take more than a couple of hits from Liu Mei''s skeletons with his current middle rank 7 Dao King realm cultivation before losing.
However, if he decided to go all-out and burn his blood essence to activate his bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness''... then that would be apletely different story! Even Liu Mei wouldn''t be able to say with confidence that she could definitely suppress him in that state.
Additionally, although Jiang Chen''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Xingyi''s cultivation bases were increasing at a noticeably slower pacepared to hers, Liu Mei could still feel, that Bai Longtian''s and the others'' auras all seemed to possess a certain distinct quality, that her own aura seemed to becking.
If Liu Mei''s aura was like a powerful stream that was about to be a river, then Jiang Chen''s, Bai Longtian''s, and Xingyi''s auras were akin to much smaller streams but with the potential to turn into oceans instead!
This was a feeling that was extremely difficult to put into words, but Liu Mei could tell that as time continued to pass, Jiang Chen and the others'' auras would only continue to grow even stronger and more refined, while her own aura remained the same.
Clearly, this was the result of Bai Longtian, Xingyi, and Jiang Chen, constantly absorbing the pure immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' within the ''Five-elements protective formation'' for the past 2 years.
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck couldn''t help but snort when he saw Liu Mei''splicated expression as she stared at Xingyi and the others just a few meters away from her, before the ck dragon continued coldly
''''Little girl, what are you sulking there for? If you already understand what''s going on, then all you have to do is simply catch up to those brats! Don''t tell me you''ve already forgotten what a huge advantage you possesspared to them!?''''
It was only after hearing this sentence that Liu Mei''s stunning ck eyes abruptly lit up again, only for a look of surprise and bewilderment to quickly cover her face soon afterwards.
Although it was true that the ''Blood Absorption art'' that Little ck had given to her was extremely powerful, and allowed Liu Mei to cultivate extremely quickly simply by absorbing and refining the qi from the enemies she killed, it was also her own limiting factor this time.
After all, Liu Mei could tell that Bai Longtian and the others were now growing increasingly stronger by the day, after refining the immortal qi that they absorbed from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine''.
However, the Dao Kings from Yao Guanting''s group that she had killed previously didn''t even possess a speck of immortal qi inside them, so naturally, Liu Mei hadn''t absorbed any of it either. Since her ''Blood Absorption art'' focused on absorbing the qi from the enemies she killed instead of cultivating normally like the others, Liu Mei could tell that as time continued to pass, she would only continue to get left even further behind, and would never be able to catch up to Xingyi and the others in terms of the immortal qi that they possessed.
After letting out an exasperated sigh, the look in Little ck''s azure eyes suddenly turned iparably profound and deep, as if a gxy of countless stars and constetions were being contained within the ck dragon''s gaze, before his voice rang out in Liu Mei''s head once more
''''Littless, who said that you can''t absorb the immortal qi around you using the ''Blood Absorption art''? Who told you that you can''t cultivate normally with it? No matter what, it''s still a cultivation technique of the ''Immortal King'' level, a top-grade cultivation technique even in the ''Immortal Dimension''! How could it be any inferior to the average ''Immortal-grade'' cultivation techniques? Although it''s true that you are somewhatcking in talent, at leastpared to those 3 brats that follow master alongside you, as long as you cultivate diligently from now on, you can still catch up to them in less than a year!"
At that moment, at the same time that Little ck''s voice finished resounding in Liu Mei''s head, the surrounding space within the ''Five-elements protective formation'' suddenly started to ripple, before a familiar figure abruptly appeared next to Liu Mei!
Chapter 902 Growth!
Chapter 902 Growth!
Surprisingly, Liu Mei didn''t even seem to have noticed Shun Long''s appearance at this moment, and instead, she sat down on the ground in a lotus position as her body began to circte the ''Blood Absorption art'' almost automatically.
It was almost as if her senses had all been cut off after hearing Little ck''s voice inside her head, before her body instantly began to circte the ''Blood Absorption art'' on its own.
Meanwhile, Shun Long was briefly taken aback after noticing Liu Mei''s ''strange'' situation, before his lips soon curved into a rare, radiant smile, as he immediately realized what was going on.
It was obvious that Liu Mei had somehow entered a state ofplete enlightenment, as her body had now shut off all her senses and was focused solely on sensing the spiritual qi in the air around her.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t the only one who was taken aback by the unexpected scene in front of him. Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s deep azure eyes shone with a momentary glint of surprise, before the ck dragon muttered to himself
''''Although her talent may not be as good as those 3 brats, her luck andprehension ability are both top-tier...''''
This time, Little ck''s words even carried a rare hint of praise, as the ck dragon gazed at the meditating Liu Mei who was now absorbing the pure immortal qi in the air around her at a terrifying rate!
Of course, Little ck''s surprise was only natural given the current situation.
After all, entering a state of true enlightenment like this was actually an extremely rare case for any cultivator, and would always be regarded as a top-tier fortuitous opportunity.
Whether this was in the Central Continent or even in the limitlessly vast ''Immortal Dimension'' where true immortals reigned supreme, Little ck knew, that entering a state ofplete enlightenment wasn''t something that could be sought after, regardless of one''s cultivation base, and could only be chanced upon.
Both the cultivator''s mind and body needed to be fully focused on a single goal by the time they reached enlightenment, while paying absolutely no heed to anything else.
This was what it truly meant for a cultivator topletely rid themselves of any distracting thoughts and focus entirely on their Dao.
This was also the reason why, the vast majority of cultivators in the world often chose to enter seclusion when they were about to attempt a breakthrough in their cultivation. It was all for the sake of riding themselves from any distracting thoughts and focus fully on their breakthrough.
As time continued to pass, Liu Mei gradually absorbed more and more of the immortal qi the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' produced, and mere momentster, she had even ended up alerting Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, who were quietly cultivating just a few dozen meters away from her.
Bai Longtian''s handsome features were the first ones to contort the moment he sensed the disturbance in the distance ahead of him, before a look of undisguised shock gradually crept up on his face as he turned his head in Liu Mei''s direction!
Xingyi and Jiang Chen opened their eyes as well, barely a moment after Bai Longtian, but before any of them could speak, Shun Long hurriedly waved his right hand, before a thin, translucent qi barrier was formed around Liu Mei,pletely isting her from everyone around her.
Of course, it didn''t take long for Jiang Chen and the others to realize what was going on and tell that Liu Mei had somehow entered an extremely miraculous state, where she was now absorbing the immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' at a terrifying rate... but they still had a hard time believing the scene in front of their very own eyes!
After all, Jiang Chen and the others all knew, that Liu Mei was normally cultivating what would be considered an ''evil cultivation technique'' in the outside world, where she would absorb the qi from the enemies she killed directly.
Unlike the vast majority of cultivators in the world, Liu Mei would never sit down and meditate to absorb the spiritual qi in the air around her, and would directly purify all the qi she had previously absorbed instead.
Naturally, Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi were all aware, that although Liu Mei''s cultivation technique gave her an overwhelming advantage in terms of cultivation speedpared to everyone else, it was also extremely dangerous as well.
After all, just like any other ''evil cultivator'', Liu Mei had to be wary of her mental state at all times and properly ward off all outside influences, regardless of how small and insignificant they may be, or she would risk falling into qi deviation during any of her breakthroughs. N?v(el)B\\jnn
In fact, if it wasn''t for howpatible the ''Blood Absorption art'' was with her Dao of Death, Jiang Chen and the others were practically certain, that Liu Mei would have most likely changed to a different cultivation technique a long time ago, even if it meant that her cultivation speed became far lower than it currently was.
Nevertheless, one thing was for certain; Liu Mei''s current state right now was way out of the ordinary!
After all, evil cultivation techniques were known for utilizing numerous unorthodox methods instead of cultivating normally, regardless of how cruel those methods may be.
Whether that involved killing other cultivators and refining their souls directly, torturing them alive until their minds broke and their bodies gave way, or even hacking them into pieces and using various secret methods to extract their cultivation bit by bit, all of these were methods that most evil cultivators would normally use without batting an eye!
Inparison, Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art'' wasn''t overly cruel, but it surely was tyrannical!
Still, Jiang Chen and the others had never heard of any ''evil cultivation technique'' that allowed its user to absorb the spiritual qi in the air, the same way normal cultivators did. This was one of the core fundamental differences between orthodox and evil cultivation techniques in the first ce.
This was also why Jiang Chen and the others were so taken aback by the scene in front of them!
Besides, regardless of how miraculous Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art'' may be, it shouldn''t be this heaven-defying, to the point where it could create such a massivemotion simply when Liu Mei was absorbing the spiritual qi in the air around her!
After all, Jiang Chen and the others could tell, that the rate at which Liu Mei was currently absorbing pure qi right now, was in no way inferior to their own when they were going all-out earlier. No, in fact, it was far beyond that!
At this point, Liu Mei was already absorbing nearly 70 percent of the pure immortal qi in the air, and it didn''t look like she was going to slow down anytime soon.
A few momentster, Shun Long gradually turned his focus away from the cultivating Liu Mei and looked at the distant Bai Longtian and the others, before he said with a smile
''''It''s been a while! Jiang Chen, Longtian... Let''s spar!''''
Chapter 903 Sixth stage (1)
Chapter 903 Sixth stage (1)
Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were both taken aback after hearing Shun Long''s invitation for a spar, while Xingyi''s eyes widened in surprise, before a look of unconcealed quickly astonishment covered her face.
Whether it was back in the Holy sect or when they were traveling throughout the central region, it was extremely rare for Shun Long to ask Jiang Chen or Bai Longtian for a spar, and the same went for her and Liu Mei as well.
Although every single one among them could be considered a genius with enough talent to enter the top 10 in the Martial Roll of Honor of the Holy sect, Bai Longtian and the others all knew, that in terms of talent, the gap between themselves and Shun Long was practically insurmountable.
The few times that Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen had sparred with Shun Long to truly test themselves, they found themselves renderedpletely helpless against him.
Although Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, all cultivated unique-level Daos, and Liu Mei''s Dao of Death was even a supreme-level Dao on par with Shun Long''s Dao of Time, all of them intrinsically understood, that they stood no chance against him in a one-on-one spar.
In fact, even without his Dao of Time and just his Dao of Space alone, Xingyi and the others eventually realized that it was almost impossible to touch even the hems of Shun Long''s clothes during those spars!
Still, although those spars could barely be called spars and were more like one-sided beatings instead, they were still beneficial to Jiang Chen and the rest as it allowed them to draw out the full extent of theirtent talent without holding back!
In fact, Jiang Chen was the only one who came close to touching Shun Long during those spars, when he trapped him inside his ''Kingdom of Darkness''!
After a moment of brief hesitation, Bai Longtian nodded his head at Shun Long before asking in a somewhat uncertain tone
''''Brother Shun, what should we do with sister Liu? Won''t we interrupt her cultivation if we fight here?''''
However, Shun Long merely shook his head and didn''t even nce in Liu Mei''s direction, as he answered confidently
''''Don''t worry. The qi barrier around Mei''er is no weaker than the one protecting this entire ''Five-elements protective formation''! Even a peak rank 9 Dao King can''t break it by themselves!''''
Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen both nodded their heads and prepared to begin, while Xingyi retreated further back in the distance to watch their sparring match, with her bright emerald eyes sparkling with excitement.
However, right before they could start, Shun Long who was stretching his arms in front of him suddenly added in
''''Ah right. I nearly forgot to say this! Jiang Chen, Longtian, rely solely on your physical bodies for this spar. Of course, aside from using your qi cultivation, you are free to go all-out.''''
Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were both taken aback when they heard that, but neither of them hesitated or questioned Shun Long as they quickly began the fight.
Bai Longtian was the first one to take the initiative, his body suddenly emitting a bright golden color that covered him from head to toe, before he shot towards Shun Long at full speed.
Although Bai Longtian was still an early sixth stage body refiner, both the strength and speed of his physical body could still rival quite a few middle-stage Dao Kings back in the Holy sect! Regardless of how miraculous Shun Long''s ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' may have been, it couldn''t directly contend with such an attack while it was still at the peak of the fifth stage! Shun Long would either have to use his ck dragon''s bloodline, or rely on some other trump card if he wanted to take it head-on. N?v(el)B\\jnn
And yet, contrary to Bai Longtian''s expectations, Shun Long merely smiled lightly and simply clenched his right fist as he sent a punch forward, before asking in a yful manner
''''Longtian, are you going easy on me? Didn''t I tell you to go all-out?''''
At the same time that Shun Long''s words echoed in the air, his fist also met with Bai Longtian''s, producing a deafening sound akin to a tiny explosion, before Bai Longtian''s figure was sent flying back for more than 10 meters(33ft) until it came to a halt.
The fight had only just started, yet Bai Longtian could just gaze at the smile stered on Shun Long''s face with a dazed look on his face, before he asked in a voice filled with surprise
''''Brother Shun, you actually broke through?''''
It was obvious that Shun Long''s mood was extremely joyful at this moment, and from the auraing from his body, Bai Longtian, Jiang Chen, and Xingyi could all tell that he had finally stepped into the sixth stage of body refinement.
Indeed, Shun Long was feeling extremely happy right now. After all, the cultivation of his physical body had been stumped into the peak of the fifth stage for far too long! Even after bing a peak rank 3 Dao King, his body cultivation was simplygging too far behind to prove of any assistance to him in histest fights!
With that same smile on his face, Shun Long nodded his head and felt the immense power coursing through his entire body as he exined
''''I just broke through and haven''t had the chance to test out my current strength just yet. So... both of you,e at me with everything you''ve got!''''
Nodding his head, Jiang Chen who was watching everything in the distance didn''t wait for Bai Longtian tounch another attack on Shun Long, and instead, he kicked the ground once, as a dense, aura of darkness quickly nketed his entire body as he immediately shot forward.
Unlike Bai Longtian, it was obvious that Jiang Chen wasn''t nning on going easy on Shun Long! In the next moment, his fingertips suddenly bent forward, taking a shape simr to a bird''s talons, before they made contact with Shun Long''s fists!
Chapter 904 Sixth stage (2)
Chapter 904 Sixth stage (2)
Surprisingly, the next scene that followed left both Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, and even the spectating Xingyi in the distance tongue-tied, before looks of disbelief quickly covered everyone''s faces.
Shun Long was merely pushed backwards for a couple of meters beforeing to a stop, directly resisting Jiang Chen''s attack!
Naturally, to an outsider watching this scene, it would seem as if Jiang Chen held a slight advantage in this sh. After all, both he and Shun Long were in the early Sixth stage of body refinement, yet he was the one who came out on top in this exchange!
However, Jiang Chen understood better than anyone else that this wasn''t the case, and the reason for that was very simple; He had actually imbued his ''Dao of Darkness'' in his attack, and yet Shun Long had resisted it head-on!
That''s right. He didn''t make use of his Dao of Space or any external treasures, and had simply taken Jiang Chen''s strike with his bare body.
Naturally, the attack of a body refinement cultivator who was merely using the strength of his physical body, and an attack that was imbued with the power of their Dao were twopletely different concepts that couldn''t bepared.
In the distance, Bai Longtian who was nning on chasing after Shun Long after he used his ''Dao of Space'' to dodge was now rooted on the spot, with a look of astonishment stered all over his face.
After all, just a moment ago, Bai Longtian had simply been putting on appearances and hadn''t really used his Dao of the Buddha when he attacked Shun Long. Since this was just a spar, he was first going to see what Shun Long was nning to use to resist his sixth stage body refinement cultivation and wasn''t going to go all-out right from the start!
However, after seeing that even Jiang Chen''s normal attacks couldn''t pierce through Shun Long''s defenses, Bai Longtian felt like he had been making a fool out of himself, before a sense of shame began to overwhelm him.
''Did I seriously think that I could fight brother Shun while holding back? I must have really growncent..''
As his thoughts reached this point, Bai Longtian suddenly kicked the ground beneath him without any hesitation, as he shot towards Shun Long as well, while a dense golden aura quickly covered his entire body!
This time, he wasn''t nning to hold back either!
At the same time, Shun Long lowered his head and nced at his own hands, sensing a burning, almost corroding sensation that had already covered them. Even though Jiang Chen had already removed his ''talons'' from him, Shun Long could still catch a glimpse of a tiny ck ''me'' lingering on his skin, and could tell that this me along with the burning sensation he was feeling both originated from Jiang Chen''s ''Dao of Darkness''!
With a smile on his face, Shun Long suddenly jerked his arms outwards, forcefully dispersing thest few bits of the ck-colored ''me'' that were lingering on his skin, before he looked at Jiang Chen and called out
''''Good job, Jiang Chen! ¦¡gain!''''
In the next moment, Jiang Chen didn''t hesitate either, his ''talons'' sweeping towards Shun Long directly, even targeting a few of his vital spots in the process. Although those strikes weren''t going to kill a Sixth stage body refiner, they were still going to inflict some serious damage if theynded, and the experience wasn''t going to be a pleasant one!
In a single moment, Jiang Chen had already struck more than 10 times, each of his attacks carrying lethal precision and overwhelming force, as they targeted Shun Long''s vitals! And yet, Shun Long seemed to have effortlessly blocked every single one of those ws without exception, not allowing even a single one of them tond on his body!
Nevertheless, as the two of them kept exchanging strikes, traces of ck me quickly began to appear on the surface of Shun Long''s fists once more, before the familiar burning sensation appeared once again!
This time however, it was Jiang Chen''s turn to be astonished as Shun Long''s lips suddenly curved upwards, forming a faint, yet clearly discernible smile, before the corroding ck mes instantly vanished from his arms!
All of this took a while to describe, but this entire exchange had onlysted less than two breaths of time, before Bai Longtian''s figure finally appeared behind Shun Long!
In the next moment, Bai Longtian''s palm that was shrouded in a dense golden light hurled straight towards Shun Long''s unprotected back.
Watching the scene in front of him, Jiang Chen opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before he could speak, Shun Long immediately turned around and nced at the iing palm strike from Bai Longtian before he clenched his right hand tightly and sent a fist forward in response.
Boooom!
As Bai Longtian''s golden palm met Shun Long''s fist, Jiang Chen could clearly see the golden light around Bai Longtian''s palm sh with a familiar-looking, white-colored light that had already covered Shun Long''s fist, before Bai Longtian''s figure trembled, and his body was sent flying backwards for more than a dozen meters, only stopping after he was buried deep in the sand below him!
A brief momentter, Bai Longtian flew out from the ground, patting away the sand that had covered his eyes along with his face, before he quickly turned his astonished gaze towards Shun Long.
Just like Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian''s figure appeared to be devoid of injuries, yet just like Jiang Chen, he was also rooted on the spot, with a look of unconcealed shock on his face as he stared at the white-colored lightning around Shun Long''s right hand!
After a moment of hesitation, Bai Longtian took in a deep breath trying to calm down his turbulent emotions, before he looked at Shun Long and asked in a disbelieving tone n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
''''Brother Shun... what is this white lightning? Why does it give me the same sensation as a heavenly tribtion?''''
Chapter 905 Windfall!
Chapter 905 Windfall!
Both Jiang Chen, as well as the spectating Xingyi in the distance, now looked at the white-colored lightning around Shun Long''s hand with incredulous looks on their faces, their expressions very simr to Bai Longtian''s, as the same question that he had just asked lingered on their minds.
Even though Xingyi herself wasn''t participating in the spar, she could clearly sense even from a distance away the unique aura that Shun Long''s lightning was emitting, which greatly resembled the aura of the heavenly tribtion''s.
Of course, any Dao King who had already undergone their heavenly tribtion would be able to easily tell right now, that there was an extremely strong resemnce between the white lightning around Shun Long''s hand and the heavenly tribtion itself!
Meanwhile, a faint smile slowly formed itself on Shun Long''s lips as he lowered his gaze to examine the white-colored lightning crackling around his right hand, as the faint crackling of thunder started to grow even more pronounced with every passing second, almost as if the white lightning was gradually growing stronger alongside it!
A momentter, Shun Long finally turned his gaze towards Bai Longtian and the others before answering with a content smile
''''I''m not sure if ''it'' already has a name, but if I had to give it one... I would probably call it the ''Dao of Heavenly Tribtion''. I did have to sacrifice quite a bit to get it, but it really was worth it in the end.''''
Bai Longtian and the others had already somewhat expected this answer, yet they still couldn''t help but feel their minds buzz greatly the moment they took in Shun Long''s words and realized the implications behind them! Although they had already guessed that Shun Long''s white lightning was somehow connected to the heavenly tribtion he had faced earlier, hearing him actually confirm it was an entirely different matter altogether!
After all, how terrifying was the heavenly tribtion? How many dazzling Nascent Soul stage cultivators had fallen to it throughout the countless years, failing to truly breakthrough to the Dao King realm and bing nothing more than ashes drifting throughout the endless river of time?
Yet not only had Shun Long not died after facing a second heavenly tribtion at the peak of rank 3 in the Dao King realm, he had even managed to gain some insights into it and could now use the power of the heavenly tribtion for himself!
Of course, Xingyi and the others didn''t miss thest part of Shun Long''s sentence, realizing that Shun Long must have paid quite a hefty price to acquire this ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion'' of his. Nevertheless, it was obvious from the satisfied look on his face that the advantages must have outweighed the price he had paid by quite a bit.
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck gradually turned his gaze away from Liu Mei who was now fully immersed in her cultivation and no longer needed his assistance, and turned to look at the white-colored lightning around Shun Long''s hand, before the ck dragon muttered to himself
''''In the end, it''s true that fortune and disaster go hand in hand. Master was truly close to death this time, but since he managed to survive, the benefits he reaped from this will simply be inestimable!''''
Although Xingyi and the others weren''t aware of it, Little ck understood better than anyone what type of price Shun Long had to pay to obtain this ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion''. That final bolt of heavenly tribtion that looked like a golden roc had already dealt tremendous amount of damage in his spiritual space, and had long since evaporated all of the remaining spiritual strength inside his spiritual sea moments after it appeared. Cracks that looked like spiderwebs had already started to spread on the walls of his spiritual space, and even his soul had teetered on the verge of copse!
In that final moment, seeing as how he didn''t have any other option left, Shun Long ultimately grit his teeth and chose to burn all of the remaining blood essence that was dormant in his heart, as he drew out the full potential of his ck dragon''s bloodline.
Doing so had elevated both his qi, the power of his fleshly body, as well as the level of his soul to an astonishing degree, allowing him to survive the onught of the golden roc until it finally exhausted all of its power and disappeared!
What he had just used back then was a type ofst resort technique that was essentiallymon knowledge among all bloodline cultivators, yet virtually no one would ever choose to use it, unless they were truly on theirst legs and had absolutely nothing else to fall back on! Bypletely burning one''s own blood essence, cultivators who possessed unique bloodlines could temporarily increase the power of their fleshly body, their qi, and even the strength of their soul to an astonishing degree, so much that it could even allow them to transcend through cultivation levels and battle stronger foes.
Of course, the increase that one would get was vastly dependent on the purity of their bloodline, as well as the rank of magic beast that it came from! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Nevertheless, even if one''s bloodline came simply from a rare-rank magic beast, the increase in strength was nothing to scoff at! An average early-stage Dao King with the bloodline of a rare-rank magic beast whopletely burned his blood essence, would pose a threat to evente-stage Dao Kings and would force them to act with caution around him!
As for people like Shun Long who possessed the bloodline of one of the most terrifying legendary magic beasts in the entire ''Immortal Dimension'', it was simply impossible to estimate how much stronger he would get!
Still, despite its benefits, there was a reason why most bloodline cultivators would very rarely, if ever, choose to use this technique to boost their strength.
After all, this technique could only be used once, before a personpletely exhausted the blood essence in their heart.
After using this technique, a cultivator''s bloodline would immediately go dormant within their body, as if it suddenly entered hibernation, and it was unknown how long it would take to wake up again.
If one was lucky, it could only take a year, but if they were unlucky, it would be impossible to estimate if and when they could use the power of their bloodline again!
Still, although Shun Long felt it was a pity that he would temporarily have to sacrifice the power of his bloodline, since it was one of his strongest trump cards, he wasn''t too worried about it in the end!
After all, he knew of a certain way to make sure that the bloodline within his body would wake up sooner rather thanter. At the very least, he wasn''t the slightest bit afraid that he wouldn''t be able to use it again in the future!
Of course, back then, Shun Long had no other choice but to rely on the power of his bloodline to deal with the golden roc, so he didn''t really have any other choice. That was how terrifying that final bolt of heavenly tribtion had been. His goal at that moment had simply been to stay alive! He had never expected that in the very end, he would suddenly end up getting insights into the lightning of the heavenly tribtion itself.
In the end,prehending this ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion'' was nothing short of an unexpected windfall!
Chapter 906 Intense longing
Chapter 906 Intense longing
Regardless, after hearing Shun Long''s exnation, Jiang Chen''s eyes shed with a determined look as the aura of darkness around him pulsed with even more ferocity and power than before.
It was obvious that not only was Jiang Chen not nning to back down, but he was even eager to check for himself how strong Shun Long''s ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion'' really was!
With a smile on his face Shun Long nodded his head, before cracks of white lightning quickly spread out from his arm and soon covered his entire body!
After all, Jiang Chen''s actions were right in line with Shun Long''s own thoughts. The reason Shun Long had asked Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian for a spar in the first ce, was both to get limated to his newfound strength after breaking through to the sixth stage in body refinement, as well as test the power of his ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion''!
''''Brother, be careful! I''m really not going to hold back...'''' As Jiang Chen''s words echoed in the air, the aura of darkness around him suddenly exploded outwards, turning into a vast, pitch-ck nket of darkness that quickly spread out to cover his surroundings.
Seeing his surroundings quickly turn dark and sensing the familiar sensation of darkness that was now attempting to block out both his vision, as well as his soul sense, the look in Shun Long''s eyes finally turned serious, as the white lightning around him crackled with even more ferocity than before!
It was obvious that Jiang Chen was really going all-out this time and was even tapping into the power of his ''Eternal Darkness unique physique'', as he immediately activated his ''Kingdom of Darkness'', instantly trapping Shun Long within it!
A momentter, tens of gigantic ck fists made out of pure darkness that looked almost corporeal began to rain down on Shun Long''s figure, as they quickly battered onto him one by one.
Shun Long''s eyes shed with a bright light, but he didn''t attempt to dodge Jiang Chen''s ck fists. Instead, the white lightning around his arms became even more pronounced, while the power of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' erupted within him as he sent his fists forward in response!
This time, Shun Long wasn''t holding back either, utilizing the full power of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' along with his ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion'', as his fists met the gigantic ck fists head-on!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Consecutive explosions rang out in the air, quickly filling the space inside the ''Five-elements protective formation'', as the gigantic ck fists began to explode one by one!
Although the power of the ck fists was immense, as soon as Shun Long punched out, every ck fist that his own fists met instantly exploded before copsing into nothingness!
Still, the number of ck fists looked to have no end as they continuously assaulted him from all directions.
...
Off in the distance, a disheveled Bai Longtian stared at Jiang Chen''s ''Kingdom of Darkness'' that had nowpletely enveloped Shun Long''s blue-robed figure, and after a brief moment of hesitation, his figure suddenly turned into a 10-meter(33ft) tall golden buddha, before it shot towards it like a bolt of lightning!
Seeing that Jiang Chen had even used his ''Eternal Darkness unique physique'', Bai Longtian''spetitive spirit also red as his own ''Golden Buddha unique physique'' finally appeared!
Soon, the pressure on Shun Long increased by many times over, as he now not only had to face Jiang Chen''s gigantic ck fists, but also hisbined attacks alongside Bai Longtian in his golden buddha form!
An incense stick of timeter, Jiang Chen''s ck veil gradually dispersed revealing the 3 figures it was hiding underneath it.
Soon, Xingyi''s beautiful emerald eyes opened wide, astonishment stered all over her face, as she took in the scene that appeared in front of her. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Jiang Chen''s body was still pulsing with his aura of darkness, its power even stronger than before, yet charred marks could be seen all over his robe, as if Shun Long''s white lightning had repeatedly struck those spots over and over again without mercy! Although no visible injuries appeared on his body, it was obvious that Jiang Chen had exchanged quite a few blows with Shun Long head-on!
As for Bai Longtian, his situation was almost identical. His gigantic golden buddha form gradually reverted, revealing Bai Longtian''s handsome countenance, and although no injuries could be seen anywhere on him, his robe was also in tatters, as if it had faced a continuous barrage of lightning just moments ago.
Surprisingly, Shun Long was also in a simr position as he faced Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian. Although his body was devoid of any injuries, his blue robe was now tattered, torn in multiple spots, while Jiang Chen''s aura of darkness and Bai Longtian''s golden buddha energy still lingered on him!
Of course, the reason why Xingyi looked so surprised was precisely due to everyone''s torn clothes!
Although outsiders may not realize what was going on, Xingyi was a smart girl and was clearly aware that every single one of their robes were made from rare materials and had been specially crafted by a rank 2 gold-grade formation master!
Due to their unique materials and the formations inscribed inside them, even the all-out attacks of a peak rank 3 Dao King realm expert wouldn''t be able to destroy Bai Longtian''s and the others'' robes!
Yet not only were Bai Longtian''s and Jiang Chen''s robes almost destroyed, but even Shun Long''s own blue robe was now in tatters!
What did this mean? That despite their early sixth stage body refinement cultivation, it wasn''t just Shun Long, but both Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s power of their physical bodies that had already surpassed the power of a peak rank 3 Dao King by now!
After all, power above that of a peak rank 3 Dao King was required to destroy their robes.
With a satisfied look on his face, Shun Long nodded his head as he looked at Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, before he waved his sleeve and the white lightning around himpletely vanished.
Then, after sitting cross-legged on the desert below him, he waved his hand, taking out 2 bottles filled with golden-colored pills, before looking at the 2 young men in front of him and indicated for them to sit down!
Despite theirpletely different dispositions, the moment they saw the 2 bottles of golden-colored pills in front of them, both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian felt their hearts race, before a sensation of deep longing filled their hearts.
Although they had no idea what those golden pills were, Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen could instantly tell with just a nce, even though they were still in their bottles, that the aura of those golden pills was simply enormous, and more importantly, it was something that their bodies instinctually longed for!
-
Chapter 907
Chapter 907
Waving his right hand, Shun Long sent the 2 bottles flying forward, each of theming to a halt right in front of Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen, as the 2 bottles hovered in the air in front of them.
Looking at the 2 young men sitting in front of him, Shun Long didn''t hide anything as he exined with a smile
''''These pills will be very beneficial to your body refinement cultivation, and should help you reach the peak of the sixth stage before long! I refined them using the essence of a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal, so the energy inside them ispletely pure and easy to absorb. Of course, whether you can reach the peak of the sixth stage or not before we leave this ce will be entirely up to you.'''' N?v(el)B\\jnn
Shun Long''s words seemed casual, as if he was making some off-handed remark about something inconsequential, but waves of shock couldn''t help but batter Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s hearts as the two of them stared at him with shock and veneration in their gazes!
Naturally, neither Jiang Chen nor Bai Longtian were fools so they immediately understood what was going on, yet the shock in their hearts only continued to grow as realization dawned upon them!
After all, back when they were still in the ''King''s Pce'', the Northern Sovereign and various other experts had raised a fuss about a certain treasure disappearing from the core region of the pce.
Apparently, it was an extremely rare treasure that the Northern Sovereign and the various experts there had been trying to get their hands on for many years!
Soon, word of it began to spread, and practically every single disciple of a major power in the northern part of the continent came to know, that that treasure was actually the skeleton of a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal which had somehow disappeared from the depths of the King''s Pce!
Naturally, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian understood that there was no way for all this to be a coincidence! After all, treasures like the skeleton of a peak-stage Earth Immortal weren''t cabbage that could be found randomly lying on the streets!
And yet this newfound information only served to fuel the veneration they felt for Shun Long even further. After all, not only had he somehow managed to pull the wool over a peak-stage Sovereign realm expert and numerous other Dao Emperors and Sovereign realm experts, but he even managed to get his hands on the skeleton of a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal and even withstood its pressure as he refined it into pills!
How many star-rank alchemists in the central region were capable of refining such a skeleton into pills?
Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian weren''t aware of an exact number, but they were absolutely certain that even the best star-rank alchemist of the Holy sect, Xingyi''s master, Elder Mao Jing wasn''t capable of that!
Seeing the hesitant looks on Jiang Chen''s and Bai Longtian''s faces, Shun Long grinned and pushed the 2 bottles directly into their hands before he continued
''''Don''t worry. Although these pills were a bit hard to make, they only contain a sliver of the skeleton''s true essence. Still, it should be more than enough to push you to the peak of the sixth stage in body refinement.''''
Without another word, Shun Long stood up and dusted his clothes, leaving Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian behind, before he made his way towards Xingyi in the distance.
Xingyi''s long blonde hair fluttered in the wind while a soul-stirring smile now adorned her beautiful face as she looked gently at Shun Long''s approaching figure.
Although he was somewhat used to it by now, Shun Long couldn''t help but feel his heart stir as he gazed at the peerlessly beautiful young woman in front of him, whose emerald eyes looked back at him with boundless admiration and affection.
No matter how many times he looked at Liu Mei or Xingyi, Shun Long had to admit that both of them seemed to be even prettier as time passed by. Of course, this was the effect of a higher cultivation base alongside one''s natural beauty. It didn''t matter if a person was a body refiner or a qi refiner, as their bodies absorbed the pure spiritual energy from the air around them, their appearance would grow more and more refined as they expelled the impurities within them.
And of course, the effects on Xingyi were even more obvious now that she had been absorbing the pure immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' for the past 2 years!
Her skin was fair as jade and her bright blonde hair that cascaded down her shoulders like two golden waterfalls, only served to entuate her beauty that could only be described as kingdom-toppling. Her bright emerald eyes contrasting the natural beauty of her vivid red lips made her seem like an immortal beauty that had just walked out of a painting!
Standing in front of her, Shun Long then ced his arms around Xingyi''s lithe waist, and in a rare disy of affection, he pulled her in as he hugged her gently before he whispered in her ear
''''I know I''ve neglected you and Mei''er recently. But don''t worry, once we leave this ce I promise I''ll make it up to you!''''
A tinge of redness quickly appeared on Xingyi''s face as she blushed, and burying her head deeper in his embrace she just gave him an affirmative sound as she felt the warmthing from his body.
After holding Xingyi for a while longer, Shun Long then sat down on the ground a few meters away from Liu Mei and turned his gaze towards the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'', as he prepared to continue his qi cultivation. He had spent the past year inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' continuously refining the essence of the golden skeleton and turning it into pills, as well as breaking through to the sixth stage in his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', thus neglecting his qi cultivation by quite a bit.
This was why, right now, he knew that the most important thing he had to do, was make the most out of the immortal qi inside the ''City of Immortals'' and strengthen his foundation in the Dao King realm even further. In fact, Shun Long wasn''t nning to leave the Endless Desert until he became ate-stage Dao King!
A momentter, the indistinct figure of an hourss suddenly appeared around him,pletely encapsting Shun Long within it, before the immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' began to surge in his direction at a terrifying rate!
...
Chapter 908 Consecutive breakthroughs (1)
Chapter 908 Consecutive breakthroughs (1)
The days slowly turned into weeks, the weeks eventually turned into months, and the months gradually turned into years... yet the silence within the ''Five-elements protective formation'' wasn''t disturbed by anyone or anything, as Shun Long and his group continued to cultivate without stop, constantly absorbing the vast amounts of immortal qi that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' unceasingly produced.
asionally, the sound of fighting would shatter the stillness and quietness of the Endless Desert as the sound of metal shing with itself could be heard, but even that would only be momentary, like a cool gust of wind briefly passing by, before the surroundings quickly turned calm and serene once again.
Naturally, groups fighting each other over fortuitous opportunities were anything but rare inside the ''City of Immortals'', especially as time continued to pass and opportunities naturally became fewer and fewer, but none of that mattered to Shun Long and the rest.
After all, very few fateful opportunities would be on the same level, as the effects of the pure immortal qi that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' continuously refined in this ce.
Besides, after shing with that peak rank 9 Dao King, Mao Huang, back in the ''Illusion Oasis'', Liu Mei and the others all came to realize that they had truly underestimated the geniuses of the central continent!
With their former cultivation bases, even the most average of peak rank 9 Dao Kings would be able to easily toy with them as they pleased, and they wouldn''t even be able to so much as fight back against them!
That was why, before venturing out to explore the rest of the ''City of Immortals'' again, they all had to increase their own cultivation bases to a satisfying level first.
..
As the 5th-year mark gradually came to an end, vast amounts of pure immortal qi continued to gather around Shun Long and the others just as they had constantly done during these past years, when suddenly, a series of consecutive popping sounds filled the airing from Liu Mei''s direction! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Those sounds were originally weak, sounding like water bubbles popping, but as time continued to pass, their intensity gradually increased, and in just a few minutes, they had already turned into powerful sonic booms that caused gusts of wind to whip out around Liu Mei, pushing everything away from her!
Soon, even Bai Longtian and the others who were sitting a good distance away from her felt themotion affecting them, as they all broke out from their cultivation states and turned their attention towards her.
Of course, Shun Long was no different from them. In fact, the moment those popping sounds emerged from Liu Mei''s direction he was the first one to open his eyes, before a rare expression of surprise quickly covered his face.
Naturally, he knew that those popping sounds were none other than the sounds of Liu Mei''s dantian expanding violently right now, indicating that she was about to breakthrough to the peak of the Dao King realm!
Whenever Dao Kings were about to advance from the middle of rank 9 to the peak, their dantian would forcefully expand as much as possible, allowing them to absorb as much qi from their surroundings as they could beforepleting their breakthrough.
This was why, many cultivators in the central continent considered their breakthrough to the peak of the Dao King realm almost as important as their breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm in the future.
After all, the more qi they absorbed during this breakthrough to the peak of the Dao King realm, the higher their chances would be to reach the Sovereign realmter on! In fact, plenty of Dao Emperors had been stranded in the Dao Emperor realm their entire lives, unable to truly be Sovereigns, all due to their weak foundations back when they were still Dao Kings!
The Grand Elder of the Holy sect was one such example as well. No matter what he didter on, there were very few things that could help him breakthrough to the Sovereign realm afterwards, all because of his weak foundations in the Dao King realm!
At this moment, Shun Long''s eyes glittered with a hint of anticipation as he stared silently at Liu Mei''s distant figure madly absorbing the pure immortal qi around her.
He knew that during this breakthrough, there were only 3 things that could affect the final result. A person''s own natural talent, their cultivation technique, as well as their own willpower.
As for the Dao they hadprehended or the unique physique one was born with, it wouldn''t provide them with any help!
Thankfully, there were no signs of the ''Blood Absorption art'' affecting Liu Mei''s mental state right now, allowing her topletely focus on absorbing the qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine''.
Shun Long wasn''t sure if it was because Liu Mei''s mind had grown more resilient with time, or if it was the effects of the pure immortal qi counteracting the negative side-effects of the ''Blood Absorption art'', but from the looks of it, Liu Mei didn''t seem to need any help toplete her breakthrough.
Shun Long then watched as Liu Mei''s silky ck hair fluttered tempestuously in the wind, before her aura began to grow stronger and stronger with every passing moment, and like a caged beast that was finally about to break free, an incense stick of timeter, it abruptly exploded outwards as it broke past thest hurdle of the middle rank 9 in the Dao King realm before it eventually reached the peak!
The moment this happened, Liu Mei''s willowy figure trembled intensely, before her body started to pulse with an extremely thick, almost overwhelming aura of death that soon began to spread in her surroundings!
Thankfully, other than Shun Long and the others, there was nothing else in Liu Mei''s immediate vicinity, aside from the innumerable grains of sand that covered the surface of the ''Endless Desert'', so no one else was affected!
And yet, to Xingyi''s and the others'' astonishment, the moment that Liu Mei''s aura of death ''touched'' the grains of sand around her, the sand''s natural color quickly began to fade as the original lively orange quickly turned into a darker shade of brown, before eventually turning into ck!
It was almost as if all signs of vitality hadpletely vanished from the sand around Liu Mei in mere moments, leaving behind nothing but those ck, lifeless grains of sand that were now filled with that thick scent of death.
Chapter 909 Consecutive breakthroughs (2)
Chapter 909 Consecutive breakthroughs (2)
At the same time, even from a distance away, Shun Long could now sense the immense powering from Liu Mei''s figure, which was powerful enough to momentarily affect him even through the protection of his own ''Monarch''s Eternal body''. N?v(el)B\\jnn
And yet, this was just the aura that Liu Mei''s body was involuntarily exuding, so one could only imagine how strong she would actually be if she really went all out right now.
''''This... What is this pressure? How is it so strong? Is this the real difference between a peak rank 9 Dao King and ate-stage one, or is this all due to sister Liu''s Dao of Death?''''
Bai Longtian''s voice was muffled, sounding almost akin to a soft whisper, and yet Shun Long could still hear the faint tremble in his voice as the handsome, long-haired young man stared at Liu Mei''s distant figure inplete astonishment.
Even though Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen had both stepped into thete stages of the Dao King realm by now, while Xingyi herself was already a rank 9 Dao King, in front of this terrifying pressureing from Liu Mei, none of them were really a match. They could all tell that in an actual fight against her, unless Bai Longtian and the others made use of most of their trump cards, none of them would be able tost for more than a couple breaths of time before losing.
This was how terrifying the pressureing from Liu Mei right now really was.
A momentter, Jiang Chen''s eyes gradually turned serious before he answered coolly
''''This is the fundamental difference between peak-stage Dao Kings and normalte-stage ones. This is also why that Mao Huang could act so arrogantly back in the ''Illusion oasis'' and extort others for their ''Immortal water'' without fear of getting ganged up by others. Ultimately, peak rank 9 Dao Kings are no different from supreme existences in this ce! The moment someone reaches the peak of the Dao King realm in both their cultivation, as well as theirprehension of their Dao, they are practically considered to be already half a step into the Dao Emperor realm. Averagete-stage Dao Kings have no chance against them!''''
Bai Longtian and Xingyi both nodded their heads after hearing Jiang Chen''s exnation, while their gazes werepletely glued on the distant Liu Mei whose aura had finally started to recede little by little by now.
Although Bai Longtian and Xingyi both came from peak-level factions back in the Night Star Continent, back there, even the strongest experts like Bai Longtian''s father were only peak-stage Dao Kings!
Thus, even though the 2 of them could be considered fairly knowledgeable overall, in front of Jiang Chen whose father was a true powerhouse at the rank 9 of the Dao Emperor realm, their knowledge of cultivation fell rather short.
Nodding his head, Shun Long agreed with Jiang Chen''s exnation, while a myriad of different thoughts began to course through his mind.
A few momentster however, he shook his head as he thought to himself
''Staying in the ''Endless Desert'' and letting Mei''er and the others absorb the immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' was really the right choice!''
Staring at the distant setting sun, a faint smile silently bloomed on Shun Long''s lips, as the cool breeze of the ''Endless Desert'' gently caressed his face, while also dispersing the faint scent of death that had already started to cover everyone''s surroundings!
At this point, Shun Long knew that it would be a lie if he said that he wasn''t tempted to explore the rest of the ''City of Immortals'' with Liu Mei and the others. With the map that he had purchased from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' a few years ago, as well as the numerous stories circting throughout the ''Central continent'' about this ce, it wasmon knowledge that the entirety of the ''City of Immortals'' was no different from a gigantic treasure trove waiting to be explored and harvested!
Rare treasures that even Sovereign realm experts may not find in their entire lifetimes existed aplenty in this ce for everyone to grab.
However, after theirst encounter back in the ''Illusion oasis'' with both Mao Huang, as well as that ck-robed peak rank 9 Dao King who had tried to assassinate him, Shun Long had already decided that he wasn''t going to leave the ''Endless Desert'' until he became ate-stage Dao King first! He wasn''t certain if he would have enough time to reach the peak of the Dao King realm before the rumored 10-year time period came to an end and everyone was expelled from the ''City of Immortals'' like they had in the past, but he was at least confident in reaching thete stages before that happened!
Still, it wasn''t that Shun Long was afraid of the ck-robed Dao King who had ambushed him back then. After all, after reaching the 5th stage of the Dao King realm, he was already confident in killing the man should the two of them sh again!
However, Shun Long was already thinking of another matter.
''If I''m not wrong, even though that guy was hiding his identity, he should most likely be among the 100 strongest Dao Kings in the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''s'' list. Although his strength was nothing too extraordinary, his speed was actually quite fast. Even if they were all peak rank 9 Dao Kings... it''s probably only Longtian among Mei''er and the others who canpete with him and match his speed head-on!''
After this thought coursed through his mind, Shun Long took a deep breath and sat cross-legged on the ground once more, as he quickly emptied his mind and began to absorb the pure qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' once again. The grains of sand around him were once again filled with the overwhelming aura of the pure immortal qi that the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' unceasingly produced, as a gigantic qi vortex quickly began to form above his head, greedily sucking in all the qi that it could absorb from its surroundings!
Although Shun Long wasn''t afraid of the ck-robed man and was even confident in killing him, he knew that he couldn''t waste any more time here and could only do his best to improve his cultivation as much as possible in the few years that he had left in this ce!
After all, that ck-robed man was not the only threat he would face in this ce. If Shun Long wasn''t wrong, that guy would only rank in the lower end among the 100 strongest Dao Kings inside the ''City of Immortals''! This meant that there were at least 90 or so more peak-stage Dao Kings who were far superior to that guy in strength!
And these were just the Dao Kings that the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'' were aware of! Who knew if there were any other monsters simr to Shun Long and his group, keeping themselves hidden from the public eye so far?
Would all those people just wait and wander around idly in the ''City of Immortals, or would they begin searching for fortuitous opportunities to increase their strength even further in the Dao King realm, grabbing as much as they could while they were inside this gigantic treasure trove?
Shun Long didn''t need an answer to that obvious question, which was why he was going to make full use of the next few years, bringing his strength as high as he could to contend with those monsters!
Chapter 910 An eye for an eye (1)
Chapter 910 An eye for an eye (1)
Months continued to pass quietly but peacefully for Shun Long and his group inside the protection of the ''Five-elements protective formation'', and yet everything else seemed to remain mostly the same.
Large groups of Dao Kings would often wander through the scorching sands of the ''Endless Desert'' as they traversed through it, some of them on the backs of powerful rank 6 magic beasts while others as parts ofrge groups, but none of them would ever disturb Shun Long and his own group, mainly due the concealing effect of the protective formation that covered them.
asionally, gusts of warm wind would often find themselves gently caressing Shun Long''s face, carrying with them a faint scent of blood whenever nearby Dao Kings shed with each other or with any wandering nearby magic beasts that blocked their way, but even those warm breezes would be quickly refined into streams of pure immortal qi by the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' soon afterwards.
It was a monotonous routine where Shun Long would continuously absorb the pure unending streams of immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' every day, constantly using them to form new golden balls of qi inside his dantian, as his cultivation slowly inched closer towards the peak of the Dao King realm. And yet Shun Long himself didn''t seem to mind any of this in the slightest, and in fact even relished in this rare moment of peace.
No matter what, it was a fact that ever since entering the ''City of Immortals'', Shun Long and his group had never really stopped fighting wherever theynded!
Whether it was during the so-called preliminary trials in ''Demon-fanged city'' where they had to hunt down those five thousand ''Demon-fanged mice'', or even after passing the trials and entering the second stage of the ''City of Immortals'' when they met Li Tian and his group, that early rank 7 Dao King from the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', a fight always followed wherever Shun Long found himself!
Even back in the ''Stone mural'' when everyone was merely studying the profound Daos carved on the mural, or even back in the ''Illusion oasis'' where all the Dao Kings present fought over the drops of ''Immortal water'', the situation remainedrgely the same.
Although being constantly dragged into fights quickly turned somewhat annoying, in the end, Shun Long understood that this was all due to the fundamental unspoken rules of the ''City of Immortals''. Ultimately, everything depended solely on one''s own power!
If a person appeared weak but stood out too much others would usually attack them without much reservation. However, if a person was sufficiently strong, those same people would think twice before making a move!
This was why Shun Long didn''t mind spending some time peacefully like this inside the ''Five-elements protective formation'' while increasing his own strength!
Of course, absorbing the pure immortal qi wasn''t the only thing that Shun Long did during the day. Whenever he felt that he had already absorbed too much immortal qi and needed time to assimte it, he would usually take a break and spar with Jiang Chen and the rest before turning his attention towards his body cultivation.
And yet, those sparring sessions that were merely an afterthought, were no different from killing 3 birds with one stone. On one hand, Shun Long needed to stretch his muscles and further practice his ''Dao of the Heavenly Tribtion'' and be even more familiar with it, while Liu Mei and the others were the perfect sparring partners at this point!
At the same time, Shun Long had already surpassed that so-called ''realm of Masters'' back in the stone mural and had already reached the level of ''sword aura'', but he hadn''t really found the time to test out his new sword skills this whole time inside the ''City of Immortals''. However, these sparring sessions with Bai Longtian and the rest allowed him to gradually solidify his recent advancement!
At the same time, Shun Long could tell that both Jiang Chen''s saber shes as well as Bai Longtian''s sword strikes, and even Xingyi''s dagger skills had been rapidly improving during their sparring sessions, leaving the two young men and the young woman beside themselves in astonishment, followed by feelings of jubnt glee!
In fact, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who were already close to the peak of the ''Realm of Masters'' could now tell, that even if they left the ''City of Immortals'' right away, it was only a matter of time before the two of them reached the levels of ''saber aura'' and ''sword aura'' respectively.
Even Xingyi who was still a distance away from reaching the peak of the ''Realm of Masters'' could feel her dagger skills improving rapidly with every sparring session, making her even more determined to give it her all and catch up to Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian before they left this ce!
In the end, only Liu Mei appeared slightly dejected when she felt her own sword skills growing stagnant, unable to catch up to the others regardless of how hard she practiced! However, after being chided by Little ck who told her that cultivators of the ''Dao of Death'' didn''t have much of a need to focus on weapons in the first ce, the young woman nodded in agreement and concentrated on what she was best suited at... improving her control of her undead army!
Of course, not everyone could be a sword or saber genius! Talented people like Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian wereplete outliers, and they only appeared ''above average'' because theypared themselves with a monster like Shun Long!
The truth of the matter however, was that the two young men wereplete geniuses of their own. Even among other Dao Kings, there were very few of them within the ''City of Immortals'' right now, who couldpete with them using purely sword or saber skills!
Even Xingyi herself was extraordinarily talented with a dagger, which was why her own skills were advancing so rapidly with every sparring session!
As for Liu Mei, whenpared to the vast majority of Dao Kings out there, her sword skills could only be considered average at best.
But of course, this was the harsh reality of the world.
Everyone had their own areas where they excelled, and the same went for Liu Mei. Although the beautiful young woman''s sword skills could merely be considered average at best, Shun Long understood that Liu Mei''s talentsy in soul cultivation instead!
... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Months continued to pass, and finally, half a yearter, Xingyi was the second person in the group to be a peak rank 9 Dao King right after Liu Mei!
The aura of a second peak rank 9 Dao King quickly suffused the enclosed space of the ''Five-elements protective formation'', causing everyone to snap out of their reverie and stop whatever they were doing, as they all turned their attention towards the golden-haired young woman standing at the center of it all!
The moment she sensed Xingyi''s breakthrough, Liu Mei''s bright red lips suddenly pressed together, forming a brilliant, soul-stirring smile, before the 2 young women almost simultaneously turned their gazes towards the east, as if on cue.
It was finally time to take back what had been stolen from them!
Chapter 911 An eye for an eye (2)
Chapter 911 An eye for an eye (2)
A few moments afterwards, Liu Mei''s calm voice sounded through the air, a hint of a smile suffusing her lips as she stared at the blonde-haired beauty in front of her and asked her
''''How does it feel, Xingyi? Bing a peak rank 9 Dao King really feels different, doesn''t it?'''' After taking a moment to fully sense all the changes that were taking ce inside her body, Xingyi couldn''t help but fall silent for a while, before eventually nodding her head and answering in a somewhat bewildered tone
''''Is this what it feels like to be a peak-stage Dao King?! No wonder peak rank 9 Dao Kings are revered so much for their strength!'''' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
As she said this, Xingyi lowered her head and tried to suppress as much as she could, the overwhelming aura that her body was now involuntarily giving out. It was just as she had just said; bing a peak-stage Dao King was indeed vastly differentpared to normalte-stage Dao Kings!
This difference wasn''t one that could be described with just a few words either!
It was only now, after reaching this stage herself, that Xingyi finally realized why peak-stage Dao Kings could roam the ''City of Immortals'' unafraid of practically anyone and anything else in this ce.
It wasn''t something as simple as merely another advancement in one''s cultivation base, but more importantly, it was due to the cumtive evolution of the strength andprehension of the Dao that these Dao Kings experienced the moment they reached this peak!
After all, a peak rank 9 Dao King could only be considered to have truly reached the peak, only when theprehension of their own Dao reached the peak of the Dao King realm alongside their cultivation base!
Otherwise, if one''s cultivation had already reached the peak of the Dao King stage but theirprehension of their Dao was stillcking behind it, or in some extremely rare cases where one''sprehension of the Dao had already reached the peak of the Dao King stage but their own cultivation base had yet to catch up, those people still couldn''t be considered true peak-stage Dao Kings just yet! One needed to have attained both to im this title!
As for Xingyi, although her cultivation had just advanced to the peak of the Dao King realm, normally, she would have needed more time for herprehension of her ''Dao of Shadows'' to catch up to her cultivation, before she could be considered a true peak-stage Dao King as well!
However, it just so happened, that Xingyi was the type of person whose ownprehension of her Dao outpaced her actual cultivation base!
Due to her increased affinity towards the ''Dao of Shadows'' that she possessed thanks to her ''Vanishing Shadows unique physique'', Xingyi''sprehension of her Dao had already reached the peak of the Dao King stage a while ago, and was in fact, slowly edging closer towards the Dao Emperor realm by the day.
Although she was still very far away from bing a bona fide Dao Emperor, even if she did nothing else and merely focused on consolidating her cultivation base for the following couple of years, it was only a matter of time before she eventually broke through to the Dao Emperor realm as well!
These were the benefits of being born with an extremely rare unique physique! Most cultivators had virtually no hope of catching up to someone like that... at least not without their fair share of fortuitous opportunities as well!
And now that both her qi cultivation andprehension of her ''Dao of Shadows'' had reached the true peak of the Dao King stage, Xingyi could finally experience the qualitative evolution that all peak-stage Dao Kings got to enjoy for themselves!
Momentster, her luscious golden hair flowed with the wind as the stunning young woman sat on the ground and closed her eyes, focusing her senses on the myriad of shadows that were present everywhere around her. Whether it was her own shadow, Liu Mei''s own, or even Shun Long''s and the others'' shadows, and even the shadows created from the countless grains of sand themselves, it seemed as if every single shadow in her vicinity was now being affected by Xingyi''s mere presence and was madly scrambling to get closer towards her, as if the shadows themselves were trying to embrace the beautiful young woman and protect her, hiding her beneath their dark veil.
Staring at this peculiar scene in front of them, Liu Mei and the others remained quiet for a few moments as they observed everything in silence, before Jiang Chen eventually nodded his head andmented in a calm tone
''''Back when I was a kid, when my father used to teach me the basics of cultivation, he constantly emphasized the importance of the Dao King realm and building a strong foundation before ever trying to be a Dao Emperor! He always pointed out, that only those cultivators who had reached the absolute peak of rank 9 in the Dao King realm were qualified to roam through the central continent with a certain degree of safety, without actually risking their lives at every twist and turn they faced!''''
Jiang Chen''s voice then trailed off momentarily, as his deep ck eyes stared intently at the hundreds of shadows that had already wrapped themselves around Xingyi''s body and were slowly turning darker and darker with every passing moment, as if the shadows themselves were gradually turning even deeper and more pronounced as time passed, before the devilishly handsome young man narrowed his eyes and continued speaking
''''...And the reason behind this all, is due to this powerful aura that all peak-stage Dao Kings naturally exude when they finally reach the peak... the aura of a pseudo-Dao Emperor!''''
Turning his head to look at the taciturn Liu Mei just a few meters away from him, Jiang Chen''s expression didn''t change, but his voice turned slightly more serious as he continued
''''Half a year ago, during your breakthrough to the peak of rank 9, I couldn''t understand why your aura was so deadly that I couldn''t get a good feel for it even from a distance away, but now I finally do!''''
In the next moment however, just as Jiang Chen''s voice trailed off and disappeared into the distance, Liu Mei who was curious to hear the rest of his exnation suddenly frowned while her gaze abruptly turned cold and unfeeling, before the ground beneath her feet suddenly started to violently shake!
At the same time, Shun Long who was just about to sit down and continue his secluded cultivation widened his eyes, before an incredulous expression quickly found its way to his face shortly afterwards, as a single thought coursed through his mind
''''There is actually someone brave enough to attack my ''Five-elements protective formation''?''''
Chapter 912 An eye for an eye (3)
Chapter 912 An eye for an eye (3)
At the same time, just as Shun Long''s thoughts trailed off, a group of 6 men and women could be seen conversing with each other at the very edge of the ''Five-elements protective formation'', all of them staring at the thin translucent veil in front of them that had merely rippled for a single second, before quickly returning to normal once again, seamlessly blending back into its surroundings once more.
''''Huh, this is actually surprising! This formation isn''t just a concealing formation after all, it also has some defensive properties as well! This thing even took Elder Ling''s punch head-on and was barely even affected!''''
d in a set of luxurious ck robes, an old man with a hideous scar under his left eye eventually eximed, his gaze a mixture of surprise and curiosity as he stared at the thin protective veil of the enormous formation in front of him.
That old man was radiating an aura of natural authority whenever he spoke, as if anything and everything were inherently beneath him, and yet the shock was still apparent in his eyes as he examined the peculiar formation in front of him that seemed to span for miles and miles in the distance!
It appeared as if the formation his group had chanced upon epassed a great deal of distance throughout the ''Endless Desert'', and yet, the old man had never heard of this specific formation before.
Of course, something like this wasn''t too unnatural by itself. After all, the ''City of Immortals'' had only opened for a couple of times in the past, and every single one of those times had onlysted for approximately 10 years or so, so there were still far too many secrets that had yet to be unearthed!
Considering how vast just the ''Endless Desert'' by itself was, and the fact that nobody had managed to fully explore it yet despite the overwhelming number of Dao Kings that had entered this ce and the years that had gone by already, it was simply impossible to estimate the true magnitude of the entire ''City of Immortals'' as a whole!
However, the luxuriously robed old man was mainly surprised by another reason.
It was solely for the fact that this formation was rtively close to the famous ''Stone Mural'', and yet he had no information about it whatsoever!
How could such a powerful formation be this close to the mural and yet not been found by any other cultivators yet?
Was this a new, naturally formed formation, or did some powerful formations grandmaster ce it here? And if it was thetter, why? What was their true intent? Was there something special about this ce that others had yet to figure out yet that person had already found? The old man didn''t know but he was certain he was going to find out!
Even more surprising, however, was the fact that the old man couldn''t urately pinpoint the formation''s core. In the beginning, it seemed as if the formation was extremelyrge, spanning for countless miles throughout the desert and covering an extremely vast distance, but after ordering one of hispanions to attack it, the old man was left even more confused than before!
The moment the formation absorbed hispanion''s attack, the thin translucent veil started to contract and expand intermittently, causing the entire formation to surge, before effortlessly blocking a strike from a peak-stage Dao King, as if it was nothing but a weak gust of wind that simply fell upon it!
Of course, as a formations grandmaster himself, the old man could easily tell that the ''Five-elements protective formation'' absorbed the immortal qi in the air to operate and block hispanion''s attack, causing him toe to the conclusion that this was most likely not a naturally created formation. And since that was the case, that could only mean one thing. This formation must have been ced here by another peak rank 3 gold-grade formations master! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
As this thought coursed through his mind, the old man''s eyes narrowed dangerously before he turned towards hispanions and spoke in a calm voice
''''If I''m not wrong, this formation was most likely created by another peak rank 3 gold-grade formations master! Although I can''t pinpoint where the formation''s core lies exactly, I am confident in breaking it in less than one month if we all join hands together! What do you all think?''''
The luxuriously robed old man''s words were like a bolt of thunder striking the hearts of hispanions, causing their rxed expressions to immediately turn somber before they all turned their attention to him in shock!
Of course, the changes in the 5 people''s expressions were only natural as well!
It would be one thing if what they were dealing with was just a naturally created gold-grade formation, but if it was one set by another peak rank 3 gold-grade formation master, then things were entirely different!
After all, high-level alchemists and formations masters were always respected and sought after by most powerful ns and organizations back in the central continent, and the ''City of Immortals'' was no different in this regard!
No one would thoughtlessly choose to offend a high-level formations master if they could avoid it, and the same went for their group.
Although theirpany consisted of 6 peak rank 9 Dao Kings, one of whom was even a powerful gold-grade formations master as well, offending another peak-stage Dao King proficient in formations wasn''t something that could be done at one''s whim!
However, the old man didn''t seem perturbed by the changes in hispanions'' expressions in the slightest, as he once again turned his attention towards the peculiar formation in front of him and continued to examine it deeply before he continued
''''I know what you are all nervous about, but there is no reason to be too worried about it! You are afraid that by attacking this formation, you will offend the gold-grade formations master who set it up, aren''t you?''''
After a brief moment of silence, a middle-aged woman in green robes finally stepped forward, nodding her head as she looked at the ck-robed old man before answering respectfully
''''Elder Ming. It''s not that we don''t believe in your abilities, but offending another rank 3 gold-grade formations master for no reason isn''t that wise either! It would be one thing if we knew that there was something special about this ce, but since we don''t know if there is anything of real value to us here, how about we just let it go?''''
However, the luxuriously robed old man, Elder Ming merely sneered when he heard the green-robed woman''s response, causing his eyes to narrow dangerously into two thin slits making the scar under his left eye even more pronounced, before he answered mockingly
''''Tell me then, Wang Dongmei, do you really think that someone would set up a formation like this, here in the middle of nowhere, for no apparent reason? That a rank 3 gold-grade formations master would spend so much time and resources setting up a concealing formation, simply to hide themselves in this ce?''''
Hearing the ck-robed old man rebuking her so openly, the green-robed woman lowered her head in shame unable toe up with a retort, as she realized that the old man''s words actually made sense.
Indeed, whether it was the old man''s stance on this matter or his status within their group, both werepelling enough of a reason to force their entire group to make a move if he was dead set on doing something.Besides, what were the chances of a powerful formations master setting up such a powerful formation in the middle of nowhere for no real reason? It was practically zero! The green-robed woman was simply reluctant to offend another peak gold-grade formations master without knowing if the fight was worth it.
However, since the ck-robed old man had already made his stance clear, Wang Dongmei knew that there was no turning back.
Nodding her head, she then sped her hands towards the ck-robed elder and said respectfully
''''It seems that I was the one who didn''t think things through this time. Since Elder Ming is confident in breaking this formation, I''m naturally willing to help!''''
Finally, a smile started to appear on the ck-robed man''s face after hearing Wang Dongmei''s response, before he turned his gaze towards the remaining 4 of hispanions waiting for their own answers.
Seeing that no one else was disagreeing with his n, the old man pped his hands and prepared to give out orders to the 5 peak rank 9 Dao Kings apanying him, ready to arrange them in specific spots around the formation to prepare and break it... but it was at that moment that the thin translucent veil of the formation suddenly started to ripple.
In the next moment, it seemed as if space itself was violently trembling and twisting, before the thin translucent veil finally parted, and from the inside, the pristine figure of a white-robed woman gradually walked out in the open.
This young woman was extremely beautiful, so much so, that one would actually think she had just walked out of a painting if theyid eyes on her for the first time!She had an extremely fairplexion, a perfectly shaped nose, and a pair of rosy red lips, as well as starry-like ck eyes that resembled the depths of the abyss itself. Despite being covered by her white robes, it was obvious that this woman''s figure was just as wless as that peerlessly beautiful face of hers.
This was, without a doubt one of the most beautiful women that the ck-robed Elder Ming had seen in his life! However, the undisguised death aura that wasing out from her body made it obvious, that this peerlessly beautiful woman didn''te with kind intentions, and was now staring coldly at the 6 peak-stage Dao Kings in front of her with undisguised hostility in her eyes!
Just as Elder Ming was about to speak to her however, one of hispanions abruptly stepped forward, staring incredulously at the white-robed young woman, before he opened his mouth and asked in disbelief
''''You... are you Liu Mei?''''
Chapter 913 An eye for an eye (4)
Chapter 913 An eye for an eye (4)
''''You... are you Liu Mei?''''
The person who had just asked this was an old man in spotless white robes, with a clean-shaven face and neatlybed long white hair that reached all the way to his waist. He had a pair of kind eyes that looked extremely innocent at first nce, but his expression was one ofplete disbelief as he stared at the stunningly beautiful young woman in the distance!
Although Liu Mei wasn''t wearing the robes of a Holy sect''s disciple anymore, the old man only needed a single nce to figure out her identity.
At the same time that his voice rang out, Liu Mei turned her gaze away from the ck-robed Elder Ming and nced at the white-robed old man for a couple of seconds, before a look of realization quickly dawned in her eyes.
''''Elder Zhuan?'''' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Of course, since the white-robed old man had already recognized her, how could Liu Mei not recognize him as well? After all, this was the same Elder responsible for overseeing the final part of their test, when Liu Mei and the others entered the Holy sect for the first time!
Hearing Liu Mei confirm her identity, Zhuan Peng felt his entire body tremble for a brief moment, before a myriad of different emotions began to course through his eyes one after the other!
''''What is going on? Didn''t this child only enter the Holy sect merely a decade ago? How is this possible? How is she already a peak-stage Dao King?'''' The white-robed Elder Zhuan couldn''t believe his own eyes as he stared incredulously at Liu Mei''s figure in the distance.
No matter how he looked at it, the old man couldn''t fathom how the young woman in front of him could already be a peak rank 9 Dao King! How could it be possible for her to reach the peak of the Dao King realm in just 10 years or so? It didn''t make any sense! After all, Zhuan Peng could still remember Liu Mei being a weak Nascent Soul stage cultivator just a few years ago, back when he himself was already an exalted peak-stage Dao King. And yet, in the span of a mere decade, Liu Mei seemed to have caught up to him in her cultivation!? The more he thought about this whole situation, the more incredulous Zhuan Peng found it to be!
After all, Zhuan Peng had been stuck at the peak of the Dao King realm for more than 300 years already, and he was even considered rtively talented among his own peers as well. It was merely his foundations that were somewhatcking and didn''t allow him to attempt a breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm just yet! That was also the reason he had entered the ''City of Immortals'' this time in the first ce. To find something that would allow him to finally break past his limits and reach the Dao Emperor realm in one fell swoop! And yet, in just a little more than a decade, a small Nascent Soul stage cultivator had somehow caught up to him?!
Zhuan Peng wanted to sit Liu Mei down and ask her all about her experiences during the past few years and find out how all this could be possible, but it was at this moment that the ck-robed Elder Ming suddenly took a step forward, appearing right next to him before the ck-robed old man finally spoke
''''Zhuan Peng, it seems you are already familiar with that little girl, aren''t you? That''s good. You can save us some time in this case! Since you two are already acquainted, go ahead and tell her to step aside and open up the formation for us so we can take a look inside!''''
The white-robed elder Zhuan Peng who was preparing to chat with Liu Mei suddenly stiffened after hearing Elder Ming''s unexpected order, before he hurriedly turned his gaze towards the ck-robed old man in shock.
No matter what, Zhuan Peng was still an Elder of the Holy sect and a peak-stage Dao King as well, so how could he possibly abuse his power over a junior like that, and even make such shameless demands on top of it all? After all, both Zhuan Peng and Elder Ming were well aware, that neither of them had any actual justification to ask Liu Mei to open up the formation behind her, other than a threat of force!
Besides, Liu Mei could no longer be considered one of Zhuan Peng''s juniors in the first ce, now that she was a peak rank 9 Dao King as well! In fact, Zhuan Peng suspected that the young woman in front of him wasn''t the slightest bit weaker than him anymore.
Of course, Zhuan Peng was still confident that Liu Mei''s battle experience couldn''t possiblypare to his own, considering that he had already spent thousands of years honing his skills throughout the entire northern region of the central continent, but the white-robed Elder was still aware, that as far as talent went, Liu Mei was definitely at the very peak of the entire Holy sect right now!
Noticing Zhuan Peng''s reluctance to speak, Elder Ming gradually frowned clearly dissatisfied with the old man''s performance, before he continued
''''Zhuan Peng, don''t tell me you have suddenly changed your mind!? If that''s the case, you can go ahead and leave our alliance! I promise I won''t stop you! However, I can tell you one thing; I am going to break open this formation, with or without your help! It will only take me a few more days, that''s all''''
After a brief moment of contemtion, Elder Ming''s voice gradually softened as he looked at Liu Mei''s distant figure before he continued
''''Of course, considering the fact that you seem to have some type of rtionship with that girl, I won''t be too forceful on this matter either. After all, I understand that we are in the wrong here. I am only asking her to step aside and let us have a look inside the formation. If there really is nothing of value inside, we will naturally take our leave after having a look, and if there truly is some type of treasure hidden within, then we can split it in a fair and just manner. Of course, this is my final concession on this matter. Whether she epts our terms or not is up to her!''''
Although it seemed as if the ck-robed Elder Ming had been talking to Zhuan Peng this entire time, his gaze had beenpletely focused on Liu Mei as he uttered each word!
Clearly, this message was meant to serve both as deterrence, as well as show her that Elder Ming was willing to make certain concessions and avoid truly fighting if they could solve things amiably between them.
Unfortunately for the ck-robed Elder Ming, Liu Mei didn''t seem the slightest bit intimidated by the fighting prowess of the 6 peak rank 9 Dao Kings from his group! Instead, a cold, murderous glint could be seen in the depths of her eyes as the stunning young woman stared coldly at the ck-robed old man along with the rest of those 5 Dao Kings standing behind him, before her gaze gradually nestled on an unassuming middle-aged man standing at the very back of the group.
After a brief moment of silence, a thick, almost palpable burst of killing intent suddenly erupted from her body, as Liu Mei looked at this unassuming middle-aged man and asked coldly
''''Are you the one who attacked our formation earlier?''''
Chapter 914 An eye for an eye (5)
Chapter 914 An eye for an eye (5)
This time, it wasn''t just Zhuan Peng or the ck-robed Elder Ming who were stunned by Liu Mei''s response but the remaining 4 peak rank 9 Dao Kings as well, staring at the aloof young woman in front of them with looks of incredulity mixed with unconcealed astonishment!
Not only had Liu Mei chosen to ignore Elder Ming''s request with a look of contempt clear in her eyes, but she had even turned her gaze towards the bald, unassuming man shortly afterwards, and even identified him as the person who had just attacked the formation.
Regardless of howposed they may have appeared earlier, the 6 peak-stage Dao Kings couldn''t help but be caught off-guard at this point, as they finally began to reassess this young woman in front of them. No matter how they looked at it... whether it was her attitude or the way she carried herself despite the danger she was currently facing, both were clearly out of the ordinary!
As soon as those words left Liu Mei''s mouth however, the ck-robed Elder Ming and the unassuming middle-aged man silently exchanged nces with each other, before the looming tension in the air abruptly turned even more oppressive and deadly, as the 2 peak-stage Dao Kings finally turned serious for the first time in a while.
Indeed, that simple-looking, unassuming middle-aged man whom Liu Mei had just targeted, was precisely the same person who had justunched an attack on the ''Five-elements protective formation'' a while ago, and was someone whom even the arrogant ck-robed Elder Ming had to respectfully address as Elder Ling!
With a calm look on his face the ''unassuming Elder Ling'' suddenly took a step forward, and yet with just that single step, the middle-aged man seemed to have traversed more than a dozen meters in a sh, causing him to arrive right in front of Liu Mei before he replied with a smile
''''Littless, it seems you are quite perceptive! Not bad. Even though I''ve been concealing my aura this whole time, you could actually tell that I was the one who attacked your formation right away! Although your cultivation base is still unstable, at the very least, the power of your soul is not bad.''''
Elder Ling''s tone was nonchnt as if he was just making some casual remarks, but the hidden meaning behind his words was clear to everyone present. In his eyes, although Liu Mei''s soul sense was extraordinary, that was all there was to it. It was her only extraordinary quality!
As for her cultivation base? Although this white-robed young woman was a peak rank 9 Dao King as well, the unassuming middle-aged man could tell that Liu Mei had just broken through to this level barely a year ago and had yet to truly consolidate her advancement! Therefore, how could she possiblypare to an experienced peak-stage Dao King like him who was only a few steps away from the Dao Emperor realm?
What Elder Ling didn''t seem to know however, was that Liu Mei had already assessed his entire group''s strength the moment she stepped out of the ''Five-elements protective formation'' and had already decided on her next course of action.
Before herst breakthrough, she may have had some trouble taking on a group of six peak rank 9 Dao Kings all by herself, but now... Liu Mei was fully confident in dealing with people who were merely at Elder Ling''s level!
Without even throwing the bald middle-aged man in front of her a second nce, Liu Mei turned her gaze toward the distant Zhuan Peng, and after a moment of silence, she cupped her hands and bowed slightly towards the white-robed elder as she said calmly
''''Elder Zhuan, considering our past rtionship and in consideration of my master, I hope you will not involve yourself in this matter any further! I don''t care about the rest of them, but the person who attacked our formation just now, as well as the ck-robed man who instigated everything, will both have to pay!''''
The white-robed Zhuan Peng was taken aback by Liu Mei''s words, but the ''unassuming'' Elder Ling''s eyes shed with a cold light when he heard that, before he roared out in an enraged voice
''''How impudent!''''
Elder Ling''s voice seemed to contain some powerful, mystical quality, causing his surroundings to tremble as a shockwave traveled rapidly from his location straight towards Liu Mei!
Almost at the same time that his voice echoed out, the middle-aged man''s right hand punched through the air in an extremely swift motion, aiming straight for Liu Mei''s chest!
It was obvious that this seemingly ''unassuming'' man was not holding back anymore after hearing Liu Mei''s response, and was finally revealing his true strength!
The aura of a peak-sixth stage body refiner surrounded Elder Ling''s fist, as the man aimed to take out the young woman in front of him in a single strike!
In a conflict between peak-stage Dao Kings, Elder Ling was a person who knew fully well when to be soft and negotiate and when he had to fight. If they could resolve things peacefully with each other, the middle-aged man wouldn''t mind letting Zhuan Peng negotiate in their stead, but since Liu Mei had already made her stance clear, Elder Ling knew that it was best to deal with his enemies as quickly as possible!
As for whether Liu Mei would survive his attack or not, the middle-aged man wasn''t the slightest bit concerned! Since he had already decided to reveal his full strength, he was going to make sure that the young woman in front of him was either going to end up dead, or at the very least crippled!
After all, a peak-stage Dao King wasn''t someone who could casually be captured, unless they were mortally wounded or on the verge of death!
Unfortunately for Elder Ling, mere moments before his fist could connect with Liu Mei''s chest, 2 massive dark-red greatswords immediately blocked his path on the spot, causing his attack toe to a sharp halt.
At the same time, from the ground beneath Liu Mei''s feet, a pool of darkness seemed to have manifested out of thin air, causing an extremely dense aura of death to pulse out from within! And from the depths of that darkness itself, a pair of shadowy figures gradually emerged, their burning purple embers that served for eyes staring straight towards Elder Ling''s soul, like a pair of grim reapers who had finallye to collect!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Chapter 915 Taking revenge (1)
Chapter 915 Taking revenge (1)
This sudden turn of events had left everyone dumbfounded, as the group of 6 peak-stage Dao Kings stared intently at the figures of the 2 neers who were now blocking Elder Ling''s path.
The pair of ck skeletons were each emitting an aura that could rival a peak-stage Dao King in strength, and were arrogantly brandishing their massive dark-red greatswords that looked like they had been dried in a pool of blood for hundreds of years, as they faced the bald Elder Ling in front of them!
The distant ck-robed Elder Ming, as well as the Holy sect''s Zhuan Peng and the others were briefly taken aback by the ck skeletons'' sudden appearance, but the most surprised out of everyone present was without a doubt the man closest to them, Elder Ling!
The bald middle-aged Dao King could sense better than anyone else how terrifying the 2 ck skeletons in front of him really were, causing him to finally hesitate for the first time during their fight!
Although the 2 ck skeletons were each emitting auras that could rival another peak rank 9 Dao King, as a peak sixth-stage body refiner himself, Elder Ling wasn''t overly concerned over that detail.
After all, even the weakest among peak sixth-stage body refiners was able to easily deal with a couple of average peak rank 9 Dao Kings, as long as they managed to bridge the distance between them and get close to their opponent during a fight.
Of course, if they couldn''t bridge that gap, then the fight between them would be an entirely different matter altogether, but as long as they managed to do so and close the distance quickly enough, body refiners were almost guaranteed to kill their opponent!
After all, it wasmon knowledge that in closebat, body refinement cultivators reigned supreme and could easily destroy qi refinement cultivators of the same level, as long as their opponents didn''t have any powerful defensive abilities or treasures, or if they hadn''tprehended any abnormally powerful Daos themselves!
And yet, what caused Elder Ling to hesitate was the extremely dense death qi that surrounded the ck skeletons along with their dark-red greatswords. Although Elder Ling couldn''t tell if this overwhelming death qi was a type of martial skill or some abnormally powerful Dao that Liu Mei hadprehended, the middle-aged man could instinctively tell how dangerous of an element it was, even to someone like him!
Even though body refiners were famed for their regenerative abilities, Elder Ling''s senses were now screaming at him to avoid getting wounded by those dark-red greatswords at all costs.
Unfortunately for the bald middle-aged man, that single moment of hesitation was all it took for his fate to be sealed; n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
From the depths of the pool of darkness beneath Liu Mei''s feet, 4 more ck skeletons that looked almost identical to the first 2 gradually crawled out, followed by an enormous, hideous abomination thatcked any eyes on its grotesque face!
The Death Eater along with the 4 skeleton kings then lunged at the bald man the moment they emerged, looking like a group of ravenous beasts that were finally unleashed from their shackles, causing a rain of blood to erupt.
...
Whether it was the white-robed Elder of the Holy sect, Zhuan Peng, the green-robed woman named Wang Dongmei, or anyone else from their group, they all seemed to be at a loss as Elder Ling''s miserable wails entered their ears!
The powerful peak sixth-stage body refiner was the strongest Dao King among their group, and yet in the face of that terrifying onught, he appearedpletely helpless and could only defend himself as he desperately fell back. Layers uponyers of earthen armor appeared to cover his entire body as the middle-aged man tried to block off the enemy attacks, but in the face of the ck skeletons'' unending barrage of strikes and the Death Eater''s constant pressure looming over his head, Elder Ling found himselfpletely suppressed as wounds quickly started to umte all over his body!
As for the remaining 2 ck skeletons who had yet to join the fight, they were simply standing protectively in front of Liu Mei this entire time and were merely observing Elder Ling, as if the fight in front of them had truly nothing to do with them.
''''Thi-This...''''
Meanwhile, the ck-robed Elder Ming could only raise his trembling finger and point it towards the faraway fight, looking as if he wanted to say something, but other than letting out a few inaudible sounds, the old man didn''t dare to lift a finger in the end.
Of course, it wasn''t because the man was somehow intimidated by the strength of the ck skeletons or the hideous appearance of the Death Eater. After all, those creatures may have been strong, but ultimately, they were still at the level of a peak rank 9 Dao King! With 6 peak-stage Dao Kings in his group, Elder Ming was fully confident in subduing those monsters if they all joined hands together.
What made the ck-robed old man truly shiver with trepidation however, was the constant emergence of more and more of those monsters from the ground below Liu Mei.
Undead knights followed by the regr white skeletons seemed toe out in droves as they quickly filled the battlefield around Liu Mei, and for some reason, all of them seemed to have turned their sights on him!
At this point, the old man understood that it was not just Elder Ling''s, but even his own life that would be in jeopardy if he stayed around any longer. So... without another word, the ck-robed old man decisively turned around and chose to flee at full speed!
Elder Ling''s echoing wails seemed to be turning weaker and weaker with every passing second, as the bald middle-aged man continuously failed to break free from the ck skeletons'' and the Death Eater''s entrapment, and yet the ck-robed old man in the distance didn''t slow down his fleeing speed for even a second.
It didn''t matter how many troops the opponent''s side had; if they couldn''t catch him it was all for naught. Additionally, the old man could tell that although Liu Mei''s skeletons were strong and were great in numbers, enough to even swarm a peak sixth-stage body refiner like Elder Ling, their speed was actually nothing special. At the very least it couldn''tpare to a true peak-stage Dao King like him. As long as he decided to flee, none of them could catch up to him!
As he swiftly flew away, the old man didn''t even pay any attention to Zhuan Peng or the other Dao Kings from his group and was only focused on getting as far away from Liu Mei as possible! As long as he could escape from that harbinger of death and that horrifying undead army of hers, nothing else mattered at this point!
...
It was only after flying for more than 800 miles and seeing that nobody seemed to be chasing after him that the old man finally decided to slow down and catch his breath for a moment. And yet, just as Elder Ming was about to breathe out a sigh of relief thinking that he was finally far enough from Liu Mei''s attack range, his entire body suddenly turned stiff while a cold feeling permeated his heart, as a sharp sensation suddenly pierced through his chest!
Chapter 916 Taking revenge (2)
Chapter 916 Taking revenge (2)
Lowering his head, the old man could no longer conceal the horror in his eyes as he stared fearfully at the short silver dagger that had somehow found its way past his defenses and was now lodged in his heart!
''''You...? Who are you?'''' Elder Ming''s voice was clearly trembling, but he still managed to utter that single question as he looked fearfully at the blond-haired woman who was now standing in front of him.
The old man was certain that he had never met this particr peak-stage Dao King before, let alone have a feud with her, so why would she choose to ambush him like that?! Of course, the thought that Xingyi was rted to Liu Mei didn''t even cross his mind. After all, if she was really a part of Liu Mei''s group, why wouldn''t she step in earlier when they were attacking their formation as a group, and would only make her move now, once he had already decided to escape?
To the old man''s regret though, Xingyi wasn''t the type to give an exnation once she had already decided to kill someone!
Her right hand was still holding the dagger that was embedded in Elder Ming''s chest as her left hand shed like lightning, before another silver dagger materialized in her palm out of thin air.
With a swift motion, the young woman then shed sideways, instantly severing the old man''s head in a swift strike!
Just like that... a peak-stage Dao King had lost his life!
...
Inside the ''Five-elements protective formation'', Shun Long watched the 2 scenes unfold almost simultaneously without saying a word.
Just as Xingyi severed Elder Ming''s head, Liu Mei''s ck skeletons and the Death Eater obliterated the bald middle-aged man they were fighting against, causing his robust body to burst into a pool of blood, before disappearingpletely from the face of the Endless Desert!
Although body refiners possessed incredibly tough bodies and were extremely difficult to be killed, it wasn''t impossible to do so if someone trapped them and exhausted all their energy first. As long as they couldn''t reform their bodies or if their souls were wounded during a fight, killing them wasn''t an impossible task any longer.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long didn''t bother with the remaining 4 peak-stage Dao Kings outside and emptied his mind, as he decided to continue his cultivation again. His number one priority right now was to absorb as much of the surrounding ''immortal qi'' as he could and get as close to the peak of the Dao King realm as possible before the ''City of Immortals'' closed its doors and kicked them out.
Although Bai Longtian and Jiang Chen had already stepped into the early rank 9 of the Dao King realm, Shun Long could onlyment over his own progress as his ''Monarch''s Hourss'' could only be described as a bottomless pit at this point! Regardless of how much immortal qi he absorbed, after stepping into thete stages of the Dao King realm, Shun Long could tell that even with the ''Heaven Swallowing vine''s'' help, he might not make it to the peak of the Dao King realm before the 10-year-mark came to an end.
...
At the same time, afterpletely obliterating the bald middle-aged man, Liu Mei retracted the skeletons and undead knights under hermand, leaving only the Death Eater behind, before taking a seat on the hideous monster''s back.
The green-robed woman named Wang Dongmei, as well as the other 2 peak-stage Dao Kings who hade alongside Elder Ming had already left this ce a long time ago, leaving only the white-robed Zhuan Peng behind. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
The Elder of the Holy sect was extremely curious about Liu Mei''s experiences over thest few years and how she had improved her cultivation so quickly, and his curiosity was only amplified after witnessing how strong she had grown already!
Zhuan Peng was previously confident that he could at the very least contend with Liu Mei if not outright subdue her, even if they were both peak-rank 9 Dao Kings, but after seeing thatst disy of strength, the old man realized how much he had underestimated the young woman in front of him.
At this point, Liu Mei was without a doubt far stronger than him. She may not necessarily be able to contend with those monsters in the top 100 rankings of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', but at least as far as the outer court Elders of the Holy sect were concerned, only a couple of them could be a match for her at this point!
After letting out a gentle sigh, the white-robed old man cupped his hands towards the young woman in the distance before turning around to leave.
Although Zhuan Peng really wanted to have a lengthy discussion with Liu Mei in hopes of finally getting past his barrier and ascending to the Dao Emperor realm in the future, he knew that now was not the right time for him to do so.
After all, regardless of how generous Liu Mei may be and willing to amodate him, the old man''s skin wasn''t thick enough to sit around and talk over a cup of tea, after his junior had just ughtered one of hispanions and caused the rest of them to flee.
With a respectful look, Liu Mei stood up and cupped her hands in response, as she saw the white-robed Elder take his leave.
No matter what, Zhuan Peng was a respected Elder and was someone who had treated Shun Long and the others fairly during their stay in the Holy sect, so Liu Mei would naturally treat the man with proper respect as well.
In fact, if it wasn''t for the ck-robed Elder Ming being hell-bent on entering the ''Five-elements protective formation'' earlier, Liu Mei would have been willing to take a step back and give Zhuan Peng some face. Unfortunately, Liu Mei had already learned the hard way that appearing weak within the ''City of Immortals'' was tantamount to suicide. Thus the only course of action left for her was to thoroughly deal with the ck-robed old man!
..
Barely a minute had passed since Zhuan Peng left the ce, before Xingyi''s figure gradually emerged from the shadows, appearing directly in front of the Death Eater.
The blond-haired beauty had a warm smile on her face as she sat atop the enormous monster''s back, right next to Liu Mei, before she looked at her and said confidently ''''Mei, there''s no need to wait any longer. Let''s return to that oasis!''''
Chapter 917 Taking revenge (3)
Chapter 917 Taking revenge (3)
Moments afterwards, Liu Mei''s lips curved up into a bewitching smile, and after casting onest look at the ''Five-elements protective formation'' behind her, shemanded the Death Eater to head straight towards the east of the ''Endless Desert''.
Naturally, the easternmost part of the desert was where the ''Illusion Oasis'' was located, and was precisely Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s target this time.
Thest time the two women were there, their group had taken a little more than a month to reach the outer edge of the oasis, and that was while they were traveling on the back of a peak rank 6, wind-attributed magic beast like Little Silver. This time, Liu Mei estimated that with the Death Eater''s speed, it would take them approximately half a year to reach that ce.
But of course, as long as they could get revenge against Mao Huang and that ck-robed young man named Guo Chen, even traveling for more than a year would be worth it!
As for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, although the two of them were also eager to get payback after the humiliation that Mao Huang had subjected them all to, but since they had yet to reach the peak of the Dao King realm, they both understood that they could only sit back and quietly cultivate this time.
After all, putting the mysterious Guo Chen aside, Liu Mei and Xingyi were more than enough to deal with someone at Mao Huang''s level.
Of course, Mao Huang himself wasn''t weak by any means, and could even be considered above average even by the standards of most peak rank 9 Dao Kings! Still, in front of someone like Liu Mei or Xingyi, the yellow-robed man would onlyst for a couple of minutes at most before he ends up losing his life.
...
As the 2 young women traveled towards the east, Shun Long continued to cultivate quietly within the ''Five-elements protective formation'', as the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' continued to provide him with unending amounts of purified ''immortal qi''.
At this point, Shun Long''s cultivation had already reached the peak of rank 7 in the Dao King realm and was only a step away from advancing to the early rank 8! Still, as he attempted to form the 64th golden ball of qi and push it inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'', an invisible type of pressure had already started to form around his body, clearly trying to prevent him from going any further.
The closer one was getting towards the peak of the Dao King realm, the more difficult it would be as they reached theter stages! This was even more so for people like Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi who were cultivating high-grade immortal-tier techniques!
The stronger one''s cultivation technique was, the more retaliation they would have to face from the heavens as they advanced further in their cultivation.
Techniques like Liu Mei''s ''Blood Absorption art'' were the exception, and even those had their own drawbacks in return!
As for Shun Long and his ''Monarch''s Hourss'', even Little ck couldn''t ascertain how tough it would be for someone like his master to reach the peak of the Dao King realm this time!
In fact, if it wasn''t for the endless amounts of ''immortal qi'' that everyone could absorb inside the ''City of Immortals'', the ck dragon wasn''t certain if even Shun Long''s massive fortune of high-grade spirit stones would have been enough tost him until he reached the peak of the Dao King realm!
...
Like this, time continued to pass within the ''Endless Desert'', and soon another year had already gone by.
At this point, less than 2 years were left before the ''City of Immortals'' closed ording to everyone''s calctions, so those Dao Kings who had yet to make a decent harvest were finally starting to get desperate.
At the same time, as the 10-year-old mark approached closer and closer, fights between cultivators became more frequent as a result, while even the peak-stage Dao Kings could no longer stay on the sidelines and watch! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Just like Elder Ming and his group previously, 2 more groups had ended up stumbling upon the ''Five-elements protective formation'' during the past year, but before they could create any trouble, they were quickly taken care of by Jiang Chen!
Half a year after Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s departure for the ''Illusion Oasis'', Bai Longtian became the third person to reach the peak of rank 9 in the Dao King realm, and a few days after that, Jiang Chen followed suit as well.
However, even after reaching the peak of rank 9, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian didn''t let up and stop their progress. Instead, they focused on their body refinement cultivation, as they began to absorb the pills that Shun Long had refined for them using the golden skeleton!
As for Shun Long, he had already reached the peak of rank 8 in the Dao King realm, and was only a step away from bing a bona-fide rank 9 Dao King!
Finally, a few dayster, the enormous silhouette of the Death Eater could be seen in the distance heading straight for the ''Five-elements protective formation'', causing the ground to tremble with its every step and kicking up sand along the way.
On the gigantic monster''s back, Liu Mei''s and Xingyi''s faint figures could be seen as they conversed with each other, while a half-dead corpse could also be spotted hanging from the hideous monster''s mouth!
At the same time, the Death Eater''s aura was so horrifying, and the killing intent and malice that the creature exuded were so intense, that along the way, the few Dao Kings who were unfortunate enough to encounter it immediately flew as far away as possible, unwilling to entangle themselves with such a terrifying monster.
Whether it was the creature''s own strength or the mutted figure of a peak rank 9 Dao King that it was carrying, both of those factors were scary enough to act as a deterrent against most other Dao Kings in the ''Endless Desert''!
As soon as the Death Eater entered the ''Five-elements protective formation'', Shun Long was the first one to open his eyes, immediately followed by Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, before everyone cast their gazes towards the half-dead figure that the monster was carrying almost simultaneously!
Chapter 918 The Pitiful Mao Huang
Chapter 918 The ''Pitiful'' Mao Huang
Naturally, that figure belonged to the yellow-robed peak rank 9 Dao King named Mao Huang. However, unlike the first time that Jiang Chen and the others met him, this time Mao Huangcked any of the original poise and arrogance that he carried himself with when he interacted with others.
Instead, the only thing that could be seen was the half-dead, almost unrecognizable face of a young man who was full of wounds from head to toe, staring at his surroundings with a listless look on his face.
His previously expensive and neatly tied robes had now turned into nothing but rags that even the beggars on the streets wouldn''t throw a nce at.
Clearly, the mistreatment that Mao Huang had suffered during these past 6 months wasn''t something that could be described with mere words. It was truly no different from someone who was living like a king, suddenly losing everything and being treated worse than a ve.
And his misfortune all started half a year ago, when seemingly out of thin air, 2 extraordinarily beautiful women appeared inside the ''Illusion Oasis'', both of them setting their sights on him at the same time.
The two of them attacked him without any exnation, ambushing him with an army of mysterious skeletons, as well as hundreds of intangible shadows from all sides, not giving him even a chance to resist.
Mao Huang wasn''t weak, and in fact he even considered himself to be one of the stronger peak rank 9 Dao Kings within the ''Illusion Oasis''. Even those who had gone deeper in to challenge the second and third levels of the oasis weren''t much stronger than him. Still, in the face of the 2 women''s onught, the yellow-robed man appearedpletely helpless and could only be captured in the end!
Ever since then, Mao Huang had been experiencing the worst humiliation of his life!
He was being carried in the mouth of a terrifying magic beast that was oozing with endless killing intent, while his body was still filled with countless wounds and wasn''t given a single chance to recover after their fight.
The most humiliating part was that, for some reason, Mao Huang couldn''t even muster the tiniest bit of qi to use and recover from his wounds or ess his spatial ring during this time, since the hideous monster that was carrying him seemed to have the ability to suck his qi dry as well!
Thus, he had spent the past half a year without any water, food, or spiritual qi, in a body that was heavily wounded and could copse at any moment!
Although Dao Kings didn''t have a need for food or water and could sustain themselves with spiritual qi for more than a year without any issues, in Mao Huang''s situation where he couldn''t even absorb any spiritual qi either and on top of his extremely heavy injuries, he truly felt like he could sumb at any moment.
The only thing that kept him going was his pure willpower, as well as his hatred against the two women who had ambushed him for no reason! After all, up until this day, Mao Huang didn''t have any idea why the 2 of them had kidnapped him like this. Regardless of how much he asked during those past 6 months, Liu Mei and Xingyi refused to give him any exnation either!
Mao Huang was, without a doubt, someone who preyed on the weak but didn''t meddle with those who were too strong. His status as a disciple of the ''me Emperor Pce'' made sure to protect him from any retaliation by any powerful seniors as well. Therefore, he was very meticulous about the targets he chose to exploit!
As long as it wasn''t someone in the top 100 rankings of the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce'', or someone with an extremely powerful backing, all others were fair game inside this ce.
And yet, despite constantly abiding by his own rules, Mao Huang couldn''t guess how he had offended those 2 terrifying women!
Meanwhile, the moment Jiang Chen''s eyesnded on Mao Huang, despite thetter''s face having turned almost unrecognizable by the Death Eater''s treatment, he still couldn''t suppress the surge of killing intent that was rising in his heart.
Even Bai Longtian who was usually taciturn and calm, now struggled to restrain himself from killing the yellow-robed man on the spot!
Shun Long was the only one who didn''t seem to care about him at all. After throwing a single nce at the injured yellow-robed man who was now on the verge of death, hepletely ignored him before he turned his attention back to Liu Mei.
Of course, although Shun Long didn''t care about Mao Huang, he clearly understood why Jiang Chen and the rest hated the man to the core.
After all, not only had Mao Huang abused his higher cultivation base to humiliate them and rob them blind, but he had even used an extremely sinister poison that inflicted tremendous amounts of pain on his target before it killed them. N?v(el)B\\jnn
Obviously, Mao Huang''s n wasn''t just to kill his opponents, but to make them suffer as much as possible before they died!
Naturally, although Mao Huang didn''t remember any of this, Liu Mei and the others would never forget the pain that had tormented their souls back then! After all, the poison of the ''Soul tormenting grass'' could harm even Dao Emperors if they weren''t careful, let alone middle orte-stage Dao Kings like them.
Cupping his hands, Jiang Chen faced Liu Mei and Xingyi and bowed slightly before he said in a hoarse voice
''''I will not forget this favor... sisters.''''
Just as his voice rang out, a gigantic fist of darkness appeared in the air above Jiang Chen, before it flew straight towards Mao Huang in the distance!
''''NO! YOU BASTARDS AT LEAST TELL ME...!'''' Mao Huang''s furious voice was quickly drowned into nothingness as his entire body was submerged in the darkness soon after. As Jiang Chen''s fist passed through him, the peak-stage Dao King seemed to havepletely vanished from the face of the ''Endless Desert'', leaving behind nothing but a red-colored spatial ring!
-
Chapter 919 Crossroad
Chapter 919 Crossroad
Although Liu Mei hadn''t said anything this entire time, Jiang Chen understood that she and Xingyi had deliberately kept Mao Huang alive and brought him all the way back, merely because he had mentioned that he personally wanted to take revenge!
Without another word, Jiang Chen cupped his hands a second time, before sitting on the ground and focusing his full attention on Xingyi and Liu Mei.
Clearly, since the 2 girls had returned with just Mao Huang but Guo Chen was nowhere in sight, something unexpected must have taken ce.
Of course, the thought that Liu Mei and Xingyi had failed to deal with Guo Chen didn''t even cross Jiang Chen''s mind. After all, despite the fact that Guo Chen was ranked within the top 100 among the Dao Kings who had entered the ''City of Immortals'', Jiang Chen understood that single-handedly beating Liu Mei or escaping from Xingyi''s shadows should have been close to impossible for him! In fact, Jiang Chen estimated that the number of people who could contend with Liu Mei''s current army inside the ''City of Immortals'' wouldn''t even exceed 30!
Following Jiang Chen''s actions, Bai Longtian took a seat on the ground next to Shun Long, before turning his gaze towards the 2 women as well. At this point, judging from Liu Mei''s expression, Bai Longtian could also tell that something out of the ordinary had probably happened. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Indeed, in the next moment, Liu Mei waved her hand allowing the Death Eater to disappear, before she looked at Shun Long and said somewhat hesitantly
''''Long-ge, about that Guo Chen... there is something you need to know.''''
As her voice trailed off, Liu Mei cast onest nce at Mao Huang''s figure, where nothing but that red-colored spatial ring was now left, before she continued
''''When Xingyi and I arrived back at the oasis, Guo Chen had already left and even that Mao Huang was preparing to leave! As for the magic beasts waiting outside, there weren''t even a thousand of them left anymore.''''
Liu Mei''s voice was cool and tranquil, without any hints of urgency, and yet Shun Long couldn''t help but involuntarily raise his eyebrows when he heard it before a serious expression gradually covered his face
''''Those guys actually left? They gave up on obtaining more drops of ''Immortal water'' and left just like that?''''
At this point, Shun Long understood that something truly unexpected must have happened to cause both Mao Huang and Guo Chen to leave the ''Illusion Oasis'', when they could have just kept harvesting drops of ''Immortal water'' in peace!
Additionally, it wasn''t just those two, but the remaining Dao Kings inside the oasis as well that had started to leave. Originally, when Shun Long had visited the ce, just the early and middle rank 6 magic beasts standing guard outside numbered more than seven thousand, but now, not even a thousand of them were left!
''Immortal water'' by itself was so valuable that even Dao Emperors would fight over a few hundred drops of it, so for mere Dao Kings to give it up so readily and go elsewhere, things weren''t that simple!
Nodding her head, Xingyi looked at Shun Long and answered affectionately
''''Right. Mei and I were very curious about this as well! Apparently everyone was leaving the ''Illusion Oasis'' and were hurrying towards the south, but after asking around we quickly found out why. It seems like a new trial has opened and everyone is rushing to get there as fast as they can!''''
As she finished speaking however, Xingyi suddenly lowered her head and fell silent, as if she had abruptly fallen in contemtion over something!
At this point though, how could Shun Long not realize what the two women were worried about? In fact, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian seemed to have simr expressions as well.
After all, a new trial suddenly appearing, especially one that was appealing enough to draw out experts like Guo Chen, should be filled with rewards that far eclipse those from the ''Illusion Oasis''. Treasures like the ''Immortal water'' may not even be that much inparison. Otherwise, why would someone like Guo Chen or Mao Huang even choose to leave in the first ce?
However, Shun Long had yet to break through and be a peak rank 9 Dao King! Regardless of what type of treasures that trial may contain, were they worth his time to stop cultivating and make that trip?
What if he failed to break through and reach the peak of the Dao King stage within the next 2 years because of this? No matter what, Shun Long had already emphasized that the most important thing he had to focus on, was creating a perfect foundation while in the Dao King realm! Absorbing the immortal qi in this ce was an immeasurable opportunity, so why would he give it up to explore a new trial that may be hiding countless dangers instead? Regardless of what type of treasures he could obtain, if he had to give up his perfect foundation, it wouldn''t be worth it!
And yet, contrary to Liu Mei''s and the others'' expectations, Shun Long actually stood up and dusted the sand off his robes before he said calmly
''''Since this trial is drawing everyone over, why don''t we go and take a look as well? Who knows, there might be something interesting!''''
Before Liu Mei and the others could interject, Shun Long casually walked a few steps forward and picked up Mao Huang''s spatial ring that was still on the ground, before he continued
''''Of course, if it wasn''t for this, I would have stayed inside the ''Five-elements protective formation'' and cultivated until I reached the peak of the Dao King realm, but now, we can go over and have a look.''''
Surprised expressions followed by unconcealed looks of joy quickly appeared on Bai Longtian''s and the others'' faces. At this point, and with less than 2 years left before the ''City of Immortals'' closed, it would be a lie if they said that they weren''t interested in this new trial whatsoever. After all, after cultivating in seclusion for so long, everyone was eager to test out their strength.
At the same time, Shun Long simply smiled and shook his head before he sent his spiritual sense inside Mao Huang''s spatial ring. Naturally, he was also curious to find out what kind of new trial could draw Guo Chen and the others over like that, but he was equally as curious to see the contents of Mao Huang''s spatial ring!
Chapter 920 Heavenly Tower (1)
Chapter 920 Heavenly Tower (1)
As dawn began to emerge and illuminate the ''City of Immortals'' once more, the scorching heat of the ''Endless Desert'' continued to batter the unsuspecting Dao Kings who dared to pass through its vicinity. The grains of sand, baked for countless years, had already turned a deeper shade of orange, reflecting the desert''s unforgiving and relentless nature.
Surprisingly enough, even Dao Kings weren''t immune to the heat inside the ''Endless Desert''. Things were somewhat tolerable for body refiners whose sturdy bodies could resist the overwhelming heat to a certain extent, but for most cultivators who had yet to temper their bodies, they could only protect themselves using their qi, otherwise, even taking a single step would be torturous.
And yet, Shun Long and his group were casually walking through the desert as they headed towards the south, as if the heat didn''t bother them in the slightest.
After taking a look inside Mao Huang''s spatial ring and verifying its contents, Shun Long didn''t waste any time and gathered everyone, before they began their journey towards the south!
Normally, this trip would have only taken them a couple of months if they were traveling on the back of a peak rank 6 magic beast, but now that they were traveling on foot, Shun Long estimated that it would probably take them at least a year to arrive in their destination, even if he made use of his ''Dao of Space'' in between to shorten the distance.
However, since Little Silver was now focused on absorbing the core of the ''Wind Wyrm'' that Little ck had killed back in the ''Wind Dragon''s forest'', and was already in the process of advancing to be a rank 7 magic beast, their group could only travel on foot.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem to mind this type of journey at all, and in fact even relished the idea of tempering his body under this environment.
After all, in the past couple of years, Shun Long had already consumed nearly 30 pills that he had concocted using the golden skeleton''s essence, bringing his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' to the middle of the sixth stage. Now, he was only a step away from the peak of the sixth stage as well!
Although the heat from the ''Endless Desert'' wasn''t strong enough to pierce through his defenses and harm him, it was still enough to slightly stimte his body''stent potential, allowing him to absorb the pills'' effects even faster.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were also mere steps away from reaching the peak of the sixth stage in body refinement, so this type of training was just as beneficial to them.
Liu Mei and Xingyi were the only ones who didn''t find the environment of the ''Endless Desert'' particrly interesting, but the 2 women werepletely unfazed by the heat as well, as they were protected by Liu Mei''s ''Dao of Ice''!
Although Liu Mei''s proficiency in the ''Dao of Ice'' was only at an elementary level and couldn''t be used to fight other Dao Kings, it was still more than enough to protect her and Xingyi from the heat of the desert.
..
Like this, time continued to pass as Shun Long''s group of 5 traveled towards the south, and in the blink of an eye, a month had already gone by.
Surprisingly, other than the extreme heat, the desert didn''t seem to hold any dangers that could threaten a group of peak-stage Dao Kings, making their journey particrly peaceful. asionally, a few middle-rank 6 magic beasts would show their faces and try to attack them, but none of them could survive more than a few strikes from Liu Mei''s Undead knights.
It was a monotonous routine with no change in scenery, but Shun Long could clearly feel his body getting stronger and stronger by the day, as his physique inched closer towards the peak of the sixth stage!
Eventually, as the second month came to an end, Shun Long saw his surroundings which had gradually begun to change. N?v(el)B\\jnn
The dull, uninteresting desert with its countless grains of sand seemed to have finallye to an end, and in its ce, vast, verdant ins began to emerge.
''''Finally... are we finally out of that ursed desert?!'''' Bai Longtian''s voice wasn''t loud, but a myriad of emotions were contained within it as the young man stared at his new surroundings in excitement.
Looking at the vast, grassyndscape that spanned for countless miles and feeling a cool gust of wind caressing his face, Bai Longtian couldn''t help but feel refreshed for the first time in a while.
Of course, Shun Long could also share Bai Longtian''s feelings at this point. After all, the five of them had already spent more than 6 years within the ''Endless Desert'', doing nothing but cultivating diligently the entire time.
No matter what, spending so long in such a dull environment was bound to make someone bored and crave a change of scenery.
...
Then, as the third month came to an end, Jiang Chen was actually the first one to breakthrough and reach the peak of the sixth stage in body refinement, followed by Bai Longtian just a few dayster.
At this point, both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian could confidently im that they had already reached their absolute limits within the Dao King realm!
And yet, Shun Long could also tell that within the next couple of months at most, he wouldplete his breakthrough as well! Although his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' required far more resources than other body refinement cultivators of the same realm, Shun Long could clearly sense that his muscles were now brimming with energy, and he was merely half a step away from reaching the peak of the Dao King realm in body refinement as well!
Two monthster however, just as Shun Long felt that his body was almost fully saturated with energy and was about to attempt his breakthrough, the entire ''City of Immortals'' faced a massive change.
The sky suddenly began to darken and even the mountain that Shun Long was standing on began to violently tremble, as if it was suddenly struck by a monumental earthquake, before the voice of an old man resounded loudly within Shun Long''s mind!
Chapter 921 Heavenly Tower (2)
Chapter 921 Heavenly Tower (2)
"Little brats of this mortal world, wee to the trial grounds of my Imperial Mandate Sect!"
The old man''s voice wasn''t overly loud, but Shun Long could still feel his spiritual sea shudder for some reason! In the beginning, he felt as if the old man''s voice was being transmitted directly into his mind, but as time passed, he quickly realized that things weren''t as simple as that. The owner of the voice didn''t just use his soul sense to transmit it, but there was some extremely mystical quality to it that made his voice reverberate throughout the entire ''City of Immortals''!
It didn''t matter where someone was, what type of ce they were trapped in, or what type of treasures they tried to use to defend themselves from any external influence, once the old, ancient voice resounded through the air, every single Dao King present in the ''City of Immortals'' heard its contents whether they wished to or not!
In fact, the Dao King realm cultivators weren''t the only ones who seemed to have heard it. In the second level of the ''City of Immortals'', a simr scene was taking ce as well.
The Dao Emperors there abruptly halted their actions and turned to look at the now darkened sky, where an enormous blurry face had already started taking shape, before the old man''s voice echoed in their minds as well!
''''Whether you were strong enough to survive all by yourselves so far, whether you used others, or if you simply hid away and avoided trouble, it''s all irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that you stayed alive. Strength is a skill, cunningness is a skill, but luck... that''s an even more important skill for cultivators to have. Since all of you were fortunate enough to survive until today, it means that fate has bestowed a chance upon you. Step into the Heavenly Tower and test yourselves. This old man will give you all a chance to shed your mortal shell and embark on the true path to immortality!''''
A second tremor rang through the ''City of Immortals'' as the old man''s voice uttered thatst sentence, before the gigantic face in the sky gradually vanished. The billowing dark clouds slowly receded, and the intense earthquake stopped as well, allowing the ''City of Immortals'' to return back to its original atmosphere.
And yet, a deafening silence permeated the ce as Bai Longtian and the others kept staring at the sky in a daze.
''''Trial grounds? So this ''City of Immortals'' is actually a sect''s trial grounds?'''' Bai Longtian could no longer conceal the shock in his heart after realizing the implications behind the old man''s words! No matter what, for a single sect to have created such an enormous ce merely to test its new disciples was nothing short of unbelievable! At least as far as Bai Longtian''s imagination went, he couldn''t fathom how terrifying of a power this Imperial Mandate sect must have been, to be able to create a ce like this.
''''Imperial Mandate sect? I don''t think I have heard of this name before!'''' Jiang Chen shook his head as he pondered the old man''s words as well. From what he could infer at least, Jiang Chen could tell that this ''Imperial Mandate sect'' certainly wasn''t a native of the central continent and most likely came from somewhere deep in the ''Immortal Dimension''. Otherwise, that old man wouldn''t have called them ''little brats of this mortal world''. And yet, although Jiang Chen wasn''t a native of the ''Immortal Dimension'', he possessed at least some rudimentary knowledge about most of the first-rate sects who ruled a region in the ''Immortal Dimension'', but he had never heard the name Imperial Mandate sect before!
Unable toe to a conclusion, he eventually turned to Shun Long hoping for an answer.
And yet, to Jiang Chen''s and the others'' surprise, Shun Long seemed to have fallen deep in his thoughts as well.
After a few moments of silence, Shun Long finally closed his eyes and let his consciousness slip into the foggy space inside the ''Stone of Time'' before he asked curiously
''''Little ck, what do you think?'''' N?v(el)B\\jnn
Little ck''s bright blue eyes resembled a deep, sereneke at this moment, as the ck dragon answered calmly
''''Master doesn''t need to think about this matter too much. After all, such practices are actuallymonce in the ''Immortal Dimension''. There are endless mortal worlds out there, and this mortal world that master lives in is just one among many. Although the ''Immortal Dimension'' is extremely vast, it''s only natural for those sects who are always looking for talented disciples to search through these mortal worlds as well!
As for this Imperial Mandate sect, although I have never heard of that name before, judging from how long their trial ground has been around, they must be at least a second-rate sect in the ''Immortal Dimension''!''''
Shun Long nodded after hearing Little ck''s assessment before he opened his eyes again. Indeed, most things seem to have fallen into ce this way. The ''Demon-fanged City'', the ''Stone Mural'', and the ''Illusion Oasis'', every single ce that Shun Long and his group had visited so far, was always a trial followed by a reward, depending on how well one performed during the trial.
The more ''Demon-fanged mice'' one hunted, the more rewards they could obtain from the city, and the longer one stayed in the ''Illusion Oasis'', the more ''Immortal water'' they could get their hands on in the end! As for the ''Stone Mural'', that was a trial that purely depended on one''s talent. Of course, Shun Long had no idea how many more trials the entire ''City of Immortals'' had, but there were surely many, many more!
Besides, since this ''City of Immortals'' was, in reality, the trial grounds of an immortal sect, Shun Long could finally guess why it was only Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who were allowed to enter inside!
With a deep breath, he then closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the ground as he emptied his mind. First, he was nning toplete his breakthrough and reach the peak of the sixth stage in body refinement, before paying a visit to that ''Heavenly Tower''!
Chapter 922 Heavenly Tower (3)
922 Chapter 922 Heavenly Tower (3)
As soon as the old man''s voice faded, a translucent beam of light shot up from the southernmost part of the ''City of Immortals'', extending all the way towards the sky!
This beam of light was extremely thin and was barely visible from Shun Long''s location, and yet without a doubt it was there. Although Shun Long wasn''t certain about it, if he had to guess, then that light was most likely rted to the ''Heavenly Tower'' that the old man had just mentioned.
For now, though, Shun Long had already put that matter at the back of his mind and was instead focused on his imminent breakthrough. At this point, the energy in his body was practically overflowing after consuming dozens of the golden skeleton''s pills, causing his muscles to brim with power.
With his eyes closed, he allowed the remnant streams of energy inside him to travel through his meridians, before his muscles, bones, tendons, and blood, all greedily absorbed them like a group of voracious beasts!
At this point, Shun Long''s body resembled an insatiable ck hole. It didn''t matter how much energy he absorbed, his body would devour it all without fail!
Finally, half a dayter, he could faintly feel something inside him break. It was like an invisible barrier had just been shattered, before a tremendous burst of power surged within him.
At that moment, Liu Mei and the others who were standing guard around the mountain all turned their gazes towards Shun Long, only to end up witnessing an unbelievable scene taking ce.
Shun Long was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, and yet spatial rifts had already started to appear everywhere around him. The surrounding space had inexplicably started to shatter, thoroughly obliterating everything the spatial rifts touched!
Even the tip of the mountain that Shun Long was standing on was ground to dust mere momentster, unable to handle the destructive power of those rifts.
''''This!? Is this really the power of a sixth-stage body refiner? Just how strong did brother Shun get...?'''' The distant Bai Longtian couldn''t help but mutter in a low voice as he stared at Shun Long''s seated figure in astonishment.
Others may not fully understand the source of his shock, but as a peak sixth-stage body refiner, Bai Longtian was well aware of what this scene in front of him truly meant!
Just the residual power of Shun Long''s breakthrough had caused the space around him to shatter, and had even ended up destroying a big chunk of the mountain he was standing on just now. Then... just how strong would his physical body be if Shun Long actually exerted his full power?
Bai Longtian didn''t know, but he had a feeling that even a horde of peak rank 6 magic beasts may not be able to stop the current Shun Long.
In the central continent, it wasmon knowledge that Dao King realm cultivators were able to eradicate entire cities from existence with a single powerful strike. Although that was a bit of an exaggeration, reality wasn''t that far off from it either.
As for sixth-stage body refiners, although their physical bodies were much more durable, and their abilities were even more suited towards closebat than qi refiners, they couldn''t quite achieve the same destructive effects in their attacks!
This was the difference between body refiners and qi refiners after all. The first possessed extremely sturdy bodies that were suited for closebat and could regenerate from almost any wounds they received, while thetter could harness the qi around them and could learn countless mystical martial skills, including ones that were capable of razing an entire city to the ground... provided that this city wasn''t protected by any powerful formations of course!
14:30
This was the difference between body refiners and qi refiners after all. The first possessed extremely sturdy bodies that were suited for closebat and could regenerate from almost any wounds they received, while thetter could harness the qi around them and could learn countless mystical martial skills, including ones that were capable of razing an entire city to the ground... provided that this city wasn''t protected by any powerful formations of course!
However, Bai Longtian had a feeling that the current Shun Long could most likely achieve simr effects and bring down an entire city on his own, using just the might of his physical body... or at least that was the feeling he got after looking at those terrifying space rifts and the scene of mass destruction they had caused.
A few momentster, Shun Long finally opened his eyes and took a deep breath, before he turned his attention towards Liu Mei and the others who were still waiting for him.
Almost at the same time, the half-a-dozen spatial rifts around him all vanished, allowing his surroundings to quickly return back to normal... well, normal if one excluded the half-destroyed mountain range he was standing on that was now on the verge of copse!
Luckily, there were no magic beasts in the vicinity around them, or a scene of carnage may have very well followed as well.
With a solemn look on his face, Jiang Chen took a step forward and approached Shun Long, before he said with a conflicted look in his eyes N?v(el)B\\jnn
''''Every time you breakthrough I feel like I get left further and further behind. No matter how hard I try, I can never seem to catch up in the end! Haa... it''s alright, you can just ignore my rant.''''
For the first time since he started cultivating, even a genius like Jiang Chen actually felt inferior to someone else.
On one hand, Jiang Chen truly felt happy in his heart. After all, Shun Long was the person he had decided to follow, and he treated him both as a leader and a friend, so the stronger Shun Long was getting, the happier Jiang Chen got as well.
On the other hand however, Jiang Chen considered Shun Long and Bai Longtian his rivals as well. Naturally, seeing one of them be so unreasonably strong -to the point where Jiang Chen didn''t even feel like he had a chance fighting against right now- was also a bit disheartening.
Of course, it wasn''t that Shun Long waspletely unbeatable. But Jiang Chen could instinctively tell, that after his most recent breakthrough, he would only have a fighting chance if he truly went all-out... barring the use of his bloodline power of course... while Shun Long relied solely on the power of his physical body to fight him and didn''t use the slightest bit of his qi! Otherwise, it would just be a one-sided beatdown instead.
With how powerful Shun Long''s ''Dao of Time'' was, to have such an overwhelmingly strong physique on top of that made him truly a peerless monster! Jiang Chen couldn''t fathom how any other Dao King in the ''City of Immortals'' could possibly fight Shun Long on equal grounds anymore. What kind of monster would that person have to be?
Ultimately,parison was truly the thief of joy!
Chapter 923 Heavenly Tower (4)
923 Chapter 923 Heavenly Tower (4)
A few momentster though, Jiang Chen quickly rposed himself before another thought shed through his mind
''It''s still alright. Right now we may not be of much help to him, but once we step into the Sovereign realm things will be different. Especially so for that Buddhist bastard...''
As he sorted out his thoughts Jiang Chen threw a nce at Bai Longtian, before his eyes shed with a sharp glint.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t say anything, but seeing Jiang Chen''s expression change into a determined one caused his lips to curve upward, forming a slight smile.
It was clear that after witnessing hisst breakthrough, both Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian were thinking the same thing; It didn''t matter if they weren''t the strongest ones in the group, but at the very least, they would never allow themselves to be a burden!
Shortly afterwards, as if on cue, everyone turned their gazes towards the distant beam of light that was still piercing the sky. Staring at the thin, almost invisible incandescent pir of brightness, Xingyi finally asked, a hint of excitement adorning her voice
''''Brother Long, should we go have a look?'''' Just like Shun Long, everyone else had also guessed by now that the gigantic pir of light was most likely rted to that ''Heavenly Tower'' the old man had mentioned. Although they didn''t have any concrete proof, considering the timing of the pir''s appearance and the fact that it was located in the far south, that was most likely the case.
Nodding his head, Shun Long stood up and dusted off his clothes, before he turned to Liu Mei and the rest and said with a smile
''''Let''s hurry up then. If this is the trial that Guo Chen and the others were heading to, we are alreadygging behind.'''' At this point, Shun Long didn''t know if the ''Heavenly Tower'' was the same trial that Guo Chen and the other Dao Kings from the ''Immortal Oasis'' were aiming for, but he guessed that the chances of that being true were rtively high.
Of course, he didn''t have any idea how Guo Chen and the others could have found out about the location of the tower beforehand, but that wasn''t really that important anyway.
After all, anyone among those Dao Kings who could rank in the top 100 in the ''White Tiger Chamber of Commerce'' list, were elites among the elites of the central continent. Naturally, they had their own ways of procuring information as well!
In the next moment, Shun Long raised his right hand and shed the air in front of him, opening up a human-sized space tear.Now that his physical body had reached the peak of the sixth stage, he could faintly feel his affinity towards the ''Dao of Space'' increasing as well. Although hisprehension of it was still far from reaching the peak of the Dao King realm, the space tears that he created could now cover evenrger distances.
...
A monthter, the faint outline of a tower finally appeared on the horizon.
Although Shun Long and his group were still a good distance away from it, they could clearly see the imposing white tower and the brilliant white light it was emitting.
During the past month, they had also noticed plenty of other groups of Dao Kings all traveling in the direction of the tower, but unsurprisingly, none of them were willing to try and mess with others.
It was almost as if every single person inside the ''City of Immortals'' had now made reaching the tower their sole goal.
Of course, part of that was also due to the survivors that were left. At this point, only the strongest, most powerful, and most insidious of Dao Kings would be left alive within the ''City of Immortals''! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
By now, nearly 9 years had passed since the ''City of Immortals'' opened its gates, so everyone knew that most of the weaklings would have already been filtered out... one way or another.
Whether that was due to the countless dangers that lingered in this ce, or due to other Dao Kings dealing with them, ultimately, the end result could only be one. Anyone who could survive at this point must have either been a battle-hardened veteran, or someone blessed by fortune!
Still, Shun Long and his group didn''t pay the majestic white tower in the distance more than a couple of nces, before everyone focused on the present.
As Liu Mei''s Undead knights severed the neck of a 6-meter(20ft) tall, scaled magic beast that resembled a two-headed snake, Bai Longtian finished another one off, before he wiped the blood off his sword and huffed in a tired tone
''''Just how many of them are there? We''ve already killed more than a hundred and they still keeping. Aren''t they afraid of death at all?''''
Shaking his head, Shun Long sent a punch forward, obliterating another of those two-headed snakes before he answered calmly
''''Twin-headed earth snakes are among the deadliest and most vicious middle rank 6 magic beasts. They may not be overly strong, but their poison is enough to take down even peak rank 6 magic beasts given enough time. Still, their worst trait is that they are extremely aggressive. Once they mark a target, they will either kill it, or they will all die trying.''''
During this past month, Shun Long''s group had to deal with dozens of different magic beasts that ambushed them without stop.
Although most of those magic beasts were merely early rank 6 magic beasts that were only equivalent to early-stage Dao Kings, their sheer numbers alone were enough to threaten even some newly advancedte-stage Dao Kings.
Still, in front of Liu Mei''s army of undead monsters, early rank 6 magic beasts were no different from cannon fodder. They couldn''t even get close enough to Shun Long and the others, before Liu Mei''s skeletons and her Undead knights obliterated them.
However, the closer Shun Long and his group got to the distant white tower, the more frequent and stronger the attacks of the magic beasts became.
Finally, a weekter, even a peak rank 6 magic beast decided to show its fangs!
Chapter 924 Heavenly Tower (5)
924 Chapter 924 Heavenly Tower (5)
A beast that looked like a red-colored ape was now towering over Shun Long, staring at the blue-robed young man in front of it with endless ferocity in its dark yellow eyes.
The ''Blood Devouring Ape'' was just barely over 3 meters (10ft) tall, with bright red skin that seemed almost sunburned, and extremely long limbs that weren''t proportional to its torso. The beast wasn''t even as tall as most other peak rank 6 magic beasts, and yet, Shun Long knew that it was actually much more dangerous than the majority of peak rank 6 magic beasts out there.
The ''Blood Devouring Ape''s'' physique was extremely sturdy, so much so that it even allowed it to resist the attacks of other rank 6 magic beasts directly.
Although the ''Twin-headed earth snakes'' that Shun Long had fought earlier were powerful middle rank 6 magic beasts that could even threaten a peak rank 6 magic beast if they banded together, if they were faced with the ''Blood Devouring Ape'', the snakes could only flee in terror!
After all, their fangs weren''t strong enough to pierce through the ape''s steel-like skin, nor could they overpower it in a show of strength.
However, Shun Long simply smiled as he looked at the towering figure of the ape that was only half the size of a normal ''Twin-headed earth snake'', before he shook his head and said tly
''''I don''t mind ying with you, but you are not much stronger than my Little Silver. You are only going to suffer if you don''t step aside.''''
The ''Blood Devouring Ape'' roared angrily at the provocation of the tiny, insignificant human, before its thick legs suddenly kicked the ground underneath it, propelling it forward at a terrifying speed.
Although the ape couldn''t understand humannguage, as a peak rank 6 magic beast, it was intelligent enough to understand that Shun Long was looking down on it at this moment. N?v(el)B\\jnn
A weak human that was only half its size was looking at it with eyes no different than those the ape had used when it hunted its meals. How could an overlord among peak rank 6 magic beasts tolerate such disrespect?
''''ROOOOAAAR!!''''
The ape''s roar grew almost deafening, its wild eyes zing with fury as it closed the distance between them like a crimson blur.
As its massive body flew through the air, the beast swung its long arms, aiming to take down Shun Long in a single strike. The ape''s arms covered both the left and the right side its opponent could escape to, giving him no path to retreat.
To begin with, the distance between the azure-robed man and the ferocious magic beast was only a dozen meters or so, which, for a peak rank 6 magic beast, was a distance that could be covered in a single leap!
And yet, contrary to the beast''s expectations, the small human didn''t even try to move and avoid its strike. Instead, he merely stretched out his own arms and tried to catch the ape''s arms directly.
The ''Blood Devouring Ape''s'' eyes shed with mirth as the powerful beast put all of its remaining strength behind its attack! Since the arrogant human wasn''t backing down, it was going to pulverize him without holding back!
However, the scene that followed caused the ape''s heart to instantly turn cold before a feeling of dread overwhelmed the powerful beast!
The blue-robed young man effortlessly blocked the two descending arms that nked him from both directions, easily holding them down before he turned towards the ape, staring straight into the beast''s cold yellow eyes!
The ''Blood Devouring Ape'' felt its heart plunging deep into the abyss as it realized it couldn''t free its arms from the small human''s grasp.
For the first time since bing a peak rank 6 magic beast, the ape finally felt the threat of death looming over its head like an inescapable de ready to strike!
Throwing onest nce at therge beast in front of him, Shun Long merely shook his head and said disinterestedly
''''You may be a little bit stronger than Little Silver, but that''s all there is to it. You are not bad for a rare-grade magic beast, but you still can''tpare to the stronger ones out there.''''
With a casual flick of his wrist, Shun Long hurled the ape''s gigantic body aside, sending it flying into a distant hill! The small hill immediately exploded uponing in contact with the ape''s body, raising a cloud of debris and dust in the process.
And yet, a momentter, the ''Blood Devouring Ape'' stood back on its feet, appearingpletely unharmed. Its thick hide hadn''t even been damaged and its steel-like body was still brimming with power.
Still, a hint of confusion could be seen in the crimson ape''s eyes as it stood back up and stared at the blue-robed young man in the distance, but to its surprise, Shun Long didn''t throw another nce at it before he turned around and walked away, heading further towards the south.
''''Rooooaaar!''''
The crimson ape let out onest, deafening roar, before eventually lowering its head and staring silently at the blue-robed young man''s back that disappeared further into the distance.
With its intelligence, the ''Blood Devouring Ape'' could tell that if Shun Long had wanted to harm it, he could have easily done so during thatst strike of his. And yet, the blue-robed young man had decided to let it go for some reason. The crimson ape couldn''t understand why, but it still felt a mixture of resentment and gratitude brewing in its heart. Resentment because it had been treated like a mischievous child by a human, but gratitude because its life had been spared because of that.
...
Meanwhile, Shun Long had already put the matter of the ''Blood Devouring Ape'' to the back of his mind as he kept walking further towards the south, with Liu Mei and the others following right behind him.
As for the reason why he had decided to spare the crimson ape, the answer was actually fairly simple; Although the ''Blood Devouring Ape'' was a peak rank 6 magic beast, it wasn''t as if Shun Long wascking in beast cores at this moment. As for the ''Blood Devouring Ape'' itself, although its flesh and blood were indeed nutritious and could allow a sixth-stage body refiner to increase their strength if they consumed it, for Shun Long who had already reached the peak of the sixth stage, the ape''s flesh wasn''t going to have any effect.
Like this, Shun Long and his group continued to move forward, obliterating even the peak rank 6 magic beasts that blocked their way, and finally, 2 weekster, they arrived in front of the majestic, enormous white tower.
Chapter 925 The Heavenly Rankings (1)
925 Chapter 925 The Heavenly Rankings (1)
In the center of those vast ins, surrounded by thousands ofte-stage Dao Kings and powerful magic beasts, a tower made from pure white marble stood tall, looking like it had been there since time immemorial!
The majestic white tower appeared like a sentinel from a forgotten age, weathering the passage of countless eons, and yet the corruption of time didn''t seem to have any effect on it whatsoever.
The myriad of transparent golden runes on its surface were still vibrant and vivid, forming numerous intricate formations, while from the top of the tower itself, a brilliant white light could be seen spreading outwards, drawing the eyes of anyone whoid their gaze upon it.
Even from a distance away, the tower''s dazzling radiance was clear for everyone to see, attracting all those nearby Dao Kings like moths to a me, but it was only after arriving in front of the tower itself that Shun Long could truly appreciate the magnitude of the monumental creation.
As he approached closer and closer towards it, Shun Long could also see the different groups of Dao Kings that had gathered around the tower''s entrance.
Many of those Dao Kings chose to dismount from their magic beasts and ask others what was going on, while a small minority among them decided to walk straight through the tower''s entrance without a second thought.
The most eye-catching sight, however, was definitely the sheer number of those Dao Kings present!
No matter where Shun Long looked, whether it was the east, west, north, or even south, droves of Dao Kings were flying from every direction, all of them congregating in front of the majestic tower.
Practically everyone among them seemed to bete-stage Dao Kings as well, while the vast majority of them were even rank 9 Dao Kings, painting a truly spectacr scene.
However, what surprised Shun Long the most was neither the umpteen number of Dao Kings around the tower, nor the tens of thousands of rank 6 magic beasts stationed outside its entrance. It wasn''t even the tower''s picturesque-like beauty nor the heavenly radiance that it was clearly emitting, which made it seem like a second sun. No, what truly shocked Shun Long was the unique auraing from the depths of the ''Heavenly Tower''s entrance... the aura of immortal qi!
As he felt the thick immortal qi that seeped through the tower''s entrance, Shun Long couldn''t help but take a deep breath before he said with a bright look in his eyes
''''This whole tower is a treasure! It''s almost as if the entirety of immortal qi here originates from this ce...''''
Bai Longtian and the others all turned to look at Shun Long with incredulous looks in their eyes, and for a moment, they almost forgot how to breathe. Even the visage of the majestic tower couldn''tpare to the shock they were feeling in their hearts right now, as the same thought shed through everyone''s mind; Was Shun Long actually... excited? None of them could remember thest time they had seen him like this! No, that was IF they had even seen him like this. After all, how many treasures could enter his eyes and make him leave such remarks?
And yet, Shun Long merely scoffed after seeing everyone''s reactions, before he shook his head and asked dejectedly
''''What? Do I not look human? It''s only natural to get excited when there is something precious right in front of me...''''
Of course, Shun Long couldn''t me Jiang Chen and the others for their reactions, but he still shook his head in dejection. After all, it was true that he very rarely showed desire over anything, so it was easy to get misunderstood.
However, it wasn''t as if he had no desires whatsoever! Whether it was back in the ''King''s Pce'', the ''Myriad Pills pavilion'' in the Northern Sovereign''s city, or the auction of the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'' in Murong City, there was always something that piqued his interest.
It just so happened that Shun Long''s standards were so far above others, that only a few truly rare treasures were enough to stir his heart! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
...
A couple of minutester, Shun Long and his group had already arrived in the vicinity of the tower, before heading straight towards its entrance. Just like the others, Shun Long wasn''t nning on wasting time idling around and was going to enter the ''Heavenly Tower'' straight away.
He had already swept all of the nearby Dao Kings using his soul sense a while ago, and had already verified that Guo Chen wasn''t anywhere among them, which most likely meant that that bastard had already entered the tower as well.
As the group of five walked towards the majestic marble structure however, the conversations of the nearby Dao Kings entered Shun Long''s ears, causing him to slow down his steps for a bit
''''I heard that Zhou Tai has already passed the 4th floor of the ''Heavenly Tower'' and is nning to challenge the 5th! No wonder he is regarded as the second most talented individual in the ''White tiger chamber ofmerce''!''''
''''Hmph! Zhou Tai may be strong, but he still can''tpare to our Tianxuan dynasty''s young lord! Young lord Xuan Long passed the 4th floor long ago, and by now, he may have also passed the 5th! Who knows how strong he will be by the time hees out?''''
''''Fool, do you think the 5th floor is that easy to pass? Xuan Long is only ranked 9th in the Heavenly Rankings! If he has already passed the 5th floor, then doesn''t that mean that Huang Yun and the others have already passed it as well? What are you bragging about?''''
As the conversations around them started to get more and more heated, Shun Long and his group continued to walk towards the magnificent tower''s gate unperturbed.However, the moment they arrived in front of the tower''s gates, Shun Long suddenly halted his steps and turned his gaze towards a gigantic b of stone situated right above the tower''s gates. At the very top of the stone, the words ''Heavenly Rankings'' were depicted in luminous golden letters, their radiance so bright, it was almost blinding!
Almost instinctively, Shun Long nced at the person in 9th ce, and indeed, the name Xuan Long was there! Although Shun Long had never met this young lord of the Tianxuan dynasty, it was very likely that this person was one of those people the Northern Sovereign wanted to introduce him to before they entered the ''City of Immortals''.Still, Shun Long didn''t pay too much attention to him and simply continued with the rest of the list.
However, as his gaze continued to travel upwards, his eyes suddenly focused on the 7th spot, where an overly familiar name was situated:
''Heavenly Rankings:''
7th: Jiang Tianfang!
Chapter 926 The Heavenly Rankings (2)
Chapter 926 The Heavenly Rankings (2)
Noticing Shun Long''s peculiar reaction, Liu Mei and the others gradually turned their gazes towards therge b of stone situated above the ''Heavenly Tower''s'' gates, before simr expressions appeared on their faces moments afterwards.
''''Uncle Jiang?'''' N?v(el)B\\jnn
''''Father? What is going on...? What is my father''s name doing here?'''' Jiang Chen couldn''t help but ask in a surprised tone as he stared at the familiar name on the Heavenly Rankings list.
Although it was true that Jiang Tianfang had entered the ''City of Immortals'' alongside their group, Jiang Chen was well aware that his father was still a powerful rank 9 Dao Emperor, so naturally he must have been transported to the upper level of the ''City of Immortals''.
Therefore, if Jiang Tianfang had somehow entered a ''Heavenly Tower'' in the upper level, his name should have appeared there instead.
After a moment of serious contemtion, Bai Longtian was the first one to speak, as the handsome white-robed young man shook his head and assessed the situation
''''If I''m not wrong, this tower, or at least a simr ''Heavenly Tower'' must have appeared on the upper level as well, where all the Dao Emperors like uncle Jiang were sent to. Since we already know now that this whole ''City of Immortals'' is a type of trial grounds for the ''Imperial Mandate sect'', it''s only logical to think that they would want to test both Dao Kings and Dao Emperors under simr trials. That''s why it''s only fair to assume that another ''Heavenly Tower'' must have appeared on the upper level as well... And if that''s the case, it''s very likely that these 2 towers are also connected with each other. This would also exin why uncle Jiang''s name appeared on the ''Heavenly Rankings'' list here.''''
Bai Longtian''s deduction was calm and collected, as if he was merely putting together the pieces of a puzzle, and yet the conclusion he came to was still startling nheless.
For the trials between Dao Kings and Dao Emperors to be interconnected and even be ranked jointly, just how confident was the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' of the fairness of their rankings? After all, Dao Emperors had ess to many more abilities and powerful martial skills than mere Dao Kings, so that on its own was already a significant advantage for them!
And yet, the more Xingyi and the others thought about it, the more they realized that Bai Longtian''s hypothesis seemed to make sense!
Nodding his head, Shun Long looked at Jiang Chen and the others and said calmly
''''Longtian''s theory is most likely correct. Even if the ''Heavenly Tower''s'' trials aren''t identical among Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, they should still be simr to a certain extent. As for what they contain... we can only find out after we enter the tower!''''
...
The gates of the enormous ''Heavenly Tower'' were wide open, as if inviting the challengers to step inside and take on its mysterious trials. However, even from a distance, Shun Long could still sense the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations insidiously enveloping the tower''s entrance. Clearly, the space within the interior of the tower was distorted and was much different from its external appearance.
Still, a few momentster, Shun Long and his group stepped forward, disappearing past the entrance and entering the ''Heavenly Tower''.
...
As he walked past the wooden gates of the majestic white tower, Shun Longpletely emptied his mind and focused on perceiving his surroundings. A momentter, the surrounding Dao Kings near the tower''s entrance, the numerous magic beasts stationed around the tower, and even the ''Heavenly Tower'' itself gradually distorted and became blurry, before Shun Long found himself within a vast expanse of emptiness.
True darknesspletely enveloped his surroundings, a darkness so thick that it was almost palpable and couldn''t be pierced by the naked eye. Even after expanding his soul sense to sense his surroundings, Shun Long still couldn''t see anything around him, making him feel as if he was truly isted in the middle of nowhere.
There were very few things capable ofpletely blocking a person''s soul sense, to the point where they felt they were practically blind. And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem worried in the slightest and merely waited calmly in the stifling silence. After all, he could still sense that his qi wasn''t disrupted by the darkness, which meant that he could still use his ''Dao of Time'' at will. It was only his soul sense and vision that were being impaired by it.
Moments gradually turned into minutes, and finally, an incense stick of timeter, a familiar old voice sounded in his mind, causing him to open his resting eyes.
''''Aspiring disciples of my ''Imperial Mandate sect'', wee to the ''Heavenly Tower''! Since you have already decided to take on my trial, this old man won''t keep you waiting any further! The rules are simple: Pass each floor of the ''Heavenly Tower'' and receive a corresponding reward depending on your performance. Fail and you may perish.
Should any of you pass the first three floors of the ''Heavenly Tower'', you will be allowed to be outer-court disciples of my ''Imperial Mandate sect''. Should you pass the first 5 floors, you will be allowed to take the test for inner court disciples directly after entering the sect! Passing the 6th floor means that you have talentparable to the top inner-court disciples of my ''Imperial Mandate sect'', and should any of you pass the 7th floor... you will have a chance to learn directly under the Hall masters! Now step forward and give it your all. This is your chance to seize your mortal fate.''''
As the old man spoke, his voice became progressively louder and louder. During thatst sentence, even Shun Long could feel a slight pressure in his spiritual sea, causing him to frown for a moment.
A few secondster however, the old man''s voice disappeared causing the pressure to vanish alongside it, before Shun Long felt his surroundings change once more. The darkness around him rapidly receded, revealing the scene it was hiding beneath its dark veil!
Chapter 927 First trial: Test of strength!
Chapter 927 First trial: Test of strength!
As the darkness around him gradually receded, Shun Long found himself at the heart of a vast, yetpletely empty coliseum. The ancient coliseum seemed to be fully made of stone and spanned for miles and miles on end, and yet aside from the sole azure-robed young man standing destely at its very center, there didn''t seem to be a single other soul in sight.
Other than the thousands upon thousands of exquisitely crafted stone seats filling the spectator stands or the countless grains of sand littering the ground, there didn''t seem to be anything else in this ce either... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
No, that was wrong. After taking a quick look around him, Shun Long quickly noticed an anomaly. The ancient coliseum may have been devoid of any living beings, but there was something peculiar that stood out, immediately attracting his attention.
Just a few meters away from him, a small obsidian obelisk was erected in the center of the arena, its pointy edge facing the sky.
The obsidian obelisk wasn''t overly big, just a little more than a single meter in height, and yet its shiny luster painted a sharp contrast to its abandoned surroundings, quickly drawing Shun Long''s attention.
''''Is that an appraisal obelisk?'''' Shun Long''s voice was akin to a whisper, mumbling as he looked at the ck obelisk just a few meters away from him.
However, within the deste coliseum, even that single whisper sounded eerie and out of ce as it echoed throughout the ancient arena.
Meanwhile, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck opened his bright azure eyes and studied the obsidian obelisk in silence. Just like his master, the ck dragon didn''t seem taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
Of course, Little ck was well aware of how those ''immortal sects'' tested their new disciples so something like that was only natural. Using an appraisal obelisk before the trials began wasmonce for those powerful sects who wanted to evaluate their disciples'' achievements.
Nodding his head, the ck dragon examined the surface of the obelisk for a couple of minutes before he nodded his head and answered calmly
''''Master is right. That''s a low-grade appraisal obelisk. Although this one is only low-grade and cannot truly judge a person''s talent based on their bone age, physique, cultivation stage, and cultivation technique, it''s still enough to evaluate mere Dao Kings and Dao Emperors while they undergo their tests.''''
Shun Long nodded his head and after a moment of brief contemtion, he walked towards the obelisk.
Eight simple words were engraved on its ck onyx-like surface, looking like they were carved using a sword instead of a brush. The words were simple and didn''t hide any profound meaning within them, but Shun Long could still tell that each letter was sharp and forceful, like they were left there by the sword of a true sword expert!
''Use your qi to engrave your name here''
A momentter, Shun Long''s fingers moved swiftly as he used his qi to inscribe two more characters on the ck obelisk''s surface;
Shun Long.
The obelisk''s surface was slightly cold to the touch, as if the entire monolith was covered in a thinyer of ice. However, after absorbing Shun Long''s qi, a glowing silver light gradually enveloped the ck obelisk, before abruptly vanishing from the ancient arena!
Following the obelisk''s disappearance, a change began to take ce in the ancient coliseum as well.
In the next moment, Shun Long could feel the qi in the air around him swirl and tremble, before it began to coalesce into the shape of arge, hideous abomination!
A bony, cadaverous monster that resembled a lizard began to take shape a few meters away from Shun Long, starting from its gigantic head and its beady-like eyes that were brimming with malice before moving towards its body.
The gaunt monster was extremely thin, almost emaciated, but contrary to its feeble and frail appearance, its long limbs were brimming with power. The long, sharp ws on its four legs resembled sharpened des, while its rows of pointy fangs were capable of shattering even peak gold-grade weapons with a single bite!
Shun Long only needed a nce to recognize this peak rank 6 magic beast in front of him; After all, it was among the strongest rare-grade magic beasts, as well as the most dangerous ones, the ''Ravenous Earth lizard''!
At the same time that the lizard''s body was forming, a simr scene was taking ce at the other end of the arena.
The figure of a small, four-winged bird surrounded by crimson lightning began to take shape on the other side, starting from its sharp beak before moving towards the rest of its body!
Although the bird was extremely small for a magic beast, not muchrger than an eagle, the qi it took to form its diminutive body wasn''t any less than the ''Ravenous Earth lizard''s''!
No, in fact, it was slightly more than that.
Momentster, its entire body was formed, and the feeling of danger the bird radiated wasn''t any lower than that of the massive lizard. Its sharp beak could easily sh with rank 3 gold-grade weapons while its sharp talons could sh even the sturdiest of gold-grade armors with a single strike!
However, Shun Long was aware, that just like the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'', this bird''s most dangerous trait wasn''t its physical body that could even sh with peak sixth-stage body refiners. Instead, it was the sparks of crimson lightning that were dangerously crackling around its 4 red-colored wings and were ready to explode at any moment.
That was why the bird was called the ''Red Lightning sparrow''.
Of course, a beast like the ''Blood Devouring ape'' that Shun Long had faced on his way to the ''Heavenly Tower'' couldn''t possibly bepared to either the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' or the ''Red Lightning sparrow''!
Thetter were both true, bonafide rare-grade magic beasts that could take the lives of even peak-stage Dao Kings!
Chapter 928 First trial: Test of Strength! (2)
Chapter 928 First trial: Test of Strength! (2)
As he looked at the two peak rank 6 magic beasts that had almost finished forming their bodies by now, Shun Long merely nodded indifferently before his figure suddenly turned into a blur, heading directly for the gigantic lizard in the distance.
Although average peak-stage Dao Kings would find it extremely difficult to deal with even a single one of those powerful magic beasts, let alone with both of them at the same time, Shun Long didn''t even consider it much of a challenge as he immediately set his eyes on the cadaverous beast that was closest to him!
In the blink of an eye, he had already arrived in front of the emaciated lizard, before turning his gaze towards the gigantic lizard''s bony head.
The gaunt monster''s beady ck eyes seemed somewhat startled by Shun Long''s unexpected arrival, but the hunger and malice inside them couldn''t be concealed as the bony beast stared savagely at the azure-robed young man that dared to approach it!
Unfortunately for the lizard, Shun Long wasn''t nning to waste any time with it and was aiming to take the beast down with a single strike!
In the next moment, the muscles in his entire body stretched taut before his Monarch''s Eternal body exploded with unimaginable power. A force that could obliterate even the strongest Dao Kings gathered around his right fist before it barreled towards the enormous beast in front of him like a torrential wave, causing even the surrounding space to crackle and tremble in response.
As Shun Long''s right fist cut through the air, an unstoppable power crushed towards the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'', causing the air within the ancient coliseum to suddenly turn heavy and oppressive.
There were no high-grade martial skills hidden behind this attack, nor any powerful Daos infused into it. It was just the power of Shun Long''s fleshly body. And yet, it was almost as if death itself had materialized with that attack, as the terrifying fist shook the entire arena before it descended on the bony lizard''s head!
Unlike the ''Blood Devouring Ape'' however, the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' wasn''t that easy to pin down. After sensing the overwhelming power hidden behind that fist, the beast seemed to have instantly realized the lethal danger it was in and quickly made its decision.
In a swift motion, the bony lizard twisted its slender body in a weird, almost unnatural way, easily avoiding the terrifying strike before burrowing into the ground right below it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The grains of sand underneath it turned almost liquid, allowing the lizard to dive through them before making its escape!
That was the most dangerous trait of the ''Ravenous Earth lizard''... its affinity to the Dao of Earth paired with its overwhelming agility.
And yet, as he looked at the giant lizard that was trying to flee right in front of him, Shun Long merely shook his head before his lips parted, as an indifferent voice entered the lizard''s ears
''''Since I''m already here, do you really think you can escape?''''
In the next moment, Shun Long''s golden eyes lit up with a bright blue light, before his next two words caused the lizard''s body to abruptly freeze into ce!
''''...Time Prison!''''
As the flow of time around the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' forcefully came to a halt, its massive body that had almost vanished into the ground trembled momentarily, before it was suddenly severed in half by the purple, illusionary de that had now materialized in Shun Long''s right hand.
A momentter, its massive figure turned into wisps of immortal qi that dispersed in the air, as the body of the powerful peak rank 6 magic beast disappeared from the ancient coliseum, leaving behind nothing but a single white stone on the ground below it.
Seeing the ''Ravenous Earth lizard''s body disappear, Shun Long was about to turn his sights on the ''Red Lightning sparrow'', but his gaze couldn''t help but freeze as itnded on the small white stone the lizard had left behind.
Naturally, Shun Long was aware that the 2 magic beasts he was facing weren''t actually real. Although their strength was indeed simr to that of other peak rank 6 magic beasts, at the end of the day, they were only apparitions created by the ''Heavenly Tower'' meant for the trials! Therefore, these magic beasts shouldn''t have left anything behind upon their deaths, including magic beast cores or parts of their bodies. However, as Shun Long''s gaze fell on the small white stone, his eyes couldn''t help but widen, before an incredulous thought shed through his mind
''''Is that a top-grade spirit stone? Did the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' just leave behind a top-grade spirit stone?''''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long hurriedly bent down and touched the small white stone that was shining with a brilliant luster, before his disbelieving expression quickly turned into a look of wonder and shock.
A top-grade spirit stone wasn''t something that Dao Kings normally had ess to, regardless of their background or power. Even in the central continent, these spirit stones were akin to treasures and were only used by eitherte-stage Sovereign realm experts, or the supreme Earth Immortals who were usually in seclusion, hidden from mortal eyes! It was almost impossible for normal cultivators to get their hands on these treasures regardless of how much they looked. One needed not just status, but also extraordinary strength if they wanted to procure any top-grade spirit stones in the outside world! Of course, a single top-grade spirit stone wasn''t overly valuable by itself. It was merely equivalent to a thousand high-grade spirit stones, which was a drop in the ocean for Shun Long at this point.
However, the mere notion that one could obtain a top-grade spirit stone by ying a peak rank 6 magic beast couldn''t help but stun Shun Long internally. If that was the case, then just what other rewards did the ''Heavenly Tower'' have in store in its upper floors?
As this thought shed through his mind, Shun Long couldn''t help but turn his attention on the ''Red Lightning sparrow''. However, this time in his indifferent expression, a hint of curiosity could be seen rearing its rare head.
Chapter 929 First trial: Test of Strength! (3)
Chapter 929 First trial: Test of Strength! (3)
The small, four-winged bird had already taken to the skies above the timeworn coliseum, circling above the ancient arena at a frightening speed. Sparks of crimson lightning continued to gather around its four wings with every passing second, painting the ancient sky a vivid shade of red. The ''Red Lightning sparrow'' didn''t seem to have paid any attention to the death of the ''Ravenous Earth lizard'', nor to the fact that it had left behind a top-grade spirit stone upon its death. Instead, its small beady eyes were focused on the blue-robed young man fiddling with that same spirit stone, before the crimson lightning around its wings became even more pronounced and deadly.
Sensing Shun Long''s gaze that had suddenly shifted towards it, the diminutive sparrow then burst with powerful killing intent, as the crimson lightning around its four wings exploded outwards.
''''Caaaaa!!''''
As the bird let out a high-pitched cry, a dazzling crimson thunderstorm enveloped the center of the ancient arena barely a momentter,pletely entrapping Shun Long in its lightning confines.
...
Standing inside the cacophony of the lightning storm and hearing the roars of thunder grow stronger and stronger around him, Shun Long allowed the bolts of crimson lightning to batter his body again and again while his gaze was fully focused on the skies above the ancient coliseum.
Although the lightning storm was powerful and could hinder one''s vision, it wasn''t enough to block out Shun Long''s soul sense that had already locked on the ''Red Lightning sparrow''s'' figure.
Of course, Shun Long was well aware of both the sparrow''s abilities, as well as the emaciated lizard''s, which was why he had chosen to go after the gigantic lizard first. The ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' may have seemed like an easy opponent at first nce, but in reality, it was an extremely powerful peak rank 6 magic beast, one that became increasingly hard to kill as the fight went on.
Not because it was overly sturdy or had extremely strong defenses, but due to its innate ability and its affinity with the ''Dao of Earth''. Shun Long was well aware that once a ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' managed to dive into the earth and disappear, it would be nearly impossible to track its movements until it came out to attack again.
Even a Sovereign realm expert''s soul sense wouldn''t be able to track it once it had hidden its traces and disappeared, which was why Shun Long had decided to go after it first!
As for the ''Red-lightning sparrow'', although the four-winged bird was an incredibly dangerous opponent for most peak-stage Dao Kings and was very hard to pin down, Shun Long knew that its main strengths were its frightening speed as well as the terrifying crimson lightning around its blood-colored wings.
However, although the sparrow was fast enough to rival even an early-stage Dao Emperor, and its crimson lightning could decimate the defenses of many peak-stage Dao Kings, Shun Long only felt a small tingling sensation as the bolts of red lightning relentlessly crashed on his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''!
A momentter, Shun Long''s figure vanished from the eye of the crimson thunderstorm, appearing right above the ''Red Lightning sparrow''. At the same time, an illusionary, purple-colored de materialized in his right hand, before it descended towards the sparrow''s lithe body like a guillotine!
The crimson, four-winged bird was startled when it sensed the deathly presence looming above its head, and without any hesitation, it dove down towards the arena avoiding the unexpected attack.
How could a magic beast that could almost rival early-stage Dao Emperors get caught so easily? With a single p of its crimson wings, the tiny sparrow disappeared from the space it was upying, appearing on the other end of the arena before staring coldly at the blue-robed young man in the sky!
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem discouraged in the slightest after seeing the sparrow dodging his attack. Instead, his figure turned into a blur as he disappeared from his spot barely a momentter, appearing just a few meters away from the four-winged magic beast! He wasn''t nning on using his ''Dao of Time'' to deal with the crimson sparrow and was only going to rely on his ''Dao of Space'', as well as his peak sixth stage bodily cultivation.
...
Like this, the ancient arena soon turned into a battlefield of crimson lightning and purple-colored spatial rifts, as Shun Long chased after the tiny sparrow who continued to rain down bolts of red lightning at him! The scene of a peak sixth-stage body refiner keeping up with the lightning sparrow would have seemed simply mind-boggling to any Dao King who couldy eyes on this.
Clearly, the level between the blue-robed young man and the small sparrow had already exceeded that of mere peak-stage Dao Kings and was rapidly approaching even early-stage Dao Emperors!
Although the man and beast were still far from being a match for genuine Dao Emperors, at least in terms of speed, the blue-robed youth and the sparrow wouldn''t fall that far behind! N?v(el)B\\jnn
Eventually though, the four-winged beast failed to fully dodge a swing from Shun Long''s purple de and had one of its crimson wings severed in return. With three wings creating a sense of imbnce, its speed fell drastically as a result, and only a couple of exchangester, the terrifying crimson bird finally perished in the ancient arena, its body turning into motes of light and wisps of immortal qi before dispersing in the air.
Looking at the small, radiant white stone that was left behind after the sparrow''s death, Shun Long could only shake his head before he bent down to grab it. A single top-grade spirit stone may not have been much, but it was still a treasure at the end of the day.
However, just as his left hand touched the small white stone, the entire arena suddenly began to tremble before the air around Shun Long quickly began to change. The atmosphere inside the coliseum became heavy and oppressive, making even the air around him hard to breathe.
A momentter, the immortal qi in the air began to coalesce together, turning into the familiar figures of four magic beasts! ...
Staring at the pairs of ''Ravenous Earth lizards'' and the ''Red Lightning sparrows'' that were being formed once more, even Shun Long couldn''t help but feel startled for a moment!
Chapter 930 White hall
Chapter 930 White hall
In the center of a vast, in white hall, the runes of a small-scaled teleportation formation suddenly red to life, before a familiar blue-robed figure gradually materialized at the heart of the hall!
This time however, Shun Long''s appearance was a stark contrast to his usual looks.
His azure robes were tattered, with sharp cuts and burn marks all over them, while even Shun Long''s own body underneath the azure robes appeared wounded. Although these wounds were only superficial, with some cuts barely breaking past the outeryer of his skin, it was obvious that some of the attacks had managed to pierce through his defenses and injure him slightly!
And yet, Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to the dozens of w marks marring his body, nor his scorched robes that revealed the chiseled, well-built body underneath them, and simply looked around him as he took in his new surroundings.
Inside the vast, unadorned white hall, more than a hundredte-stage Dao Kings were already present, the majority of them sitting cross-legged on the marble, white floor. Some of them threw curious looks at Shun Long, some had looks of pity on their faces, while a few even had looks of schadenfreude as they stared at his battered robes and his haggard appearance
''''Hah, another victim of the first floor! How unfortunate...''''
''''Unfortunate? This is what those people get for being body refiners! So pretentious! Why would you choose to suffer and engage magic beasts in closebat instead of following the path of a Qi refiner? Truly foolish!''''
''''That''s right! Look at me! I don''t mean to brag, but I died in a single strike from those ugly lizards. Why would I let them torture me again and again and hack my body to pieces? Sure, body refiners may be a bit more sturdy, but that''s all! In terms of individual strength, Qi refiners are obviously better in every other aspect! The path of Qi refinement is the right path.''''
''''Shut your mouth trash! How shameless can you be? You are bragging that you died in a single strike? I''m a body refiner and I killed more than a dozen of those abominable lizards! How many did you kill?''''
Soon, a heated discussion began to erupt in the previously silent hall, causing even those Dao Kings who hadn''t reacted to Shun Long''s appearance to finally open their eyes.
And yet, Shun Long merely nced at those people around him before he took in the rest of the great hall.
The appearance of the hall itself was extremely in, so in in fact that it caused one to furrow their brows in surprise. Other than the small-scaled teleportation formation at the heart of the hall and the four massive pirs that were located at each of its corners, looking like they were propping up the entire floor, there was nothing else that managed to draw his attention, other than a single, illusionary silver door.
This silver door wasn''t overly big, just a little more than 3 meters(10ft) in height, but it was certainly the most eye-catching item within the inconspicuous hall. Dozens of mysterious runes and patterns adorned the door''s surface forming an intricate formation, and yet, despite theirplexity, even someone who wasn''t a formation master could easily tell what the purpose of these runes seemed to be. N?v(el)B\\jnn
After all, those runes were almost identical to the ones inscribed on the small teleportation formation at the very heart of the hall.
''''So that''s why everyone is gathered here.'''' Shun Long finally connected thest piece of the puzzle as he assessed the situation around him, and after a brief moment of contemtion, he then took a step forward. Ignoring the growing ruckus within the great hall, he walked towards the mysterious silver door, taking a seat on the marble floor just a few meters away from it.
A few others seemed to have done the same long before him, not paying any heed to those Dao Kings arguing with each other and simply choosing to meditate in front of the silver door.
The moment he sat down on the cold marble floor, Shun Long immediately closed his eyes, and without any hesitation, he began to greedily absorb the immortal qi in the air at a terrifying rate. As for the surrounding Dao Kings near him, he didn''t pay them any heed whatsoever. After all, the immortal qi in this hall seemed almost limitless, and Shun Long had already guessed the reason behind that and this hall''s existence; It was most likely meant for those who had passed the first trial and wanted to recuperate and restore their qi before taking on the second one.
Clearly, this floor was meant to offer a moment of respite to those Dao Kings who had seeded, so the qi they could absorb to replenish their empty reserves was practically limitless.
Naturally, those people around him were replenishing their qi reserves and were preparing to challenge the second floor as well!
And in reality, this was what Shun Long needed the most as well. After all, he had to admit that this time, he had truly pushed his body to its absolute limits and was now utterly spent. Whether it was his vast reserves of qi that were far beyond any average Dao King''s or the strength of his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'', they had both beenpletely exhausted afterpleting the first trial of the ''Heavenly Tower''!
Closing his eyes, Shun Long continued to absorb the immortal qi around him at a terrifying rate, while his mind began to reassess everything he experienced in the first trial.
''''As expected, although those ''Ravenous Earth lizards'' and ''Red Lightning sparrows'' kept increasing in numbers, they stopped producing top-grade spirit stones after a certain point. What a waste..'''' By now, Shun Long had already lost count of how many peak rank 6 magic beasts he had killed within the one month he had spent within the first trial, but he was certain that the number had already exceeded tens of thousands long ago.
After all, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'' there was now a gigantic pile of radiant white stones, all of them exuding incredibly pure spiritual qi. And they were all top-grade spirit stones!
Chapter 931 Second Trial: Test of the Soul!
Chapter 931 Second Trial: Test of the Soul!
After taking a look at the massive pile of top-grade spirit stones he had gathered, Shun Long''s lips finally curved up into a satisfied smile, before he turned his attention back to the white hall and focused on absorbing the immortal qi in the air around him.
Although he didn''t know what kind of test the second trial would contain, it was better to fully replenish his qi reserves beforehand and be thoroughly prepared.
After all, just the first trial alone was already far beyond the level of what average peak rank 9 Dao Kings could handle!
Even the first stage, where they had to fight a single ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' paired with a ''Red Lightning sparrow'', would most likely eliminate the vast majority of Dao Kings who attempted the trial, let alone the stages following after that.
After all, a single rare-rank magic beast was powerful enough to obliterate an average peak rank 9 Dao King all by itself. Pairing two of them together made the trial borderline impossible for most people, thus eliminating the majority of Dao Kings from the get-go!
''''So this is the method the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' used to convey its message... As long as you can''t deal with two peak sixth-stage magic beasts at the same time, you are not even qualified to be an outer disciple of the sect, huh?''''
As he came to this conclusion Shun Long lightly shook his head, realizing it made sense.
After all, the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' was almost certainly a sect from the ''Immortal Dimension''. Would such a sect possiblyck disciples begging to join it? Of course not. Even third-tier sects of the ''Immortal Dimension'' ruled over vast amounts ofnd and had countless powerful kingdoms and families under their influence. As for second-tier and first-tier sects... those ones controlled entire worlds!So why would such sects send a relic like the ''City of Immortals'' to a mortal world to find potential disciples? It was obviously because they were looking for the cream of the crop among disciples in those worlds!
Sure, magic beasts were inherently stronger than cultivators of the same level, but that wasn''t an absolute rule either. Cultivators who were born with powerful unique physiques or those who possessed extraordinary bloodlines could easily deal withmon and even rare-rank magic beasts rtively easily. They wouldn''t struggle against a single ''Ravenous Earth lizard'' or a ''Red Lightning sparrow''. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
In fact, Shun Long was certain that he hadn''t been the only Dao King who had managed to kill that many ''Ravenous Earth lizards'' and ''Red Lightning sparrows'' during the first trial either.Most likely, the sessors of the powerful factions of the central continent, and those ranked in the ''Heavenly Rankings'' would have managed to do the same as well! Even if they hadn''t killed as many beasts as he did, they wouldn''t be that far off either.
...
A full dayter, Shun Long finally opened his eyes and stood up before turning his gaze towards the distant silver door. His golden balls of qi were filled with essence again and his exhausted body was more or less recovered after an entire day of resting, allowing him to turn his sights towards the second floor.
After a brief moment of contemtion, a subtle smile formed on his lips as he muttered in a curious tone ''''I wonder how Mei''er and the others are doing...'''' Then, without any further dy, he ignored all distracting thoughts and walked towards the mysterious silver door.
...
At this point, Shun Long wasn''t overly worried about the second floor or what type of trial it would contain.
After spending an entire day in the white hall, he had heard plenty of conversations around him and inadvertently learned a lot of things.
The first was about how people outside the ''Heavenly Tower'' seemed to have known so much about the interior of the tower without entering inside.
Apparently, once someone failed the same trial three times in a row, they would be kicked out of the ''Heavenly Tower''! This was also why people outside the tower seemed to know so much about those who had passed the 4th and 5th floors already. After all, those who had reached the cusp of the 4th floor previously would interact with each other in the resting areas, just like Shun Long right now, so it was only a matter of time before information about the tower spread to the outside world!
However, the most important thing that Shun Long had learned during this time was definitely about the second floor of the tower! Apparently, the second trial had something to do with a person''s soul. Although Shun Long didn''t know whether it involved raw spiritual strength like some Dao Kings had mentioned, if it tested one''s fine-tuning of their spiritual strength and its different applications as others described, or if it was something as simple as expanding one''s soul sense and seeing how far it could reach, the core of the trial remained the same.
Still, as far as his soul was involved, Shun Long wasn''t worried in the slightest about any tests. Although the soul was indeed the most mysterious and fragile part of a cultivator''s body alongside their dantian, it was, without a doubt, Shun Long''s most terrifying asset! At this point, Shun Long was confident that his soul strength could practically rival an early-stage Sovereign realm expert, and after being struck by the ''Heavenly Tribtion'' again and again in the ''Endless Desert'', it had been tempered to such a degree, that even a full-out soul attack from an early-stage Sovereign couldn''t harm him.
...
Without any hesitation, Shun Long took a couple of steps forward, arriving right in front of the mysterious silver door. Under the watchful gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings, his right hand then nestled on the silver door, causing the previously dormant runes on the door''s surface to suddenly re to life!
In the next moment, Shun Long''s entire body was covered by a familiar silver light,pletely obscuring him from the surrounding Dao Kings, before his figure suddenly vanished from the white hall.
-
Chapter 932 Second Trial: Test of the Soul! (2)
Chapter 932 Second Trial: Test of the Soul! (2)
A familiar scene of debris and dust gradually unveiled itself as Shun Long opened his eyes.
As the blinding silver light around him vanished and the feeling of spatial fluctuation disappeared, a vast, new scenery revealed itself as he took in his new surroundings.
The vast, unadorned white hall had been left behind long ago, as Shun Long found himself at the ruins of an ancient, almost archaic city.
The gigantic city walls in front of him which were clearly made of stone looked like they had been weathered by the relentless passage of time for countless eons, leaving only a small portion of them still standing.
The wooden buildings behind the copsed city walls weren''t faring much better either. Most of them had either fully copsed by now, or they were merely hanging by a thread, looking like they could topple over with a just gentle gust of wind.
And yet, the sole thing that drew Shun Long''s attention amidst the endless rubble, was a small obsidian obelisk erected right in front of the deserted city gates!
Staring at the familiar ck obelisk that was shining with a dim luster, Shun Long observed it for a few moments in silence, before realizing that it was pretty much identical to the appraisal obelisk he had found in the first trial.
The same eight simple words were engraved on its onyx-like surface, in the same peculiar manner as the first time; as if a sword expert had carved them with their sword.
''Use your qi to engrave your name here''
Having already experienced it once, Shun Long stepped forward and arrived in front of the obelisk, before he wrote his name on its cold surface.
''Shun Long''
Just like the first time, a glowing silver light enveloped the ck obelisk after absorbing Shun Long''s qi, before suddenly vanishing right in front of him.
...
Following the obsidian obelisk''s disappearance, a mind-boggling scene began to take ce inside the ancient city soon afterwards.
The entire city began to rumble and quake as if it had suddenlye alive, before a horrifying pressure emerged from the city''s depths!
Even the copsed buildings near the city gates began to quake and tremble, almost as if they were responding to the ancient city''s call, before a surge of pressure descended on Shun Long like a tidal wave!
...
Sensing the wave of pressure that was clearly targeting his soul like a famished wolf, Shun Long finally rxed and allowed it to freely batter against his spiritual sea, without even bothering to put up any defenses.
The wave of spiritual strength that was equal to an early rank 1 Dao Emperor''s soul sense instantly evaporated the moment it entered his spiritual space, before it waspletely swallowed by his spiritual sea!
At this moment, Shun Long had finally identified the danger of the second trial; A wave of soul attacks that could rival an early-stage Dao Emperor! Of course, the first wave was only the beginning. Momentster, Shun Long could sense a second and even a third wave of attacks emerging from the depths of the city, all of them aiming for his soul.
And yet, just like the first one, hepletely ignored them without even putting up any defenses, allowing them to freely enter his spiritual space one after the other. Just like the first one, the two sessive soul attacks were immediately swallowed the moment they touched his spiritual sea, not raising a single ripple in the process!
However, instead of feeling ted, Shun Long furrowed his brows as he quickly sensed that something was wrong.
As more and more waves crashed in his spiritual sea, the feeling of something being wrong became more and more pronounced, and yet for some reason he still couldn''t put his finger on it.
''''Am I really missing something?'''' Ignoring the barrage of soul attacks that were aiming for his soul, Shun Long suddenly emptied his mind and began to rethink everything that had taken ce in this trial!
By all intents and purposes, things should have been fine as they were. Although this second trial was of no danger to him, Shun Long knew that the only reason behind that was his overwhelmingly strong soul sense. Any other Dao King -even Liu Mei and the others who had their souls tempered after consuming hundreds of soul-tempering pills- would have to exert some effort to block all those soul attacks. For any average Dao King, this trial was no different from a death sentence. And yet Shun Long still couldn''t shake the feeling that he was missing something!
''''The rewards!'''' A momentter, he suddenly realized what he had ignored.
Indeed, the most important part of the first trial was its abundant rewards! For every peak sixth-stage magic beast a person could kill, they could farm a top-grade spirit stone in return. But these soul attacks, despite being powerful enough to wound even peak-stage Dao Kings didn''t offer anything whatsoever. Shun Long had already tried to absorb them and see if he could gain anything from them, but they were truly no different from the soul attacks of average early-stage Dao Emperors.
They were only destructive in nature and their only purpose was to destroy! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Of course, the thought that there were no rewards during this second trial had already shed in Shun Long''s mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea as soon as it took form. Since the purpose of this ''Heavenly Tower'' was to test cultivators and look for promising disciples, the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' wouldn''t have ignored such a crucial detail. After all, no cultivator could grow without resources, and the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' understood this as well. It was the promise of those abundant rewards that drew all those Dao Kings to the ''City of Immortals'' despite its countless dangers.
Finally, a few momentster, Shun Long''s eyes shed with a golden light before a look of realization appeared on his face.In the next moment, an overwhelmingly strong wave of soul sense burst out from his body, spreading out like a thick and enveloping the entire ancient city!
-
Chapter 933 Second Trial: Test of the Soul! (3)
Chapter 933 Second Trial: Test of the Soul! (3)
In the blink of an eye, the entire ruined city had been fully enveloped by Shun Long''s soul sense, spreading outwards like an inescapable. A momentter, Shun Long could clearly ''see'' every nook and cranny of all the buildings around him, as if these buildings were directly inside his mind. Even those copsed houses that had long since turned to dust and debris appeared in his vision, with everything they were hiding underneath them.
Surprisingly, there were no skeletons or dead bodies anywhere within the ancient city... let alone any living humans. The eerie silence and the scene of destion that made the nearby borough look so forlorn was precisely due to the absence of any humans! With no one to take care of the buildings and prevent them from eroding any further or no soldiers to man the city walls, it was only a matter of time for any city, regardless of how magnificent it may have been, to fall.
However, what drew Shun Long''s attention wasn''t theck of any signs of life within the ruined city nor the absence of dead bodies. Instead, it was what was hidden under all the rubble. Without any hesitation, his figure turned into a blur, his azure robes fluttering in the wind, as he quickly appeared on top of a copsed house just a few hundred meters away from the city gates.
With a light sweep of his hand, he used his qi to drag away the debris of the copsed house, revealing the treasure that was hidden underneath it. A small piece of iron, no more than a handful in size was buried under all the rubble,pletely covered by dirt and dust. And yet, even all that dirt couldn''t fully conceal the iron''s brilliance. With just a nce, anyone could tell that the small iron was a rare piece of treasure, and most likely a very high-grade one at that!
And indeed, as Shun Long''s gazended on the small, fist-sized iron, his eyes lit up before he bent down to grab it with both hands. Sensing how heavy this small piece of iron was, Shun Long nodded in satisfaction before he muttered to himself
''''Indeed, this is really a piece of Heavenly Iron.''''
After examining the small piece in his hands for a few moments Shun Long nodded contentedly and stored it inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', before his figure disappeared from the ruins of the old house, moving towards another copsed building of the ancient city.
This small piece of Heavenly Iron that he had found may not have been extraordinary all by itself, but Shun Long knew that in the eyes of any formation master of the central continent, it was an absolute treasure.
After all, Heavenly Iron was the main material used to craft 3-star weapons and armor! How could such a piece of treasure not be coveted by all star-rank formation masters? Even in the core regions of the central continent, such a treasure could only be chanced upon by luck and couldn''t be purchased with spirit stones. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
..
Momentster, Shun Long''s figure continued to bolt through the ancient city, appearing from one ce to another while uncovering more and more treasures in the process. Naturally, not every ruined building contained treasures, but there were still more than a handful of them spread out throughout the ancient city.
Of course, most Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to do something like that in the first ce. After all, the soul sense of most peak-stage Dao Kings was unable to cover an entire city, especially while having to defend from tens of soul attacks during that time, but for Sovereign realm experts, it was apletely different story. As long as they went all-out, they could easily cover an entire city with their soul sense in a matter of seconds.
Of course, the majority of treasures Shun Long had found during this time weren''t at the same level as the piece of ''Heavenly Iron'', but there were some that were even rarer than that as well.
The most surprising one he had found had been, without a doubt, in the easternmost part of the city.
It was arge b of pristine white stone which he quickly identified as a piece of ''Soulless stone''! Although this stone was just an auxiliary material and not a main one like the ''Heavenly Iron'', Shun Long knew that this ''Soulless stone''s'' value far surpassed that of the ''Heavenly Iron'' by countless times.
After all, a ''Soulless stone'' was one of the main auxiliary materials needed to craft weapons that surpassed the 3-star rank.
In fact, even Sovereign realm experts couldn''t fully utilize a piece of ''Soulless stone''. That was why, only formation masters above the Sovereign realm, those at the legendary ''Earth Immortal'' realm and above, were qualified to handle such a rare piece of treasure!
Unfortunately, after scanning through the entire ruined city with his soul sense, Shun Long was unable to find a second piece of ''Soulless stone'', or even anything else remotely simr in value!
Still, the treasures he had found on the second floor had left him more than satisfied at this point.
After organizing everything inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long took a seat on top of the decayed, derelict city gates and waited, while more and more soul attacks continued to bombard his spiritual sea.
Finally, a dayter, the rate of soul attacks slowed down before they gradually stopped, bringing back peace and stillness in the ancient city. The distant rumbling and quaking had already stopped long ago, making the ruined city feel like a ghost city once again.
Knowing the scene that was about to follow, Shun Long took onest look at the ancient city in front of him and closed his eyes, before the feeling of spatial fluctuations enveloped his body once more.
His surroundings quickly began to change again, before he found himself standing at the heart of a familiar, vast white hall!
However, this time Shun Long quickly noticed a difference inside the white hall, causing his rxed expression to soon turn into a frown.
-
Chapter 934 Altercation
Chapter 934 Altercation
Within the vast, unadorned white hall, two groups of Dao Kings were facing off against each other, causing the atmosphere inside the hall to quickly grow tense and oppressive.
The surrounding Dao Kings didn''t even seem to have noticed Shun Long''s appearance, seemingly fully invested in the altercation between the 2 groups.
Some of those Dao Kings had eager looks on their faces as if they couldn''t wait for the 2 groups to start fighting, while others had looks of disdain, as if getting involved in something so crude like a fight was beneath them. And yet, everyone was still watching curiously waiting to see how things were going to end up.
At the same time, the first thing that Shun Long noticed in the white hall -other than the fact that it was practically identical to the previous hall back on the first floor- was the difference in the number of Dao Kings present. The ''resting area'' on the first floor had a little more than a hundred Dao Kings gathered together, but this area on the second floor had around sixty people. Clearly, passing the second trial had been extremely difficult for the majority of Dao Kings on the first floor!
After taking in theyout of the vast chamber around him, Shun Long gradually turned his attention to the 2 opposing groups a few meters away from him, before a look of surprise finally covered his face.
Apparently, Shun Long was familiar with both of the people at the head of each group, causing him to frown for a moment, before eventually falling silent and observing everything from afar.
At the head of the first group, an old man with a thin build and almost no hair left on his head stood proudly, staring coldly at the young man opposite him.
The old man was d in snow-white robes and had an air of authority around him, but even hisposed appearance couldn''t fully conceal his anger as he looked at the brown-haired young man in front of him and roared furiously
''''Yang Hui, you ungrateful brat! How many years did my Holy sect nurture you for? How many resources did we invest in you? Whether it was alchemy pills, spirit stones, and even star-rank weapons and armor... we provided you with everything you asked for! And yet, even after entering the ''City of Immortals'' you decide to follow the Bai family? You selfish brat!''''
Shun Long only needed a nce to recognize the thin old man as Elder Zhi Xiuying from the Holy sect! Although Shun Long hadn''t interacted with the old man more than a handful of times, he knew that Zhi Xiuying was the Elder of the sect responsible for the Administration Hall.
Standing behind him, Shun Long recognized a few more outer sect Elders as well, including Gao Zhenkang, the Elder responsible for the Assignment Hall, and a few others.
However, the most eye-catching figure was definitely the young man standing at the head of the second group, facing Elder Zhi! His blood-red pupils seemed to have turned into a triangr shape as he stared at Zhi Xiuying without any emotions, before the brown-haired man retorted coldly
''''You invested in me? Who did? The sect? Old man, are you truly that shameless? What did the sect do for me while I was there? Alchemy pills? I obtained those using my sect points! Spirit stones? My Yang family provided me with those! My star-rank weapon and armor? I paid for them myself! What did the Holy sect do for me to demand my obedience? Don''t kid yourself Elder Zhi, staying in the sect was merely a transactional issue for both of us.
As long as I needed to stay there, I abided by the sect''s rules. I went out toplete my mission every couple of months just like every other disciple, and got rewarded for it. So tell me, oh wise Elder Zhi, why would I continue to stay in the Holy sect anymore, when the Bai family can provide me with better resources and better cultivation techniques, while they ask less from me at the same time?''''
Listening to Yang Hui''s reasoning, Shun Long merely shook his head as he looked at the former first ce of the Martial Roll of Honor from the Holy sect.
Regardless of how much Elder Zhi tried to argue and rely on his emotions, Shun Long could only agree with Yang Hui''s reasoning at the end of the day. The Holy sect wasn''t a charitable institute and neither did it raise disciples with the intent to fight for its territory. If disciples wanted to remain within the sect, they had to leave every few months andplete their mandatory sect missions, otherwise, they would be expelled and would have their sect status revoked.
Additionally, everything in the sect was purchased using sect points instead of spirit stones, so there was no real way of avoidingpleting the missions either. If one wanted to continue staying in the sect, if they wanted to obtain cultivation techniques, martial skills, or even spirit stones, they had to either exchange sect points for them, risking their lives in most missions, or they had to find some other way!
Of course, that wasn''t to say that being a member of the sect didn''t have any benefits whatsoever. For example, the higher one ranked in the ''Martial Roll of Honor'' the more rewards they could obtain from the sect, so both Yang Hui''s and Elder Zhi''s words held some merit in the end.
However, Shun Long also understood that things weren''t as simple as Zhi Xiuying and Yang Hui made them out to be either. He had already learned from the Grand Elder, that the inner politics of the sect were much moreplicated than they appeared on the outside. Yang Hui''s Yang family was a subsidiary power of the Holy sect, and yet their young master had suddenly sworn allegiance to a powerful family that could even suppress the Holy sect. How could things not turnplicated at this point? N?v(el)B\\jnn
Additionally, after joining the Bai family and staying with them for a few years, Yang Hui had already advanced to be a peak rank 9 Dao King, rivaling even these outer-court Elders in front of him. How could the Holy sect not feel rmed by this?
A momentter however, a purple-robed young man behind Yang Hui took a step forward, appearing right next to him, before he stared at the Elders of the Holy sect and said coolly
''''I wasn''t nning to intervene and was going to let Yang Hui deal with you, but since you don''t want to listen... you can just die.'''' As his voice faded, the temperature of the entire hall dropped sharply, before a cold gust of wind whistled under the young man''s feet.
A momentter, a vicious tornado of wind and ice enveloped the entire hall, shrouding every single Dao King in its cold embrace!
-
Chapter 935 Altercation (2)
Chapter 935 Altercation (2)
The emergence of the unexpected tornado seemed to have caught everyone in the hall off-guard, causing the surrounding Dao Kings to flinch and quickly take a few steps back. Clearly, no one had expected the purple-robed young man to be so unreasonable, to the point where he would attack the Elders of the Holy sect directly.
Still, Zhi Xiuying and the rest of the Elders weren''t the kind to be bullied so easily either.
Taking out their weapons, the 4 of them stood their ground and prepared to meet the ice tornado head-on!
A momentter, a cacophony of wind and ice raged inside the ancient hall, as the powerful ice storm quickly shrouded everyone in its cold embrace!
...
Even though he was standing rtively far from the heart of the storm, Shun Long could still see the scene that was taking ce in its very center.
The white-robed Zhi Xiuying had already taken out a bronze shield that was almost half his size and was holding it tightly with both hands as he resisted the ice tornado head-on. As for the rest of the Elders behind him, they had already taken out their own weapons and were now defending against the ice storm with everything they had!
Unfortunately for them, the purple-robed man''s tornado wasn''t that easy to deal with. Most tornadoes would have naturally dissipated in front of a peak-stage Dao King like Zhi Xiuying, but the purple-robed man''s ice storm was clearly anything but simple! A few of the surrounding Dao Kings quickly recognized it for what it was; a famous Saint-grade martial skill of the Bai family, and an extraordinary one at that!
Sharp icences were hidden inside the tornado, asionally ambushing Zhi Xiuying and the 3 Elders from all sides, forcing them to be on their toes.
However, what surprised everyone wasn''t the destructive power of the tornado or its deadly hidden attacks, but rather the purple-robed young man''s control of it.
Despite the fact that the ice storm had enveloped the entire hall, it seemed that only Zhi Xiuying and the 3 Elders behind him were affected by it. As for the rest of the Dao Kings in the hall, other than a slight drop in temperature, they didn''t feel anything else amiss.
Of course, Shun Long was no different from them either. ncing at the walls of the ancient hall that were gradually covered in a thinyer of frost and feeling the air around him getting heavier and heavier with every passing moment, he had to admit that this purple-robed young man of the Bai family wasn''t weak. Even if Shun Long wasn''t the target of that storm, he could still tell that it was more than enough to threaten the lives of average peak-stage Dao Kings.
Nevertheless, Shun Long wasn''t worried about a martial skill of this level. Additionally, although Zhi Xiuying''s and the 3 Elders'' situation appeared grim, Shun Long could tell that the thin old man hadn''t been brought to his limits just yet. He still had strength to spare as he helped the 3 Elders behind him defend themselves from the dreadful tornado!
...
A few minutester, the cold storm finally dispersed, allowing the white hall to return back to its original, tranquil appearance.
As the heavy mist in the air began to scatter, Elder Zhi''s figure appeared once again, this time staring hatefully at the purple-robed youth from the Bai family.
The bald Zhi Xiuying had a look of unconcealed, raging killing intent, and for a moment he even ignored Yang Hui who had been his original target, as he red at the purple-robed young man and roared furiously
''''Bai Yuhan, you little bastard! How dare you interfere in the matters of my Holy sect? Who do you think you are? Even if Yang Hui has decided to join your Bai family, he is still a member of my Holy sect! How dare you meddle in our matters so openly?''''
A frosty glint shed in Bai Yuhan''s eyes after hearing Zhi Xiuying''s tone of address, but surprisingly, the purple-robed youth merely shrugged before he answered coldly
''''A member of your Holy sect? Yang Hui has already made his stance clear and everyone here has already heard it as well. Who are you to force him to follow you? Besides, as far as I''m concerned, Yang Hui is merely a subordinate of my sister, nothing more than that. Your Holy sect? I couldn''t give two shits about your trash sect! Old fart, scram while I''m still feeling benevolent.''''
With a sweep of his hand, Bai Yuhan raised a strong gust of wind, pushing Zhi Xiuying tens of meters backwards, before he unceremoniously turned around and made his way towards the silver door at the depths of the hall.
Clearly, the purple-robed youth was nning to challenge the third floor of the ''Heavenly Tower'' right away.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Yang Hui and the rest of the Bai family followed behind him, heading towards the silver door as well.
As for Zhi Xiuying, the old man clenched his fists tightly, his nails seeping deep into his wrinkled palms and drawing blood, as he hatefully red at Yang Hui''s and Bai Yuhan''s backs. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
And yet, the old Elder of the Holy sect didn''t dare to do anything but watch, as the 2 men walked further and further away.
Of course, the surrounding Dao Kings could all tell the reason behind Zhi Xiuying''s passiveness. Although the old man himself hadn''t been injured, the other 3 Elders of the Holy sect were in a horrible position after having to face Bai Yuhan''s ice storm. Clearly, if Zhi Xiuying pushed his hand any further, the ones to suffer first would have been them.
Besides, although Zhi Xiuying wasn''t wrong to say that Yang Hui''s matter was a matter of the Holy sect, it was also a matter of the Bai family at this point!
Although Bai Yuhan wasn''t the sessor of the Bai family, his standing in the family was still high enough to deal with a few Elders of the Holy sect who were provoking him in broad daylight. At the end of the day, the Bai family was a behemoth and the Holy sect was merely an ant inparison. The two of them couldn''t bepared.
Chapter 936 Third trial: Test of Will!
Chapter 936 Third trial: Test of Will!
As Bai Yuhan''s figure disappeared from the white hall, Yang Hui and the rest of the Bai family members followed suit soon after, stepping into the silver door as well.
After throwing onest look at the Elders of the Holy sect and making sure that no one was in a life-threatening condition, Shun Long eventually did the same, as he walked towards the illusionary silver door shortly afterwards.
Even though it had only been a couple of minutes since he''d arrived in the resting area of the second floor, the conflict between Bai Yuhan, Yang Hui, and the Elders of the Holy sect had made things feel a lot longer.
Of course, the second trial had barely posed a challenge to him, so there was no reason for Shun Long to waste any time resting on the second floor either. His qi reserves were still full while his spiritual sea was still brimming with power. His body was also fully rested at this point, making any further stay in this ce pointless.
Regardless of what type of trial the third floor may contain, Shun Long knew that he was in top condition right now.
...
Momentster, the feeling of spatial fluctuations enveloped his body for the third time, before Shun Long found himself at the edge of a small ind.
By now, he had already gotten used to the nausea and blurry sights that these small-scale teleportation formations tended to cause, allowing him to recover much faster than before. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
However, after spreading out his soul sense to check his surroundings, Shun Long quickly realized the peculiarity of his new dwelling.
Surprisingly, this ind he was standing on was extremely small, even smaller than the ruined city of the second trial. In fact, calling it an ind was a stretch by itself. It was more like a small piece ofnd floating on an endless expanse of water. And yet, its size wasn''t even the most peculiar thing. The air on this ind felt unnaturally thick, so much so, that even taking a single breath feltborious. It was almost as if the air itself was heavy, seemingly devoid of any spiritual qi, let alone of the pure immortal qi that filled the ''Heavenly Tower''. In reality, it wasn''tpletely devoid of it, though. It was just that the qi in this ce was so sparse, that it felt nearly nonexistent. This was the first time that Shun Long had found himself in such a situation.
Meanwhile, the whole ind waspletely barren, without any trees or even rocks lying around. There was nothing apart from a small mountain at the ind''s center.
No, there was also something else. At the foot of the mountain, a small obsidian obelisk was erected once more, its dim luster ever present on its onyx-like surface. Eight simple words were inscribed on the obelisk''s front, looking like they were carved using the sword of a true immortal; ''Use your qi to engrave your name here''
''''Is this ce really this empty?'''' Shun Long couldn''t help but mumble to himself as he walked towards the foot of the mountain. He had already expanded his soul sense to search the sea below him, but even with his spiritual strength of an early-stage Sovereign, he had yet to reach the seabed. He highly doubted that the third trial''s focus would contain something that even a Sovereign couldn''t find with their soul sense, which made Shun Long focus his attentionpletely on the small ind he was on.
And yet, the closer he got towards the mountain, the more he felt that something around him was wrong. A few minutester, he finally realized what the problem was.
The air around him seemed to be getting heavier and heavier the closer he got to the center of the ind!
...
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Shun Long used his qi to engrave his name on the obsidian obelisk''s surface. Just like the first two times, a glowing silver light enveloped the obelisk''s surface after absorbing his qi, before suddenly vanishing from the foot of the mountain.
In the next moment, the entire mountain began to tremble, before a stunning scene unfolded itself in front of his eyes; The mountain''s ragged, uneven surface began to change, and the sharp rocks parted to the side, revealing a long earthen stairway. The intrinsic stairway started from the foot of the mountain and reached all the way to the peak, forming a straight beeline to the mountain top.
At this moment, the objective of the third trial was clear. It was almost as if the pathway was beckoning Shun Long to ascend it!
After a brief moment of contemtion, Shun Long eventually took a step forward and stepped on the stairway.
Although he guessed that he could have just used his qi to fly directly to the peak of the mountain, Shun Long still knew that the objective of the trialy almost certainly in this earthen staircase.
Besides, there was no way that the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' would have ignored such a basic w of the trial and made such a fatal mistake!
..
As his foot touched the first step, Shun Long finally began the third trial;
From the peak of the mountain, a rain of fireballs started to rain down, all of them aiming for the azure-robed young man at the foot of the mountain!
Each of those fireballs was as big as an adult human in size, and from their condensed power, Shun Long could tell that they were more than enough to obliterate an averagete-stage Dao King!
And yet, Shun Long didn''t even wait for the fireballs to reach them before he eventually took a second step, followed by a third!
The peak of the mountain rumbled as dozens of ice spears began to rain down on the arrogant challenger, followed by powerful gusts of wind that were looking to cut him down!
This was the third trial of the ''Heavenly Tower'', the Trial of Will!
Chapter 937 Third Trial: Test of Will! (2)
Chapter 937 Third Trial: Test of Will! (2)
With the fourth step he took on the earthen stairway, Shun Long could feel the entire mountain tremble once more, before a thick mist began to spread out from its peak, quickly enveloping the rest of the mountain.
Shun Long couldn''t tell if the nebulous mist was poisonous or not since his ''Monarch''s Eternal body'' could already resist the majority of poisons out there, but one thing was for certain. It could still suppress his soul sense to arge extent, not allowing him to expand it more than a couple of meters outwards!
And yet, despite having his soul sense and vision both suppressed, Shun Long lookedrgely unaffected as he took another step forward and continued to ascend the earthen stairway.
With the fifth step, the mountain seemed to have suddenlye alive, as gigantic pieces of rock began to hurl down its peak. Argendslide that could level a small town roared down the mountainside, aiming to crush the bold azure-robed youth attempting to climb it!
Still, Shun Long didn''t choose to use his ''Dao of Space'' or his ''Dao of Time'' as he faced thendslide. Instead, arge ck sword appeared in his hands, before shing more than a dozen times in a single second, painting a breathtaking scene.
Strands upon strands of radiant white sword qi materialized around the ck sword''s edge, before moving towards the iingndslide!
Therge pieces of rock hurling down the mountain were all cut in half the moment they touched the powerful sword qi, before losing their momentum and disappearing further into the ind,pletely missing their target in the process.
During those past 6 years he had spent in the ''Endless Desert'', aside from refining pills and increasing his cultivation, Shun Long had constantly practiced his sword skills in his sparring sessions with Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, further improving his mastery of the sword in the process.
Although he had already reached the realm of ''sword aura'' afterprehending the insights left behind in the ''Stone Mural'', Shun Long didn''t have the chance to truly test how far along his sword skills hade at this point.After all, spars were just spars at the end of the day, and neither he, nor Jiang Chen or Bai Longtian would truly go all-out against each other. ..
With the sixth step, Shun Long had to deal with 3 earth golems that descended from the mountain peak, each of them strong enough to dispose of a peak-stage Dao King by themselves, while with the seventh, the endless sea around the deserted ind churned and roared, before raging waves besieged Shun Long from every direction.
With the eighth step, hundreds of lightning bolts bombarded the foot of the mountain, obliterating everything in their path, while with the ninth, illusionary golden swords began to materialize in the sky, before they turned their sharp tips towards the azure-robed challenger climbing the mountain!
Although Shun Long wasn''t injured at this point, with every sessive step he took the attacks he had to face became tougher and tougher to deal with. At the same time, the heavy atmosphere and the sparse qi in the air became even more oppressive, making the climb itself feel progressively harder as time went on.
More and more attacks continued to bombard Shun Long on his way to the top, until finally, the peak of the mountain appeared in his sights. Although the nebulous mist had yet to disperse, Shun Long could still tell that he was only a couple of steps away from reaching the peak at this point!
Taking another step forward, the ck de in his hands shed once more, disposing of thest illusionary magic beast that was blocking his way, before finally, the scene at the top of the mountain revealed itself.
Unlike the first two trials however, there weren''t heaps upon heaps of treasures waiting for Shun Long to choose from. There were no tens of thousands of top-grade spirit stones either, nor countless star-rank materials to craft weapons with. Instead, there were only 2 items ced at the top of the mountain; a single bronze token and a small orange fruit.
The token appeared as ordinary as it could be; with the words ''Imperial Mandate'' carved on its front and the words ''outer court'' on the back. However, after fiddling with it for a few moments, Shun Long uninterestedly ced it inside the ''Stone of Time'' before he turned his gaze towards the small orange fruit. Finally, his eyes lit up before a bright smile made its way to his lips.
As he looked at the peculiar fruit with spiral-like patterns on its skin, Shun Long couldn''t help but take a deep breath, before his voice echoed throughout the deserted peak
''''So the reward for this trial is an ''Immortal Meridian fruit''? Is this Imperial Mandate sect crazy, or are they just this daring?''''
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck stared at the small fruit in his master''s hands with curiosity in his bright blue eyes, before the ck dragon eventually asked
''''Master, what''s so special about this fruit? Isn''t it just a rank 8 spiritual herb? Although rank 8 herbs are indeed rare in this mortal world, it isn''t that surprising that an immortal sect would put one as a reward!''''
However, Shun Long simply shook his head and stared at the fruit in his hands for a few moments before he answered calmly
''''There is a reason this fruit is named the ''Immortal Meridian fruit''. Although it''s just a rank 8 spiritual herb, even among other rank 8 herbs, it''s a rather special entity. Forget about Dao Kings, anyone between the Nascent Soul stage and the Sovereign realm can consume it and it will have the same effects! After all, it can essentially improve a person''s potential, allowing them to reach the Earth Immortal realm with near certainty in their lifetime. However, despite its benefit, this fruit also carries one major drawback!''''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Chapter 938 Wonder fruit or fruit of death?
Chapter 938 Wonder fruit or fruit of death?
The ck dragon was taken aback by Shun Long''s words, unable to answer for a brief moment. Despite his extensive knowledge, Little ck had never heard of a rank 8 spiritual herb that could be consumed by both Nascent Soul stage cultivators and Sovereign realm ones and essentially change their fates. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Granted, the ck dragon already knew of several immortal herbs with extremely mystical qualities, some of which didn''t differ that much from this ''Immortal Meridian fruit''s''. However, the ck dragon''s knowledge of alchemy still paled in front of his master''s.
Nodding his head, Shun Long stored the small orange fruit inside the ''Stone of Time'', before he continued
''''Consuming this ''Immortal Meridian fruit'' can erge a person''s meridians, pushing them to the absolute limit of what a mortal body can handle! This is why it''s considered a wonder fruit even among rank 8 spiritual herbs.''''
Shun Long didn''t need to say anything else for the ck dragon to realize how miraculous this ''Immortal Meridian fruit'' really was. Reaching the ''Earth Immortal realm'' within their lifetimes may have been just a pipe dream for the majority of cultivators in this mortal world, but Little ck knew that for his master, it was only par of the course. With his talent, it was only a matter of time before Shun Long surpassed that level and ascended to the level of a true immortal, reigning the ''Immortal Dimension'' once again.
However, the effects of this ''Immortal Meridian fruit'' weren''t simply limited to allowing a person to be an Earth Immortal either.
What did it mean to erge one''s meridians? Having spent his entire life with Shun Long, the ck dragon could easily read between the lines of his master''s exnation.
If a Nascent Soul stage cultivator could erge their meridians to their limits, that person would then be able to absorb qi at the same rate as an Earth Immortal!
What did that mean? It meant that as long as theirprehension of their Dao was at a high enough level, they could reach the level of an ''Earth Immortal'' in a matter of a few years! How terrifying of a notion was that?
However, Little ck quickly realized that he had been missing something. For a spiritual herb to have such wondrous benefits, the drawbacks it would carry would most likely be just as dangerous. After all, the heavens were always fair... in their own twisted sense of fairness at least.
They would never allow something that broke the bnce of the cultivation world to exist!
And indeed, a momentter, Shun Long continued
''''Naturally, for something so miraculous to exist, the risk it carries is equally as dreadful. If your meridians can''t handle the power of the fruit, they will most likely burst, destroying your dantian as well. Whether one is at the Nascent Soul stage or the Sovereign realm, the burden on their meridians remains the same. In the end, it''s all a matter of luck!''''
And yet, a smile appeared on Shun Long''s face in the next moment, as the image of the Northern Sovereign appeared in his mind. Despite the risk it carried, how much would a person -that was stuck in the peak of the Sovereign realm for countless years- pay, to get their hands on an ''Immortal Meridian fruit''? They would most likely trade everything they had for a chance at the legendary Earth Immortal level.
Of course, the Northern Sovereign wasn''t the only one either. There were countless experts like her who would kill for such a chance!
All of this took a while to describe, but in reality, only a few moments had passed since Shun Long reached the peak of the mountain and stored the bronze token and the orange fruit inside the ''Stone of Time''.
This time however, the expected sensation of spatial fluctuations didn''t follow right afterpleting the trial. Instead, Shun Long could see the sky above the ind that had suddenly darkened, before a wisened, old voice echoed in his mind
''''Little brat, congrattions. You have sessfully passed the third trial of my ''Imperial Mandate sect'', and are now qualified to be an outer court disciple. Should you manage to ascend to the ''Immortal Dimension'' in the future, you can bring that bronze token with you and you will be able to take on the sect''s entrance test!
Other than this identification token, you will also find a small orange fruit at the peak of the ''Elemental mountain''. It''s a dangerous fruit, that you don''t really have to consume, but if you eat it and sessfully survive, your chances of bing a true immortal will reach at least 50 percent... Of course, the remaining 50 percent will depend on your fate!''''
As the old man''s voice faded, the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations enveloped Shun Long once more, before his surroundings began to turn blurry.
A momentter, the small ind and the mountain he was standing on both vanished from his vision, as a discernible white hall soon reced them.
...
Having experienced this undesirable sensation plenty of times by now, Shun Long had already gotten used to those forced teleportations. Thus, his blurry vision recovered in an instant, allowing him to take in the scene in front of him.
The resting area of the third floor was much more emptypared to the first and second floors. Only 15 or so Dao Kings were present in this ce, all of them sitting cross-legged on the ground recovering their qi. Clearly, none of these people wanted to waste time on pointless arguments like Zhi Xiuying or Bai Yuhan did, back on the second floor.
And yet, as soon as Shun Long appeared on the floor, more than half of those sitting Dao Kings opened their eyes and turned their gazes towards him, before looks of surprise, curiosity, and even amazement barraged him from all directions.
A momentter, a young man in luxurious yellow robes was the first one to move, as he stood up and approached Shun Long with calm, unhurried steps, before he stood in front of him and asked with a gentle smile
''''Friend, may I ask for your name?''''
Chapter 939 Wei Peng
Chapter 939 Wei Peng
Seemingly afraid of being misunderstood, the yellow-robed young man scratched his head and smiled innocently before he continued
''''Ah, don''t get me wrong. The thing is, everyone here already knows each other one way or another... well everyone apart from you that is. The rest of us are either members of the ancient families, or we''vee from one of the sects of the central region. However, I don''t think I''ve seen your face before... Ah, right! I almost forgot to introduce myself! I am Wei Peng of the Wei family.''''
The candid young man had a curious look in his eyes as he examined Shun Long, his deep brown pupils eagerly staring at him as they waited for an answer.
Meanwhile, inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', a look of amusement appeared in the ck dragon''s eyes as he observed the scene unfolding in front of him. Little ck couldn''t remember thest time someone had tried to socialize with Shun Long so openly, without any hidden intentions. Of course, Little ck could also read Wei Peng''s intentions with just a nce.
He could tell that the handsome youth had been curious about Shun Long''s background, both because he had never met him before and yet Shun Long had somehow passed the third trial, but also due to one more reason; The fact that Shun Long was a mere peak rank 8 Dao King!
Everyone else in this hall were not just peak-stage Dao Kings, but they were the cream of the crop even among peak-rank 9 Dao Kings. They were experts who had reached the absolute pinnacle of the Dao King realm a while ago, and had ess to the best types of cultivation techniques, martial skills, and resources in the entire continent. They had long since solidified their foundations in the Dao King realm, and could essentially be considered the strongest geniuses of the central continent!
However, even these geniuses had struggled to pass the first three trials of the ''Heavenly Tower'', and had to sit down and recuperate to recover their strength. Despite their illustrious backgrounds and ample resources, inside this mysterious tower, they could only push themselves to their limits to pass its unreasonable trials.
And yet, somehow, a mere rank 8 Dao King had managed to achieve the same feat as them? How could these proud geniuses not be curious?
ncing at the smiling yellow-robed young man in front of him, Shun Long merely shook his head and answered honestly
''''Wei Peng...? I see. I am Shun Long and I''vee from the northern region of the continent. As for which power I''m from, let''s just say that I''m not acquainted with any sects and families out there. You can consider me a rogue cultivator instead.'''' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Shun Long''s response was like a hammer that struck the grinning Wei Peng, causing the bright smile on his lips to freeze momentarily, while even the surrounding Dao Kings doubted their own ears, exchanging disbelieving nces with each other.
''He wasn''t acquainted with any sects and families? A rogue cultivator? As if anyone would ever believe that crap.''
Regardless of how much of a genius someone was, without powerful cultivation techniques, martial skills, and enough treasures and resources to fuel their growth, they could never hope to reach this fourth trial of the ''Heavenly Tower''! No, they wouldn''t even manage to get past the first trial.
It wasn''t a matter of talent anymore, but merely a matter of feasibility. Otherwise, if it was that easy to get past the third trial, there wouldn''t only be these few people in the white hall right now!
However, a momentter, apletely different thought shed through Wei Peng''s mind, causing the young man''s eyes to light up once more, this time with even more intensity than before.
''If he is not acquainted with any powers of the central region, and clearly isn''t a rogue cultivator like he ims... then doesn''t that mean that he is most likely the secret disciple of some powerful expert? Wait... don''t tell me he is like youngdy Niu!''
The more he followed this train of thought, however, the more Wei Peng felt that he was on the right path.
Indeed, since Shun Long wasn''t an inheritor of one of the peak powers of the central region, this was the only way that Wei Peng could think of to exin his abnormal prowess! Otherwise, how could a mere rank 8 Dao King ever reach the doorstep of the fourth trial?
Of course, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to the spiral of different thoughts he had sent Wei Peng into, but even if he knew, he wouldn''t have cleared the misunderstanding either.
Shun Long knew that he could have said he was an outer court disciple of the Holy sect, but he didn''t see the need to. At this point, he had already understood that the Holy sect was incapable of protecting its own disciples when faced with the peak powers of the continent, so doing so wouldn''t provide him with any benefits.
Yang Hui''s case was the most obvious example of the problem.
The youngdy of the Bai family had arrogantly crashed the outer court examination of theHoly sect, and had even ''stolen'' the strongest outer court disciple in front of everyone''s eyes before taking her leave. And yet, even the Elders of the sect didn''t dare to defy her at the time.
Thus, even if Shun Long wanted to stay affiliated with the Holy sect in the future, giving the sect''s name to these people was unlikely to bring anything positive as a result.
...
Having already reached his own conclusion, Wei Peng''s gaze now held a trace of admiration as he looked at Shun Long. How many people were qualified to be disciples of those hidden experts out there?
Bending slightly forward, the grinning young man ced his left arm around Shun Long''s shoulders and said excitedly
''''Ah, so brother Shun is a rogue cultivator? Don''t worry, I understand everything! In that case, allow me to introduce everyone here to brother Shun!''''
Chapter 940 Wei Peng (2)
Chapter 940 Wei Peng (2)
The Dao Kings in the vicinity appeared taken aback by Wei Peng''s proactiveness to befriend the neer, some even throwing him inquisitive looks in the process.
It wasn''t that Wei Peng wasn''t a sociable, friendly person by nature, but as the second young master of the Wei family, the peers that could enter his eyes were far and few between. Why would he lower himself by making friends with someone of unknown background?
However, those Dao Kings who could read between the lines had different expressions on their faces, some even throwing envious looks at the yellow-robed young master of the Wei family. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
''Heh, it seems that those guys have alreadye to the same conclusion as I did. Too bad that you guys were all too slow.'' With the easy-going smile on his face bing more and more pronounced, Wei Peng began to introduce the surrounding Dao Kings to Shun Long one by one
''''Brother Shun, this is the seventh young master of the ancient Xu family, Xu Tai, and he is a peak sixth-stage body refiner.'''' Wei Peng''s voice wasn''t subdued in the slightest, reverberating throughout the empty hall as he pointed at a tall young man sitting at the very corner of the hall.
That man was dressed in a tattered, half-sleeved shirt that exposed his muscr, toned body for everyone to see, and had ink-like dark skin that was covered in mysterious symbols. His gaze was particrly sharp as he stared at the grinning Wei Peng, as if angered that the handsome yellow-robed youth was giving his secrets away to an outsider.
However, Wei Peng didn''t seem to have noticed the piercing gaze that was trying to burn a hole in his face, as he continued with the same, leisurely attitude as before
''''Brother Shun, the Xu family is known for their body refinement cultivation techniques, and this guy is considered somewhat extraordinary even among their main family members. Aside from his second brother, he is said to have the most potential in their entire family. Bing a peak eighth-stage body refiner in the future is practically guaranteed, and he even has a decent chance to reach the ninth stage!''''
Xu Tai puffed out his chest after hearing Wei Peng''s unexpectedpliment before he turned around to look at the rest of the Dao Kings in the hall, as if waiting to see their reactions.
However, everyone here was already familiar with Xu Tai''s background, and pretty much knew all of his strengths and weaknesses. Although Wei Peng wasn''t wrong in what he said, which one among these Dao Kings were any worse? They were all the pride of their families and sects.
Following Xu Tai''s introduction, Wei Peng pointed at a beautiful young woman in a red dress, with the pattern of a sun embroidered on its back, and continued
''''Brother Shun, that girl is the fourth youngdy of the Ming family, Ming Guo. Although her looks may just be ordinary, don''t let that fool you, she is actually extremely skilled in soul attacks. In fact, I''d say she is the most dangerous person in this entire hall. Her ''Sun-burning imprint'' can even control-''''
''''Wei Peng! Are you really going to give all my secrets away to an outsider? You should learn when to draw the line and when to keep going... And whose looks did you just call ordinary, you ugly bastard??''''
The young woman in the red dress stood up and pointed at Wei Peng with a trembling finger, clearly furious by thatst part of his description.
However, Wei Peng merely waved his hand dismissively before he continued
''''Ming Guo, stop being so stingy. Other than brother Shun, who else in this hall doesn''t know about your Ming family''s ''Sun-burning imprint''? I know that you don''t even consider that your trump card, so quit with your acting.''''
The young woman in the red dress seemed like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she merely chose to stay silent. Her gaze however was just as cold as she stared at the cheerful Wei Peng who walked further away, clearly ready to introduce another person to Shun Long.
Shun Long didn''t decline Wei Peng''s friendly gestures and allowed the smiling young man to drag him around the hall, introducing one Dao King after the other to him.
Of course, Shun Long already knew about most of these people even though he hadn''t met them before, all thanks to the jades he had purchased from the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce''. After all, every single one of these geniuses around him were among the 100 strongest Dao Kings of the central region, some even ranking as high as the top 20.
Despite that, Wei Peng''s introduction was even more detailed than what was contained within those jades. It also allowed Shun Long to get a better idea of the hierarchy of power in the core parts of the central region.
Apparently, the 3 most influential factions were the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'', the Tianxuan dynasty, and the eight ancient families.
However, although the eight families wereuded for being equal in power, Wei Peng revealed that things weren''t as simple behind the scenes.
The Huang family was apparently the strongest, followed by the Wei family, the Xu, and the Bai. Then came the ancient Chen family, the Ming family, the He, and finally the Xing.
Of course, the difference between the power of these ancient families wasn''t significant, but Wei Peng still exined those matters in great detail. As for the Tianxuan dynasty and the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'', the young master of the Wei family didn''t go into that much detail about them and just mentioned a few things about their strongest geniuses.
A few momentster, Wei Peng had already finished introducing everyone in the hall to Shun Long, before suddenly taking a seat on the cold marble floor and pointing at therge silver door in the depths of the hall.
''''Brother Shun, do you know what the fourth trial of this tower is about?''''
Chapter 941 Fourth trial: Test of Insights!
Chapter 941 Fourth trial: Test of Insights!
Without waiting for a response, Wei Peng continued somberly
''''Actually, my Wei family has already entered this ''Heavenly Tower'' in the past, that''s why I''m somewhat familiar with its trials. Well... to be precise, every single one of the eight ancient families has done so, so we are all familiar with the trials up to the fourth floor. As for the fifth one and above, I''m afraid that even I don''t know that much. After all, the number of experts in each family who have reached that level can be counted on the fingers of a single hand.''''
The surrounding Dao Kings didn''t have any reactions to Wei Peng''s revtion, and silently continued to absorb the pure qi within the hall as they saturated their dantians. Even in the central region, the fact that the eight ancient families had existed for hundreds of thousands of years was practically an open secret, so there was naturally no reason to hide it. As for the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'' and the Tianxuan dynasty, it was rumored that their histories were even longer!
With a solemn look on his face, Wei Peng stole another nce at the illusionary silver door before he continued
''''Brother Shun may not even need this small piece of information I''m about to give you, but since each of us only have 3 chances of failure before we get expelled from the tower, it may prove a bit helpful in the end. If so, I''ll be d to be of assistance.
Actually, this fourth trial is rather simple, at least whenpared to the previous three. This time you don''t have to kill as many magic beasts as you can before you run out of essence, nor do you have to endure dozens of soul attacks from early-stage Dao Emperors. All you need to do is defeat 3 peak-stage Dao Kings. Simple, right?''''
''''Defeat three peak-stage Dao Kings..?'''' Even Shun Long was momentarily taken aback after hearing Wei Peng''s exnation, wondering if this mischievous young master of the Wei family was trying to crack a joke again. However, judging from his expression, it was clear this trial wasn''t going to be as simple as that.
Wei Peng had a self-mocking look as he stared at the mirage of the silver door, before he continued
''''Unfortunately, this trial is far from easy. The 3 Dao Kings you have to face are all nominally outer-court disciples of the ''Imperial Mandate sect''... just like the rest of us. Meaning, they are all people who were once strong enough to pass the first 3 trials of this tower as well and reach this point! How confident can you be in fighting 3 people who have also reached this level before?''''
A handful of geniuses within the empty hall, alongside the muscr Xu Tai firmly clenched their fists, their gazes burning with determination as they looked at the door of the fourth trial, while others like the red-dressed Ming Guo had dejected expressions, as if they had already attempted this trial and failed miserably.
It was at this moment though, that a young man in blue robes suddenly stood up and faced Wei Peng, before he shrugged and said in a nonchnt voice
''''Well, it''s not like it''s impossible or anything, so stop making such a fuss, Wei Peng. More than a handful of people have already passed the fourth trial this time, and there are at least a dozen others still undertaking it as we speak. Surely, a couple of them will manage to seed as well. However, you do have a point. Unless you are absolutely certain of passing, I''d suggest you stay in this hall and consolidate your strength as much as you can before stepping forward.''''
As he said thatst sentence, the blue-robed young man seemed to be looking at Shun Long as he cupped his hands and nodded his head in greeting. A momentter, under the surprised gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings, he suddenly took a few steps forward and stepped towards the illusionary silver door, before cing his hand on the door''s ethereal surface.
In the next moment, the blue-robed youth''s figure directly vanished from the white hall, plunging the empty hall into a deafening silence, before the nearby Dao Kings immediately exploded in uproar
''''What...? Did he just leave?''''
''''That arrogant bastard, Chen Yanting, is really bold, huh? Isn''t this hisst chance? Where did he find the courage to step forward, when Xu Tai is still here?''''
''''That''s right! He already failed 2 times during the second trial. If he doesn''t seed this time, he is going to be kicked out of the tower!''''
Of course, Shun Long already knew of this blue-robed man''s name thanks to Wei Peng''s introduction earlier. His name was Chen Yating and he was the third young master of the ancient Chen family, a family deeply tied to the northern region of the central continent. In fact, among the 8 ancient families, although they all had their roots in the central part of the continent, it was only the Bai and the Chen families that exerted any influence in the continent''s northern part where the Holy sect was located!
However, Shun Long''s inner thoughts didn''t seem to mirror most of the Dao Kings around him. Only a select few like Wei Peng, Xu Tai, and a couple of others seemed to have stayed silent as they watched Chen Yating''s disappearing figure.
Naturally, those people seemed to be thinking the same thing;
For peak-stage Dao Kings like them, there was no point in staying in this ce and consolidating your power any longer. After all, most of them had already reached the peak of the Dao King realm long ago and had no more room for any improvements. The only thing they needed at this point, was to recuperate their wounds from theirst challenge and step forward to challenge the tower. Wasting more time inside the hall wouldn''t provide them with any benefits whatsoever. N?v(el)B\\jnn
Of course, some also disagreed with this notion, choosing to stay behind even though thei weren''t wounded. After all, regardless of how good of a state your body may have been in, if your mental state wasn''t in equally good condition as well, your chances of conquering the fourth trial were practically null, and most of these people already knew that.
However, it was almost as if the blue-robed Chen Yating''s movements had started a chain reaction within the hall. A momentter, one after the other, the surrounding Dao Kings all stood up and turned their sights towards the fourth trial!
Chapter 942 Fourth Trial: Test of Insights! (2)
Chapter 942 Fourth Trial: Test of Insights! (2)
The yellow-robed Wei Peng''s gaze seemed to have turned into one of focus and pure determination, as the young master of the Wei family stood up as well. Taking a look at Xu Tai and the rest who were already walking towards the illusionary silver door, he no longer hesitated, as he cupped his hands at Shun Long and said solemnly
''''Brother Shun, it looks like I''ll be challenging the fourth trial right away. Originally, I was nning on sharing a drink or two with you first, but my circumstances have changed. It seems I can no longer idle in this ce. I hope brother Shun can understand.''''
Waving his hand dismissively, Shun Long nodded as he looked at the restless yellow-robed young man before he answered with a light smile
''''Don''t worry, I understand. If it''s fated, let''s have a drink on the next floor then.''''
Wei Peng''s eyes shed with a deep look as he stared at the mysterious azure-robed young man in front of him, before eventually nodding his head. A momentter, he followed Xu Tai and the others as he headed towards the silver door as well.
Naturally, Wei Peng didn''t miss the subtle insinuation behind Shun Long''s words. Clearly, despite having heard about the immense difficulty of the fourth trial, Shun Long still felt certain of passing it and advancing to the next floor.
A few momentster, Shun Long was now the only person left inside the vast white hall.
Even those people like Ming Guo who were hesitant in the beginning, eventually stepped forward and challenged the fourth trial. Despite her original dejected look, the young princess of the Ming family seemed to have found newfound vigor that allowed her to step forward this time.
Of course, Shun Long could also understand the reason behind her decision. It was for that same reason that Wei Peng, Xu Tai, and the others all decided to challenge the fourth trial, after the blue-robed Chen Yating had made the first move.
The eight ancient families were all equal in hindsight, their power creating a certain equilibrium between them. However, this also meant that if anyone from those families decided to step forward and take on the next trial, the others would have no option but to follow suit. After all, the honor and future of their families were on the line. How could they allow another family to outshine them? This was the burden those sessors of the ancient families carried.
Sitting cross-legged on the cold marble floor, Shun Long put all those unnecessary thoughts at the back of his mind and focused on absorbing the pure immortal qi in the air around him.
Although the third trial hadn''t really injured him, it had managed to drain the majority of his qi, causing Shun Long to feel somewhat spent at the end of it.Although he hadn''t actually used his ''Dao of Time'' or his ''Dao of Space'' during the trial, and neither had he made use of his ''Dao of Heavenly Tribtion'', the level of sword aura was still enough to greatly sap his qi after using it for so long!
...
It took Shun Long more than half a day to fully replenish his depleted qi balls.
Surprisingly, during this time, neither Wei Peng nor anyone else among those who had left for the fourth trial had appeared back on the floor. Even the more hesitant Ming Guo and those like her hadn''t returned yet.
Of course, Shun Long couldn''t know whether they had seeded or not, whether they had failed and gotten kicked out of the tower, or if they were still fighting inside the trial.
However, at this point, he was more curious about Liu Mei and the rest instead.
Had they already passed the fourth floor or were they still challenging the lower floors? Shun Long had no idea since he hadn''t seen any of them during this time, but he had a feeling that they shouldn''t be that far from the fourth floor either.
Standing up, he stretched his body for a bit, and after searching through the ''Stone of Time'' for something to eat, he walked towards the illusionary door as well.
''Thankfully'', on the way from the ''Endless Desert'' to the ''Heavenly Tower'', Shun Long and his group had been attacked by plenty of rank 6 magic beasts, most of whom hadrge amounts of meat on them, so he had plenty of food stored inside the ''Stone of Time''. Even with the gluttonous ck dragon voraciously devouringrge amounts of magic beast meat every day, Shun Long still had enough food left tost him a long while. At the very least, he should have enough for at least a year... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Of course, Dao Kings could still survive without food or water for a very long time, as long as they could absorb the spiritual qi around them. However, after being in seclusion for so long inside the ''Endless Desert'', Shun Long could feel his body craving for something to eat!
...
A few momentster, Shun Long finally stood in front of the illusionary silver door.
As he ced his hand on the door''s mirage-like surface, that unwanted nauseous sensation overcame him once again, before his surroundings turned blurry once more.
This time however, it took less than a second for his vision to return, as Shun Long found himself in the heart of a verdant, lush forest.
Surrounded by gigantic pine trees as far as the eye could see, with wide twisting vines around their monstrous trunks, each of them asrge as an adult human, the dense forest stretched out in every direction.
Each of those pine trees seemed to be more than 30 meters (99ft) in height,pletely blotting out the sky above the forest. And yet, despite their enormous size and intimidating appearance, the thick trees around him weren''t what caught Shun Long''s attention.
Instead, it was the 3 figures that were sitting cross-legged beneath one of those trees, each of them facing the other 2 as they formed a triangle shape.
Almost at the same time that he had noticed them, the 3 figures seemed to have opened their eyes as well, as they simultaneously turned their gazes towards Shun Long.
The first figure was a young man with messy ck hair who was holding arge staff.
The second figure was a young woman with short auburn hair and ming red eyes.
But it was the third figure, the one that looked the most ordinary that drew Shun Long''s attention.
It was a man in histe twenties, with a in-looking face and long ck hair that reached all the way to his waist. What drew Shun Long''s attention, however, was the familiar energy around this man''s body, a type of energy that Shun Long possessed as well. It was the energy of someone who trained in the ''Dao of Space''!
Chapter 943 Fourth Trial: Test of Insights! (3)
Chapter 943 Fourth Trial: Test of Insights! (3)
As Shun Long''s gaze met with the long-haired man''s, thetter actually smiled, before he suddenly disappeared from the spot he was standing on, appearing right next to his opponent. His movements were extremely swift, almost like a mirage, while his white robes fluttered in the wind as he made his move.
In the next moment, a small ck dagger materialized in his palm, as the long-haired young man thrust it towards Shun Long''s temple. The thin ck dagger cut through the air like an arrow, looking to plunge itself straight into its target''s head!
Unfortunately for him, Shun Long seemed to have already anticipated his attack. His bright golden eyes that resembled a pair of suns shed with a deep blue glow, before he effortlessly craned his neck to the side, narrowly avoiding the long-haired man''s strike.
The white-robed young man looked stunned, surprised by the sudden turn of events, but his movements didn''t stop for a moment. Seeing that Shun Long had avoided his strike he hurriedly took a step back, opening up the distance between them.
At the same time, the remaining 2 peak-stage Dao Kings also made their moves.
The first one, the young man with the messy ck hair took a step forward, his figure leaving behind countless afterimages as he beelined straight towards Shun Long. Therge bronze staff in his hands suddenly extended, bing more than 10 meters(33ft) long as he swiped it sideways, aiming at Shun Long''s lower half.
The scene looked somewhatical, as if a small ant was trying to wield a weapon more than 6 times its size, and yet somehow, the messy-haired man seemed to have no issue controlling his staff.
Almost simultaneously, the young woman with the short auburn hair also made her move; Her ming red eyes burned with incandescent, radiant heat before a mixture of white and scarlet mes enveloped her body.
In the next moment, her figure turned into a ming meteor as she shot herself at Shun Long with devastating speed!
Sensing the two follow-up attacksing from both directions, Shun Long didn''t chase after the long-haired young man and decided to deal with these two new threats first.
A pitch-ck sword materialized in his right hand before he swiped it downwards, looking to intercept the gigantic bronze staff first.The bronze staff swiped through the air with terrifying momentum, creating deafening sonic booms as it whistled through the air!
Then, a terrifying explosion echoed through the forest, its forceful sh even uprooting some of the gigantic pine trees in the surroundings, before the sound of metal shing against metal filled the battlefield.
Surprisingly, the momentum of the bronze staff had been so powerful, that Shun Long felt his right hand turning somewhat numb after the impact, causing him to look at the messy-haired man with a surprised look.
However, the messy-haired young man was even more shocked right now, his gaze a mixture of astonishment and disbelief; He had imbued his ''Dao of Light'' in this attack of his, enhancing both his own speed and the momentum of his bronze staff to a terrifying degree before he swiped it at Shun Long.
The messy-haired man was even a peak sixth-stage body refiner on top of being a peak-stage Dao King, and he had also been the one to initiate the attack... and yet, he had been the one forced to take a step back after the sh!
How terrifying was this monster in front of him? Although the messy-haired young man wasn''t a real person and was merely a soul imprint left behind in the tower countless years ago, he still possessed a certain sense of self-awareness. Additionally, his body, his qi, and the insights he hadprehended had been at the absolute peak of the Dao King realm at the time he left his imprint, making him one of the strongest Dao Kings attempting the tower''s trials. So, how could he not be surprised after losing in a contest of strength? Especially when his opponent didn''t seem to have imbued his Dao in hisst attack?
Luckily, this battle was still three against one. Almost at the same time the messy-haired man was pushed back, the young woman with the auburn hair had already arrived in front of Shun Long, her lithe, delicate palm aiming for his chest with deadly force!
Although Shun Long could tell that this young woman in front of him wasn''t a body refiner, he could sense that this palm strike of hers was just as dangerous as that ck dagger and the bronze staff he had faced.
However, at this point, there was no way for him to dodge this strike. The young woman had been extremely insidious and crafty with her strike, timing her attack right after Shun Long had blocked the bronze staff, not giving him any room to maneuver. Unfortunately for her, Shun Long had never nned to dodge her attack in the first ce.
Clenching his left hand, Shun Long took a step forward and sent his fist to meet the iing palm, as sparks of white lightning enveloped his entire body.
However, just as the young woman''s palm shed with his fist, a scene that neither Shun Long nor the auburn-haired woman expected, took ce next.
The young woman''s figure suddenly disappeared from the heart of the battlefield, appearing more than a hundred meters back, right next to the long-haired man and the messy-haired one. The young woman had a look of confusion on her face, quickly followed by unspeakable anger as she turned around and stared furiously at the long-haired young man behind her. Her ming red eyes were full of indignation as she looked at him, before her rosy lips finally parted as she asked in a cold tone n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''What do you think you are doing?''''
However, the long-haired man only spared the woman in front of him a single nce, before he turned his gaze towards the sparks of white lightning crackling around Shun Long''s body. After a moment of silence, he answered calmly
''''If I didn''t save you, you would have died just now!''''
Chapter 944 Fourth Trial: Test of Insights! (4)
Chapter 944 Fourth Trial: Test of Insights! (4)
The auburn-haired woman was about to retort and rebuke the white-robed young man for underestimating her, but a momentter she felt a sharp, searing paining from her right palm.
Lowering her head to look at her hand and the horrible condition it was in, her scarlet eyes widened in disbelief before she hurriedly turned her gaze towards the distant Shun Long.
''''Do you understand now? That lightning around him isn''t normal. If I let you fight him for a few more seconds, you would have already turned into a corpse.''''
The long-haired man''s voice was casual but both the young woman and the messy-haired man couldn''t help but feel a chill coursing through their hearts!
What type of lightning was that and how could it be so terrifying? The auburn-haired woman had only exchanged a single attack with Shun Long -no, not even one attack since the long-haired man had teleported her away before they could fully sh- and yet her hand was severely burned as a result. Then... what would have happened if they had truly fought just now?
Taking a deep breath, the woman with scarlet eyes nodded and steeled herself before she said seriously
''''Alright, I admit that none of us are strong enough to fight him by ourselves. Let us fight together then!''''
The messy-haired young man nodded as well, indicating that he agreed with her assessment, before the 3 of them gradually spread out, encircling Shun Long from every direction.
However, Shun Long wasn''t paying the slightest bit of attention to the auburn-haired woman or the messy-haired young man with the bronze staff. Although the two of them were strong enough to break past his defenses and injure him if left alone, they were still individually weaker than Bai Longtian and Xingyi.
Instead, his gaze was fully focused on the white-robed man with the in-looking face! This was the first time that Shun Long was fighting someone who had alsoprehended the ''Dao of Space''!
What drew Shun Long''s attention the most however, was the different application of the ''Dao of Space'' this purple-robed young man used.
He had already used his spatial maniption to teleport hispanion away from the fight just now. Although Shun Long was also a peak-stage Dao King in a sense, this wasn''t a skill he hadprehended.
Of course, this difference in abilities wasn''t any surprising. After all, 2 people may haveprehended the same Dao but end up learning entirely different skills at the end of the day.
It didn''t mean that someone who had alsoprehended the ''Dao of Space'' would be able to open space tears within his opponent''s bodies, with the same precision Shun Long did and assassinate them, nor that they could also conjure an illusionary spatial de that could cut through almost any defenses with ease.
However, Shun Long had to admit that he was still curious about this white-robed man''s abilities.
''Who knows, perhaps my ownprehension may even increase as a result...'' As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long actually smiled, excited to see what else the white-robed young man had to offer!
..
A momentter, a barrage of attacks assaulted Shun Long from every direction, as the messy-haired young man repeatedly attacked with his staff while keeping his distance, while the scarlet-eyed woman conjured dozens of gigantic, scorching white fireballs, blocking every possible escape path.
Every time the messy-haired man attacked from one side, torrid white balls of me would assault him from the other, trying to find an opening in his seemingly impregnable defenses. However, no matter how hard they tried, Shun Long''s fighting style didn''t leave a single opening for them to exploit.
Instead, it had been more than once that Shun Long had closed the gap between them and had appeared next to the scarlet-eyed woman or the messy-haired young man, only for the white-robed man to teleport them away!
Of course, Shun Long had also attacked the three Dao Kings from a distance, conjuring dozens of pure-white lightning bolts, but once again, the white-robed young man showcased how differently he used his ''Dao of Space''.
Just before those lightning bolts could hit him or his teammates, the white-robed man waved his hand, opening up space tears that swallowed the bolts of ''Heavenly Tribtion'', redirecting their power to the forest behind him.
At this point, the entire forest was already alit, the gigantic pine trees either burning from the white and scarlet mes, or were already charred after being struck by the terrifying lightning bolts.
And yet, the 4 people at the heart of it all didn''t seem to have noticed, as they continued to exchange destructive attacks between them.
..
An hourter, Shun Long was finally satisfied after seeing everything the white-robed man had to offer.
At this point, Shun Long had to admit that the way this long-haired man used his ''Dao of Space'' was indeed unique. Not only could he teleport hispanions to safety and redirect Shun Long''s bolts of ''Heavenly Tribtion'', but he could also encase himself or his opponent in a ''cocoon'' of space tears.
This cocoon was almost impregnable from the outside, absorbing almost every attack, and utterly deadly from the inside. Anyone who hadn''tprehended the ''Dao of Space'' themselves or didn''t have any ways to defend against the deadly power of spatial rifts, would be ripped apart in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately for the white-robed man, Shun Long''s control of space wasn''t any weaker than his own, allowing him to effortlessly destroy his space cocoons.
This had left the white-robed young man feeling utterly distressed. It was almost as if this mere rank 8 Dao King in front of him didn''t have any weakness!
At this point though, Shun Long knew that it was time to end their fight. Although his opponents weren''t overly dangerous, they were still peak-stage Dao Kings, and extraordinary ones as well. Fighting them for so long to absorb the white-robed man''s ''Dao of Space'' had caused him to expend arge amount of qi in the process. Even with his vast reserves of qi, Shun Long knew that fighting 3 strong opponents for so long was bound to exhaust him eventually.
In the next moment, the sparks of lightning around his body vanished and even the ck sword in his hand disappeared. Staring at the 3 peak-stage Dao Kings in the distance though, Shun Long actually smiled before he said to the white-robed man
''''Since you''ve showed me your strongest attacks, I suppose it''s time for me to return the favor.''''
The invisible figure of an hourss then expanded from his body, before his lips parted, letting out 2 simple words n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''Monarch''s Domain.''''
Chapter 945 Rift Convergence
Chapter 945 Rift Convergence
As the invisible figure of an hourss covered the battlefield, the white-robed young man, the messy-haired man with the staff, and the scarlet-eyed woman all felt a subtle change in their surroundings, as if a thin, imperceptible veil had suddenly enveloped them.
Although this change was extremely faint, almost indiscernible, as experienced peak-stage Dao Kings, how could they not feel even the most minute shift around them?
However, before any of them could react, Shun Long''s silhouette vanished from the spot he was standing on, appearing right next to the messy-haired young man, before he sent a fist flying at his chest.
The messy-haired man''s heart felt cold as he tried to instinctively raise his bronze staff and block the sudden strike, but before he could even think of doing so, Shun Long''s fist had already pierced through his chest, beforeing out from the other side.
His movements had been so swift and sudden, that mere words were incapable of describing their dread.
A momentter, the messy-haired man dropped the staff from his hands, letting it fall on the ground with a thud, before his eyes turned dim and lifeless.
The long-haired man and the auburn-haired woman looked at the scene in front of them in shock, unable to make sense of what had just happened. They couldn''t understand how the situation had changed so suddenly, to the point where one among them had died and they didn''t even know how.
No, that was wrong! They knew exactly what had happened, even though their eyes had been unable to track their opponent''s movements. After all, they could still see the faint droplets of blood dripping from Shun Long''s fist right now as he looked at the messy-haired man''s disappearing corpse.
However, this realization only served to amplify their shock! How could the opponent that was only evenly matched against them, suddenly explode with so much power speed? It didn''t make any sense!
This was even more so considering that the messy-haired man with the bronze staff was an expert who hadprehended the ''Dao of Light'' to the peak of the Dao King realm, making the number of people who could match him in terms of speed -let alone surpass him at the same level of cultivation- practically nonexistent.
However, the most astonished out of everyone present was certainly the white-robed, long-haired man, staring at Shun Long with an aghast look on his previously emotionless face.
After all, it was one thing for the messy-haired man to have been unable to react to the unexpected attack, but for Shun Long''s movements to have been so swift that even he had been unable to save hispanion was an entirely different matter!
And yet, the messy-haired man''s death was only the beginning.
A momentter, Shun Long''s figure vanished once more, appearing right in front of the auburn-haired woman, before an illusionary, purple-colored de moved towards her throat with overwhelming speed!
The young woman had already been prepared and tried to meet the purple de head-on, but before she could even raise her arm, the deathly de had already shed through her neck, reaping her life in a single strike. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Just like the messy-haired man, her scarlet eyes shed with a look of horror, before turning dull and lifeless moments afterwards.
Now... among the 3 of them, the white-robed man was the only one left.
However, contrary to Shun Long''s expectations, the white-robed man didn''t wait for Shun Long to attack him.
Instead, he stretched out his left hand, cing the cold de of his stygian dagger across his chest before he looked at Shun Long and said calmly
''''No need to bother killing me. I can tell that I''m no match for you one-on-one anyway. However, since you also cultivate in the ''Dao of Space'', I''ve got a piece of advice for you;
I don''t know what type of power you just used in our fight, but you should focus onprehending a single supreme Dao in your life, otherwise, you will never break past the Sovereign realm. Cultivating two supreme Daos is already madness, but three...? You will have no hope of breaking past the Dao Emperor realm in the future. Of course, whether you want to heed my words or not is up to you. You are free to consider them useless rambling if you don''t want to.''''
As the white-robed man finished speaking, he plunged the obsidian dagger deep in his chest, piercing his heart in a single strike. In the next moment, a fountain of blood spurt from his chest before his motionless body toppled on the ground, any signs of life fading from his eyes before his body turnedpletely still.
In the next moment, his corpse began to dissolve into motes of immortal qi that dispersed in the air, as a thick, purple-colored booklet began to materialize in its ce, a pale silver lighting from its weathered cover.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t pay the slightest bit of attention to the purple-colored book, his mind focused on the white-robed man''s final words
Indeed, Shun Long knew that breaking through to be a Sovereign realm expert would be extremely hard for him, mostly because he wasn''t nning to abandon either his ''Dao of Space'', or his ''Dao of Heavenly Tribtion''. However, regardless of how hard it was going to be, he wasn''t nning on giving up unless it was truly impossible.
Of course, it was also a fact that Shun Long had never heard of anyone before breaking through to be a Sovereign realm expert with three supreme Daos, even throughout the vastness of the ''Immortal Dimension''. But geniuses who had done so with two supreme Daos, albeit extremely rare, still existed.
A momentter, Shun Long put that matter to the back of his mind and focused on the purple-colored booklet the long-haired man had left behind after his death.
On its hoary, timeworn cover, a pair of lusterless words were written with washed-out ck ink, that had almost fully faded by now. However, despite its condition, Shun Long could still read the words on the ancient tome''s surface.
''''Immortal-grade cultivation technique: Rift Convergence.''''
Chapter 946 Fateful meeting
Chapter 946 Fateful meeting
Looking at the ''Immortal-grade cultivation technique'' the white-robed man had left behind, Shun Long examined it for a moment before eventually shaking his head and turning his gaze towards the remaining two disappearing figures.
And indeed, just like the white-robed young man, the woman with the scarlet eyes and the young man with the bronze staff seemed to have also left behind a pair of thick booklets.
The young woman''s book was burning with soft, white ethereal mes, as the words ''Path of the Setting Sun'' were written on its surface. As for the messy-haired man, his book was emitting a radiant golden glow while the words ''World of Limitless Light'' were etched on its decrepit cover.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t overly surprised to see 3 ''Immortal-grade cultivation techniques''. After all, he understood that suitable cultivation techniques were equally as important as one''s talent if someone wanted to go far in the path of cultivation.
Additionally, these weren''t even low-grade cultivation techniques, even by the standards of the peak powers of the central region. Shun Long guessed that most likely, throughout the entire central continent, only the 8 ancient families, the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'', and the Tianxuan dynasty would be in possession of any middle-rank ''Immortal-grade cultivation techniques''. Perhaps a few powerful sects would also possess one or two of those techniques, but they would surely treat them as supreme treasures that only their Elders and sect masters would be able to view!
Unfortunately, to Shun Long, these cultivation techniques were no different from trash. Even the ''Rift Convergence'' technique the white-robed man had left behind, which was actually an ''Immortal-grade cultivation technique'' tailored for cultivators of the ''Dao of Space'' was no different.
After all, Shun Long knew that there was no cultivation technique out there that could rece his ''Monarch''s Hourss''.
Besides, whether it was cultivation techniques or martial skills of the Immortal grade, Shun Long knew that he already had an abundance of them thanks to Little ck. The ck dragon had hoarded countless rare cultivation techniques and martial skills over the years he and his master roamed the ''Immortal Dimension'', storing all of them inside his mind.
As he took a look around him, Shun Long gradually let out a breath before storing the three Immortal-grade techniques inside the ''Stone of Time''. At the very least, he could still sell them in the future or possibly exchange them for treasures of equal value, so it couldn''t be said that they werepletely worthless after all.
A few momentster, Shun Long''s figure disappeared from the ancient forest, allowing silence to descend once more to the once serene, peaceful battlefield.
...
Soon, the usual saturated immortal qi filled his surroundings for the fourth time, as Shun Long found himself at the heart of a familiar vast white hall.He had already gotten so used to this unwanted feeling of forceful teleportation, that he no longer felt disconcerted upon experiencing it.
As he took a look around him though, Shun Long was surprised to spot more than 20 figures present on this floor. The resting area on the third floor only had 15 or so Dao Kings waiting, so it was definitely a surprise to see the fourth floor having even more than that. However, after thinking about it for a bit, Shun Long realized that it also made sense.
After all, back on the third floor, everyone had decided to take on the fourth floor''s trial at the same time, so it was to be expected that a few of them would have ended up passing it. Besides, Shun Long didn''t know how many people had previously passed the third floor in the first ce. After all, the ''Heavenly Tower'' had been open for more than half a year, perhaps even more. Who knows, it was possible that the fifth floor would have even more challengers than this one!
However, unlike the resting areas of the previous 3 floors, Shun Long quickly noticed a vast difference in the atmosphere of this fourth floor.
While a few Dao Kings were indeed sitting on the cold marble floor recovering their qi, the majority of them looked to have gathered in front of the illusionary silver door, discussing something with animated expressions.
Most of them didn''t even seem to have noticed the shimmering runes of the small teleportation formation lighting up, their gazes fully focused on the translucent silver door in front of them. N?v(el)B\\jnn
Of course, a few of the resting Dao Kings raised their heads and threw Shun Long a few surprised nces, before eventually focusing on recovering their qi once more.
As he took a look at the people around him, Shun Long also noticed a few familiar faces from the third floor.
The burly, green-robed young man from the Xu family, Xu Tai seemed to have sessfully passed and reached the fourth floor, alongside the one who had instigated everything, the blue-robed Chen Yating.
However, Shun Long didn''t see Wei Peng''s figure among the surrounding Dao Kings. It was unknown if that young master of the Wei family was still challenging the fourth trial, or if he had failed and had returned back to the third floor.
As for Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, and Xingyi, they didn''t seem to have reached this floor yet... or perhaps were already ahead on the fifth floor.
Nevertheless, there was one particr figure inside the hall that Shun Long ultimately focused his gaze on.
It was a certain young man in ck robes, with spiky ck hair and sharp facial features, sitting quietly and listening to the discussion around him in front of the silver door.
As he stared at the ck-robed man, Shun Long''s lips tugged into a rare, extremely cold smile.
In the next moment, he no longer suppressed his killing intent, as a horrifying, monstrous aura burst out from his body and filled the entire hall.
Every single Dao King inside the white hall seemed to have been alerted by the sudden change, as they all turned their gazes towards the azure-robed youth at the center of the hall.
However, Shun Long didn''t pay attention to any of them and calmly took a step forward, heading towards the ck-robed man in front of the silver door.
Of course, this person had been the same one who had sneak attacked him in the ''Illusion Oasis'' and ended up almost killing him, as well as someone ranked in the top 100 Dao Kings in the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce''s'' rankings... the ck-robed Guo Chen!
Chapter 947 A blade of grass
Chapter 947 A de of grass
''''...Shun Long?'''' The burly Xu Tai was the first one to recognize the owner of the terrifying, malevolent aura, his voice tinged with hints of incredulity as the seventh young master of the Xu family stared at him in shock.
However, Shun Long didn''t pay any attention to Xu Tai this time, his gaze fully focused on the ck-robed Guo Chen instead.
His calm steps echoed throughout the silent hall as his killing intent gradually increased with every subsequent step. Of course, Shun Long wasn''t going to forget what had happened back in the ''Illusion Oasis'' between the two of them. He had already promised to make Guo Chen pay even after leaving the ''City of Immortals''! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''Xu Tai, you actually know that kid?'''' One of the surrounding Dao Kings, a tall man with long silver hair eventually asked, his cold gaze turning into a frown as he looked at the approaching blue-robed youth.
Although Shun Long hadn''t said a word yet and his killing intent was clearly directed at Guo Chen instead of him, the silver-haired man still felt irritated looking at the arrogant blue-robed young man. It was clear that Shun Long was dead set on fighting Guo Chen within the white hall,pletely ignoring everyone else inside the hall.
The green-robed Xu Tai nodded as he looked at the silver-haired man by his side, before he answered calmly
''''That''s right, brother Xing. His name is Shun Long and we met back on the third floor. He imed to havee from the northern region of the continent and that he is a mere rogue cultivator, having no connection to any of the major powers of the continent. However, I''m sure that brother Xing is smart enough to read between the lines as well!''''
''''A rogue cultivator?'''' The long-haired man whom Xu Tai had just called brother Xing narrowed his eyes when he heard that, his gaze turning sharp as a de as he examined the approaching blue-robed youth.
How could a rogue cultivator possibly reach the fourth floor and be on the cusp of the fifth trial? It was simply impossible. Just like Xu Tai and the rest, the silver-haired brother Xing quickly came to the same conclusion they hade;Most likely, this Shun Long must be the disciple of some powerful solitary figure. There was no other exnation to justify him stepping foor in this floor.
Of course, the thought that Shun Long could have stumbled upon the inheritance of some powerful expert also shed through the silver-haired youth''s mind, but he quickly dispersed the thought as soon as it took form. After all, one needed more than just cultivation techniques and resources to reach this ce.
Every single member of the 8 ancient families had received guidance from their seniors throughout their entire lives, and had trained under them as if their lives depended on it, all while having ess to the best resources and treasures the central continent had to offer. Could someone who had merely stumbled upon a random inheritance possibly reach the same level as them? The long-haired man was certain about the answer to his own question.
With a deep look in his eyes, one that was unable to truly conceal his astonishment, Xu Tai then continued
''''Actually, I didn''t expect him to reach this fourth floor either. I already thought that passing the third trial had been his limit.I don''t understand how a mere rank 8 Dao King can pass that fourth trial... but I am certain of one thing; he is definitely much stronger than Guo Chen.''''
As he said thest sentence Xu Tai fell silent, his gaze calmly examining the approaching blue-robed young man. At this point, Xu Tai had to admit that he was indeed somewhat wary of Shun Long in his heart. After all, even after passing the fourth trial, not only was this guypletely unharmed, but he seemed to have enough power to go after Guo Chen as well.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired man widened his eyes, only now realizing that Shun Long was actually a peak rank 8 Dao King. He hadn''t noticed that detail earlier since his murderous aura had already overshadowed everything else within the great hall!
Finally, after a moment of hesitation, the silver-haired man took a step back and said calmly
''''Alright. This isn''t bad either. We can use Guo Chen to test him out first. We will decide what to do afterwards.''''
At the same time that ''brother Xing'' made his decision, the blue-robed Chen Yating suddenly took a step forward and appeared in front of Shun Long, a cool breeze swirling around the body of the handsome young master from the Chen family, as he asked with a serious look
''''Brother Shun, is everything alright? Could it be that Guo Chen has offended you somehow? Perhaps I can mediate between you.''''
However, contrary to Chen Yating''s expectations, Shun Long didn''t pause his steps to exin his reasons and merely shook his head, as his voice echoed throughout the silent white hall
''''Mediating? There is no need. Let''s just say that I''ve got an unfinished debt I need to pay back to him.''''
Hearing Shun Long''s words, the surrounding Dao Kings all turned their gazes towards the ck-robed Guo Chen, including Xu Tai and the silver-haired ''brother Xing''. However, to their surprise, Guo Chen looked just as stunned as they were, his gaze a mix of bewilderment and shock as he looked at Shun Long. He was certain that he had never met Shun Long before.
Taking a deep breath to suppress his fury, the ck-robed Guo Chen stared at Shun Long for a while, before eventually asking with narrowed eyes
''''Friend, are you sure it''s me you have unfinished business with? I''m sure we''ve never met before so think again!'''' As his words rang out, the horrifying aura of a peak-stage Dao King burst out from Guo Chen''s body, filling the entire hall.
Although Guo Chen wasn''t someone who let his emotions govern him and was normally a very shrewd and calcting individual, he wasn''t someone who backed out when he was provoked to such a degree... especially when this was done in front of so many people.
That was even more so considering his opponent was a mere peak rank 8 Dao King whom he had never met before, but who for some reason was singling him out, out of everyone else in the hall.
Unfortunately for Guo Chen, the scene that followed next seemed to have plunged his heart into the coldest depths of the abyss as a sense of lethal danger enveloped his whole body.
A mere momentter, Shun Long had already appeared in front of him, his clenched right fist shattering the fabric of space around it as it headed straight for Guo Chen''s head.
It was only at this moment that Guo Chen finally realized, that the monster in front of him wasn''t just a peak rank 8 Dao King. He was also a peak sixth-stage body refiner!
Chapter 948 A blade of grass (2)
Chapter 948 A de of grass (2)
Guo Chen wanted to take a step back and escape the horrifying fist that was threatening his life, but he could instinctively tell that there was nowhere for him to run to. The white hall was only so vast and the dozen of surrounding Dao Kings had already limited his movement by a great degree.
However, the most important reason was the fact that Shun Long was already in front of him. Even if Guo Chen tried to dodge right now, he knew that he would certainly end up getting hit.
Without any other way out, the ck-robed man suddenly took out a familiar ck dagger from his spatial ring and held it tightly in a reverse grip, as he plunged it straight into Shun Long''s neck!
''''Damn, is this fool crazy? Is he really trying to die?''''
''''This bastard has gone mad! Step back!''''
At the same time, Xu Tai and the surrounding Dao Kings all took a few steps back in a hurry, widening the distance between themselves and Guo Chen while staring at the spiky-haired man inplete astonishment.
It seemed that Guo Chen had already given up on defending and was trying to take Shun Long down with him. His expression had already turned into an extremely vicious one, a hint of madness shing in his eyes as he thrust the dagger towards Shun Long''s neck.
Indeed, Guo Chen''s aim was rather simple right now. Either Shun Long was going to stop his attack and defend himself, or they were both going to die.
In fact, Guo Chen had already nned his next course of action as well.
..
Meanwhile, it was only at this moment that the green-robed Xu Tai had finally pieced everything together, a look of realization gradually dawning in his eyes.
''''Of course, it''s not that he is a mere rank 8 Dao King... but he is a dual cultivator! Yes, this makes sense now!'''' Feeling that he had suddenly solved the mystery behind Shun Long, Xu Tai took a deep breath and observed the battle in front of him.
Indeed, if Shun Long was a dual cultivator who had simply prioritized his body refinement over his qi cultivation, Xu Tai could understand how he had reached the fifth trial alongside them. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Of course, his previous assessment of Shun Long being the disciple of some powerful, solitary figure, didn''t fade, but instead solidified even further.
After all, the number of people who could tread both paths of qi cultivation and body refinement simultaneously was extremely small, requiring not just an immense level of talent, but countless resources invested as well!
..
At the same time, staring at the familiar onyx dagger in Guo Chen''s hands, Shun Long narrowed his eyes before his gaze turned cold and unfeeling once more, without the slightest hint of pity in his eyes.It had been this same dagger that Guo Chen had used thest time, back in the ''Illusion Oasis'' when he had sneak attacked him and tried to take his life!
A momentter, sparks of white lightning covered Shun Long''s whole body, as his fist continued to descend towards the ck-robed young man in front of him.
Finally, a hint of panic shed through Guo Chen''s eyes seeing that Shun Long wasn''t nning to step back and retract his fist. ''''Is this bastard really trying to die with me?'''' However, as this thought took form in his mind, Guo Chen grit his teeth and decided to steel himself as well, not taking a step back either as he instead put even more strength behind his ck dagger!
Since Shun Long wasn''t nning to retreat, Guo Chen''s tactic had now turned brutally simple; Whoever''s attack connected first would win. The other was going to die!
And yet... under Guo Chen''s disbelieving gaze, right before his dagger could plunge itself into Shun Long''s neck and allow the spiky-haired man to rejoice over his victory, ayer of protective ck scales appeared around Shun Long''s body,pletely walling the insidious attack.
As it shed against the thick dragonic scales, the sound of metal shing against metal echoed throughout the silent hall, before Guo Chen''s eyes finally widened in horror. His small onyx dagger that was his most prized possession couldn''t even scratch the firstyer of dragonic scales around Shun Long''s body, before forciblying to a halt.
Horrified by this fleeting moment of realization, Guo Chen opened his mouth and tried to speak, but before he could even do so, a terrifying fist that was crackling with white lightning made contact with his head, before a thunderous explosion filled the great hall!
Then, under the eyes of the surrounding Dao Kings... Guo Chen''s figure suddenly exploded, turning into a mist of flesh and blood!
Just like this... a peak-stage Dao King, someone ranked in the top 100 among all the Dao Kings of the central continent had lost his life!
...
The dozen of surrounding Dao Kings, including Xu Tai, the silver-haired ''brother Xing'', and even those Dao Kings who were resting earlier recovering their qi, all of them now looked at Shun Long with horrified gazes, as if they were looking at a monster.
''''No, even the word monster is not enough to describe that! How is this even possible?''''
''''Guo Chen died in a single strike? A peak-stage Dao King couldn''t even take on one attack?''''
The white hall instantly burst into mor as the surrounding Dao Kings all stared at Guo Chen''s mangled corpse in pure disbelief.
No, there was not even a corpse for them to look at anymore. There was only a pool of flesh and blood where Guo Chen''s body should have been.
Of course, everyone could tell that even Guo Chen''s soul hadn''t survived Shun Long''s strike either.
The ck-robed peak-stage Dao King had turnedpletely and utterly dead!
However, while the majority of people were staring at Guo Chen''s mangled corpse, the silver-haired ''brother Xing'' and a few others were instead looking at Shun Long, or, more precisely, at the transformation he had just undergone!
Thick, pure-ck dragonic scales had now covered his entire body like a protective armor, making him look more like a magic beast than a human. Sharp, bestial-like ws had also appeared around his hands, but surprisingly one could still make out the outline of human fingers under their thick carapace.
As they stared at the peculiar transformation, the same thought shed through the green-robed Xu Tai''s, the silver-haired ''brother Xing''s'', and the rest''s minds
''''An Immortal bloodline! This is definitely a high-grade Immortal bloodline!''''
-
Chapter 949 Fifth trial: Test of Talent!
Chapter 949 Fifth trial: Test of Talent!
The mor within the great hall gradually subsided, allowing the surrounding Dao Kings to return back to their senses. And as they did, many of them began to look at the blue-robed youth at the center of it all with a myriad of colorful expressions.
Indeed, Shun Long''s strength was terrifying, but the way he had killed Guo Chen was even more terrifying inparison. The life of a peak-stage Dao King had been snuffed out in an instant, being treated no different from a frail de of grass, stepped on and plucked out in an instant!
Although the majority of these Dao Kings inside the white hall were also ranked among the top 100 Dao Kings, none of them was confident that they could kill Guo Chen as easily and effortlessly as Shun Long had done. At the very least, none of them thought that they could take him down in a single strike!
And yet, the strongest people inside the hall right now, the silver-haired ''brother Xing'', the green-robed Xu Tai, and a few others didn''t even concern themselves with Guo Chen''s death, their gazes fully focused on the ck dragonic scales around Shun Long''s body instead.
Although immortal-grade bloodlines weren''t thatmon throughout the central continent, they weren''t overly rare either. In reality, even among the first-rate powers of the continent, a handful of the most talented disciples would normally possess an immortal-grade bloodline. Of course, those bloodlines would normally be justmon or rare-grade ones,ing frommon or rare-grade Immortal beasts. However, the dragonic scales around Shun Long''s body right now and the pressure he was emitting were clearly different! Although Xu Tai and the others couldn''t tell exactly what kind of bloodline Shun Long possessed or how pure the blood in his body really was, as members of the eight ancient families they could still discern how unordinary his bloodline was.
A few momentster, the luster of the ck scales gradually dimmed and the bestial-like ws in his hands dispersed as well, revealing Shun Long''s original appearance once more.
And yet, neither the silver-haired man nor anyone else in the hall spoke, as everyone silently stared at the blue-robed youth who was now standing next to the illusionary, silver door.
A momentter, Xu Tai took a deep breath and stepped forward, seeming like he wanted to say something, but after looking at Guo Chen''s mutted corpse and then Shun Long a few meters away from it, the green-robed young master decided to stay silent.
Instead, it was the silver-haired ''brother Xing'' who actually spoke in the next moment, his voice reverberating throughout the great hall as he looked coldly at Xu Tai next to him
''''There is no need to concern yourself with this matter. It has nothing to do with you in the first ce. The death of a worm like Guo Chen is insignificant to us. Let''s get back to what we were discussing earlier.'''' As he said that, the silver-haired man then nced at Shun Long and nodded his head as he continued
''''Before you arrived, we were discussing potential strategies regarding the fifth trial. I know that you''ve just arrived in the hall, but you are free to join this conversation if you wish!''''
As he finished speaking, ''brother Xing'' took a seat on the cold marble floor underneath him and looked at the surrounding Dao Kings in the hall. One by one, they suppressed the shock in their hearts and sat around him as well, returning back to their previous topic.
Indeed, although Guo Chen''s death had been shocking to the majority of these people, at the end of the day, it was nothing more than a surprising, yet slightly entertaining event.
Since Guo Chen wasn''t a member of any of the ancient families, his death didn''t have anything to do with any of them. It was only the power standing behind him that would be concerned.
Nodding his head at the silver-haired youth, Shun Long retrieved Guo Chen''s spatial ring, before taking a seat on the cold marble floor just a few meters away from Xu Tai and his group.
Although Shun Long wasn''t participating in their conversation and was only nning to restore his qi, he didn''t reject ''brother Xing''s'' amicable intentions either, settling just a few meters away from them.
Noticing this, the edges of the silver-haired man''s lips curved into a smile, before a heated conversation filled the great hall.
...
A dayter, Shun Long hadpletely recovered the qi he had expended in the fourth trial. The 72 golden-colored qi balls inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss'' were brimming with power once again, and even the few insignificant wounds he had received in the trial had already disappeared.
During this past day, Shun Long had also gained plenty of valuable information from ''brother Xing'', whose real name was Xing Fei. This third young master of the Xing family who was ranked in 16th ce from the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'', seemed to have already failed this fifth floor once, as he exined the process to everyone with a grave look on his face.
The more Shun Long heard about the fifth trial, the more surprised he felt inwardly. Apparently, the goal of this trial wasn''t to kill arge number of magic beasts, nor was it to defeat 3 peak-stage Dao Kings who were working together. N?v(el)B\\jnn
Instead, it was merely to stay alive for one hour. As for the opponent they had to face, Xing Fei had already exined that it was actually the chief outer court disciple of the ''Imperial Mandate sect''.
Wei Peng had already exined to Shun Long that the opponents of the fourth trial were ordinary outer court disciples of the sect, but this time they were facing the chief among those disciples?! And yet, seeing how confident the silver-haired youth'' was about this information, showed how extensive the knowledgework of the eight ancient families really was.
However, it was thest part of Xing Fei''s exnation that piqued Shun Long''s interest the most; Although the cultivation base of this chief of outer disciples had already been lowered to match the level of the ''Heavenly Tower'', Xing Fei had revealed that not only was he an early-stage Dao Emperor, but a Dao Emperor who hadprehended an extremely powerful supreme Dao!
Chapter 950 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (2)
Chapter 950 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (2)
''''Isn''t this trial practically impossible? How are we supposed to win against an early-stage Dao Emperor? I mean, if he was a normal Dao Emperor I''d still be somewhat confident in giving it a shot... but the chief outer court disciple? What kind of insane trial is this?''''
''''Don''t forget that you don''t have to win. All you need to do is simply stay alive for an hour and you can pass the trial.''''
''''''Simply stay alive''? Ah, of course, why did I not think of that? All I have to do is just survive the onught of the chief outer court disciple for one hour and I can pass. That''s easy then... idiot.''''
A few of the surrounding Dao Kings were still hopeful of passing the fifth trial, despite hearing of how difficult it was from Xing Fei.
After all, most of those Dao Kings ranked in the top 100 were ranked there due to their monstrous talent. Even among the hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions of Dao Kings that had entered the ''City of Immortals'' this time, they were still the cream of the crop.
They were geniuses who could contend against even early-stage Dao Emperors in the outside world, despite the difference in their cultivation base.
In fact, the two monsters at the very top of the rankings were even rumored to have killed a Dao Emperor realm expert each back in the central continent.
However, those who possessed more foresight knew how impossible of a task this fifth trial was actually going to be.
It was one thing to have to fight against a weak, newly advanced Dao Emperor with weak foundations, and another thing entirely to fight against a powerful expert with immense talent.
After all, this chief of outer court disciples was a supreme genius who had mastered an abnormally powerful, supreme-level Dao. Although most people in the top 20 rankings had alsoprehended supreme Daos as well, could they reallypare themselves to this chief outer court disciple in terms of talent? And even if they could, could they alsopare when that person was now a powerful Dao Emperor realm cultivator?
Even if this person was merely an early rank 1 Dao Emperor, the difference between a peak-stage Dao King and a fully-fledged Dao Emperor wasn''t one that could be measured with the difference of a simple minor realm. Normally, even ten peak-stage Dao Kings wouldn''t be able to fight an early-stage Dao Emperor, let alone a genius like the chief disciple of the outer court. The more they thought about this, the more the surrounding Dao Kings realized how big of a wall this fifth trial was going to be!
''''No, I refuse to believe that this trial is impossible. I''ve already made it this far, how can I just give up? Passing this means that we have a chance to be inner-court disciples in the future.''''
''''That''s right! How did Huang Yun and the others even seed in the first ce? There is definitely a way to do it!''''
The eyes of some of the Dao Kings immediately lit up when the name Huang Yun was mentioned, as if they had suddenly found a rope to hold on. Indeed, the sessor of the Huang family was rumored to have already passed this floor, and had already ascended to the sixth floor... and he wasn''t the only one to do so either!
A few other monsters at the top of the rankings had seeded as well, proving that this fifth trial wasn''t truly impossible... just very, very hard!
However, Xu Tai who had stayed silent all this while, suddenly looked at the moring Dao Kings around him and said mockingly
''''You all think you are on the same level as Huang Yun, that abnormal monster? Sure, why don''t you go ahead and try then? Give this trial a shot and see if you can pass. Worst case scenario, you just waste yourst chance and get kicked out of the tower! No big deal.'''' His words were like a wave of cold water, dousing the surrounding Dao Kings and instantly extinguishing the mor in the great hall.
And yet, Xu Tai merely shook his head as he continued
''''Even the fourth trial couldn''t be considered easy. Sure, it wasn''t overly hard, but it definitely wasn''t easy. However, inparison to this fifth trial, the fourth one was probably child''s y. Other than brother Xing... and perhaps also brother Shun, I don''t think anyone else has a chance here! If you don''t have enough talent to rank in the top 15, passing the fifth trial is probably impossible.'''' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Xu Tai''s words were calm and unhurried as if he was merely stating a fact, but his words were like a hammer, rocking the hearts of all the Dao Kings inside the hall.
Indeed, Xing Fei was ranked in 16th ce so he definitely had the best chance out of everyone else in the hall. And yet, even he had failed the first time he challenged this trial! Could the rest of them really seed where he had failed?
As for Shun Long, some of the surrounding Dao Kings were still unconvinced in their hearts, thinking that he had only managed to kill Guo Chen thanks to his Immortal-grade bloodline, but they didn''t dare to voice out those thoughts in front of Xu Tai.
After all, other than Xing Fei, Xu Tai was the second strongest person inside the hall right now, ranked in the 20th spot on the list, and it was clear that he was trying to befriend Shun Long.
Shaking his head, the silver-haired Xing Fei looked at everyone around him and smiled before he said calmly
''''You don''t have to take Xu Tai''s words to heart. Yes, it''s true that this fifth trial is hard, and it''s also true that I''ve failed it once already, but it''s still possible that some of you may have better results than I did. If you think you can do it, you are free to challenge it as well. I''ve already shared everything I could with you anyway.''''
Standing up, Xing Fei turned his gaze towards the illusionary silver door just a few meters away from him and began to make his way over. However, before cing his hand on the door, he turned around and threw a look at Shun Long, before the handsome silver-haired man asked with a smile
''''Brother Shun, I''m nning to challenge the fifth trial once more. How about it? Want to give it a shot?''''
However, Xu Tai who had stayed silent all this while, suddenly looked at the moring Dao Kings around him and said mockingly
''''You all think you are on the same level as Huang Yun, that abnormal monster? Sure, why don''t you go ahead and try then? Give this trial a shot and see if you can pass. Worst case scenario, you just waste yourst chance and get kicked out of the tower! No big deal.'''' His words were like a wave of cold water, dousing the surrounding Dao Kings and instantly extinguishing the mor in the great hall.\
And yet, Xu Tai merely shook his head as he continued
''''Even the fourth trial couldn''t be considered easy. Sure, it wasn''t overly hard, but it definitely wasn''t easy. However, inparison to this fifth trial, the fourth one was probably child''s y. Other than brother Xing... and perhaps also brother Shun, I don''t think anyone else has a chance here! If you don''t have enough talent to rank in the top 15, passing the fifth trial is probably impossible.''''
Xu Tai''s words were calm and unhurried as if he was merely stating a fact, but his words were like a hammer, rocking the hearts of all the Dao Kings inside the hall.
Indeed, Xing Fei was ranked in 16th ce so he definitely had the best chance out of everyone else in the hall. And yet, even he had failed the first time he challenged this trial! Could the rest of them really seed where he had failed?
As for Shun Long, some of the surrounding Dao Kings were still unconvinced in their hearts, thinking that he had only managed to kill Guo Chen thanks to his Immortal-grade bloodline, but they didn''t dare to voice out those thoughts in front of Xu Tai.
After all, other than Xing Fei, Xu Tai was the second strongest person inside the hall right now, ranked in the 20th spot on the list, and it was clear that he was trying to befriend Shun Long.
Shaking his head, the silver-haired Xing Fei looked at everyone around him and smiled before he said calmly
''''You don''t have to take Xu Tai''s words to heart. Yes, it''s true that this fifth trial is hard, and it''s also true that I''ve failed it once already, but it''s still possible that some of you may have better results than I did. If you think you can do it, you are free to challenge it as well. I''ve already shared everything I could with you anyway.''''
Standing up, Xing Fei turned his gaze towards the illusionary silver door just a few meters away from him and began to make his way over. However, before cing his hand on the door, he turned around and threw a look at Shun Long, before the handsome silver-haired man asked with a smile
''''Brother Shun, I''m nning to challenge the fifth trial once more. How about it? Want to give it a shot?''''
Chapter 951 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (3)
Chapter 951 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (3)
The surrounding Dao Kings, including Xu Tai, all turned to look at Shun Long as they waited for his answer.
The atmosphere within the great hall was silent. So silent that one could hear the breathing of the person next to them, as everyone eagerly gazed at the sitting, blue-robed youth a few meters away from the silver door. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Was he really going to attempt the fifth trial?
Normally, these Dao Kings wouldn''t have been so interested in something as trivial as an unknown person like Shun Long attempting the fifth floor. After all, every one of these Dao Kings was also a genius in the outside world, well known figures with powerful backgrounds that were renowned throughout the entire central continent.
However, if Shun Long could also pass this trial like Xu Tai predicted, wouldn''t he then join the ranks of Huang Yun and the others?
Such a person was bound to be famous throughout the central continent whether he wanted to or not.
''''An early rank 1 Dao Emperor, huh?'''' Standing up, a small smile found its way on Shun Long''s lips as he looked at Xing Fei and nodded his head, and under the astonished gazes of the Dao Kings around him, he made his way towards the illusionary silver door.
''''Great!'''' Xing Fei smiled as well, and after a brief moment of pondering, the silver-haired man turned to Xu Tai and repeated the same question
''''How about it, Xu Tai? Why don''t you give it a shot as well? I''m not sure about the others, but your chances at least, are as good as mine if not better.''''
The burly, green-robed Xu Tai seemed taken aback by Xing Fei''s sudden question. From the hesitation flickering in his eyes, it was obvious that he too wanted to challenge the fifth trial, and Xing Fei''s words were practically tugging at his heartstrings, almost edging him to step forward.
However, after a long moment of silence, he shook his head in a determined manner and answered firmly
''''Not yet, brother Xing. You already know that I failed twice back on the second trial, so I only have one attempt left. I''m nning to challenge the fifth trial too, but I''ll only do so once I''m confident that I''ll seed!''''
Nodding his head, the silver-haired Xing Fei didn''t pressure him any further and simply waved his hand. Then, with a smile on his face, he nced at Shun Long onest time before he ced his hand on the mirage of the silver door in front of him.
In the next moment, as if responding to Xing Fei''s touch, the ethereal runes on the door''s surface lit up with a vivid, scintiting light, before the silver-haired youth''s figure vanished from the ancient hall.
ncing at Xing Fei''s disappearing figure, Shun Long nodded his head and stepped forward, before cing his hand on top of the silver door as well. A momentter, a radiant, blinding silver light enveloped his body, before Shun Long disappeared from the white hall soon afterwards.
..
The stillness and silence of the white hall were quickly left behind, as a cool, refreshing breeze took their ce, gently caressing Shun Long''s face and prompting him to open his eyes once more. The familiar, yet insipid scenery of the ancient hall had now vanished for the fourth time, as Shun Long found himself in the heart of a vast, even field of greenery.
This time, there was no nauseous sensation to apany the spatial fluctuations of the mysterious silver door, nor was there any blurriness affecting his eyesight, allowing him to take in the full scene in front of him.
Standing at the heart of this endless, even green field that spanned as far as the eye could see, Shun Long appreciated the beauty of the fifth trial for a brief, fleeting moment, before his gaze eventually settled on a small clearke just a few meters away from him.
Thiske wasn''t overly remarkable nor did it have any particrly unique qualities other than its crystal blue waters. Instead, it was the person sitting by the shore of thiske that attracted Shun Long''s attention.
Sitting cross-legged at the edge of theke, was a devilishly handsome young man d in luxurious purple robes. His long ck hair wasbed neatly, entuating the sharp facial features in his already handsome face even further. Surprisingly, the gigantic azure de strapped on his back didn''t seem to contrast his refined, delicate appearance but somehowplemented it even more, adding an aura of subdued savagery to his peaceful frame.
Almost at the same time that Shun Long''s gaze fell on him, the devilishly handsome young man snapped his eyes open, before his calm, brown irises focused on the azure-robed youth that was looking at him.
In the next moment, Shun Long saw the purple-robed youth standing up and unsheath his azure de, their gazes shing against each other, before a monstrous, overbearing aura burst out from his body.
...It was the aura of an early rank 1 Dao Emperor!
At this point, Shun Long had to admit that this purple-robed man was indeed powerful and was most likely going to prove a difficult opponent to beat. After all, not only was he the first Dao Emperor Shun Long was fighting against, but just from his aura, Shun Long could tell that even among other Dao Emperors, this person definitely wasn''t weak.
At the very least, his foundations in the Dao King realm had been tempered to the brim, allowing the purple-robed youth to bring out his full potential.
Even among the millions of Dao Kings who had entered the ''City of Immortals'', this person would be considered a peak existence!
And yet, almost as if mirroring the devilish youth''s movements, a pitch-ck sword materialized in Shun Long''s hands as he suddenly took a step forward. Almost simultaneously, the aura of a peak rank 8 Dao King burst out from his body, as he shot forward like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for the purple-robed man in the distance.
Indeed, unlike Xing Fei and the rest of the Dao Kings on the fourth floor, Shun Long''s goal wasn''t to hide and avoid the purple-robed youth until the 1-hour period ran out! Instead, he was nning to fight against one of the most talented Dao Emperors from the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' head-on! Or at least... his soul imprint.
Chapter 952 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (4)
Chapter 952 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (4)
Shun Long covered the gap between them and rushed towards the shore of theke, but the devilishly handsome young man didn''t stay idle either.His feet kicked the ground as his figure turned into a purple blur, flying towards his azure-robed opponent with devastating speed.
There were no words exchanged between them, but the thick scent of their imminent battle filled the air with anticipation!
In just a few moments, both Shun Long and the purple-robed young man stood opposite each other before they brought down their des at full force! A momentter, a horrifying sh shook the entirety of the vast field, as Shun Long''s ck sword met the azure greatsword directly!
''''BOOOOOM!''''
The silence and tranquility of the empty green field were quickly reced by a deafening sonic boom, as the brief yet terrifying sh of the swords shook the air, pushing the two men away from each other.
However, just this first sh alone was enough to indicate how the rest of this battle was going to unfold.
Shun Long felt the ck sword slipping out of his hands as the purple-robed man''s strike pushed him backward for more than ten meters until he regained his bnce. His right hand that was holding the ck sword felt numb after the collision, and if it wasn''t for his ''Monarch''s Eternal body''s'' overwhelming resiliency, even the web of his thumb would have been torn off in an instant.
And yet... the devilish young man didn''t fare much better either. Although Shun Long was only a peak-rank 8 Dao King and a sixth-stage body refiner, his all-out strike was more than enough to rival an early-stage Dao Emperor by now.
With hisprehension of the sword added to the mix -having already reached the level of sword aura- even an early-stage Dao Emperor would find it a nightmare to defend against his attacks! At the very least, thatst strike was no weaker than the all-out attack of an early-stage Dao Emperor!
After taking it on, the purple-robed young man''s feet slid backwards for nearly a dozen meters until they finally came to a halt. His arm that was holding the gigantic azure de trembled after the impact, prompting him to use his second hand to support himself as well, before his emotionless gaze turned to look at his opponent with a hint of astonishment.
Then... the two of them shed once more!
...
Soon, the entire field of greenery had turned into the two men''s battlefield, as Shun Long and the purple-robed youth shed more than a hundred times in the span of a few seconds.
Staring at his opponent who seemed to be no weaker than he was, Shun Long could no longer suppress the growing feeling of excitement brewing in his heart with every swing of his sword. This had been the first time in a while that Shun Long had been forced to go all-out in a fight.
Of course, the peak rank 6 magic beasts back on the first trial had put him in a somewhat simr situation, but that couldn''t be considered a test of skill. It was more like an endless ughter that tested one''s reserves of qi and the ability to protect themselves when faced with multiple opponents. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, this fifth trial waspletely different. The devilishly handsome young man''s skills were clearly top-tier even among rank 1 Dao Emperors, even prompting his challengers to avoid him instead of shing with him directly.
Of course, after the first sh, Shun Long no longer held back and augmented himself with both iterations of his ''Monarch''s Domain'', increasing his own speed and restricting the purple-robed man''s at the same time.
No, it wasn''t just his speed. Even his reaction time, his thinking process, and even the momentum of his azure greatsword were affected, as the flow of time around him was slowed down considerably.
Still, due to the vast difference in their cultivation bases, Shun Long could feel that the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'' weren''t as effective against the purple-robed youth. Of course, that was only natural as well. For how absurdly powerful of a skill the ''Monarch''s Domain'' was, Shun Long knew that it wasn''t truly omnipotent. At the very least not when his opponent''s cultivation base was much higher than his own.
After all, even the three peak-stage Dao Kings in the fourth trial weren''tpletely suppressed and had managed to resist its effects to a certain degree. Still, time inside the ''Monarch''s Domain'' had flowed so slowly for them, that it wasn''t much different from havingpletelye to a halt. The 3 of them had been ughtered in an instant, unable to put up the slightest bit of resistance.
But of course, this chief of the outer-court disciples of the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' couldn''t bepared to any of those regr disciples.
Feeling that something around him was wrong, the purple-robed youth finally revealed his true strength.
A momentter, thick, giant green vines sprouted from the ground under his feet, all of them moving toward Shun Long with deadly momentum. Even under the suppressive effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', the enormous vines were still faster than regr arrows as they moved towards their target. Shun Long could only imagine how strong these vines would be at full force.
Without any dy, Shun Long blinked a momentter, appearing a few hundred meters away as he effortlessly dodged the fatal attacks. And yet, as if they had a mind of their own, more and more vines sprouted from the ground around him, all of them blocking his path, their thorny edges looking to skewer his body from every direction.
..
As he continuously dodged the thorny attacks one after the other, constantly blinking throughout the grassy battlefield, Shun Long would asionally find an opening in the purple-robed youth''s defenses and would make full use of it, bombarding it with bolts of white lightning using his ''Dao of Heavenly Tribtion''.
Normally, the chief of outer-court disciples would never show such openings in a fight, but perhaps due to the effects of the ''Monarch''s Domain'', he ended up exposing himself a couple of times.
And yet, most of Shun Long''s white bolts of lightning were quickly blocked, either by that azure greatsword still resting in his hands, or the emerging vines from the ground, unable to truly find their mark.
However, at some point, as if through a miracle or due to the purple-robed man''s negligence... a single bolt of lightning somehow passed through his defenses andnded squarely on his chest, piercing a hole straight through his heart.
But it was at this moment that the purple-robed Dao Emperor finally revealed the supreme Dao he hadprehended!
-
Chapter 953 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (5)
Chapter 953 Fifth trial: Test of Talent! (5)
In the next moment, a vibrant green light enveloped the devilishly handsome youth, before the wound on his chest started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye... one that would make even the most aplished alchemists stare in envy and disbelief.
In just 5 breaths of time, the injury that would have proved fatal to almost every early-stage Dao Emperor had already disappeared, as the purple-robed youth''s skin closed and mended by itself. Not even a hint of a scar was left behind, as if the purple-robed man had never been injured in the first ce. And yet, the hole in his robes was still there, revealing that a powerful attack had indeed struck his chest just a few moments ago.
Staring at the scene in front of him, Shun Long remained still and pondered for a moment, before he muttered in a curious tone
''''So the supreme Dao he hasprehended is the ''Dao of Life''?'''' Although he voiced it like a question, Shun Long was practically certain about his guess as he looked at the purple-robed youth in the distance. N?v(el)B\\jnn
And indeed, Little ck''s voice sounded in his mind a momentter, confirming his guess
''''Master is right. The Dao this kid just used is almost certainly the ''Dao of Life''! There are only so many Daos that can restore one''s flesh and blood so quickly, but to do so after being struck by the lightning of the heavenly tribtion... I can only think of the ''Dao of Light'' and that disgusting, abominable Dao, those chickens in the ''Divine Fire World'' use.''''
Shun Long nodded in agreement and fell silent for a short while, his gaze still studying the purple-robed youth. As for the ''chickens'' Little ck was referring to, he didn''t even pay any attention to that part.
At this point, there was almost no doubt in his mind that the purple-robed youth''s Dao was the ''Dao of Life''. However, this onlyplicated things even further. After all, even in the ''Immortal Dimension'', cultivators of the ''Dao of Life'' were one of the most difficult to kill thanks to their ability to heal their wounds!
It''s not that Shun Long wasn''t confident in beating the purple-robed man after exchanging more than a hundred strikes with him, but killing a Dao Emperor who could regenerate their wounds infinitely as long as they had enough qi, was nearly impossible. ''Well, it''s not like there is no way to do it... but it''s not worth it either.'' With a faint smile on his face, Shun Long threw out all distracting thoughts and shot forward once more, ready to sh with the purple-robed man again.
Indeed, although killing an early-stage Dao Emperor with the ''Dao of Light'' was extremely difficult, Shun Long had a few ways to do it if he really wanted to.
Firstly, he could use his ''Time Siphon'' and slowly but surely ''absorb'' all of the purple-robed youth''s remaining time, until he turned to withered bones and disappeared into dust. Of course, the handsome young man could potentially resist the effects of the ''Time Siphon'' to a certain degree thanks to his ''Dao of Life'', which would make their battle a battle of attrition in the end. The one with the deepest reserves of qi would then win.Of course, with how pure the qi inside his qi balls was, Shun Long was confident that he could definitely oust almost every early rank 1 Dao Emperor in such a situation.
Unfortunately, ording to Xing Fei, this trial would onlyst for one hour so Shun Long didn''t have enough time to test this out. And he wasn''t nning to win in such a way either.
The second way he could go about it was to directly obliterate the devilish young man''s soul. Although the purple-robed youth was a talented Dao Emperor, Shun Long''s soul wasparable to an early-stage Sovereign''s right now. Even without any soul-attacking martial skills, he could easily snuff out the soul of an early-stage Dao Emperor using his soul sense... as long as he was ready to sacrifice a part of his spiritual strength that was.
However, Shun Long wasn''t nning to do that either. After all, soul imprint or not, this purple-robed youth was the first person that was strong enough to allow Shun Long to fight while going all-out. Why would he destroy such a perfect sparring partner?
A momentter, the two figures shed across the battlefield once more, as the sound of metal shing against metal filled the air of the green field.
Soon, half an hour had already passed, and yet neither of the two men seemed exhausted. In fact, they fought with even more intensity than before. Shun Long''s sword skills were already far beyond the level of any Dao King, and hisprehension of the sword was gradually approaching the peak of the ''sword aura realm'' as well, and yet... the purple-robed youth wasn''t being pushed back at all. He was matching Shun Long''s attacks blow for blow. Although it was clear that hisprehension of the sword hadn''t reached the level of ''sword aura'' just yet and was still at the peak of the ''sword qi'' realm, his superior cultivation allowed him to somewhat bridge the gap between their skills, without forcing him to be on the back foot during their fight.
Finally, time passed, and in the blink of an eye, another half an hour had gone by.
As soon as the 1-hour period came to an end, the purple-robed youth finally lowered his sword and looked at his opponent silently.
For a moment, Shun Long thought he saw a gleam of reluctance shing in the eyes of the devilishly handsome youth.However, that gleam onlysted for the briefest of moments before his gaze returned back to its original, emotionless look.
Then, the purple-robed youth actually... smiled and cupped his hands, before his body suddenly dispersed, turning into motes of spiritual qi that disappeared into the air.
Eventually, in the spot where the handsome young man stood, two items seemed to have taken its ce.
A somewhat familiar, yet at the same time alien bronze token... and a gigantic crimson rock.
The fifth trial hade to an end but the rewards were far more than Shun Long had expected!
Chapter 954 Crimson rock
Chapter 954 Crimson rock
Shun Long examined the two items in front of him, his gaze barely scratching the familiar bronze token before focusing on the gigantic maroon rock.
The bronze token appeared almost identical to the one he had found on the third trial, albeit with a few noticeable differences. The words ''Imperial Mandate'' were carved on its front just like the first one, while the words ''inner court'' were carved on its back.
Shun Long remembered that the token he had obtained from the third trial had the words ''outer court'' instead, but this one was clearly meant for inner court disciples... Or at least, for people with the qualifications to take the test for inner court disciples.
And yet, Shun Long''s gaze didn''t linger on the small token for too long before turning towards the enormous crimson boulder.
''''A ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock?'''' As his hand touched the enormous red rock, Shun Long struggled to believe how generous the reward of this fifth trial actually was.
Even if he ignored the tens of thousands of top-grade spirit stones he had obtained in the first trial or the hundreds of spiritual materials used by formation masters from the second trial, the rewards from the third and fourth trials were already astonishing enough, even by the perspective of most Sovereign realm experts let alone those Dao Kings who had entered the tower.
The ''Immortal Meridian fruit'' was already an extremely rare treasure that forcefully erged a person''s meridians and essentially increased their talent, while each of the three ''Immortal-grade cultivation techniques'' from the fourth trial was more than enough to guarantee these talented Dao Kings reaching the ''Earth Immortal realm'' within their lifetimes.
And yet, this ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'' exceeded even those previous treasures by arge margin!
Of course, those people who were unfamiliar with natural treasures wouldn''t know what a ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'' was, nor what it was used for... but how could Shun Long possibly not know?
After all, his ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' was also a type of natural treasure born from heaven and earth!
Granted, a piece of ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'' couldn''t possiblypare to one of the top 10 treasures of the ''Immortal Dimension'', but natural treasures were highly sought after even by immortal realm cultivators, let alone peak-stage Dao Kings!
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck''s azure eyes shed with a profound gleam, before the ck dragon asked thoughtfully
''''Master, is this really a piece of spiritual rock? It doesn''t feel much different from a top-grade spirit stone!''''
Although Little ck was separated from the maroon boulder by the vast, spatial chasm of the ''Stone of Time'' and could only sense bits and pieces of its aura, he was still stunned by Shun Long''s promation. Even with his vast knowledge of immortal treasures, Little ck couldn''t tell that this was really a piece of spiritual rock.
Shaking his head, Shun Long traced his finger on the surface of the red rock for a little longer before he answered
''''That''s only natural. There are hundreds of different types and grades of spiritual rocks, so it''s no wonder you can''t recognize it so easily. This one is a ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'' that''s absorbed spiritual qi for more than a hundred thousand years before turning into a natural treasure.''''
After a brief moment of pondering he continued
''''In a way, you are right. It is not much different from a top-grade spirit stone. After all, it functions in the same way. As long as one absorbs the qi inside it, they can fill their dantian and increase their cultivation base. However, there are also two major differences between spirit stones and spiritual rocks.
Just a small, fist-sized ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'', is normally enough to propel a Dao King all the way to the peak of the Sovereign realm in just a few years. They''ll even have a chance to break through and step into the ''Earth Immortal realm'' right away. However, that''s not even the most important benefit it provides.''''
Inside the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck remained silent for a while as he took in Shun Long''s exnation. The ck dragon was already aware of the benefits a spiritual rock provided in one''s cultivation base, so he wasn''t overly surprised to hear thatst part. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
After all, many years ago, while they were still in the ''Immortal Dimension'', one of themanders of the ''Heaven Trampling legion'' had gotten his hands on an extremely rare piece of ''Heavenly Wind spiritual rock'' that increased his cultivation by nearly a full major realm, causing a massive uproar throughout the ''Heaven Trampling city''. However, Little ck had never heard of spiritual rocks having a secondary effect.
Nodding his head, Shun Long then continued
''''To most Dao Kings, this is indeed a rare treasure that can increase their cultivation base in a short amount of time, but for anyone who hasprehended the ''Dao of Fire'' or any simr Dao... it''s a priceless treasure that can also increase their Daoprehension as well.''''
Shun Long''s words were calm and unhurried, but Little ck''s eyes widened in disbelief as he understood the implications behind thatst part. Indeed, if people knew of the effects of this ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'', how many cultivators with high affinity to fire would trade everything they had to obtain a piece?
However, Shun Long waspletely unconcerned about those people. He wasn''t nning on trading this piece of spiritual rock, nor was he worried that anyone would try and steal it from him... such people would only end up regretting their actions in the end.
Instead, he was curious about something else.
''''How could the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' give out such a huge piece of ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock''?''''
Regardless of how rich the sect was, they couldn''t possibly hand suchrge pieces of spiritual rocks to everyone who passed the fifth trial, right? Even for an immortal sect, it didn''t make any sense.
This matter became even more bizarre considering that just a fist-sized of this rock was enough to propel someone to the peak of the Sovereign realm. Wouldn''trger pieces be a waste then? Unless the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' was nning to nurture a bunch of immortals in a short amount of time...
A few momentster, Shun Long eventually put those thoughts to the back of his mind and stored both the bronze token and the ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'' inside the ''Stone of Time''.
Since he couldn''te to a conclusion, it was pointless to keep thinking about the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' intentions any further. He was going to find out after ascending the ''Heavenly Tower'' anyway.
-
Chapter 955 Climbing the rankings
Chapter 955 Climbing the rankings
After storing the bronze token and the ''Sun-blessed spiritual rock'' inside the ''Stone of Time'', Shun Long sat cross-legged on the ground and waited for the fifth trial toe to an end. And indeed, a few momentster, his figure turned blurry and translucent as a dim silver light enveloped his body, before finally vanishing from the vast green field, leaving the devastated battlefield behind.
The familiar sensation of blurriness blinded his eyesight for a brief moment, but this time it disappeared as quickly as it arrived, allowing Shun Long to have a look at his new surroundings. N?v(el)B\\jnn
For the first time after sessfully passing a trial... he didn''t find himself at the heart of that plodding ancient hall!
...
Almost at the same time that Shun Long''s figure disappeared from the green field, a massive, thunderousmotion began to take ce outside the ''Heavenly Tower'', as an unbelievable sight urred.
The gigantic b of stone that was ced right above the tower''s gates began to shimmer with an ethereal, blinding light, before the runes on its surface began to shift and twist as if they were suddenly undergoing a tremendous change.
Then, the luminous golden names on the ''Heavenly Rankings'' started to get pushed down one after the other, as a new name began to rise with overwhelming momentum. In the blink of an eye, it had already passed the person ranked 10th and had even pushed down Xuan Long from the Tianxuan dynasty from 9th to 10th ce!
The same trend continued and mere moments afterwards, even Jiang Tianfang was pushed down to 8th ce as the rising neer continued to ascend without showing any signs of stopping!
Then, under the disbelieving gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings, he passed the person in 6th ce, Niu Rong, and even Huo Jingyi and Chen Xuefeng, ranked 5th and 4th respectively!
The surrounding Dao Kings wanted to speak, but for some reason, everyone held their breaths and remained silent, as if they were waiting to see how much more the neer was going to ascend.
It was only after reaching 4th ce that the new name''s momentum began to slow down... but slowing down didn''t mean stopping.
After a brief moment of respite, it had already pushed down Wei Guoyang from 3rd ce to 4th and was slowly encroaching upon the person ranked 2nd, the number one genius and sessor of the Huang family, Huang Yun.
Finally, Huang Yun''s name was enveloped by a radiant golden light, before it was gradually pushed down to 3rd ce, as the rising neer''s ascension eventually came to a halt!
The crowd of Dao Kings outside the tower''s gates now stared at the name in 2nd ce of the ''Heavenly Rankings'' with gazes filled with incredulity and doubt, before an uproar gradually erupted
''''Who the hell is this Shun Long and how can he climb all the way to 2nd ce in one go? Is this for real?''''
''''What the hell is going on with the Heavenly Rankings? This guy didn''t just pass ''youngdy Niu'', he even passed Huang Yun and Wei Luoyang?! Are you telling me that this guy is even more talented than the number one genius of the ancient families and the sessor of the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce''?''''
The surrounding Dao Kings couldn''t believe their own eyes... or to be more precise, the ''Heavenly Tower''s'' judgement as they stared at the name in 2nd ce carved in luminous golden letters
''''Shun Long.''''
It was one thing for some unknown person to have somehow passed Huo Jingyi, the publicly acimed number 2 genius of the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'', and Chen Xuefeng, the young master from the Chen family... but even Wei Luoyang and Huang Yun?
Then, was this unknown person supposed to be the second most talented individual among all Dao Kings and Dao Emperors in the entire central continent?
Although the ''Heavenly Tower'' was known to be impartial and extremely mysterious, how could these Dao Kings ept this so easily?
In the secondyer of the ''City of Immortals'', the proud Dao Emperors stationed at the tower''s gates seemed to have simr reactions as well, unable to fathom how someone they had never heard of had managed to dethrone everyone else and wasfortably sitting in the 2nd ce of the ''Heavenly Rankings''.
...
And yet, Shun Long waspletely oblivious to themotion his passing of the fifth trial had caused, as he curiously examined his new surroundings at this moment.
This time, he didn''t find himself at the heart of that unchanging ancient hall, but at the peak of a tall, unfamiliar mountain that soared way past the clouds. The peak of the mountain pierced through the dome of heaven like a heavenly sword, while its body seemed to span for countless miles downwards, giving off an aura of immortality and grandeur.
Shun Long had just arrived at the popted mountain peak, as the thick, pulsing immortal qi in the air assaulted him from every direction, causing him to take a step back and widen his eyes in surprise. It was almost as if the entirety of immortal qi in the ''City of Immortals'' originated from this very mountain!
Just as he stepped foot at the peak of the mountain, Shun Long suddenly felt a deep, profound gaze examine him from head to toe, before an old, hoary voice entered his ears
''''Hahaha! Congrattions young friend! I have to say, your results this time truly surprised me. Who could expect that you would not only choose to fight against Luoyang, but you would even push him back a few times? How interesting!''''
Shun Long turned at the origin of the voiceing from the top of the mountain, as the figure of a plump, purple-robed old man appeared in his eyes. The old man who was sitting cross-legged on the ground had sparse white hair at the sides of his head, while his crown waspletely bald. His amiable smile and the aura of friendliness he exuded made him seem like a friendly, harmless elder who was just casually conversing with a junior!
And yet, despite the friendly smile on his face and the easygoing look in his deep brown eyes, Shun Long could tell that this person in front of him was anything but a normal elder.
No, although the old man had thoroughly suppressed his aura, not allowing even a bit of it to leak outwards, from the way the immortal qi around him swirled -as if it was attracted by the old man''s mere presence- Shun Long could tell how extraordinary this person seated at the dais was.
Even if he was not a bonafide true immortal, this old man was, at the very least ate-stage Earth Immortal expert... and an extraordinary one at that!
Chapter 956 Preaching the Dao
Chapter 956 Preaching the Dao
Facing the old man who had a mischievous smile on his face as he looked at him, Shun Long cupped his hands before he responded
''''Senior praises me too much. Even for me, thatst trial was a challenge.''''
''''Hahaha! You little brat, do you think I''m blind? How can I not tell that you were merely toying with Luoyang back there? If you really wanted to escape, could he even catch you?''''
Shun Long''s lips curved upwards without offering a retort. After all, the old man''s words had indeed pointed at the crux of the matter
Although Shun Long didn''t lie by saying that the fifth trial had been a challenge, the old man understood what he meant by the words ''challenge''.
The so-called challenge was going toe-to-toe with the most talented outer-court disciple of the ''Imperial Mandate sect'', and someone who was one major realm stronger than him!
Shaking his head, the old man pointed at an empty spot behind him and said with a smile
''''Enough about that. Since you''ve already passed the trial, that''s the end of it. The more talented you are, the better it is for my ''Imperial Mandate sect'', after all. For now, have a seat and chat with this old man for a while.''''
It was only after the old man pointed behind him that Shun Long finally paid attention to the rest of the figures situated at the peak of the mountain.
Other than him and the purple-robed old man, eleven more people were present at this mountain peak, all of them sitting down and forming a semi-circle around the bald elder.
However, unlike the old man, Shun Long quickly noticed that each of those eleven figures looked hazy and obscured, as if some kind of mysterious power had enveloped them, preventing anyone from peering through its mysterious veil.
Nevertheless, Shun Long could still make out one important detail; Every single one of those figures seemed to have fallen into deep meditation, not disturbed at all by his conversation with the purple-robed elder.
Noticing Shun Long''s gaze falling on the eleven figures behind him, the old man waved his hand and said in a dismissive manner
''''Don''t worry about them. They are already undertaking the sixth trial. No matter how loud you are, they won''t be able to hear you, so speak freely.''''
Then, the old man''s yful smile gradually vanished, his expression turning solemn as he continued
''''Since you''ve already passed the fifth trial, you can nominally be considered an inner court disciple of my ''Imperial Mandate sect'', so it''s time for you to learn a few things. Otherwise, breaking through to the Sovereign realm in the future may be a catastrophe for you!
Of course, whether you truly ascend in the ''Immortal Dimension'' and sessfully pass the sect''s test to be an inner court disciple is a different topic, but at the very least, you have earned the qualifications to take that test and learn this information!''''
The old man''s gaze examined Shun Long for a brief while before he spoke again, this time his voice even more serious than before
''''First, I''ll start by exining the Dao. Pay attention because I''ll only exin this once.
From your fight with Luoyang, I can tell that you''veprehended more than one supreme Dao, but do you truly know what supreme Daos are? What difference do these Daos have from ''Unique-grade'' Daos or the rare andmon ones?''''
The old man didn''t wait for Shun Long to answer, his ancient voice reverberating throughout the mountain peak as he continued n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''Most people in your mortal world would think thatmon-grade Daos are useless or weak, while supreme Daos are the strongest. Well, they are not exactly wrong but they are not right either. Things are slightly moreplicated than that.
In reality, supreme-grade Daos can be considered as the origin of all Daos. They are the oldest, most ancient Daos in existence and the ones that form thews of this world. As for unique-grade Daos, they are simpler, less refined versions of them to be exact.
As for rare-grade Daos like the ''Dao of Ice'' or the ''Dao of Lightning'' for example, those are both evolved versions ofmon Daos like the ''Dao of Water'' and the ''Dao of Wind''.''''
Shun Long nodded his head at the old man''s exnation without saying a word.
Naturally, he already knew these secrets regarding the origin of the Daos and the purpose they served, but the old man''s exnation was slightly different from what he knew from his memories.
Indeed,mon-grade Daos were generally considered weak by powerful cultivators due to theirck ofplexity and possible usage, whereas unique and even supreme-level Daos possessed many more advantages inparison.
However, the heavens were always fair, and for every overwhelming advantage, there was always one major disadvantage to apany it.
Unaware of what Shun Long was thinking, the old man continued
''''Of course, thinking that supreme-grade Daos are stronger thanmon Daos is wrong by itself. They are moreplex and can be used in many more different ways, but they are not necessarily stronger. Besides, supreme Daos have their own disadvantages as well. Ultimately, it''s not impossible for someone who hasprehended amon Dao to kill a cultivator who possesses a supreme Dao.''''
Shun Long nodded in agreement with the old man''s words, and for some reason, Yang Hui''s figure appeared in his mind at that moment.
The previous number one genius of the Holy sect was someone who hadprehended just amon Dao, the ''Dao of Fire'', but he was, without a doubt, the undisputed number one outer court disciple of the sect. All of that stemmed from his high affinity to the ''Dao of Fire'', all thanks to his eyes of the ''Fire Qilin''.
In the end, it wouldn''t be impossible for someone like Yang Hui to defeat cultivators with unique-grade Daos using his ''Dao of Fire''.
Seeing that Shun Long appeared to have grasped the point he was making, the old man nodded in satisfaction and continued once more, his hoary voice even more solemn than before
''''Naturally, there is an important reason why I''m exining these things to you. But first, tell me. Do you know why my ''Imperial Mandate sect'' only epts Dao Kings and Dao Emperor realm disciples from your mortal world? Why don''t we allow Sovereign realm cultivators and Earth Immortals to take this test?''''
As the old man finished his question, he waved his right hand, before a thick, wooden gourd appeared in his palm. The fragrant, intoxicating scent of the wine inside the gourd permeated the peak of the mountain as the old man took arge sip, his beady eyes focused on Shun Long as he waited for his answer.
After a brief moment of pondering, Shun Long finally nodded his head and answered the old man''s question
''''It''s because Sovereign realm cultivators have already formed their ''Dao seed''.''''
Chapter 957 The terror of the sixth trial
Chapter 957 The terror of the sixth trial
The old man''s eyes shed with a glimmer of surprise before he nodded his head and answered
''''That''s right. It''s because they''ve already formed their ''Dao seeds'' that they can not improve their foundations any further. Creating a weak ''Dao seed'' is no different from permanently closing off your path to immortality. Without a sufficiently strong ''Dao seed'' and powerful foundations in the Dao Emperor realm, you can never even hope to be an ''Earth Immortal'', let alone a true immortal!''''
The old man then fiddled with the gourd in his hands for a while, before he continued
''''This makes things easier. Since you already know about ''Dao seeds'', there is no need for me to continue this conversation any further. In the end, the path you follow is yours, and yours alone. I''ve already exined what needed to be said. I just hope you will make the correct decision in the future.''''
Shun Long looked at the purple-robed elder and cupped his hands once more as he answered
''''Thank you for your guidance, senior.'''' Since the old man was clearly looking out for him, Shun Long treated him earnestly and nodded in understanding, indicating that he had already given this matter some thought a while ago.
Not dwelling on the topic any further, the old man shook his head and unexpectedly smiled, his expression suddenly turning amiable and easygoing once more as he asked
''''Well, since you are here, how about you take on the sixth trial right away? I know you haven''t recovered your qi yet, but you won''t need it for this trial anyway. What do you think?''''
Looking at the mischievous smile on the purple-robed elder''s face, Shun Long felt somewhat surprised hearing that he wouldn''t need to use his qi during the sixth trial.
Was this trial simr to the second one where one had to endure dozens of soul attacks from early-stage Dao Emperors? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Still, after a brief moment of pondering, Shun Long nced at the bald elder and nodded once more as he answered
''''Alright. Please lead the way, senior.''''
Shaking his head, the smile on the old man''s face became more and more pronounced as he responded
''''No need. Just sit where you are and have fun.''''
For some reason, the words ''have fun'' sounded overly ominous as they left the old man''s withered lips.However, Shun Long didn''t have any time to ponder their meaning as his vision suddenly darkened, before vanishing from the peak of the mountain.
...
The next time he opened his eyes Shun Long found himself at the heart of an overly familiar courtyard... one that he had not stepped foot on for many years now.
Surprisingly, there were no spatial fluctuations enveloping his body, but Shun Long could clearly feel that everything around him was real... or at least it felt real.
The familiar courtyard, the trees around him, the refreshing aroma of flowers, and even the sounds of the guards grunting as they trained a few meters away from him.
And yet, Shun Long knew that what he saw right now certainly wasn''t real. Otherwise, there was no exnation for how he had appeared in the heart of the Shun estate back in ''Blue Forest City''!
After all, the entire ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' had been razed to the ground many years ago.
And yet, mere momentster, a young maidservant ran towards him as she called out gleefully
''''Young maaaaaaaster!''''
Staring at the running young maid that wasing his way, Shun Long couldn''t help but feel a wave of mncholy rise in his heart.
Indeed, he had to admit that he somewhat missed those peaceful days back in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''. Ever since arriving in the central continent, he had been fighting battle after battle, taking on mission after mission in the Holy sect, without ever having a real chance to rest, his life always at a knife''s edge.
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long suddenly muttered to himself
''''No matter what, I''m going to settle down once we leave this tower. I won''t keep roaming around the continent like a fool!''''
A few momentster, the youthful maidservant stood in front of him, her face just as cute Shun Long remembered it. Her cheeks still had a bit of baby fat on them, showing hints of immaturity, and yet her gleamy eyes that were full of life looked at Shun Long expectantly as she continued
''''Young maaaaaasteer!''''
*Huff*
*Huff*
''''The master has ordered me to fetch you and go to the main hall together. Pleasee with me!''''
The panting young maid grabbed Shun Long by the hem of his robes and pulled him towards the main hall with long strides, not stopping to rest for even a moment. Shun Long didn''t resist either and let her drag him away, as he took in the scene of the familiar estate in silence.
Momentster, the 2 of them had already arrived in front of the gates of the main hall, the 3-meter(9ft) tall doors already wide open as if they were waiting for him.
As the young maid pulled him inside, Shun Long finally saw a handsome man in his early 40s and a beautiful woman in herte 30s seated at the long table in the heart of the hall, their doting expressions looking at him full of affection.
''''Long''er!'''' Shun Fang stood up and pulled his son in a tight bear hug before he berated him yfully
''''You little brat! Your father has already returned from the imperial capital and yet you don''t evene to say hello? Haiz... how heartless my son has be!''''
''''Father...'''' Shun Long knew that the person in front of him wasn''t really Shun Fang, but everything in the hall still felt so real, from the atmosphere around him to his father''s familiar hug that he couldn''t help but utter those words in the end.
''''What''s wrong? Go ahead and have a seat. Your father has plenty of stories to tell you from the capital this time.''''
Chapter 958 The terror of the sixth trial (2)
Chapter 958 The terror of the sixth trial (2)
Soon, the opulent hall of the Shun estate was filled to the brim with trays of delicious food, their fragrant scent permeating the hall, causing Shun Long to let out an inaudible sigh.
Although he knew that the scene in front of him was only a figment of illusions, most likely created by the sixth trial, he couldn''t deny how real it actually felt.
And yet, a momentter, Shun Long surprisingly shook his head and stood up, pulling his father and mother in a tight embrace before he said quietly N?v(el)B\\jnn
''''Father, mother, I''lle visit you soon.''''
Shun Fang''s and Shun An''s expressions both crumbled, and a momentter, it was actually Shun An who stepped forward and whispered in his ears
''''Son, you haven''t been back for so long and you don''t even want to stay with your parents for a while longer? Even if you know this isn''t real, shouldn''t you value this moment a little more? Do we really mean nothing to you?'''' Her voice wasn''t loud, but her words were like daggers stabbing into Shun Long''s heart and causing him to stiffen momentarily.
Indeed, the thing that Shun Long regretted the most in his heart, was not going back to the Deste East to visit his parents during thest few years. He had been so constrained by constantly having toplete mandatory missions for the Holy sect, that he couldn''t really take a trip that wouldst for more than a year, unless he was ready to leave the Holy sect for good!
Without establishing a foothold in the central continent first, such a decision was no different from suicide -not even a life-and-death gamble. After all, was the central continent a ce that a mere Nascent-soul stage cultivator could freely traverse on their own? Even with Little ck by his side, Shun Long was well aware of the hidden perils the depths of the continent contained.
Closing his eyes, he didn''t throw another nce at the visage of his parents, and with a heavy heart, he turned around and walked out of the main hall.
In the next moment, therge bronze doors of the hall began to turn blurry as if they were suddenly tethering between the verge of reality and illusions, and soon, the entire Shun estate had vanished from existence, leaving Shun Long standing alone in a vast expanse of emptiness.
The opulent hall behind him, along with Shun Fang and Shun An had suddenly disappeared -the rushing maidservants and their hurried footsteps fading into nothingness. The fragrant scent of food and their nking of trays evaporating into thin air, and even the guards practicing their swordsmanship just a few meters away in the distance petering out as well.
Darkness had fully permeated his surroundings only a few momentster,pletely cutting off his six senses and plunging Shun Long into the depths of a bottomless abyss.
And yet, even that endless darkness was only short-lived.
Soon, Shun Long could hear once more as Shun An''s resentful voice entered his ears
''''Son... how could you leave us again? You left us once for that ''Floating Cloud Sect'' but at least back then you would still visit us every so often. Then, you abandoned us again to go traverse that ''Night Star continent'', and your father and I both became crippled. Tell me, do you feel no remorse? Sure, it wasn''t your fault, but could you not have prevented it if you were here? ...And even after bing crippled, you left us again for that Holy sect, abandoning your wounded parents once more. What kind of filial son would do that? Do you even consider us your parents anymore? No, do you even think of us anymore?''''
Closing his eyes, Shun Long didn''t say anything and allowed Shun An''s voice to stab at his heart again and again, her words cutting into it like a poisonous dagger.
Although Shun Long knew that this wasn''t really his mother and that Shun An would never say anything like that to her own son, ming him for what had happened to her and Shun Fang, he still didn''t rebut any of her ims and just epted everything in his heart.
Because, all those emotions were not feelings that the real Shun An felt, but were things that Shun Long had buried deep in his heart and med himself for, even if he didn''t want to admit them in the end.
He still felt guilty that he couldn''t visit his parents as often as he used to back in the ''Floating Cloud sect'', and he also felt guilty that he wasn''t there to protect them when that war broke out in the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom''!
Granted, if Shun Long hadn''t left the imperial capital to be a cultivator and had simply remained as a mortal, he would have been powerless in the aftermath of the kingdom''s war and wouldn''t even have been able to save his parents as quickly as he did. Most likely by that point, all 3 of them would have perished at their captors'' hands... if an even worse fate didn''t await for them.
And yet, deep in his heart, Shun Long still felt guilt for leaving them behind once more after they had been crippled. Of course, he hadn''t truly left them alone and unprotected this time around. Liu Mei''s mother was now with them, and as a powerful rank 7 Heaven-grade cultivator, she would be able to protect them from any dangers they face in the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom''.Besides, traveling to the central continent was the only way for Shun Long to find enough medicinal herbs that would allow him to restore his parents'' broken dantians.
Unfortunately, recognizing that something wasn''t real was one thing, but not feeling any guilt about it was a different matter altogether. Clearly, Shun An''s words were the things that Shun Long had been suppressing deep in his heart this entire time, things that even he may not have been aware of -the manifestation of his self-me.
This was the true terror of the sixth trial: the most insidious one among all the trials of the ''Heavenly Tower''. Surpassing this meant oveing all of your emotional burdens and surpassing your own mind... but failing, was a fate worse than death!
-
Author''s note: Apologies for the long wait and thank you! My fever has finally gone down after two full days (and almost an entire pack of painkillers) so I can finally write again. We are having a mini-mass release tomorrow (and hopefully the day after) to make up for the lost chapters of thest few days.
Chapter 959 The terror of the sixth trial! (3)
Chapter 959 The terror of the sixth trial! (3)
n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Shun An''s resentful words gradually turned into fading whispers, dissipating into the air before finally dispersing, carried along by the soft breeze of the wind into nothingness.
And yet, this breeze was only the beginning of the sixth trial.
Within the vast, endless darkness that blocked his eyesight, Shun Long began to hear more and more voices echoing around him, each of them letting out their ownints and bitter resentment.
The next person whose voice Shun Long heard was Lu Wen; the previous alchemist of the ''Sky Fortune Kingdom'' and the second young master of the Lu family of the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Unlike Shun Fang and Shun An, there wasn''t any apparition that carried Lu Wen''s voice this time, nor were there any powerful illusions created by the sixth trial.
It was just that single veil of darkness shrouding Shun Long''s surroundings, not allowing him to see anything.
And yet, Shun Long still remembered the handsome young alchemist''s face, as his resentful voice entered his ears
''''Brother Shun... no, Shun Long! Tell me, how could you be so heartless? I had been nning to take the position of family head from my brothers for my entire life, investing everything I had into this n. And just when I was about to seed, you just had to bring that horror of a woman back to the sect and ruin everything for me, hadn''t you?! Did you really hate me so much that you didn''t even wish to give me a way out? Did I harm you so badly that you would rather cut off my only remaining lifeline? Why couldn''t you at least save me, you bastard?!''''
Lu Wen''s aggrieved voice didn''t stop for even a moment, his words oozing with endless resentment as he yelled each question at Shun Long one after the other.
It was almost as if ''Lu Wen'' was ming everything that had gone wrong in his life on Shun Long.
And in a way, he wasn''tpletely wrong either! The second young master of the Lu family had conspired with another family to support him behind the scenes, just so he could get the title of family head from his younger and elder brothers, and had truly outsmarted both of his siblings in the end. If Shun Long hadn''t brought Liu Mei back to the sect and if Liu Mei hadn''t razed his supporters -the Meng family- to the ground with her undead army to take her revenge, Lu Wen would most likely be the family head of the Lu family by now.
However, due to Liu Mei''s actions, not only were Lu Wen''s ns thwarted as a result, but the talented young alchemist had also been killed by his elder brother soon after. So in a way, Liu Mei, and indirectly, Shun Long, were indeed the ones responsible for his tragic fate.
However, unlike with Shun Fang and Shun An''s situation, Shun Long didn''t bat an eye at his previous ''friend''s'' miserable plight or his aggrieved voice. After all, Shun Long didn''t feel the slightest bit of pity for Lu Wen after learning the truth about him from fatty Fu.
A person who had concealed from him the inner workings of the sect and had been nning to rope him into his family and ''control'' him using a Dao oath couldn''t ever be considered a friend. Such a person was no different from a deceitful, two-headed snake.
Still, Lu Wen''s perfidious personality and his cunning were somewhat worthy of praise... in their own treacherous and twisted kind of way that was.
And yet, just like Shun An''s voice, Lu Wen''s ramblings disappeared soon after, before a different voice reced it and gradually entered Shun Long''s ears. This time, it wasn''t any of Shun Long''s old acquaintances or family members, but surprisingly... Liu Mei''s.
The sect master of the ''Floating Cloud sect'', Liu Jian, was now ming Shun Long for all of Liu Mei''s actions.
Not only had Shun Long somehow seduced his daughter and led her astray, persuading her to leave the sect with him and leading to the destabilization of the inner sect as a result, but he didn''t even stop Liu Mei froming back and attacking the sect either.
It was that single chain of actions that eventually led to the ruin of the ''Floating Cloud sect''.
Soon, more and more angry voices sounded in his ears, each of them more furious and full of hatred than thest one. Their identities ranged from mere Qi condensation cultivators, all the way to peak-stage Dao Emperors like Murong Tian, an exalted patriarch of the powerful Murong family! And yet, it was only after hearing Lu Wen''s dismayed chagrin that Shun Long''s eyes suddenly widened, his expression turning more and more colorful with every voice that followed after that!
After all, it had been Lu Wen''s ramblings that allowed him to finally grasp the true, ominous nature of this sixth trial!
In the beginning, after hearing Shun An ming him, Shun Long had thought that perhaps he would have to face all of the guilt buried in his heart and ovee it. That this was the true purpose of this trial.
But after hearing Lu Wen''s and even Liu Jian''s voicesing from the darkness around him, he quickly realized that he had been sorely mistaken with his initial assumption. After all, he didn''t feel any guilt whatsoever towards the two of them, let alone towards people like Murong Tian who clearly deserved death.
No, what this sixth trial wanted to do wasn''t make its challengers ovee their own guilt. It was to push their minds to their limits and either break them... or make them even stronger!
No, this sixth trial didn''t aim to make its challengers ovee their own guilt. It was designed to push their minds to their limits and either break them... or make them even stronger.
This was the true terror of the sixth trial of the ''Heavenly Tower''; the trial of the mind!
The moment this thought materialized in his mind, Shun Long felt his surroundings tremble before the darkness around him began to recede at a terrifying speed.
A few momentster, he found himself back at the peak of the mountain, the purple-robed old man now staring at him with an incredulous look in his previously unshakable gaze.
Chapter 960 Earth Slaying Immortal Reaping talisman
Chapter 960 ''Earth ying Immortal Reaping'' talisman
''''You... did you already break free from the hex?! How is that even possible?'''' The old man''s voice wasn''t overly loud, but in the emptiness and silence that governed the mountain peak, his words sounded particrly vociferous as they echoed throughout his surroundings.
This old man had seen millions and millions of challengers undertake the trials of the ''Heavenly Tower'' under his supervision, some of them appearing so extraordinary that they could be considered rare geniuses even in the ''Imperial Mandate sect'', but this was the first time he had met someone like Shun Long.
A monster like him who had somehow broken all conventional concepts and shattered one record of the tower after the other, how was the old man supposed to stay calm after looking at his performance?
In fact, the only reason why Shun Long wasn''t ranked first in the ''Heavenly Rankings'' earlier after his overwhelming performance on the fifth floor, was because there had been a single Dao Emperor who had already passed the sixth trial before everyone else,fortably upying that first-ce spot. But now, the purple-robed elder had no more qualms about pushing the azure-robed monster in front of him another ce up in the rankings.
Cupping his hands, Shun Long nced at the stunned elder at the dais with a deep look, not bothering to answer his rhetorical question.
And indeed, a momentter, the old man sighed and shook his head before he continued with a self-deprecating smile
''''You little brat, I''m not sure what to do with you. Should Imend you for not feeling any guilt in your heart, or should I call you heartless instead? Do you truly have nothing to feel ashamed of in how you''ve lived your life so far, or is it that you don''t care about anyone else but yourself?
Haiz... whatever it may be, it''s still a fact that you''ve already passed the sixth trial, so here, take this!'''' As he finished speaking, the old man took out a crude-looking, golden talisman from his robes and handed it to Shun Long.
The talisman looked ordinary at first nce, the thin lines that adorned it almost wearied after suffering through the relentless passage of time. However, the moment he touched it, Shun Long could instinctively tell that the materials used to create this thing were anything but ordinary.
At the very least, the thin yellow paper used to make this talisman had most likelye from the bark of a tree equivalent to rank 9 spiritual herbs, while the ''ink'' used to inscribe the formation on its surface had actually originated from the blood of a rank 9 magic beast! This was, without a doubt, a talisman above the 3-star rank... one that could even influence Earth Immortals!
Looking at Shun Long, the purple-robed elder didn''t wait for him to ask any questions and promptly exined everything
''''Sigh, you have no idea how lucky you are, kid. This ''Earth ying Immortal Reaping'' talisman is something I personally refined a long time ago, after failing dozens of times first. It contains one of my most powerful attacks and can be activated just by infusing a sliver of your qi inside it. No matter which family or sect you''vee from, this is a treasure that should be considered priceless in your mortal world!''''
The bald old man paused for a brief moment and then added in hesitantly
''''I don''t have a second one to give you so only use this thing if your life is truly in danger! In fact, it''s better if you never have to use it in the first ce, and just let it rot inside your spatial ring! Actually, try to avoid getting in trouble and just cultivate quietly until you be an immortal, how about that?''''
As he epted the golden talisman, Shun Long stored it inside his spatial ring and cupped his hands at the rambling old man before he responded
''''Thank you, senior! I won''t promise you anything but I''ll take your words to heart!''''
Seeing theckluster look on his face, the bald old man was about to explode as he roared angrily
''''You crazy brat! At least say you are going to do your best and not get into any trouble! What kind of demon are you? Do you really have to look for fights everywhere you go? Can''t you even guarantee this old man one simple thing?
Not only did you kill tens of thousands of peak rank 6 magic beasts in the first trial right after you entered, instead of being satisfied with just a dozen like most others, but you even fought with Luoyang in the fifth trial out of your own volition! Do you think I can feel at ease letting you go out there after all that? What if you end up dying shortly after leaving my trial grounds?''''
The old man''s voice became progressively louder and louder with each sentence, his old eyes burning with fury. At the end of it, it was almost as if he couldn''t wait to tie Shun Long up and force him to stay inside the ''City of Immortals'' and cultivate! At the very least, he wouldn''t die this way.
However, Shun Long merely shook his head as he looked at the old man before he calmly
''''Senior, it looks like you have the wrong idea about me. I''m actually a very peaceful person. I''d even go so far as to say that I actively avoid getting in trouble whenever I can. It''s usually others who try to find trouble with me!''''
The bald old man''s eyes twitched when he heard Shun Long''s nonsensical excuse before he waved his hand and said with a sigh
''''Alright, you brat. I can''t seem to reason with you anyway. Just sit over there and wait for the sixth trial to end. Whether you like it or not, you will have to fight most of these brats here anyway.''''
As he said that, the old man threw a look behind him, at the remaining eleven, no, ten people who were still in deep meditation undergoing the sixth trial, and took a sip from the gourd in his hands.
As soon as they woke up, thest trial of the ''Heavenly Tower'' would begin.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Chapter 961 Xuan Bo
Chapter 961 Xuan Bo
''''I''ll have to fight everyone here?'''' Shun Long was briefly taken aback by the old man''s deration, but in his heart, he didn''t mind that oue in the slightest.
After all, the main reasons he had entered the ''Heavenly Tower'', were firstly to obtain resources that would aid him in his cultivation, and secondly to test himself against the strongest Dao Kings in this ce.
As he climbed up the floors of the tower, he ended up meeting plenty of geniuses ranked in the top 100 of the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'' list, including the yellow-robed Wei Peng, the green-robed Xu Tai, and many geniuses from the eight ancient families. He even got to meet the silver-haired Xing Fei who was ranked in 16th ce.
Although he couldn''t see the faces or sense the auras of the people around him, Shun Long could tell that everyone else who was now at the peak of this mountain must be ranked even higher than Xing Fei.
Naturally, it would be a lie if Shun Long said he wasn''t interested in sparring with those people. After all, how could he not be curious about the strongest geniuses the central region had to offer? Nodding his head, he didn''t say anything else and simply closed his eyes and began to meditate, as he waited for time to pass.
In the blink of an eye a week had already gone by, but surprisingly, from the eleven, no, ten people who were still in deep meditation at the mountain peak, nobody else seemed to have waken up within this time.
During this past week, Shun Long had also chatted with the old man quite a few times, and had ended up noticing a few important details that he hadn''t paid as much attention to the first time around.
First, the purple-robed old man was actually someone who enjoyed long chats quite a bit.
Shun Long didn''t know if this was in the old man''s nature or if he had simply gotten bored after spending so many years in solitude inside the ''Heavenly Tower'', but the bald elder took every opportunity he could to strike up a conversation. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
More than a few times he tried to instruct Shun Long on how to form his Dao seed in the future, having him pay extra caution in his breakthrough to the Sovereign realm, and he even suggested giving up on his supreme Daos if things proved too difficult.
He tried to make his point clear again and again that supreme Daos weren''t that much stronger thanmon or rare Daos depending on one''s talent, but to the old man''s frustration, the azure-robed youth in front of him didn''t seem to take his words to heart.
Eventually, the old man gave up on this matter and simply chatted with Shun Long about irrelevant stuff. Most of their conversations were him describing to Shun Long the ''Imperial Mandate sect''s'' inner workings and exining how powerful of a sect it actually was.
ording to the old man, the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' was a true overlord of the ''Immortal Dimension'', one that ruled over hundreds of thousands of cultivation empires, small sects, and kingdoms alike.
It ruled over a vast amount ofnd that spanned nearly an entire world, with tens of thousands of immortals under its reign!
Apparently, even the most powerful sects in the ''Immortal Dimension'' wouldn''t take their ''Imperial Mandate sect'' lightly.
The old man didn''t go too deep in his exnation about how vast a single ''world'' was, but he exined that even if a 9th tribtion Earth Immortal wanted to traverse it from one end to another, they wouldn''t be able to do so in just one lifetime.
But of course, Shun Long and the ''eavesdropping'' Little ck only took the purple-robed elder''s words with a grain of salt.
It was not that the purple-robed old man was intentionally trying to deceive him, but Shun Long had a much better idea of the ''Immortal Dimension'' and the true strength of the most powerful sects who resided there than the old man.
Of course, the part about the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' being rtively strong and them governing a single world was most likely true, but the path about them being an overlord of the ''Immortal Dimension'' was definitely exaggerated.
It wasn''t that Shun Long was looking down on the sect, but he knew that the top powers of the ''Immortal Dimension'' ruled over a handful of powerful worlds at the same time!
As for this ''Imperial Mandate sect'', although the sect most likely wasn''t weak, if it waspared to the peak powers of the ''Immortal Dimension'', it would only be considered a second-rate power at the end of the day.
Otherwise, there was no way that neither Shun Long nor Little ck wouldn''t have heard of its name in the past unless it was one of those peak powers that was hidden away for an untold amount of years.
The next thing that Shun Long noticed was another rtively important detail that made things even more interesting for the uing seventh trial. Apparently, Shun Long wasn''t the only person the bald old man would strike a conversation with this past week.
Among the eleven people surrounding the mountain peak in a semi-circle, there was one other blurry figure that consistently attracted the old man''s attention.
Although this person''s appearance was hazy and still obscured by the mysterious veil, making it impossible for Shun Long to find out anything about him from far away, the old man seemed amused by the sudden interest that both Shun Long and the blurry figure had for one another and started to let out some hints about their identities.
Soon, Shun Long found out, that the mysterious person the old man would talk to was actually a peak-stage Dao Emperor and the first person to sessfully pass the sixth trial before him.
He was the one ranked first in the ''Heavenly Rankings'' previously, the most illustrious Dao Emperor who had entered the ''City of Immortals'' this time: Xuan Bo!
Chapter 962 The seventh trial: Showdown!
Chapter 962 The seventh trial: Showdown!
Of course, Xuan Bo was even more surprised than Shun Long when he learned about his opponent''s identity.
Not for any other reason, but the sole fact that Shun Long had apparently surpassed him in the ''Heavenly Rankings'', iming his previously first-ce spot.
Xuan Bo wasn''t someone who cared about hispetition in the ''Heavenly Tower'' since he had absolute confidence in his own talent and background.
He didn''t think that there was a single person in the ''City of Immortals'' right now, whether it was among the Dao Kings or the Dao Emperors, who could contend with him in terms of sheer talent.
No, whether it was talent, background, or personal strength, Xuan Bo had it all. His only opponent was his own self.
And yet, the purple-robed overseer of the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' had a mischievous smile on his face as he announced to him that he had dropped to second ce in the Heavenly Rankings just a week ago, as a mere Dao King had somehow imed his throne at the top of the rankings!
How could Xuan Bo not be surprised?! Especially when he had never heard of the name Shun Long before?
Unfortunately for him, the old man didn''t allow any conversation between the two challengers who would only have to wait until the seventh trial if they wanted to meet each other.
Like this, 3 more days passed before another obscured, fuliginous figure materialized at the cloudy peak of the towering mountain.
With the ''City of Immortals'' slowly approaching its closure, having almostpleted its 10-year time period, the remaining Dao Kings and Dao Emperors no longer held back and gave it their all as they challenged the ''Heavenly Tower''.
Whether they failed or not no longer mattered, since they were going to get kicked out of the trial grounds either way. This was the unbreakable rule the ''City of Immortals'' had upheld for countless years!Therefore, they had to do their best and climb as high as they could before that, obtaining as many rewards as possible in the process.
Soon, more and more figures began to appear at the chilly mountain peak, gradually filling the empty seats on its previously deserted surface.After chatting with the bald elder for a while, they all began the sixth trial right away, unwilling to waste any more time!
A little more than a monthter, more than twenty-five hazy figures could be seen sitting around the purple-robed older man, turning that semi-circle into aplete circle.
...
Time continued to pass and once the second month finally came to an end, the smiling purple-robed elder who had stayed silent for this past week suddenly dusted his robes and stood up.
After taking arge gulp from the small gourd in his hands that seemed to somehow contain an endless amount of wine inside, he then opened his mouth as his booming voice spread throughout the entirety of the ''City of Immortals''
''''You little brats, you only have one month left to climb the ''Heavenly Tower'' and pass the sixth trial. At the end of the month, the seventh trial will begin and those of you who have yet to reach the top of the tower will get kicked out. This is yourst chance to be stronger and enter my ''Imperial Mandate sect''!''''
The old man''s booming voice reverberated throughout the vast ins outside the tower, causing even those Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who were previously hesitant to finally take a step forward and step past the ''Heavenly Tower''s'' gates!
Indeed, with just one month left, there was no more room to hesitate. Those who still refused to enter the tower at this point would only leave the ''City of Immortals'' with regret.
Surprisingly, thest month passed rtively slowly at the now-popted mountain peak. Despite the number of cultivators having reached three dozen, since no one of them couldmunicate with each other, even those who had passed the sixth trial found the wait excruciatingly boring.
Without anything else to do, Shun Long sat down and cultivated, attempting to form his 73rd golden ball of qi inside the ''Monarch''s Hourss.Nevertheless, regardless of how much he tried, he didn''t seem to seed in the end. N?v(el)B\\jnn
After all, even the pure immortal qi at the peak of the towering mountain paled inparison to the qi provided by the ''Heaven Swallowing vine''.
With his foundations in the Dao King realm having now reached an unprecedented level, Shun Long could only absorb the purest, most condensed version of immortal qi to condense his subsequent qi balls.
Naturally, regardless of how much he may have wanted to increase his cultivation, Shun Long wasn''t willing to take out the ''Heaven Swallowing Vine'' in front of everyone else, ultimately settling with waiting along with the rest of the Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who had passed the sixth trial.
Of course, this was only natural as well. After all, the ''Heaven Swallowing Vine'' was one of the supreme treasures of heaven and earth, a treasure ranked in the top 10 among all natural-born treasures of the ''Immortal Dimension''. Its value even exceeded that of the entire ''Heavenly Tower'' as a whole, so there was no way that Shun Long would simply reveal it to others without any good reason.
Finally, as thest month came to an end, the atmosphere at the peak of the mountain began to change alongside it.
Although it was faint, almost non-existent in the beginning, Shun Long could still feel the mysterious hazy veil around him gradually dispersing with every passing day, allowing the surrounding cultivators to take a better look at his appearance.
Although it was still impossible to figure out anyone''s identity just yet, Shun Long knew that at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the nebulous veilpletely vanished.
Of course, this wasn''t just happening to Shun Long, but to every single cultivator at the peak of the mountain, regardless of whether they were Dao Kings or Dao Emperor realm experts. And indeed, a few dayster, the hazy veil covering the mountain peak hadpletely vanished, revealing everyone''s true appearance, before the old man''s voice reverberated throughout the vast mountain for thest time
''''You little brats, the time hase. Let the seventh trial... begin!''''
Chapter 963 The seventh trial: Showdown! (2)
Chapter 963 The seventh trial: Showdown! (2)
The old man''s voice roared like booming thunder, reverberating throughout the popted mountain peak and waking up those disciples who were still in meditation.
Those who had already passed the sixth trial were now wide awake, looking at their surroundings with curiosity and surprise, while those who were still undertaking the sixth trial seemed to be in a daze after being forcefully woken up by the loud voice!
Surprisingly, among those dazed faces, Shun Long quickly noticed an overly familiar figure, one that he didn''t expect to see still undertaking the sixth trial, Bai Longtian.
''''Longtian actually failed the sixth trial?'''' This time, Shun Long was genuinely taken aback as he looked at the handsome, long-haired young man in white robes who had a frustrated look on his face.
Indeed, Bai Longtian had failed to pass the sixth trial in time and was about to get kicked out of the ''Heavenly Tower'' by the purple-robed old man!
Of course, it wasn''t that surprising that someone among Shun Long''s group of five would fail the sixth trial. After all, Shun Long was well aware of how insidious this trial truly was. The only reason he had found it so ''easy''paratively, was because his heart was crystal clear and didn''t have that many regrets anymore.
What truly surprised him however, was that it was Bai Longtian the one who had failed here. Among Xingyi and the others, Shun Long believed that Longtian was the one with the strongest mental fortitude, as well as the one who would find it the least troublesome to pass this sixth trial.
After all, Liu Mei was certainly burdened by thoughts of her mother being alone back in the ''Roaring Waves Kingdom'' even if she didn''t talk about it, and she was also bound to feel some guilt towards her father and her brother deep in her heart.
Although she was the type of person who very rarely expressed her true feelings, Liu Mei had spent so many years by Shun Long''s side, that he was well aware of what worried her and what didn''t.
As for Xingyi and Jiang Chen, Shun Long knew that they were in rtively simr situations, so he could guess the type of ''nightmares'' they would face in the sixth trial as well.
Xingyi had left her father and mother back in the Night Star continent to participate in the Holy sect''s test and hadn''t visited them in a very long time. Considering the overall situation their ''Silver mountain'' was facing in the past, how could she not feel worried?! At the very least, it was bound to torment her in the nightmares she faced.
Jiang Chen''s situation was even more troublesome than the two young women.
Shun Long was almost certain that throughout the sixth trial, Jiang Chen was going to face the most difficult challenges out of everyone else.
With the guilt he carried in his heart about his mother being a prisoner somewhere in the ''Immortal Dimension'', and his father being crippled for so many years all because they had him as their son, was something that was bound to make him suffer during the sixth trial.
In fact, Shun Long believed that if anyone among them was to fail the sixth trial, that person was almost certainly going to be Jiang Chen!
And yet, despite huffing and puffing on the ground trying to gasp for air, Shun Long could see Jiang Chen having a look of triumphant glee in his eyes as he stared at the purple-robed old man. It was obvious that he had already conquered the sixth trial in time, albeit a bit too close forfort!
It was actually Bai Longtian the one who had ultimately failed.
''Come to think of it, Longtian is the only one who is still a mystery to me. I don''t know much about him, nor do I know what burdens he carries in his heart. All I know is that his father is the lord of a city called the White city back in the ''Night Star continent'', but that''s it.''
As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long realized that he never really had a proper heart-to-heart conversation with Bai Longtian since they left the Holy sect.
Of course, Bai Longtian wasn''t to me for this either. Shun Long had never asked and Bai Longtian had never breached this topic either. The two of them had been so upied and always on edge since they entered the Holy sect, that they never had the time to rx and have a chat. N?v(el)B\\jnn
They weren''t strangers by any means and both of them treated each other earnestly, but there was always that thin veil of mystery covering Bai Longtian, one that Shun Long had never truly cared to tear off... not until today.
He trusted that his friend would open up to him once he was ready, and up until now, Bai Longtian had already proven that he cared for Shun Long and the others, and had risked his life alongside them on numerous asions.
''Still, I should sit down and have a chat with him once this is all over. For him to fail in this sixth trial, things are definitely not simple. There is surely something burdening him.''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long''s gaze turned even more serious as he looked at his friend''s disappearing figure.
No matter what it was that caused Bai Longtian to fail the sixth trial, he was going to get to the bottom of this once they left the ''City of Immortals''. For now, Shun Long could only hope that the perfidious sixth trial had not really scarred Bai Longtian''s mind.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Longtian''s and the others'' figures disappeared from the peak of the mountain, leaving behind only Shun Long, Jiang Chen, and everyone else who had already passed the sixth trial.
With a smile on his face, the purple-robed old man looked at the thirty people around him and said calmly
''''Thirty-five people... That''s more than the previous times I visited your mortal world! Not bad, not bad at all. Now, listen carefully you little brats.The rules of this seventh trial are very simple. You will fight among yourselves until only one of you remains!''''
Chapter 964 The seventh trial: Showdown! (3)
Chapter 964 The seventh trial: Showdown! (3)
The surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors were all stunned by the old man''s words, with the Dao Emperors unable to believe their luck while the Dao Kings feeling waves of incredulity battering their hearts.
Were they -mere peak rank 9 Dao Kings- really going to fight against these powerful peak-stage Dao Emperors?
No, not just any peak-stage Dao Emperors, but the strongest ones the central continent had to offer, as well?
If that was the case they might as well forfeit right now. Regardless of what type of rewards the seventh trial may contain, it was useless if they were just going to throw their lives away!
Thankfully, the old man didn''t seem to have finished his exnation as he waved his hand shortly afterwards, as 10 beams of pristine white light fell on ten specific individuals within the crowd.
Naturally, Shun Long was among those people targeted by the beams of light before the old man continued
''''Of course, I''m not going to have you brats fight each other at random. That would defeat the purpose of this trial. Sit down and let me exin. You can decide what to do after that!''''
The purple-robed elder''s gaze coldly swept the popted mountain peak, causing the nearby Dao Kings and even the Dao Emperors who met it to lower their heads, before the old man''s voice resounded once more
''''Right now, there are ten individuals among you that are marked with a beam of light. Those ten are the ones I have judged to be the most talented among you; They are the ones that performed the best in the previous six trials and the ones who have imed a spot in the ''Heavenly Rankings''!''''
Then, the purple-robed elder actually raised his hand and first pointed at Shun Long and then at a golden-robed young man a few meters away from him before he continued
''''Other than these two brats, you are allowed to freely challenge the remaining eight. Those of you who manage to win against a holder of a beam of light will obtain that beam for yourselves. A weekter, those of you who manage to hold onto your beams will continue on to the next round! The rest will be eliminated from the seventh trial and will be kicked out of the ''Heavenly Tower''.''''
The old man''s words were calm and collected without the slightest hint of wavering in his voice, but the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors all felt tumultuous waves rocking their hearts as they understood the implications behind them.
Only the ten strongest people would remain standing in the end ording to the purple-robed overseer.
Almost involuntarily, everyone then turned to look at the two people the old man had pointed to; Shun Long and the golden-robed young man.
Instead of giving answers, the old man''s words had brought more and more questions to everyone here.
Finally, a few people could no longer take it and barraged the old man with questions, clearly aggrieved by the unfair favoritism that was taking ce.
''''Senior, why are these people getting preferential treatment? Why don''t they have to participate in this round? Isn''t this unfair? I thought your ''Imperial Mandate sect'' was impartial and treated everyone fairly!''''
''''That''s right! Why do they get to skip this round? Besides, isn''t this trial a bit too unfair? How can we, who are mere Dao Kings, fairlypete against these Dao Emperors? Doesn''t this mean that thest 10 spots will all belong to those Dao Emperors?'''' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
A few daring people seemed to have pointed out the unfairness in the old man''s preferential treatment, after choosing to exclude Shun Long and the golden-robed young man from the first round of the seventh trial, but people were even more interested in thest part mentioned.
Indeed, how were these Dao Kings supposed to contend with these experienced Dao Emperors in a fair fight? This was pure nonsense considering that these weren''t any ordinary Dao Emperors, but ones who were just a step away from breaking through to the Sovereign realm!
What were Sovereign realm experts? They were the defacto rulers of the central continent!
Considering how few in numbers the ''Earth Immortals'' really were, and how rarely they showed their faces in public, it wasn''t far-fetched to call Sovereign realm experts the true rulers of the continent!
Even if these Dao Emperors weren''t Sovereign realm experts just yet, they were certainly mere steps away from advancing. And even if they weren''t, they were still far stronger than average peak rank 9 Dao Kings!
And yet, the old man had a frosty look in his eyes as he nced at the people who had dared to criticize him just now, before his cold voice reverberated throughout the mountain peak once more, this time a hint of killing intent carried along with it
''''I''m being unfair you say? I''m giving them preferential treatment? Well, let me ask you this then... even if I am, so what? What can you do about it?'''' The purple-robed elder no longer held back, the horrifying aura of ate-stage Earth Immortal exploding from his body and shaking the entire mountain peak, terrifying everyone as he continued
''''Since you brats are foolish enough to think I''m being unfair, I''ll just exin everything until you have no moreints. That crazy brat in blue robes over there actually fought the chief-outer court disciple of my ''Imperial Mandate sect'' in the fifth trial head-on, and even held the upper hand during their fight. Most likely, if I''d let them fight for one more day he would have already won as well!
As for that brat in golden robes, his performance wasn''t much worse! Although he didn''t fight Luoyang head-on like this crazy brat, he instead stood still and just took on all of his attacks! Now tell me, which one among you had simr results? Which one among you achieved the same feat as they did? Do you know why I''m excluding them from the first round? It''s not that I''m afraid you will beat them in a fight, but because you have no chance winning against them in the first ce!''''
The old man''s words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly plunging the entire mountain peak in a deathly silence, as the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors now stared at Shun Long and the golden-robed youth withplicated, as well as terrified expressions.
Chapter 965 The seventh trial: Showdown! (4)
Chapter 965 The seventh trial: Showdown! (4)
Both of those people had fought with the chief-outer court disciple of the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' and none of them lost in a head-on fight?
Every single person at the peak of the mountain had already passed the fifth trial to get here, so they all knew how terrifying that purple-robed youth actually was.
Even if they put aside his cultivation that had already entered the next major realm, making him an early-stage Dao Emperor for these Dao Kings and an early Sovereign realm cultivator for the Dao Emperors, it was still a fact that the chief of outer court disciples was also a genius who hadprehended an extremely powerful supreme Dao!
He wasn''t someone the majority of these cultivators could even hope to escape from, let alone fight head-on like that! Therefore, epting that Shun Long and the golden-robed young man had each dealt with him in such an overbearing manner was more than a simple blow to these cultivators'' egos.
Nodding his head, the purple-robed old man had a satisfied smile as he looked at the expressions of the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who were now staring at Shun Long and the golden-robed youth withplicated, looks before he continued
''''Now that you brats seem to understand, I''ll continue with my exnation.You are right, it would indeed be unfair to have you fight against peak-stage Dao Emperors as mere Dao Kings. After all, the goal of this ''Heavenly Tower'' is to test your talent, not your cultivation base.'''' The old man''s gaze scanned the relieved Dao Kings at the peak of the mountain who seemed to have let out a deep breath after hearing his words, before he added in
''''This is why the cultivation base and Dao insights of all Dao Emperors participating in this seventh trial will be lowered to the peak of the Dao King stage. This way, none of you canin about the challenges being unfair. The only thing you can rely on will be your own strength! Now, go ahead. You have one week to challenge those with the beams of light and im them for yourselves!''''
As the old man finished speaking, a deathly silence enveloped the vast mountain peak for a few fleeting moments, before it quickly exploded into a pandemonium!
The surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who weren''t covered by a beam of light immediately turned their sights towards the ''beam holders'', before attacking them with everything they had. It didn''t matter if the beam holders were Dao Kings or Dao Emperors, either, as each of them faced dozens of attacks simultaneously!
Thanks to the purple-robed elder''s words, nobody was worried about a difference in their cultivation base anymore and could freely go all out!
Amidst the chaos, a few greedy people also turned their gazes towards Shun Long and the golden-robed youth, but those thoughts were quickly extinguished the moment they took form.
Even if the bald old man had allowed them to challenge Shun Long and the mysterious youth, these Dao Kings and even the Dao Emperors weren''t confident they coulde out on top after hearing about their achievements in the fifth trial! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
They would much rather fight the others than entangle themselves with those two inhuman monsters who could even fight the chief outer court disciple of the ''Imperial Mandate sect'' head-on.
...
A few momentster, Shun Long could finally ''see'' how the fights of the seventh trial were supposed to take ce; As soon as a person or their attacks touched a beam of light, both the holder of the beam and the attacker would be transported away from the mountain, where their fight was supposed to take ce.
''''So all fights are meant to be one-on-one duels!? They don''t n on letting us gang up on anyone, huh? Interesting...'''' One of the Dao Emperors near Shun Long suddenly mumbled in a low voice, not at all in a hurry to make his move.
He casually examined his surroundings, and indeed, there were a few more people like him who didn''t seem to be in a hurry and simply observed the situation around them, assessing everything before making their own moves.
Of course, these people were the ones who had already mused over the old man''s words and had alreadye to their own conclusions; Why would they make their moves so early on when this trial was meant tost for an entire week?
The old man had already stated that whoever possessed a beam of light at the end of the trial would be the one to advance to the next round, not whoever kept it for the longest. As long as they could obtain a beam of light a few hours before the trial ended, they would naturally get to advance to the next round.
And yet, Shun Long merely shook his head as he looked at these Dao Kings and Dao Emperors around him who chose to stay on the sidelines.
Indeed, this was one strategy to get past the seventh trial, but would the purple-robed elder really not have thought of it? Would he allow such an obvious loophole to exist in the seventh trial? Just one look at the mischievous smile on his face and Shun Long could tell that this wasn''t the case.
Of course, Shun Long had already spotted Liu Mei, Xingyi, and Jiang Chen making their moves as soon as the trial began, each of them choosing their own targets. It was only Longtian who had failed in the sixth trial and had been forced out of the ''Heavenly Tower''.
After seeing everyone''s targets, Shun Long was about to sit down and close his eyes while waiting for Liu Mei and the others to end their fights, but it was at this moment that somethingpletely unexpected happened.
The golden-robed youth who had stayed silent this entire time suddenly turned his gaze towards Shun Long, and under the astounded gazes of the nearby cultivators, he began to make his way towards him!
Although Xuan Bo wasn''t exuding any killing intent and appeared calm and carefree at first nce, each of his steps somehow caused even the rowdy mountain peak to fall silent, as everyone turned their gazes towards this previous first-ce holder of the ''Heavenly Rankings'' who walked forward. Most people would naturally aim to earn a beam of light and advance to the second stage of the seventh trial, but Xuan Bo only had one target... Shun Long!
Chapter 966 The seventh trial: Showdown! (5)
Chapter 966 The seventh trial: Showdown! (5)
A few momentster, the golden-robed Xuan Bo stood in front of Shun Long, towering over him like a giant staring down at an ant, as he asked curiously
''''You are Shun Long, aren''t you? I''ve already heard about you from the old man. How about you and I have a chat?''''
Although Xuan Bo wasn''t overly tall, just over 180cm (5ft''11), his presence was so overwhelming that it caused the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors to involuntarily take a few steps back as he approached them. Even among other peak-stage Dao Emperors, Xuan Bo was an apex existence and wasn''t someone any of these people could casually strike up a conversation with. He was the true, undisputed number one Dao Emperor inside the ''City of Immortals''!
That was why, seeing him take the initiative to talk to someone else was a surprising event on its own.
Opening his eyes, Shun Long nced at the handsome golden-robed youth who stood in front of him, before he waved his hand and said calmly
''''If you want to talk, have a seat. We still have a week before the second round starts anyway.'''' Although Shun Long didn''t mention it, he too had heard about this golden-robed youth from the purple-robed overseer.
During the past month, the old man constantly mentioned how that person was the only one in the ''City of Immortals'' who was talented enough to match Shun Long head-on. At this point, it would be a lie to say that Shun Long wasn''t the slightest bit curious about this peak Dao Emperor in front of him.
Regardless of what kind of Dao he hadprehended, it was still a fact that Xuan Bo was a peak genius of the central continent, one that could not bepared to ordinary Dao Emperors.
Nodding his head, Xuan Bo casually took a seat on the ground next to Shun Long, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who were staring at him and continued
''''I''m sure you know who I am but I am going to introduce myself anyway. My name is Xuan Bo and I am the crown prince of the Tianxuan dynasty.''''
Xuan Bo''s introduction was short and concise without any unnecessary details, but the weight and prestige his words carried were more than enough to stun anyone who heard them for the first time! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The crown prince of the Tianxuan dynasty! Who in the entire central continent didn''t know of his name? Who wouldn''t be wary of his title? After all, this was the future ruler of one of the strongest powers in the central continent.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t seem surprised at all, almost as if he was already aware of the golden-robed youth''s status.
Of course, he had already learned of Xuan Bo''s name a long time ago, after scanning through the information he had obtained from the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce'', which was why he wasn''t surprised right now.
Although those jade slips he had purchased only contained information about the 100 strongest Dao Kings and not the Dao Emperors, Shun Long still remembered the description of the person ranked 3rd in those jade slips, Xuan Long.
''''3rd ce, Xuan Long: The second most powerful genius of the Tianxuan dynasty and the third son of the Tianxuan emperor. He is a peak rank 9 Dao King and a peak-sixth stage body refiner, rumored to have already defeated an early-stage Dao Emperor right before entering the ''City of Immortals''. Although the Dao he hasprehended is still unknown, there are rumors that he was also born with an extremely rare unique physique that increases his physical strength and the resiliency of his skin many times over, making it harder than tempered steel. Among the entirety of the Tianxuan dynasty''s younger generation, his talent is only second to his elder brother, the crown prince, Xuan Bo!''''
Naturally, Shun Long still remembered the mention of Xuan Bo''s name, since this person was widely considered to be the most talented member of the Tianxuan dynasty''s younger generation!
Ultimately, Shun Long had to admit that the Tianxuan dynasty was a superpower of the central continent, one whose clutches were just as long and extensive as the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce''s''. As long as one lived in the central continent, they would still be inside their sphere of influence, one way or another. Well... most of the time at least!
With a profound look in his eyes, the sitting Xuan Bo nced at Shun Long and continued
''''I don''t know what you did during the fifth trial that managed to impress the old man so much, to the point where he even ranked you above me in the ''Heavenly Rankings'', but you better not getcent. I don''t mind telling you that I barely showed a third of my strength during that trial, after all.The reason I''m telling you this is quite simple. If you used everything you had during the fifth trial, then you better forfeit your fight against me before it even begins... if you don''t want to die that is. But if you have more to show, then I truly hope you can keep me entertained for a while!''''
As he finished speaking, Xuan Bo''s eyes shed with a hint of ruthlessness as he stared at the azure-robed youth in front of him, not even bothering to conceal his eagerness to fight. Then, without waiting for a response, he simply stood up and turned around as he began to walk away.
In one week, he was definitely going to find out how strong this person who had surpassed him in the ''Heavenly Rankings'' really was.
However, just as his calm, threatening words resounded throughout the mountain peak, Shun Long actually opened his eyes and nced at Xuan Bo''s disappearing back, before he said calmly
''''Keep you entertained? Even if you go all out and activate your ''Immortal-grade bloodline'', you are still not my match.''''
Chapter 967 The seventh trial: Showdown! (6)
Chapter 967 The seventh trial: Showdown! (6)
Xuan Bo''s steps froze for a moment, before they continued again soon afterwards.
Everyone in the central continent had already heard the rumors of him possessing an ''Immortal-grade bloodline'', so it wasn''t really surprising that Shun Long would know about it either.
However, Shun Long''sst sentence had indeed managed to rouse Xuan Bo''spetitive spirit. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''I''m not your match even if I activate my bloodline? I hope you can back up those words when we fight. It will be a shame if you die too quickly!'''' Xuan Bo left behind thatst sentence as he walked away, before sitting down a few hundred meters away from Shun Long and closing his eyes.
At this point, there was no reason for him to try and provoke Shun Long any further. After all, they were bound to find out which one was stronger between them in just one week.
In fact, Xuan Bo hadn''t approached Shun Long with the intention of provoking him either.
He was just a bit curious about this person who had managed to surpass him in the ''Heavenly Rankings'' and dethrone him from first ce.
Granted, he hadn''t shown everything he had during those six trials, but Xuan Bo was already confident that the level of talent he had exhibited was more than enough for him tofortably upy that top spot!
As for the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, none of them meddled in Shun Long''s and Xuan Bo''s argument and wisely chose to watch it from the side.
After all, the people left on the mountain peak right now were the ones who hadn''t earned a beam of light and were now waiting for the first batch of battles to end before they challenged a beam holder! How could they afford to spare any of their attention to those two who were already guaranteed to pass to the second round? They had more important matters to focus on.
At the same time, Shun Long didn''t throw another nce at the distant Xuan Bo, and instead focused on the opponents Liu Mei and the rest had chosen.
Surprisingly, Jiang Chen''s target had been the young prince of the Tianxuan dynasty, the one ranked 10th in the ''Heavenly Rankings'', Xuan Long. Although Xuan Bo''s younger brother had been eclipsed by his brother''s monstrous talent, at the end of the day he was also a genius ranked in the ''Heavenly Rankings'' and the third most talented Dao King ording to the ''White Tiger chamber ofmerce''!
As for Xingyi, she had chosen to go after a woman called Ming Xia who was ranked 9th in the ''Heavenly Rankings''. From the familiar red dress she was wearing and the pattern of the sun engraved on its back, Shun Long could tell that this woman was most likely rted to Ming Guo whom he had met on the third floor, and was also a member of the ancient Ming family!
Most likely, her strength was not inferior to Xuan Long''s.
However, the most astonishing choice was without a doubt, Liu Mei''s. The person she had chosen as her opponent was someone whom Shun Long had met a long time ago, before even entering the ''City of Immortals''.
It was a beautiful white-robed young woman with luscious ck hair that cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall. Although Shun Long had only met this woman once, while he was still in the ''King''s Pce'', the impression she had left on him was so vivid, that he recognized her with just a nce.
After all, this woman was someone who dared to order even the Northern Sovereign around and was the disciple of one of the secluded old monsters of the central continent, youngdy Niu!
Back then, just like Shun Long, youngdy Niu had also been a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had entered the ''King''s Pce'' to break through to the Dao King realm.
And yet, in just that short amount of time, she had somehow broken through to be a peak rank 9 Dao King as well, and was now even ranked 6th in the ''Heavenly Rankings''!
Of course, with the person standing behind her, Shun Long knew that such a feat wasn''t too difficult in the end.
A powerful, renowned ''Earth Immortal'' like youngdy Niu''s master could easily gather a bunch of treasures that would allow his disciple to breakthrough from the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, all the way to the peak of the Dao King realm in a few short years.
Although relying on external treasures such as alchemy pills or natural treasures was generally frowned upon since it wasn''t as good as absorbing the pure spiritual qi in the air and could even harm a person''s foundations, youngdy Niu didn''t seem to have suffered any side effects at this point, and had even managed to make a name for herself in the ''City of Immortals''.
''''Master, there is no need to worry. Although that little girl''s cultivation isn''t unstable, it''s obvious that she has merely consumed a few natural treasures simr to that ''Sun-blessed rock'' to increase her strength. Instead of absorbing the pure immortal qi in this ce to temper her foundations, it seems that she spent most of her time searching for opportunities. In the end, she doesn''t have a chance against master''s wife in a direct fight.''''
Inside the foggy space in the ''Stone of Time'', Little ck said in a calm voice as he observed youngdy Niu''s and Liu Mei''s disappearing figures.
Indeed, Little ck had already seen through youngdy Niu''s way of cultivating, causing the ck dragon to shake his head in clear disappointment.
Although the beautiful white-robed woman had caught up to Shun Long and the rest in her cultivation, it was obvious that she had pushed herself too far before entering the ''City of Immortals'', and had neglected tempering her foundations in favor of short-term gains.
Although the result wasn''t apparent just yet, how could Little ck possibly miss that detail?
After all, the best way to cultivate was through absorbing the immortal qi in the ''City of Immortals'' to temper one''s foundations. If someone did the opposite and instead just looked around the ce searching for fortuitous opportunities, they were essentially butchering their own future. At the the very least, the current ''youngdy Niu'' couldn''t possiblypare to Liu Mei and the rest who had spent years absorbing the purified immortal qi back in the ''Endless Desert''!
Nodding his head, Shun Long had alsoe to the same conclusion as Little ck. Although youngdy Niu was talented, the spiritual qi inside her dantian couldn''t possibly rival the thick immortal qi that Liu Mei and the others had absorbed in the past couple of years!
...
And indeed, half an hourter, the two young women''s familiar figures were the first ones to appear back on the mountain peak, drawing the gazes of all the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors in the vicinity.However, the result of their fight was vastly different from what those people had expected.
As the two stunning young women materialized out of thin air, a stifling silence enveloped the vast mountain peak, as everyone stared at them with gazes filled with astonishment, confusion, and finally... disbelief.
Liu Mei was now enveloped in arge white beam of light, while youngdy Niu knelt on the ground gasping for breath, her pristine white robes full of sharp cuts exposing her wless body for everyone to see.
The young woman stared at Liu Mei with both anger and unwillingness in her clear eyes, but at this point, the result of their fight was crystal clear. Youngdy Niu was the one who had lost!
Chapter 968 The seventh trial: Showdown! (7)
Chapter 968 The seventh trial: Showdown! (7)
''''You...!'''' Youngdy Niu was gasping for breath, but her stunning cold eyes were ring furiously at Liu Mei who was now standing just a few meters away from her. And yet, ''youngdy Niu'' knew that no matter how much she red she had already lost the fight, and quite convincingly at that.
The gorgeous white-robed woman standing opposite her hadn''t even lifted a finger this entire time, and yet ''youngdy Niu'' had ended up facing more than a thousand white skeletons as well as a hundred Undead knights, each of whom had the cultivation of a peak rank 9 Dao King!
No matter how hard she fought, she waspletely helpless against those odds and had ended up with numerous wounds all over her body.
However, what truly infuriated youngdy Niu wasn''t just that she had lost to her opponent or her current haggard appearance, but the fact that Liu Mei wasn''t even looking at her right now. Instead, she was curiously scanning her surroundings, almost as if she was searching for something... or someone. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
And indeed, a few momentster, her eyes lit up as she spotted Shun Long''s seated figure at the edge of the popted mountain peak. Without any hesitation, she immediately flew over, appearing right in front of him in the blink of an eye.
However, at the same time that Liu Mei made her move and arrived at the edge of the mountain, one of the surrounding Dao Emperors stepped forward as well, blocking her path as he said coldly
''''That''s enough! Stop right there!'''' Almost simultaneously, the middle-aged man punched the air without any hesitation, his fist heading straight for Liu Mei''s chest.
Clearly, he was trying to take advantage of the fact that Liu Mei had just finished her fight with ''youngdy Niu'', and was going to challenge her before she had enough time to recover her spiritual qi.
However, the scene that followed waspletely outside the middle-aged man''s expectations. For some reason, his fist that could even shatter mountains and split seas apart didn''t even manage to make contact with Liu Mei''s robes, before it crashed on the white beam of light around her body and was forcefully pushed back.
''''What??''''
As that scene unfolded, the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors who were about to make their moves all froze as well, the expressions on their faces almost identical to the middle-aged man''s.
Just like the Dao Emperor who had attacked Liu Mei, many others had also been waiting in secret and had been prepared to sneak attack anyone who won their fight, looking to take advantage of their moment of weakness to snatch their beam of light away!
Unfortunately, the scene they witnessed had immediately ruined all of their ns. With frustration visible in his eyes, one of the surrounding Dao Kings turned to face the purple-robed old man at the peak of the mountain and shouted in dismay
''''Senior, what is going on? Why is this beam of light protecting that girl? Shouldn''t we be able to challenge everyone in this ce other than those two over there? Why was brother Dong pushed back?'''' As he finished speaking, the young Dao King pointed at the distant figures of Shun Long and Xuan Bo before turning his gaze towards Liu Mei and the beam of light surrounding her body.
However, it was at this moment that the old man seated at the dais finally opened his eyes and nced at the young Dao King who had just spoken, before his old, aged eyes narrowed dangerously. Then, with a look of unconcealed scorn on his face, the purple-robed elder stood up and smiled, before his booming voice reverberated throughout the mountain peak
''''You arrogant fool, do you really have the gal to ask me that question after that shameful disy of yours, or is it that you actually take me for a fool as well? Did you really think I wouldn''t have considered taking proper measures against wastrels like you?''''
The purple-robed elder''s voice shook the entire mountain as the terrifying aura of an ''Earth Immortal'' burst out of his body at the same time, causing the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors to tremble!
Indeed, the purple-robed old man had already seen through these people''s intentions long ago and had made sure to prevent any such tactics from taking ce under his watch.
After all, how could he possibly allow ''youngdy Niu'' to deplete Liu Mei''s strength, only for someone weaker than them to swoop in and steal that beam of light right after?
The purple-robed elder''s gaze scanned the remaining dozen or so Dao Kings and Dao Emperors at the peak of the mountain, before he said mockingly
''''Trash! All of you are trash! Did you really think you could all be the fishermen who reap all the benefits in the end? You thought you could simply let the others get tired after their fights and just defeat them before they could recover their strength? Fools! The rules of this trial are simple. Each holder of a beam of light can only be challenged once a day! That''s it! If you failed to challenge someone in time, you better pray you can do so the next day or the day after that!''''
The old man''s voice shook the hearts of those Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, causing them to lower their heads in shame. Indeed, they had tried to take the easy way out but had ended up making fools out of themselves in the end, and had even caused the overseer of the ''Heavenly Tower'' to despise them. How could these geniuses not feel ashamed?
''''Hmph! If you understand, you better take action or you will get kicked out of the tower without even trying!''''As he finished speaking, the old man took onest sip from the small gourd in his hands and simply closed his eyes, not even bothering to throw another nce at the Dao Kings and Dao Emperors at the peak of the mountain. He wasn''t nning to intervene again or answer any more questions until the remaining seven days came to an end. Those who still held a beam of light by then would advance to the second round, while those who didn''t would be eliminated!
...
And like this, six days had already passed in the blink of an eye... before the day to decide the top 10 finally arrived.
Chapter 969 The seventh trial: Showdown! (8)
Chapter 969 The seventh trial: Showdown! (8)
''''Long-ge!'''' Liu Mei had a bewitching smile on her beautiful face as she called out, her abyss-like ck eyes staring affectionately at Shun Long who was still sitting at the edge of the mountain.
Liu Mei had just finished her sixth battle and had once again defended the white beam of light around her body, its blinding radiance just as brilliant as it had been six days ago.
In the past week, ''youngdy Niu'' had challenged Liu Mei two more times after her first loss, but neither of those times did she manage to gain the upper hand. Every time she had been miserably defeated by Liu Mei''s undead army, her wounds getting worse and worse with every fight.
After their third sh, ''youngdy Niu'' finally gave up on beating the fearsome death goddess and turned her sights towards another holder of a beam of light.
Of course, Shun Long wasn''t surprised by this development. After all, this was the result of Liu Mei cultivating in seclusion inside the ''Endless Desert'' for the past 5 years, constantly absorbing the pure immortal qi from the ''Heaven Swallowing vine'' and strengthening her foundations in the Dao King realm even further.
With her terrifying undead army, very few people in the same realm of cultivation could be her opponents any longer. Although ''youngdy Niu'' was extremely talented and had not onlyprehended two powerful Unique-grade Daos, but she even possessed a rare unique physique, even she wasn''t a match for Liu Mei''s thousands of white skeletons and Undead knights! ...At least not inside the seventh trial where the space they fought was severely limited.
Opening his eyes, Shun Long nced at the approaching Liu Mei and smiled lightly before turning his gaze towards Xingyi who was still recuperating by his side, sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed. Although Xingyi''s body was devoid of any injuries, the spiritual qi in her dantian had beenpletely depleted at this point, causing the beautiful young woman to focus fully on recuperating in the past 2 days.
Even though Xingyi had won her first fight against the red-dressed woman called Ming Xia, she actually lost three dayster after being challenged by an effeminate young man in in grey robes.
The grey-robed youth had been smiling and acting extremely polite before they began their fight, but Xingyi quickly ryed to Shun Long how misleading that outer appearance really was. The young man''s abilities were not only extremely tyrannical, but they were also a direct counter to Xingyi''s, causing their fight to be incredibly one-sided, in the end. The grey-robed youth was born with a devastatingly powerful unique physique called the ''zing Sun unique physique'' which allowed his body to turn as bright and hot as the sun, incinerating anything that approached him. For Xingyi, who relied mostly on her ability to traverse the shadows and manipte the shadows around her to attack her opponent, such a foe was the worst kind of enemy she could get.
The grey-robed youth''s unique physique instinctively suppressed the vast majority of shadows on the battlefield, causing Xingyi to always be on the defensive during their fight.
In the end, his onught proved to be almost unstoppable as he attacked Xingyi again and again, eventually depleting all of her qi and winning the fight.
Although this effeminate young man wasn''t ranked in the top 10 of the ''Heavenly Rankings'' originally, he had sessfully defeated everyone who challenged him in the past 2 days and had sessfully held onto his beam of light.
As for Jiang Chen, he had gone through a hellish battle against the young prince of the Tianxuan dynasty during the first day of the trial, but had ultimately managed toe out on top.
Jiang Chen had described his fight to Shun Long in great detail, even mentioning how he had been forced to go all-out and activate his bloodline of the ''Demonic Crow of Darkness'', as Xuan Long had also used his immortal-grade bloodline.
In the end, Xuan Long wasn''t someone to be underestimated nor was anyone else left in this seventh trial. These people were all the cream of the crop throughout the central continent, the strongest geniuses among all Dao Kings and Dao Emperors in the entire region! How could any of them be weak? How could any of them be looked down upon?
Finally... the seventh day came to a close as well, marking the end of the first round of thest trial. The popted mountain peak was quickly filled with roars of rage, frustration, reluctance, and unwillingness, as well as satisfaction and jubntughter, as the remaining Dao Kings and Dao Emperors could no longer suppress their bottled-up emotions.
Those who had managed to hold onto their beams of light were naturally excited to go to the next round and finally decide who among them was the strongest in the continent, while those who had failed refused to ept the results as they fell to their knees.
With a smile on his face, Shun Long stood up and pulled Xingyi into a tight embrace as he whispered in her ear
''''There is no reason for you to feel sad. It''s alright. You did very well.''''
''''...Mhm.'''' After a brief moment of hesitation, Xingyi closed her eyes and rested her head against the handsome azure-robed youth in front of her, her emotions aplicated mixture of unwillingness and relief.
Naturally, she was unwilling to fail in the seventh trial aftering so close, but in her heart, she also felt a sensation of relief as she relished the warm feeling of Shun Long''s embrace.
Thinking about the people who were left in the top 10, Xingyi wasn''t that reluctant to ept the results anymore.
A few momentster, the purple-robed old man gradually opened his eyes and nced at the Dao Kings and Dao Emperors below him, before he nodded his head and said in a satisfied voice n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
''''Not bad. For a group of brats from a mortal world, I must admit you are quite talented. Some of you were even stronger than I anticipated.'''' As he said this, the purple-robed old man nced at Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, and the effeminate grey-robed youth with the ''zing Sun unique physique''. Without a doubt, these three had attracted his attention the most during this first round. After a brief moment of silence, the purple-robed elder''s gaze swept through the mountain peak as he continued
''''Those of you who failed shouldn''t feel dissatisfied. The rewards you''ve obtained from the first six trials should still be enough to propel you to the peak of the Sovereign realm in the next hundred years or so. Your trial ends here but I still have high hopes for you all. Those of you who ascend and be true immortals in the future cane directly to my ''Imperial Mandate sect'' and take the test for inner court disciples! But for now... go back and rest.''''
As his voice dissipated, the old man waved his hand before more than a dozen light pirs descended from the sky, instantly enveloping Xingyi''s and the others'' bodies.
A momentter, Shun Long observed as the entire mountain beneath his feet started to tremble, before those dozen figures abruptly vanished from the vast mountain peak. In the blink of an eye, it was just Shun Long, the old man, and the remaining nine people who had passed the first round left behind. At this point, everyone understood that the final battle of the ''Heavenly Tower'' was about to begin!
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Chapter 970 The seventh trial: Showdown! (9)
Chapter 970 The seventh trial: Showdown! (9)
As he looked around him, Shun Long nodded his head inadvertently as he nced at the remaining Dao Kings and Dao Emperors that were still left on the mountain peak.
Although Xingyi and Bai Longtian had both been eliminated, Shun Long knew that it was only par of the course given the circumstances they were in. In the end, the people left were the most talented geniuses of the entire central continent, so it was only natural for thepetition among them to be that fierce.
Although Shun Long knew that Xingyi''s and Bai Longtian''s talents weren''t inferior to any of those people who had passed the first round, luck also yed a part in the sixth and seventh trials, whether that was through the power of Xingyi''s opponent being a direct counter to her own, or Bai Longtian somehow failing the sixth trial. Still, the results of the first round wouldn''t change and those who had already passed had proven that they possessed terrifying strength of their own. Most likely, every single person who had passed the fifth trial would end up standing at the peak of the central continent in the future and were practically guaranteed to reach the peak of the Sovereign realm, if not be an Earth Immortal.
Surprisingly, Shun Long was acquainted with the majority of these people left on the mountain peak one way or another.
By the end of the seventh day, Liu Mei, Jiang Chen, and even Jiang Chen''s father, Jiang Tianfang, had all held onto their beams of light and sessfully remained among the top 10 who had passed the first round.
As for the remaining 5 people, excluding Shun Long and Xuan Bo; they were the gray-robed youth who had defeated Xingyi, ''youngdy Niu'' who was the disciple of a powerful Earth Immortal, two peak-stage Dao Emperors from the eight ancient families who were ranked 4th and 5th on the Heavenly Rankings respectively, Wei Guoyang from the ancient Wei family and Chen Xuefeng from the ancient Chen family, and finally, the number one genius of the ancient families, the sessor of the Huang family, Huang Yun!
Shun Long had observed Huang Yun during the past week, and other than the first day where he won his fight a bit slower than Liu Mei, the young genius of the Huang family was always the fastest to defeat his opponents in the following six days.
It had reached such a point, where most people were wary of even challenging Huang Yun and treated that challenge as a guaranteed loss, putting him on the same level as Shun Long and Xuan Bo!
..
With a satisfied smile on his face, the purple-robed old man nced at the 10 young geniuses left on the mountain peak and said loudly
''''Alright, you brats. Even with my powers, I can''t keep the trial grounds within your mortal world for much longer, so let''s continue. The rules of this second round are also simple: Those of you lower in the rankings will be allowed to challenge a single person who is ahead of you. If you win the fight you can take their spot, but if you lose you will remain where you are... You only have one challenge so give it everything you got!''''
As the old man finished speaking, a gigantic b of stone slowly rose from the ground behind him, quickly upying arge part of the mountain peak. The surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors looked at this scene with solemn expressions on their faces, as a deathly silence quickly enveloped the previously boisterous, unworldly peak.
Naturally, every single Dao King and Dao Emperor here had already encountered this gigantic piece of stone in the past, right before entering the ''Heavenly Tower''s'' gates.
Just like that first time, at the very top of the stone, the words ''Heavenly Rankings''were carved in radiant golden letters, followed by a list of overly familiar names.
As the geniuses at the peak of the mountain spotted the name in first ce, everyone turned to look at Shun Long almost simultaneously, curious expressions adorning all of their faces.Clearly, all of them had already seen this young man who was rumored to be standing toe to toe with Xuan Bo ording to the overseer''s judgment, but most of these people didn''t even know his name or where he came from.
No, in reality, other than Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Jiang Tianfang, and Xuan Bo, there was also one more person who recognized Shun Long''s appearance.
It was ''youngdy Niu''!
The beautiful young woman still remembered the incident of that famous golden skeleton disappearing from the ''King''s Pce'', as well as the fuss that had been caused during that time. After all, she had personally witnessed the whole thing, including Shun Long''s terrifying tribtion as he broke through to be a Dao King.
However, even after recognizing him, the white-robed beauty didn''t bother throwing more than a couple of nces at Shun Long before focusing on the trial at hand. No matter how curious she was about that outer court disciple of the Holy sect, ''youngdy Niu'' knew she had to focus on passing the seventh trial first.
And yet, Shun Long didn''t pay any heed to the reactions of these people around him and simply read the names that were carved on the gigantic pir behind the old man
''Heavenly Rankings''
1st ce: Shun Long
2nd ce: Xuan Bo
3rd ce: Huang Yun
4th ce: Wei Guoyang
5th ce: Chen Xuefeng
6th ce: Liu Mei
7th ce: Jiang Tianfang
8th ce: Niu Rong
9th ce: Fan De
10th ce: Jiang Chen n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
After a few moments of silence, the purple-robed elder stepped forward once more, this time his gaze falling on Jiang Chen as his loud voice entered everyone''s ears
''''Go ahead, you little brat. Since you are ranked 10th, you are allowed to challenge anyone from first to ninth ce. However, remember this; No matter what happens, you only have one chance. The higher you rank at the end of this trial, the better the rewards you''ll obtain.''''
Nodding his head, Jiang Chen cupped his hands at the purple-robed elder indicating he understood, before scanning the Dao Kings and Dao Emperors at the peak of the mountain, searching for his opponent.
In the end, under the astounded gazes of everyone around him, his eyesnded on Xuan Bo as his cold voice reverberated throughout the mountain peak
''''Let''s see how strong you are.''''
Chapter 971 Tenth place!
971 Chapter 971 Tenth ce!
Xuan Bo''s eyes narrowed as he stared at Jiang Chen, struggling to believe what he had just heard.
''''Kid, you want to challenge me? Are you sure?''''
A split secondter, a strong burst of killing intent exploded from his body as the powerful peak-stage Dao Emperor took a step forward,ing face to face with the devilish youth in ck robes.
Xuan Bo couldn''t believe that among all the people who could have been challenged first in the second round, there was someone who would pick him out of everyone else here!
Him; the number one Dao Emperor in the ''City of Immortals'' and one of the most renowned geniuses in the entire central continent, as well as the crown prince of the Tianxuan dynasty.
No matter how Xuan Bo looked at this situation, he couldn''t help but get angry inwardly. If Jiang Chen was that confident about his strength and wanted to get as high as he could in this seventh trial, shouldn''t he just challenge the person ranked first?
In fact, although Shun Long had been ranked first in the ''Heavenly Rankings'', in the grand scheme of the entire ''central continent'', he was just an unknown Dao King, nothing more than that. Although he had emerged out of nowhere and taken first ce in the ''Heavenly Rankings'', Xuan Bo''s reputation should still overshadow that fleeting moment of brilliance from a single, unknown Dao King.
And yet, Jiang Chen merely nodded his head as he faced Xuan Bo, before suddenly taking a step forward as well.
His next gesture was more than enough to answer Xuan Bo''s question; as Jiang Chen''s right fist flew through the air, a thick demonic aura enveloped his body before his right hand made contact with the white beam around Xuan Bo.
Then, under the gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, the two young men disappeared on the spot, vanishing from the vast mountain peak.
''''This guy actually challenged Xuan Bo? Does he have some sort of death wish or is he just that crazy?''''
''''Whatever it is, I doubt he''ll be back in one piece. Although you couldn''t die in the first six trials, the wounds you umte on this seventh trial are different. Everyone should have noticed this by now after fighting in the first round.Even if that kid doesn''t die, he''ll most likely lose an arm or a leg at the very least. There''s no way Xuan Bo will let him go.''''
The two peak rank 9 Dao Emperors from the ancient families, Wei Guoyang and Chen Xuefeng eventually eximed once Jiang Chen and Xuan Bo had begun their fight.
Although the two of them couldn''t see their fight taking ce since the fighters would always be teleported away from the mountain peak, both of them were already familiar with Xuan Bo and how terrifying his strength was, which was why they were so certain of his victory.
It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that unless every peak-stage Dao Emperor in the top ten banded together and attacked him, no one would be able to harm Xuan Bo inside the ''City of Immortals''.
At least not in the secondyer of the city, where all the Dao Emperors had been sent earlier. The young crown prince of the Tianxuan dynasty had already cemented himself as a peak existence there, one that could effortlessly y even peak rank 7 magic beasts with his bare hands! Coupled with the unbelievably strong Dao he hadprehended, people may very well consider him the strongest existence inside the entire ''City of Immortals''!
In fact, this was the reason why these Dao Emperors had been so surprised to see another name at the top of the ''Heavenly Rankings'' other than the crown prince''s.
At the same time, Jiang Tianfang had aplicated expression on his face as he saw Jiang Chen challenging Xuan Bo. Although he was confident in his son''s strength and was certain that Jiang Chen''s talent was no worse than Xuan Bo''s, he still felt a sensation of unrest brewing in his heart as the two geniuses vanished from the mountain peak. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Noticing the distressed look on his face, Liu Mei took a few steps forward and stood by Jiang Tianfang''s side, before she said reassuringly
''''Uncle Jiang, there''s no need for you to worry. Jiang Chen is stronger than you think. Even if he doesn''t win the fight, he''s strong enough to stand his ground. At the very least, he is strong enough to challenge anyone in the top 10.''''
Jiang Tianfang shook his head but he didn''t respond right away.
He knew that Liu Mei had a better grasp of Jiang Chen''s strength than he did, considering he had no idea what his son had experienced in these past 9 years.
Still, he had a rough idea of what Xuan Bo was capable of, which made the grim expression on his face more and more pronounced.
The young crown prince was famed for being cruel and relentless, both to himself and to those around him. These were the traits the future emperor of the Tianxuan dynasty needed to have after all. They needed to rule with an iron fist.
At this point, Jiang Tianfang could only hope that Liu Mei was right and that his son could really fight him head-on!
...
Soon, an hour passed and then a second one, but Jiang Chen and Xuan Bo had yet to return.
At this point, everyone in the mountain peak aside from Shun Long and Liu Mei, could no longer hide the expressions of surprise from their faces.
Xuan Bo had been fighting for two hours against an unknown Dao King and had yet toe out on top?
However, Shun Long quickly noticed thatpared to these Dao Kings and Dao Emperors around him, the purple-robed overseer''s expression was the most eye-catching one.
His previously emotionless face finally cracked, revealing a hint of a smile as he absentmindedly stared in the distance, almost as if he could see the fight that was taking ce.
Finally, as the third hour came to an end, two familiar figures appeared once more on the popted mountain peak, causing the previously calm atmosphere to finally turn heavy and oppressive.
Almost simultaneously, the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors all turned their gazes toward Xuan Bo, only to see a drop of blood dripping down his nose and staining his previously wless visage.
The handsome crown prince''s face was now contorted with both fury and shock as he stared at Jiang Chen, disregarding everyone else on the mountain peak around him! And yet, Jiang Chenpletely ignored Xuan Bo as he turned around and walked towards Shun Long, not paying another nce at the furious crown prince.
Chapter 972 Ninth place!
Chapter 972 Ninth ce!
''''You bastard! Come back here!'''' Xuan Bo''s furious voice reverberated throughout the mountain peak as he roared at the ck-robed youth walking away.
Although Xuan Bo didn''t have any visible injuries on his body other than that single drop of blood dripping down his nose, his luxurious robes were now tattered, barely hanging on by a thread.
And yet, the surrounding Dao Kings all had a feeling that although Xuan Bo wasn''t injured, his pride had been severely wounded after his fight.
Shaking his head, Jiang Chen finally halted his steps and turned around, giving Xuan Bo a side nce before he answered calmly
''''With just that much power you wanted to challenge him? Idiot...''''
Then, he turned around and began to walk towards Shun Long once more,pletely ignoring the furious crown prince of the Tianxuan dynasty.
As soon as he heard those words, thick, snake-like veins bulged out of Xuan Bo''s temple as he red at Jiang Chen''s disappearing back. And yet, under the surprised gazes of the nearby Dao Kings and Dao Emperors, he actually didn''t retort and simply turned around and walked away.
Still, Shun Long didn''t miss thatst nce Xuan Bo threw at him, one that was filled with both curiosity and unconcealed killing intent.
A momentter, almost as if on cue, the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors all turned to look at the gigantic b of stone at the peak of the mountain, their eyes quickly drawn to that name in tenth ce.
10th ce: Jiang Chen
Seeing that the ''Heavenly Rankings'' still hadn''t changed, collective sighs of relief quickly filled the vast mountain peak as everyone turned to look at Jiang Chen.They didn''t know how to react if some unknown Dao King dethroned Xuan Bo from the top 3 as well. Shun Long taking his first ce was already a blow they had yet to recover from.
However, instead of getting answers, these geniuses were now even more confused than before. If Xuan Bo had won their fight, why did he look so furious and despondent? Why was Jiang Chen so arrogant when he talked back to him and why was Xuan Bo unable to retort?
Everyone wanted to know the answer to those questions, but nobody had the courage to go up and ask Jiang Chen right now.
Not in front of a furious Xuan Bo!
Standing in front of Shun Long, Jiang Chen lowered his head and pondered for a brief moment before he said seriously
''''I lost this time, but that guy is not stronger than me. He just used his bloodline to win the fight. If we fought without using our bloodlines, I may not lose to him.'''' Jiang Chen''s sentence was short and concise, but the meaning behind his words sent shivers to everyone who heard it, including even Jiang Tianfang.
The number one Dao Emperor in the ''City of Immortals'' couldn''t win against him and had been forced to use his bloodline?!
Of course, using one''s bloodline wasn''t against the rules of the seventh trial, but nobody had expected that Xuan Bo would be pushed to this extent, let alone by some unknown Dao King who was ranked tenth in the ''Heavenly Rankings''.
Normally, one would only use their bloodline power when they had already exhausted all of their options and couldn''t defeat their opponent.
Of course, there were some people in the crowd who had different thoughts on this matter. Even if Xuan Bo had used his bloodline, so what? It was still part of his own power at the end of the day. If Jiang Chen couldn''t fight against it, he was the one who was weaker.
However, Shun Long knew that this wasn''t the case. After all, Jiang Chen had already used his bloodline power when fighting with Xuan Long a week ago, and had yet to recover his spent blood essence.
It wasn''t that he didn''t have a powerful bloodline to rely on, but he simply couldn''t use it just yet!
So, when Jiang Chen imed that he wasn''t weaker than Xuan Bo despite having lost the fight, he wasn''t really wrong either. It was unknown who among them would be weaker or stronger if they both fought without their bloodlines.
Nodding his head, Shun Long stood up and patted Jiang Chen on the shoulder before he said seriously n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
''''I know. We will chat after you''ve recovered. Sit down and tend to your wounds first.''''
As he finished speaking Shun Long waved his hand, taking out a bottle of top-grade ''Clear Jade evergreen pills'' from his spatial ring and handing them to Jiang Chen.
Although Jiang Chen was a body cultivator and could recover most of his wounds without consuming any pills, Shun Long could tell with just a nce that Jiang Chen had already consumed all of the energy in his body and would need a while to recover it. By then, the wounds that Xuan Bo had inflicted on him would be far worse.
Although his condition didn''t look too serious, the wounds Jiang Chen had umted on his body were still numerous and couldn''t be ignored.
Eventually, Jiang Chen didn''t decline and a few momentster, he was already sitting cross-legged on the ground consuming one of the sparkling, bright emerald pills in his hands.
...
Seeing this scene, the purple-robed overseer smiled ever-so-slightly, before suddenly pping his hands quickly attracting everyone''s attention. Then, his sonorous voice reverberated throughout the mountain peak as he said
''''Alright, you brats. Since the 10th ce fight is over, let''s continue with the next one.''''
Then, the old man turned to look at the gray-robed youth called Fan De and continued
''''If you want to challenge that brat called Xuan Bo, you''ll have to wait at least a day for him to recover his strength. But if you want to challenge anyone else, you can start right away. What do you think?''''
The purple-robed old man had a mischievous smile as he looked at the grey-robed youth in front of him, waiting for his answer. After all, just like Jiang Chen, this Fan De was also a dark horse in the seventh trial and could very likely upset anyone in the ''Heavenly Rankings''!
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